peace on earth, good will to all men

My idea of Christmas, whether old-fashioned or modern, is very simple: loving others. Come to think of it, why do we have to wait for Christmas to do that?
Bob Hope, American film actor and comedian

Christmas calls us to peace with all people – even those different than ourselves.

It happened in the midst of the fiercest fighting of World War I. It spanned all 500 miles of the Western Front, a jagged ever-changing line separating British and German forces. Newspapers around the world hailed it as miracle.

"All I'd heard for two months in the trenches was the hissing, cracking, and whining of bullets in flight, machinegun fire and distant German voices,” said Alfred Anderson. "But there was a dead silence that morning, right across the land as far as you could see. We shouted 'Merry Christmas’ to each other.”

Anderson, who was 108 years old when he spoke those words, was the last survivor of the Christmas Truce of 1914, a spontaneous event that he experienced at 18 years of age and one that he had thought of every day since.

There are numerous first hand accounts from soldiers’ journals of how this seemingly spontaneous outburst got started. But the story most remembered was that a German soldier began singing “Stille Nacht” and his solo soon became a chorus as he was joined by English voices singing “Silent Night.” A British regiment serenaded the Germans with “The First Noel” and the Germans sang back to them, “O Tannenbaum.”

Men from both armies laid down their weapons and crept cautiously and then quickly into No Man’s Land to share food, cigars, drinks – and even play a game of soccer together.

Christmas has always been a time when people of all ages, races, and creeds come together to break bread peacefully. Like the Truce of 1914 sometimes even sworn enemies have laid aside historical and more recent hostilities.

In the Christmas story, a newborn Baby was given gifts by Wise Men from the East, probably Persians from a city in what is now Iran. When these Magi realized that King Herod was a threat to the Baby’s life, they protected him by returning home by a different route in order to keep his location a secret from the madman. This Baby was sheltered during his childhood in Egypt, a country that had fought many wars with his homeland.

When angels sang to shepherds, ‘Peace on Earth, good will to all men,” they announced the simple yet profound truth that enemies can be reconciled; that strangers can become friends; that those who think and believe differently can still be neighbors. Christmas was literally born in strife – but celebrated and protected by “foreigners” who were men and women of peace and good will.

As you experience the Christmas season this year, don’t think that peace is something to be negotiated by politicians between lands and peoples that are thousands of miles from your world. Begin with how you look at those who are different than you. Does your attitude proclaim that you are a person of peace and good will? Move closer to home and ask yourself if there is a relationship where you need to lay down weapons of anger and harmful words? Is there a person with whom you need to call a truce and be reconciled? Not just for a day but from this point forward?

holidays are for games: 3 recommendations

The online video gaming industry is huge and getting huger every year - almost as big as Hollywood and on a growth trajectory that will continue to cut into the TV audience for sports. But for all the realism and sophistication found in the new product launches and annual updates, video games lack something important that can still be found in playing old school board games: face-to-face human interaction and intimacy.

It's almost Christmas. A lot of people will be off work with vacation time and a lot of families and friends will gather to celebrate and catch up. Tis the season when classic board games like Life, Trivial Pursuit, Monopoly. Clue, and Scrabble will be lifted down from top closet shelves and dusted off.

Here are three random game ideas that you might want to try with your friends and family members.

1. Settlers of Catan. My soon to be son-in-law brought this to our family Christmas gathering last year and the award-winning game was an instant hit. Think of Risk on steroids without the cannons and destroyed troops. The board comes in about 30 pieces and can be set up different every time. Up to six can play. The goal is to get 10 'victory points', which are gained by building roads, settlements, cities, and armies. Players have to accumulate wood, bricks, ore, sheep, and grain through strategically building settlements in the right spots - and through good old fashioned barter with other players. Sounds complicated but it only takes 15 to 30 minutes to learn. There are game extensions in the Catan family that can take you on the ocean or to outer space or into particular historical epochs, like the Roman Empire.

2. Fast Scrabble. I like regular Scrabble just fine but if you want an interesting variation try 'fast scrabble.' All tiles are placed in the middle of the table face down. The first player turns over a tile. If it's a one-letter word like 'I' or 'A' then the first player to call out the word gets to keep the tile, face up, in front of him or her. If it's not a word, the tile remains with the person who turned it over as a free letter. The second player turns over a tile and again, whoever calls out a word, made from that letter or that letter and any other letters that are face up, gets all the tiles to make a new word. If 'A' came up first and then 'M' came up second, player three can call out 'Am' and keeps that word in front of him. If the third letter pulled up is 'C' then the first player can call 'Cam' and all letters come back to him or her. If the next letter is an 'E' then someone can yell 'Came' and the tiles are now all theirs. Once a word is formed the letters must stay intact and in that order but can switch to different players throughout the game. 'Oven' can become 'Coven' can become 'Covens' and so on. When all tiles have been turned over, each player adds up the points on their tiles that are formed into words and subtracts any letters that are sitting free. Loud. Fast. Fun.

3. Team Hybrid Game Night. One of our favorite activities during the holidays is a family and/or friend game night where we divide into teams and play a combination of popular games, a new one each round. This works best with four or five teams going four to five rounds. We like to use Trivial Pursuit (each team is asked every question on a single card per round and is awarded 10 to 20 points per correct answer), Pictionary (50 points for identifying the picture), Tabu (20 points per correct word), Outburst (10 points per correct word), Scene-It (all teams compete at once in an 'All Play'), but you can come up with a myriad of other options, like Charades or Family Feud, by adapting your favorite games into the process. One of the nice things about the team approach is that you can enjoy competition but no one gets singled out as not being good at something like Trivial Pursuit. I like to do a final round where points are doubled and each team gets to choose which of the previous games played they want to try.

Whether you're gearing up to drive to Grandma's or are hosting a group of friends on Christmas afternoon, don't get stuck in the rut of staring at the TV screen and missing out on the people around you. Games or no games, find ways to interact face-to-face.

welcome to the 'wild side'

My dad worked for General Motors for 37 years, his only full-time employer. My wife's dad worked for Du Pont for 35 years after a brief stint with IBM. Who knows - he might have been with IBM for 37 years if they had permanently assigned him to the Nashville office rather than sending him to Upstate New York.

My career, which began at a local church as a youth pastor, and which includes three significant "employment" eras - plus a 5-year run of having my own company serve as my sole means of support - has been a much different path.

This past week I concluded a three year return to the corporate world. I moved to Nashville in late 2005 to launch a specialty book division with Integrity Publishers. When Integrity was acquired by Thomas Nelson, I served in the same publisher role with a much larger company over a well-established business unit. With the publishing industry in a major funk - and no bailout being trumpeted on CNN - now was and is the time for me to get back to running my own business.

One of the first responses I got to my announcement was from a good friend, also independent and entrepreneurial in mindset, who sent me a text that said 'welcome back to the wild side.' As someone who has thought he might be bankrupt and then wealthy and then bankrupt all in the same year, I can only smile - I can't argue with his choice of words.

I've been asked if I'm worried about not being with a big company in what may be the worst economic times since the Great Depression. Well, last I heard on TV, General Motors needs money from the government this week or it may be forced into Chapter 7, which means the doors would close.

I've been told I'm the luckiest guy in the world. I've been told I'm crazy. Both statements are undoubtedly wrong - and right - for different reasons! Bottom line, I don't think there's a one-size-fits-all plan for navigating the white water rapids of today's workplace. My inclination is that I won't return to corporate (never say never), but I wouldn't recommend that as the plan for everyone. Know thyself.

I would offer three simple observations that might serve as counsel and advise for someone reading this.

1. Everyone needs more than one "customer." Your employer may be your boss and your means of financial support, but your employer is also a customer for your services. Is it smart to have one customer? Maybe it was in a bygone era but in times of economic turbulence, when many companies are struggling to stay alive, that's probably not the case. But isn't that kind of thinking disloyal and dishonest? I'm obviously not condoning or advocating the stealing of time and resources from the one paying you, but there's nothing dishonorable in using gifts and skills, some of which may not have an outlet in your primary job, in ways that meet the needs of other customers.

2. Hard work is the order of the day. Duh. That may seem too obvious to mention but let's face it, we do live in an incredibly comfortable epoch of world history - with lots of our free time devoted to entertainment. A friend - and yes, he too is independent and entrepreneurial in his mindset - sent me this word of wisdom recently: "He who works his land will have abundant food, but he who chases fantasies lacks judgement" (Proverbs 12:11).

3. Ultimately, there is no security in your own labors. So what's the point in trying? There is great reward in working hard and working savvy, but the only true security is found in faith in God. The words of Job, who was the wealthiest man of his day, who lost his wealth, his health, and his family in a series of calamities, still ring true today: "Let him not deceive himself by trusting what is worthless, for he will get nothing in return" (15:31).

So whether your company is definitively in the black or the red, whether your career is booming or languishing, all I can say is 'welcome to the wild side!'

murketing and the fine art of sincerity in marketing

"Fast Times" just released their top 10 business books for the year and Rob Walker's Buying In was second on the list.

Amazon's starred review says:

Brands are dead. Advertising no longer works. Weaned on TiVo, the Internet, and other emerging technologies, the short-attention-span generation has become immune to marketing. Consumers are “in control.” Or so we’re told.

In Buying In, New York Times Magazine “Consumed” columnist Rob Walker argues that this accepted wisdom misses a much more important and lasting cultural shift. As technology has created avenues for advertising anywhere and everywhere, people are embracing brands more than ever before–creating brands of their own and participating in marketing campaigns for their favorite brands in unprecedented ways. Increasingly, motivated consumers are pitching in to spread the gospel virally, whether by creating Internet video ads for Converse All Stars or becoming word-of-mouth “agents” touting products to friends and family on behalf of huge corporations. In the process, they–we–have begun to funnel cultural, political, and community activities through connections with brands.

Walker explores this changing cultural landscape–including a practice he calls “murketing,” blending the terms murky and marketing–by introducing us to the creative marketers, entrepreneurs, artists, and community organizers who have found a way to thrive within it. Using profiles of brands old and new, including Timberland, American Apparel, Pabst Blue Ribbon, Red Bull, iPod, and Livestrong, Walker demonstrates the ways in which buyers adopt products, not just as consumer choices, but as conscious expressions of their identities.

Part marketing primer, part work of cultural anthropology, Buying In reveals why now, more than ever, we are what we buy–and vice versa.

Halfway through and enjoying the book tremendously, I would simply argue that murketing is not a new concept but is as old as commerce itself. Anyone else ever been asked by someone if they can bring over a pizza only to discover that the real agenda was not breaking bread but a sales presentation? My personal experience with that exact scenario, probably atypical, was as bad an example of murketing as you'll ever witness.

But whether done online or as a door-to-door visit; whether done well (which probably means sincerely or with the appearance of sincerity) or poorly (you tricked me into thinking you cared about me but it sure appears that you only want to sell me something); whether the starting point is as a provider or purchaser of the goods or service; the blending of who we are with what we offer - murketing - is perhaps the most proven form of selling and marketing ever known.

A man known as the "greatest salesman in the world" (think of the Og Mandino classic by that same name) was also a great example of a murketer. St. Paul was nearly obsessed with defending his sincerity in sharing the gospel - to the point that he maintained his trade as a tent maker so that no one would accuse him of being a money grubber. A typical self-defining statement from Paul can be found in 2 Corinthians 4:2 (The Message):

We refuse to wear masks and play games. We don't maneuver and manipulate behind the scenes. And we don't twist God's Word to suit ourselves. Rather, we keep everything we do and say out in the open, the whole truth on display, so that those who want to can see and judge for themselves in the presence of God.

The prevailing definitions of murketing in Buying In is "marketing that parades as non-marketing" - which sounds a lot more like something from Machiavelli's The Prince than Paul's letter to the Corinthians!

But no matter what direction you tackle the concept of murketing - a technique to be learned, a ploy to be wise to, an interesting study of the Internet and emerging sales behavior or a 'same old, same old' yawn - it's hard to refute the notion that the best selling in life comes from those who have most bought into that which is being sold.

That's why we like our personal trainers to be fit, our dessert chefs to be plump, and our preachers to be holy.

Now, about that pizza I was bringing over!

when less is more

The 2004 documentary, Super Size Me, followed producer and director Morgan Spurlock as he ate at the same fast food restaurant three times a day for 30 days. Every time he was asked if he would like to "supersize" a meal, he said yes. During that time he put on 24.5 pounds and reported mood swings, sexual dysfunction, and liver damage. I took him more than a year to lose the weight he put on.


Folks, Spurlock was a professional film producer, so do not try that stunt at home!

His exaggerated foray into the world of too much of the wrong kind of food is a great reminder that less really can qualitatively be more.

Just as less fat, sugar, and processed wheats often adds up to better health, there are countless other "lesses" that would help you experience significant "mores" in life.

Imagine a departure from partaking of too much escapist entertainment ... holding grudges and harboring resentments ... filling in too many blanks in the calendar ... overspending ... overeating ... gossiping too much.

Just think of how much more health and peace is available when you pursue a path that Robert Frost described as "less travelled"!

broke for the holidays

You might be broke for the holidays if ...

1. you think Ebeneazor Scrooge is a great role model

2. the cashier at Wal-Mart begins to laugh hysterically after you swipe a credit card that you thought might have a little credit left on it to pay for your purchase

3. you decide that friends and family members really would prefer a homemade present from you even though you've never made anything homemade in your life

4. you ignore the Salvation Army bell ringer and use your pocket change to play the lottery

5. you raid your closet to find unused gifts from last year that you can wrap as presents this year

6. you undercut prices of the kid down the street to grab market share in the snow shoveling business in your neighborhood

7. you show up at your rich cousin's house for Thanksgiving and stay through New Year's Day

8. you volunteer to help at a soup kitchen so you can take your spouse out for dinner

9. you go Christmas caroling in your neighborhood and carry a very large tip jar

10. you head downtown to look for beggars you can borrow money from

11. you decide on a fresh cut Christmas tree this year ... and it's the tree that used to be in your next door neighbor's backyard

12. you announce that hors d' oeuvres for the party at your house will be served in the food section at Sam's Club

Okay, being broke for the holidays really isn't funny and is certainly no laughing matter if you are the one impacted by it. On the other hand, everyone knows that Americans are too materialistic in general and put way too much emphasis on spending money to make the holidays jolly. We also suspect this is going to be a much leaner holiday season for millions.

So this might be the year a number of individuals and families change their priorities and spending habits for the Christmas season out of necessity - and find themselves richer for the experience. That same individual or family will hopefully be reminded of the importance of generosity and giving in future years when they have plenty because they'll remember what it feels like to be without and be much more aware of the needy around them.

Whether broke or rolling dough this year. just remember that the ho ho ho that springs from a generous always sounds better than bah humbug heard from a miserly heart!

So how do you plan to spend the holidays?

no more mr. weis guy?

No one wants to see someone lose their job. Though in the case of Charlie Weis, head football coach for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, I am almost willing to make an exception.

Now, before you think I'm an uncaring ogre, let me point out that if Charlie Weis were to be fired as Notre Dame's head football coach at the end of this season, he would get a buyout in the neighborhood of $15 to $20 million dollars. Another way of looking at that would be to say he just won the lottery. So he and his family would not go hungry.

I'm not alone in keeping an eye on this situation. There are several reasons this is a huge point of scrutiny and discussion right now - even by college football coaching standards, where serial hiring and firing comes with the territory. I'll hit the political reason last and start with how the Golden Domers are playing. On the field, over the last two seasons, after a successful 9-3 record in Weis's first season, Charlie's Notre Dame football team has -

*lost 13 of their last 21 games
*been shut out 3 times, including this past Saturday to Catholic rival, Boston College
*lost to Navy after 43 straight wins over the Naval Academy (think this Saturday's game in Baltimore is a big deal to Charlie?)
*had the first ever 9-loss season, which was the worst season in the 120-year history of the program
*scored 13 points in the first three games of last year
*accumulated a 1-15 record in their last 16 games against teams with a winning record

Even the leprechaun mascot looks shell shocked - and a little smaller. He traditionally does a push up for each point on the scoreboard every time Notre Dame scores. Not a real grueling workout for him these days and it shows. Can you blame alumni, fans, and even the priests for getting a little hot under the collar? (Yuk yuk.) After all, Notre Dame is the second winningest team in the history of college football with 829 wins and 42 ties in 1,139 games played.

The scoring woes of the Irish are amazing in light that they are coached by an "offensive genius" who boldly declared upon being hired to his first head coaching position that Notre Dame would have a strategic advantage over every team they played based on his tenure as offensive coordinator for the New England Patriots. The Patriots have fared much better on offense than have the Irish since Charlie's move to South Bend.

The reason so many rival fans are rubbing their hands together in undisguised glee over Weis being on the hot seat is his record of perceived arrogance, which many feel has rivaled the arrogance of the fan base. (Yuk yuk yuk!)

Now to the politics. Off field, the reason this has become such a big deal is that an African American was elected president of the United States of America.

Huh? Obama is in charge of college football, too?

Nope but there's a connection. The man he replaced, Ty Willingham, is African American and many thought Notre Dame gave him the shaft when they suddenly dumped him with two years left on his contract, something the school had never done, not even in the tumultuous Gerry Faust era. Now the coach at University of Washington, Willingham is just one of just six African American head coaches in college football - a number that could very well be cut in half at season's end when he, Ron Prince at Kansas State, and Sylvester Croom at Mississippi State possibly get the axe and lose their jobs as expected.

What's brought on the renewed scrutiny is that Willingham was fired by the Golden Domers after three seasons with a 21-15 record. With three games to play in his third season, including an almost certain loss coming up against USC, Charlie Weis is 22-15. Since there is such little difference in their records, groups like the Black Coaches Association and fans and commentators of all colors are watching closely to see if the two men will be treated the same by Notre Dame's administration.

Even if their records are nearly identical it doesn't mean their situations are the same and I am loathe to interpret Notre Dame's action against Ty Willingham and possible inaction against Charlie Weis in racial terms, though on face value, the facts look more than a bit damning. One need not be self-consciously racist to behave in a racist manner.

But there are factors besides race, most notably simple economics, by which Weis could survive another season as head coach. Sure, Notre Dame with its own television network contract can afford to buy Weis out of his contract. But will they be willing to write that kind of check in the midst of a national financial crisis? That would generate a whole other set of questions. Stewardship by a Christian institution comes to mind.

Under coaches like Knute Rockne and Frank Leahy it became popular to talk about the Luck of the Irish. What we're about to discover in the next month in regard to the running of the Notre Dame football machine has much more to do with the Pluck of the Irish!

That leaves just one conclusion.

Go Navy!

the $700 bailout: overheard conversations

Prelude

Government: Everyone in America should have the right to pursue the American dream, which everyone knows is owning a house. But not everyone can afford it. The dream or the house. Therefore we will legislate that lenders must give loans to anyone who meets certain minimal criteria - and lower the criteria.

Part 1 At the Broker

Customer: I'd like to borrow money for a house but I've not saved any money.
Broker: No problem. Since the price of houses will always go up, we don't require a down payment any more.
Customer: Cool. Oh, and one other thing. My employer is a jerk sometimes and might not fill out the earnings verification form.
Broker: No problem. We have a new financial instrument called the "Liar's Loan" - we let you verify your own wealth, employment, and income.
Customer: Really? Cool! You're not worried even a little I won't pay you back?
Broker: Nah. It's not my money. A bank will provide the actual funds. I get my commission whether you pay it back or not.
Customer: Cool!

Part 2 At the Bank

Banker 1: We've got to get rid of some of these loans. They smell bad. And they're attracting flies.
Banker 2: But how do we get rid of them?
Banker 1: We'll sell them.
Banker 2: Who would be dumb enough to buy these stinky things? Especially with all the flies on them.

Part 3 At the Wall Street Investment Bank

Real Estate Fund Manager: Man, we've got to get rid of these mortgages. They stink! And they're attracting flies.
Assistant Real Estate Fund Manger: But who would be dumb enough to buy these stinky things?

Part 4 At the Institutional Investment Firm

School Board Pension Guy: You sure this is a good investment opportunity? I hear there are problems in the mortgage industry.
Advisor: No problemo.  These things are as safe as anything in America. The Investment Banks wouldn't buy a bunch of stinky individual mortgages and put them in one basket and say they are good would they? Besides, they've divided the security into three traunches: good, okay, and bad. Since we're dealing with your pension funds, we'll only buy the good ones. They are AAA rated securities. I'd like to get a higher rate of return but that is available only on the bad securities - and you know how the Investment Banks are; they save the good bad stuff for themselves. If you're still worried just be aware that the Investment Banker even bought bond insurance on your good ones.
School Board Pension Guy: Cool.

Part 5 Back at the Wall Street Investment Bank

Assistant Real Estate Fund Manager: Boss, I know those new securities you came up with are strong sellers but I have one question. Don't we have to show the mortgages on our books?
Real Estate Fund Manager: (Rolls eyes and gives a little laugh.) Nope. The Government allows us to set up something called an SPV - a special purpose vehicle. We did ours in the Cayman Islands. The SPV carries the stinky loans on their books, not ours. We are AAA rated for those wanting a safe investment. Heck, even our so so securities in the second traunch are rated BBB for those with a little more risk tolerance. The question is irrelevant anyway.  Housing prices always go up.
Assistant Real Estate Fund Manger: Boss, you're a genius.

Real Estate Fund Manager: I know.

Interlude

Government: We are going to hold companies accountable through Sarbanes Oxley and make them declare Market Value on their books every day. Plus we'll punish rogue CEOs who inflate values. Now everyone knows we mean business. We demand transparency from our investment companies, too. That's why we have the SEC. The thing is, too much transparency gets a little confusing. And Americans don't like confusing.

Part 6 A Meeting of the Minds

School Board Pension Guy: Hey, where are our payments?!
All Others: Sorry, the jerks who borrowed money on the houses can't make payments.
School Board Pension Guy: But you said that housing prices always go up and they could refinance their mortgages with low interest ARMs if they got in trouble.
All Others: Sorry. We're as upset as you are. But there's nothing we could have done to see this coming. Housing prices always go up you know.
School Board Pension Guy: But I only bought the good securities. The AAA ones. That means I get paid back first. That's what you said.
All Others: Sorry. There are more problems with the loans than we thought. Sarbanes Oxley isn't helping either. No one is getting paid back squat right now.
School Board Pension Guy: But you bought bond insurance in case this happened!
All Others: (Laughter.) Do you really think an insurance carrier has set aside that much money? Sorry.
School Board Pension Guy: Is all you can say, "Sorry." You'll pay for this you know.
All Others: Listen, no time to finish the conversation right now. We have a high powered meeting to attend at a resort in the Cayman Islands.
School Board Pension Guy: You haven't heard the end of this. Like I said, you'll pay for this!
All Others: You really think so?

Postlude

Government: People are so gullible and get themselves in such messes. I guess it's up to me to save them again from themselves. My work is never done. But I'm up to it. I'm about giving them the American dream after all!

when football isn't about football

Just like thousands of other venues in America on a Friday night, September 5 was a great setting for high school football at Raptor Stadium in Brentwood, Tennessee. Our team had just come off a huge win the week before, knocking off powerhouse Brentwood Academy, which was ranked #10 in the country by USA Today at game time. We were the first team in Williamson County to do so in 31 years. Ever. My son, Bo, caught the winning score with 12 seconds to go. He had 12 tackles, an acrobatic interception, and a couple of huge receptions. Football recruiting letters had been flowing in all year, but that next week they had overflowed the mailbox with requests for BA game film.

You could just feel it in the air. The Raptors were poised to post another upset against undefeated Franklin High and reassert our status as one of the top teams in the state.


We tailgated with our RHS Quarterback Club friends. We got to our seats early and watched he band march in. Right before the National Anthem, Bo strode to the middle of the field with three teammates for the coin flip. The game got underway. We groaned when Franklin took an early lead on a long touchdown run but we weren't worried. No big biggie. The Raptor team and coaches had sky high confidence and so did the fans.

It was our second drive. A simple bubble screen. QB Alex Williams pivoted and threw a pass to Bo who set up just a few yards behind the line of scrimmage out wide. He went up in the air to snag the catch and the instant he landed, the cornerback who had read the play instantly and was running full speed hit him. Now this is my ninth year to watch Bo play football - might have missed one game in all those years but not more than one - and I know this about him. Bo isn't into personal drama out in public ... and he's never stayed down after a play in football. But he stayed down.

I do like a bit of drama but I knew he would hate it if we made a scene and rushed down to the sideline so Amy and I just stayed in our seats. I knew he was hurt but didn't want to speculate how bad. When they stood him up about a minute later and helped him to the sideline and he could put zero weight on his right leg I still kept saying to myself it was all going to be okay and he'd be back in the game soon. When the trainer got word up to me that I needed to get my butt down there, I finally started the internal negotiation process that the injury might be real bad. I reached him on the sideline where the team doctor and trainer let me know that Bo might have a torn ACL and MCL. Pretty horrific news for an athlete with the desire to play college football or continue his track career. They got him on the cart as an ambulance was backed up to the front gate. The raucous stadium got eerily quiet. I gave Bo's hand a quick squeeze and he held on. That's when I knew he was really hurt. Holding hands with his dad in front of a couple thousand friends isn't his style.

He and I cried our guts out on ambulance ride to Williamson County Medical Center. The staff from the front desk to nurses and doctors were wonderful. We were still operating under the assumption that his knee was torn up and the first relatively good news was that the MRI technician was still in the hospital and we could get the damage assessed that night rather than having to wait until Monday. It was two hours after the accident that we began to move him from his bed in the ER to another that would take him back to the MRI room for tests. Halfway from one bed to another his upper leg went a couple different directions at once and started spasming. He had been in a bit of a stupor but he was suddenly wide awake and in intense pain - no pain killers had been administered yet. Morgan, his girlfriend, had left the game and was holding his hand when this happened and he gave her a hard enough squeeze that between that and the sight of his leg moving in ways a leg should not move she about passed out. The nurse looked at the doctor right then and said quite definitively that Bo hadn't torn his ACL but had a broken femur. Staff rushed a portable X-Ray machine into the room and within 15 minutes she was proven right. We've adopted her as part of Raptor Nation for that and all the other kindnesses she showed.


You know it's a rough night when a broken leg is good news but it was a rough night and so the news was good. A clean break. A rod would be inserted the next morning. Full recovery - stronger than ever - the prognosis.

Ravenwood students and players had begun gathering in the waiting room and with a mercifully slow night in the ER they were allowed to come back and be with Bo. I think we had at least fifty or sixty kids gathered around him at one point. Steven, one of his best friends, just couldn't bear to be close. He hung back with head and eyes downcast. But Ricky, ever emotional, started sobbing. He was joined by Will, a 270-pound right tackle. Will and Ryan never stopped crying. I had but couldn't not start back up. Then it was mom and grandparents and the cheerleaders. Then it was the coaching staff. We started and stopped crying too many times to count over the next three or four hours. Franklin's coach stayed in touch with Coach Rector to let him know his boys felt terrible for Bo and had gathered to pray for him after the game. My blackberry never stopped vibrating with texts and calls flying in from all over the country as word got out.

The Saturday surgery went smoothly and was deemed a success. Ravenwood High School set up residence at WCMC. At one point we learned he had been admitted as "anonymous" so we went down to let them know that it was okay to identify him by name and allow people to come up and see him. "Don't worry, every body's found him" was the reply. Bo didn't go to school the next week. His hospital room and then our living room, his new convalescent center, looked like Christmas in September with a slew of presents and cards. College coaches called to let him know he was still being recruited. Neighbors, teachers, friends, Young Life leaders ... all came by to wish him well and many to say a prayer with him.


Last night was four weeks from the accident. He drove to school for the first time earlier that day. He got rid of his crutches completely two days earlier. He's doing his therapy and lifting upper body weights five days a week. Subsequent X-Rays show the unmistakeable image of a knee-to-hip rod, but you have to look hard to find the line where the complete break occurred.

I already knew that high school football wasn't really about football. At least not just about football. But if I've ever forgotten that while caught up in the spirit of competition, I'll not forget it again.

Student council isn't about running schools but teaching leadership. Scouting isn't about camp outs but learning responsibility. And football isn't about touchdowns and tackles but discipline, teamwork, loyalty, overcoming adversity, and being there to cry with a friend who is down.

I'd still rather Bo be playing on the field his senior season but I'm grateful to watch him on the sidelines with his teammates, as big a part of his team as ever. Because football isn't just about football.

'sparking' controversy at the video music awards

Poor Russell Brand was humiliated after he had to publicly apologize to the Jonas Brothers after making fun of them for wearing chastity rings throughout his gig as host of the MTV Video Music Awards. At least he can take comfort that Courtney Love, perhaps best known for shooting heroin while pregnant, is defending him and declared on Facebook that the brothers are 'asses'. Ouch. That's got to hurt.

Good for Brand that the international community is coming to his defense as well. Sharon Owens of the Belfast Telegraph frets:

I just hope he makes it out of the US in one piece after calling President Bush a “retarded cowboy” at the MTV awards. Apparently he had a go at professional virgins the Jonas Brothers too. But somebody made him publicly apologise for what he said about promise rings. Spoilsports!

Indeed.

What sparked all the talk and controversy was 17-year-old Jordin Sparks, American Idol winner and pop diva, who interrupted her moment as a presenter to let Brand know, "Not every guy or girl wants to be a slut."

Gasp. What cheek!

But seriously, it's true. In some circles she will be criticized harshly while English comedian Brand calling a head of state "retarded" will barely raise a stir.

Speaking in the context of a world war filled with both heroes and cowards, another Englishman, C.S. Lewis said, "We laugh at honor and are shocked to find traitors in our midst." I wish I could say things like that but all I can come up with is a little repetitive: "we scoff at virtue and wonder what happened to virtue?" T.S. Elliot once said, "In the twentieth century we are obsessed with turning roses into weeds." So far the 21st century moral garden doesn't look too different.

I don't know the full significance of the placement, but it is interesting that King David, writer and collector of Psalms, began that work with a simple proverb (Psalms 1:1, NIV).

Blessed is the man
who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked
or stand in the way of sinners
or sit in the seat of mockers.

In our connected age that is virtually an impossible task.

I'm guessing this incident will be good for Brand's career. But it is good to know that the 'shock jock' was out-sparked by a simple defense of honor.

Labor Day: It Beats the Alternative

Founded in 1882 (or 1884) by machinist Matthew Maguire (or by carpenter Peter McGuire), Labor Day in the United States - ratified as a federal holiday in 1894 (maybe; and maybe again in 1898) and by all 50 states as a state holiday - is celebrated on the first Monday of September each year.

In the words of McGuire (no one can remember what Mcguire said), Labor Day should be a "worker's holiday" to honor those "who from rude nature have delved and carved all the grandeur we behold." (His reference to "rude nature" does take a little luster off the honor.)

By a resolution of the American Federation of Labor Convention of 1909, the Sunday preceding Labor Day was adopted as Labor Sunday and dedicated to the spiritual and educational aspects of the labor movement (Source: Department of Labor website.) But that seemed like too much work and conflicted with church services so it never quite caught on. Over time, another hallmark of the holiday, highly charge political speeches on the evils of the Bourgeoisie's exploitation of the Proletariat, faded away also. We can thank long-winded politicians, the NFL, and the defeat of Communism for that.

Ever since Adam's Curse in the garden (Genesis 3:17-19), though, there has been a definite negative connotation associated with work.

Cursed is the ground for your sake;
In toil you shall eat of it
All the days of your life.

Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you,
And you shall eat the herb of the field.

In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread
Till you return to the ground,
For out of it you were taken;
For dust you are,
And to dust you shall return.

Karl Marx, writing from his comfortable upper middle class lifestyle in London, England, couldn't help but express outrage over the horrific conditions for much of the worldwide working class, though his assertion that industrialization separated 'man' from the fruit of his labors failed to note that the life expectancy of farmers wasn't very long either.

A negativity toward work, even by those who ply their trade in safe, comfortable, life enhancing environments with free coffee and real half and half, persists. For example, if someone works long hours today and shows a fondness for work, he or she is labelled a 'workaholic' - someone with an obvious and dangerous psychological deficiency. One of the cool fantasies of the modern American worker is to quit a job that doesn't meet his or her need for self-actualization.

I have no desire to argue against the theology of the Curse. But I would posit that there is something a lot worse than work. No work. Just ask yourself this question, who looks happier and lives better, the one who is out of work or the one who is gainfully employed?

I like what friend and author, Richard Exley, presented in The Rhythm of Life. The best life, the fulfilled life is one that has the proper balance of work, rest, play, and worship. In a culture obsessed with play - and certainly not going overboard in the area of worship - what a great reminder of, what a great paradigm for ordering your life in a way that opens you up to experience and express what matters most.

Wow. I feel like I have a better attitude toward hard work already. I plan to remember that tomorrow when I head back to the 'salt mines'!

reality tv ... the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat

Amsterdam - The planned airing of a game show in which a terminally ill woman will choose someone to receive her kidneys has stirred up controversy in the Netherlands and caused outrage internationally.

I don't know what's creepier, the Big Donor Show referenced above - or Gene Simmons Family Jewels. Do I really want to see how a member of KISS raises his children?

Long before Survivor, Dancing With the Stars, The Biggest Loser, The Apprentice, American Idol, The Bachelor, Temptation Island, Who Wants to Marry a Multi-Millionaire, Fear Factor, Extreme Makover, The Osbournes, and a host of other reality TV shows, reality TV was already at the forefront of popular culture as introduced by the television medium.

Of course there were game shows. No, life is not lived in the tic-tac-toe world of Hollywood Squares, nor the harsh and sterile electronic set of The Weakest Link, but outside of a few controveries, the competition has been real, so they qualify as Reality TV. But game shows, popular as they are, aren't the ultimate form of R-TV. Not even close.

If you need a clue, I'll point out that you've probably been watching R-TV for a couple days and will continue to do so for a couple more weeks. (And if you're not, maybe you should be!) I'm not just referring to the Olympics but to sports in general. Sports on TV has been an enduring success from Friday Night Boxing to the Little League World Series to the NFL and that strange little experiment of an all sports network called ESPN that has multiplied itself into at least 15 television networks, 10 internet networks, and another 3 radio networks.

What defines R-TV?

1. unscripted
2. real events
3. an uncertain outcome

Sure, R-TV manufactures outrageous and sometimes highly abnormal situations and locations to create voyeur ... I mean viewer interest, but what makes them universally appealing is that the participant's actions and emotions determine the outcome.

What has been more compelling than sports? And the Olympics have often been the greatest stage of all.

Jesse Owens winning four gold medals in front of the Fuhrer, refuting the notion of Aryan Supremacy ... Mark Spitz not just swimming to 7 gold medals, but breaking 7 world records ... Al Michaels shouting, "Do you believe in miracles?" as a team of no-name kids repelled Russia's Big Red Machine in hockey ...

Not all the stories have ended the way "we" wanted them to. But that's the point. The catchphrase of the long running ABC Wild World of Sports said it all: the thrill of victory ... the agony of defeat. What's more real than that? That's reality even without the TV!

The Last Lecture

Randy Pausch died on July 25, 2008, at age 47. A computer science professor at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, he achieved worldwide fame and became a bestselling author by the way he celebrated life despite a diagnosis of just months to live due to pancreatic cancer.

It began September 18 2007, when he gave a speech titled "Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams." The context was his university's "last lecture" series, where professors were challenged to share with the audience something that matters most to them, as if they had only days to live. For Pausch, who spoke just weeks after learning he was suffering from terminal cancer, the context was not hypothetical.



The lecture became a hit as it criss-crossed the globe on the Internet, with more than three million viewers on youtube alone. "If I don't seem as depressed or morose as I should be, sorry to disappoint you," said Pausch, the married father of three young children, at the start of the lecture. He spoke with optimism and humor, convinced that not even the specter of death could keep him from having fun; a buoyancy he maintained throughout his illness. He claimed you couldn't escape the Reaper but you could still beat him ... by living well.

In challenging his audience to really achieve their dreams, Pausch turned our typical success paradigms upside down by saying that achieving our dreams is not really about achieving our dreams. Huh? That's not a chapter in The Secret is it?

"It's about how you live and how you love," he said. He believed he learned more from the dreams he had not achieved. How we travel the journey matters more than whether we get to the exact destination we had in mind. I guess knowing you are about to die will do that, will give that perspective, won't it? Not necessarily according to Pausch.

"Cancer didn’t change me at all. I know lots of people talk about the life revelation. I didn’t have that. I always thought every day was a gift, but now I am looking for where to send the thank you note."

Now that's a challenge. I can't think of a better place to start than a simple, "Thank you, Randy."

Who Stole Jesus?

We all know that the Grinch stole Christmas but who stole Jesus? According to an AP story last month we now at least know who found Him! In Detroit of all places.

Thu Jun 5, 12:57 PM ET

A Detroit woman has found Jesus ... in an alley.

The pastor of a church in the city says its stolen 8-foot Jesus statue was recovered from bushes in an alley about two blocks away.

Patricia Bowers says she notified the church late Wednesday that she had seen the statue the previous day after she had gotten off a bus.

Bowers says she didn't realize the green-hued, plaster statue had been stolen until seeing news reports Tuesday night.

The Rev. Barry Randolph says the only damage to the statue is a broken hand. The cross it was attached to suffered major damage.

A church member noticed the statue missing Monday. Randolph says thieves may have thought the statue contained copper, which often is stolen and sold as scrap metal.

Copyright © 2008 The Associated Press.

When I was a seminary student many of us were pretty certain that theological Liberals like Anglican Bishop John A.T. Robinson who had written Honest to God, a thin book that had ignited a firestorm of debate, had tried or were trying to steal Jesus of His divinity. In Robinson's case it was through a mind-numbing and fuzzy critique of the Medieval Church's belief in a three-storied universe, which seemed fairly threatening at the time but in retrospect was a straw man argument that didn't really address the topic at hand; God. Today such concerns might be directed at the Jesus Project (a methodical, decidedly agnostic, approach to understanding the historicity of Jesus) or come in response to bestselling books that put God on trial, like Christopher Hitchens' God Is Not Great, Sam Harris's Letter to a Christian Nation, and Richard Dawkins' The God Delusion.

Some would argue that Hollywood has stolen Jesus, at minimum the power of His name, by gratuitously inserting profane usage of Jesus Christ into almost any movie made that is not rated G. Can you imagine the outcry if names for God in other religions were treated in the same way?

After the Crucifixion, the religious authorities were concerned that His disciples would steal Jesus -- while His followers, notably Mary and Martha, believed that it was the Jewish leaders who had done just that.

Parents, when sending their kids off to college, are concerned that skeptical professors will try to steal Jesus from their children. Only 8% of Americans consider themselves an atheist -- so why do they all seem to be employed by higher education? I kid. (Sort of.)

Many Christians believe that Jesus has been stolen from the public square by a radical fringe that uses the courts to enforce a much more expansive view of the "separation of church and state" than Jefferson ever intended in his letter to the Danbury Baptist Association in 1802.

The Death of God Movement, inspired by Nietzsche's infamous sentence in Thus Spake Zarathustra, "God is dead ... and we have killed him," didn't actually believe God had died literally or physically. But they did believe that the "idea of God" was no longer adequate as a system or inspiration for morality or finding ultimate meaning in life.

Is it possible to steal Jesus? to kill God?

We know that if God is God, if Jesus is who He says He is, then such questions are ridiculous. So why do they keep coming up?

Is it possible Nietzsche was on to something -- at least on a personal experiential level? Faith, the requisite for knowing God, almost by definition -- a confident belief and acceptance in the truth, value, or trustworthiness of a person or idea -- seems to imply that we, by choice, can steal from Jesus His divinity and power; at least for our own lives. That raises too many theological questions to even pretend I could address in a quick blog or a lifetime of sitting in front of a typewriter.

But the question of whether someone has stolen or can steal Jesus is worth noting on a personal level. For we truly do live in a profane and secular day when it's easy to just go with the flow of soft belief. So if you show up at church one Sunday morning or find yourself pondering the meaning of life in the middle of the night while staring at the ceiling and can't seem to find Jesus, don't go looking for Him in an alley in Detroit and don't point an accusing finger at others.

The place to begin is found in the face you see in the mirror.

color blind criticism

Colin Powell was considered by many to be the front runner for the Republican presidential nomination in 1996 until withdrawing after his wife, Alma, publicly voiced her fear on 60 Minutes that he would be assassinated on the basis of his race.

Hillary Clinton, in a major campaign faux pas, brought the subject back to the forefront when, on May 23, 2008, in response to the question of why she had not bowed out of the Democratic primary race despite Barack Obama's clear status as the presumptive nominee said, "We all remember Bobby Kennedy was assassinated in June in California."

Oops.

Barack Obama has steered clear of the "A" word but not from the idea that race will be used against him. Just a few days ago in a speech in Jacksonville, Florida, he said:

It is going to be very difficult for Republicans to run on their stewardship of the economy or their outstanding foreign policy. We know what kind of campaign they're going to run. They're going to try to make you afraid. They're going to try to make you afraid of me. He's young and inexperienced and he's got a funny name. And did I mention he's black?

Ouch.

I hope that Obama is wrong. And I think he is, though maybe I'm being naive.

Here's what I hope and pray is true of America at this moment in our history; I hope and pray we are color blind enough to ...

■ vote for or against a man - or woman - no matter what his or her race;
■ affirm or criticize a candidate no matter what his or her race; and
■ when a person so follows his or her conscience in voting, affirming or criticizing, we not accuse them of racism.

If Obama wants to woo the hearts of swing voters in the face of real or perceived prejudice, he could take a page from Ronald Reagan's game plan to turn a negative into a positive. When asked (again and again) if it was legitimate to make age an election issue, in a debate with Walter Mondale, he said:

I will not make age an issue of this campaign. I am not going to exploit for political purposes my opponent's youth and inexperience.

Major League Baseball: "What I Learned About Competition from the Globetrotters"

In 2006 the Harlem Globetrotters got win # 22 thousand. At one point they won 8,829 straight games from 1971 to 1985. In 1948-49 they beat the NBA champion Minneapolis Lakers two years in a row, which was a major factor in integrating the NBA. But most of their wins have come against a "stooge" team, most owned by Red Klotz, which appeared as the Boston Shamrocks, New Jersey Reds, Baltimore Rockets, or the Atlantic City Seagulls.

Legends like Meadow Lark Lemon, Curly Neal, and Sweatwater Clifton are from a long ago era, but amazingly, the team founded by Abe Saperstein in 1926 is still touring and entertaining the world.

Yes, the Globetrotters have steadfastly claimed that their "exhibition" games were competitive, but everyone knows better. The games have been the backdrop for one of the most enduring and entertaining comedy sketches of all time.

The NBA is contending with charges that the league encouraged referees to "affect" the outcomes of certain playoff games. Anyone who watched Game 6 of the 2002 playoff series between Los Angeles and Sacramento has not problem believing that to be true, though the greatest mystery of the game was probably Shaq hitting 75% of his free throws. And anyone who watched Jeff Van Gundy, now an ESPN-ABC announcer, explain that he didn't mean what he said when he said that very thing as Coach of the Houston Rockets, knows how awkward that topic is for those with a vested interest in protecting a league that is supposedly competitive first and entertaining second.


But returning to the subject of my previous blog, Major League Baseball, and as response to the defenders of this spectacular of beauty, grace, intelligence, and sportsmanship, I would simply say that the numbers don't lie. The league lacks competitive balance due to the vast gulf between what clubs can afford to pay for talent. Unlike the NFL, the singularly healthy professional sports league in the United States, there is not a revenue sharing plan that means owners and general managers don't have to be skilled talent evaluators and traders to build a great team, but rather they simply outbid the have-nots to amass all-star teams on a single roster.

Sure, there are exceptions to the rule and low-payroll teams have a Cinderella year and the high pay-roll clubs have an off year (cough ... New ... cough ... York ... cough ... Yankees ...). But a quick scan of the 2008 payroll figures is a pretty good indicator of how this season will end.

1 Yankees $209,081,579
2 Tigers $138,685,197 (a surprise spender, up from 9th in '07)
3 Mets $138,293,378 $117,915,819 $20,377,559
4 Red Sox $133,440,037
5 White Sox $121,152,667
6 Angels $119,216,333
7 Cubs $118,595,833 (when you are cursed, does it matter how much you spend?)
8 Dodgers $118,536,038
9 Mariners $117,993,982
10 Braves $102,424,018
11 Cardinals $100,624,450
12 Blue Jays $98,641,957
13 Phillies $98,269,881
14 Astros $88,930,415
15 Brewers $81,004,167
16 Indians $78,970,067
17 Giants $76,904,500
18 Reds $74,277,695
19 Padres $73,677,617
20 Rockies $68,655,500
21 Rangers $68,239,551
22 Orioles $67,196,248
23 Diamondbacks $66,202,713
24 Twins $62,182,767
25 Royals $58,245,500
26 Nationals $54,961,000
27 Pirates $49,365,282
28 A's $47,967,126
29 Rays $43,820,598
30 Marlins $21,836,500

Dog Days of Summer: I Lost That Loving Feeling

Yes, the dog days of summer are here. That means basketball, a winter sport indigenous to the U.S., is just starting their championship series. And that hockey, another winter sport, but this one transplanted to frigid regions of the U.S. like Phoenix, Dallas, Atlanta, and LA, just crowned a new champion. But as the seconds tick off on the NBA Series between the Lakers and the Celtics, what it really means is that we're officially entering the dead period before football season starts.

Some sports purists just sat up a little straighter. Say what? Don't you know it's baseball season!

True. Baseball is still America's pastime, particularly if you live in Boston or NYC and can outspend the rest of the league (combined) in the quest for tactical superiority and garnering every spot on the All Star team. But football is America's passion. And so for the rest of us, excluding St. Louis fans who support their Cards no matter what, Chicago some years (or for certain proud masochistic Cubs fans, every year), and one Cinderella-story elsewhere in America, we just don't care. Sure, we'll watch a game or two before the season is over, but the second game depends on whether women's bowling or billiards (or some combination of those two sports) is in reruns yet.

Just for context, I didn't grow up with anything but love for baseball. I was born in Dayton, Ohio, about 45 miles north of Cincinnati, and was there when the Big Red Machine terrorized opposing pitchers. (My rookie year as a 5-year-old fan at old Crosley Field was Pete Rose's rookie year as a player.) I was in Kansas City for most of the George Brett era and attended a minimum of 20-something games a year.

But something happened. It's not just that the clubs I like started losing. You expect success to be cyclical in sports, unless you're a Cubs fan, of course. (Sorry for that second gratuitous shot at the Cubbies in one article.) With the explosion of free agency, I discovered I didn't know half the guys on "my team" from one season to the next. I could have lived with some rebuilding years with a young exciting roster of "our guys", but once-proud franchises like the Royals and Reds became development squads for the deep pocketed coastal teams. Throw in a couple of strikes, including one that accomplished something that not even Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany could pull off -- shutting down a World Series -- and I was gone as a fan. I think forever.

So you're pretty mad at baseball? You probably think I'm a hater. Nope. The problem is not that I got mad at baseball but that I simply stopped caring a decade ago. And despite publicity gimmicks like the Red Sox winning the World Series and biannual Congressional Steroids hearings, I've lost that loving feeling.

It might be Kevin Garnett with a follow up monster jam or Kobe Bryant with an acrobatic mid-air spin move with a reverse lay up that ends the NBA Finals. But whoever does it sometime in the next 10 days or so, all I can say is it's almost time for football!

Farewell Cinderella: A Father's Love for His Daughter

Oh I will dance with Cinderella
I don't want to miss even one song
'cause all too soon the clock
will strike midnight
and she'll be gone

About a year ago we got a call from a local Nashville music agent. He wanted to tell us about a new song written by Steven Curtis Chapman called Cinderella and to discuss the idea of a gift book by that same name. We absolutely loved the song and the concept and last January released Cinderella: The Love of a Daddy and His Princess to coincide with the radio release of the song.

I had the air knocked out of me on the way to work this morning when I received a call with the news that Steven's youngest daughter, Maria, was killed in a tragic accident last night.

It's been hard not to be tearful today -- and I haven't succeeded. First of all I'm a father and I can't begin to imagine the heartache Steven and his family are experiencing right now. As a publisher, I know he poured his heart into the words of the song and the pages of the book. A major inspiration for the lyrics was Steven and his wife Mary Beth's profound love for their children -- and all children. They founded Shaohannah's Hope, a foundation that assists families hoping to adopt with information and financial grants -- and named after the first daughter they brought into their family from China. Maria, the youngest, was also adopted from China and her beautiful smiling face sparkles throughout the book.

The name of Steven's latest album is This Moment ... and at a moment like this, I wish I had words of wisdom. There simply are none. St. Paul said that the only things that endure are faith, hope, and love, and never is that more evident than in a moment like this. Our deepest prayers and love are with the Chapmans.

Farewell Cinderella.

A Mother's Gift

I've never been a big Elvis fan. I was a teen in the 70s when Elvis was heavy, wore white jump suits with tassels, and was a Vegas act. He did have a couple hits in the 70s, like Kentucky Rain, which I kind of liked, but then again, so did Paul Anka and Sammy Davis, Jr. (I actually hated Candy Man.)

I received a manuscript a couple weeks ago from a music entertainment author who I represented in my agenting days. He wrote a memoir with Lamar Fike, one of the "Memphis Mafia" members who made up Elvis's lifelong entourage. Lamar was a fixture in the Presley household long before Elvis became a one-named superstar. He was present at many crucial moments in Elvis's life, including the death of his mother. I did a sneak peek at the manuscript and the following short passage jumped out at me, though it may be common knowledge to Presley aficionados --

After Gladys died in 1958, I found that Elvis had lost his moral compass, and for that matter Vernon did too. Whatever sense of innocence that the Presley household had while Gladys was alive, was suddenly tossed out the window. Suddenly Vernon was able to break up a married woman’s happy home, and Elvis was free to sexually cavort with a far-from-innocent underage girl named Priscilla Beaulieu.

Our thoughts on Mother's Day tend to turn sentimental as we remember the sweet things about motherhood. Fike's words are a nice reminder that one of the greatest blessings a mom can bestow on her children is a moral compass, not always a sweet and easy business. For me, it's not that I always followed that compass during my teen years and other moments in my life, but growing up with prayer and countless readings through a battered blue edition of Egermeier's Bible Story Book, I was never able to forget that a compass pointing to matters that mattered was there.

So if there were a few things you didn't get to do because your mom said no and maybe went so far as to put you on a guilt trip, say thanks anyway, from the bottom of your heart. And whether you're a mom or dad with kids in the home, even if it'd be more fun to just be popular and let them figure out everything on their own, make sure you give them a compass that they can use when they need to find their way home.

The Problem With Young People Today!

What kind of future can America expect as the "Millennials" enter adulthood and the workforce? (Albeit a couple years later than people of my generation did!) Kind of scary isn't it what with their self absorption, their demand to be entertained, and their overall cavalier attitude towards morals, traditions, and the things in life that really matter?

What's a society to do? And in my case, what's a parent to do with four millennials of my own? (I'm not sure what to call my two kids who are still at home.)

I'm glad I'm not the only one keeping a wary and vigilant eye on this troubling demographic in the American landscape.

WASHINGTON, March 30 (UPI) -- Young Americans have a reverence for national institutions, traditions and family values, a U.S. survey indicates. A survey of so-called "millennials" -- those between 21 and 29 -- revealed the group over-whelmingly said they support monogamy, marriage, the U.S. Constitution and the military, The Washington Times reported.

"We were completely surprised. There has been a faulty portrayal of millennials by the media -- television, films, news, blogs, everything. These people are not the self-entitled, coddled slackers they're made out to be. Misnomers and myths about them are all over the place," said Ann Mack, who directed the survey and is the official "director of trend-spotting" at J. Walter Thompson, the nation's largest advertising agency.

In addition to indicating 94 percent of millennials respect monogamy and parenthood and 84 percent revere marriage, the survey found 88 percent said they respect the U.S. Constitution, 84 percent respect the military and more than three-quarters believe in the "American dream."

There it is. The proof I was looking for. Now I can state unequivocally, without any doubt or hesitation whatsoever, what's wrong with young adults today. And it starts with that attitude of theirs. Namely, it just might be a whole lot better than that of my generation!

Overheard and Observed in China: Part 3: Odds and Ends

Time to move on to topics I'm less ignorant on, but after one more quick glance at my pictures and journal from China, I thought I'd throw a few odds and ends for your consideration.

1. Just a few miles from Hong Kong, part of the same country but a full border crossing away, stands Shenzhen. A fishing port of 300 thousand, it was singled out by Deng Xiaoping in 1979 as China's first Special Economic Zone. Since then, 30 billion (U.S.) has flowed into the city and the population has grown to more than 10 million residents--with commuters and "invisible" people" causing estimates to fluctuate up to as many as 15 million)--and still growing. It is the most densely populated area of China. And you thought overcrowding was a problem in your city?

2. The level of "deferentialism" extended to American and other foreign business visitors to China is almost overwhelming. It's hard to carry your own briefcase from the car to the meeting area without a young lady who probably doesn't weigh 90 pounds wanting to lug it for you. We all like to be treated with courtesy and respect--and much more so when we are in a new environment--but the amount of attention given to helping one with their every move can create feelings of guilt. I'm over the guilt, however, so I'm not complaining--just observing!

3. In Shanghai, I'm pretty sure there is a ratio of one billboard for every resident--and visitor. And maybe for each panda, too!

4. Speaking of billboards, I was surprised that most of the signage in Hong Kong depicted Western models. The rule of thumb in advertising is that you strive for cultural relevance. I do have one idea on why the city's signage looked a lot like New York City's. Since Brand America is still the icon of wealth and prosperity, ad agencies in Hong Kong have played the "aspirational" card to the hilt. Of course, if the U.S. dollar drops any further, there may be job openings for billboard hangers in the near future!

5. China has long been viewed as a homogeneous people, which has probably always been a myth. If you look a the under-20 fashion statements even on the Mainland, China is rapidly becoming a diverse country.

6. I had dinner at the Peninsula Hotel in Hong Kong. A fleet of about 15 Rolls Royce Silver Shadows are arrayed in front to whisk guests to shopping and tourist destinations. I still haven't figured out why my company's travel manager didn't book me there.

7. I talked to several business people there and in route who have a very strong non-financial motivation to doing business in China. It goes like this. China is not open to Christian missionary work. China is very open to Christian business men and women (and teachers). Once in China, there is plenty of freedom for religious expression (more so for foreigners but increasingly for the entire population as long as the topic isn't Thailand or Tibet) combined with a keen interest in people from other countries, with America at or near the top of the list. Who knows how many "tent makers" are doing a good work in sharing their faith in China.

Overheard and Observed in China: Part 2: The Dalai Lama

There is something surreal about opening the morning newspaper at the breakfast table in your hotel each day and reading a polar-opposite, diametrically opposed point of view on an issue that perhaps you haven't given much thought to--at least I hadn't--but that you already know the answer to because it is so universally accepted in the media pool in which you swim.

One topic that jumped off the pages of the China Daily (the national English language newspaper of China) with a clang and a bang for me was the different perspective on the Dalai Lama, who is also on the front page of many Western newspapers, particularly in the wake of protests that accompany the Olympic Torch each step of its trek to Beijing for opening ceremonies. Oh, and that March 14 riot thing in Lhasa, Tibet, which included monks. Maybe. (Not "maybe" on the riot but on whether the monks were monks or soldiers dressed as monks.)

Here are just a few of the juxtapositions:

Western View: Tibet was a free country since a treaty that ended 200 years of fighting was ratified in 821 A.D., but was forcibly seized and annexed by China as part of Mao Zedong's 1950 invasion with the People's Liberation Army that was ratified under coercion in 1951. China View: Yes, Tibet and China separated in 821 A.D., but Tibet became an intrinsic part of China between the 13th and 15th Centuries in response to Mongolian invasions; China was granted formal sovereignty in 1751 to protect Tibet from the Nepalese Gurkha invasions.

Western View: The Independent Tibet movement rectifies historical injustices by returning sovereignty to the Tibetan people. China View: There is no historical validity to a Greater Tibet, administratively, religiously, and especially ethnically--at least 10 other groups have been living on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau for generations, including Han, Hi, Mongolian, Tu, Monba, and Lhoba.

Western View: China wants to suppress religious expression in Tibet. China View: China has shown more than 50 years of restraint and respect on Tibetan culture, particularly in regards to religion. In fact, all of China is prospering and experiencing new freedoms, including speech and religion, to a much greater degree than Tibet, with its theocratic leanings.

Western View: The Dalai Lama is a man of peace and goodwill. China View: The Dalai Lama is a political operator--and sometimes instigator--who was part of theocratic feudal regime that enslaved and impoverished the Tibetan population; nobles and senior monks owned and controlled 90% of the land.

Western View: On March 14, awakening echoes of Tienanmen Square, the Chinese government once again crushed a peaceful demonstration of people who seek freedom. China View: The Tibetan Government in Exile, with the fundraising savvy and organizational skills of the international "Dalai clique" orchestrated a violent riot that resulted in $35 million (U.S.) in damage.

I spoke with one U.S. businessman who has lived in Hong Kong for a number of years and he commented:

Maybe I've lived here too long and have been brainwashed, but I'm no longer convinced that the Chinese government is all wrong on this Tibet issue and, in fact, may do more for the everyday Tibetan people than the separatist movement. For example, the government in exile has no plans on accommodating a multi-ethnic population.

So has he been brainwashed? The obvious answer is, yes, of course he has--and it's tied to the simple notion that the official Chinese media can't be trusted to produce anything more than propaganda. I'm glad that I don't have to worry about that danger in America because I have objective, reliable, and trustworthy news sources like The New York Times to protect me. Okay, cheap shot. But there is a strong resentment in China that they aren't getting a fair trial in the international court of opinion. A Western expatriate made this statement:

The official Chinese media may be clumsy, but at least they are not as hypocritical as the Western media which always claims to be impartial, yet are actually biased on many issues related to China ... and in their own countries!

Well, I'm no expert on Chinese politics, but this exercise has helped me come to one iron-clad conclusion: to fight media bias on the issues near and dear to my heart, I'm going to hire the PR firm the Dalai Lama uses, not the one the Chinese government has on retainer.