WHERE ARE THE CATTLE?

There's this line my Christian friends say - "God owns all the cattle on a thousand hills".

For my non Christian friends, this line is from Psalm 50:10 and it means, as I understand it, (and I could be wrong and if I am there will be a line up of church people to point that out), its meaning is that God has all the resources and it is simple for him to provide for us.

Here's what I wonder about.

People feel called to a project, meaning, they believe God has told them to do something, like starting a church, putting on a concert, starting a homeless shelter, or - starting a radio station.  When I ask how will you do that?" they smile and say, "God has all the cattle". That means, God will somehow, miraculously provide the money to make it happen. I believe that it's possible.

A former pastor of mine once told me, that, "Where there is Godly vision, the money will follow". Those are his exact words - I wrote them down. It inspired me. It still does.

So, if the calling/vision is from God, he won't leave you hanging out there blowing in the wind with no way to get the job done, right?  R-i-i-i-ght?

I'm talking with a lot of organizations that say, "We have no money", as in no budget to do the project in a way that will have any visible impact, so they just kinda settle for the little they have. So I wonder, if the organization was started as "a calling", why is God not providing?  I mean, they say God has all the cattle, so like, where are they?

My non Christian friends have said to me, "If your God is so big, how come the event is so lame?" I'm embarrassed. How can I convince them that they need God in their lives, if our results are "lame"?

I'm going to take a guess at the answer. I could be wrong.

I think there is more to it than just "a calling". I think you have to have knowledge, too.  If you don't have knowledge, how will the calling/vision/project get started?  Or succeed. It won't.  It doesn't.  I guess people are hoping the cattle will suddenly show up.

Here's an idea.  Take your calling/vision/project and find someone smarter than you, who has done this before, and just ask them, "Hey, how do I do this?"  Once you have their knowledge, THEN, the money will follow, and the vision will bloom.

That's what I think anyway.

Moo!

IT'LL COME BACK

I’ve been on-air at every radio station I’ve worked at - either daily shifts, or fill-in here and there. From my first job doing evenings in Kingston at CKLC where I found my on-air personality (which often upset the program director), to growing up a wee bit and doing afternoon drive at CHAB in Saskatchewan, to various other shifts at an oldies station, a classic rock station, a Christian station in Nashville - up and down the dial - to here at LIFE 100.3. There was only one radio job where I did not work on the air - HITS 103.5, now Z103 Toronto, at which I was the program director.

A few years ago, I did my last regular daily shift on LIFE 100.3. It was 10-Noon. It was, in my mind, the perfect time slot because it allowed me to get the creative out of the way in the morning and focus on management detail in the afternoon. It was a great balance.

Why did I stop? Well, I came off the air when my undiagnosed depression made me unreliable. I’ve not been back on the air, daily, since then, instead just filling in here and there.

A year after, the depression became somewhat controllable but I lost my zeal to "entertain" every day, or to be honest, wanting to be on the air. I started to feel like I had said all I wanted to say. If I had to ask a caller, "So when do you put your Christmas lights up?" one more time, or any other interactive question, or take caller 7 to win a prize, one more time, I thought I would die.

In the Spring of 2011, I was on a radio trip out west and I was introduced to a DJ in Edmonton; a rather famous guy whom I had listened to on a Toronto radio station when I was just a teen in high school. It was cool meeting him and seeing him on the air, still doing an on-air shift after all those years. I asked him, "So, you’re on-air, no management position for you?" He told me he had done management and he was happy just doing the DJ thing where the responsibilities were less.

I told him, I had come off the air recently and felt I had done every radio bit and didn’t feel like going on the air again.  What he told me was very wise. He said, "It’ll come back." I’ve been waiting three years - it hasn’t.

Most broadcasters start on the air because it expresses an alter-ego. I'm blessed because my radio job is also my hobby and I don’t know where the line is between the two, and I don’t care - I love radio that much. But finding the zeal to go on the air and run contests and take phone calls and intro songs - it’s just not in me right now.

I love hosting the Saturday morning Retro Show. I enjoy researching the music and putting together the show - for now that seems to use all the gas in the tank. The office work, casting vision, making stuff happen - it's more gratifying.

However, those words from my Edmonton DJ friend still echo in my head - "It’ll come back - the desire will come back." I’m waiting.

DENNY CRANE

If you’ve seen the TV show Boston Legal, think of the characters Denny Crane and Alan Shore. Denny is the older, experienced lawyer played by William Shatner and Alan is the younger and successful lawyer, still learning, played by James Spader.

At the end of every show, they are seen smoking a cigar or sipping a beverage, in big comfy chairs on balcony overlooking Boston. Together, they reflect on their day at court, and life in general, as they see the world unfolding in their lives.

Sometimes they disagree. They’re lawyers so they argue a bit and they don’t always handle things the way each other would like, but there’s a deep respect for each other. It’s a bit of a son and dad thing - the younger and the wiser. The place where they come together is in their friendship and career passion.

I’m in that situation now. Me, the more experienced guy at work, (and maybe at life in general), and my good friend who is starting his career and thrives on being mentored and loves to learn and ask questions.

We spend a fair amount of time travelling where we have these Denny Crane/Alan Shore moments.  I cherish these times when we talk about our day and what we think of the world as it unfolds and our lives intertwine. Because of the generational age difference I’ve learned I don’t have to agree with how he handles life, because our good friendship is far greater. But dare I say, these are precious times.

Oh, and in our case, the cigars and cocktails are replaced with coke and calorie-filled honey buns.

I LOVE JUDY

For the last few months I’ve been hooked on Judge Judy’s court show.

"Real people, real cases, the verdict is final!"

Before I’d become a fan, I thought the show was a parody or gossipy. I guess I wasn’t sure - so I assumed. The show is about real people going to small claims court. Most of the cases deal with unpaid rent, or loans not paid back.

The plaintiff is interesting because sometimes it is a mom suing a son, or a daughter suing a father. It makes me wonder about their family dynamics that they could actually sue each other.

The defense is more interesting because usually they are in denial about fulfilling their agreement to pay back the other person. Often the defendant is being sued for non-payback of bail - to get them out of jail. So, the plaintiff was kind enough to lend them $1,000 for bail and the defendant says "I didn’t ask for it, it was a gift." Right. You’d rather be in jail?

Now the most interesting thing. Nearly everyone on the show (except Judy) cannot answer the question without going off on a tangent. So, Judy will ask, "Tell me what month did he give you the loan" and they’ll answer, "Ok, so, like, we met five years ago..." Judy says, "what month?!" And this goes on for most of the show.

I’ve noticed this in real life. People don’t answer the question. People want to give information that doesn’t even pertain to the topic. I guess people like to talk about themselves.

The show has made me more direct in conversation. Just shut up and answer the question.

Other answers from Judy:
"Don't say basically. Basically is a filler word".
"Hurry up and answer, we're having sushi for lunch"
"If it doesn't make sense it's probably not true".
"You ate the steak, you pay for it".

Judge Judy - real people, real cases!

PARKLAND

I rented the movie "Parkland" last night. It's the hospital that tended to the assassination of President Kennedy.

I loved this movie. It bombed at the box office - they lost millions of dollars. I don't know why.

Producers did a great job of blending the actual Dallas footage with the actors. The actress playing Jackie Kennedy had very few speaking lines, if any, but I could feel her anguish with her dying husband in her lap.

The guy who plays Oswald looks exactly like him.

There's a side plot about the character of Abraham Zapruder, who captured the assassination on Super 8, played by Paul Giamatti.  It was very heartfelt. Especially the aftermath.

Zac Efron played a minor role as the attending physician and pulls it off.

The movie is rated PG. If you're squeamish, the scenes in the ER are pretty bloody, but you never seen Kennedy's head and I didn't find it gory, perhaps because I knew what to expect.

After the movie, I found myself watch the original footage on You Tube and checking Wikipedia for the characters in the film.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9yjUAnMyCus

http://youtu.be/9yjUAnMyCus

WHAT NOW, 2014?

When a new year begins, we look at it with optimism, telling our friends that we hope it will be a better year than the one we just finished. As if the previous year, brought was joyless, which, despite some junk, there were plenty of joyous events.

So, we each look toward 2014 as "a brand new year full of hope", leaving the horribleness of 2013 in the past.

Many of my friends say making new year’s resolutions is stupid because they will break them anyway.

So how will 2014 be so wonderful when you have no plans for betterment? If 2013 was so terrible, wouldn’t it make sense to resolve to make plans? I think so.

So what and who cares if you break your resolution. Start again. You don’t have to wait a year to start over.

To start 2014 I've begun reading a new devotional by Sarah Young called "Jesus Lives". It’s a lot like "Jesus Calling", and I enjoyed that, so this should work well for me. I suppose it’s a got the "puppies and rainbows" outlook, and generally I need more than that, but right now it seems there is enough strife in my life, that maybe the over-positive reading will balance it out.

WAS IT REALLY THAT BAD?

Lots of people blogging and posting their memory of 2013.  "What an awful year, I hope 2014 is better" is what I'm reading.

I can relate. My Dad died on January 5, so 2013 didn't start too well.  Then my dog died. There was more junk after that.

Hmmm. I wonder. I bet we say the same thing every year.

And every year isn't actually that bad. Not every year! But sometimes a couple of things taint the rest of the memories.

Instead of feeling lousy about the year that just finished, maybe we need to remember the good things that happened - the new friends we made, a vacation we took, a new plan we made, or even one great day.

Even though I faced loss in 2013, there were some great blessings, some very fun days, and stuff I learned that hopefully has made me a better person.  I'm not letting those bad things in 2013 taint the rest of a great year.