There is a lot of conversation taking place these days about how bad things are in the USA. Anytime we place a majority of our focus on what we don’t like things can look bleak. This picture shows the Jefferson Memorial and Reflecting Pool in Washington DC. I marvel at how different the memorial appears based on the position of the sun and the density of the cloud cover on any given day. Jefferson was a man committed to change. He did not want change for the sake of change, he wanted change only if it was a change for the better! As we move toward Election Day conversation will surely continue about what is not liked about things in our nation. I ask for some conversation that also highlights what is great about the USA. Surely part of that greatness is our past and the lessons we can learn from it.

I work intentionally to keep my political views from influencing what I post on this site. Now that Monday’s debate is concluded we know several results from the evening.

• It was the most watched Presidential debate ever!
  
• People who watched the debate who were polled indicated the content of the debate has not changed their voting preference.
  
• This debate more than any other was supported by social media and a record number of people posted their reactions on Twitter in real-time.
  

Our election system is based on the ideal that as many citizens as possible will participate by voting. In 2016 our nation has viewpoints on important issues that are in opposition to the other viewpoints. Polling shows the race to be very close. Polling also shows both Clinton and Trump have a high number of people who report they don’t feel they are honest.

In the past months I have heard many people say they are just going to skip this election. Based on that I was expecting a much lower viewership of the debate. Since the number watching was exceptionally high, it is my dream that number of citizens who actually vote in November will also be exceptionally high. This would be a powerful first step in showing everyone that our citizens do care about what our political leaders are doing as they serve us.

In today’s local newspaper an article was printed warning about potential dangers of being seen wearing a clown costume. I think of parades and parties when I think of clowns. Apparently law enforcement is reminded of those who use the “shielded identity” a clown mask provides to commit crimes. I learned from the article that some clown groups are turning down opportunities to entertain for their own safety. I learned that in the state of West Virginia there is a law against wearing any mask. One local sheriff posted notices that if you were injured by someone else while wearing a clown suit, you would be arrested rather than the person who posed a danger to you.

As I read the article in the paper and write this post, I can’t help but feel as a nation we are “getting off the rails” when something so simple as dressing in costume can be illegal. When people who wear costumes are automatically feared, we have lost one of the greatest values a society can have: that value is TRUST.

I pray that in the future we are able to regain a stronger level of trust in our society!

I was standing in the parking lot of the building where I work during a fire drill. I was trying to find a friend of mine that works in a different department. When I could not find him I looked to the area where he usually parks his car. The image above is an approximate likeness to his car. When I looked for the car, I saw it was not there and then knew I could give up looking for my friend.

I use this example to remind all of us how important friendships are to us. Knowing who our friends are and that we can call them when we have a reason is important to our sense of belonging. Believing in friendships and spending time with friends helps us avoid loneliness. Isolation helps foster depression. The support of close friends helps prevent depression.

I hope you are as thankful for the friends in your life as I am for the friends I have in my life.

Baltimore Checkerspot Butterfly. The Baltimore Checkerspot Butterfly (Euphydryas phaeton) has been the official arthropodic emblem of the State since 1973 

Like other butterflies, the Baltimore Checkerspot searches for one kind of host plant from which it will gain nourishment during its period of growth. In this case, the White Turtlehead (Chelone glabra) is the only host plant that this butterfly will use.

This dynamic has recently created a crisis because White Turtlehead plants have disappeared from many areas and the Checkerspot Butterfly has left due to not have a host plan to feed on. This illustrates one of the lessons we learn over and over as we live. One change may have unanticipated consequences that are not realized until after the change is made. Some changes can be corrected and others are irreversible. I taking this situation as a reminder to double-check actions I take before I make them to see if something I do not intend is about to take place. A good reminder for all of us!

Handcuffs and Hospital are two words we don’t use in the same sentence! In the past week the local police have been called to the hospital 3 times and ended up arresting people who were not following instructions of hospital staff and our hospital Security Department. That is the new reality we have in health care, having to plan for and respond to situations where people are a danger to others.

We are fortunate that our local police respond quickly when called. I look forward to the day when the idea of needing to call the police to the hospital is a distant memory so we can focus on our primary mission: health care!

I expect the title of this post and image surprise my readers. Don’t worry I have not jumped off the straight-and-narrow for a lifestyle of moral depravity! “Sex with Strangers” is a play that is being performed this weekend at the Embassy Theater in Cumberland, Maryland.

I will be honest this is not a play you would want to bring impressionable aged children to watch. It also is not a sex show. The cover image above shows more skin than the actors do during the performance. The play had many funny lines in it. The basic plot shows two strangers who are stranded in at Bed & Breakfast in northern Michigan during a blizzard. As the title suggests a romance develops between them.

As the play ends so does their friendship as they learn they can’t trust each other. The female character, Olivia, in the beginning wants nothing to do with the male lead, Ethan. Olivia eventually lessens her resolve not to trust Ethan and then becomes hurt when he steals from her and has other relationships behind her back while telling Olivia she is the only woman in his life.

My take away from this play is that it highlighted for me every decision we make has a consequence, so we are well served when we make our decisions based in wisdom rather than impulse.

By The Associated Press

VASHON ISLAND, Wash. (AP) A Washington state animal shelter says a dog dutifully stood guard for a nearly a week on Vashon Island to protect another dog that had fallen in a cistern.

Tillie, a setter mix, only left Phoebe’s side to try to alert people of her trapped friend.

Amy Carey of Vashon Island Pet Protectors says the two were found Tuesday after they were reported missing by their owners last week. Vashon Island Pet Protectors says volunteers looking for the pair received a call about a reddish dog being seen on someone’s property a few times before promptly heading back into the ravine.

Carey says the Pet Protectors followed the tip and found Tillie lying beside an old cistern. Inside rescuers found Phoebe, a basset hound, on a pile of stones above the water.

The dogs were cold and hungry but otherwise unharmed. “It’s really quite remarkable,” Carey said

COMMENTARY

This story went viral a year ago. It shows how one dog can loyal to the other when it is trouble, such as being trapped in a cistern. The two legged inhabitants of the world should take a lesson from the Setter who came to the aid of the Basset Hound. “We are our brother’s keeper even applies in the canine community!”

In my work as a chaplain I deal with many patients who are not expected to be fully healed, our expectation is to manage symptoms or provide comfort to the greatest extent possible. The image above is borrowed from the Internet. It captures in my eye, the sight of a patient on the road to full recovery.

These week I had several success stories I am celebrating.

• One patient had deep depression and 7 days after my last home visit I found the patient being active and vibrant, a total change from the week before.
  
• One patient had been on a ventilator the entire length of the admission. I saw the patient yesterday and the patient was not on any type of breathing support. Even though it was first time we were able to talk I felt like the patient had been a longtime friend!
  

Celebrating recovery is by far the most exciting and energizing part of my ministry. I am glad to be able to “shout from the rooftop” that these patients are doing so much better. It gave a reason to praise God and gave more energy for the rest of the day!

Our local newspaper reported that a resident of our county received a phone purporting to be from the IRS claiming that if back taxes were not pain, a bomb would be placed on the person’s car. This type of phone is ridiculous on so many levels. Here are just a few:

• It is not legal for the IRS or any government agency to make bomb threats.
  
• If the IRS was going to destroy your car you would be less able to pay back taxes than if you had use of your car.
  
• The IRS continually reminds the public they communicate by mail before a tax matter is ever handled by a phone call.
  
• The IRS has more right to break the law than anyone else, and bomb threats are illegal and can be considered an act of terrorism depending on how they are phrased.
  

Why someone would consider doing this boggles my imagination. This does show us that some people delight in causing misery and pain to others. I feel sorry for people who think this way, for they are missing the true joys of life!