The Caring Catalyst

Who Cares - What Matters

Story-Telling, Story-Listening, Story-Applying

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I love telling stories.

I love listening to stories.

One of my favorite stories either comes from the Talmud or Ben Franklin, but the story’s so great to tell, listen to and now read…WHO CARES?

It’s a story about Abraham and Sarah. They invited an old man to join them for a meal and to stay for a night of rest. After the generosity shown, the man, appropriately thanked them for their warm hospitality. Abraham assured him, “You need not thank me. Whatever I have given you comes from the God of creation. Thank God.”

“Why would I bother to thank your God when I have my own?” the old man said reaching into his pack. He brought out a wooden idol and set it on the floor before them. “This is the god who I intend to thank for taking care of me.”

Abraham was livid. “How dare you worship a god made with hands,” he shouted. He seized the man and threw him out of the tent. “I am sorry I ever wasted my warm hospitality on you,” he yelled out at the man who was now quickly walking away.

Before the old man was even out of sight, though, Abraham heard a voice calling his name.

“Yes, Lord?” Abraham answered.

“For 80 years I have protected and cared for the old man you just threw out of your tent. All this time, though he has given credit to his wooden idol, I have continued to claim him as my own. Although he knows no better, Abraham, YOU DO! Now go, find this old man, and bring him back. You make him feel welcome. You are to serve even those who do not understand that there is but one God.”

And Abraham once again obeyed God.

I love telling stories.

I love hearing stories.

I love applying stories…

…or at least, I want to love applying them more to my day to day living.

“…He knows no better–YOU DO–serve even those who do not understand that there is but One God….”

Hmmmmmmm…maybe Compassionate Telling, Compassionate Listening, Compassionate Applying is what The Story is ever all about…Maybe….

A Moment, A Lifetime….

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Amazing how a Lifetime can actually be lived in a moment…and often is.

Some people who watched this short video, that seems to be flying all over YouTube and the Internet, have said it was staged.

Some have actually criticized the man on the steps, who shared his pizza, couldn’t have been that poor because he had money for not so inexpensive cigarettes.

Some assume that this is a nice little story, maybe even a beautiful parable of how to Receive by Giving.

Some have stated it’s a waste of a little over a minute they’ll never be able to reclaim in their lives.

Some believe that the biggest problem in our society today is that we enable a whole generation of homeless to become nothing any greater in their day to day lives than just being homeless.

Some believe that God helps those who are only out there helping themselves and others.

Some think that altruism is all-too-much.

Some think we give to get.

Some consider that what they have worked for and have is Their’s NOT to share freely.

Some trust that by giving pieces of pizza is no way to show others how to make their own.

Some anticipate being punished and discriminated against by not giving to every need before them.

SOME…

THEM…

THEY…

are people.

When we clump the Some’s, the Them’s, the They’s together they become more faceless, less significant, and easier to neglect or simply not notice.

…Maybe it’s no longer about DESERVING or GIVING or Determining how many times PAST ONE is it alright NOT to be a Good Samaritan?

When we give every once in a while, we miss the truest gift of giving EVERY TIME.

When we fail to give…

WE FAIL…

badly!

Hmmmmmmmmm…when we fail to give some change, a few paper bills, sandwiches, blankets, gloves, coats, shirts, socks, shoes, a piece of pizza or____________________________________, we hold on to something that’s not wholly ours, or can be completely kept after our last pulse.

Yeah-but….

Ahhhhh, The “YEAH-BUT.”

Cage that vicious animal.

The “Yeah-But” becomes tame when we simply stop using it…

NOW!

Would THEY Blacken Your Face OUT?

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Would they blacken out your face if you left?

Do we matter THAT much?

We all want to be accepted, liked, LOVED!

It’s the innate yearning that’s more a part of us than the very first time we let out a cry.

For the second time in four years, LaBron James made a DECISION that literally has effected thousand of lives, not to mention his own and his family’s. Not just Cleveland, not just Miami, but the Country, the World was waiting for where LaBron was going to play basketball next. He made his decision last Friday and reactions were fierce everywhere. Anger in Miami. Pure Party-in-the-streets hysteria in Cleveland.

Why would LaBron be cause for such craziness? For such opposing reactions? LaBron stirs up the pot of emotions so much because he’s the best basketball player in the world. People love him and others just love to hate him. Psssst…that means he matters. He’s doing relevant, amazing things.

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The Alibi(S)

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Well?

Too Busy?

Too Bored?

Too Dumb?

Too Late?

Too Early?

Too Weak?

Too Poor?

Too Short?

Too Slow?

Too Preoccupied?

Too Tired?

Too Distracted?

Too Extended?

Too Infamous?

Too Misinformed?

Too Conceited?

Too Proud?

T O O. . .______________________

What’s your BLANK?

What’s your Alibi(S)?

What’s your Excuse (S)?

The greatest, most horrific problem with an Alibi–They’re highly contagious and severely TERMINAL!

There’s only one Cure for Alibi(S)

…Never Succumbing to a single one. . .

E V E R!

False Identity

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S O M E T I M E S. . .

It’s not WHO YOU ARE

It’s WHO Someone Thinks YOU ARE

That not only matters, but which brings the most healing.

When you SHOW UP. . .

You just may not GIVE the GIFT you’ve come to render–

So much as Receive the Present you could no where else ever obtain.

When you’re falsely identified. . . you may never be more YOU than YOU could ever be or hope to be at THAT GIVEN MOMENT!

When you SHOW UP. . .

Hmmmmmmm…YOU may actually Show up…maybe for the FIRST TIME EVER in a way, even you’ve never recognized or that any mirror, real or magically has ever reflected.

SHOW UP…anyway!

Become THAT Image another needs you to be for them, then…NOW!

S H O W U P

Sharing The Magic

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We are not all professional magicians, are we?

Are last names don’t end with Houdini, or Copperfield, or even Anderson–as in Rob who is featured in the video.

But…even if we’re not professional magicians, or even not so professional, or at the very, very least, a bad magician we all still have a M A G I C about us that can undeniably be shared and benefited.

She’s not yet 7 although it’s just within days. Stella was doing one of her absolute favorite things to do in the Summer: Swim!

One of her favorite perks of Swimming at the Pool is BREAK TIME…Fifteen Minutes every hour. . .AKA: CONCESSION STAND TIME.

Stella is a magician who probably will never play in Vegas or even in a Backyard Fair. Part of her MAGIC is making friends, drawing them in and playing with kids who have no one else to really play. She had met a ‘Friend’ since the last CONCESSION STAND TIME.

Stella went to her grandmother to get money for CONCESSION STAND TIME and was asked to bring back the change. She bought a Pretzel with Cheese Dip and on the way back her new friend said she was hungry and asked if she could have money to buy a snack.

W A T C H I T…it’s that slight of hand that often never gets noticed, but where all the Magic takes place.

Stella gave her the change she had left…all $5.00 of it.

M A G I C….

But this Magic was quickly fleeting. As soon as Stella returned with her snack and WITHOUT CHANGE, her grandmother didn’t yell at her or make fun of her, in fact, she actually praised her by saying what a kind thing she had done, but her sister and friends DIDN’T. They told her how wrong to give a comptete stranger any money, let alone, $5.00. They even wanted ‘the friend’ pointed out so they could go and put her in her place and get the GIFT/MAGIC back…it was too late…the MAGIC, like a Vapor vanished quickly…it usually does if not protected, nurtured, celebrated.

The Abracadabra left quicker than the lingering smoke of a blown out candle.

COMPASSION doesn’t ask, “WHERE’S THE MAGIC?”

COMPASSION just wonders, OUT LOUD, “AM I STEALING OR SHARING THE MAGIC?”

COMPASSION doesn’t require an answer but won’t cover up the reply.

COMPASSION just like MAGIC means very little and in fact, are just words!

COMPASSION and MAGIC come through in vivid, living color, only when they become VERBS–

ENDLESS ONES!

Bring a little A B R A C A D A B R A to Every One’s day!

And then be unbelievably Amazed by what DISAPPEARS. . .

…and Appears right before Your Eyes!

Your Mission

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Happy 4th of July.

It’s a great Holiday…family get-togthers, picnics, Fairs, Festivals, cook-outs, swimming, games, car shows, merry-go-rounds, ferris-wheels, fireworks, carney food, and questions. . .maybe the truth?

I can’t believe that it’s already been about 16 years since SAVING PRIVATE RYAN first came to the screen.

Remember it?

Tom Hanks portrays an Army Captain whose unit is assigned to find a Private named Ryan in the dangerous aftermath of the D-Day Invasion. Ryan’s brothers have both been killed in combat, and, unbeknownst to him, he is his mother’s only surviving son. THE MISSION IS A MAN. It involves the Captain’s unit in brutal battles with the Germans. But Private Ryan is located and his life is saved by his Captain who dies in the process. As Private Ryan attends to his mortally wounded rescuer, the Captain speaks his last words in a hoarse whisper–“EARN THIS.” The Camera merges from the young Private’s face to the face of an old man, standing by a white cross in the cemetery at Normandy. It is Ryan many years later, near the end of his life. He kneels by his Captain’s grave and says, “EVERY DAY OF MY LIFE, I’VE THOUGHT ABOUT WHAT YOU SAID TO ME THAT DAY ON THE BRIDGE. I’VE DONE MY BEST. I HOPE AT LEAST IN YOUR EYES THAT I’VE LIVED UP TO ALL YOU GAVE FOR ME.”

Happy 4th of July.

You and I don’t need to endure some War to be grateful. To live in TRUE GRATITUDE we just have to simply remember that a lot of people FROM EVERY BRANCH OF LIFE have sacrificed to bring you to where you are. We can never squander their Gift…and it’s never too late to recapture what can never truly be lost, but OFTEN FORGOTTEN.

What. . .

WHO is your Mission?

Careful…be very, very careful.

The answer to THAT question–the ultimate WHAT or WHO–not only tells about your truest Mission, but defines your truest Self.

Happy 4th of July.

Your Mission:

To make a Happy 5th, 6th, 27th of July or any other day of the 364, Significant for ANOTHER. . .

Each Time. . .

Every Time!

Do you accept YOUR MISSION?

Foul Ball

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Forty-Five years is a long time. . .but sometimes, not long enough.

July 2, 1969.

45 years ago to the day.

The Kid was 13…he still had about a month to his 14th Birthday.

His grandparents rented a Summer camp and it was the holiday weekend. There were lots of families, guests, relatives, cookouts, snipe hunting, hide-and-seeking, fishing, swimming and softball.

The Big Softball game.

The Staff (the older folks)

VS

The Stuff (the kids and everybody else).

He bought the Kid his first ball and showed him how to use it

He bought the Kid his first glove and showed him how to use it.

He bought the Kid his first bat and showed him how to use it.

The Kid was up to bat and HE was pitching.

The first pitch was way to high.

The Kid laughed and taunted him.

The second pitch was outside.

The Kid laughed and taunted him.

The third pitch was perfect. It was like a huge Beach ball coming towards him. He saw every seam of THAT Softball. He saw every stitch–all 88 of them.

The Kid hit the ball harder than anything he’s ever hit.

It was solid and it rocketed off his bat–fast–straight up the middle and hit HIM in the side. . . .

Ruptured Spleen. . .Surgery. . .Cancer found. . .ICU. . .Coma. . .Unresponsive. . .Dead.

A siren was never heard the same way again.

The Kid always thought that every one, every single shrill siren he heard, was coming after him…for The Murder.

There was no Dr Phil back in 1969. No Adolescent Psychologists. No Bereavement Counselors. Thank God, No Judge Judy. There was no real talking about “Issues.”

IT. . .

just stayed there.

The Kid remembers just a few days before his 14th Birthday, one night after dinner, there was a knock on the aluminum door.

The Kid was petrified to answer it while everyone else was in the dining room. He hadn’t heard the siren, they must have turned it off to surprise him so he wouldn’t run away. That’s what the Kid thought as soon as he saw the figure of a man silhouetted in the doorway.

The Kid, for the first time in his nearly 14 years of age was actually glad it was the Minister of the Church his parents made him go to each week.

The Kid doesn’t remember what Rev. Dozier said that night.

The Kid was shocked that he drove over 30 miles, over the State line from Pennsylvania to West Virginia to come and BE…to come and BE…to Come and BE…TO Come and BE…TO COME AND BE. . .

. . .with a grieving family and a Scared, a very Scared Kid.

July 2, 1969.

Forty-five years is a long time ago. . .but sometimes not all that long ago.

A Foul…a very FOUL BALL was hit.

Something much more powerful was Caught…and in 45 years…it’s never been fumbled, jumbled, or dropped.

THAT’S made all the difference in the not-so-little KID and more. . .

The Kid’s been able to do the same for others–

S H O W I N G

UP

Will Do THAT. . .

again and again and again….

Read This. . .

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This clip of Seinfeld is one of my Favorites. It’s appropriately called, “THE LIP READER.”

It’s Classic Seinfeld.

It’s Classic Jerry.

It’s Classic George.

It’s Classic US!

Did you hear what I didn’t say?

Did you SEE what You Thought my Lips Said?

Communication comes in so many forms and is misinterpreted in just as many.

T H E Y

Tell us: We retain 10% of what we Read
20% of what we Hear
30% of what we See
50% of what we Hear and See
70% of what we Say
90% of what we Say and DO.

You may bet a Country of Farms on this one and WIN:

B E T

. . .that when you THINK you Know what’s being Communicated, you are at the highest RISK level for absolutely knowing NOTHING!

GET THAT!

…No matter who great of a Communicator and Listener, A See’er a Hear’er you think you may be–

YOU ARE NOT!

If we hired are own personal Lip Reader what would you want that Lip Reader to peruse?

What would you want your own personal Lip Reader to ascertain information-wise for you?

What would you want your Lip Reader to part on your behalf?

We just aren’t all that good with the Speaking,
with the Hearing,
with the Signing,
with the Interpreting.

Mostly. . .we aren’t good at admitting it. . .

Mostly. . .we ARE fantastic at Faking it.

No More!

We may fail horribly of Communicating–all aspects–the saying, the hearing, the understanding, the interpreting.

Let us FAIL NOT evermore now…

of at least Attempting!

Dark Nights of the Soul

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We’ve all had them and few, if any are voluntary:

DARK NIGHTS. . .Of The SOUL.

They Scare and paralyze more than amaze and awe us.

I’m in the middle of The Wedding Season right now. I will conduct weddings from now until Labor Day and then a a couple more in the Fall, including my youngest daughter’s on 12/13/14.

There is absolutely NO MIDDLE to the Burying Season. They happen year around, oddly enough, much more so right after the major holidays than at other times (but that’s another Blog Post).

It’s fascinating isn’t it?

All weddings really seem to be fairly similar, but every marriage is vastly different. Death…well…we know that it’s the other side of the Coin we all carry that will one day Come UP for all of us. Death without any Vegas odds comes to everyone, but ONE MOURNS SADLY ALONE.

Dark Nights of the Soul.

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Professional Speaker, Author, Assurance Man