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My Father, Ted Weinhaus

ted(This is the remembrance speech that Robin gave at her Father’s funeral.  I thought it amazing and beautiful)

I begin by starting with the end.  Dad died at 8 pm Sunday night. He spent his last day allowing his body to do what it had always done, keep him alive the magical way it could. His breathing was such a struggle and yet breath after breath he persevered. For days, our breath labored along with him, ourselves struggling with each breath.  In the end, the pneumonia won and we gentled our breath in gratefulness and surrender.

Dad was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s many years ago.  He lived in a world where he could not express himself with his words and thoughts. We will never know what he thought.  But we did know that he had joy in his heart. He showed this daily to his caretakers at the nursing home. He showed his joy to most anyone who he could have eye contact with. Just last Wednesday, less than one week ago, he looked into my eyes, opened his mouth and laughed and smiled. He was filled with joy to see me. You could not help but wonder why he laughed and smiled but we all came to the same understanding that there was a shining, golden appreciative man inside.

I am grateful. I am grateful to have been taught by my father to love life and appreciate each and every moment of it. Even when life is tough and it Is not the way you want it to be, there is a lesson and a blessing to be learned. My father has been a great teacher to me. Continue reading “My Father, Ted Weinhaus”

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Rev. Joe’s Random Thought # 5,391

…yeah I know you did not ask!

One of the few things I have figured about life is that it is sloppy. Occasionally life is ugly. And thankfully, rarely, life is ugly and sloppy.

That is when you focus on the hummingbirds in the honeysuckle.

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Theodore Roosevelt: An Autobiography by Theodore Roosevelt

Theodore_Roosevelt_Autobiography_1201Teddy Roosevelt has always been one of my favorite presidents.  Reading this book has just reinforced and increased that feeling.  How wonderful it would be to have such a man minus his 19th century sensibilities in our politics today.  Of course, it was probably those 19th century sensibilities that made him the man he was.

This book is first and foremost a politic document, but that does not distract from its value.  Mr. Roosevelt spends much time touting his accomplishments.   When he praises someone it is with multiple superlatives.  When he criticizes an individual it is with faint praise or kid gloves.

Born of wealthy parents Roosevelt could afford to pursue his interests without worrying about providing for the basic needs for his family.  He was an avid outdoorsman, spent time as a rancher out west, led the famous group of volunteers, The Rough Riders, in the Spanish-American War, served in multiple capacities of public life ranging from Police Commissioner of New York to President of the United States.

He was first and foremost an advocate of the people, but did not believe in tolerating freeloaders.  Continue reading “Theodore Roosevelt: An Autobiography by Theodore Roosevelt”

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Rev. Joe’s Random Thought # 1,273

…yeah I know you did not ask!

On NPR this morning they reported that the Scripps National Spelling Bee had a tie for the first time in 52 years.  The two eventual winners went through 25 championship words before being declared co-winners.  Then NPR gave their names.  I thought to myself that I could not pronounce let alone spell their names…

Just for the record the winners were Sriram Hathwar, an eighth-grader from Painted Post, N.Y., and Ansun Sujoe, a seventh-grader from Fort Worth, Texas.

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Anyone who has been to prison…

As some of y’all might know I am an ordained minister. Actually I am doubly ordained. My first ordination is from the Universal Life Church of Modesto, California. hm-logoI originally became ordained because of the good Christians at Saks where I worked in Jackson, MS several years ago. Even though I was not worried about my soul, they were. So I became ordained and posted the certificate in my cube. If they came by cube with their evangelizing I would point to the certificate and invite to my services…basically we met every Friday night down at Joe’s Bar and Grill. They pretty much left me alone after that. Along with the certificate I received a wallet card and a license plate holder. I sometime pull the wallet card out in various discussions.

I am a big fan of The Dude in the film The Big Lebowski. A few years ago Robin had me ordained as a Dudeist priest. I usually say I am a Dudeist priest of the Pastafarian Monastery. It is all in good fun, although I can legally do anything a pastor/minister/priest can do.

I typically gas up at the same gas station/convenience store close to the house. This particularly store has a couple long term employees. One them is a friendly fellow about my age, covered with tattoos, Continue reading “Anyone who has been to prison…”

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I, at least, thought I was hilarious.

I spent a few nights in a motel in Jackson, by gawd, Mississippi while visiting a friend done there.  The scrolling marquee on the billboard for the motel advertised free breakfast, pool and WiFi.

One evening I went up to the front desk and requested two of the free wifies for the night.  The clerk looked at me with an expression somewhere between incomprehension and customer service patience migrating to head banging exasperation.

I, at least, thought I was hilarious.

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There is a story in here somewhere.

bkThere is a story in here somewhere.

We went to a retirement dinner which was actually breakfast foods.  Our protagonist is retiring from a lifetime of teaching elementary school.  What makes this interesting in the dime novel sort of way is that our heroine is a late in life lesbian.  She and another woman met, became enraptured with each other, and divorced their respective husbands.   What followed was tumultuous relation over a period of years.  The romantic portion of the relationship did end, but the relationship continues at some level.

What grabbed my attention at the dinner was that we were sitting next to her current girlfriend.  Her original girlfriend, now her ex was walking around taking pictures.  Both the divorced husbands from above were there.  At one point the two gentlemen were visiting with each other.

I can only imagine what would happen if I showed up at my ex’s retirement dinner.

You cannot make this stuff up.

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Theodore Roosevelt — Socialist

socialism1Theodore Roosevelt was frequently called a Socialist. The primary reason being that he had an extraordinary sense of fair play. He sided with labor when he thought that the just thing to do, and against capital when he thought they had overstepped their bounds.

I have on occasionally been called a Socialist, generally by folks totally ignorant, at least of the true meaning of socialism. But that criticism includes a vast majority of the right leaning media.

I love Teddy’s response to being called a Socialist:

“Because of things I have done on behalf of justice to the workingman, I have often been called a Socialist. Usually I have not taken the trouble even to notice the epithet. I am not afraid of names, and I am not one of those who fear to do what is right because someone else will confound me with partisans with whose principles I am not in accord. Moreover, I know that many American Socialists are high-minded and honorable citizens, who in reality are merely radical social reformers. They are oppressed by the brutalities and industrial injustices which we see everywhere about us. When I recall how often I have seen Socialists and ardent non-Socialists working side by side for some specific measure of social or industrial reform, and how I have found opposed to them on the side of privilege many shrill reactionaries who insist on calling all reformers Socialists, I refuse to be panic-stricken by having this title mistakenly applied to me.”

If socialism is really defined as not letting the privileged run over the less fortunate, then I am Continue reading “Theodore Roosevelt — Socialist”

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Another Teddy Roosevelt quote for our times

Teddy-Roosevelt-Rough-Rider“These men demanded for themselves an immunity from governmental control which, if granted, would have been as wicked and as foolish as immunity to the barons of the twelfth century. Many of them were evil men. Many others were just as good men as were some of these same barons; but they were as utterly unable as any medieval castle-owner to understand what the public interest really was. There have been aristocracies which have played a great and beneficent part at stages in the growth of mankind; but we had come to the stage where for our people what was needed was a real democracy; and of all forms of tyranny the least attractive and the most vulgar is the tyranny of mere wealth, the tyranny of a plutocracy.“

and bonus one… funny how little progress we have made, or perhaps have reverted back to those times of Robber Barons.

“Men who understand and practice the deep underlying philosophy of the Lincoln school of American political thought are necessarily Hamiltonian in their belief in a strong and efficient National Government Continue reading “Another Teddy Roosevelt quote for our times”

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Damn it, you’re welcome

There is a lot of good advice in this short article, 19 Words That Will Make People Like You More.  There is one section that struck me most vividly as it has been a pet peeve of mine for quite some time now. From the article:

“Words No. 3 and 4: “You’re welcome.”

Sometime in fairly recent history it seems people stopped saying, “You’re welcome,” and started substituting, “Yep,” or, “No problem.” At the risk of sounding older than I am, I think this is a step in the wrong direction–at least in a business or professional setting.

Why? Because ditching “you’re welcome” for these other phrases changes the message. “You’re welcome” acknowledges that you’ve done something worth someone else’s thanks, while “no problem” suggests that it wasn’t that big of a deal. Saying the former phrase conveys that you think it was a worthwhile favor. That’s an impressive message to send.”

I first started noticing this phenomenon on NPR.  The interviewer would say to interviewee, Continue reading “Damn it, you’re welcome”