Earth Day? Okay. If you say so.

So today is Earth Day.  Pretty soon it will be Mothers' Day.  Then Memorial Day.  Then Independence Day.  Then... well, you know how it goes.  There's a day for every sort of cause or remembrance or demographic group you wish.  And if yours isn't represented yet with a day on the calendar, just pick one, and post it on social media and soon you'll feel better.

I saw on the web today that Bill Nye the Science Guy waded into the political arena and began labeling the GOP candidates for president as "climate change deniers".  Is that even the right term?  I could probably be labeled as a climate change denier, too, but I don't really deny that the climate is changing (and will continue to).  I just don't come to the same conclusions about it that Bill Nye and others do.

First, the earth's climate is always changing.  And it does so in very long cycles, as are shown in this chart I saw at the British Museum:

As an actuary by trade, someone who deals in pattern recognition for a living, this looks like Time Series to me, not a trend line.

Secondly, I don't believe that we are rapidly approaching some "point of no return" at which point our atmosphere will contain so much CO2 that it will fundamentally be altered beyond anything that there has been on this planet before, and will become incompatible with life as we know it.  Claims like these are extrapolated from the most recent years of upward trend and projected into the future.   Any statistician worth his salt knows that extrapolation beyond any known observed values is fraught with peril. You can interpolate all day long, fairly safely, but extrapolation is a whole different kettle of fish.  Science fiction writers do it, of course, but that's their stock in trade.  To base social policy and economics on extrapolation is simply irresponsible, no matter who is doing it and what their motive or political affiliation might be.

Thirdly, I am not a materialist by ideology.  Unlike the pure materialist philosopher, I do NOT think that matter and energy is all there is, and together they explain all.  I hold instead that the physical is only a small part of what is.  The greater part is in the realm of the metaphysical, and is not accessible by instrumentation, measurement, testing, or the scientific method.  When you are a hard-core materialist, giving credit only to the material realm for substance, and to science for explanation of the human condition (or the Earth's for that matter), you have no other choice than to derive meaning from measurements and formulae.  You know no other language with which to express yourself, or even in which to think.

So Earth Day celebrants, have at it.  I celebrate the earth, too.  Daily.  But from a much different context than yours.

Personally, I think I'd rather stick to days of remembrance that are truly "holy days" (from whence the term "holidays" sprang).  Like Passover.  Tonight.  L'Chaim!

Marooned in San Diego

At the time of this writing, I am sitting in my hotel room in a Homewood Suites near La Jolla, California, waiting for the weekday evening ritual to begin downstairs - a buffet meal put on by the hotel management (tonight is ... burgers on the grill), along with free wine (choice of 2) or tap beer (choice of 1).  The menu rotates each day; it's not exotic, but it is surprisingly good, and very homey.  Last night was lasagna, the night before chicken enchiladas, before that Philly cheese steak, and so forth.  Very pleasant.  :)

But I would rather be home in Des Moines.

I had several purposes in coming out here last Saturday:

     > to sit for a professional exam (Certified Risk Management Professional).  I think I did well, but won't know for 6 weeks.
     > to inspect the apartment/office of one of my direct reports who telecommutes now, and recently moved here to be near family.
     > to attend a convention that should net me some Continuing Education credits (it was huge - 10,000+ people, and well done).
     > to visit some of our Sales Directors and brokers, which I expected would take me about 2 1/2 days.  Instead it took only 1/2 day.

Not enough visits materialized to use up the entire week that I thought I was going to need.  Fortunately, I booked on Southwest Airlines, and they don't charge change fees, but... they do require you to pay the difference in airfare from what your original trip cost and what it would be now on the new return flight.  Pooh.  :(  The company is actually money ahead if I stay and work remotely for the last two days of the week.  So, I'm confined to quarters until Saturday rolls around and I can get out of here.

You would think that I'd be overjoyed to be in sunny San Diego, but for one it isn't sunny!  (well, not continually anyway - it's actually the rainy season).  Des Moines is actually warmer this week than it is out here.  But be that as it may, I have gotten out a little.  Pictures posted below as evidence.  :)

The Cheese is Ripe

Recently, the company I work for decided that they were going to post profiles (including business head shot photos) of its management team on their website.  I've certainly seen those kinds of sections of a business website before, but never before have I been on one!  A surprise promotion last fall put me in the gang of 23 that run the place, and so, I had to go get a picture taken and write up a little bio to go along with it, which I present here for what it's worth.  I suppose it's good timing, as I near the end of my career, to become a "big cheese", as my daughter would say, even if the cheese is well aged and a little aromatic by now.  ;) 

Here I am, 60 years old, and what have I accomplished?

In the shower this morning (where most big thoughts and good ideas come to life), that question came to mind.  I proceeded to answer it, and the internal conversation went about like this:

Q.  Here I am, 60 years old, and what have I accomplished?

A.  Accomplished?  Um...  

     Well, I've raised two children to functional adulthood.  That's gotta count for something.

Q.  Yes, okay, that's good.  What else?

A.  Um...

     I've made a decent living, lived a pretty comfortable life, reached some career milestones that were beyond my expectations.

Q.  Oookaay...  What else?

A.   Then there's music and writing:  books and blogs and poetry and songs written (and published), royalties earned, live singing performances to critical acclaim and wild applause.  How's that?

Q.  Critical acclaim & wild applause, huh?

A.  Hey!   I'll grant that they were small-town audiences with fairly low expectations, but you have to admit that...

Q.  Yeah, yeah.  Prosecution will stipulate to that effect.  Next?

A.  Okay, how about the people I've influenced for good?  That's my personal mission statement, after all: to influence people and organizations for good - to leave them better than I found them.  I've done that.  Not every single time, but.. pretty consistently that's the feedback I get.

Q.  Now maybe we're hitting on something truly useful.

A.  Ahhh.. so that's it.  That's what's behind your question.  What do you mean by "accomplishment", anyway?  What if that's not really the right question?

Q.  And the right question would be...

A.  Hang on, not so fast.  I'm thinking.

     Okay, there's that parable of the wealthy farmer with his barns, right?  Luke 12:16-21, where Jesus tells this story:

“A rich man had a fertile farm that produced fine crops. He said to himself, ‘What should I do? I don’t have room for all my crops.’ Then he said, ‘I know! I’ll tear down my barns and build bigger ones. Then I’ll have room enough to store all my wheat and other goods. And I’ll sit back and say to myself, “My friend, you have enough stored away for years to come. Now take it easy! Eat, drink, and be merry!”’

“But God said to him, ‘You fool! You will die this very night. Then who will get everything you worked for?' Yes, a person is a fool to store up earthly wealth but not have a rich relationship with God.”

So the point is, a person is not the sum of his/her accomplishments, any more than his/his self-worth consists in the abundance of possessions.  Right?  Whatever score people choose to keep in this life does not survive into the next life.

Q.  There's more to it than the negative, though, yes?  What's the positive side of that coin?

A.  Right, right!  It's Jeremiah 9:23-24.

"Thus says the Lord: Do not let the wise boast in their wisdom, do not let the mighty boast in their might, do not let the wealthy boast in their wealth; 24 but let those who boast boast in this, that they understand and know me, that I am the Lord; I act with steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth, for in these things I delight, says the Lord."

To understand and know the Creator, the King of the Universe... that's a life accomplishment that really matters.  All the rest flows from that.

Q.  Very good.  Nice talking with you this morning.  Have a nice day.

A.  Sure.  Drop by anytime.  Not just in the shower...

Communicating with God as an Introvert

My pastor preached today on Exodus 33 (where God "passes by" Moses in the cleft of a rock).  He expounded on several items, but his punch line was that an intellectual understanding of God is not the same as a personal encounter with God's presence (however muted).  I get that.

But what I don't get is whether or not such an experience of God on an ongoing basis (e.g. a relationship) should be different if you are an extravert than if you are an introvert.  At first glance, you might say no - that God's expectations and desire for us are the same regardless of our personality.  Okay, maybe.  But wouldn't that work itself out differently in daily life? 

My closest relationship in this life is with my wife.  She is an extravert, who has strengths (via Strengthsfinder 2.0 testing) of Communication and Harmony, among others.  So her natural bent is to want to be on the same page with me, and to achieve that through talking with me.  She needs that from me, so I strive to provide it to her.

On the other hand, my strengths are Strategic and Intellection, my core personality is introverted, so I have an active inner life and like to spend time there.  :)  I don't need as much communication or "same-page-ness" as does my wife; I can manage without a lot of external communication.  So, she strives to give me "space", so as to meet my needs for quiet reflection.  Over the years, by trial and error and with flexibility, we've figured out a rhythm that strikes a middle ground.

Now, extending this concept to a relationship with God, the first question I ask is this:  is God introverted or extraverted?  And what level of communication does God want from me as a result?  How can I do what pleases God in this area of relating?

God as an introvert or an extrovert?  Silly question, you may think.  God could hardly be either one, right?  In the world of Myers-Briggs, God must be right down the middle on each dimension.  I guess.  You can probably find examples in the Scriptures examples of God possessing all the Jungian types in perfect balance.

But what if that doesn't really matter?  Part of my pastor's point today was that God does not have needs in this relationship area that we can meet.  God is completely sufficient within, but offers relationship with us FOR OUR BENEFIT, not for God's.  God has our interests at heart  when it comes to relationship, and is not trying to meet a Divine felt need of some kind through relationship with us.

Does that let me off the hook a little?  Maybe.  I think it means that I don't have to worry about how much or how little or what kind of communication God desires, and my prayer life can be instead a natural extension of my personality.  I naturally don't crave communication with ANYONE, God included.  I naturally do communicate with God, though, as I naturally communicate with my wife and with others I encounter while living life.  But I don't crave communication, unless I have a question I want answered, an idea I want to discuss, an observation I want to make, or a plan I want to validate - which, from time to time, I do bring to God (or to my wife, or to a co-worker, or to a blog post...)

I've never been one for consistent devotional prayer times, morning or otherwise, even though some of the extraverts in the Scriptures (King David, for example) write of such things with passion and fervor.  My conversations with God are prompted not by disciplined habit or by a need to relate;  they are serendipitous, they are prompted by living life.  What I do is bring questions, ideas, observations, and plans to God and see what God night make of them, seeking either God's validation or correction - both are good!  So this little post is one of those observations/ideas, and in this moment as I type, I am relating to God, and God to me.  I can feel the blessing of relationship with God at times just like this.

  

Immigration and "the stranger among you"

Outline of a post I expect to finish up one of these days:

Immigration Policy falls into two broad categories, and then two classes within those, plus a clarification of child citizenship:

1. How immigrants attempt to get into the country determines fate
• If entry was by deceit, then
• Deport, with family, or
• Forced menial labor (you want to stay, you do this job)
• Legitimately, then
• Ellis Island Approach
• quarantine while investigated (health or background, 
• must have sponsor and job to go to, 
• plus one month's minimum wage saved.
• all good? Then go in peace, you are welcome here
2. How should they be treated once here?
• Sojourner (in Bible "the stranger", "the alien")
• Equal treatment before the law, criminal or civil
• Unequal in privileges/benefits (reserved only for citizens)
• Naturalized Citizen
• Only after formal request, and passing rigorous test
• Equal expectations (exs: pay taxes, vote, military service)
• Equal benefits (public education, social security, etc.)
3. Child citizenship determined by:
• birth to (or adoption by) two other known citizens
• not based on place of birth, but on citizenship of parents

Scripture: Exodus 12:43-49; Exodus 23:9; Leviticus 19:33; Dt. 10:18-19; Ex. 22:21; Numbers 15:15-16; Lev. 25:47; Lev. 24:22; Dt. 24:17; Dt 24:20; Dt. 29:11; Joshua 9

Sweet Home Iowa

Dear reader, apparently we have a few aspects of Iowa culture to catch up on.  I just moved a bunch of photos from my Samsung Galaxy to my Mac, and realized that it's been an eventful few weeks, with some iconic Des Moines, Iowa, events to share.  They are, in order:

• Packer MVP Quarterback Day (12-4-16)
• Hannukah at Lubavitch's on Polk St.
• Caucus fever at Smokey Row Cafe'
• Bacon Fest! at the Iowa Events Center

Okay, this first one isn't really even a thing, but.. we celebrated at the office anyway!

Hannukah was early this year.  And Des Moines is one of the few places I know where the local kosher deli also hosts a Torah school and has the biggest menorah in town.

Not in the list, but a short interlude to look at another winter sunset in Iowa.

Caucus Fever.

In addition to the candidate I stumped for, many others came to sleepy old Iowa, and a few I even got close enough to snap a photo.

Carly, for one.

Ben, for another.

Mike, also.

The guy is movie-star handsome.  But couldn't get traction here, despite the "Rally for O'Malley" that popped up at Smokey Row on Caucus eve.

NPR came out and did "Morning Edition" on location at my favorite coffee shop.

David Greene was the host that day.  He sort of looked like his voice sounded, too.

But none of the candidates that interviewed with him that morning made it in the top three, and 3 of the 4 dropped out after New Hampshire.  Too bad.  They were the ones I liked.

Bacon Fest.

It's massive.

Quirky.

Gastronomic.

Adventurous.

Indescribable.

And has some sights that you never can un-see.

So to ease the pain on your eyes, I present a composite shot of the view overlooking the East Village, from the 34th Floor of the Ruan building downtown.  The Embassy Club of Des Moines occupies this lovely place, and I'm looking forward to an elegant dinner there at the end of this month, to watch the lights come on across the city as dusk falls.  :)

This, dear reader, is my state.  I'm beginning to feel at home here.  :)