As of this Sunday evening Jews around the world will be thankful for their present days by remembering a time when they were vulnerable to the elements. They will remember the time when God led them through the Sinai Desert for 40 years. They will remember how in those days, God not only miraculously provided them with food literally from “thin air” and water from a Rock, but also kept their shoes and clothing from going threadbare. He also went before to combat their enemies. In honor of this remembrance, they will build a”Sukkah” - flimsy booth or shelter in their yard, balcony, terrasse or side street, and make sure to spend some time in it fellowshipping with family and friends every day. At this time of the year, Israel has very nice weather so it is a pleasant custom, but it is not always the case everywhere, especially in our Northwest, and yet still it is nice to cozy up in the Sukkah even in bad weather.. Here is another thing they will do. They will gather what they call “The 4 species.”
Here is the code to decipher the meaning of this strange custom. The 4 species are made to remind Israel of their social make-up.
This is a beautiful reminder that it takes all kinds to make a world, and that all included in the beautiful bouquet of society.
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In my travels I meet many people who are more than willing to share their issues with me. I guess it is easier to open up to a perfect stranger who lives miles away and that you are not likely to casually meet again in the streets or at the local grocery store.
A story that came my way recently is that of a father who left an inheritance to his children. I cannot share specifics on this so you will have to forgive me for being stingy on details with this one. The father had had serious issues with his wife, which, after her death affected his relationship with his children. The inheritance of course consisted of money, but due to these issues, there were some stipulations in the deceased father’s wishes that were likely to also pass on some of these former enmities and bitternesses. This would have the effect of continuing the feud of the previous generation on to the next. Though being serious about the importance of the last wishes of their dying father, the children decided to discard the negative elements in the father’s wishes in order to let go of the feud. The decision of these children left me pondering. From East to West, whether on the religious, racial, political, or even ethnic scene, our world today mostly reacts on the inherited feuds of our fathers. Let us pause for a moment and imagine what would happen if like these wise children, we would filter out from the inheritance the old enmities and feuds that cause anger, distrust, and eventually lead to a dysfunctional world with no ends of wars passed on from generation to generation. Driving miles and miles through the great plains from Texarkana to Kanorado we cross a very flat land. Even one of the rivers that crosses it is called The Platte, a word in French that means “The Flat One”, due to its shallowness. Coming from Oregon, it’s a different world. We were very surprised to see that as soon as we cross the state line, people talk and even act differently. But something that really affects me was a sense of a loss of direction. The 360 degree perspective in these parts is the same everywhere. What I mean is that from where I live, I always know where East is because of Mt Hood. If I were on the east side of the Cascades, Mt Hood would point me to the West. The mountain gives me a sense of location and direction. These thoughts that crossed my mind during hours and hours of mindless driving through long stretches of straight highways through the Great Plains made me think of life. Life has got to have some sort of direction. We all need to have a mountain. If not a mountain, maybe a hill to live for or even to die on. When we don’t we aimlessly live our lives like a tumbleweed blown by every wind, subject to every fad, moved by every trend of man without anything to hold on to. We risk becoming like a star without orbit or a ship without anchor blown by every wind on a restless sea. Whether Mt Sinai, Mt Zion, or Mt Hood; whether a hillbilly fighting to keep his hilltop; whether a star travelling the great galaxies or a ship on a discovery voyage, may we find an orbital anchor that points us to a sense of purpose and direction. Patrick G. Lumbroso Chaplain Supervisor Estacada Rural Fire District No. 69 Station Phone: 503.630.7712 Cell: 503.515.2033 Fax:: 503.630.7757 www.estacadafire.org www.facebook.com/EstacadaFire To Unsubscribe from this Email: 1) Open the outlook web app: https://mail.estacadafire.org/owa 2) Log in using your EFD user name and password. Your username will need to have the domain in front of it. See the below example a. Username ex: EFD\Jdoe b. Password: This is the password you use for email or computer access 3) In the upper right corner of the screen click on the gear icon and select “Options” 4) On the left side of the screen click “Groups” 5) Double click on the “EFD Chaplain Newsletters” Group 6) Click “Leave” 7) This will remove you from receiving these newsletters This week I want to talk about a certain kind of friend; an unlikely friend: the opponent. In his biography, Abram Poljak “ wrote, “I realized at a young age that enemies do more good than friends.” About his life’s work, he also comments, “The defeats were often more beneficial than the success!” Of course, we want to succeed, but isn’t success the result of what we learn from a succession of defeats? Isn’t defeat then the tool which helps us succeed, that is, if we do not give up? The same philosophy can be applied to those things, situations, or people who oppose us. As we naturally aim to organize ourselves to arrive at a place where we can sit and enjoy a little ease, destiny often seem to take us out of our comfort zone. In fact, it often feels that life takes pleasure in bringing us to difficult places. I heard once of an experiment scientists tried with lions. A first pride was set in an area of the reservation where everything was supplied for them. Life was easy. A second pride was set in difficult conditions. They had to hunt for their food and contend with other predators for water and territory. After a while, the scientists noticed that the first pride of lions had gotten lazy and unmotivated. Their fur, overall outlook and demeanor was unhealthy while the second set of lions who had to fight for their survival were very active and looked very healthy. It seems that opposition, contention and difficulty make us stronger. Isn’t this the whole principle of training and even of playing games? In training, we partner with gravity and speed in order to strengthen our muscles. And if life itself was not enough of a puzzle, we play games in which we create complex situations or scenarios that we have to solve, sometimes even adding self imposed speed. All these things contribute to keep our body strong and wits sharp. I heard of a group of nuns in New England who were all over 100 years old, active and intelligent . They agreed to allow themselves to be studied to see what was the reason of their longevity.. At death, their autopsies showed that many had full blown Alzheimer’s, but the disease had never affected them in their lifetime. What did these nuns have in common? They were all teachers and had spent their days learning, doing crosswords and playing games that required them to process and think, sometimes with speed. The trials of life can be compared to a friendly enemy. As we learn to wisely deal with difficult relationships at home or at work, we strengthen the social skills that make us a more complete person. Every time we have to contend with the ever speedily changing technology, we learn the skills that help us navigate through our ever changing modern world. Whenever we conquer a bad habit, a vice, or a temptation, we strengthen our resolve to live decent lives. In fact, any time we come out of our comfort zone and enter unfamiliar territory in order to do or learn something new, we not only strengthen our humility muscles, but we add to our knowledge bank. In all those situations, our failures become our special teacher that is, if we do not give up! http://vineofdavid.org/remnant-repository/abram_poljak/ Recently, I was reading in the Book of Numbers about the time when 12 Israeli scouts went to scout the Land of Canaan for a possible invasion. When they returned, though two of the scouts were optimistic about the prospect, ten were vehemently against it. They were against it because the current inhabitants of Canaan were so big in size that beside them, our scouts felt they were no bigger than grasshoppers. They should have heard about what happened this week on my property. I was away on an interpretation assignment when my wife sent me a text telling me the power was off because a big fir tree fell and took the power lines down. We have many trees on our property, so this is a bit of a concern for us. When PGE came, they said that this enormous, this 2-feet diameter tree, this tree that could give us wood for the whole winter, fell because of termites. Because of tiny termites! I wish I could tell that story to those scouts. If I could, I would tell them that no matter how small you are, you can be up to the task, especially if you work patiently in unison with a dedicated team. Nothing is impossible to those who patiently work with others, keeping their eyes on the mission at hand. I would tell them, “Tiny termites can fall a fabulous fir.” I would also tell them that it is not about the size of the dog in the fight, but about the size of the fight in the dog! Patrick G. Lumbroso Chaplain Supervisor Estacada Rural Fire District No. 69 Station Phone: 503.630.7712 Cell: 503.515.2033 Fax:: 503.630.7757 www.estacadafire.org www.facebook.com/EstacadaFire To Unsubscribe from this Email: 1) Open the outlook web app: https://mail.estacadafire.org/owa 2) Log in using your EFD user name and password. Your username will need to have the domain in front of it. See the below example a. Username ex: EFD\Jdoe b. Password: This is the password you use for email or computer access 3) In the upper right corner of the screen click on the gear icon and select “Options” 4) On the left side of the screen click “Groups” 5) Double click on the “EFD Chaplain Newsletters” Group 6) Click “Leave” 7) This will remove you from receiving these newsletters Today I went to the Timber Festival in Estacada. The Timber Festival is a celebration of our lumberjack culture. At the festival, contestants compete in how fast they can saw with a chainsaw or a buck saw. They also compete in staying steady on a log on water. It was very interesting and reminded me of the early beginnings of our state. Last year I taught American history in school. It was very interesting for me who wasn't born in the United States, to study more deeply about the primeval notions that make this country what it is today, to study the origins of our political system and of its international policies. I very much liked delving into the Constitutional Convention. It was enlightening also, to understand the Monroe and Truman doctrines. I have travelled in many countries and one thing I appreciate the most about America is the parks. Parks are usually clean and respected by all. Even today, I was impressed as I walked out of timber festival park where the festival was held. Hundreds of people had come with their families, but the area was left clean with hardly any trash on the ground. This is something special to America I would say. It is also a testament to progress in civism, as even in America it wasn't always like that. I am sure our parents can remember a time when people left their trash on the lawn after they had a picnic. America has grown to be a country of law and order, a place with a vision of civility and progress where many people came, and still come, in order to escape poverty and to look for greater freedom opportunities. This progress in civism and law and order has come at heavy costs and is a privilege for those who live here. In the history book that I used to teach my students, there is a quote that reminds of our responsibility for these privileges . It says, "A people that values its privileges above its principles soon loses both." Dwight D. Eisenhower. I watched a documentary recently about the preparations that are being made to send people to Mars within the next decade. There is actually a girl that is now 18 years old, but who has been training and preparing to go Mars since the age of 13. I often use her as a case in point in my highschool classes when challenging my students to have goals in life. Going to Mars takes preparation and training. Since Mars has less mass than Earth, the surface gravity on Mars is less than the surface gravity on Earth. The surface gravity on Mars is only about 38% of the surface gravity on Earth, so if you weigh 100 pounds on Earth, you would weigh only 38 pounds on Mars. As such the potential astronauts have get used to that type of gravity. They also need to feel comfortable in their space suits and how to operate all the systems in their shuttle. Astronauts need to get physically but also mentally prepared. In that documentary, the potential space pioneers were talking about their initial emotional and psychological training. This training consisted in, as much as possible, recreating the same lifestyle conditions they would face were they on Mars. They had to learn to live with other people in crowded quarters with maybe very little privacy, and unable to go outside. They needed to get used to a 20 minutes delay in communications with the outside world. All this is very challenging, but when asked what was the most needed in order to get through that intense preparation, one of the gal astronauts answered, "You need to have a thick skin, a long fuse, and a positive attitude!" Isn't that true of everything! I would even add, "And a good sense of humour!" I was having a discussion with some friends about the virtue of giving in to stop an argument. I feel many friendships and even marriages would sustain less damage or even breakups if, instead of trying to win using physical force or the power of argument, we were to use the strength and power in the virtue of giving in. Then someone asks me, “But aren’t you then incurring the risk of getting picked on all the time? Aren’t you then enabling people to push you around? Are we to be floor mats? I thought about it. Whereas it seems that this could truly happen, there is a difference between the person who gives in out of cowardice, indifference, or timidness, and he who gives in because of a greater strength; a strength that doesn't indulge in imposing its will on the other through reasoning or force just because it can; a strength that prioritises winning over the opponent rather than merely winning the argument or the combat. We command courage of a rare sort when we do not summon our physical strength or power of debate when we could. This is something that we see Jesus do in the Bible. If we win the fight or the argument at the price of losing the relationship, what have we won then? I heard someone who taught about the use of guns one time say, “Real maturity with a gun is to know when not to use it!” I think it is the same with our ability to win. There is a time when winning is actually losing and losing is actually winning. Wisdom is to know how to recognize these times. As you already know, I have extensively traveled. I was born in France where I had many American friends during my teenage years. I remember that these Americans found that France a little archaic to their taste. Then, my wife and I took our children and went to live in SE Asia. Whether it was in the Philippines, India, Bangladesh or Thailand, France still seemed a lot more advanced that these countries. When I arrived in the US in 1995 I heard so many people complaining about this and that. The wait for the transport was too long. The food wasn’t exactly as they had ordered. The line was too long. The seats were uncomfortable. There was not enough ice in the drink. After coming from developing countries, it was hard to understand the complaints of these people. How could they? In my interpreting job I often have to interpret for refugees or people who come developing Asian or African countries. Lately, I was interpreting for an Algerian lady who was coming in for cataract surgery. She was commenting to me how in the hospital, nurses always came to ask her if she was hot, cold, thirsty, comfortable? They brought her blankets and pillows so she would feel at ease. The doctor always made sure she knew what he was doing, all things that we here are very used to and even take for granted. At one point the lady looked at me and said, "This is so nice; I'm totally pampered . I'm really not used to that." In the end, she felt it was too much and told the doctor to just do what he needed to do; that he didn’t have to ask her. Today I also interpreted for an Israeli woman. When we talked she complained, "This is crazy what they do here. We're not used to all this fuss!” These two foreigners had a different complaint. Their complaint was not about what was wrong with things, but rather about how good they were taken care of. As a person, a company, or a country, if all people can find to complain about us is how well we care for them, it’s a good thing. I do French interpretation for a language company. I get sent to all kinds of places. Sometimes I even have to do intepreration in an operating room for people under partial anesthesia.
Recently I was sent to a clinic where there are many patients from the LGBTQ community who come for sexual related treatment. I have seen much in my life but this is not the type of place I am accustomed to. I had to keep my professionalism as an interpreter while translating very intimate, embarrassing, and even strange back and forth conversation between patient and doctor. As I arrived, I felt my client was a little uncomfortable. I made small talk as I would with anyone else. I used the formal way of talking in French which showed respect. Little by little, my client relaxed and realised that I was not there to judge, but just a translator as I would for anyone else. We talked about each other’s lives and family. As I talked, I saw in my client a little melancholy when faced with someone who had what could be called a normal life with a family and children. Then it was time to see the doctor. The doctor asked many intimate questions. I could see my client, who didn’t seem to be the prudish type, feel a little embarrassed in front me. It was almost liked he/she had tried to make a good impression for me and now was being exposed. Then something happened. As he/she lifted his/her sleeve for a blood draw, I saw a tattoo on his/her arm. The tattoo said, “Only God can judge me!” It is then that my heart broke for that person. Here I had in front of me someone in an alternative lifestyle judged by many. It felt like he/she was so confused that he/she didn’t know anymore his/her true identity. I have met many lost people in my life and whenever I do, I always wonder how they got there. What brings people to where they are? What pain, what trouble, what disturbance brings us to our present state? I don’t know. I always remember what Jeremiah the prophet said about Israel in sin, “They did not know how to blush.” (Jer 6:13-15), and I was touched by the embarrassment of my client. There is a certain acknowledgement of wrongdoing in shameful blush, or even just feeling embarrassed or uncomfortable. When I saw that tattoo, I felt that somehow that person still staked a claim with God as his/her ultimate Judge, which is more than many mainstream people would do. He/she had faith that there is One that he/she can come to, a Judge of all humanity who will not by the seeing of the eyes or by the hearing of the ears, but judges righteous judgments. (isaiah 11:1-4) Call me naive always trying to find the good in people, but when I come before the Maker who has ultimate compassion on my poor wretched self, I would rather be accused of that than of uncompassionate judgment. I sometimes enroll the help of beta readers for these articles, (you know, those who can read ‘betta’ than me!) One of them commented, “It is difficult to judge someone separately from his lifestyle. I then responded with the remark of another one of my beta reader, “You do it by looking at the heart of the person, without the distraction of the outward appearances!” Patrick G. Lumbroso I heard about a teacher who was talking about the futility of quarrelling. As he spoke, he related something his father had told him. His father was a clerical authority in his hometown of Dublin. As such, he owned a seal that he used in order to officialise documents. He told his adult son that one day, people stole his seal, and without his permission used it to sign official proclamations. His son asked his father then why he didn’t refute these proclamation in a public statement, thus exposing the guilty parties. The father answered something to the essence of, “I am afraid that if I protest against the forgery, the people who did this to me will be angry at me and try to provoke me to anger. In any case, it will provoke some sort of issue that will cause me to waste my time and distract me from my more important duties.” In his clerical care of people, this man had seen quarrels destroy lives, both on a national and domestic level. He felt that peace was essential for growth and an overall good life. He often taught that even if someone has many positive things in his life, he is not be able to enjoy it if he is quarrelsome and argumentative. This man’s philosophy was that most quarrels can be avoided if we just sensibly think about how irrational and counterproductive it is to waste time and energy in quarrels that really don’t make any practical differences anyways. He taught that before getting involved in a dispute, people should first ask themselves, “Is it worthwhile?” I liked reading that article about this Irish man. I felt that it was a good philosophy, one that could bring peace to many a household. Patrick G. Lumbroso In politics, religion, and everyday life, it is so easy to misunderstand something by applying the wrong context.
We live today in a world that defines events by sound bites, short YouTube videos, and quick superlative statements generally taken out of context. We then use these short information bites in order to prove a point that was never there to start with. It is sad, but this is today’s reality. Whether it is the Bible or the American Constitution, we all read the same words but understand them differently. Only one Bible was given, yet it is understood and translated many different ways. Only one American Constitution was given but till this day people argue over the meaning of some its statements. Why? Because we each read it from a different context. Even the idea of reading these things contextually is debated. We are the recipients of the decisions of those who came before us. Before either endorsing or undoing these decisions, we need to understand what spurred them. We need to understand their history, not within our own but within their own context, according to their own merit. Only then will we be able to draw proper judgement and application. Here is a little riddle to make the point. A man left home running. He ran a little bit then turned left. After running some more, he again turned left. He continued running turning left again back home where 2 masked men waited for him. WHO ARE THE MASKED MEN? You can guess the answer replying to this email. Answer coming next week. I am not at liberty to reveal details but this week I heard the debriefing of a security agent. This agent was talking about a security operation that though successful in its mission, cost him the trust of the people he was serving. For this agent, that loss of trust from people represented a blot on his success, a rain on his parade that he was not happy with. He knew he needed to learn something from it.
This got me thinking. It is important in life that we do the “right thing.” The “right thing” to do can sometimes be defined in simple terms, especially when we view it in terms of goals to accomplish, of missions to fulfill. Against criticism of our M.O. we easily justify ourselves with the words, “But I got the job done, didn’t I?” But is doing the “right thing” the most important things or is it also as important, if not more, to do the “right thing” right? We live in a complicated world where there are many ways to measure success. One dayI watched parts of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race in Alaska. The teams were not judged only on who won the race, but they were judged also on the care they gave to their dogs as they did it. They could of course beat the dogs to death and win the race itself, but they would be penalised in points for not doing it “right!” It seems that in our society some dogs are treated better than people. There are many privileges living in industrialised countries in our modern times, but sometimes the pursuit of these privileges may tempt us to forget the principles on which humanity is built. This week as I taught American History to a group of High-Schoolers, I fell on a quotation that I really liked: “A people that values its privileges above its principles soon loses both.” Who said it? Dwight D. Eisenhower. My 6th child was born with an allergy to his mother's milk and he didn’t do well with the regular formulas either.. We were in Thailand at that time and even if we could find a formula that would work for him, it would have been very expensive. I therefore, as a father, found out how to make the formula myself. I found a formula recipe using yogurt and other necessary ingredients. I wonder if this is what the Bible infers by the expression, "nursing father's 😀? The first time I made yogurt, I put a small spoonful of yogurt in to start the culture. Each time I made a new batch of yogurt for the formula, I would keep a spoonful of it to use as a culture for the next batch. In the days when people baked their own bread, they sometimes used to use the same system. People would keep a small piece of yeasted dough to use as a culture for the next batch. This represented a problem for ancient Israelites whose religion commanded that during the 7 days of Passover, they were not to eat anything with leaven, nor have any leaven or anything leavened in their house. That meant that the last batch before Passover needed to be fully used and eaten. After Passover, they would need to start a new culture that they would use for the whole year. While these practices may seem antiquated and meaningless to others, these were historical reminders of the Jewish people and of the Exodus, the time when their ancestors left the captivity of Egypt in such a hurry that they did not have time to let bread for their journey rise before they left. But as with all religious practices, there is a deeper understanding of the story. The Israelites were going away from Egypt in order to establish their own country. They were going to establish a country according to their own laws, ethics, and … "culture." There is therefore a very strong philosophical understanding of the story in the idea that once in a while, it is healthy to shed the old "culture", our old habits and negative attitudes and get on to a new start. People do it in relation to dietical health sometimes with purges. We certainly do it with electronics; when something goes wrong, what is the first thing we are told to do? Reboot! Paul himself used that analogy when, as he was trying to challenge his Corinthian disciples to a more virtuous life, he said, "Get rid of the old leaven, that you may be a new batch!" R' Gavriel My wife and I are not getting any younger, and unless we be found like the proverbial unprepared king (see story below), this week we have gone to a presentation having to do with wills and estate planning. A question was asked to the people giving the presentation. “By default, an estate passes on to surviving spouses and children. But what about debt?” Then the estate lawyer giving the presentation said something very interesting. “Debts are canceled at death!” This made me think about something very special, especially in this season when people think about what happened to Jesus during a certain Passover season in Jerusalem in 30 C.E. In the days of Jesus, people thought of sins as debts unto God. That is why the famous prayer often reads, “Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.” People also believed that suffering and death atoned or “covered” people’s sins in the same way that a payment, by the debtor, or someone else, “covers” the amount of the debt. I found it fascinating how the law of death acting as a payment for a debt finds correspondence in the Bible, especially in the events that happened at a certain Passover over 2,000 years ago. Indeed at that Passover, a Man, who was said to have committed no sin and therefore had no need to die, was put to death as a criminal. Since He had committed no sin, He was not meant to be subject to death, but He had taught people around Him that His suffering and death was not to be a payment for His own debt, but for the debt of others. May we remember at this season that this same Man also taught those who benefit from His payment of their debt, “Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.” thus reminding them that this payment has one important caveat, to forgive others’ debts against them! THE FOOLISH UNPREPARED KING! There was a famous king who had a favourite jester in his court. Because of all his good works all those years in cheering up the king & making him happy & cracking jokes & being so funny, he gave him some property & quite an income & retired him. Then the king gave him this beautiful cane with gold wrought into the wood, & the king said, "I want to give to you this, my own cane, as a special present to you from me, because you have been such an encouragement to me all these years. You're going away now on a trip because I have set you free, & I want you to take the cane with you. That's my special gift to you for being the greatest fool I ever had!" Some years later the king's fool heard that the king himself was dying & he came to his deathbed & began to sympathise with him & asked, "Are you ready to go?" "What do you mean?" asked the king. "Are you ready to die? Have you made any preparations for this journey into death?" The king asked, "How could I make preparations to die, what do you mean?" And the king's jester said, "Have you repented from your misdeeds? Have you made your peace with God?" The king said, "No, I didn’t!" The king's jester said, "Well, since the last time I saw you I have repented from the many wrong things I have done in my life. I have made my peace with God. I am ready to go!" They were both close to the same age. The jester said, "Once I was going on a long journey & you gave me this cane as a present because you said that I was the greatest fool you ever had. But I have made my preparations for that journey, the longest journey we'll ever take, & one from which we'll never return. But you have not made preparations for that journey. So I want to give you back the cane: You're a greater fool than I am!" I am teaching world literature at a high school-level homeschooling network. This year we first went through the Shakespeare play of El Cid, which I found to be relevant to today. We are now going through the stories in Arabian Nights as told by beautiful Scheherazade to the Sultan who would otherwise kill her. The story we went over last week was one of a king who had three unruly sons. Each was more wild than the next. Each had their particular skill. One was an expert archer, the other an expert fighter, and the third an expert swordsman. Their father was getting old. He wondered who to set as his heir, seeing that the three had very important lessons to learn before attaining the wisdom it takes to become a king. The father decided to send his three sons on a quest. He told them to take a year each going their own way to find the most amazing treasure in the world. I will not tell you the whole story, just a part of it that I particularly liked. One of the sons, the expert archer, went to a deserted island where he heard that far away, in a Buddhist monastery, monks owned an apple that could heal any ailment with one bite. The son found the monastery and asked to buy the apple. He could certainly afford it, but the problem was that the precious apple was not for sale. The monks would give it to him only if he passed a certain archery test. The first test was to shoot an arrow in a target’s bullseye, which he did kind of boringly. The next test was to put an arrow through the first arrow. The third test was to shoot the flame from a candle, then to shoot the flame of that same candle but blindfolded. The fifth test was to shoot through an apple sitting on the head of a boy. All this he did with no difficulty. Now came the last test. To shoot the arrow on the same apple sitting on the same boy, but blindfolded. The archer put his arrow on the bow, pulled the string, then stopped. “If you do it you get the precious apple; if you don’t, you go away empty handed!” said the monk. The archer lifted his bow again; pulled the string, “I can’t! It’s not fair to the boy. I lose!” “No!” said the monk. “You win. You win by not trying to win at any cost!” Winning is not worth it when it comes at the price of virtue. Maybe that is what the statement, “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul?” means! Rick and Dave were at odds with each other. It had been going on for so long that they had even forgotten why. They were on the same sales team of the town’s dealership. Their negative relationship was affecting their work performance as well as the spirit of the company. Their supervisor was at his wits end and didn’t know what to do until he read a story in an old digest. He decided to apply it. He went to Rick and said, “Hey Rick, you work with Dave, right? “Yes, but I do, but Dave is a … !” “Come on!” the supervisor said. “You have to admit that whatever else he is, Dave is an excellent mechanic!” “Well, I may have my problems with Dave, but he is the best mechanic I ever met in my life. I wish I weren’t mad at him so I could pick his brain.” Our supervisor then took that precious information to Dave saying, “Hey Dave, do you know what Rick said about you?” “Well ...I can imagine, but I don’t care to hear it!” “He said that you were the best mechanic he ever met. He even said that he wished you and he were friends so that he could pick your brain!” “Really? I would have never thought that! I thought he was just a classic sleazy salesman… but I can say that he is the best at the job that I ever saw. If I owned a car business, he is the guy that I would hire to sell my cars!” The supervisor then took that precious information to Rick. At the next company party, Rick and Dave were sitting together having fun and cracking jokes. VUAAAAAAH-LA! Patrick G. Lumbroso I have had a very busy week with work and only now can sit down to write an article for the weekly chaplain newsletter for which I have received many compliments. Drawing a blank, also called “writer’s block”, I thought to share a story I heard that a man related to his father. Here is how it goes. It is the story of a man who spent most of his money on his drinking. His children started to dread their future economic situation so they planned an intervention. One night that he was drunk, they tied their father up, brought him to a cemetery and left him there on the ground. They were hoping that when he would wake up from his drunkenness, their father would be so scared that he would never drink again. Little did they expect that that very night a wine carriage passed though the cemetery. The wine merchant was attacked and as he hurried the horses forward, a wine barrel fell off, rolled toward the drunk tied up man, and landed beside him with the faucet right next to his mouth. The man thanked Providence and kept drinking right there in the cemetery. In a letter to his father, the man commented on this story saying, "We see from this that Providence leads a person in the way he wants to go. " I found it to be quite a statement. We may think that we are victims of our environment, of the influences that have surrounded us all our lives, but in reality, WE are the sum total of OUR own decisions. This should make us think about our personal situations. We really have made these choices and good or bad, we have to live with them. There is another side to the coin in this story. The man wrote to his father, “If “Providence” leads a man in the way he wants to go when he wants to do something improper, it is all the more true when the person has a strong will to do what is good.” Patrick G. Lumbroso Chaplain Supervisor Estacada Rural Fire District No. 69 Station Phone: 503.630.7712 Cell: 503.515.2033 Fax:: 503.630.7757 www.estacadafire.org www.facebook.com/EstacadaFire To Unsubscribe from this Email: 1) Open the outlook web app: https://mail.estacadafire.org/owa 2) Log in using your EFD user name and password. Your username will need to have the domain in front of it. See the below example a. Username ex: EFD\Jdoe b. Password: This is the password you use for email or computer access 3) In the upper right corner of the screen click on the gear icon and select “Options” 4) On the left side of the screen click “Groups” 5) Double click on the “EFD Chaplain Newsletters” Group 6) Click “Leave” 7) This will remove you from receiving these newsletters I’m going to a party with friends tonight (03/21). It’s a party to celebrate the theme of the Book of Esther in the Bible.
The Book of Esther tells how over 2500 years ago, Haman, a Persian dignitary, tricked Ahasuerus, his Persian Emperor into making a decree to kill all the Jews. Little did Haman know that unbeknownst to the Emperor himself, his queen was a secret Jewess. Hidden not for long, because at an opportune time she exposed the perfidy of Haman, and so Ahasuerus who could not reverse a royal decree, gave permission to the Jews to defend themselves. Until this day, every year Jews worldwide celebrate this major victory over that threat of annihilation. How do they celebrate it? For one thing the idea is to dress-up. Why dress-up? When we dress-up we conceal our identity and pretend to be someone or something else. Though she didn’t know it at the time, in order to save her people, Esther first hid her true identity from the Emperor. The name Esther is actually a hebrew/Aramaic word which means to “conceal.” Also, all throughout the Book of Esther, there is not one single mention of God. Everything seems to happen “coincidentally.” Coincidentally? Really? In my view, though God seems to often conceal Himself from us, boy is He ever so present to orchestrate things! There is another Purim tradition among the Jewish people. It is to bake and eat a small 3-cornered jam filled cooky which is called :Hamantashen, which refers to “Haman’s ears.” One day a German soldier was taking an old rabbi to the firing squad. The old rabbi started to snicker. “You arhe co-eing to tdie soon. Vhy do you snikkerh!” “Well,” said the rabbi, “About 2500 years ago, not unlike your Fuhrer, another head of state decided that they were going to kill us all. Today we celebrate his demise by eating a little cookie called after his name. I was snickering because I was musing on how we will call the cookies we will eat after you; Adolphtashens?” On another note, there a very eery event from the Nuremberg trials that relates the story of the hanging of Haman’s sons to the Nuremberg trials. Follow the link below if you want to know! https://unitedwithisrael.org/strange-parallels-between-the-purim-story-and-the-nuremberg-trials/ You have all probably heard about the “Gilets Jaunes” uprising in France. It all started because of ‘another’ tax---a tax concerning gas. From a protest about the new tax it developed into a an “everything-that’s-wrong-with-the government” protest. I have been following the whole thing on the news through the Internet but my recent trip to France allowed me to talk with some people about it. The crisis resulted in what they called in France, “Le grand Debat”, or The Great Discussion.” The government sent questionnaires to every town hall. People come, get a copy and answer the questions. This way they have a way of communicating their complaints to the government. All problems between legislators and legislated seem to stem from the same issue: COMMUNICATION. We are reading a book in our Leadership Enhancement class at the station, The Dichotomy of Leadership by Jocko Willink. The last chapter we looked at (chapter 8) was very interesting. It was about the managers of a company not getting their field people to comply with certain company requirements such as the filling of paperwork, paperwork which could contribute to the company being more effective. No matter what incentive they set out, nothing would work. The management was getting very frustrated and so were the people who felt they could never come up to the required standards. What to do? Jocko went out to examine the problem in its usual methodical way. After talking with both sides, he realised that the problem stemmed from a breakdown of communication. They had communication, but it was more like people saying things and the other doing lip-service (or ear-service) of listening but not really assimilating information in a way that it affected policy changes. After his discovery, Jocko acted as a communication bridge and everybody discovered things they didn’t know about each other. The field people discovered that compliance could increase their bottom-line, and the managers discovered that they needed to change some of their M.O. so the field people could comply. Really in conclusion, in any association, society, family, group, troop, or any unit comprised of several people, it is amazing what a little honest communication can do! Nature teaches us that while life and death may seem opposite and paradoxal, they work together as partners for the grand purpose of existence. Everything that exists does so because of something else that died in order to give it birth. For something to come to life something else must die. The Bible says it best when it quotes a very Jewish/talmudic understanding of resurrection saying,that, “Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.” (Joh 12:24) I just spent the last two weeks in Paris, France caring for my dying father. When I arrived along with some of my siblings my father was still semi lucid , but his situation rapidly deteriorated. We knew that the end was imminent and it did come four days later on a late Saturday afternoon. We spent the few days that followed organising the funeral with the rest of the family before everybody had to go back where they came from, including me returning to Estacada, OR. The passing of my father provided an occasion for the reunion of many people who hadn’t seen each other for a long time. My siblings and I, who hadn’t really communicated for decades spent many a long hour talking together, reminiscing, sharing notes and feelings about things. It was actually something beautiful and precious that wouldn’t have happened without my father, as the “grain of wheat,” fell into the earth and died. It seems that through my father’s passing was born a whole new dimension of life that didn’t exist before, or if it did, it needed the fertilisation that only the death of a “grain of wheat” can bring. In a sense, what dies lives again in the things to which it gives life. A beautiful example of resurrection. There are some other things that are common to life and death. They both come at God’s pleasure, they are messy, and the process, though bearing life, can be painful. Every country celebrates special days differently. In France, where I spent most of my childhood, you only give a Valentine card to your sweetheart, or to someone that you wish would become your sweetheart. I also spent 5 years in Thailand where the tradition is about the same. I was surprised when in America and saw that in schools for example, everybody gave Valentine cards to everybody, even their parents and teachers. To purposely not give one to someone can represent an act of dislike. But where does this Valentine’s Day tradition come from? History presents many stories, one dating back to a pagan festival during the time of the Roman Empire. However, the most common origin for the celebration of Valentine’s Day dates back to the 3rd century A.D. At that time, Emperor Claudius the 2nd forbade his soldiers to marry, a decision which caused low morale in his army. Valentine was a Catholic priest who performed non-government censured weddings for soldiers and other Christians. He ended losing his life for challenging the Emperor’s decree but while in jail he fell in love with his jailer’s daughter. It is strange that this Catholic priest who himself made a vow of celibacy put so much importance on marriage. I guess, while he couldn’t profit from it himself he still must have considered it an important divinely ordained institution. After all, he lost his life for that belief. It is said that on February 14th, the day of his execution, he gave the jailer’s daughter a note signed, “Your Valentine.” THE HISTORY OF VALENTINE’S DAY: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8QRXkrWUjM VALENTINES TRADITIONS AROUND THE WORLD. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/10-valentines-day-traditi_n_9190888 https://www.intrepidtravel.com/adventures/unusual-valentines-day-traditions-around-world/ Patrick G. Lumbroso Chaplain Supervisor Estacada Rural Fire District No. 69 Station Phone: 503.630.7712 Cell: 503.515.2033 Fax:: 503.630.7757 www.estacadafire.org www.facebook.com/EstacadaFire To Unsubscribe from this Email: 1) Open the outlook web app: https://mail.estacadafire.org/owa 2) Log in using your EFD user name and password. Your username will need to have the domain in front of it. See the below example a. Username ex: EFD\Jdoe b. Password: This is the password you use for email or computer access 3) In the upper right corner of the screen click on the gear icon and select “Options” 4) On the left side of the screen click “Groups” 5) Double click on the “EFD Chaplain Newsletters” Group 6) Click “Leave” 7) This will remove you from receiving these newsletters Every year, the Estacada chapter of the American Legion calls on me to participate in the memorial of four United State Army chaplains who died during WW2 in 1943. These four military chaplains came from different faiths. One was a Dutch Reformed, another a Methodist, the other a Catholic while another was a Jewish Rabbi. The nine hundred soldiers on board knew these chaplains to be friends not only among the chaplain themselves, but also to the soldiers. They had earned the respect and honor of the soldiers. On a fateful night, the ship was torpedoed by a German U-boat. As panic grew on board, the soldiers grabbed their life vests and gloves and the 4 chaplains helped direct the evacuation to lifeboats. When there were no more life vests available, the chaplains took off their own and gave them to the desperate soldiers. Some of the survivors later recounted the story. All they could remember was the four chaplains locking arms on the stern of the sinking ship singing and praising. Quite a sight! It took 18 minutes for this converted cruise ship to sink. The number 18 is dear to me. As is done when using Roman numerals, Hebrew, the language of the Old Testament, also uses letters to make numbers. Using that system, the number 18 spells the word “life”. In these fatal 18 minutes, some of these soldiers owed their lives to the sacrifice of these chaplains. In any case, it is an exemplary story. A chapel has been erected in their honor and Amazon movies even has a documentary about the story. Wikipedia on the 4 Chaplains: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Chaplains The Chapel of the Four Chaplains: http://www.fourchaplains.org/ The Four Chaplains: Sacrifice at Sea https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0428551/ I heard it said at a writer’s conference once, “We need to stop looking at people as wrong, but rather look at people as lost!” I read a small article this week from someone who seems quite frustrated with his audience. He called the people who did not measure to his level of knowledge “stupid.” I don’t know what this person is trying to achieve. I am a teacher so whereas I think that knowledge is great, I also think that it can have a tendency to develop into a sort of pompous social elitism where everyone is wrong but you. It reminds me of a statement from a Puritan man who one time said to his wife, “Dear, I sometimes think that the whole world's gone mad but me and thee, and sometimes I even wonder about thee!” That is why in the Bible, Paul says that knowledge “puffs up!” As a teacher I often go by the philosophy that when the student is not learning it is somehow my fault. This causes me to change my teaching style or perhaps my attitude towards the student. When we think of people as wrong we become arrogant, but when we think of people as lost or not understanding, we become leading teachers. I think we have enough puffed-up arrogant teachers in the world but not enough leading teachers. As we learn to look at people as lost may we in our life chose to be the latter. After all, aren’t we all on a learning curve? My wife likes to watch “America's Got Talent.” As she watches the show, she sometimes gleans amazing performances that she thinks I might be interested in. One of those was the time when Susan Boyle made her first appearance. I remember that show. This woman came on stage looking like something that from a suburb London pub to try out for the local karaoke. “What is your goal?” She was asked. “I want to be a professional singer!” She answered. The judges at the panel smirked in an air cynical incredulity that seemed to fill the whole audience, that is, until Susan opened her mouth and started to sing. First came the shocked silence, then the screams of adulation. Susan attained her dream. She is now renowned worldwide as a professional singer. There is a sad reality to that story. If Susan would have been a beautiful young adult in her mid twenties with her hair all done up flowing down her shoulders; if she would have been a perfect size and wearing a beautiful shiny gown people would have expected no less. What made that performance so amazing was that people never expected such a beautiful crystalline voice, indeed such a beautiful spirit, to come out of what they were seeing. Many a talent is wasted because as strange as it is, our first reaction is often to judge people by outward appearance and demeanor, or even our first impression. They may have the most beautiful spirit in the world but no matter how we try, we cannot help but judge a book by its cover. |
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