Living Hazzardously

Little pieces of our journey with Jesus

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The useful idiot.

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I feel like I would be neglectful if I did not mention Charlie Kirks assassination. At 31 years old, a father, a husband, a son… I have seen so much hate this week that I feel ill this morning. To actually rejoice in the death of a person, to me seems like pure evil! But I don’t want to talk about the shooting, I want to talk about the Christian response. 

I remember back on September 11, 2001 at 7:46 AM CDT, we all stopped our day, stood in shock and could not believe the hatred we saw playing out as not just one but three planes caused death and destruction…. But wait, there were FOUR PLANES!! The heroes in one plane subverted the some of that evil, at least the plans of killing those on the ground. They sacrificed their lives to divert into a field… How many heroes were there? Thousands! As a nation pulled together in solidarity, UNITED under one flag… but now divided… This makes me sad.

Fast forward to May 2, 2011, U.S. forces assassinated a man in Abbottabad, Pakistan. 

Did Osama Bin Laden get wept over? Did he have an outcry over his death? No, people rejoiced and celebrated, over a human that was snuffed out in the name of justice. Why are these two deaths so different, and more importantly, why do we not all agree these deaths are both a tragedy?

I can’t speak for you, but I can challenge you. Look at the death of Osama. Look at the life of Osama. He was so filled with “Vitriolic” hate and he wanting those who don’t agree with him to be murdered… and what’s more, he actually wanted them suffer in pain that ultimately ended in death. 

I will make a bold claim: The child who killed Charlie Kirk was the same type of person as Osama. There is little difference aside from the fact that Osama would have joyfully killed this boy and this boy probably knew little to nothing about 9-11.

So why do I call Kirk’s assassin a boy? Because of his ignorance? YES!! Because he was heavily influenced by a narrow minded, non inclusive ideology. Where difference of opinion means you should murder in cold blood a person you disagree with? An Ideology where if you don’t agree with another person, THEY SHOULD DIE?? 

My entire life I have lived by  code, that code is simple: “sticks and stones may break my bones but names can never hurt me” in simple terms, If you come after me physically, I will use equal or greater force to protect myself and my family,  you choose the level of force you want me to protect myself with. If its words, great, I don’t really care what words you use, you do not have control over me with mere words, I control that, not you! Say what you will, you are not that important that I will surrender my demeanor over words. But may God have mercy on your soul if I need to protect my family, physically. 

So to speak about Kirk’s murderer and Osama, I do not rejoice in the punishment that is fitting for a murderer. But, we do need to face the consequences of our actions, not our thoughts. But, if thoughts become action, a swift correction needs to take place. 

These men that are so stirred by words, like Kirk’s murderer and Osama, are part of a bigger picture and it has to do with “thought police”. They have been so influenced by mere words that they take action against a person for words they feel are hurtful, on the same level as murder, therefore, murder is justified… 

The term “Useful idiot” comes to mind from an interview I watched once with a member of the KGB. It simply means that this useful idiot does the “dirty work” blindly. Convinced by words to carry out tragedy and hate. They are easily manipulated and don’t really think things through. Motivated by hate, they simply respond to emotional stimuli and perform the tasks they are told to do. They don’t really know why they think they way they do, they just do… This was the person Charlie Kirk loved and was ministering to, those that thought hate over opinion deserves death. Charlie never spoke a hatful word, sure he was human, maybe he got excited, but never hated anyone. If you don’t believe me? Verify for your self, look up the full clip of what he said rather than some 2 second sound bite from the news outlet you trust, break down the rhetoric you are fed, look it up for your self, prove me wrong!

Did you rejoice in Kirk’s murder? Did you rejoice in Osama’s death? Did you weep over the thousands that Osama murdered? Will you rejoice when justice is served to a man that murders in cold blood? Or will you weep for a lost soul, turned over to torment for eternity? I do not rejoice in the end of a human life, but id do rejoice in justice. The termination of life? No, but I do rejoice in justice. I weep for the lost souls, BUT I rejoice in evil coming to an end. 

If you are reading this and feel like Charlie’s words justify his death, I want you to know, I will be praying for you. If you rejoice in the death of a murderer, I will also pray for you. If you rejoice in justice, I will pray with you. If you are reading this and don’t care, I will pray that you see a reason to care.

I do not wish for any to go to hell but rather that all come to know Jesus.

In prayer either with you or for you this week. C.

Think positive

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Do you remember the line from a long time ago? In the movie “Charlie and the Chocolate factory”?… if you remember it, sing it with me… “THINK POSITIVE…”

My oldest son played the part of Grampa in the high school play back in Bell Plaine… For many years that is exactly what I did, I just had positive thoughts, replacing the negative with the positive. It actually works well. 

BUT, there are times that positive thoughts simply means you are not looking at the situation realistically. Sometimes, a good old fashioned dose of pessimism is exactly what the situation calls for… Sometimes, there isn’t a really bright side. Sometimes, the negative is what you need so you can make corrections. Sometimes reality is a perspective that is not so jolly and positive. Sometimes, change is probably for the best.

For the most part I look at the world with a perspective that my cup is actually full. Because half with water and the other half with air, is actually full.

Think about that, it’s always full of something and to me, that’s “opportunity”… maybe to grow, maybe to move, maybe to withdraw, maybe to engage?…. One thing I know for certain, God has always provided better for me when I have moved in faith to his calling… listening to that still, small voice, hearing God’s words clearly and then stepping out, when it’s time.

When I was growing up, my father taught me many hard lessons. When he wasn’t screaming profanities and breaking stuff that he would later blame us kids… He would collect and store even more “stuff” in the hoarder house,  on the north side of MPLS. One thing I did learn is how to work, how to value work, how to never give up and how to never quit… If I didn’t learn these lessons, there was a swift reach for that wire coat hanger, i felt it across my backside to remind me what the best choices are for me. 

I learned these and many more lessons in life and then put these lessons into practice. It wasn’t all bad and it taught me a great deal of self discipline. I remember a quote, I think from Ben Franklin, could be wrong, but it went something like this… “Most folks are afraid of opportunity because it comes dressed in overalls and looks like work”. So to me, the world looked like one big opportunity and I was never afraid of digging in and getting dirty… This has served me well for over 50 years now… and that has been good… but now….  My body hurts… When I say “hurts” I mean it hurts in ways I don’t understand, in places I didn’t know existed and from things I have been doing my whole life. It’s like I have been betrayed by father time and he is getting a good laugh out of watching me struggle. Time is nobody’s friend, when it comes down to the brass tacks.

So back to the Willy Wonka Chocolate Factory… change is necessary from time to time, some change we make ends up with bad choices, we should be quick to adjust and change. Correct our trajectory. Yet others are seasonal and we may be there longer, we may get comfortable and compliant. Sometimes we just fight with God until that one day, we finally give in and move away… it can be very painful, but I have found if we stop fighting the change as soon as we know its time, things go much better. The sooner we can get back to serving God the way he has asked us to serve him, the better. Rest in the wisdom of the Lord and not on your own understanding. Things just go better. Putting off all bitterness, seek first to understand and then to be understood. 

I realize change is needed, I know I can not keep going forever, I just pray the Lord sends the right “younger man” to us, so that he may learn this business and take it over. If not, I have a bunch of equipment to sell, give away or toss out… one day, but I am not quitting yet. I have realized I’m not able to replace two furnaces in one day like I was doing only a few short years ago… nowadays? I take breaks! Never did that before. I take a lunch break too! It’s oddly refreshing. I only work 6-8 hours before calling it a day (sometimes)… I retreat to my home where my faithful foot massager is waiting for my daily dose of “ohh that’s a new pain!”

Change in life is the one thing that never changes.

So I say good bye to that which was and say hello to that great new tomorrow, with open arms, no regrets, no bitterness, only joy filled anticipation of what God has in store for us… as in Jess and I… 

God bless you all this day. We love you all and hope your next change is not filled with pain, but a joy that surpasses all understanding. C

Raw and uncensored.

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My life was so often like the pro-wresting matches of the 1980 era, It looked raw, uncensored and spontaneous but in reality, God had me right where he wanted me, learning the lessons of my mistakes and experiencing the troubles I would one day put into use for HIS will.

Every once in a while when I start to write, I decide it might be a bit too raw, too uncensored… I start to write, I stop writing… Some days I write to only myself, my own therapy or maybe to not forget.  I don’t write to feel sorry for myself but I do write to remember the pain I have gotten through, and sometimes I write to help myself process… Other-times I just need to put it on paper (or a screen) to just slow my brain down and see what I am thinking, then I can look and say to myself: yes that was painful or yes, that was who I was…

To truly help another person, I believe you first need to be able to relate to that person, to understand at some level, to have empathy. I believe you first need to be able to feel. I have lived a lot of pain, caused a lot of pain and helped some to get past their pain, but I don’t believe I am done, at least not yet, I have many more people I can help, so onward I push, forward I move, listening to the prompts of God, following his lead. 

One of the most prominent sayings in my life aside from the serenity prayer is: “HURT PEOPLE, HURT PEOPLE” when a person is hurting, they are so much more likely to hurt others, it takes a great deal of wisdom, maturity and life experience to rise above the pain we hold in our lives and close to our hearts so we don’t continue to hurt others. But the real question is how! HOW DO WE GET THERE? Is it from being hurt so much and so deeply that we become numb? Is it from will power to just move past? Is it from the advice of others to, as the Bob Newhart skit said… “Just stop it, or I will bury you alive in a box”

I think it is by the grace of God that we can even start in the direction to help others, we kind of need to surrender, and find purpose and value in our new goal of helping others. Or maybe you are like I was… only interested in myself? I used to think of myself a lot more than I thought of others (and to be honest, I still do), and when I did I usually started to think “Poor me” and anxiety would set in. I have found that when we dedicate ourselves to helping others become better rather than sitting and stewing about our own lives, we become happy. Or at the very least we become less depressed, that’s a good start.

Today I am distracted by other thoughts, thoughts of a new grand baby soon and what I am going to do as I get older and my body keeps telling me I cant continue at this pace any longer, like I used to… I was reminded of that this past week while installing a 4-head Mini-split system…

I was feeding the line through a header, around a corner and up through the floor of the closet, today my arm aches from pushing on one side of the wall, going to the other side and pulling, twisting and sending it through the floor, then getting down off the bucket I’m using as a ladder (a ladder won’t fit into the space I am working) and going up the flight of stairs to straighten out the copper tubing we call a line set, so I can repeat the process again at least 50 times (well maybe only 40). That was done three times with three different line sets, the fourth was much easier…today is my third day of recovery. The two man job, done by one man, is hard on this old man.

I love my job, I have never worked a job I love more than owning an HVAC company, but its hard work, I wish so often I could find a younger man to teach this trade to, but it seems, I am one of many business owners that have given up on trying to teach their trade to… a replacement. It just doesn’t seem worth the bother anymore as most younger guys don’t want to work, earn a living and take pride in a skill… they seem more interested in working for the minimum amount of time, then trying to get unemployment… My apologies for sounding like a disgruntled business owner and perpetuating generational divide, but as a Gen X, well, lets just say, we all seem to be feral. 

Let us not forget our past, or else, we will be doomed to relive it!

One of my biggest missions as Jess and I run Sam’s Place is to provide the guidance that others may need to live the most productive life possible for each person at Sam’s Place. I am certainly not perfect, but I do believe that with the Lord’s hand on my shoulder, we can make a difference for some, just not all. 

Circling back to my writing, I realize that what I write about may seem low, sad and somedays happy and joyfull, but I always want my messages to be filled with hope and not despair. I want my message to you to be one of future success and not one of past failure. I want my message to be filled with expectation of goodness in your life rather than a message of doom because of what you are going through. You see, I believe if God can do for me what he has done and continues to do for me, he can help, save and prosper (for his glory) any and everyone, if we can just learn to help others on our own journey. 

So on this beautiful Sunday morning of pre “labor-day” weekend I hope you find the joy and excitement we feel in our home as we expectantly wait for God’s miraculous hand in our life. 

Matthew 9:35-38

English Standard Version

The Harvest Is Plentiful, the Laborers Few

35 And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction. 36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 37 Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; 38 therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”

Have a blessed week all, C.

PS. If you have not yet had a chance to donate to Jess birthday fundraiser, today would be a good day to do just that. Either on Facebook at Samsplacebf or our website Samsplacenorth.com every dollar donated is matched one for one. We are a 501c3 charity, so all donations are a tax deduction for you.