Military Intelligence?

June 23, 2019

Mom used to say, “Military Intelligence. Now there’s a contradiction in terms!”

Well, I just read a story that backs up that assertion. The story was written to honor a veteran, but this part struck me funny.

According to a story printed in today’s Post-Dispatch*, Mendel Rosenberg was drafted into the military in 1951. He was born in Europe, and spoke several languages, including German and Russian, so he figured that he would be sent to Europe as an interpreter.

Instead, he was sent to Pennsylvania to be an MP at a stockade there.

Later he was assigned overseas. He volunteered to go to Europe, but was assigned to Tokyo, where he needed a translator.

Need I say more?

*(The article was written by Lori Rose, a Brand Ave. Studios contributing writer; the Post-Dispatch isn’t responsible for the content.)

I Didn't Take My Own Advice

June 23, 2019

Remember when I said that people should check more carefully before they spread “information”?

I got suckered. I read an article from what I deemed to be a reliable source, then re-posted it. It was about over-use of phones causing bone abnormalities at the back of the spine.

(I don’t normally re-post things, on general principle, but there was someone whose attention I wanted to get, and this seemed like the surest way.)

It was bad science. And I didn’t check more thoroughly. Mea culpa.

We Should All Be So Brave

June 19, 2019

I’ve got not one, but two sisters who, when their employers were making their lives miserable, turned in their notice and left. They were both single, and they didn’t have other jobs lined up. But when their employers crossed a line, they left.

That takes guts.

The line wasn’t sexual harassment, by the way. It was continual disrespect of their abilities and their dedication to the job. And when they’d had enough, they left.

I wish more of us had that kind of gumption.

I’m very proud of you both.

(Dedicated to B and C)

It's Not as Hard as You Think It Is

June 16, 2019

The guest pastor on Holy Trinity Sunday went to great lengths to try to explain the unexplainability of the Holy Trinity. He dismissed such analogies as a cube, and the states of water; although they seemed fine to me, he had a bone to pick with each one. He didn’t even mention the shamrock. (The way he went on, the only real explanation would be that God has multiple personalities. He never actually came out and said that, though.)

I always think it’s funny when pastors go on about how the Trinity is unexplainable; as if people are actually spending large amounts of time trying to make it work. As far as I can tell, people just accept it; so why do the pastors have to make such a production over it?

As I said to him after the service: I wouldn’t get too het up about trying to explain the Trinity. After all, if people will swallow the Virgin Birth, they’ll swallow anything.

First Do No Harm—An Oath for Religious Leaders

June 16, 2019

Although, “First do no harm” is not really a part of the Hippocratic Oath, I think it should be part of an oath for religious leaders.

This musing brought to you by the imminent retirement of Archbishop Robert J. Carlson, of the St. Louis diocese. If he had abided by it, a lot of lives could have been changed for the better.

Involved Dads

June 17, 2019

I heard on the news yesterday (Father’s Day) that, according to the Pew Research Center, fathers are spending 3 times as much time with their kids as they were in 1965.

Anecdotally, you hear that kids today are more spoiled and self-centered than at any time in history.

Maybe the dads should re-think their strategy.

(I’M KIDDING! Every generation has said that about the next one. I’ll bet even the parents of World War II veterans, those who are held up as models for all to follow, thought their kids were more self-centered and disrespectful than the people of THEIR generation were. Keep up the good work, Dads.)

Who You Gonna Believe—Me or Your Lyin’ Eyes?

June 7, 2019

Back in the day, some friends talked me into trying Line Dancing lessons. The leaders threw a lot of stuff at us, moved on, and said that eventually we’d get it through repetition. It didn’t work for me.

Much later, I took a martial arts course. They threw stuff at us, moved on, and said that we’d get it eventually. It didn’t work for me.

Last night I went to a folk-dancing session. They threw stuff at us, moved on, and said we’d get it eventually. Judging by the people I was watching—it didn’t work for them, either.

And yet, people still keep using this method. It’s as if, a long time ago, someone said, “This is how to teach.” And so people say, “This method must work! It’s what we were taught to do.”

(To be fair, it does work with some people, but I tend to think that they’re natural athletes to start with. If you’re going to open an event to all comers, be prepared to teach all comers.)

In several churches, I’ve seen people give Children’s Sermons. They always use the same playbook: Ask a question; have an object to use as a demo; then move on to the sermon. The problem is that, almost universally, they lose control of the situation after they’ve asked the question; and the kids don’t make the connection between the demo object and the point of the sermon. Almost every time.

Again, people keep using these techniques, even though it’s apparent to everyone else that they’re not working. They’ve been told that they work, so they believe it, against all the evidence. The ghosts of teachers past are saying, “Who you gonna believe—me or your lyin’ eyes?”

So the next time you’re teaching something, take an objective look at what’s happening. If you’re getting frustrated that people aren’t learning what you want them to, it may be because what you’ve been taught about teaching is -gasp- incorrect!

Your eyes aren’t lyin’. Ditch the old method and go with what works.