Heroes of the Faith

While I'm thinking about folks I appreciate, I'd like to add these pictures I took of my uncles, Mervin Troyer and Wayne King. I visited both of these gentlemen this last week at the retirement community they live in and enjoyed it immensely. Mervin is holding a "corn dropper" implement that his father made (I believe he said it was his father) many years ago. He explained how it worked, and it was interesting for me to hear about that and ponder just how how innovative people were back then. It would have taken a long time for people to plant even an acre of corn, but this tool would have helped with that chore. It hangs in Mervin's room, a reminder of an era long ago. I think Mervin can best be described as a person of a profound, but simple faith in the God he serves. He has a humble, servant attitude and a work ethic that puts me to shame-he is always busy as much as as he can physically be - at almost 91 years old.

And Wayne is my mother's youngest brother. After a lifetime of ministry as pastor of several Mennonite churches, he and his lovely wife have recently moved to a community not too far from here. It has been wonderful for me and my siblings to re-establish contact with them and visit occasionally. I appreciate the life of faith Wayne and Clara live each day, and of their willingness to share that with us, his sister's family. He is a craftsman-he makes pens and pencils out of wood as well as other things which grace his and Clara's comfortable home.

Thank you to both of you for your attitudes of thanksgiving and for your continuing faith-walk in circumstances of physical frailty. You are much appreciated!

An Example of True Love

I know most of you reading this blog have read the story of Loren and Florence Gerber, however, I could not let this day pass by without mentioning it in this blog. I am attaching a link to that story about them as printed in the Wichita Eagle on Christmas Day. Loren was a first cousin to my dad, and thus, a first cousin once removed to me. His daughter Marilyn and I grew up together at the Pleasant Valley Church in Harper, however, I have not seen her in many, many years. If you have not read this story, please do so.

http://www.kansas.com/news/story/1112336.html

New Word

I learned a new word yesterday. It's "sprezzatura". Have you heard of this word? It's Italian in origin, and it is defined as, "A certain nonchalance, so as to conceal all art and make whatever one does appear to be without effort and almost without any thought about it." Other nuances of this word are, that it is the ability to "display an easy facility in accomplishing difficult actions which hides the conscious effort that went into them", and it also has been described as, "a form of defensive irony, the ability to disguise what one really desires, feels, thinks, means, or intends behind a mask of apparent reticence or nonchalance."

Some examples of this are: college students who obtain perfect grades and seemingly never study, politicians who have rehearsed every "ad lib" comment they make before debates, but yet the comments roll right off their tongues looking completely on the spur of the moment, and the butler who serves his master, keeping confidences but also his opinions about the goings on in the household to himself.

My friend who introduced me to this word says that it's a goal in his life-to not only do his job with grace and make it appear effortless, but also to look unruffled and unfazed in front of coworkers and administration.

I've never thought about this quality before, much less whether or not I'd like to possess it. I have had some say to me in the past, "You seem to play the piano so easily", but this is almost always followed by a remark about the years of practice and effort that it takes. When I watch craftsmen - for example, I recently saw a video about a master knife maker that pours his sweat into handtooling kitchen knives, and all the work that goes into that - yet, when he pounds the layers of steel together and shapes the handles, it almost looks casual. After watching that, I find that I have a new appreciation for those folks who work with their hands and make it look easy.

I have uncles, who following a long line of people in my family, fashion things from wood - and I so much appreciate the craftsmanship that this requires, but one thing I don't see as the grateful recipient is all the projects that didn't turn out well, all the frustration and effort and cutting pieces wrong, and making mistakes, and all that which goes into learning how to be a craftsman. As I think about it, it makes these things even more dear to me - they are the product from someone who seemingly effortlessly made them, but yet, I know the sweat and tears, so to speak, that went into the creating of them. (That reminds me Wayne, I need to come up over Christmas break, which starts next Monday, and get that last set of pens from you. I will email you about that!)

Thank you, craftsmen and craftswomen, for all the practice, effort, mistakes, and learning that went into helping you do your jobs so well! Our world is certainly more beautiful in every way because of that.

Comfort Ye

Dan, Rebekah and I attended the presentation of Handel's Messiah, at the First United Methodist Church in downtown Wichita Sunday afternoon. I have seen Messiah several times, once driving to Lindsborg to Bethany College, where this oratorio has been performed every year on Easter Sunday since 1882. I love this work and I look forward to hearing it every year that I can go.

After the Overture, the first piece is "Comfort Ye", a a tenor recitation, followed immediately by the tenor continuing with "Every Valley". The chorus then sings "And the Glory of the Lord". Isaiah 40:1-5 is the basis for these first 3 compositions. Verse 1 is especially poignant - "Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem and proclaim to her that her hard service has been completed, that her sin has been paid for." And in verse 5 - "And the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all mankind together will see it. For the mouth of the Lord has spoken." I don't read these words without hearing that stirring music along with it.

Doing a good job

Brrr! The wind's blowing and winter is here. I'm sitting here with my coffee cup, trying to get warm. No snow, just a biting wind that seems to go right through ya. I hear people say, it's because we aren't "used" to cold. That may be true but I think I'd do better with a gradual decline into winter frostiness instead of a dip in the ice water all at once.

This has been one of my busiest weeks ever at school - you would think it was the end of the year. I've put in some late hours at school and working from home the last two weeks. I'm in my 4th year in the district and Tuesday, I got the second what they call "Attaboy" email since I started. A downtown person was in attendance at a recent staffing and sent an email to the principal and another downtown person with a nice compliment in it for me. That sort of thing is just rare at my job, and I would venture to say, that's true in a lot of work people do. There's folks all over the place who are doing their jobs well because they gain personal satisfaction from that, or, they feel they have a moral obligation to do so, and no one recognizes their efforts. It has made me more cognizant of the fact that I COULD recognize that in others if I would just look. The server that refills my coffee cup at the right time, and brings my food hot, the sacker that works to make sure my bread isn't crushed and handles the eggs carefully, the grocery checker who is pleasant and cordial when sliding my items over the scanner (I almost said "rings me up". THAT'S an old expression which dates me), the man who volunteers to vaccuum the sanctuary at our church, the pleasant man at the dry cleaners who made sure he understood what I wanted and appeared to value me as a customer, my co-workers who exhibit a degree of professionalism in teaching that makes me proud to work where I do, the people at my vet office who really seem to care about Lydia and want to serve her needs, the list goes on. There are those that would say, "That's what we pay them to do! We PAY them to provide a service for us." True, but HOW the service is provided is as important and sometimes more so than the service itself.

All of my kids and kid in laws and my spouse work in retail or have in the past. I'm proud of Josh when I hear people from my school tell me as a co-worker did last week: "I figured out which person at Dillons is your son, because when he was helpful, I thought, not only does this kid look like Marianne, but he's nice too, so I looked at his name tag and asked him who he was..."

This time of year is stressful and crazy, and I bet an encouraging word from you would help someone else have a better day. As you go about in the next few days, be aware of those who do a good job and say something to them. It will be an encouragement they won't soon forget.

Offensive clotheslines

Did you see this in the news, that a woman is in big trouble in her community for hanging her laundry outside to dry? This is happening in Peraksie Pennsylvania. Although there are no town laws preventing her from doing so, a city official called her and asked her to quit, and, she's received notes from neighbors telling her they do not want to see her underwear flapping around on the clothesline. For the record, she doesn't hang her underwear out, she says.

The article says, she is "one of a growing number of Americans demanding the right to dry laundry on clotheslines despite local rules and a culture that frowns on it." Did you know there are 5 states that prohibit it all together? That would be Florida, Utah, Maine, Vermont, and Colorado. Another 5 states are considering legislation to outlaw it. A lawyer representing homeowners associations in Philly says that it is an "aesthetic" issue. He says, "In most communites, people don't want to see everybody else's laundry".

I gotta say that I am both amused and amazed. We live in a society that freely uses sexual images to sell everything from cars to beer to laundry detergent, and where anyone with a few clicks of a mouse button can view any sort of pornographic image they desire, no matter what. For our viewing pleasure on TV, there is conversation, and explicit language, and visual images which a person with any sense of morality would blush at. The innnocent bystander eating a meal or walking down the street is assaulted by private content of cell phone conversations. Kids freely use street language which you thought was only applicable in armed forces boot camps. Ugly billboards dot our landscape, and the carving away of our forests and pollution of our rivers and oceans is ongoing. Smokestacks belching black clouds and odors hang over our cities. Ground water contamination and nuclear waste disposal issues are ever with us.

We have people sleeping under bridges here in Wichita, and I would assume, in Pennsylvania as well.

And there are those who are offended at the sight of a shirt or a pair of jeans, or a towel, or bedsheets hanging on a clothesline in the sun. I'm...wordless.

Aging Gracefully

It's Sunday night and I'm getting ready for another work week. What has happened to the weekend? I have enough coming up this week to make me want to bury my head in the covers and not get up, but alas, can't do that until I'm retired. And even then-I know some retired people who are as busy as they were when they were working full time. I'm glad when I see that people can do that.

Speaking of retirement etc., there was a lunch today for the "Senior Adults" in our church. And I was invited! I was not able to attend as we already had lunch plans, but I gotta tell you that I do not consider myself a senior citizen - even although the wafts of good things to eat were very tantalizing coming from the Fellowship Hall of our church. I was told that for the purposes of the "senior adult" lunches, if you're over 50 you can come, but I still can't do it. I'll be 55 next week and I still think I'm a kid!

And, I'm still young enough to like humor such as this:

Bumper Stickers View of Life

I feel like I'm diagonally parked in a parallel universe.

You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say will be misquoted, and then used against you.

Despite the cost of living, it's still popular.

I intend to live forever. So far, so good.

When everything's coming your way, you're in the wrong lane.

All good things in moderation-including moderation.

Living on Earth is expensive, but it includes a free trip around the sun.

I took an IQ test and the results were negative.

Forget about world peace, envision using your turn signal.

We are born naked, wet, and hungry. Then things get worse.

Always remember you are unique, just like everyone else.

Ever stop to think and then forget to start again?

I doubt, therefore, I might be.

If you try to fail, and succeed, which have you done?

I wonder how much deeper the ocean would be without sponges?

One Year Later

One year ago this evening while getting out of the car at my brother's house, I saw a scraggly, smelly, skinny, patchy-haired 4 legged creature with its nose down the grate near the curb I had pulled up to. Getting out of the car, I motioned toward the animal and said, "Who's that?" "Oh," he replied, "it's been hanging around here the last couple of days. I dunno where it came from." I paused to look at the dog and was a little repulsed by the sight. "Man", I thought. "That is one ugly mutt." I turned to walk away, but looked back. The dog had laid down by the grate in the yard and I walked toward it, curious. As I approached, she looked at me with sad dark eyes, the skin hanging loosely from her muzzle and gave a small twitch of her tail. She looked like she had just had pups, however her ribs were showing and obviously she was not in good nutritional health.

"She's awful. Let's put her in your backyard and I'll take her to the Humane Society tomorrow." I put a rope around her neck and tugged, and she followed me hesitantly, a little unsure if she could trust me. While we were waiting for dinner to be ready, I hopped in the car, and my husband looked at me incredulously. I asked him if he wanted to come along to get some dog food and he emphatically said, are you NUTS????

When I got back the dog gulped both cans of food down and drank a bowlful of water, then stood at the back patio door, her scrawny face peering through the glass. We ignored her while we ate, and I promised to return the next morning to take her away.

The next day my daughter and I returned. As we put her in the car we discussed what all could be wrong with her, and how much money it would take to fix her. I didn't even know what vet I could take her to on a Saturday. She offered her vet services, and wouldn't you know it, they were open. Wouldn't you know it, they could see her and evaluate her. We took her in, armed with a generous brother's financial aid and some money of my own.

I decided on the way over there that if she had heartworms, I was going to put her down. If she had mange, I wouldn't treat her. She had neither of those maladies, but a lot of other issues. Skin infection, mites, fleas, crusted over skin sores, seriously underweight, ear infection in both ears, a couple of small skin growths, broken and cracked teeth-the list grew. The vet saw signs of abuse and severe maltreatment.

I brought her home and I named her Lydia. I spent money on her I shouldn't have, but one year later, she is beautiful to me. She's gained 20 pounds. She's ornery. She's smart and she's just what I needed. She's learned to trust me, and does so implicitly. She's a member of my family, and she gets on the couch when I'm not home, but that's okay with me. I know that someday I'll face the heartbreak of laying her to rest-but you just do that when you take the risk to love and care for someone other than yourself.

In a very ordinary way, I rescued someone who needed me. How very much more does God do the same for us! How very much more does He love us, care for us, want us to trust Him implicitly, and yes, He longs for a relationship with us even when we're unlovable, stinky, hairless, and have all kinds of problems requiring all kinds of help. We're in the gutter, trying to survive on our own, and here He comes - He sees you and me as his children, with potential we don't even know we've got. Lessons from Lydia-I learn 'em every day. And I'm grateful for her and for Jay - I'm not sure why he thought I needed her, but as usual, he was right. Thanks brother, for your help a year ago-what did you see in that mangy scraggly animal that you thought I might need? One of these days you'll be learning your own lessons from someone God brings into your life-and I'll have the privilege of watching you do that.

You deserve a donut today

I was getting gas at the QT the other day when I noticed a sign in the parking lot. The sign featured a glazed donut, with these words: "Life is too short to eat oatmeal." What do you think about that? I, personally, was taken aback and a little, oh, not offended, but who do these people think they are? They are basically saying, you're going to die anyway, and maybe soon, so just enjoy yourself and have a fat and sugar-laden pastry while you're at it. Don't eat wholesome "boring" cooked oats. You deserve more! You deserve to get all the gusto you can get! After all, donuts can bring happiness and pleasure. You're going to work hard today-reward yourself!

Speaking of health issues, here's some things you don't want to hear during surgery:

"Rats! Page 47 of the manual is missing!"

"Don't worry. I think it's sharp enough."

"That's cool! Now can you make his leg twitch?"

"Ya know, there's big money in kidneys and this guy's got two healthy ones..."

"Hand me that...uh...thing-a-ma-jig."

"What's this doing in here?"

"There go the lights again."

And, here's some medical definitions:

Benign: What you be after you be eight.
Artery: The study of paintings.
Bacteria: Back door to cafeteria.
Dilate: To live long.
Labor Pain: Getting hurt at work.
Pelvis: Second cousin to Elvis.
Urine: Opposite of you're out.
Colic: A sheep dog.
Outpatient: A person who has fainted.

Expand your horizons

Two websites rapidly becoming my favorites and I check them every day:

www.earthshots.org

http://videos.komando.com

Earthshots is a photograph featured every day of places around the earth I'll never get to see-today's is a shot taken in the Swiss Alps. You can view photos of previous months by activating the slideshow feature. Clicking on photo details in the far right corner of the pic will tell you where it was taken, and it's interesting to read the comments about the picture from other photographers. There's something about it that transports me to another place for just a minute.

Videos.komando is a daily video website. I've seen the most interesting things on here-the four fingered pianist from Korea, the ant colony that someone poured cement into and then excavated it to see how large it was (it was gi-normous), on Sunday the 18th, it's featured a couple from west Texas who live literally in the middle of nowhere much like the pioneers did, with no running water, electricity, or phone. Today, this website features 3 videos about 3 different kinds of reptiles. They are all short, less than 3 minutes. The first one is about a Pebble Toad, the second one is about a lizard that walks on water, and the 3rd is about a gecko which is so small it could drown in a drop of rain, but doesn't because...we'll, you'd have to watch it.

Although these websites don't intend to do this in their purpose, for me, they point to a creative master Designer-a purposeful Composer, Author and Sustainer of even the smallest details of the universe-how vast and wonderful and awesome is the earth we've been given to live our lives on and - how much we don't know about what's all around us - it is mind boggling. Think about the Swiss Alps on your way to work or wherever you go-think about the Pebble Toad who survives by rolling into a hard ball and falling down a mountainside away from it's pursuer, think about the 4 fingered pianist who can play the piano in an amazing display of grit, courage, and determination, and wonder at it all.

Sunday Reflections

Here it is, October 18, 2009. Since my last posting, which was a video and no writing (as someone pointed out to me), I've sat here several times, trying to think of what words to use to communicate to you unfortunate people who check this blog, but I've not had much success. There's a lot going on in my head, but it's not coming out my fingertips onto the keyboard. I'm troubled but I'm not sure what it's about. I'm lonely, but I don't know why. I'm sad at times, but then, on Friday when I saw the sun for the first time in about a week, I cannot tell you how my spirit lifted as I drove to work. It was like a tonic to the soul.

I'm dissatisfied with things and am making changes, but see that I need to make a lot more. The ministry I have at church is puzzling to me, and is lacking in some way, but I don't know what. Due to some extraordinary situations right now, my job is making me weary in body and spirit. I feel sorta like I would like to draw the curtains and stay at home for awhile. It's hard to describe.

So that's that. Not a lot here, I know. But we'll see what happens this week.

Also today, I'm thinking of those in my extended family who are facing serious illness and life changes. God be with you, Pilgrim on the Way, as you step into the unknown. Your faith is extraordinary, your life is an encouragement to me. Blessings to you- from your niece.

Acapella Jazz Choir

Enjoyed the video below very much and thought you might like it too. It's an acapella jazz choir. A little more than six minutes long, it will give you a mental vacation break.

African thunderstorm

African thunderstorm

Shared via AddThis

Wednesday Encouragement

Several days ago, I blogged about anxiety. A friend of mine who faithfully reads my blog sent me an email in response so I asked her if I could post some of what she said and she agreed.

"Trust is a learned thing, and the process of learning involves being willing to just step off a cliff everytime God calls, believe He will NEVER fail you, for He ALWAYS keeps His promises or He would not be God. If He sometimes allows the worst to happen, it is for our learning on some level, as a consequence of sin, as a wake-up call, sometimes to teach us patience, and sometimes for many other reasons that only He knows. He is the greatest parent we could ever have. However, in our arrogance we don't always recognize this.

I think the most difficult thing for all of us to realize is that life truly isn't about us, because we all go about thinking we are really something, but in truth, we are absolutely NOTHING without God. How arrogant we are, for we could not take our next breath were it not for God allowing us to do so. God is the author of this drama called life. He wrote the beginning and He wrote the ending, and the REAL play does not truly begin until our physical death. In the meantime, we are all in this temporary play (school) trying to pass all the tests so we can graduate. I am learning that THE MOST important thing in our life is our relationship with God and we don't even come close to realizing the true awesomeness of this. We tend to treat God far, far, too casually, sort of like Joe Smith down the street.

I have spent 71 years in school and guess what? I am realizing more and more than I am still in kindergarten. ...There is always hope and God is incredibly patient. The truth is...we are all sick and seeking the Physician. We are ill and seeking a cure. The {Orthodox Church}... is the inn and hospital in which every sick and distressed person can be cured, and God knew the depth of my illness and where I needed to be, and I was finally willing to check myself in...The way truly is narrow and difficult and a real struggle sometimes to overcome ourselves, but it is the only way. The choice is in our attitude as we confront whatever God allows to appear in our lives, for the plan is His."

I think her response is worthy of posting. I also want to note here that there is a manifestation of a "clinical" level of anxiety which many folks struggle with on a daily basis, and I am certainly not opposed in any way to the diagnosis and treatment of this disorder-I myself have in the past have taken medication for that purpose. I hope her words, however, are an encouragement to you as we think about God's willingness to reach us in our distress and illnesses, and in His inifinite patience, to bring us abundant life now, and in the future. Blessings to you readers, whatever "befalls" you today.

"Be Thou, my Vision, O Lord of my heart;
Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art.
Thou my best thought, by day or by night,
Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light.

Be Thou, my Wisdom, and Thou my true Word;
I ever with Thee, and Thou with me Lord;
Thou my great Father, I Thy true son,
Thou in my dwelling, and I with Thee one.

Be Thou my Battle-shield, sword for my fight,
Be Thou my dignity, Thou my delight.
Thou my soul's shelter, Thou my high tower.
Raise Thou me heavenward, O Power of my power.

Riches I heed not, nor man's empty praise,
Thou mine inheritance, now and always;
Thou and Thou only, first in my heart,
High King of heaven, my Treasure Thou art.

High King of heaven, my victory won!
May I reach heaven's joys, O bright heaven's Son!
Heart of my own heart, whatever befall,
Still be my vision, O ruler of all."

Be Thou My Vision. Translated from Old Irish to English by Mary Bryne in 1905. Versified by Eleanor Hull in 1912.

Learning from the past

I've had a really good day-tiring, but really good. I went to Old Cowtown Museum with some of my kids-the weather was perfect, the crowds were not crowds, the saloon hot dog was pretty good, the cow was protective of her baby, the displays were interesting. I like western lore and culture-and, every once in awhile, I need to be reminded that I'm fortunate that I don't have to wash clothes in a creek on a wash board. Those times seemed simpler, but you know, I don't think they were. The steps one had to go through to do laundry, to cook, and even to get water were physically demanding. Medicine was primitive and life was characterized by hard work and more hard work and more hard work. Every day. You didn't pack up and go on vacation. You stayed home and worked. You helped your neighbors when you could. You enjoyed Sundays as there was not as much work to do, but still, it wasn't a total day of rest. Life was hard and you survived by your own working hands and God's benevolence and mercy. It seemed the music of the church centered on trust, obedience, hard times, and the faith it took to pull through. The old hymn, "Does Jesus Care?" written in 1901, plaintively asks what we today sometimes wonder-four verses of four lines each questioning what happens sometimes in life, and one chorus, 4 lines, to assure the singer that yes, He does. Interesting. A simple faith? Maybe. But as we sit in front of our computers, and TVs, and cook in our microwaves, and drive our cars, we can learn something from these stoic pioneers.

Angst

So I was thinking about anxiety yesterday. I even looked it up on wiki to see a synopsis of this state of mind - like you, I've had my struggles with it. I realized that one way I've coped with anxiety over the years is to snack. To look at me, you'd probably guess that. But it became clearer recently what my trigger points are and I thought I'd share a couple of those with you. One happens Sunday evenings. I'm in the "getting ready to go back to work" mode, and I'm gathering up materials, thinking about my schedule, planning on lunches for the week, looking at my calendar, figuring out what my priorities are, and if I have anything scheduled which is causing me some concern such as a meeting with difficult parents, then the worrying about that begins. Sunday evenings find me restless and going into the kitchen about every 10 minutes as I get ready for a new work week. This has become obvious to me as I've been on a weight watchers plan, and it's gotta stop.

Another source of anxiety is, believe it or not, walking Lydia in our neighborhood. After we first got her, two loose dogs attacked her as we were getting out of the car from a trip to the vet. My daughter remained calm and decisive, I went into panic mode. Normally, I'm not afraid of dogs-I've always been an animal person, but this little event really fostered some fear in my brain. Since then, I've walked her a little in the neighborhood, but mostly at a nearby park, however, when it rains, the park path is muddy and puddled. The thought of getting out her leash and walking her around here scares me, but I hate hate hate being ruled by fear, so what to do...

What to do indeed. For the dog problem, I bought a little canister of pepper spray, took some lessons from "The Dog Whisperer" (a TV show in which the guy 'rehabilitates dogs and trains people'), and worked with Rebekah who did a lot of training with Lyd when I first got her and continued to encourage me. My anxiety made Lydia fearful, so now the goal is to be relaxed-to know what to do if we encounter loose dogs on the walk helps. You would be amazed, or maybe not, about how many irresponsible dog owners we have in this city who just let their pets out the front door unleashed and unrestrained. It is astounding to me. But I digress.

The anxiety that occurs on Sunday nights is getting better. But there are oh so many other little things that I let ball up inside me-concerns about my kids, friends who are going through hard times, problems with an administrator at work, and oh yes, let's not leave out how each and every day I never meet my own expectations. Ever. To know me you might not realize I'm so self-critical, but I battle that demon too.

Is there a cure for anxiety? More later.

Words- the voice of the heart

The title of this blog is a quote from Confucius, and how true it is. The Bible says something similar - that the things that come out of your mouth, come from your heart (Matthew 15:18). It seems that recently, several people have been in the news because of the words they've spoken - Kanye West grabbing the microphone from Taylor Swift at the Video Music Awards and interrupting her speech, tennis champion Serena Williams screaming and cursing at a judge at the U.S. Open, and of course, South Carolina representative Joe Wilson's outburst during President Obama's speech this last week - shouting "You lie" as the President spoke to Congress. What on earth is going on, I mused, as I pondered the decline of civility and respect - pondered from afar.

Then, it happened to me. A minor happening, yes, but a happening nevertheless.

It happened on Facebook. Someone posted an insensitive, offensive comment on a friend's wall. The comment was published on all of our facebook pages and was in extremely poor taste. What to do, I mused, as I read the comment. Do I say something or do I let it go? The comment wasn't about me, however, it reflected on someone I care about. I decided to comment on the comment, and as I expected, the reply which was posted to my comment was condescending and rude. Even though I expected it, I still gasped as I read it, as it was pointed directly at me.

The person who penned the original comment is a sophomoric, immature, poor excuse for a man. He objectifies women and has no respect for them, let alone for himself or for the God who created him. He speaks from his heart-his comment truly let us all see what he values most. I did not value his reply enough to respond and I will not get into a war of words with someone on a web page I don't even know.

But words-how powerful they are! A reminder of that to me, someone who has plenty of experience saying things I shouldn't have practically from the day I started talking - is certainly timely. And maybe all of us need to be reminded that civility and respect goes a long way in life. Can't we all just get along?

Mr. Smith

I went to the doctor for what I hope is the final time and got released to go back to work on Monday. He did not want me to work full days, but I promised him I would be careful about overdoing things.

My comments today have to do with HIPAA, which is an acronym for the congressional act passed in 1996 guaranteeing privacy of medical information for individuals. Since I've spent a lot of time in the doctor's office the last 10 days, I've had opportunity to observe waiting rooms and check-in procedures, and I gotta tell you, from my vantage point, there isn't a lot of privacy and protection of medical information at my doctor's office. There are several physicians who practice at this well-known clinic here in Wichita, and I became acutely aware that privacy, at least during check in is practically non-existent.

From the chair in the waiting room, I was able to hear patient's names, insurance information, birthdays, addresses, and employment information. I was able to listen in quite easily concerning not only which doctor people were checking in with, but why. Would I desire to do so, I could write this information on this blog. Had I made notes during my 3 office visits I could tell you who was there for shingles, who needed to make an appointment for a mamogram, who wanted to see a doctor for a stubborn infection, for a rash, for lab work, for chest congestion, and for blood pressure checks. I could tell you who had no insurance, and who was instructed to come back to the desk to pay on their way out. I know who a few of the new patients are visiting that clinic for the first time. I heard a physician counsel an elderly woman regarding whether or not it was ethical for her to slip her husband depression medication in with the pills he takes on a daily basis, explaining that he doesn't know what he takes and it certainly might improve his mood.

The girls, and I use that term purposefully, behind the glass checking in people are young. They do not speak so that hard of hearing people can understand them, so they raise their voices. "Mr. Smith, you have Medicare? And also Blue Cross?" Mr. Smith yells back, "YES. I need to make an appointment for next week." "Why do you need to see the doctor?" queries the what looks like a 16 year old receptionist. "Because I have an INFECTION," shouts Mr. Smith. The girl confirms his address, his date of birth, and his doctor of choice. She makes the appointment, and all the while, people sitting in the waiting room now know all about Mr. Smith. What is wrong with this picture?

When I checked in, I refused to state why I was there, and just said I had an appointment at 10:30. I made all my follow up appointments by phone instead of at the reception desk. When the receptionist raised her voice to confirm my insurance carrier, birthdate and address, I tried to barely nod without speaking.

It bothered me to such an extent that I feel like writing a polite but concerned letter to the clinic. Surely there's another way to handle this-surely there's a way to treat people with dignity and respect at the doctor's office without informing 30 or 40 strangers why you are there. Am I making a mountain out of a molehill? You tell me.

Starting the third week

I'm sure some of you are wondering what's up with me as I haven't posted recently. It's simple-I'm off work for the 3rd week. I still am not well enough to go back to my job, and I am frustrated and sad. I have to go back for a re-check this Friday so I'm hoping I can go next Monday. And that's all there is to that.

Monday Musings

Back to work today. I am tired, and it was a long day. I went through a week's worth of email, mail, and other stuff, and attempted to prioritize what needed attention first, but I gotta tell you, it feels pretty good to be back. I hope my energy levels return this week.

I have a supportive spouse who kindly tried to make me feel better when I was down last week - he hardly ever sighed or gave me the "look". So how about a few lighthearted musings on marriage, from the book, "The Best Book of Useless Information Ever":

"I married the first man I ever kissed. When I tell this to my children, they just about throw up." - Barbara Bush

"Ah Mozart! He was happily married-but his wife wasn't." - Victor Borge

"Choose your wife by your ear rather than your eye." - Thomas Fuller

"Keep your eyes wide open before marriage, and half-shut afterwards." - Benjamin Franklin

"I was married by a judge. I should have asked for a jury." - Groucho Marx

"The best way to get husbands to do something is to suggest that perhaps they are too old to do it." - Shirley MacLaine

"Honeymoon: A short period of doting between dating and debting." - Ray Bandy

"I take my wife everywhere I go. She always finds her way back." - Henny Youngman

"Before marriage, a man will lie awake all night thinking about something you said; after marriage, he'll fall asleep before you finish saying it." - Helen Rowland