Laryngitis brings a whole new meaning to Silent Night!

Well , friends, here we are, about to bid adieu to the ghosts of Christmas past and gearing up for New Year’s resolutions. Don’t reflect too much on either, but hug someone close by, find the good in today,  and aspire to ______ next ______.  

That’s right, you fill in the blanks. What you put there is up to you, but write something.  Humans are aspirational creatures and we need mission more than pleasure. 

I’m not sure what I’m aspiring to do in 2013. There were some high points for me  in 2012 (and some lows), but definitely room for improvement in 2013.

What is your mission going forward?  Earning more for the security of your  family? Pushing forward a civic goal? Stronger  faith? Working toward inner peace, better health,  better communications with friends?  How about goals -- Filing a patent? Writing a book? Running a marathon?

The strength of  any community (a city, a church, a company, a club) is the diversity of strengths and aspirations of its members, offering opportunities for mutual support.

Something to think about  while standing in the return line at the department store this week!

Black Friday Has Gone and I still Don’t Know What to Buy You

So the winter calendar goes Thanksgiving, Black Friday, Office Holiday Party Debacle, Christmas, After Christmas Sale, New Year’s Eve, Join A Gym Week, Super Bowl. All are ancient traditions handed down from consumer to consumer over hundreds of hours in front of the TV.

The internet (thanks Al!) has now given us Cyber Monday and, I think for the first time, Giving Tuesday. Maundy Thursday is later in the year and has nothing to do with the internet as far as I can tell.

It is my duty as a long-time non-profit person to tell that that maybe this Giving Tuesday thing is okay.  Your mailbox is going to be absolutely jammed up with moving letters from worthy causes over the next couple of weeks (possibly including one from me – please open it before you throw it away, thanks).

It is also the end of the semester, the end of the program and/or fiscal year for some outfits, and the season of recitals & musical event and holiday TV classics.

To recap, we have actual holidays, fake holidays, shopping frenzy, holiday family distress & guilty, charitable pressure, and deadlines all wrapped up into about a month. Small wonders people turn from aspirin to sterner stuff this time of year.

So what to do? The answer is do what you can. You can’t do everything. You can’t go to every party (I do try ) or find the perfect gift for every quirky relative or give to every worthy charity. But you do what you can. You are the only one who knows when to say “when” for you.  Assess, prioritize, give it your best shot, rest, and feel okay about it all. In approximately that order.

That’s my gift to you. Merry happy blessed, etc. 

I saw an elderly lady in a wheelchair handing out food to runners the end of a 5K

Yesterday I saw an elderly lady in a wheelchair handing out food to runners  the end of a 5K.  She could not run to support the charitable cause but she found a way to help. This morning I met a different elderly lady coming out a church I was visiting who me asked for help with her car. I found a way.

Government, police, schools, companies, computer, crosswalks – we live in a very complex society full of systems, methods, protocols, and organization that should take care of us or at least give us direction from cradle to grave.

But things fall through the cracks and more often than not it is volunteers who step up. Volunteers fuel our community – thanks to all who do.

Your skill set or comfort level may incline you to help out in different ways – reading to kids, mentoring an adult in literacy, building a wheelchair ramp, serving a hot meal, helping organize a fundraising event,  checking on your elderly next door neighbor. It  all counts and it all helps.

While you think about some ways that you can serve, let me list a couple of things going on next weekend which I hope will be of interest:

1)      Carnival Cares Youth Engagement Summit

How to volunteer.  Success stories told by youth and by organizations are not only inspirational but also instructive, i.e. here is a “how to” laid out from beginning to end.  With over a dozen sessions in the half day conference, the is a tremendous resource for service learning, volunteerism, and engagement.  The event will be very valuable for teachers, youth leaders, volunteer coordinators, high school students, college students, and community volunteers. The morning sessions will be followed by a luncheon featuring Bill Courtney of “Undefeated” fame. After the luncheon, everyone is invited to a service project cleaning up Zion Cemetery. Sessions are free for students. For more information see http://www.facebook.com/carnivalYES?fref=ts  , for reservations see http://yesummit2012.eventbrite.com/#

2)      River Arts Festival

Like the outdoors? Arts & crafts? Music & food? Then the River Arts festival has need of YOU and 349 people just like you next weekend. This year’s RiverArts Fest will be held on Friday, October 26, Saturday October 27^th and Sunday October 28^th.  This three-day street celebration of the visual, performing and culinary arts with attractions and activities for all ages could not take place without scores of volunteers who work together each year to make this event a success.  Over 170 artists from around the country will gather in the historic South Main District to present their unique selection of original fine arts in what has become this region’s largest outdoor juried artist market and urban street festival.  A festival of this size takes almost 350 volunteers to put on. Volunteers will receive free admission to the festival ($5 value), a 2012 Festival T-Shirt, snacks, water and the satisfaction of helping us put on a great fine arts festival!  Please visit our website (http://riverartsmemphis.org/volunteers/) and view the various volunteer opportunities and shifts available.  The volunteer  application is at  (http://riverartsmemphis.org/volunteer/) and only takes a few minutes to complete.  On the application you will select which activity and which time(s) you wish to volunteer.  Many positions fill quickly, so we just ask that you be flexible in case we need you in another area.  

And there are many other ways to serve of course. As we come closer to Thanksgiving and Christmas, serving will be top of mind…but why wait!

Remember Thanksgiving?

Do you remember around Thanksgiving (and again at Christmas) when everyone was scrambling to find a place to volunteer? to serve meals ? to help the less fortunate?

Yesterday I had lunch with Estella Mayhue-Greer, Executive Director of the Mid-South Food Bank, who told me about the shortages they are currently experiencing. When a dollar was donated a few years back, they were able to leverage into $9 worth of food, but with rising costs, they are now only able to leverage it into $4 worth of food. What that means is a goal of providing 12 million tons of food fell short by about 2 million tons.

Mathmatics aside, what this means is more unemployed and hungry people create more demand for food when there is less food on the shelves. What we are facing is hungry families and hungry children.

So now that the weather is wonderful and our thoughts turn to gardening, sports, beaches, picnics, and more, we must remember that hunger is a year round problem. It is a problem just as heart wrenching in March and June and August as it is in November and December.

Please consider holding a canned food drive or contributing to an existing one. I am pleased to announce that my friends with the Greater Memphis Asian American Pacific Islander Task Force are holding a food drive on April 21 at 315 S. Hollywood (between the Children’s Museum and the Stadium) from 11:00 am – 3:00 pm. Please drive by and drop off a bag of canned goods. Or if you can’t make it out that day, go online to support the GMAAPI food drive www.midsouthfoodbank.org

Response to - Would Jesus Vote Liberal or Conservative

Am writing this in response to a friend who asked what Jesus' political/social views would be --

Jesus would prove as hard to pin down to Republicans and Democrats as he did to Sadducees and Pharisees . The point is that artificial structures such as political parties or even religious groups (Karl Barth: all religion is disbelief) move us away from direct communion and mission through a maze of infrastructure. That said, Jesus had tremendous compassion for the poor, afflicted, and marginalized (like liberals today) but also asked for accountability such as "go and sin no more" (more like today's conservatives). There are correct aspects to both "sides". We must vote -- not to try is folly - and have to choose the candidate closest to the mark - kind of like horseshoes.