The Caring Catalyst

Who Cares - What Matters

Two Buck Chuck

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Well.  .  .

Now you know. . .

Now you know that I didn’t win the 1.6Billion-dollar PowerBall

and I’m fairly sure that no one who happens to have split those winnings three ways, is reading this either.

Now you know.  .  .

maybe what you know,

know that you know,

and bet your life that you know.  .  .

but for the life of you don’t act like you know

or. . .even recognize.

I didn’t fully

until this morning when I, like millions of others, found out that what

W          I          N          N          E          R          S

we really are.

I found out that the odds of winning were about 1 in 292 million, which we are told are to be worse odds of being mauled by a bear and being attacked by a shark and marrying a supermodel–

A L L     C O M B I N E D.

You know what my Two-Bucks bought me?

H O P E :

If you think about it–for two-bucks it’s a great deal, no matter what the odds.  I mean, come on, for just two-bucks, I bought a chance for 1.6 Billion dollars.  That’s a pretty great deal, isn’t it?  H O P E !  It took no skill, no special prayers, I was on equal ground with everyone else without nothing to do or with anyone to compete.

Two-bucks bought me

P E R S P E C T I V E:

The simple experience of playing and actually  l o s i n g  was worth it.  This two-bucks lasted longer than an amusement ride or a movie or a Broadway show; this  p e r s p e c t i v e  lasted for days as we dreamed about how we’d help people and actually change their lives; make dreams that have never been dreamt, come true.  It allowed for friendships and camaraderie and love as I joined other groups at church, at work, in the neighborhood  in buying tickets together; we even commiserated about  how it just wasn’t in the cards  for us to win, and like everyone else who bellied up to that PowerBall Bar, took the chance, anyhow–all that for being Two-Buck-Chuck.

You know what my Two-Bucks really bought me?

I had an awesome conversation with my son last weekend, one of so many other fantastic talks; I found out at in a matter of less than a week we were going to be grandparents to one of our daughters, first daughter, another daughter’s second expected baby, and another daughter’s engagement to be married; I am going to be celebrating thirty fast years of marriage to a woman who said   y e s   when the whole world and mostly myself was screaming,  N     O;  I’ve served four amazing churches in the past 36 years; companioned hundreds of terminally ill patients; supported their families; conducted hundreds of weddings and thousands of funerals; been befriended by people that can’t be created or imagined by Hollywood’s greatest writers.    .    .what’s the price tag on all of that?  Two bucks?  1.6 Billion?

Hmmmmmmmmmm of the DAY:

A L L     O F     T H I S     F O R

t w o   b u c k s.    .    .    .

Two-Buck-Chuck figures the odds of winning some 1.6 Billion dollars don’t stack up to the best two bucks I’ve spent countless times over–especially just right now–that’s gotten me to the point of where

I know. . .

I know that I know. . .

I bet my Life that I know. . .

what for the rest of my life I intend to act

LIKE   I   KNOW

(what’s really precious and priceless)

Y O U ?

It’s great being
W     I     N     N     E     R     S

Two-Buck-Chuck realizes   t h a t

(as do I now hope you do, too)

A Never Ending Wave

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Q U E S T I O N      O F      A      L I F E T I M E :

Is it easier to to

S     T     A     R     T

a  R i p p l e

or  to

S  T  O  P

a  R i p p l e ?

Psssssssst:

The only true way to answer the question is by

H   O   W       Y   O   U       L   I   V   E  !

.    .    .  w   e   l   l

H O W

L I V E

Y O U ?

Are you making a

S           P           L           A           S           H

or

D          A          M          M          I          N          G

the  Flow.      .      .      ?

If   you’re   not   soaking

you’re     dry     rotting.

NEVER

LET

KINDNESS

END

WITH

YOU.  .  .

Here’s to making your next kind act, your greatest

y       e       t

but

not

your best to come.       .       .       .

Is it easier to start a ripple or stop a wave?

How     Live     You ?

ABRACADABRA

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As you can imagine, this brief video was posted on YouTube by Dan Zaleski and has received well over 3 million views in less than a week.  The orangutan at the Barcelona Zoo just couldn’t resist monkeying around when he saw this lame trick of placing a chestnut in a Styrofoam cup, putting the lid on, shaking it up, quickly dumping it before Dan removes the lid and shows the bewildered little fella an empty cup.   The orangutan  paused ever so briefly before reacting in the best possible way–throwing his head back, opening his mouth, laughing wildly and falling back in disbelief, legs high in the air.

Maybe you question if he was laughing at the actual trick or the lameness of it. . . ?

Well. . .

I’ll be a monkey’s uncle

and I usually am. . .

W     E

all usually are when it comes to

Communication.

Who would have thought that a really bad

magicians trick

would have caused such a laugh-a-thon for an amused orangutan?

If  only, huh?

If only we’d spend half as much energy trying to

amuse

connect

communicate

convey

interact

unite

link

reach

each other.  .  .  .

Usually what’s

N          O          T

S     A     I     D

S  H  O  U  T  S

T H E

L       O       U       D       E       S       T  !

I remember reading an interview with Jane Goodall, the world renowned Primatologist.

She was asked if chimps have emotions.

She said something like,

“. . .well they don’t have human emotions because they aren’t human.  They have Chimp emotions which are just as real and might be human-like in many cases. . . .”

A    B    R    A    C    A    D    A    B    R    A

Maybe the real

Magic 

is that we

ever understand

each other. . .

You can bet your Monkey’s Uncle

that we desperately

n     e     e     d

to

(keep trying)

.     .     .and now

for my next  trick .  .  .  .

 

CHOICES

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W E L L .  .  .

W   H  A  T       S   A   Y       Y   O   U  ?

Simple question, huh?

Not really. . .

I posted this randomly on my Facebook page and I received the most comments and shares out of any other post–

Facebook

Twitter

Blog

Instagram

LinkedIn

ALL   COMBINED .     .     .

E                  V                  E                  R   !

Some answers were

Philosophical

Theological

Humorous

R  E  D

B  L  U  E

B  O  T  H

Some Answers were filled with

Justifications

Validations

Rationalizations

Hopes

Wishes

Dreams

Goals

But make no mistake. . .

it erupted with

R          E          S          P          O          N          E           S

S O .    .    .

WHAT      SAY     YOU ?

and maybe more. . .

W   H   Y

S   A   Y

Y   O   U

?

Pretzel TWISTED

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Pretzel’s are good.

Warm, freshly baked Pretzels at the Mall are the Best

u          n          l          e          s          s

they

or something about them are

T          W          I          S          T          E          D

Back. . .way back when Mall’s were very popular and the obvious place to be,

I would take my daughter to just walk around on Friday’s while we waited for her sister to be done with school.

It was always good for a cheap toy and a nice, warm pretzel.   .   .

and a really contorted act.

We were walking around the Mall, throwing unwanted pennies into a fountain, buying annoying noise making plastic objects and yes. . .a nice warm, salty pretzel.

I tore mine a part like a savage discovering food for the very first time and nearly digested it even before I had fully eaten it in blink-of-the-eye quickness.

My daughter, Angie had barely taken a few bites and as her loving, caring, overly compassionate father, I asked if she would share. . .if she would give me a bite of her pretzel.

She didn’t think it was a good idea.

I play cried and told her how her daddy bear didn’t have any porridge that day and how he needed his Goldilocks to have a heart and   s h a r e. . .how sharing was a really good, kind thing to do.

She didn’t think it was a good idea.

I play acted Igor Mutalutz with my hand–the hungry fun-spider-like animal that liked little girl’s uneaten donuts, candy and pretzels.

She didn’t think it was a good idea.

As my stomach growled something not human like, I pulled out all of the stops and used one of the go-to tricks parents sometimes have to resort:

G       U       I      L       T

“Hey. . .who bought. . .who gave you that pretzel to begin with?”

She didn’t think it was a good idea. . .but it worked.

She handed over most of her soggy, mangled up pretzel.

Guilt and Fear    sometimes  comes dressed as

L     O     V     E

but it’s never fits right and rarely is tailor made.

She has never brought this up to me. . .I’m not sure she remembers. . .if as she reads it now. . .

but I do.

I remember. . .

and the memory snapped my head around

the other day when I saw a big, bad bear, Igor Mutalutz, guilt/fear wielding father remind his daughter who, in fact, had just bought her a six-nugget-not-so-happy-meal.

Y’OUCH !

Some memories are best to be left forgotten whatever’s below the basement where there’s always a bin, a bag or an album of pictures you’d rather never have been captured. . .

some memories don’t feel good experienced the second, fourth or ga-zillionth time.

Ever done anything as

T W I S T E D

as   a    pretzel.   .   .   ?

Ever done anything to

un – t w i s t   it?

Hmmmmmmmmm. . .might be time to make another memory. . .

a not-so-twisted one.

Pass the mustard.   .   .

P L E A S E

I’ll share–really–

H                      E                      R                     E

A Tiny Tree Lesson

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It’s amazing what you can see on a walk when you’re NOT LOOKING for anything in particular.

I don’t know if I discovered it, or if it found me.

A tiny tree.

A Charlie Brown Christmas tree.

Sad. . .

Made sadder still, because it had already long shed it’s leaves while some of it’s close Brother and Sister trees just steps away where still clinging  colorfully  to their leaves.

I couldn’t help but to think that in it’s own small way, it had already done way early what all of the other trees are now doing less and less:

S  H  O  W  I  N  G      O  F  F      I  T ‘ S      C  O  L  O  R  S .

It made me look.

It made me see.

It made me stop.

It made me Wonder.

It made me write this:

Sometimes it’s the tiniest things that bring out the biggest impacts.

Don’t do today what is often done on other days:

O         V         E         R         L         O         O         K

Don’t overlook the tiny things today.

That small gesture.

That one kind word.

That small start.

That new beginning.

The often OVERLOOKED   U N D E R S E E N ‘ S.

The gentle whisper.

The light hand on the heavy shoulder.

Pssssssst: The tiny things might actually be the grandest things.

Even the smallest PEBBLE make RIPPLES. . . .

(that never really end.  .  . so much as not continued to be   n o t i c e d )

Be the tiny action

that provides big

everlasting impact(s)

B    E

Community

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You know what’s sad?

When you spell community

C-O-M-M-U-N-I-T-Y

S A D

S-A-D

Psssssssst:  Community isn’t something you spell

Psssssssssst:  Community isn’t somewhere you go

Psssssssssssssst: Community is something you do

Psssssssssssssssssssst:  Community is who we are

A couple of weeks ago my wife, Erin, put the names of the all of the folks who attend the Church I serve by Sunday’s, on a several Scrabble Boards glued together.  The little lettered tiles spelled

c-o-m-m-u-n-i-t-y

in quite another way. . .but what a great symbol that jumps into any eye that enters the sanctuary.

It was quite a feat and really. . .it’s  not  finished. . .actually it never will be.   .   .

every person who continues to visit or those who officially  join  will

m     a     k     e

The Board.

Before Church we usually stop at Starbucks. . .

It’s not just because we are in early November and Christmas decorations/trees are out and up or that several Christmas channels are on Sirius radio but Starbucks has broken out their

RED  CUPS

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I love that they put our name on the Cups to remind us

W H O     W E     A R E

We are frequent fliers at our neighborhood,  STARBUCKS  and they know what we want before we ever after order. It gives me  that  Gingerbread feeling.     .     .     .

What spells c-o-m-m-u-n-i-t-y

more than THAT ?

THAT  doesn’t Preach C-O-M-M-U-N-I-T-Y

It’s  Living It

Wait. . .are we talking about

STARBUCKS

Church

or as Merriam-Webster would put it:

“A Unified body of individuals: as, (a): state, commonwealth, (b): the people with common interests living in a particular area;”

Or is it simply something more than the sum of its parts?

The only question that ever really matters is:

How  do  you  spell:

c-o-m-m-u-n-i-t-y  ?

Is it something

you     are?

It’s In Every ONE of Us. . . .

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I first saw this video well over 20 years ago

at all places. . .

A Humor Conference.

I love when I have shown this to children–

they   laugh–a lot !

I use to show this video with new Volunteers or Spiritual Care Volunteers with Hospice.

I would always ask this question as soon as it was over:

W     H     A     T ?

WHAT’S  IN  EVERY  ONE  OF  US ?

Pain

Un-met expectations

Hurt

Disappointment

Suffering

Expectations

Hopes

Joys

Love

Fear

Faith

Doubt

Happiness

Sadness.  .  .

I mean the list really is endless and it’s all with the same message, isn’t it?

IT’S  IN  EVERY  ONE  OF  US. . .

it’s the one universal assurance–given–in our lives

ANY  LIFE !

My favorite part of the video is near the end where it illustrates  THAT  point the best

when one face  morphs  into the next face into the next face into the next face. . . .

There’s so much in this World that separates us

. . .so much

that really doesn’t

What. . .what do you notice.     .     .recognize

the   m o s t ?

Psssssst:  Rub your eyes. . .rub them again. . .

do more than look–

S          E          E

celebrate

live

what’s

In     Every     One     Of     Us

and never            experience           it any other way.

Facing your F. E. A. R.

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S O . . .

What’s your

F.     E.     A.     R.  ?

F  alse

E  xperience

A  ppearing

R  eal ?

We all have them. . .these F alse  E  xperiences  A  ppearing  R  eal’s . . .

and in many very real, even more very nasty ways they are much more damaging and realistic than our real-life-everyday-fears.

What’s your’s?

Heights?

Snakes?

Spiders?

Dentists?

Doctors?

Hospitals?

Elevators?

Dark Small Places?

Planes?

Germs?

Claustrophobia?

Public Speaking?

C   H   A   N   G   E ?

F   A   I   L   U   R   E ?

S   U   C   C   E   S   S ?

We all have F. E. A.R.’s and it’s never so much what brings us to our knees or even what keeps us there for a seemingly forever. . .

it’s what keeps us

c     r     a     w     l     i     n     g

forward  no matter how slow.   .   .

H          O          W  ?

Hmmmmmmmm of the Day, huh?

Maybe. . .m  a  y  b  e   by just being

A        W        A        R        E

A     Accept the F.E.A.R.  and don’t to ignore or fight it.  .  .

W    Watch the F.E.A.R…just watch it and when you notice it just start breathing longer on your out-breath. . .

A      Act normally. . .carry on as if nothing’s different–that sends a powerful message to the brain that all’s well. . .

R      Repeat those above steps in your mind countless times over if necessary. . .

E      Expect the best always.  One of our greatest feelings in life is that we control F.E.A.R. more than we think. . .

Our F alse  E xperiences  A ppearing  R  eal

are no joke. . .they are as real as our next breath but even just as conquerable as our next few breaths after THAT 

Overcoming these F.E.A.R.’s are never easy. . .

but they’re not impossible, either.

Surmounting them will absolutely give us the

s p a r e     c a p a c i t y

to focus on what you really want to do and be

.    .    .and it takes work

but it’s one rewarding  job.

So what is it?

What’s your

F.     E.     A.     R.  ?

Be  even  just a little more

A.     W.     A.     R.     E.

Un-Jingled CHANGE

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s o m e

say that you know it’s really

C       H       A       N       G       E

if   it  doesn’t

J          I          N          G          L          E

The Nobel Prize in Economics has been awarded to Dr. Angus Deaton for his studies on the consumption, poverty and welfare.  Dr. Deaton is a professor at Princeton University.  In accepting his award he has noted that,

“There’s a real moral urgency to understanding how people behave and what we should or might be able to do about it…Life is better now than at almost anytime in history. . .more people are richer and fewer people live in dire poverty. Lives are longer and parents no longer routinely watch a quarter of their children die. . .I think inequality has gone past the point where it’s helping us all get rich, and it’s really becoming a serious            threat. . . .“

Hmmmmmm of the Day:

Could it be that Dr. Angus Deaton actually is a true

C A RI N G   C A T A L Y S T. . . ?

No. . .

not because he really can distinguish the difference between

Dollars and  S E N S E. . .

Not because he’s a brilliant Economist. . .

Not because he has just won the Nobel Prize. . .

Not because he knows at its best 1 + 1 = much more than 2 ever could. . .

but because of Dr. Deaton’s

C   a   r  e

. . .what he does with his

C   A   R   I   N   G

is a real

C A T A L Y S T

to

C  H  A  N  G  E

. . .the kind that never quite Jingles in your pocket

but can’t help

r          e          s          o          u          d          i          n          g

in your Heart.

That we all might be such a

caring catalyst

is such a jingle that could forever fill

our pockets

and our

h     e     a     r     t     s !

Professional Speaker, Author, Assurance Man