ThinkingInColor

Now, I have an excuse for whining and complaining about all the aches, pains, fatigue, insomnia, mental lapses and the general sense of dilapidation—-I turned sixty on September 9.  Like the twenty-foot water walls lashed toward the Texas coastline by Hurricane Ike, my constantly degrading physical state has not happened immediately, but it has been gathering momentum for the last thirty or so years.  Unbelievable.  I remember how old I thought my Dad was when he had his sixtieth birthday.  Now, thirty-five years later, I know.  (Actually, he stayed pretty young in his sixties, but he didn’t take care of his health as closely as he should have.  I, on the other hand, get a regular six month checkup and I keep tabs on all the major areas of my body that typically become trouble spots as a man ages.)

You can imagine, then, how relieved I was when it was announced to me that the powers that be have officially set the age when one is “old” as eighty!  Thank God!  I have twenty more years of middle age…functionality, lucidity, coherency, preaching, teaching, leading, golf, travel, eating and the broad enjoyment of life at the save level as I have experienced it for most of my adult life.  I am doing my best to ignore the suspicion that the intervening years will go by even faster than the prior years. 

It does seem that the older one gets, decades become years and years become days.  Regardless, I intend to live life at the fastest pace, the highest level and the most productive output as I can manage into the foreseeable future.  Age is only a number for technicalities like Social Security, driver’s licenses and biographies.  Age is not a reference point for quality of life and the size of contributions one can make to the world around him. 

The only exception to the last paragraph would be whenever I don’t feel like doing something.  Then I can always back up to the “I’m in my sixties” argument.  And nobody will say a word. 

I have not brought anyone up to date on my personal life and schedule since January because I have been so busy.  General Board meetings in February, trips around the district to handle situations, Wyoming, New York, Ohio district board meetings and conference, UGST board meeting and graduation…plus an overseas trip to Prague, Czech Rebuplic and Riga, Lativia have all been jammed into my schedule.  I also had a wonderful 25th Pastoral anniversary celebration with a banquet and special services over the weekend of May 17-18.  My Bible college president (TBC) and his wife, Bro. & Sis. Fred Foster were with me and did a wonderful job. 

 Now, we are gearing up for a summer of camps, plus a wedding in the fall for my son Ross and his fiance, Melissa Thrush.  In addition to all of this, we will have the one-year-old birthday party for MaKinzie.  Yes, June 18th she will be a year old.  Please pray for her.  She is having some health problems with regard to her immune system.  They still don’t know what it is or how to treat it.  She has been the delight of our lives for the last year. 

Both Ryan and Megan, and Ross and Melissa have bought houses this spring.  Rene is back in school at Lourdes College, hopefully working toward a degree in child psychology or education.  I am very proud of her and believe that she will succeed.  My wife is a wonderful help mate to me and is doing a lot of teaching, speaking, writing and leading at this stage of her life as well.

I am working on my second book in the Leadership series.  I have about 5-6 chapters to go before I submit it to be published.  I will tell you this…I am not bored with life.  I feel energized, motivated and positive about the future!  There are just not enough hours in the day to get it all done.  I like what I read the other day, though.  “There are not enough hours in the day to get everything done, but there is enough time to get all the important things done!”  My problem is…I think everything is important.  Oh well.  I will have to decide sooner or later.  Meanwhile, I keep on working.

On January 26, I hosted a 90th birthday party for my mother, Theodora Jordan.  Her birthday was actually on January 7, but I couldn’t get everything together until later.  She was in fine spirits that day.  She battles a form of dementia that severely limits her short term memory, but she is very lucid and capable of carrying on a good conversation as long as she doesn’t have to remember a lot of things to do it. 

The funniest thing that happened had to be when Jenny, my sister from New York, tried to fix Mother’s hair.  After a few minutes, Mother reached up and yanked the new “do” down and slicked it back again.  She said it bothered her and she had no idea that Jenny had just fixed it up for her.  Jenny got perturbed and did it over again.  A few more minutes passed and Mother did the same thing.   Up went the hair again.  Down went the hair a third time.  After that, Jenny gave up.  It was a scream.  These days, Mother’s priority in life is to feel comfortable.  Dressing fit to kill—-which is what she was known for all of her life—-was no longer comfortable.  At ninety years old, she doesn’t worry abut impressing anyone.

 I was so grateful for all the people who came.  Family members who came were Jenny Teets, Vicky and Joe Carpenter, Joe and Sherri Carpenter (and Joshua), Angela and Jay Jones (and Kelsea), Cindy and Rodney Clark, plus my gang of Ryan and Megan Jordan (and MaKinzie), Ross, Rene, and my wife Sandy and me.  Jonathan Perry, a great nephew, came by.  Several church members who visit my Mother on a regular basis also came.  Although Mother did not remember the party after she went back to her room, we remember and it meant so much to us.

Other than the mental issues, Mother seems to be healthy.  She falls occasionally and she has bouts with depression because she wants to go home.  Her home was sold two years ago and all her possessions were liquidated.  She has no recollection of this however, so she often expresses her desire to go back to Jackson.  This is one of the sad realities we have to deal with now.  I’m just glad that I can have her about five minutes away from me in these sunset years.

Any friends or family who want to send a card or letter should follow through.  Mother will enjoy it over and over. 

It’s Friday morning, after BOTT.  I am worn out.  But, it’s a good tired.  I have never been to a more incredible, relevant conference than this one.  I haven’t blogged for a while, mainly because my schedule has been so crazy, and it messes with my mind.  I had to write this report, though, and let readers know that the spirit of unity and comraderie was unprecedented in any conference of my recent memory.  Nothing was said over the pulpit about the current goings-on in the UPCI and I think everyone really appreciated that.  It was just worship, Word and wonder!  Anthony, Wayne Huntley and Mickey Mangun are must haves for DVD’s, and, of course, Jeff, but get them all if you want the full flavor.

The people who came to the conference spoke loudly for unity by just being there.  All of the HQ executives were there (KH, JJ, PM, RK, plus FMD Dir., HMD dir, Youth dir. and most of the RD’s), and supts. from at least thirty districts were there.  Many missionaries were there.  As I absorbed the atmosphere, it dawned on me that this is exactly where I want to be…not Alexandria or BOTT, but the fellowship of the brethren who don’t have an agenda, who are not breathing down your neck, but are just wanting to love God together with you.  I know it can and should get a little more defined than that, but that sentiment lies at the core of my response. 

The Manguns pulled off another masterpiece.  In their leadership, they truly serve us all.  They deserve all the thanks in the world for their sacrifice and excellence.  

The preceding thought I posted in this column has come under rebuttal by an individual.  His written objection gives me an appropriate opportunity to respond in a generic way.  I do not choose to refute the particular points he made, but I defend his right to disagree with me.  I do want to  talk about the composition of an effective rebuttal.  

An effective rebuttal needs to take the context of the article or speech into account.  Ignoring the context in which a person’s point was made can easily lead to false assumptions and making statements that appear ludicrous.  Certain points I made, for example, were drawn from my cultural experience in the UPCI that others in the organization would readily recognize.  Had the article been written to non-members, I would have explained some things more thoroughly.  Also, the context and history of the issue itself should have been understood before launching a critique. 

An effective rebuttal needs to be expressed in the same tone as the original article.  I tried to write my article in a respectful, persuasive manner.  I may not have succeeded, but that was certainly my intent.  When the objection is put in harsh, sarcastic terms, it fails to unseat the contentions made in the article.  I have no idea what the intent of the rebuttal’s author was, but it seemed more reactionary to me than a sincere attempt to correct any problems in my article.

An effective rebuttal should engage the main points of the article and provide solid evidence that they are wrong.  It is not enough to simply criticize them, as though they should never have been made in the first place.  It is not enough to try to discredit the author.  It is not enough to make fun of the subject and hold it up for ridicule.  Dismissing contentions as silly without proving exactly why they are silly will never be effective.

An effective rebuttal should demonstrate that the writer truly understands the subject in its entirety.  An outsider’s view, a bird’s eye view, a hearsay view or the view of a preconceived notion all fail to negate the points.  The communists, for example, routinely misunderstood the culture and fiber of America during the cold war.  Their criticism came off as inane to American citizens who were a part of this country. 

An effective rebuttal should not advance new arguments that were not a part of the original article.  If the one who objects wants to develop his own affirmative article, he needs to do exactly that.  Otherwise, he flings out quick-hitters that he hopes will score points, but they have no effect on the original article.  If someone has legitimate criticisms of the UPCI, for example, let him write it out fully, document his points, provide proper examples, complete his thoughts and open his work up for others to criticize.

All this being said, I still defend anyone’s right to launch a rebuttal on anything they wish.  They should remember, however, that their writing will come under the same scrutiny that they placed on the work of others.   I learned a long time ago that I had better make sure of my thinking when I write something for the reading consumption of others.  I know that my work will be judged.  I never resent the process.  I do intend to be a part of the process, from beginning to end.  I find it all extremely enjoyable.  -JMJ