Thoughts on Peace

This being the season of peace, I thought I'd share a personal thought/theory on the subject.  It stems from my personal experience with the Catholic church.  No, this is not a post to bash or even critique the Catholic church.  There are plenty of other places you can go for that.  Neither is this a post intended to defend or heap praise on the church, or to try and get you to convert (I haven't).  It is mostly positive, but in my own (hopefully) unique way.

For starters, I'm not Catholic, but I have been attending Catholic mass services for about 14 years.  You see, about 24* years ago, I fell in love with this girl, who happened to be Catholic, and, well, one thing led to another.

So, I haven't studied the Catholic church, its history or its practices, but I'm a pretty good listener.  Here's one of the things I hear frequently - "Peace."  Some examples:

"May the peace of the Lord be with you."
"Let us offer one another a sign of God's peace."
"Peace be with you."
And my personal favorite: "Grant us your peace."


The word "Peace" shows up a lot in a Catholic mass.  And not only in the rituals - it's a frequent topic of prayers and homilies as well.  I don't know the exact rationale (like I said, I don't study the church, I just listen), but I've come to like it, and here's why.

First off, what's not to like about the concept of peace? I think it's safe to say that most of us could use a bit more in our lives. Whether it's world peace, seeking peace with someone with whome we've had a dispute, or inner-peace.  I think they're all pretty good ideas.

But here's another thought that's gone through my mind, and why I think the Catholic church in particular has the potential to create so much power behind this idea.

So, again, once you set aside any biases - positive or negative - for the Catholic church, the first thing that comes to mind to me is scale.  The church is big - in fact, it's the world's largest religious body.  So, it has incredible reach.  Second, it's centralized and organized, meaning it has a great way to control and direct its message (yes, I know this is probably one of the critiques of the church - let's view it as a positive in this instance).  Next, the church is old - it has seen most of the world's wars, crimes and atrocities (once again, let's set aside any role the Catholic church may have played in these for a moment).  You put all that together, and you've got a group that is highly organized, has a huge, loyal membership, an efficient and effective means of reaching that membership, and a simple, powerful message.  The potential to litterally change the world is huge.  If they can get enough members to truly commit to the concept of peace, they could (and perhaps have/do) drastically reduce violent conflict on the planet.  Imagine if people in decision-making positions (e.g., political leaders who decide whether or not to engage in war) actually committed to the church's adherence to peace.  What if those leaders' constituents were even more fervently committed to the concept?

This, to me, is remarkable.  You have a single organization that can reach over 1 billion people around the world, encouraging them to commit to peace.  Think about that!  That's potentially 15% of the world's population!  Just set aside the various concepts, arguments and interpretations of Christianity and religion for a moment (forgive my sacrilege, but none of us were there).  You can doubt, question, argue, or debate many points of religion.  But you really can't debate the potential power of this message and this network.  Maybe it's the marketer in me, but I find it incredibly impressive.  We marvel at the growth of social networks, and Facebook with over 800 million users.  But here's a network with an incredibly simple, powerful message that has the power to eliminate war, conflict, and violence (ok, probably not eliminate, but severely diminish.  Humans are, after all, flawed and one of the few animals besides our cousins the chimps to go to war.  And we still can't account for the other 85% of the world.  And I readily acknowledge that Catholicism doesn't have a lock on the concept of peace - many of the world's religions including Buddhism and Hinduism seem to profess peace.  Again, I am NOT a scholar.  So if I've misrepresented your particular religion, I apologize).

(Some people who loved, lived and died for peace).

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But alas, not everyone goes to church regularly (I don't).  And in the end, the church can tell you anything, but the individual has to make the choice (free will and what not).  So, I'm making the choice to pursue peace in my life.  Remember earlier when I said my favorite was "Grant us your peace"?  It's cuz I'm in pursuit of inner peace - trying to  let go of the things that bother me, or annoy me, or cause me to be unkind to others.  My life is pretty darn good, yet I still find myself giving in to petty grievances and aggravations, and then behaving in a way that simply creates more petty grievances and aggravations.

So, I'm going to try peace.  With this post, I am committing to 30 days of peace, during which I will seek to reduce, if not eliminate, conflicts in my life.  Not by being a pushover, mind you.  But by being more patient, smarter, and considerate of how I respond to a potential conflict.

I'll be sending out some thoughts on my pursuit of peace over the next 30 days.  So, follow along if you'd like to see how it goes.

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or here

* Mathematical discrepancy resolved as follows:  24 - 6 years dating - 4 years before birth of first daughter = 14.

Friends Wanted. Willing to Pay.

A few years back, a good friend of mine introduced me to the New Year's Eve run on Belle Isle.  Unfortunately, he's moved out of the area.  So, I'm now looking for some friends to join me.  And I'm willing to pay!  Here's how.

Come out and run with me on New Year's Eve, and I'll pay $10 to the charity of your choice - assuming your choice is from one of the four below:

So come join me!  We'll have fun together celebrating New Year's Eve with a little 4 mile run.  And You get to feel good knowing that you've helped support a worthwhile organization.  As they say in the business world - it's a win-win!

Yeah, Cancer Sucks. And It Makes Me Crazy Sometimes.

So this thing happened today.  I'm driving home, sitting in a traffic jam on I-275.  So naturally, I'm scanning Facebook updates on my phone right?  (I hope there are no police officers or authority figures whom I revere reading this post.  I'll be so ashamed).

Anyway, enough about my emotional hang-ups.  I came across a post someone put up about the crapiness of cancer, and how it had just taken a friend.  This is never something you want to hear/read/know.  But for some reason, it really hit me today.  Just thinking about this - the loss of life; another person grieving; the feelings of remorse, confusion, anger.  It all just boiled up inside.  I could literally feel my body-temperature rising, sitting there, in traffic, on I-275, on a Friday afternoon.

Cancer. It doesn’t rest. It doesn’t slow down. It knows no limits. It knows no boundaries. It doesn't sleep.  It never quits. It morphs.  It attacks before we know it.  It has an unfair advantage.  Which is why we can never let up. It’s an ongoing and constant effort. There’s no other way to stop it.

I felt sad.  Then I felt angry.  Mad at cancer.  And mad at myself.  For not taking better care of myself.  For not being more appreciative of the fact that I'm healthy and my family is healthy.  That's not something to be taken for granted.  By some accounts, cancer incidence rates are projected to increase 45% over the next 20 years.  Health is something to be treasured, valued and nurtured.

So, if you're reading this (and I guess by default, you are) and you want to make a difference, here's two things I suggest you do.

1. Take care of yourself.  This might be the most effective way you can fight cancer.  Thanks to the work of many brainy scientists (who are much smarter than me, and worked much harder than I did growing up) many forms of cancer are treatable if caught early.  There are plenty of screening methods out there, and new treatment methods are developed every year.  So, if you haven't had an annual check-up in a while, make an appointment.  Got a habit you need to break, keep working at it, you'll get there.  Been sitting on the couch too much, see my Team In Training friends who will turn you into the endurance athlete of your dreams.
2. Be an advocate.  Got a friend who's fund-raising to fight cancer.  After you've made a donation, tell all your other friends to do the same.  Really encourage them and help spread the word.  Read and learn about cancer and share what you learn across the interweb via your TwitterBook account.  If  you're really motivated, take on a fundraising effort yourself for any one of the worthy cancer-fighting groups out there: Team In Training, Livestrong, Komen, ACS.

My conclusion?  I can do more.  I need to do more.  The way I felt today makes me more certain than ever.

A Day Without Treats. Cuz Something's Gotta Give And It May Be My Pants!

Warning.  This Post Contains Graphic Material That May Be Disturbing To Sensitive Viewers.

I don't know about you, but in our house, there's a year-long parade of sweets.  The official kick-off of the candyland festivities is Halloween - the big kahuna of all things delicious.  Of course, it's preceded by a pre-season schedule of birthday celebrations in summer and early fall with plenty of cake (homemade of course) and ice cream ("Moose Tracks anyone?").  Then another birthday in November, followed by the grand-daddy of all eat-fests - you know the one - Thanksgiving.  Christmas treats start arriving in early December, and keep me chomping all month long.  A brief reprieve in January is thankfully broken by the heartfelt sugary sweets of Valentine's Day.  In addition to green beer, there are chocolaty gold coins on St. Patrick's Day.  A basket at Easter with enough candy to feed small family for a month means I'm sneaking snacks throughout spring, until the whole process repeats itself.  Call it, The Seasons of My Sweet Weakness.

And you noticed I mentioned beer right?  Right.  I like beer.  It's delicious and there are so many varieties to sample.  How can you possibly say no?  I know there's a few calories in beer, but really, it can't be that much right?  It's mostly water after all.  I mean, I've made beer.  It takes a lot of water.  (Does the fact that I've made beer indicate that I may be a bit too obsessed with the topic?  How about the fact that I'm pretty sure I've even written a post about how much I love beer before?  Oh, and  wrote one about how much I love M&Ms too.  Are you seeing a pattern here?).

So here's the deal.  I'm getting (gotten!) fat.  Those of you who know me will say things like "Oh no.  Look at you!  You look so thin."  That's nice.  But here's my dirty little secret:

I hide it well.

It's there - hidden from the naked eye - you just need to know how to look for it.  Much like the many rings of Saturn are only revealed through a high-powered telescope, the many molecules of sweets and beer form a layer of rings around my waist that are only revealed by.... a camera-phone.

Brace yourself!  Small children and those with weak constitutions should look away!

Good Lord! What IS That?!

Yowza.  That's nasty.  And hairy.  Yeah, so I don't subscribe to the body-shaving the young dudes do.  I'm a middle-aged man after all.

Hopefully by now you've been able to compose yourself and recover from the shock of this revolting image.  But that's me.  All me.  All. Of. Me.

So now what?  Well, I've got choices.  A couple weeks ago I posted about "The first day of the rest of your life."  Looking at that image reminds me, I need to take my own advice.  I mean, seriously, back in 2007, the first time I did Team In Training, I used to look like this:

"Hello ladies."

Well, ok.  Maybe not exactly like this.  But I was about 20 pounds lighter, a whole lot fitter, and I had many fewer rings orbiting my mid-section.

So, what's my point?  It's this.  We all go through ups and downs, good and bad, highs and lows, hots and colds, broccoli and chocolate, gatorade and pale ale.  That's cool.  Sometimes you just need a little friendly reminder to get your lazy butt off the couch and get out there and do something.  Ya know I mean?

So, here's what I did.  I went a whole day without any treats.  Yep, no candy, no cake, not even beer (see, that's why I titled this post "A day without treats."  You were wondering weren't you.  It's ok.  I know I get sidetracked.  Like this one time when I was cleaning out the garage, and I came across our t-ball set and the girls wanted to play so then we started a t-ball game, and then we thought it would be fun to add a soccer ball, and then...oh, yeah.  Anyway).

Next up - an entire week of no treats.  It's gonna be tough.  Think I can do it?  It's only seven days.  I think I can handle it. But first, I gotta drink all the beer in the house.  Gotta eliminate the temptation right?

Quick Post to Gabrielle Giffords Clips

Here's the quick post to the clips. Take a listen to the full report at NPR or there's a video clip at ABCNews.  Here are some thoughts on the matter.

Cool Person of the Week - Gabrielle Giffords

The week before last we heard all about what happens when hero worship, authority and ambition all go horribly wrong.  It was depressing, and it reminded me that we often over-value achievements of athletics and celebrity.  Look, I love sports.  And I love my University sports.  And I hero-worshiped our football coach.  So I get it.  But clearly, our worship is not always well-placed.  In fact, the news just gets more depressing, but in a whole new way as the media report that the Penn State "brand" has been damaged as evidenced by a 40% drop in merchandise sales.  Seriously?  Merchandise sales?  People's lives were ruined and we're talking about how many jersies they sold?  Ugh.

So it was nice to hear a different story about someone who was making truly remarkable achievements.  It's not hard to be impressed by the story of Gabriell Giffords, so it's not like I've found some unsung hero that society has over-looked.  Her story is pretty well known.  But what struck me was this story I heard on NPR last week.  About how hard she was working to recovery from the gunshot injury.  And I was totally blown away that someone could put forth that much effort.  There are days when I get frustrated and bogged down by obstacles in my life.  But man, they are no comparison to what this woman is up against.  She reads the last chapter of her book in which she says, in part, "Long ways to go. Grateful to survive. It's frustrating, mentally hard, hard work. I'm trying, trying so hard to get better. I will get stronger. I will return.”  It's incredible to hear.  A great effort being made - no self-pity - just effort.  Take a listen to the full report at NPR or there's a video clip at ABCNews.

The First Day of the Rest of Your Life

That's an expression we've all heard.  I was thinking about it today.  When I think of that expression,  I assume that it's usually associated with someone who is facing a significant change in their life.  Maybe they're faced with some significant problem or issue, and they need to confront it head on.  Maybe the life they've lived in the past is not how they want to live in the future.  Maybe they're facing the prospect of a difficult disease.

All are valid and likely scenarios.  But then I wonder, have I set the bar too high?  Have I made it out in my mind that I'd have to be facing some dramatic situation in life in order to adopt this point-of-view.  And if I have, am I copping out?  Am I avoiding making simple, but necessary changes in my life?  The answer is, probably.  There are a number of improvements I could be making in my life - health, parenting, bad habits (Diet Coke - hello?).  But I don't HAVE to make any changes.  I haven't been confronted with circumstances that absolutely require that I make some life changes.  Nope, for me it's entirely voluntary.

So, does that mean I've gotten to a point where I've just accepted certain things in my life, and I'm unwilling to make the effort to change them?  Perhaps.  Which brings me back to the original thought - The First Day of the Rest of Your Life.  The more I've thought about it, the more I realize that any day, every day can be that day.  Carpe Diem and all that right?

Just four years ago I had made some real improvements in my health and fitness.  Today, I've completely lost those healthy habits, and I'm in worse shape then ever before.  So, I've decided, today can be the first day of the rest of my life.  I don't need some cataclysmic event to motivate me to change.  I just need me to motivate me to change.

Maybe you're in a similar situation. There's some change you've been wanting to make. It's not like a LIFE change.  It's just something you've been contemplating, and putting off because there's really no imperative to make the change.  Well, today is the first day of the rest of your life!  Think about that... It's freeing.  The first day.  There's no expectation.  It's just the first day.  You can't fail. It's only the first day.  No matter how small the change is that you make, it's still a great change because it's the first day. 

Let's get started!

About this Blog

It's a random assortment of thoughts and musings. I'm not a writer, so the actual "writing" may not always be of the highest quality. It's an opportunity for me to share some things that I'd like others to know about. Like fighting diseases I hate (cancer; Parkinson's disease). To hopefully inspire others to join me in the fight. Share some of my own experiences, struggles and accomplishments in a way others can relate to. And occasionally to the art and science of parenting (btw, I'm always open to suggestions here).

Hopefully you enjoy it; maybe we'll connect. Maybe even help change the world. Who knows what's possible?

Friday Night

Sitting at home.

Listening to Spoon.

Enjoying Kalamazoo Stout.

The weekend will end much too soon.

But it'll be fun while it lasts.