Man Survives Garbage Truck Crushing, have you?

I'll be taking the next few entries to find God in strange news stories from across the country. What I won't be doing in this is taking the news and making social commentary- I'll leave that to our cable news channels. They can examine the political angels of the news, we'll be examining the spiritual.


This one comes to us courtesy of AP from West Palm Beach


Man Survives Garbage Truck Crushing

A homeless man who had fallen asleep in a trash bin to escape the rain was dumped into a garbage truck and survived being crushed repeatedly before a worker saw him.

Robert Baswell, 44, said he screamed as the load of trash was crushed against his body at least seven times and was sure he would die. He tried to cushion one blow from the truck's compressor with a dead opossum, he said.

"I screamed one last breath," Baswell told the Palm Beach Post. A trash collector finally saw him as he tossed in a box and called for help.
Firefighters spent almost a half hour pulling pieces of trash out by hand to free the man.

"I want to find this gentleman and have him buy my lottery tickets because he is one lucky dude," said West Palm Beach Fire Rescue spokesman Phil Kaplan.

Baswell, who had bedded down in a brush-filled trash bin Sunday night to get out of the rain, suffered broken legs and ribs.

"I'm so happy to be here, as bad as I'm hurt," he said.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Like Mr. Baswell, we were once homeless, being crushed by the garbage of our own lives until with one last breath we screamed and God found us. Carefully and methodically he dug us out of our mess and saved us from certain death. But poor Mr. Baswell would never have been in such deep garbage if only he had stayed in the rain. While it is a sad social commentary on the homeless, the fact is that it is better to be wet than dead. We too find ourselves in situations where life’s garbage looks better than the storm overhead. We plunge into all kinds of refuse before we realize that we are being crushed and for many, the trash collector never finds us until it’s too late. Mr. Baswell was lucky, we are blessed. Don’t get crushed, use that last breath- call to Him.

I have a new title- Dad

My apologies to my fellow bloggers, I've been away since September and my baby daughter has drained all my time faster than her little mouth can empty a bottle.

I think that you will find my entries these next few months to be brief, inspiring and maybe just a bit thought-provoking. They may be just a random quote, bible verse or observation. In the meantime while I was gone:

Adadia Christine, my first baby girl was born on October 26th

I continue to tutor learning disabled adults in the areas of reading and writing. My current student is progressing very nicely and was recently promoted at his job.

I've started my own consulting company- if you have an idea or an existing business in the area of consumer products, check out my website- www.beacon-consultants.com, I'll get you hooked up.

I began working on my MBA last August

So as you can tell, I've been a little busy, but in that time a ton of new ideas, thoughts, insights and issues and conflicts have come up and now I guess I just have to put them up here for all to see. That assumes of course that everyone else is still out there......

See you very soon!

--Donovan

An Open Letter to Mr. Chavez & Mr. Ahmadinejad

Dear Mr. Chavez & Mr. Ahmadinejad,

I would like to address your concerns over our president’s recent comments at the United Nations that you found rather insulting. I would also like to attend to your recent quarrel with Pope Benedict’s latest speech.

First and foremost we as Americans are very sorry and deeply regret having offended you both as Muslims and/ or Socialists. You see it’s not that we mean to make you angry with these type comments, far be it from us to criticize or degrade any system of government with the exception our own democracy, it’s just that we’re having a rather difficult time understanding you as the gentle, caring and freedom-loving individuals that the media make you out to be.

For example, Mr. Chavez, your comments about our leader being the devil stands in stark contrast with the kind-hearted philanthropist that we’ve heard you to have become. You see, Mr. Chavez a majority of our people wanted this man to be the head of our country and when you call him such names and profess that he smells like sulfur, it confuses many of our people to the point of frustration wondering how you and your socialist paradise could let a man of such evil dominate your discourse. Your degrading rant about American imperialism really does hurt our feelings, we were all under the impression that you stood up for the little guy. We are a country of underdogs trying to make it in life. When you say things like you said the other day, we have a hard time wanting to change our system to the tyrannical regime that you have so lovingly bestowed upon your country.

And Mr. Ahmadinejad, we all know you just want nuclear power. Your poor, helpless people need it and we desperately want to let you have it so they can electrically shave their beards and such, every country needs that. But when you pray for the coming of the 12th Imam and the destruction of the world, we just have to wonder if maybe it’s not such a good idea to let you have technology that could kill everyone we know and love. I mean, we’ve sort of grown attached to our families and we really like to be alive. I know that you just want the Christians and the Jews and the Buddhists and the Taoists and the, well pretty much every religion except Islam to be dead and you’ve made very compelling arguments for this to be a good thing. But many of our families do not ascribe to your religion, and we humbly ask that you please not speak at the U.N. about having them killed. Our media says you are just misunderstood and oh, how we want more than anything to believe them and sure, many of us do. But when you do not speak out against women and children being blown to bits, innocent people having their throats slit on video, sending children into cafes with bombs strapped to their chests and basically the whole jihad thing, we can’t see you as the hero of our time that the newspaper said that you were for standing up to our democratically elected leader.

I also want you to know that the Pope really does mean it when he says he’s sorry for quoting history. I mean after all, the past is the past and this is your time for the Caliphate to take hold. We can’t have some guy in a funny hat raining on your parade with the truth. It’s just that when you say that you are nonviolent and peace-loving then have your people threaten to kill him for saying that they are inhumane, doesn’t that sort of make his point?

Please Mr. Chavez and Mr. Ahmadinejad, the media loves you and we are trying our best to. But we’re beginning to think that they love you because of what you hate (namely America and democracy) not because of what you can do for us as Muslims or Socialists. Please try to be more forthcoming with the merits of your religion and system of government so that we too can embrace you for the champions of our time that people say you are.

The following is a small list of things you might do to help us see you in a new light:

1. Apologize for hurting our sensitive American feelings about being imperialists and our president being Satan, and later we can all go for ice cream.
2. Drop the whole nuclear power scheme and just tell us why we should all die, I guarantee that many of us will agree if you just say it nicely.
3. For goodness sake, recognize Israel and then nicely explain why you think six million of them are still alive someplace. We may even help you look for them if you want.
4. Let the Pope read the books he wants and say the words out of them. I know, I know freedom of speech is overrated and you are just looking out for your fellow Muslims, but our feelings are hurt too when you tell him he can’t read from his favorite people.

I look forward to your response,

Sincerely,

A television-watching, newspaper-reading, blog-typing American

An Inconvenient Truth

Most of us have heard of Al Gore’s new movie about global warming called “An Inconvenient Truth.” As a first-time father this coming November, I’m a little upset at Mr. Wannabepresident Gore telling me that my kid will only live to be ten years old before he is horribly melted of choked off my the capitalist machine that I myself perpetuate every day. So in that fashion, here is my own rant on what I consider to be a bit more of a spiritual inconvenient truth:



Inconvenience has been a staple excuse since the dawn of time. Why did Cain not bring his very best to God? Most likely inconvenience. Why did Israel reject many of God’s laws? Too inconvenient compared with other religions. Why did the priest and the Levite pass up the stranger? Inconvenience. Why does the world not stand up to today’s modern threats? You guessed it, way too inconvenient.

By nature the very definition of inconvenience is “awkward or tiresome.” Inconvenience keeps us from doing things that would otherwise “waste our time.” If you drive from your house to work taking roads make your trip 15 miles when a more direct route would have only been four miles, you might say that’s an inconvenient way to get to work, it’s a waste of time, fuel, energy, and money- the things we value most.

So as long as serving God does not interfere with any of the four things above, then we’re good to go, right? Actually history has proven over and over than serving God means that all four of those things need to be used for God and not ourselves. Let’s not confuse people who think that the things of God are inconvenient with those who are inherently evil. Often we pass off serving God for the best of reasons- “I can’t help that lady change her tire, I’ll be late for Sunday School.” “I can’t tithe, that would mean no vacation for the kids this year.” “I can’t drive all the way across town to help volunteer, gas is expensive enough as it is.” “I can’t teach another bible study, I’m way too exhausted.”

All great reasons not to do something God may be calling you to do, but are they really just inconvenient excuses? If I could remind you, myself and anyone else reading…God’s work does not take a summer vacation. There are a lot of people out there who need you to inconvenience yourself for them. Maybe it’s just saying hello to your neighbor when you take out the trash. C’mon, you know who I’m talking about, the guy or gal who you might casually wave or nod to but just give ‘em their space. Maybe try to be a little “awkward” when you ask how their day was, or a little “inopportune” when you shake their hand. You already know who your neighbor is and we’ve seen love in action no matter how small it may seem.

A wise man once said, “Go and do likewise.”

Single Mindedness

As Christians, I don’t believe that we have the obligation to be open minded, closed minded or even narrow minded. It is my belief that we are called to be “single minded.” Here's a take on this with of course my own definitions. These of course are hypothetical definitions whereby ALL individuals in the world operated by the defined thought process. By all means, agree or disagree.

Open mindedness- A complete and total ability to consider and/ or embrace an ideological view or standpoint. A person who is open minded considers others’ views and tries to incorporate those views into his or her perspective.

There is a danger in being genuinely open minded. To be completely open minded doesn’t just indicate a willingness to hear and see views which contradict your own, it indicates a willingness to take those views and apply them to your worldview. Such a course of action invariably results in a laissez faire attitude in which many brands of veracity are birthed. All too often we associate open mindedness with political correctness, politeness and civility. Yet to take all competing and parallel views into account with the attempt to shape a specific paradigm only yields incivility as this slippery slope attempts to give equal weight to all types and nuances of ideas.


Closed mindedness- A complete and total ability to disregard an ideological view or standpoint as meaningless or futile. A person who is closed minded considers other’s views to be in stark contrast with their own and is unwilling to give them any credence.

There is perhaps an even greater danger of being genuinely closed minded. To be completely closed minded is to hold such a tightfisted worldview that leaves little to no room for legitimate education or insight. To postulate 2+2=5 and claim that there is no other answer does both a disservice to the mathematical world and to the world at large. To suggest that 2+2=4 and propose that all thoughts, ideas and emotions must revolve around this objective truth is equally harmful. Again, we all too often associate being closed minded with offensiveness and disrespect- the old curmudgeon who has no room for new ideas in an ancient world. But to disallow others’ influences, opinions and views will also yield a paradigm of bigotry and resentment where no two individuals can ever truly coexist peacefully.

Narrow mindedness- An ability to choose among various viewpoints which best fit into an already structured frame of reference. A person who is narrow minded considers others’ views to be either valid or illegitimate, but will rarely completely discredit or incorporate those views into his or her perspective.

On the surface, narrow mindedness seems a safe route, a type of sieve that can filter out bad ideas and seize those that might better our understanding. Even the Bible dictates that “strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life...." There is however a difference in the allegorical “way” in this case and one’s personal worldview. Narrow mindedness often leaves room for consideration or disagreement, but little use for practical purpose. To be narrow minded indeed agrees that 2+2=4, but will either hold this as something of no use at all or perhaps too useful to see that 2x2 also equals 4. While narrow mindedness will give credence to some viewpoints, the proverbial safety tether will often keep the individual from ever experiencing or discovering those views. The end result can lead to an existence fraught with experiential hurdles.


Single mindedness- An ability to focus on one’s own ideological view or standpoint as truth. A person who is single minded both considers and discredits others’ views while trying to incorporate those views that line up with their specific truth into his or her perspective.

Perhaps the most difficult of all, single mindedness denies as well as takes into account views and experiences that typically shape one’s worldview and creates a standard by which all subsequent views are measured. There is a single standard that keeps one’s truth in line but allows for this truth to be viewed through different though not through all lenses. In allowing this, the individual does not merely imply that he or she is closed, open or narrow minded, but allows for a genuine shaping of their truth which at a particular stage becomes a criterion for incorporating other competing or parallel views.

Clash of Civilizations- Final Entry

...and then it was over.

I held the 6 month old in my arms for one last time. She still looked like a one month old, but her weight gain over the last few weeks had been remarkable. Her recovery from the successful heart surgery was truly miraculous. The surgery itself was miraculous. The families and people coming together and praying to make it all happen was beyond any miracle I had ever witnessed. The heavenly reassurances, the terrifying uncertainties, they were all part of wonderful story that strengthened my spirit and taught me to love. And through it all there was her, now staring back at me with those big eyes and long eyelashes, talking to me in short, sweet little grunts. She had survived when she was told that she would not make it through the month and the proof was now in my arms, surrounded by a cast of extraordinary people.

Her mother Sinah had cried away many nights with the excruciating realization that her first child would not get to take her first step or play with other children, say her first word or lose her first tooth. Now, a proud woman of renewed faith and commitment, Sinah was finding her nights awakened by her hungry little girl were filled with only tears of joy for what lay ahead.

Her father Mohammed, a devout Muslim, at first wary of an American Christian’s charity, now embraced me as a friend. While we may never see eye to eye on who the savior of the world was and is, we know now only of peace and a future that will be better for our children. We had promised each other that no matter where we are, this will always be our calling from God. A far cry from the images of hate and violence on television that we had all grown so accustomed to.

Aya's aunt Laila, who had served as interpreter from Arabic to English and back to Arabic through countless hospital visits now stood adoring over the baby in my arms. She too would miss her family with an aching that would only be filled by God's love across the miles. She had found a new sense of pride, however in her American family, now standing as one with her Moroccan heritage.

My wife, Britt, the tall redhead whose medical background had allowed for the surgery to be performed in the first place. The woman whose calling from God had placed her in the forefront of the situation. Never losing her cool, never getting too emotional and though sometimes afraid, she had been my lead player in this month-long drama. Her medical advice coupled with her spiritual faithfulness had allowed this entire event to unfold, take place and ultimately, now, finish.

But there was one other person who had been with us all along whom little baby Aya had not met, in fact none of my month-long houseguests had. (A person none of you reading this or my past blog entries have met either, I've never mentioned this character until right now.) But it was a person who now moments before they were to return to Morocco, I knew she and her parents had to meet. So as I held her in my arms, I walked over to my wife, lowered Aya to Britt's belly, lightly tapping and pointing. I wanted baby Aya to say hello in there to her new cousin- my first child as well. Aya reached out her little baby hand toward my wife and smiled, almost as if to tell me that she'd known all along.

See this whole time, God had been preparing me. When I found out I was going to be a father last February, I had asked God to teach me what he wanted me to know. Maybe it would how to be a strong man of faith. Maybe it would be how to lead a strong family. Maybe it would be how to pray and ask for intervention. Maybe it would be how to be a better husband. And so as He had put this situation in front of me, I found the lesson was so simple, so simple in fact it was one I had never thought of: I will teach you to truly love.

As quickly as our spiritual mission to save Aya's life had started, it came to a conclusion. I had seen as many highs and lows in this situation as I had ever seen in my walk with God. In looking back I realized that many parts of my life in the past few years had prepared me for these moments, these fleeting moments that changed everyone.


A brief summary of Aya Rbia's story can be found here: www.patronsofthehearts.com. Please continue to be in prayer for this organization and the awesome people involved. Aya will return to the U.S. in about a year and a half to two years for a second, very risky surgery. She will for the first time be able to play with her first American cousin, my son or daughter.

No More Sodas for the Kids

So it's finally come to this. The obesity rate in this country is so high that beverage distributors have stopped selling to schools, those sweet, sweet concoctions that have become staples of teen and preteen society.

Did you see this one coming folks? Maybe you're with me when I say that when I was in school, we didn't have soda to drink unless mom or dad packed it for us. When I got older I might have slipped a can or two into my backpack and there was hell to pay if I was caught drinking this anyplace outside of the cafeteria. Then when I was in high school, we had a couple of soda machines that were kind of out of the way. You might have to go into the lunch room or sneak into the teacher's conference room to catch a sip or buy a can or bottle. Then Coca Cola stepped in (after I had graduated) and pumped tens of thousands of dollars into new, better and more machines in the hallways complete with a new football stadium and athletic facility that only sold, you guessed it, Coke products- let the good times roll.

First of all, I'm not sure that ADHD, sugar and puberty are such a good mix. But then again what do I know. I'm not the one looking at the school budget to the realization of what we're missing by not having Dr. Pepper in the hallways at $1.25 per can. To be honest, after I was about 14, I drank pretty much whatever I wanted (legally). Of course, my family does not have a history of obesity and I stayed very fairly physically active all year, two very important ingredients when considering health risks and drinking soda every day.

The solution to this is already taking shape and I applaud that. Schools can keep some of their money by only offering healthy alternatives, thus almost forcing students to make a lifestyle change for the better. But this whole "experiment" of having sugary snacks in the hallways was doomed from the get-go. My solution would be to pull all vending machines out of schools, go back to old-fashioned water fountain breaks, offer healthier lunch alternatives and start making physical education more physical than educational.

But the solution only covers what the schools can do. Ultimately it is up the family to decide where their child should go to school and what he or she should be eating and doing while there. No, parents and teachers can't police their children 100% or the time, but they can set ground rules for what is and isn't healthy. If drinking six cans of Jolt per day for breakfast and lunch is okay, I missed something. If playing Xbox for three hours per day is okay, I really missed the boat.

I guess my bottom line is that these headlines today about vending machines pulling sweet drinks from schools is nothing more than what I call societal band aid. We live in the era of the knee-jerk, the quick fix. These headlines are part of a much deeper issue that many in the mainstream media are afraid to tackle- the breakdown of the nuclear family.

Lessons from the Clash of Civilizations

By now, many of you know what my "clash of civilizations" is referring to. My own personal clash of civilizations was not the media-driven madness that pits militant Islamic extremists on one side and the civilized Western World on the other. The thirst for violence and hatred from the mainstream press has lately found many of us wrapped up in this, wondering what it all means. But my clash was hugs, high fives and baby kisses. It was a coming together of Muslims, Christians and an army of prayer warriors (some of them are you reading this) calling on the power of God to save a little baby. Miracle after miracle poured over this situation, setback after setback caused all of us to doubt, but in the end, Aya, the 6-month-old from Morocco was saved the day after Easter. Her life-saving surgery was a huge success, she never quit and still never quits. She is healing and recovering better than many children her age that have open heart surgery.

I've learned a few things through all of this that I'd like to go ahead and at least try to share, starting with today:

No matter what good you do, in this world it will never equal the visibility of hatred.

Love is hard to spot. Hatred is not. Hatred is guns, explosions, blood and wailing mothers. Love is a quiet little girl sleeping in her crib under a silent prayer. After coming through the last month, I had many people tell me that this story needs to be told, that this period of time was too important to keep silent about. My feelings are this- there are many people who will be moved by what's happened here, but very few who will understand. I can't make those who hate people for the sake of hating understand what love is. An explosion is a highly visible and simple way to get across your message of hatred on CNN. Our way is just as emotional and determined, but requires more time, words and feelings than raw hatred. And let's face it, the media does not have that kind of patience.

While Christ-like love rarely makes the headlines, we press on unnoticed sometimes by all but God. But I learned a deep lesson about this kind of love. As for my Islamic counterpart, Aya's father, Mohammed, he is so grateful for me, my wife, our home and our country. He has told me on several occasions that Allah will reward me and sees all of my goodness. Comforting, yes, but trying to explain to a devout Muslim why I love him and his family so much though I have never met him and even barely knew their names is very difficult. When everything else in the world says we should hate each other, why had we found such a common bond?

First, there was our common mission- his daughter. We knew we would be pleading with a different God, but when a baby's life is at steak, neither of us were confused as to the seriousness. Second, just naturally being a guest in someone's house and country tends to put everyone on their best behavior. But my most plausible explanation was this: my nature told me to hate him and everything he stands for. My sinful nature says "Look at the news, see the faces, hear the voices, his people hate you and would kill you and everyone you loved if they got a chance. Leave him and his family to suffer in their backwards country, they would gladly do the same to you." It was God's love in the hearts of his people that caused this world, this way of thinking, to turn upside down.

But just because hatred is so visible, does that mean that it's somehow more real than the love of Christ? For some, this is clearly the case. It's up to you and I make Christ's love visible. How do we do this when my sinful nature constantly reminds me that I'm so hated?

Yes, as for Mohammed's view Allah will reward me. God says that "great is your reward in heaven." I believe that, we're on the same page there, but we don't save children, open up our homes, start new churches, feed the poor, cure the sick and talk with the unlovable because our reward is great. We do this because Jesus told us to. But we can't do this just because he said to. He has to live in us for the Holy Spirit to do its work through us.

As I try to explain this to a Muslim, this is crazy talk, tantamount to being possessed. It's sometimes easy to see how many people can turn to violence when put in this situation. You can't do enough good in this world to make up for the bad. None of us can. For many Muslims, you can only enter heaven, you will only be good enough, through martyrdom, by killing others in jihad no matter how much good you do. To us, this is crazy talk, we are saved through the blood of Jesus, not martyrdom. This is not to say all Muslims believe this way, but it is easy to see how their thinking can be hijacked to so.

So let your love to others be invisible. Say a prayer for your sleeping child tonight, say hello to a tough coworker, or just appreciate those around you. It will not make USA Today, Oprah will not talk about it tomorrow afternoon, no pundits or analysts will post your picture on their website. But remember that this love is more real than anything you will find on TV tonight.

Tomorrow: When God moves.....