Author: kenlassblog.net

I took my grandkids to one of those inflatable playground establishments recently. The kids love these places. They squeal with delight as they roar down steep slides, bounce off barriers of various shapes and sizes, and launch up to a soft basketball goal to dunk a shot.

The proprietors were smart enough to provide plenty of benches for old fogeys like me on which to sit down and observe the antics. But I couldn’t help but notice one woman who was in the middle of all the action. She had gray hair and lines in her face. Couldn’t have been all that much younger than me, I thought. Yet she had a toddler in her lap, and was cruising down the slides, as giddy as the children. She looked very happy.

We can’t do much to keep our bodies from aging, but we can do our best to stay young at heart. I’m going to work on that. Next time, I just may try going down that slide with my four year old grandson. I hope they don’t kick me out if I get stuck.

On a recent early morning I dragged myself into a local bakery to pick up something sweet to eat for breakfast. I was sleepy, grumpy and feeling the usual aches and pains of a senior citizen. There was a young lady behind the counter who flashed a huge smile that never disappeared throughout the ordering process. She was so polite, courteous, upbeat and friendly that I walked away actually feeling better and looking forward to the day. I don’t know her, and may never see her again, but that brief encounter made a difference in my life.

I couldn’t help thinking, if it had that effect on me, it probably did for others as well. How many lives will she brighten today? How many could we?

It’s amazing what just a big smile and a little kindness can do. People need a little pleasantness in their day. Be a source of it. In your own small but effective way, you’ll be making this world a better place.

I love my football team. I look forward to every game with excited anticipation. I live and die with the results. When they win I am in a good mood all week. When they lose, I fall into a funk for days.

It’s stupid I know. It’s not life or death. I have no financial stake in the outcome. Yet it seems to mean so much to me. I’m trying to figure out why. Somehow I feel part of the team. Winning fills me with pride. It’s like I earn some sort of respect from being a part of their fan base. I display it by wearing the team’s hats and tee shirts. I’m certainly not alone. Millions of football fanatics feel the same way, some even more so.

It occurs to me this passion could be more productively directed toward other things more important. Why is that so hard?

There is an old expression that goes “Eat to live, don’t live to eat.” Yet it’s easy to build your life around food. This is especially true after retirement when you may have fewer obligations and more free time. You divide each day into segments based on breakfast, lunch and dinner. You think in terms of, here’s what I want to do before lunch. I want to start this project, but can I get it done before dinner, etc.

If you’re not active, you may find yourself just watching the clock, waiting for the next opportunity to eat. Often you may find yourself snacking just because you’re bored. The key is to stay busy and productive. Get some exercise. Do volunteer work. Write letters (or e-mails) to friends. Get your mind off food.

I could write more about this, but it’s almost lunch time.

I really don’t know what to think about immunizations anymore. I’ve had people swear to me that shots saved their life, and others who earnestly claim the shots are worthless, and may actually harm you. Adding to the confusion is the wide variety of immunizations the medical profession is promoting, including shots for pneumonia, flu, RSV, Covid, Shingles, and Hepatitis.

Which ones to get, if any? When to get them? How long will they be effective? Will they even be effective? Or will I get sick anyway? It’s enough to make your head swirl.

I’m glad my eternal future is determined and secure. I don’t have any questions about that. And I didn’t even have to get a needle stuck in me. You don’t need a pharmacist to make that decision.

Recently Sharon and I took a car trip up into the Midwest to visit Sharon’s sister. I do all of the driving and got a little weary as we made our way through the rolling corn fields of southern Illinois. So I pulled into a remote rest area and we got out of the car to take a restroom break.

Once inside the men’s room I went to a urinal to…..well, you know what a man does in front of a urinal. As I looked up directly in front of me, I discovered that somebody had taped a short, small devotional to the wall, right at eye level, above the urinal. It explained briefly how to be saved and invite Jesus into your life. I couldn’t help thinking what a great and bold idea it was to post that little, yet powerful message.

And talk about a captive audience….

Recently we were dining out at one of our favorite restaurants, and a few tables away from us there was a toddler seated in a high chair. The toddler was pitching an absolute fit, wailing at the top of his voice. Next to him, with her back to us, was an adult woman which we assumed was the child’s mother. She basically ignored the wailing child, who continued his pitiful rant throughout our meal.

I couldn’t help thinking “at least do something to pacify the little tyke. Talk to him, play with him, put him on your lap. Do something“. But she never seemed to give the sobbing boy any attention. What kind of mother are you, I thought. We finished our meal and got up to leave, walking past the table where the child was still crying. It wasn’t until I saw the mother from the front that I noticed she was wearing a pouch on her chest with a newborn inside, and was trying to spoon feed the baby. Poor woman really had her hands full.

Lesson learned. Don’t judge until you know the whole story.

I have a vivid memory of watching TV with my father in 1967 when this new show came on. It was called Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In. It featured rapid fire jokes, most of which were blatantly sexual in nature. A young Goldie Hawn was dancing suggestively in a bikini. The show definitely pushed the edge of what was then allowable on the air. I recall my dad exclaiming “I can’t believe this stuff is on TV!”.

Twenty years later, in 1987, I was flipping through channels on my own TV, looking for something to watch. Lo and behold, I came upon Laugh-In. The reruns were being shown on Nickelodeon, which was basically a children’s programming channel. I remember being stunned that a show that was considered cutting edge and extremely racy in 1967 had become suitable for a children’s channel by 1987.

It was a stark example of how quickly culture evolves. And how acutely we should be aware of it.

As I write this, I am surrounded by the sounds of pounding hammers and heavy footsteps. We are having our roof replaced after recent storm damage. Our house and the lawn around it is a complete mess of torn up shingles, insulation, gutter sections and roofing nails. It looks like a tornado blew through this place.

The workers started very early this morning and they have spread debris everywhere. But, by day’s end, they will not only have replaced the roof, they will have cleaned up all the trash, vacuumed the lawn, and have the property looking good as new. It’s really a pretty incredible transformation in one day.

Jesus can do that for you. If your life is a complete mess, He can clean it up and have it looking good as new in no time. But you have to give Him a chance.

Let Him climb up onto your roof.

I’m really working hard on speaking less and listening more. This does not come easily for me, since I made my living my entire life by running my mouth. I’ve always felt I needed to be an active participant in conversations by talking a lot. In fact, sometimes I was so focused on what I wanted to say, I realized I wasn’t really listening to what anybody else was saying. Later my wife Sharon, who is a very good listener, would refer to something somebody else said, and I would not even recall it.

There’s no telling what I’ve missed. Gradually, I am learning that, just because a thought pops into my head, doesn’t mean I have to verbalize it. It’s more important to actually hear and absorb what others are thinking.

Sometimes talking is okay, but usually listening is better.