Sharing — Page 66

Team Begins With “I”

July 13, 2015 By ChuckBehrens Leave a Comment

T E A M BEGINS WITH ” I “

Now THAT’S a headline grabber, isnt’ it?

In fact, it’s everything we have not been taught, isn’t it:

THERE IS NO ” I ” TEAM !

. . .and sure enough, according the the Dictionary you most likely no longer possess in ‘book-form’ there’s no question–absolutely, undeniably, unequivocally no “I” in Team–literally and figuratively–NO I

Uhhhh, yeah, I kind of beg to differ on a not so small technicality:

It is “I” that joins a Team. . .

It is “I” that a Team invites or accepts. . .

It is “I” that weakens or strengthens a Team. . .

It is “I” that chooses to be Team-Less. . .

It is “I” that really determines if the Team Soars or Sinks. . .

o r

is it

Y O U ?

There’s only one thing worse than getting your feathers ruffled. . .

L O S I N G T H E M

“I” will See you on the Hire-Wire, Team. . . .

A Friend HEALS

July 6, 2015 By ChuckBehrens Leave a Comment

It’s not that I’m Speechless. . .

Maybe. . .maybe, it’s just that

W O R D S

pale to ACTION

The eyes always hear what a mouth can’t utter

no matter how eloquently said. . . .

Maybe Leo Tolstoy was right when he walked by a beggar on the street and stopped to say,

“My Brother, I’m so sorry that I don’t have anything to give you.”

The homeless beggar said, “You’ve already given me so much more than money by calling me, ‘Brother.'”

A Friend heals when no cure is actually sought but always needed. . . .

When have you shared such riches?

When. . .when will you?

Water Pumped

June 26, 2015 By ChuckBehrens Leave a Comment

Sometimes the water from another’s Well might not be any colder, but it sure does taste better. . . .

Have you ever tasted it? Ever felt it go all the way down your throat into your stomach?

Jimmy Pettit was one of my friends. We lived a hundred miles away from each other, but not on weekends. On the weekends we both went to our summer camp grounds–our families had one room cabins with two bedrooms and a small bathroom. There were about 10 camps in all and his was just across the gravel road.

He was respite for me from my two brothers and my sister and I gave him a reprieve from his brother.

Buddies. . .Pals. . .Friends. . .Idiots. . . .

We’d swim, fish, hunt and hike together.

It was one, long, hot hike on a sunny morning that turned into an afternoon.

Instead of walking along the creek like we had done hundreds of times, we decided to go up unto the hills to do some exploring.

How thirsty have you ever been?

It wasn’t getting hungry that was the problem…it was the I-hope-I-see-an-oasis-mirage-before-I-blink-my-eyes-thirsty.

What I did see, was one of the best things I ever laid my eyes–even to this day:

An old fashion water pump

Seriously. . .you ever use one. . .have you actually ever drank from an old water pump?

H I N T :

It takes at least two to really get a drink from the old standing water pump out in the middle of nowhere on the edge of an unkept farm house.

It felt like my arm was going to fall off. I pumped and pumped and pumped and pumped and. . .

. . .and then it started coming out in a cold, long, wet stream. . .and it never stopped, as long as you would keep pumping.

I’ve often thought about that as a metaphor for my life

when I felt like giving up. . .

when I felt responsible for my grandfather’s death

when I had to miss a basketball season with bad knees

when I went away to school

when I got married a week out of college

when I went away to Seminary

when I became a dad

when I began at my first church

when I got divorced

when I ran 7 and a half marathons

when I got married again

when I became a hospice chaplain

when I self-published books

when I became a grandfather

when I became a professional speaker

when doors closed and windows wouldn’t open

when I. . .

I remember pumping water that day. . .I remember working hard to get the water to come up deep from that well and just when it didn’t seem like it was ever going to come out. . .there. . .there. . .it was.

I didn’t have to pump as hard after that, but I had to make sure, especially after all the hard work to get it flow, I didn’t want to stop. . .didn’t want to start all over again and I didn’t as long as I kept the long, steady stroke of bringing that glorious water forth.

Jimmy drank first from his cupped hands and then he let it pour over his head and finally laid upside down and let it pour into his mouth, his throat. . .

. . .and then. . .and then. . .it was my turn. I did the same thing. . .I drank and let the water run over my head and finally just laid underneath of it and let it fill up my mouth and run down my throat, too.

We took turns, getting drenched and drinking our fill, all the time, making sure the water wasn’t going to stop flowing;

The Secret:

We never stopped pumping. . .getting soak. . .drinking

The Lesson:

We needed each other to quench our thirsts. . .our truest Thirsts

The Hope:

We may all be Water Pumped

The P E A C E of Cake

April 6, 2015 By ChuckBehrens Leave a Comment

H E Y

YOU CAN’T HAVE YOUR CAKE AND EAT IT TOO!

Really?

We’ve all heard the phrase, haven’t we…

have we REALLY Wondered about it, though?

The phrase is most often used when it comes to making Compromises, doesn’t it?

It highly alludes to making a choice between two possibilities that could never be reconciled.

The Russians say,

YOU CAN’T SIT ON TWO CHAIRS. . .

The Germans say,

YOU CAN’T DANCE AT TWO WEDDINGS.

The Yiddish adage:

YOU CAN’T SIT ON TWO CHAIRS WITH THE SAME TUCHIS.

Come on, the proverb literally means,

“YOU CANNOT BOTH POSSESS YOUR CAKE AND EAT IT”

because once the cake is eaten

IT IS GONE!

Maybe. . .maybe it can be used to say that we cannot or should not have or want more than we deserve or can actually handle. . .

should not try to have incompatible things. . .

O R. . .is

ALL WRONG?

Will you allow that possibility?

The best way to have your cake and eat it too, is really simple.

I just saw it the other day when we were out to eat.

A couple were finishing their meal with a piece of cake…

They were SHARING IT.

One Piece of Cake.

Two forks

Quiet Conversation

Deep Soundless Looks

ENDLESS MEMORIES

RIPPLE ME UP, Scotty.

A RIPPLE can never fully be measured or Counted. . . .

The PEACE of Cake

Makes my Mouth, Water. . .
Makes my Soul, Gush. . .
Makes my Heart, Vibrate. . .

Yours?

THE PEACE OF CAKE. . .

Join me.

No Forks or napkins necessary. . .

JUST YOUR HUNGER!

D E N I E D

April 3, 2015 By ChuckBehrens 4 Comments

It was a pure act of Love

It was a pure act of Generosity

It was a pure act of Compassion

Stolen
STOLEN
S T O L E N. . . .

It was several years ago.

I was visiting a patient who was actively dying. Her family was out of town, trying desperately to get back to be with her before she died.

I was sitting beside her bed and I was reading

(PRAYING)

the Rosary for her which was in her hands.

She was completely unresponsive and just as completely comfortable and managed.

While I was Reading the Rosary on her behalf a lady came to give Communion to the patient I was seeing and her roommate.

We had met before. She had come to a workshop/presentation I had done at that nursing home,

A PRIEST, A RABBI AND A MINISTER CAME TO HOSPICE.

We greeted one another and after she had given Communion to the roommate, she came over to the foot of the bed of the patient I was providing simple presence.

“I don’t think she’ll be able to receive Communion today. I think she’s readying herself to take her final journey.”

“What about you,” she asked?

“ME?”

“Yes. You. Would you like to receive Communion?”

“I’m afraid I’m not able to because as you know I’m a Protestant Chaplain.”

“I didn’t ask you if you were able,” she said, I am asking if you would like to receive Communion on this Good Friday?”

What she was offering I had never been offered; never had to consider.

Honestly, it wasn’t her WORDS, her invitation, it was the look in her eyes as she offered.

LOVE FILLED.

I honestly believed at that moment, to REFUSE her offer would have been a wrongdoing;

A SIN

She Extended the Host to my Mouth

I humbly accepted.

Hours later, I went back to the office and shared the story and was severely chastised by a colleague, a fellow chaplain, a Eucharistic Minister who demanded to know the name of the person who had extended such an outrageous,

SACRILEGIOUS

G I F T

so she could be reprimanded and stripped of her duties of being a Eucharistic Minister.

It’s taken me a long time to learn the lesson

and I learned it painfully many times over

but I actually didn’t say anything to the remarks…

I didn’t respond or react at the attempt of

ALMOST BEING ROBBED OF SOMETHING SACRED FOR SOMETHING SORDID

BUT I THOUGHT

I THOUGHT. . .

D E N I E D

(I won’t be)

It happened several years ago but

I Remember. . .

I Remember well

(just as instructed)….

Communion isn’t what you Eat or Drink. . .

It’s what YOU DO.

A lesson LEARNED

is only half Accomplished…

When TAUGHT–

fully COMPLETED…

Completed in me
Completed in you

Communioned in ALL

DENIED

NONE!

T H I N K I N G

March 23, 2015 By ChuckBehrens Leave a Comment

I was

T H I N K I N G. . .

You?

“IF YOU WAIT UNTIL YOU CAN DO EVERYTHING FOR EVERYBODY, INSTEAD OF SOMETHING FOR SOMEBODY, YOU’LL END UP DOING NOTHING FOR NOBODY.”

When I first saw this clip just filmed in New York City in February of this year, IT brought out the

in me…

Not my Compassion;

My Cynicism.

I immediately had flash backs of countless pieces of junk mail that I had received about how I could feed a hungry orphaned kid in a far away geographical place I can’t spell phonetically or begin to say, let alone place.

The infomercials that wouldn’t tug but pillage my heart strings with kids who had flies all over them or maggots crawling out of their noses which were meant to implore I would send generously to alleviate this plight.

When I researched the video I was a little shocked to see that well over 22,0000

C H I L D R E N

are homeless in New York City alone.

Staggering
Bothersome
Alarming

all good adjectives and correct.

I guess, I just didn’t like it was a set up…

that it took well over two hours of NO ONE helping this kid who crawled in a not-so-well-insulated garbage bag to keep warm until a homeless man came over and offered more than his sympathetic compassion. He actually gave his coat and money for the freezing kid to eat.

M O R E. . .

He gave what so few of us

(AND I’M FIRST IN LINE)

Just the mere PRESENCE of himself–

which is always the most valuable thing we own and can ever give:

O U R S E L V E S !

I didn’t like that the film makers were a block away and came and not only praised the Homeless man

(Which was a powerful gift in itself)

but actually gave him well over $500 (perhaps a piece).

Here’s what I was THINKING:

IS THAT WHAT IT TAKES TO MOVE US?
IS THAT WHAT IT TAKES TO MOTIVATE US TO GIVE?
IS THAT WHAT IT TAKES TO BRING AWARENESS TO AN OBVIOUS TRAGIC SITUATION?
IS THAT WHAT IT TAKES TO SHOCK US TO ACTION?
IS THAT WHAT IT TAKES TO SHAME US?
IS THAT WHAT IT TAKES TO_______________________________________________?

Maybe that was the real purpose of the short 6 minute clip:

Not so much to make me Question

But to make me seek an ANSWER. . .

To actually make me feel disgust and then wrestle with why I actually FELT IT. . .

To T H I N K ?

You?

WHAT
DO
YOU
T H I N K ?

Just Throw

February 23, 2015 By ChuckBehrens 2 Comments

Kevin Costner has made a lot of different sports movies.

FOR THE LOVE OF THE GAME is one of my favorites…no, it’s not the Classic, FIELD OF DREAMS or the funny, BULL DURHAM or even TIN CUP or DRAFT DAY, but it has some strong moments.

It’s about Kevin’s character, Billy Chapel near the end of his career playing for a not so good Detroit Tigers Team and he’s literally pitching the game of his life. He’s pitching a no-hitter going into the bottom of the 8th inning with a one run lead and he’s tired with not a whole lot left in the tank, when his catcher counterpart tells him that the whole team is behind him and that right now because of his awesome performance versus the New York Yankees that they “Don’t Stink.” He encourages his tired, nearly worn-out friend to:

“JUST THROW”

Oh, that’s right, he’s lost the love of his life and will soon find out that even throwing a no-hitter means absolutely nothing if YOU HAVE NO ONE TO SHARE THE JOY.

But, but that’s not the story, really.

The real story as told by Kevin Costner recently in an appearance on Mike & Mike on ESPN was that the movie almost never was able to take place; at least not in Yankee Stadium.

George Steinbrenner, who was still alive and the owner of the Yankees almost pulled the plug on the whole project.

Do you know why?

It was because when George read the script he found out that someone would come into HIS HOUSE of Yankee Stadium and actually NO-HIT his beloved ball club. He almost pulled the plug on the whole project because THE YANKEES LOSE!

They had to convince George that the Yankees, in fact, had already clinched the Division and it was just another game at the end of the season before they made another march in the playoffs. They had to assure George that the game MEANT NOTHING–that it was just a throw away game. And after believing that the game didn’t have significance he allowed the movie to be shot in Yankee Stadium with the Yankees being defeated in a dramatic No Hitter.

I love T H A T!

I so very much admire and at times envy THAT Passion of Mr. Steinbrenner.

That makes the movie, ultimately different, doesn’t it?

WHAT. . .

IN YOUR LIFE WOULD YOU NOT NEGOTIATE

unless you were totally assured it really had no meaning or significance and that indeed, it was actually to illustrate a greater outcome?

Now THAT question is like an all day sucker you can’t quite get your tongue around. . . .

JUST THROW

is really good advice if you know you’ve got THE WHOLE TEAM behind you; if you knew that just for this one significant moment in your life you could put your EVERYTHING in to IT with nothing to lose, when you were at your weakest, at your can’t-do-one-more-thing-exhaustive-break point.

JUST THROW

is really easy to do with pure, unadulterated PASSION!

It’s one thing to Recognize THAT Moment. . .

It’s one thing to Have THAT Moment. . .

It’s one thing to Give THAT Moment. . .

It’s one thing to Share THAT Moment with another. . .

It’s one thing to Combine THOSE Moments into ONE. . .

Go ahead…

JUST THROW!

Be the Magic!

Batter UP!

GIFT

February 2, 2015 By ChuckBehrens Leave a Comment

Buddy, can you spare a dime?

How about seven minutes?

GIFT

is a short film that has a profound, heart-touching message about the importance of GIVING, and the true value of wealth. It’s a beautiful deperiction of how we deeply touch others when we SELFLESSLY give our time, love and kindness.

GIFT

is about a boy who grew up not liking his father because he believed he was poor, unintelligent and unsuccessful, but his father had a secret. It was only until after his father’s death he discovers the true reach of his father’s generosity towards others and the joy and laughter he brought to others. He finally understands his father’s message to him as a boy, that

“BEING RICH IS NOT ABOUT HOW MUCH YOU HAVE, BUT HOW MUCH YOU GIVE”

I’ve watched the film several times and used it in a couple of presentations I’ve given, and plan to use it in some upcoming ones in March.

It doesn’t matter how many times I watch it.

I tear up

I gulp a little harder

I hear two words that just keep resounding louder and louder above the soft soundtrack. . .

I’M

A S H A M E D.

I’m filthy, stinking rich. . .

and aim to become just a little richer than any calculations could ever compute

. . .and even richer, still, tomorrow.

Here’s my invitation:

JOIN ME!

McFESSIONALS

January 16, 2015 By ChuckBehrens Leave a Comment

Every McDonald’s has them:

A GROUP OF MEN

They drink their Senior Savers Coffee and read paper, do crosswords and The Jumble and

THEY TALK–A lot!

I don’t know how I got “OUTTED” but THEY knew I was “A Minister”

I think Erin spilled it. Then again, many times on Saturday mornings, we started our day there before I was off to do a funeral or two.

It was ONE of those Saturday’s.

He had on a STEELER’S ball cap on and Erin complimented him on it and said, “GO STEELERS” as we sat down beside their table.

“Steeler fans?”

…and the conversation began.

We told him I lived just South of Pittsburgh in a small town called Washington and Erin lived North of Pittsburgh in Natrona Heights. He said he and his family lived in a small coal mining town before they moved to Cleveland for good back in 1936

. . .and then the McFESSIONAL began.

He talked about how his grandfather was a hard working coal miner just like everyone else in that small town. He never missed work for any reason, he proudly told us.

He reminisced about how every Summer the Circus would come to town from the next coal mining town before moving to the next one just down the road. He told us every year his grandfather would promise, “Next year, I promise I’ll take you kids to the Circus,” and “NEXT YEAR” he never did until Grandma put her foot down and told Grandfather he was going to take off work and ‘take those kids to the Circus you’ve promised to take to them every year.’

Grandfather might have been the bread winner and the hard-working-never-take-a-day-off-kind of guy, but Grandma not only made the Law, but enforced it.

A little pause, in between sips of his coffee. . .

He continued on a little slower and a little more reflective by telling us how his grandfather did take off work to take them to the Circus and they were having a great time. He told us how the Circus almost came to a standstill when they heard the Mining Whistle Blow.

There had been an explosion

All of the men his grandfather worked with, called his friends were killed THAT day but not
Grandfather. . .NO, he had taken his grandchildren to the Circus.

“You know, people. . .people can just be down right cruel. They made fun of us kids at school, picked fights, and they blamed my grandfather for taking the day off, for not being there, FOR LIVING! We had to move, to leave town and that’s how we got to Cleveland. . . .”

“The Story” will hardly make an edition of “WHO’S WHO,” or “RIPLEY’S BELIEVE IT OR NOT” It won’t really not much make a Hallmark Special or a LIFETIME SPECIAL FEATURE. . .but it’s a story that needed to be Told and HEARD.

Why. . .WHY ME?

He told us four or five other stories in quick succession after that with the preface of, “I know you don’t have much time, but let me tell you about. . .” one about his son and him getting caught in a severe storm canoeing, one about the death of his father-in-law and his son NOT missing the funeral because of a freak cancelation of school, one about he and his wife, one about him being in the
service…each one with a Confessional flavor attached.

Why. . .why me?

Why you?

Why anyone?

Because everyone has a Story that needs to be told and more, desperately needs HEARD.

Maybe the bigger question:

WHY NOT ME?

The very next story you listen to…GET TOLD…might just be the very one that sincerely needed Shared.

T H A T it was entrusted to YOU. . .

Now that’s Bonus!

Cherish it…nothing more sacred could ever be given…or received. . . .

Let There Be Peace On Earth

November 17, 2014 By ChuckBehrens 2 Comments

IT never fails…especially when I hear a group of kids sing IT. . .

LET THERE BE PEACE ON EARTH…AND LET IT BEGIN WITH ME!

Uhhh, yeah. . .I tear up. . .

A L W A Y S !

The song was written in 1955 by Jill Jackson Miller and Sy Miller. Jackson, who had been suicidal after the failure of a marriage, later said that she wrote the song after finding what she called the “LIFE SAVING JOY OF GOD’S PEACE AND UNCONDITIONAL LOVE.”

The story goes that on a Summer evening in 1955, a group of some 180 teenagers of all races and religions were meeting at a workshop high in the California mountains. Locking arms, they formed a circle and sang a song of Peace. They felt that singing the song, with its simple basic sentiment–LET THERE BE PEACE ON EARTH AND LET IT BEGIN WITH ME,” helped to create a climate for the World Peace and understanding.

When they came down from the mountain, these inspired young people brought the song with the and started sharing it. . .and IT began

It traveled the World in a very fast pace (AS GOOD THINGS REALLY HAVE BEEN KNOWN TO DO). Soon the song was being shared in all fifty states–at school graduations, PTA Meetings, at Christmas and Easter Gatherings and as a part of the celebration of Brotherhood Week. It became the Theme for Veteran’s Day, Human Rights Day and U.N. Day. American Legion, the B’nai B’rith, the Kiwanis Clubs and CORE.

IT traveled the World.

IT was being sung by big name artists.

IT was winning awards.

The simple thought, LET THERE BE PEACE ON EARTH AND LET IT BEGIN WITH ME, first born on a mountain top in the voices of youth, continues to travel HEART to HEART–gathering people everywhere who wish to become a note in a song of understanding and peace–for for ALL People Everywhere.

It matters not how you hear it. . .

It matters not how you sing it. . .

It matters not how you harmonize. . .

It matters. . .

HOW YOU SHARE IT. . .

How Your Peace becomes Another’s,

For a Moment and then another one until EACH Knows IT

EVERY SECOND. . .

OF EVERY LIFE!

BE the SPLASH that begins the endless Ripple of Peace. . .

LET IT BEGIN WITH YOU–

right where you dwell. . .

but never where you STAY!

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