Listen to this inspiring talk by Bishop Fulton J. Sheen about the importance of adoration.
Larry King, the television talk show host who recently retired from CNN after 25 years of hosting his own show, once commented: “If you want to get on my show, all you need to do is take out a gun and blow your parents away.” He wasn’t encouraging that type of behavior; he was simply stating a fact. What he did not say was: “If you want to get on my show, all you need to do is take care of your elderly parents day after day, month after month, and year after year, until they pass away. After that, I’ll invite you on my show to talk about the heroic sacrifice that you made.”
Last week I told you I had three observations about the Arizona killings that I wanted to share with you. My first observation (“All Behavior Originates And Proceeds From Beliefs”) was covered in last week’s article. If you didn’t get a chance to read the article, you can find it here.
If you pay any attention to the news, you know about the attempted murder last Saturday of Gabrielle Giffords, a congresswoman from Arizona. Just in case you’re not up to speed on the details of the incident, I’ll give you a brief summary of what happened, and then a few of my own thoughts and observations that I haven’t seen expressed by anyone else.
When I was in grade school, a sign of status and importance among the students was whether you owned a watch. During that time (the 1960’s), watches were expensive and most parents didn’t see the need for a young student to have a watch. The rule in the home I grew up in was that unless we received a watch as a gift from a relative or bought our own, we had to wait until we were in 8th grade before our parents would buy us a watch.
When I was growing up, I loved building things. My dad bought me my first tool set when I was 7 years old. It consisted of genuine child-sized tools, and included a real hammer, hand saw, pliers, screwdrivers, measuring tape, and a “carpenter’s pencil.” My earliest childhood memories include many instances when I helped my dad or grandfather with building projects.
After I wrote an article a couple of weeks ago about how angry I was with nitwits, a few people expressed surprise and concern at the way I reacted toward other peoples’ behavior. I think they were surprised by my comment that I wanted to slap a seemingly worthless employee upside the head with her cell phone.
Last week Parade magazine had a cover story by Judith Newman about how the teenage brain works. The headline of the story was: “What’s Really Going On Inside Your Teen’s Head.” The sub headline was: “They’re moody. Secretive. Spacy. Infuriating! Now scientists are starting to figure out why.”
I’m in a bad mood today (Monday, November 22). I’m Irritable. Angry. Part of my problem is that I’m not feeling well (headache, exhausted, stomach cramps, cold symptoms). On a normal day I have trouble practicing patience, but when I’m not feeling well I turn into a bear. On days like this, I’m better off staying away from other people, especially nitwits.