How To Leave A Legacy
By Kirk | June 6, 2009
I met “Dad” (and I only knew Jerry as “Dad” until yesterday when I attended his funeral) when his oldest granddaughter was on the high school softball team I help coach. Meeting the two sisters and working with them over the course of 6 years on the softball field and, occasionally, a few other places around the high school campus, inspired many conversations with their parents about parenting and teaching kids priorities. I have enjoyed watching these fine young ladies go on to bigger and better things and seeing the hard work and preparation they always put into their successes. I have seen them grow from little girls to young women. I have seen their scholastic and athletic success. I have seen how they prioritize and organize their time. I have seen how they have mentored others. My daughter has taken a special interest in the younger sister and has chosen to follow her as a catcher on her softball team. This has been met with a kindness and an interest rarely exhibited by high school students towards 2nd graders. In my daughter’s case, she has been blessed by, not one, but two such mentors (friend, pitcher, teammate of the other). I continue to be impressed as these young ladies juggle the myriad of activities beset upon young people in the high-pressure worlds of competitive sports and major universities. These sisters chose the same university. I know many who would have purposely chosen differently.
Reflecting on Jerry’s life, of which I know so little, I see some key points that seemed to make all the difference for many. First, he gave his children a firm foundation built on faith in God and trust in family. He used a common language (in this case softball) so he could continue to communicate with them, as they got older. Second, he taught them to prioritize and work hard for success, but that all the success they could achieve is not as important as faith and family and the values and morals that go with them. Third, he expanded his influence, reaching out beyond his family to provide the same for countless others. Finally, he continued to be a strong presence in the lives of all those he had influenced and, by so doing, he taught them to continue what he had started. And they do.
Truth be told, I didn’t know Jerry very well, but I know who and what he was, because I have know many of those he loves. Jerry may have “put it in the book” but the game goes on and his legacy continues.
Topics: Sports, education, moral issues, religion | No Comments »
Special Election… AGAIN?
By Kirk | May 15, 2009
I really would like to get away from writing about politics, but politicians keep doing really stupid things and too few people are taking notice. As a people, we just let them keep screwing things up for us. It seems more like we have given up than anything else.
I thought we elected these people to make laws, but all they can do is spend billions on special elections because they can’t make a decision. The special election next week is no exception. We are given six propositions, not so cleverly disguised as one, by giving them the names 1A through 1F, all of which are designed to give the legislature permission to take money previously designated by voters and us it in different ways to “balance” the current budget mess.
My initial thought is that we should boycott the election because it should not even be happening, but the tax and spend crowd would tthen pass all of these and our state would sink further into the abyss we are currently wallowing in. The money has already been spent, so we amy as well do the legislatures job for them… again.
1A creates a fund (from what?) that allows the government to spend however it sees fit and 1C, 1D, and 1E all allow money currently designated for specific purposes by voters to be used elsewhere. Even though some of these would take money from education, the CTA wants them all passed. That’s because the CTA does not care about education, it only wants more taxes for more government. 1B forces the government to pay back the money it has taken from schools this lat year. 1F prohibits pay increases for legislatures while the budget is in deficit. I think I will vote yes on 1B and F.
Truth be told, the legislature put all of these on the ballot because they are incapable of doing their jobs within the confines of the state constitution and the will of the voters so now they want a panicked voting public to give them permission to spend money however they want. Isn’t that what got us into this mess in the first place?
Topics: Politics, economy | No Comments »
Lying Liars and the Lies They Lie
By Kirk | April 9, 2009
“I was trying to save the rabbit.” Jimmy Carter
“I did not have sex with that woman.” Bill Clinton
“I did not bow to the Saudi King.” Barack Obama
Not to claim that the right does not ever lie, but it seems to this observer that the left tells obvious lies and does not seem to care. Here we have a sitting president, bowing to a foreign dignitary and denying it when everyone has seen it. We could discuss the lies and why they lie, but no one really knows. It could be that they think the people are so ignorant that we won’t notice or that we just won’t care. Hillary Clinton did the same thing by telling different groups different things, as if no one else would hear about it. It lost her the nomination. Of course, no one lies like Joe Biden. He says things that are easily disproved and doesn’t seem to care. The other day I was watching a baseball game where he kept trying to say that he played college baseball (although he kept interrupting himself so he never actually finished it). He kept talking, during the campaign, about a coffee shop that he “hangs out in” that has been closed for 30 years. There are many examples, but who cares… he is only the vice president and no one minds if that is an empty suit.
I am more concerned that our president is bowing to a foreign king. He did not bow to the Queen of England. My opinion is that President Obama believes that the way to overcome the “arrogant reputation” the U.S. has with nations who do not like us is to become subservient to them. In actuality, the Muslim world, in particular, sees this as a form of surrender and a sign of weakness. Notice that the king did not return the bow, which is an acceptance of Obama’s subservience (surrender), rather than a mutual greeting.
Truth Be Told, as Americans, we probably have a certain confidence that may be taken as arrogance by others. It comes from nearly 2 and a half centuries of trying to solve the world’s problems. Sure, we make mistakes, but we have always had good intentions. Most of the time we are successful. Our nation is the most prosperous and the most willing to help in the world. Perhaps some confidence, if not arrogance, has been earned. The key is to balance that with humility, but don’t confuse humility with subservience and don’t believe that bowing to another leader earns their respect. Lying doesn’t do it either.
Topics: Politics | No Comments »
Losing Focus
By Kirk | March 22, 2009
Often the path we end up on is not the path we started down. I think this happens when we forget why we started down the road to begin with. It happens to all of us in different aspects of our lives. Recently, I started doubting my career choice. My students think I am a good teacher. Their parents think I am a good teacher. Every other teacher that has ever observed me teach thinks I am a good teacher. My administrator, however, does not seem to agree. I have never received what I would consider a positive review. She only seems to see negatives when observing me and has never written a positive comment in my reviews. I became obsessed with trying to get a good review. I gave up coaching softball, partially because of time constraints, but also because I wanted to focus on teaching and planning. I have been miserable in my job the past year and a half because my objective became to get a good review from my principal. In fact, in my most recent review I overcame every criticism she had in my previous review and, still, received no written positives in my observation report. This is not self-pity. In fact, there are many others who receive the same types of observations, but this is not even about my review. This is about my focus.
A friend and co-worker said something this week that is gradually sinking in to this thick skull of mine. Maybe I should stop worrying about about what someone else thinks about my teaching and worry more about what God thinks of my teaching. My focus used to be on students. It used to be on developing the relationships that are presented before me and changing the lives of those I come in contact with. When my focus became more centered on myself and my evaluations, I lost my direction and my motivation.
How many of us have become discouraged or unmotivated because our focus has shifted from our original good intent to that of our own glory, pride or otherwise personal reward. Whether it is in our career, our ministry or our family, our focus often has to be readjusted form time to time.
Truth be told, doing the right thing is never enough. Doing the right thing, at the right time, for the right reason is paramount to maintaining focus and the only way to stay on the path towards our original ideals. I am not saying to not do the right thing because your motivation might be wrong. Adjust your motivation. Adjust your focus.
Topics: education, moral issues, religion | No Comments »
Change? What change?
By Kirk | January 31, 2009
In President Obama’s first two weeks he has sent missile strikes into Pakistan, ordered $800 billion in bail out money and alienated Speaker Pelosi… so what’s changed? I realize, as does the president, that the current economic circumstances will take years to recover, but what the new administration is about to learn is how little the government has to do with the economy. What surprises me is that President Obama’s strategy is exactly the same as that of President Bush.
Our new president has also continued to surround himself with advisers with questionable backgrounds and connections. Our treasury secretary should be in jail for income tax evasion. The secretary of state has a foundation with her husband that accepts donations from governments with adversarial attitudes towards the US. Most recently, the nomination for health secretary is reported to have accepted what amounts to bribes (he called them “speaking fees”) from health care groups with vested interests in his upcoming decisions. Yet, his rock star status continues.
The economy continues to worsen. Government bail outs do nothing to help the people who are losing their homes. Lenders rescued by the feds are now giving creative loans to homeowners, but many of these modified loans will have adjustable rates that could skyrocket again in about 2011. Remember 11-12% interest rates during Carter’s leadership (I use the term loosely)? We have to prepare for that possibility.
Truth be told I hope I am wrong, but the best we can do is prepare for the worst.
Topics: Politics, economy | 1 Comment »
Here a truth, there a truth, everywhere a truth…
By Kirk | January 1, 2009
I have heard a lot lately about “speaking one’s own truth.” It seems a popular notion that truth, like beauty, is in the eye (or mind) of the beholder. I will concede that opinions, perspectives, and emotions are all individual and may be completely different form person to person. But truth? Isn’t what is true independent of who perceives it?
As a high school math teacher, I am faced daily with those who are entirely convinced that what they subscribed to as an “answer” is completely true. Some of them will argue the point long after I have shown them how to correctly solve the problem. I have tried to tell them that no matter how firmly they believe that 2 + 2 = 5, it just is not true. Truth, real truth, is like this.
The most significant argument for the existence of truth is the fact that there exists those things which are absolutely not true. So, we propose that all things have an opposite and that, therefore, truth must exist. Now we begin this new year with the quest for truth and, in order to find truth, we follow the trail of those things which are true back to the source of truth.
Topics: Treatise On Truth | No Comments »
CAUTION! Childhood illusions shattered in this blog!
By Kirk | December 24, 2008
Santa Claus, as we now know him, does not exist. There! I said it. The man, Sinter Niklaas (the Dutch pronunciation of Saint Nicholas) was real. He provided small toys and candy for the little children in his village. Eventually, we all know, his story became legend and we now pronounce it Santa Claus.
As parents, I think we all struggle with the dilemma of how long we let our children believe in fables before we destroy their innocence and shatter their trust. In the end (or sometime before that) we all realize that having our children believe in something that is not true is not really healthy for them. Over the last two days my seven year old daughter and I have been having the conversation. Before you jump to the conclusion that I am a mean father, know that she asked me and, combined with other things going on in her mind right now, it seemed time.
The conversation (abridged) went something like this: “Daddy, are you Santa Claus?”
“No, why do you ask?” said I.
She: “I don’t know.”
I: “Do you think Santa Claus is real?”
“No. Yes…. no.”
“Who puts the presents under the tree?”
“Santa… You.”
“Did someone at school tell you Santa isn’t real?”
“Yes, they said Santa was their dad.”
“Do you think I am Santa at our house?”
“Yes.”
“It’s true. Mommy and I put the presents under the tree after you go to bed and I eat the cookies and drink the eggnog.”
Then she started crying. “But I hear Santa on the roof.”
“Really?”
“Yes…. no”
“Do the presents you have gotten or will get change because Santa isn’t real?”
“No.”
“Can we still pretend for the little kids?”
“Yes.”
“What is the real meaning of Christmas?”
“To remember Jesus being born.”
“So what should we do?”
“Be nice to people and love each other.”
Merry Christmas
Topics: moral issues, religion | No Comments »
Does Truth Exist?
By Kirk | November 22, 2008
Before we can determine the nature of truth, we must be convinced that such a thing actually exits. Some might take it so far as to question our own existence, but I think I will concur with Rene Descartes and conclude that since we are able to think about these questions then we must exist. Certainly, even the most esoteric of you could agree that if we do not exist then truth (and everything else, for that matter) is not really very important. So I will accept my own existence as fact and move on toward the question of truth, itself.
Many people believe that what is true for one may not be true for someone else. If this is the case then these “truths” are not absolute. The question the truth seeker must ask is whether these truths are derived or descended in some way from absolute truth or if truth is always relative. A third possibility is that any truth can be described in “if-then” form; that is that if given certain circumstances and conditions, then a certain truth becomes, in fact, true. Truth, then, is not necessarily relative, but it may be conditional. Another consideration that must be included in our quest is that belief does not constitute truth. Something does not become true simply because many people believe it or because it has been believed for a long period of time.
It would be ideal to start with a most basic and foundational morsel of absolute truth and follow it from conclusion to conclusion in direct fashion to determine what is true and what is not. Unfortunately this assumes two things. First that there exist such an absolute truth and second, that all other truth is derived directly from it.
Truth be told, Kierkegaard said the very same thing: “Life may only be understood backwards, unfortunately, it must be lived forwards.”
Topics: Treatise On Truth | 2 Comments »
Governator: What Happened?
By Kirk | November 14, 2008
Five years ago the people of California removed Gray Davis from the governor’s office. The reasons we had for recalling Gov. Davis were mostly centered around his dishonesty concerning the economic situation of the time and his tax plan. Additionally, the fiscal security of or state was in serious jeopardy, most believed, because of the corruption in Davis’ administration. We replaced him with Arnold Schwarzenegger who promised to protect us from economic corruption and from the extreme special interest groups trying to take over the policy making of our state.
After a one year honeymoon, and subsequent re-election, Gov. Schwarzenegger began to reaveal his true nature and has since been catering to the far left idealogues and doing much of what we elected him to protect us from. Our economy is every bit as bad as we feared Gray Davis would lead us into, the mortgage and real estate market is alarmingly similar to the Enron scandal, and the secular progressives who would destroy our nation are well on their way to destroying California, embraced by the governor.
The most recent evidence of the conversion of the Governator to the left is his switch on gay marriage. He would rather cater to the liberal agenda than defend the voters that he supposedly represents. The governor is completely wrong on this one, for at least two reasons.
First, attempting to turn the issue of gay marriage into a civil rights issue is an insult to those who fought the civil rights fight. Civil rights include the right to own property, freedom of religion, and the right to express one’s self. Civil rights include equal pay for equal jobs, equal protection under the law and equal opportunity. Some may believe that gay marriage falls under the category of equal protection or opportunity; however, neither opportunities nor protections are included in marriage. Marriage is an institution with a long-standing definition as the union of one man and one woman with the intent of forming a family. Marriage is not a civil right. Marriage does not give any couple any further rights than they would have under civil unions or domestic partnerships.
Second, the people have spoken on this issue, at least twice. The governor is supposed to protect us from liberal judges and extreme special interest groups. We, the people of California, passed a law which was overturned by judges with a liberal agenda who told the people that we could only pass this law with a constitutional amendment. Well, here it is. The governor’s job now is to enforce that law, not enable and encourage those who break it.
I have often heard it said that your right to swing your fist stops at the end of my nose. Truth be told, gay marriage is hitting my nose and it is time to stop this hatred toward people of faith by those who would twist marriage, which is created by God, into a perversion of it.
Topics: Politics, economy, moral issues | 1 Comment »
What Next? A Summary of VOTE08
By Kirk | November 8, 2008
Obviously, we have made history. Some are claiming that they have helped “change the world” and I think that it is a bit premature for that analysis. Electing an African American president does not change the world or even our nation. The fact that we have elected an African American president is evidence that our nation has changed. When the color of our president no longer matters, then we can say that our nation has truly changed.
Much more important than the color of our president is the policy that will come out of this White House and Congress. What we know or Pelosi and Reid (and others) is that policy can not be liberal enough. Obama has the reputation of being the most liberal in the senate. According to his speech on election night, he wants to unify the nation. If he follows this rhetoric with actual governing from that position we will see two key results. First, the leftist ideologues and press corp that is largely responsible for getting him elected will feel betrayed and be very angry. Second, the nation will unify and the world will see us as less divisive and a stronger ally.
Some are saying; “he is not my president,” but he is our president and he is (or will be) the leader of the greatest nation on earth and we must unite behind our leader. Karl Rove said it best when he told us that we should work with our president, persuade him when we can and oppose him when he is wrong.
There are two aspects of our national circumstance over which President Obama has no control. The first is the war in Iraq. Three possibilities exist; it may be over before inauguration, he may be convinced to let General Petraeus complete the task since the surge is working and progress is being made, he may decide to pull the plug and we will be fighting the same terrorists on our soil within his administration. The second aspect beyond the control of the President (any president) is the economy. Most people blame the president, but Congress, consumer confidence, and economic powerhouses like the oil cartel who set price and production determine the state of the world economy, not the President. A friend of mine described it as dropping a new captain on the deck of the Titanic right after the iceberg was struck… too late, won’t matter. The only thing we can do to save our economy is to cut taxes and reduce our dependence on foreign oil. I don’t know how the rest of the country decided, but T. Boone Picken’s plan was voted down in California. Only time will tell how the people will respond, but in the 1930’s we began a rash of new thinking that pulled us out of the Depression. It took 20 years, but, by necessity, brought us to new thinking and new ways of doing things. That is what we need now.
Speaking of California… We voted to preserve marriage, but we indicated that the comfort of chickens is more important that parents talking to their daughters before killing a fetus. Go figure! Meanwhile, we have elected to spend billions on the investigation of the possibility of maybe building a high-speed train. The people who support gay marriage really believe that it is a “right” and so they will continue to fight and have already called for law suits and to place a new initiative on the ballot for the next election. Because they believe that marriage is a civil right, they see this as a battle equal to the “separate but equal” issues of racial discrimination. I hope we can ensure the rights of everyone and still protect marriage, which I believe is not a right, but an institution ordained by God and my religious beliefs and not to be twisted into something that it is not. Governor Schwarzenegger has just announced mid-year budget cuts, including $2.5 Billion from education this year. Teachers will lose their jobs and classes will become more crowded. There is less tutoring available and less support for students in general, but the expectations for standardized test scores continue to be raised. As the saying goes: “we have been doing so much with so little in such a short time for so long, that soon we will be expected to do everything with nothing in no time at all.”
Truth be told, only time will tell what the next 4 years will bring. I pray for my leaders, even (and maybe especially) when I disagree with them. Again I hope that the next 4 years are so properous and posititve that I will want to re-elect President Obama, but I haven’t decided yet. I am certain that it will get worse before it gets better.
Topics: Election 08, Politics, economy, education, moral issues, press and media | 1 Comment »
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