A Walk in History

For me, personally, there is no historical educational experience that is more powerful than walking the exact ground and seeing with my own eyes where history was made.

On January 20, 1997, as our nation was pausing to celebrate and remember the birth of Martin Luther King, Jr., I along with my sons, Chad and Courtney, and Paul Osborne and his son, Josh, had the privilege of walking a part of our nation’s history at the National Civil Rights Museum at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, TN.

It was a day that two fathers and three sons would not soon forget.

Both Paul and I had told our sons of the events of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on April 4, 1968 and what we knew of the civil rights movement.

After a very brief time at the museum, it was all too clear—I really knew very little of the actual civil rights movement and my sons knew less.

Together we listened to speeches of Dr. King and sat on a trolley car similar to the one on which Rosa Parks sat on December 1, 1955 in Montgomery, AL.

For all of us, there was a very emotional moment as we took our turns looking into the motel room where Dr. King was staying until that fateful moment when he stepped out onto the balcony seconds before his life was tragically taken from our nation and the world.

The point of this is not to brag about our trip on that incredible day. It is to suggest that as parents and grandparents, we must preserve the history of our nation. To do so, we should look for teachable moments when we are in a position take advantage of opportunities which afford us the opportunity to take a walk in history with our children and grandchildren.

A New Moral System and churches are part of the Problem

Today The Barna Group released the results of their latest survey. Titled, Young Adults and Liberals Struggle with Morality, http://www.barna.org the findings are neither shocking or unexpected. The United States is adrift without a clear moral rudder and many churches are clearly a major part of the problem.

Barna states, "We are witnessing the development and acceptance of a new moral code in America," said the researcher and author (George Barna), who has been surveying national trends in faith and morality for more than a quarter-century. "Mosaics have had little exposure to traditional moral teaching and limited accountability for such behavior. The moral code began to disintegrate when the generation before them - the Baby Busters - pushed the limits that had been challenged by their parents - the Baby Boomers. The result is that without much fanfare or visible leadership, the U.S. has created a moral system based on convenience, feelings, and selfishness."

Now before anyone out there in the blogosphere jumps to a conclusion that I am blasting our pastors or churches, I am not saying anything that I have not already shared with them.

Look carefully at what Barna states ......."Mosaics have had little exposure to traditional moral teaching and limited accountability for such behavior."

We have separated the generations as far from one another as we can. We have left it for each generation to find their own way.

What we are seeing is the result of the loss of the intergenerational community within the local church. We have eliminated adult connections within the church particularly when it comes to the young generations and the impact is being felt.

One of the most stunning outcomes from the Barna survey was the moral pattern among adults under 25. The younger generation was more than twice as likely as all other adults to engage in behaviors considered morally inappropriate by traditional standards. Their choices made even the Baby Boomers - never regarded as a paragon of traditional morality - look like moral pillars in comparison.

We will not change the moral climate of our nation until we change the moral climate of our families and churches.

The climate change needed is to return our churches back to the intergenerational family God intended us to be.

A place where all generations are valued and where the lives of all generations are woven together.

Dinner with Four Beautiful Ladies

Yep. It is true. I was out to dinner last night with four beautiful ladies. I would tell you that they are not just beautiful but drop-dead gorgeous.

Yesterday, Billie and I celebrated 31 years of marriage. To celebrate, we went to dinner along with our daughter and two granddaughters. Three generations celebrating life. We missed having our son, daughter (in-law) and granddaughter who live in Kansas. As well as our son and his lady from DC.

So there I sat at dinner with these four incredible ladies. At dinner we talked about our previous anniversaries and how much our lives have been blessed by our family. Things we want our grandchildren to tell their children.

I am so very blessed.

Learning by the day and from others

Well the bike riding is getting better and better. Last night Billie and I had our first real ride together. We went up through a valley road that gave us the opportunity to lean together in the turns and get used to riding together on something other than a straightaway. She did great and I am doing better.

After we finished our ride she encouraged me to take off on my own for a while and I did. Only to go a few blocks and have the bike quit running. i quickly restarted and went a ways farther to have the same thing happen on the on ramp of the highway. now it would not restart.

I tried everything that I knew in my limited experience then I called Dan. Dan owned and rode this bike since 1997 and to say that he knew everything about the bike would be an understatement. Instead of Dan trying to "coach" me over the phone, he said, "I will be right there." I could have told him to just try and tell me what to do. But I will be honest, I felt great to hear him say that he was on the way.

When Dan arrived it took him all of about 10 minutes to pull a spark plug and spray it with starter fluid and have me up and running. It was so simple. The bike had a "vapor lock" and just needed a boost to get past it. He said that it had happened to him twice in the last 10 years.

What did I learn. So many things and many relearned or reinforced.

It is great to have friends.

Too often I have been embarrassed or bull-headed to ask for help.

Friends want to help because they are friends.

It is not an age thing. Dan is much younger than I am and there are things I
have experience with that I hope I could help him with if needed. In this case
he knew exactly what to do.

After Dan got me back up and running he followed me for a while and then I took off for the ride I intended.

On the ride I began thinking of Harvey McKay's book Dig Your Well Before You Are Thirsty. In his opening chapter he tells a great story of a man who called him in the wee hours asking for help. When Harvey asked him why he had called him since they had not spoken in years, the man said he did not have anyone else to call.

Dan and I became friends long before he sold me his bike. Actually I bought the bike in large part because we were friends. I did not just call Dan because he knew the bike.....I called him because he was first my friend and secondly because he knew the bike.

It is great to have friends to call when you need help and even better to actually call them when you need help because they are your friend.