A Sign of the Times

The tragic death of Redskins football player Sean Taylor, is a sign of the times. It seems, as a society, we are in such a hurry to grow our children up that we overlook the fact that our kids are getting mixed up in situations that are very serious, at younger and younger ages. I was astounded that two of the four young men arrested were only 17 years old. How tragic that young people this age can be mixed up in such evil.

This past summer the bike shop where I work was burglarized by 8 young (all under 18) people the youngest of whom was 11! What's up with that!? Well, the way I see it, as a society, there is little or no adequate adult involvement in the lives of our kids.

We Americans are such slaves to our time and our pursuits, and are so stinking busy, that we cannot and will not give one of our most precious national treasures, our kids, the time they need from us. So what's stems from that is our kids are left to themselves to raise themselves and then make decisions for themselves as to how and when and with who they are going to spend their time, who they are going to associate with, and how they are going to live... We're leaving them to fend for themselves. We're throwing them under the bus of busy-ness...

My kids need me to be available so I make myself available to them. It isn't easy, but I look for activities to do with them so that we stay somewhat connected. As a dad, I must have some avenues of access into my kids lives so that I can address some of the concerns and questions they bring about every day living.

I realize that the situation in Miami (and in other places in the world) is very complex and hard to find a particular point of blame. The racists will surely blame the other race (on both sides of the color spectrum). The politicians will blame the other 'party' for this tragedy. Educators will blame the taxpayers and the taxpayers will blame the government. The finger pointing will be endless.

The simple fix is that we Americans need to repent of chasing God out of our lives and return to a lifestyle of love and care for people in every strata of life and especially our kids. That is a difficult thing to do but when the pain level reaches a certain point, we will all change... Too bad Sean Taylor had to die in the meantime...

The Information Ocean

Today, the day before Thanksgiving I have jumped into the Information Ocean. My hope and prayer is that the things you read here will cause you to think - cause you to speak and cause you to jump in yourself.

On everyone's heart is a message that needs to be heard and I hope you hear (read) something here of value.

Jump in, the water's great!

Paul