Customer Pamela was just in the store and purchased some greeting cards. We remarked about greeting cards compared to E-mail and how many individuals enjoy receiving a real card in the mail.
Pamela remarked that she has a young relative to whom she sends cards. She has now has adapted to his habits. After she mails a card to him she sends him an E-mail telling him to check his mail box. He says that otherwise he does not check anymore on his own because he does not receive any mail of consequence.
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Sunday, September 18, 2011
Libertarianism
A short article in Christian Century spurred my thinking about libertarianism. Here is my thought about it today.
Americans favorably view the idea of libertarianism. We like the idea that we can rely on ourselves, do it ourselves, take on the battles of life on our own and win or lose by our own skills. It is part of what helped create this country and this culture.
I think that libertarianism works especially well when the population is small and the land and natural resources are large. The freedom to choose for ourselves which part of our environment we will use to improve our life is appealing. Neighbors may be nearby but they are not intruding on our space. Discarding of our wastes does not affect them.
Our population has grown. We are much more crowded on this little planet than we have been. The population has doubled more than once in just my lifetime. As the population density increases our natural resources shrink, our waste products increase, and our neighbors’ actions affect what we can do for ourselves.
It seems to me that in today’s world we can not afford the luxury of libertarianism, as much as we love the concept of it. My freedom to do as I want to do impinges on the lives of too many others. Because of our population increases and dwindling natural resources we are losing the capacity of the natural world to absorb our own desires to “do it my way.” Increasingly we need to take into consideration the needs of others.
Libertarianism is a great concept. It works in smaller populations with abundant natural resources. We have passed the point where we can afford the luxury of libertarianism. We need to think about and care for our neighbors’ needs at least as much as we care for our own needs. Interacting in caring ways in community is more important now than ever.
Americans favorably view the idea of libertarianism. We like the idea that we can rely on ourselves, do it ourselves, take on the battles of life on our own and win or lose by our own skills. It is part of what helped create this country and this culture.
I think that libertarianism works especially well when the population is small and the land and natural resources are large. The freedom to choose for ourselves which part of our environment we will use to improve our life is appealing. Neighbors may be nearby but they are not intruding on our space. Discarding of our wastes does not affect them.
Our population has grown. We are much more crowded on this little planet than we have been. The population has doubled more than once in just my lifetime. As the population density increases our natural resources shrink, our waste products increase, and our neighbors’ actions affect what we can do for ourselves.
It seems to me that in today’s world we can not afford the luxury of libertarianism, as much as we love the concept of it. My freedom to do as I want to do impinges on the lives of too many others. Because of our population increases and dwindling natural resources we are losing the capacity of the natural world to absorb our own desires to “do it my way.” Increasingly we need to take into consideration the needs of others.
Libertarianism is a great concept. It works in smaller populations with abundant natural resources. We have passed the point where we can afford the luxury of libertarianism. We need to think about and care for our neighbors’ needs at least as much as we care for our own needs. Interacting in caring ways in community is more important now than ever.
Thursday, September 15, 2011
A pregnant scene
Thelma visited the store yesterday. Among other catching-up conversation she shared this story.
Thelma’s daughter, in her 20s, is an actress. Presently she is in Los Angeles trying out for many acting jobs.
Thelma received an E-mail from her daughter with the subject line stating “I’m pregnant.” Of course that caught Thelma’s attention!
In the body of the message her daughter described that she landed a part in an episode of a TV series where she plays a pregnant woman.
Thelma’s next response as a mother, after recovering from the initial reaction to the pregnancy statement was with fright, “Do you get killed in that episode?” A mother does not want to experience her daughter being killed, whether in real life or as an actress. Her daughter replied saying, no, she was not killed and actually the good guys save her.
There is drama and even trauma waiting for us around every corner in life, or so it seems some days. Some are real and others are perceived to be real.
Thelma’s daughter, in her 20s, is an actress. Presently she is in Los Angeles trying out for many acting jobs.
Thelma received an E-mail from her daughter with the subject line stating “I’m pregnant.” Of course that caught Thelma’s attention!
In the body of the message her daughter described that she landed a part in an episode of a TV series where she plays a pregnant woman.
Thelma’s next response as a mother, after recovering from the initial reaction to the pregnancy statement was with fright, “Do you get killed in that episode?” A mother does not want to experience her daughter being killed, whether in real life or as an actress. Her daughter replied saying, no, she was not killed and actually the good guys save her.
There is drama and even trauma waiting for us around every corner in life, or so it seems some days. Some are real and others are perceived to be real.
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Zi and a new feature
Several years ago a man named Zi entered our professional lives. As owner of a small website development company he worked with us to completely rebuild our website so that, among other things, it could accept credit card payments securely. We admired Zi for his creativity, knowledge, and interpersonal skills. He fits the description of “one of the good guys.”
Since that time Zi sold his company to his friend and co-worker, Daniel, who has worked with us on several upgrades to the website. Zi then went on to “bigger and better things.”
About three weeks ago Zi phoned me. We had not talked for perhaps five years, although we have worked with his sister Kira and her Search Engine Optimization company and through Kira had kept informed about him. Zi has been working in an Internet business that, among other things, adds a specific feature to the websites of multinational corporations. That feature may be described as “Customers who bought this item also bought…” and variations on that idea. The computer application tracks your visit to a website and then offers you feedback on other shoppers who have also visited that website and viewed what you have viewed. To be able to track and report to you the movements of other shoppers requires some sophisticated programming and manipulating of large amounts of data. Our website is not at all that sophisticated.
Zi’s company has created this feature for the million-dollar websites (and the tens-of-million-dollars websites). He described to me that huge corporations that can afford this feature are primarily in this large, somewhat homogenous, and shopper oriented country of ours. By contrast Europe, being about the size of Texas and populated by several cultures and languages, has not been a fertile place for large English speaking corporate websites.
The idea for Zi’s company has been to develop a very capable smaller website application that can offer much of the same functions as found on the huge corporate websites but designed for the smaller but successful websites in Europe.
In a few weeks Zi’s company will be displaying their new website feature at a trade show in Europe. Before they display it they need to have it functioning on some smaller websites that they can use as examples. Zi phoned me to ask if he could have this feature installed on our website, immediately, so that he could use it as an example at the trade show in Europe in a few weeks.
Due to our previous work together we know each other and trust each other. Zi made the offer so appealing to us that we could not turn him down. As a result the last couple of weeks have been somewhat of a whirlwind of activity for me and our website. The feature was installed a couple of weeks ago. It gathered data from visitors to our site for until it had accumulated enough data to display it accurately. Two days ago it “went Live” on our site. The computer algorithms are smart. They are watching and learning from our website visitors. Within a few weeks it will have refined and narrowed the information that it displays to visitors.
We get the use of this new feature for one year at no charge, as part payment to us for agreeing to their demonstration of it for their customers in Europe. At the end of one year we will need to pay the going rate for it if we are to keep it. The “going rate” is breathtakingly large. We can’t imagine that we could afford to pay for it. But at least for a while it is fun to be able to display a quality feature for our website visitors. Another part of this-ministry-which-is-the-store is our willingness to help others. We are helping Zi and having an interesting time with the new feature.
Since that time Zi sold his company to his friend and co-worker, Daniel, who has worked with us on several upgrades to the website. Zi then went on to “bigger and better things.”
About three weeks ago Zi phoned me. We had not talked for perhaps five years, although we have worked with his sister Kira and her Search Engine Optimization company and through Kira had kept informed about him. Zi has been working in an Internet business that, among other things, adds a specific feature to the websites of multinational corporations. That feature may be described as “Customers who bought this item also bought…” and variations on that idea. The computer application tracks your visit to a website and then offers you feedback on other shoppers who have also visited that website and viewed what you have viewed. To be able to track and report to you the movements of other shoppers requires some sophisticated programming and manipulating of large amounts of data. Our website is not at all that sophisticated.
Zi’s company has created this feature for the million-dollar websites (and the tens-of-million-dollars websites). He described to me that huge corporations that can afford this feature are primarily in this large, somewhat homogenous, and shopper oriented country of ours. By contrast Europe, being about the size of Texas and populated by several cultures and languages, has not been a fertile place for large English speaking corporate websites.
The idea for Zi’s company has been to develop a very capable smaller website application that can offer much of the same functions as found on the huge corporate websites but designed for the smaller but successful websites in Europe.
In a few weeks Zi’s company will be displaying their new website feature at a trade show in Europe. Before they display it they need to have it functioning on some smaller websites that they can use as examples. Zi phoned me to ask if he could have this feature installed on our website, immediately, so that he could use it as an example at the trade show in Europe in a few weeks.
Due to our previous work together we know each other and trust each other. Zi made the offer so appealing to us that we could not turn him down. As a result the last couple of weeks have been somewhat of a whirlwind of activity for me and our website. The feature was installed a couple of weeks ago. It gathered data from visitors to our site for until it had accumulated enough data to display it accurately. Two days ago it “went Live” on our site. The computer algorithms are smart. They are watching and learning from our website visitors. Within a few weeks it will have refined and narrowed the information that it displays to visitors.
We get the use of this new feature for one year at no charge, as part payment to us for agreeing to their demonstration of it for their customers in Europe. At the end of one year we will need to pay the going rate for it if we are to keep it. The “going rate” is breathtakingly large. We can’t imagine that we could afford to pay for it. But at least for a while it is fun to be able to display a quality feature for our website visitors. Another part of this-ministry-which-is-the-store is our willingness to help others. We are helping Zi and having an interesting time with the new feature.
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Jail chapel ministry
Linda stopped by this afternoon. Before asking for suggestions for reading, she told us about her help with the local jail chapel ministry.
Once a week she joins usually three other women, one of whom is a deacon, as they visit the local jail where they offer a prayer service. With a career as a Certified Public Account, Linda has not been associated with a jail or prison ever in her life. I could tell that it was quite a leap of faith for her to agree to join the deacon and be, as Linda described, a “presence” in the jail for the prayer service.
First she took a four-hour class that trained her in the culture of the jail. Mostly, it appeared to me, to be instruction in what one does not do in a jail setting, rather than what one does. Her animated delivery as she described the experience told me that it was very meaningful for her to be able to be part of that particular jail prayer ministry.
I admire Linda’s care and concern for women in jail. Linda is living her Baptismal covenant by “respecting the dignity of every person.” I also admire her courage by being part of the jail prayer ministry.
Once a week she joins usually three other women, one of whom is a deacon, as they visit the local jail where they offer a prayer service. With a career as a Certified Public Account, Linda has not been associated with a jail or prison ever in her life. I could tell that it was quite a leap of faith for her to agree to join the deacon and be, as Linda described, a “presence” in the jail for the prayer service.
First she took a four-hour class that trained her in the culture of the jail. Mostly, it appeared to me, to be instruction in what one does not do in a jail setting, rather than what one does. Her animated delivery as she described the experience told me that it was very meaningful for her to be able to be part of that particular jail prayer ministry.
I admire Linda’s care and concern for women in jail. Linda is living her Baptismal covenant by “respecting the dignity of every person.” I also admire her courage by being part of the jail prayer ministry.
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Harold Hansen, organist, wonderful human.
If nothing else, Harold Hansen is steadfast, and he is much more than that. After 73 continuous years Harold is putting away The Hymnal Accompaniment book as he retires from his career as organist and choir director at All Saints Episcopal Church, Tacoma WA. Harold is 95 years old.
Harold was in his sixties when he moved to the Puget Sound region after retiring from his full-time career as organist at a famous Episcopal Church in Hollywood CA. He began his “retirement gig” at All Saints, has been the only organist for that congregation since then, and announced his retirement this week. His last Sunday at All Saints, Tacoma, will be on September 10th.
Two of the many stories that I recall from Harold include hymns and license plate numbers, and the famous Hollywood actors that used to sing at his church. In 1982 the Episcopal Church adopted a new hymnal replacing The Hymnal 1940. Harold mourned the loss of the old hymnal because he had memorized most of the 740 hymn numbers in the old book. He enjoyed playing the game of the three-digit number on the license on the car ahead of him while driving and remembering which hymn corresponded to that number. For instance, the license on the car ahead of him would include the numbers 266 and Harold would say, “Holy, Holy, Holy” (…Lord God Almighty). The “new” hymnal of 1982 moved "Holy, Holy, Holy" to hymn number 362. For some time Harold’s game of license numbers and hymns was over, until he began memorizing the new hymn numbers.
Harold loved to recount to us choir members at All Saints about the famous Hollywood actors who sang in his choir in his Hollywood church. He’d say, “Oh, yes, (name) sang with us when we performed this anthem,” and we would be amazed and encouraged to sing it better.
Harold Hansen has been beloved by all throughout his long career as organist and choir director in the Episcopal Church.
Happy retirement, Harold!
Harold was in his sixties when he moved to the Puget Sound region after retiring from his full-time career as organist at a famous Episcopal Church in Hollywood CA. He began his “retirement gig” at All Saints, has been the only organist for that congregation since then, and announced his retirement this week. His last Sunday at All Saints, Tacoma, will be on September 10th.
Two of the many stories that I recall from Harold include hymns and license plate numbers, and the famous Hollywood actors that used to sing at his church. In 1982 the Episcopal Church adopted a new hymnal replacing The Hymnal 1940. Harold mourned the loss of the old hymnal because he had memorized most of the 740 hymn numbers in the old book. He enjoyed playing the game of the three-digit number on the license on the car ahead of him while driving and remembering which hymn corresponded to that number. For instance, the license on the car ahead of him would include the numbers 266 and Harold would say, “Holy, Holy, Holy” (…Lord God Almighty). The “new” hymnal of 1982 moved "Holy, Holy, Holy" to hymn number 362. For some time Harold’s game of license numbers and hymns was over, until he began memorizing the new hymn numbers.
Harold loved to recount to us choir members at All Saints about the famous Hollywood actors who sang in his choir in his Hollywood church. He’d say, “Oh, yes, (name) sang with us when we performed this anthem,” and we would be amazed and encouraged to sing it better.
Harold Hansen has been beloved by all throughout his long career as organist and choir director in the Episcopal Church.
Happy retirement, Harold!
Thursday, August 11, 2011
The book titles for the grandmother and her grandson
Okay, okay. I’ll tell you the books that I recommended to the grandmother in Hospice and her grandson.
But first, a story.
When I was a science teacher I had a few activities that I enjoyed sharing with my students about how science works, about how we take observations, form them into hypotheses, test the hypotheses, then develop theories that fit the data. In these activities I would present the students with information, and only the information that they asked for concerning a specific situation. I encouraged them to make hypotheses from the information, and test it, ask more questions, gather more information, then to create a theory that explained all of the information that they has acquired. At the conclusion of these activities inevitably the students would ask, demand, that I tell them the Real Answer. My response was that the answer was what they developed in their process.
“But is it Right?!” they would demand. And I wouldn’t tell them, because what is “the Right answer?” Do we really know, to anything?
I presented one of these activities to the school board, at their request, one evening. They expected the same thing, that I tell them the Answer at the end. They even made statements like, “But, we are the school board. You can tell us. We want to know what the Right answer is.”
A few of the school board got it, caught the learning, that their answer was what they had in the end.
With that caveat, and somewhat against my first intentions, here are the books that I suggested to the person who asked.
Lessons for the Living: Stories of Forgiveness, Gratitude, and Courage at the End of Life, by Stan Goldberg. I found this book to be remarkable, the stories of the author and the individuals that he assisted through Hospice are profound. But, each person’s story requires several pages of reading. If they have the time for it I think that both the grandmother and her grandson could have fruitful conversations about each person’s story in this book.
The Art of Dying and Living: Lessons from Saints of Our Time, by Kerry Walters. These stories are even longer, about 25 pages per individual person’s story. A distinction between the individuals recounted in this book compared to the first title, above, is that in that title listed above the individuals are mostly ordinary, every day people, while the ones in this book are more famous people. Some of us gather more insight from famous people, while others learn more from “people like us.”
Grief: A Month of Meditations, from the publishers of Forward Day By Day. An advantage to this little volume is that each selection is short, one page in length. If the grandmother does not have long to live and the grandson does not have much time to spend with her, then perhaps this one-a-day for 28 days will suffice. A disadvantage is that this book is about grief, about the loss of a loved one. The grandmother has not yet died, although they both, no doubt, are grieving.
And, Final Gifts, that is temporarily out of stock.
But first, a story.
When I was a science teacher I had a few activities that I enjoyed sharing with my students about how science works, about how we take observations, form them into hypotheses, test the hypotheses, then develop theories that fit the data. In these activities I would present the students with information, and only the information that they asked for concerning a specific situation. I encouraged them to make hypotheses from the information, and test it, ask more questions, gather more information, then to create a theory that explained all of the information that they has acquired. At the conclusion of these activities inevitably the students would ask, demand, that I tell them the Real Answer. My response was that the answer was what they developed in their process.
“But is it Right?!” they would demand. And I wouldn’t tell them, because what is “the Right answer?” Do we really know, to anything?
I presented one of these activities to the school board, at their request, one evening. They expected the same thing, that I tell them the Answer at the end. They even made statements like, “But, we are the school board. You can tell us. We want to know what the Right answer is.”
A few of the school board got it, caught the learning, that their answer was what they had in the end.
With that caveat, and somewhat against my first intentions, here are the books that I suggested to the person who asked.
Lessons for the Living: Stories of Forgiveness, Gratitude, and Courage at the End of Life, by Stan Goldberg. I found this book to be remarkable, the stories of the author and the individuals that he assisted through Hospice are profound. But, each person’s story requires several pages of reading. If they have the time for it I think that both the grandmother and her grandson could have fruitful conversations about each person’s story in this book.
The Art of Dying and Living: Lessons from Saints of Our Time, by Kerry Walters. These stories are even longer, about 25 pages per individual person’s story. A distinction between the individuals recounted in this book compared to the first title, above, is that in that title listed above the individuals are mostly ordinary, every day people, while the ones in this book are more famous people. Some of us gather more insight from famous people, while others learn more from “people like us.”
Grief: A Month of Meditations, from the publishers of Forward Day By Day. An advantage to this little volume is that each selection is short, one page in length. If the grandmother does not have long to live and the grandson does not have much time to spend with her, then perhaps this one-a-day for 28 days will suffice. A disadvantage is that this book is about grief, about the loss of a loved one. The grandmother has not yet died, although they both, no doubt, are grieving.
And, Final Gifts, that is temporarily out of stock.
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