How To Live In A Post-Corona World

Life, in and of itself, brings us twists and turns and enough shock value to last us a lifetime but what life does accomplish, even for the uninitiated, is always and never fails to do is provide opportunities to learn, to turn, to grow, and to evolve.

Almost a year ago, I have left the corporate and government contracting world. More aptly put, I ran out of the building screaming as if I was on fire. I had simply had enough of that kind of life. I was stressed. I was angry. I was discontented. And I was simply unhappy. So I took a little break and went into the world of staffing and recruiting, which I found out within one week was the same kind of work I ran away from less than a year prior. I suppose if you need a visual, I was the guy that walked through the revolving door in an office building but I never get in nor do I ever get out. I just keep going around in a circle. I was right back where I started just on a smaller scale but the stress, the anger, and the lack of fulfillment was still palpable for me.

Unbeknownst to me, somewhere across the world, someone was coughing, complaining of fever, and joint pain, someone was losing their sense of smell and taste, someone was dying. While I was working diligently to build a new career, “it” was happening, “it” was spreading, “it” was reaching out its hand to touch another life. Not more than a month from that, as I sat at my desk at the tail end of a really good day, my boss called me into her office. She was unable to look me in the eye and I instantly knew what this meant. Within several uncomfortable seconds, I was being laid off due to budget cuts relating to the Coronavirus outbreak. Life provided the twist and turn. I had to go home and tell my wife that I didn’t have a job, which also meant I didn’t have a check.

Now I had to see the opportunity in this. I was sitting at home with no immediate prospect for money. I couldn’t get anyone from the Unemployment department on the phone. And I was getting multiple phone calls saying that my loved ones were either sick or had died from complications relating to something called Covid-19.

And here is where many Americans find themselves. Americans just like me. And some in much worst circumstances. Now the vicious cycle begins.

According to a U.S. Chamber of Commerce poll on http://www.debt.org, “approximately 43% of small businesses likely will close permanently within the final six months of 2020. When July began, nearly 100 companies with more than $100M in debt had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, according to the American Bankruptcy Institute, which includes “department stores, hotels, cruise lines, rental car companies, airlines, restaurants, and movie theaters.”

Even in that, you can clearly see that the majority of the activities you enjoyed outside of your home and your home state were in the crosshairs of this pandemic. That means besides maybe a drive to the grocery store, or a nice walk through the community, you were relegated to the four walls of home. Home might be where the heart is but it is also where the overwhelming thoughts are, and the stack of hospital bills are, and the frenetic energy of children not able to go to school or day care are, and where you are reminded that so many could lose everything if positive change doesn’t come quickly. That isn’t likely to be a remedy provide by your local unemployment department.

Statistics complied from The Pew Research Center (pew research.org – Rakesh Kochhar ) indicated that more than 20.5 million Americans were unemployed in the month of May alone and the unemployment rate skyrocketed to 13% in the same month. This was the second highest rate in the post-World War II era. These numbers are greater than the Great Recession (December 2007-June 2009). Add to this to the threat of infection, short term illness, and perhaps even death, this resembles a “worst case scenario” to most folks. That’s what a world with coronavirus in it looks like. But even with all that I have personally experienced, I still possess a modicum of optimism that this will not last forever, that the state we’re in is not our new normal. So what can we expect on the other side of this pandemic?

1. Take Stock Of Your Situation
   I’m not a big advocate of getting all of my news from the news so to speak. The local news can be discouraging, confusing, and downright scary. You may hear a round of new statistics, Coronavirus cases, unemployment rises and dips, and the accompanying political rhetoric as well. But what is your situation? What does your financial situation say? Have you been adept at saving money? Does your family employ wise spending habits? Many of us are forced to be reactive now that we’re faced with unemployment, bankruptcy and our local boutiques and Mom and Pops store closing for good. But what is your specific situation? Do you have enough savings or emergency funds to last your household three months? Six months? Nine months? A year? Look at your finances rather than the television set and assess where you specifically are. If you never paid that any attention, now is an ideal time for a full update.
2. Develop a Strategy
   Now that you can clearly see where you are financially, what is the next step? I’m suggesting, from personal experience, develop a strategy. My wife and I sat down after we combed through a sea of bills and debts and after we finished lamenting our precarious situation, we started to craft a plan. Since no one (and I emphasize NO ONE) truly knows how long this pandemic will adversely affect us, we wanted to get a broad view of how long we could survive with all these changes in mind. If we had to use our savings, how long would that last? Can we survive on three square meals a week? Will we have to eat peanut butter and jelly every day until? Should we become temporary vegetarians until we can afford meat again? We thought about almost every scenario. Get some paper and a pen and sit down with your family if you haven’t already. Tighten up your boot straps. Cut out the unnecessary items no matter how much you love and NEED them. What can you do reasonably without? Include that in your plans. You might have to adopt a minimalist mentality until this storm passes.
3. Think Contingencies
   Even though you are probably the best hairdresser in your city or the best travel agent in your town, you may not be able to use those incredible skills. I asked myself the same question that I am asking you today: What do you do when you can’t do what you absolutely love to do? To some, even the very thought is torturous but it’s a reality for us in this season. I have a nearly 20 year background in Administrative and Operations along with being a creative writer and author for more than three decades. What if I can’t do any of those things anymore? What if there just isn’t a place for that while we are quarantined? I began to consider how can I make that plan we crafted together with the family work. Can I cast aside ego and bag groceries at the local supermarket where my neighbors will surely see me? Am I willing to work entry level in an essential job for which I have no background? Logistics? Construction? Sanitation? Is there any place that I would not work until we can get out of this? That might be the biggest tip I can give you today. It is indeed the deal breaker!
4. Do The Impossible
   Do the impossible? What’s that? After decades of coaching my clients and helping them make ground-breaking decisions, I have rarely ever taken my own advice. Shameful I know! Why was I even working in that recruiting job where I had to be father, babysitter, and camp counselor to young adults to senior age 17-70 (true story!)? Why did I even apply for and take the assignment with the State Government? What drew me to a place where I pretty much knew I would not enjoy it long term? Most times, at least for me anyway, it was financially motivated. I, like many, tried to find the job that paid the most and had the best benefits. I left out a crucial requirement: A job that I would gladly leap out of bed for every day because you loved I that much. Very rare but congratulations if you have found your dream job. These last six months have been wrought with twists and turns without a doubt. I can write a book on this and I probably will down the line. But I learned a lesson that I wouldn’t trade for anything. I can do what I thought was impossible. What is that thing that if you could do it for free, you would do it gladly without complaint? What gives you that kind of joy and fulfillment? What is your dream job? I believe I found mines. (I may have found three of them.) What is stopping you from fulfilling that dream? Is it your geographical location? Is it your own imagination? Is it financial in nature? Is it just simple fear of failure? I don’t know which it is for you but the pressures of life can create the brightest of diamonds.

Life can be so fleeting. The last six months have taught me that if nothing else. I simply refused to let my life be a cautionary tale of what happens when one denies themselves their dream because they fear being uncomfortable. My old mentor (God rest his soul) used this quote all the time and I believe it applies very well in this context.

“The graveyard is the richest place on earth, because it is here that you will find all the hopes and dreams that were never fulfilled, the books that were never written, the songs that were never sung, the inventions that were never shared, the cures that were never discovered, all because someone was too afraid to take that first step, keep with the problem, or determined to carry out their dream.” – Les Brown

I am determined to live in a post-Corona world by living the best life possible. I made plenty of excuses. I used many alibis. People all around us are feeling the impact of this new normal and then there are many around us that are re-inventing themselves and using the flood waters of adversity to rise above their circumstances. Don’t wait for the world around you to make you change. Change your world now! I hope you found this article helpful and insightful. Thanks for listening.

Pass Me Another Brick, Please!

This article is guaranteed to make many of you squirm. It’s also guaranteed to be the premise for a future article and a future episode of my podcast but bears repeating. We want to build our business brick by brick but we also often want others to help us.

I guess I’m not bright enough to realize this but I’ve been dabbling in entrepreneurship for almost 30 years. I was a singer-songwriter, multiple small business owner, producer, published author, business and personal life coach, blogger, and sales consultant. I probably left some roles out for sure. So that means I’ve been asking for friends and family to consider supporting me. A lot. I’m guessing I’m not alone.

I didn’t ask for money. I never asked for donations. What I did was ask for many that I know and trust and love to take a look, to consider, or to pass it onto someone else who has a specific need for said product.

Doesn’t sound too hard, right? This isn’t unreasonable, yeah? Well, it can be the equivalent of pulling teeth for the entrepreneurial adventurer.

Covid-19 impact set aside, it’s difficult to be a business owner. Not because the product isn’t good. Not because there is a huge divide between supply and demand. It’s not even because of the economic climate. It’s because of pure, unadulterated hate. Yep, hate in the sense that we use it in today’s vernacular. Like, “she’s hating on me because I got promoted!” kind of hate.

True story. My wife and I used to sell handmade ceramic art in downtown Charleston. Every night, we had to fight (theoretically) for relevance, not because of the quality of our product but because of people’s perceptions of us. By the end of the night, we were exhausted from answering the same questions with the same derisive tone, “Did YOUUUU make these?”

“Yes”, we replied with near robotic voices, “we made them by hand ourselves.”

Most would look us up and down and walk away in favor of the mass produced, poorly made version instead a few feet away. After a while, we became calloused to the micro-aggressions and just embarked on being intentional about enjoying the moment and the people we got to meet and the stories we got to hear.

In the medium that we worked in, a potential client will walk past nine tables that sell the exact same thing at similar costs. What makes that consumers decide to buy? The saying “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure.” To be brutally honest, we saw a lot of trash being sold.

Of course, it’s just my opinion. If it was made with straw, with gobs of glue speckled throughout, and a strong wind could tear it asunder, they still have to the right to value it over the work I put into my product. At the end of the day, we can question what someone is thinking, but it’s all about one’s perception.

I’m definitely going to discuss this at length in the near future because we really need to ask ourselves some tough questions. Does it make sense to use nearly all your budget for a more expensive (with recognizable name value) but not better made product and dismiss a sturdier, more quality product (by local small business owner) at merely a third of your budget? It may come down to how that buyer views the business owners specifically.

Sadly, if you have ever ventured into entrepreneurship, you may have already discovered that family treats you like that too. Sometimes people that “know” you (or think they do), they often attach their perceptions of you with what you can do. I’ve personally seen that up close as well.

If I ask you how does the enterprising entrepreneur move from obscurity to relevance, you might say “Hard work” or “determination”. Perhaps. I’ll add faith to that. Lots of it including your faith that your product satisfies a need and maybe YOUR faith in the entrepreneur that with a little boost, they might be able to make a go of this venture. They may just need a little help.

The takeaway if you haven’t already found one? As an entrepreneur, you have to keep going and you have to enlarge your tents and expand your territory. In my mind, I’ve built up enough cache over almost 50 years to have enough support for the reasonably good ideas that I’ve had. In. My. Mind. Thinking someone should be there for you is not a sound business practice.

They can eat with you. They can rest in your home. They can agree with what you say while you’re saying it. But the rubber may not meet the road when you need it to the most. You might be let down that your friends didn’t subscribe to your YouTube channel or your family haven’t donated to your non-profit but you can’t let go. Spread your net further than those you thought were a given to support you. Though painful to consider, they may just see the “business owner” in a way that differs from how you see yourself. Keep the train moving! Spread the net further and wider.

Let me let you in on a little secret that I stumbled upon in the mid nineties that still holds true today. Despite all the substandard products around you that seem to demand everyone’s attention, people, humans, consumers are still and always are attracted to a crowd. If there’s a crowd, we immediately surmise that coffee shop has something good, or that restaurant has some good sandwiches, etc.

One hot and muggy afternoon while selling our wares downtown, we were engaging a couple in conversation. They weren’t interested in buying anything at that moment but they were very interested in what we were doing. They were smiling, laughing, moving their hands, and very interested in hearing our story. We, in turn, we’re interested in hearing theirs as well. Soon, a small crowd began to form around our table. That crowd grew and grew and grew. We began to engage more people who were there listening to our story.

If I remember correctly, even the couple we were sharing with decided to purchase a gift for a relative. That was one of our most successful days. No sales pitches. No techniques or traps. Just enjoying the moment and being authentic. Even other vendors came over to our table to see what all the hubbub was about. They looked and looked and I gather they still couldn’t see it. Can you?

Please continue to follow us at mirrortimewithmistayu.wordpress.com. My company will be producing a second blog and podcast sometime in 2020. Be on the lookout for those exciting new projects! Also, MTWMY will begin to have a new look. Thank you for your patience and also thank you for your support with this growth we’re about to embark on! Thank you all!

At The End Of The Day

Fam, what a week! I can’t point to the weather or the news or any events in my personal relationships. I can’t even blame the 24 hour news cycle. Not sure why but everything that I normally do creatively has got a snag this week. No blog articles. No videos. No networking. Nothing. Nada. Zilch! Having been a writer for over two decades, I recognize writer’s block when I see it. Trust me guys. This ain’t that! So what it is?

Frustrated as this may be because I need to be effective, purposeful, functioning, working…… So when I’m not or unable to, it’s a rough day at the home office. Maybe you get that too? I’m plopped down on the couch after cutting 48,396 blades of grass. I’m spent but I really believe this state that we’re in can sometimes wear you down. You don’t have to watch the local or national news all day to be worn out. You don’t have to be in the house nearly 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to be exhausted with the norm. Anybody can just be flat out tired. Besides, we’re only human, right?

Getting tired is a fact of life. Getting tired during this new normal is life on steroids. This is unprecedented territory and we’re all, to some degree, just trying to figure it out. Some well, some not so well. So…….what are you going to do?

I mean, what will you do when all this is over? This, meaning self quarantine in a pandemic with the threat of a second wave of coronavirus, and millions of people sick and/or unemployed. I know we’re in the heat of the moment but have you ever thought about what you’re going to do? Going to work is one likely response. Going out to a restaurant or catch a movie might be another. Add shopping or catching a flight across the country or hop on a cruise ship and you have a long list of “stuff”.

So are you going to do some stuff? Just fill the gaps of a life spent in quarantine for months. What are YOU going to do? Have you changed during these many months? What are you seeing differently about yourself? What have you learned about the relationships you’ve invested so much into? Have you detected a heightened sense of creativity and maybe even a desire to break out of the norm and do something different, maybe a little scary, but out of the box? Have you experienced so much that, for you, it’s impossible to go back to the way things were? What are you going to change about you?

The lessons for life are readily available for you to glean from. Unfortunate and trying times have an uncanny knack for producing character in us. The day is coming soon. Better to answer the question for yourselves today. At the end of the day, you owe it to yourself to survey the landscape of your today and start reassessing your tomorrow. You can do stuff. Or you can truly, intentionally, authentically, creatively, functionally, and wholeheartedly do YOU.

Weak Made Strong

Inspiration can often come from the strangest places. Today, the inspiration came from an unexpected place.

So the weak person, the brother or sister for whom Christ died, is ruined by your knowledge. Now when you sin like this against brothers and sisters and wound their weak conscience, you are sinning against Christ. Therefore, if food causes my brother or sister to fall, I will never again eat meat, so that I won’t cause my brother or sister to fall. (I Corinthians 8:11-13)

Although I am free from all and not anyone’s slave, I have made myself a slave to everyone, in order to win more people. To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win Jews; to those under the law, like one under the law — though I myself am not under the law to win those under the law. To those who are without the law, like one without the law — though I am not without God’s law but under the law of Christ — to win those without the law. To the weak I became weak, in order to win the weak. I have become all things to all people, so that I may by every possible means save some. Now I do all this because of the gospel, so that I may share in the blessings. (I Corinthian’s 9:19-23)

For you were called to be free, brothers and sisters; only don’t use this freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but serve one another through love. For the whole law is fulfilled in one statement: Love your neighbor as yourself. (Galatians 5:13-14)

The verses are a precedence for how believers should treat others, and properly address the weaknesses of fellow believers. In today’s climate, when such weaknesses are identified, we mock and demean them and call them sheep. (Which animal would we be then? Just asking.)

We talk about liberty and freedom like they’re punchlines or a recitation of what someone told us and not what we fully understand. It’s amusing to see so many fight for a history that they don’t even want to understand. They’re so uncomfortable with it that they can’t even engage in discussions about it and they’d rather you “let it go” and “get over it”. (You guys seem the Vauxhh Booker video yet?)

I’ll even go one step further and say that many that claim to believe actually don’t because they said “yes” to a Savior and a faith because they hoped to have a better life and a cushion perhaps, for future behavior, and not because they were in danger and recognized a dire need to be saved. None of this is the Gospel. Think that’s where the problem starts and ends.

How it’s it possible that there’s so many of “us” claiming Jesus is our Lord and Savior but we prefer YouTube conspiracy videos and 24 hr news cycles over reading (and living) His words? How did we get so comfortable attacking our friends in our comment sections just to justify our position, without a thought for the damage we inflict? We’re caught at the strait gate and didn’t even know it. (Matthew 7:13)

In life and maybe in your upbringing, the stronger sibling is supposed to always protect the weaker sibling because of their love for them. Family is supposed to stand up for each other! Family lays down our lives for each other. (John 15:13) Is your stance or position that important, life and death, at the end of the day? Or do you just see yourself and your wants as higher than that of your neighbor?

In an episode of Big Bang Theory called the Space Probe Disintegration, Sheldon surprisingly tells Leonard that he makes compromises and sacrifices for his roommate all the time, much to Leonard’s shock. He lists not telling Leonard that he had lettuce in his teeth, even though everyone was laughing at him at the lunch table and not telling him that he knows how to drive all these years (a task he believed gave Leonard’s life purpose and meaning). At the end of the day, Sheldon calls its sacrifice but neither cost him anything of consequence. Although humorous in that sense, if freedom causes our fellow man to be bound or wounded, would you, at least, consider this may be a misuse of our good fortune.

So before we press “Send”, let’s rethink that next post or article share to let everybody know who you are. (They may never confront you but trust me, they know who you are. If they didn’t before, they do now.) Reconsider that next comment before it goes live. We’re in-fighting about facemasks, beaches, rights, telling “them” to clean up their own community when they want to talk about racial injustice in ‘Merica and people are still dying at a feverish place. Much of what you are hearing is not about country or freedom or liberty. It’s an anti-Gospel and anti-Christ sentiment because His love and His Word is absent and the love of this world is the impetus….We can pretend we didn’t see the Vauhxx Booker video, or conveniently forget about Breonna Taylor, or hope this George Floyd situation just goes away so you can get back to normal. You might not even want to remember Trayvon Martin. You have that right. We have liberty but many of us just don’t know how to wield this powerful weapon without destroying others. The Apostle Paul is teaching us today.

As normal, my intent isn’t to offend anyone. Think of this as me protecting you.

What’cha Gonna Do About It?

Fam, before we start talking, I had to tell you something. I can’t express enough how overwhelming the outpouring of support and encouragement has been the past couple days. Mirror Time doesn’t go without you guys so I appreciate the momentum and the subscriptions. I’m in uncharted territory but it’s a lot easier when I know I’m not alone. Thank you very much!!

So……. how are you guys doing? I assume you’re safe and well and not infected by Corona but how are you guys doing actually? Several of my friends have been reaching out and even park in my living room, full of questions such as: “How do I help you personally? What can I do to stand with you and show solidarity? What do you need from me?” These are questions from people who racked with guilt, uneasiness, and a lot of anxiety. Watching the local news, I’m sure, doesn’t help their emotional well being.

A feat all by itself I’ve been mainly silent for the last three weeks. When you are faced with questions like these, I can’t just shrug my shoulders and mumble “I don’t know”. My long, thought out answer every time I responded contained one very important and understated word: love.

However, when I speak of this crazy word, I’m not referencing a weapon we use to control people in relationships. It’s also not what we toss out as if checking off a moral box. It’s not the word on your favorite coffee mug about a city or your affinity for pizza. It means so much more than that. The current state of things around us prove, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that we still don’t understand this very tiny word.

Check this video out. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-QIxp9xaEGI&feature=share)

If you took the time to research this, you won’t see references to kissing, hand holding, ring purchasing, or a bouquet of flowers. What you will see is a word that strikes fear into the hearts of men and causes the earth beneath their feet to tremble violently: COMMITMENT. When you stand across from your wonderful soulmate and you say “I do”, commitment is what is implied and expected. When your best friend is in the hospital and they’re staring at the door, waiting for you to walk through it, that’s a commitment expectation. When you realize how much you have compared to the poor soul you’re gawking at, what makes you reach into your pocket or hand them a hot meal and a sincere smile, it’s because of commitment. Let’s unpack that last one.

See, the first two are easy and make sense. Heck, you’ve seen them on television so you know it’s a real thing. I want to talk briefly about the last point because that’s the one that is rarely emphasized or exhibited. Why? Because in those, there is no reasonable expectation of return. A farmer wouldn’t plant seed if he didn’t think he’d gain a harvest to feed his family. He makes an investment expecting some sort of return on his effort, time, and money.

When you give a hot meal to someone that is starving and destitute who is unable to repay you, the sacrifice takes a different tone. You are investing, knowing that you will not recompensed anything from that person or persons. You are simply exhibiting kindness. However……… that’s only partially true. You are not likely to receive anything from that person you are serving but there is a reward. (Cue ominous, suspenseful music)

Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ. (Colossians 3:23-24)

As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life. (I Timothy 6:17-19)

Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God. (Hebrews 13:16)

When you hear or read about biblical love, whether it be an innocent that could’ve wielded his mighty power and refused to give his life in exchange for yours or a recurring prerequisite for discipleship that is dependent solely on how we treat each other, commitment is the rubber that meets the road.

Now you, who claim to be bearer of such a great love, examine yourselves in the faith and see if it’s genuine. (2 Corinthians 13:5)

Do you hate your brother or sister? Do you think of your life as more valuable than those whom you feel are beneath you? Is your point more important than Jesus’s name and His Word? Is the God you serve justified in your closed eyes and mouths while injustice happens before you. Clearly, we are not all willing participants but we are all witnesses. Not what are you going to do about it?

When all has been heard, the conclusion of the matter is this: fear God and keep his commands, because this is for all humanity. For God will bring every act to judgment, including every hidden thing, whether good or evil. (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14)

Here’s another video I want you to check out:

Tell Me Where It Hurts

How are you doing today?

I honestly can’t see the root of your anxiety. I can’t discern the depth of your pain. I don’t know why your relationships end the same way. I can’t say, after decades of your efforts, why things haven’t changed for the better. But I care enough to ask some tough questions.

If you believe social media, there’s plenty who have it all together and have answers for any problem you might have. If you need a good dentist, if you crave Chinese food, if you need to vent about politics, or need relationship or fantasy football advice, we got you. I hope to speak with my pen and write what I’m deeply concerned about. I’m deeply concerned about you. I’m concerned that we can readily raid a supermarket, knowing that our neighbors could end up without. I’m concerned that we give our worship to a Hall of Fame sports figure or our favorite sporting events. I’m concerned that we can so easily forget that U.S. citizens (not some third world country) don’t have clean water (still), the state of our homeless population, and countless little children go to bed hungry every night. I forget it myself and that also concerns me.

But, forgive me, let’s talk about your problems. Do you have enough money? Would you like better relationships with your family? Would life be sweeter if you got that well deserved promotion? What if you were finally debt free? What if your business was more successful? If these all changed for the better, there’s one denominator that remains unchecked: YOU.

Fix every external circumstance you like but, at the end of the day, it’s still you running point. You’re still trying to captain your own ship. Money and success just serve to make you a “bigger – whatever you were” before the money and success came. These things can’t fill the voids and gaps in your heart. They don’t heal what ails you. They’re simply placebos for your spiritual condition. This is the reality for those of us that think we can make ourselves whole.

Now a certain man was there who had an infirmity thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he already had been in that condition a long time, He said to him, “Do you want to be made well?” (John 5:6)

Jesus asked the man a question that seemed obvious. The man was ill with a condition for nearly 40 years. The question wasn’t stupid. If the man only had faith in himself, that could explain his present state. How many of us are in the same place decades later, despite our best efforts? The man struck with this affliction put his faith in others to help him. He waited years for people to help him. He grew discontent that people didn’t understand. His faith was solely in man. After 38 years, he found himself face to face with an answer greater than what he could locate on his own. It wasn’t a relative or a friend. Because of that encounter, he experienced wholeness and he couldn’t take any of the credit.

During this pandemic, four loved ones departed from this life. They’re now face to face with the same power that healed the crippled man. Like many, who’ve experienced the same, I’m both numb but thoughtful about how we use the years we’re blessed with. So everything we do, every errant word we speak, every public action and private thought, every gift given, every forgiveness, every mercy, everything measured, judged, and accounted for. Tomorrow is not promised. Today seems all too brief. Would you be made whole today?

#WeAreHuman

The past few weeks, I have invited you along my journey through self-quarantine and along with it, much self reflection. The value of this blog for me, and from what I hear from some of you, is its honesty and its willingness to be open enough to look at ourselves in the mirror and at the end of the day, point to one singular idea: Be the change you want to see.

I’ve been reading a study on the book of Galatians. Even if you’re not acquainted but curious, you will find several relatable themes: Brotherly love, conflicts, fractured relationships, humility and compassion towards others, challenging the status quo, and being authentic in living out what we profess. All issues that are nearly as old as time itself. I’m going to try to capsulize them all in this article so bear with me please.

It’s probably overstated that we are in uncertain times lately. We can’t rely on the local or national news to provide us any level of comfort. Outside of an occasional story about puppies, a child raising money through a lemonade stand, or sports, we are force-fed fear, tension, and threats of disaster. That medium still does what is has historically done: give us what best fits the narrative they want us to accept.

I am convinced, via personal experience, that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is what truly heals what ails us. Seems hokey to some and impossible to others but I don’t trust humans, on our own, to do the right thing. (Jeremiah 17:9 sheds a little light on why I feel that way.) I am convinced that I cannot be my own god and I cannot competently make decisions that affect other people and it turn out well for all parties involved solely based on my own ideas and intellect. You don’t call Mitsubishi to resolve a Chrysler issue. You don’t consult GM to fix an RCA concern. If left to our own devices, we would have obliterated everything we’ve known by now. The world is not being held together by bubble gum and duct tape like some will have you believe. Whether we take stock of it or not, we are covered by grace. Grace that we can’t earn nor do we deserve. I know that I am messed up, despite my few good qualities, so I consult my manufacturer. For me, it’s that simple. Who knows me better than my Maker? (Romans 8:27-32 MSG)

Look no further than your relationships. I have some really great examples in recent friendship circles of people who are celebrating decades of marriage, all with one single commonality: They were not success because of them but in spite of them.

“He or she loved me despite how messed up I was.”

“I didn’t know what a healthy marriage was but now we’re celebrating 40 years of marriage.”

“I’m so grateful to have a best friend that loves me for me.”

Just a few examples that hits close to home but an ever present reminder that we are not successful solely because of our own hard work and effort. We are taught that from childhood so we often transition into thinking that we cannot have salvation and deliverance from life’s stuff unless we make a contribution into the saving process. We think we need to earn our way into being valid and acceptable and worthy. This is anti-Gospel and ineffective. That’s feeding into a void that is un-fillable. Eventually what we rely on (whether it’s our past experience, our degrees, our mentors, or our parents) becomes our master and we, their slave.

There’s nothing more frustrating than investing into something faithfully that you don’t see any fruits in. (I had a mini rant this morning while working in the yard. I have dug up clay, added fresh soil and seeds and grass and after nearly 1.5 years, I still don’t see the result I hoped for by now. Frustrating.) The old saying is “if you don’t learn from history, you’re doomed to repeat it.”

Take a look around. It doesn’t seem as though we are learning from our previous mistakes. Just a question to ponder: How valuable is a good deed from a corrupt source? A guy that takes a selfie of himself giving a homeless person some money is not humility. The camera and the desire to show his IG followers negates the selfless act. The philantropist that gives a sizable donation via check in his name to an organization while doing interviews, telling the world what he’s done is not humility. His name needing to be on the check and his drive to do public interviews negates the compassionate act. If left to our own devices, we will always orient to the part of us that needs glory, the part of us that needs constant validation and acceptance, the part of us that needs to be exalted to feel worthy. That’s part of the human condition and one we can’t ignore.

Some of us think we’re better than others due to our class, our financial portfolio, our cultural background. We think ourselves superior and others expendable. I read an article this morning on a proposal for mass use of an experimental drug – hydroxychloroquine – on those that live in the slums of Mumbai. In my opinion, as much as a cure is needed for the Coronavirus (I’ve lost some loved ones to the Virus), this is not fruit of a magnanimous heart but yet another example of how we view each other as humans. Who we think matter and who we think has lives that don’t matter as much as ours. I’ll eat these words when they start doing experimental testing in places like Scarsdale, NY, Greenwich, CT, Los Altos Hills, CA, etcetera. Hit me up when that happens.

Questioning the motives of others is something I am very well acquainted with. Questioning my own motives and why I support and “like” what I do is a new but necessary experience. Yes, we are human and that has the potential to be beautiful and ugly at given times. It can also be a valid excuse or a crutch for perceived bad behaviors. Yeah, we are definitely human but we desperately need the One that made us human in the first place.

#WeAreHuman #CheckYourselfBeforeYouWreckYourself

Take Our Balls And Go Home

I don’t have any new commentary on all of the dramatic and fast moving changes regarding the Coronavirus. Safety and wisdom are being stressed on an epic level. There’s a lot to think about regarding commerce, or personal finances, health and wellness, and the potential impact on things that we love and care about. I asked a question on social media that I thought was one of the biggest questions I’ve ever posed in that medium. Big for me and big for so many others. If we had to live without sports, how would our lives be different?

If you have loved your entire life without sports, the impact would be minimal. You didn’t have it do you wouldn’t miss it. But to the millions upon millions who were born and reared with professional sports in the background of their lives, their prized childhood memories, and even their vocation, it means a lot more than a minor inconvenience. Perhaps much more.

There’s a current string of postponements and cancellations of sports seasons and potentially more to come as the weeks progress. How do you feel about those? Does it impact you in a way you didn’t expect? Is the prospect of no professional sports causing you to spin out? Does your life seem less exciting or vital when the normally constant presence of sports is no longer available? I can’t imagine how many thoughts are running through your heads. I know how many are running through mines.

The absence of professional, collegiate, and intramural sports has a financial impact but it also has an emotional component. How do you replace something that has been a staple in your life for decades? Is that even possible?

Please share your thoughts and concerns. Let’s discuss.

The World From Your Window – 7/16/18

Hello everyone.

I hope you enjoy this abbreviated installment of “The World From Your Window”.

Please fully utilize the comments section with your thoughts and opinions. I’d love to hear how you view things in your world and in our world. Before we’re done, hopefully, you will see that sometimes there is a difference between the two.

So how does the world look from your window?

 

NOT OUR FRIEND

Source: (https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2018/07/16/republican-lawmakers-call-trump-putin-meeting-shameful/788752002)

This morning, President Trump met with Russian President Vladimir Putin and the results sparked outrage among both sides of the aisle. The worst offense to both Democrats and Republicans was that President Trump had the opportunity to assert the values of the U.S. and to confront Putin on the clear concerns about Russia’s involvement in the 2016 election. It is important to note that U.S. intelligence agree that Russia played some part in the 2016 election. But apparently that was not enough for Trump.

The President is known for being boisterous and confrontational on nearly every issue that arises, no matter how trite but today, he was neither. The result was outrage, shame, increased distrust, and suspicions about whether there is more to this story than we know. Here are quotes from several interested parties after today’s meeting.

“There is no moral equivalence between the United States and Russia, which remains hostile to our most basic values and ideals,” House Speaker Paul Ryan said.

“No prior president has ever abased himself more abjectly before a tyrant,“ said Sen. John McCain, the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee. “President Trump proved not only unable, but unwilling to stand up to Putin.” 

“Russia interfered in the 2016 election. Our nation’s top intelligence agencies all agree on that point,” Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, said in a statement. 

“Russia is not our friend,” Rep Trey Gowdy, R-S.C. said.

Former U.S. Rep. Joe Walsh tweeted that Trump “speaks more favorably of Putin. TRUMP WON’T STAND WITH HIS OWN COUNTRY. That’s it. That should be the final straw. It is for me. Trump was a traitor today. I cannot & will not support a traitor. No decent American should.”

Former CIA Director John Brennan, who worked for both President Barack Obama and President George W. Bush, tweeted that Trump’s performance at the Putin news conference “rises to & exceeds the threshold of ‘high crimes & misdemeanors,'” the threshold for impeachment. “It was nothing short of treasonous,” Brennan added.

“The only plausible explanation is the possibility that President Putin holds damaging information over President Trump,” said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. “The one person he hasn’t blamed is the person he stood shoulder to shoulder with this morning,” Schumer said, “Vladimir Putin.” 

• What would you have liked to see President Trump do during this meeting with Vladimir Putin?
• Do you believe the actions taken by the President were treasonous?
• It’s been speculated by some that blackmail is a possible reasoning for the “kid gloves” approach to this meeting. Do you believe that’s totally possible or farfetched?
• What is your opinion on the state of the country after this European trip?

 

COUPONING WHILE BLACK

Source: (https://abcnews.go.com/US/cvs-apologizes-black-customer-employees-involved-911-call/story?id=56623820)

I honestly thought I seen it all. Grilling hamburgers and hot dogs at a public park. Selling water in front of your own home. Having a business meeting at a local coffee shop. And now? Bringing a coupon to a store? Let the memes fly! I know this will be the next laughable moment on social media if it wasn’t for the fact that it is so sad and disgraceful. Guess we’ll call this joker “Couponing Cliff”…. I just can’t……

“CVS Health Corp. apologized to an African-American woman Monday after employees of one of its Chicago stores wrongly accused her of using a counterfeit coupon and called the police on her. The two employees who were involved in the Friday night incident “are no longer employed by CVS Health,” the national drugstore chain added in a statement.

The employees were apparently let go after customer Camilla Hudson, 53, posted a cellphone video on Facebook of one of them calling 911 on her and accusing her of using a phony coupon.

“We have sincerely apologized to Ms. Hudson for her experience in our Chicago stores,” the Rhode Island-based company said in the statement. “Our Region Director in Chicago contacted her as soon as we were made aware of the incident.

“We have completed our investigation, and as a result the two colleagues who were involved are no longer employed by CVS Health.”

Please share your thoughts in the comments section…. *shrugs*

• What is your first instinct when facing a situation where someone is breaking the law, confrontational or passive?
• Are you a “quick to action” type of person or are you a more deliberate thinker that requires details before making decisions?
• What do you believe is the cause for the uptick of the kind of issues highlighted in this article?
• How would you solve it if you were given the means and resources?

 

CHICAGO AGAIN?

Source: (https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/chicago-police-release-body-camera-footage-of-fatal-officer-involved-shooting-that-prompted-protests/ar-AAA6vqj)

In more news from Chicago (sigh….REALLY?), dash cam footage from the fatal officer involved shooting of 37-year-old, Harith Augustus this weekend were released. The video is less than a minute long and doesn’t include any sound. Protests sparked Saturday as a result of the frustration from an increase in officer involved shootings and what is perceived as a lack of justice and racism in the Chicago P.D.

“By 6 p.m. Sunday, at least 200 people, many of them demonstrators, gathered at the Jeffery Plaza, decrying the shooting in spite of the release of the video by police. Activist William Calloway and the relatives of several men fatally shot by police in the past spoke out against police and Mayor Rahm Emanuel before the group marched north on Jeffery Boulevard. A line of officers blocked the demonstrators from heading north of 67th Street near an entrance to Lake Shore Drive, turning them west and then south on Stony Island. Despite some angry shouting, including chants of “murderers,” the protest remained peaceful as of Sunday evening.”

In addressing reporters, Superintendent Eddie Johnson nodded at reform as the department has pledged to correct years of widespread department failings that were documented by the U.S. Department of Justice in a scathing report released early last year. It concluded that the department had engaged in civil rights violations against African-Americans and Hispanics, and failed to properly investigate or punish officers for misconduct. The report found that trust with the community was broken and that the department was also failing its officers with inadequate and shoddy training practices.

“If we expect neighborhoods to partner with the police, then the police have to do our part to be transparent without adversely affecting the integrity of the investigation,” Johnson said.

During a noontime news conference Sunday outside police headquarters, Calloway, the community activist, said he had already filed a Freedom of Information Act request with authorities seeking footage from body cameras, dashboard cameras and police surveillance cameras that might have captured Saturday’s shooting.

“This department is not fixed,” he said. “This department is racist … unconstitutional, and we’re tired of it.”

The shooting Saturday only heightened tensions being rubbed raw by fear that Officer Jason Van Dyke will be acquitted of Laquan McDonald’s murder in his upcoming trial, Calloway said.

“These tensions in the black community are flaring up, and we are going to see more of that,” he said.

This is a discussion that I have tried to have with many of my readership but I ask again. You hear the news stories. You see the snippets and clippings. You get the headlines. What is your primary reaction? Is it to turn the page or change the channel? Does it matter to you even though it’s in a different city than where you live? Do you believe you hold a well-rounded view of community affairs? If you could, how would you fix a system that is morally and unconstitutional to its core? Or would you give up because the system is just too big and too powerful to change now? I can keep asking you questions about how you feel about stories like these but I’d rather hear your opinions. Please feel free to share.

• If you are a person of color, how does this account make you feel at first glance?
• If you are not a person of color, how does this account make you feel at first glance?
• Are you influenced by the media in making a decision about right and wrong?
• How important is education to you when dealing with social and community issues in your world?
• How prevalent do you think these situations are in our country? (Without using Google, just your opinion)

 

This isn’t going anywhere any time soon. I am of the firm belief that we cannot conquer what we will not confront. This is prevalent in our world and the questions simply can’t be avoided. This could be a great time to start facing the elephant in the room instead of pretending he’s not there. Thank you for supporting Mirror Time. Please subscribe and keep commenting and sharing. It matters.

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