twofingersandathumb

What do George W. Bush, Bill Clinton and Indiana Jones have in common? Nucular.

In the latest Indiana Jones opus, the lead character utters the word nucular during a conversation. That blew the entire movie for me. Why? Because there is no such word. It’s a mispronunciation of the word nuclear. Indy would have had enough education and credentials to know better, especially in the day in which he lived.

I made an online inquiry about nucular and found that it is listed on Wikipedia, being there described as the incorrect pronunciation of nuclear and in increasing colloquial use. The mispronunciation is and has been used by intelligent and educated people; politicians, presidents and a well-known cartoon character. It is recorded as an ad hoc spelling and will ultimately end up in the dictionary and on Wikipedia as a real word. It will then be official. With such widespread misuse, the wrong word will be accepted as the right word. 

Obviously, no one has made the effort to correct those who mispronounce nuclear. Nucular is now acceptable because those who know better have done nothing.

This process of the unacceptable becoming acceptable through increasing use is also how our ethics, morals and behaviors are degraded. Where there is no correction, the unacceptable slowly and surely becomes acceptable, what is right is devalued and we don’t notice or care. When no one stands against misuse or abuse - pointing it out, providing correction and training in what is right - wrong things are perceived as being right. Evil replaces good and good is corrupted and no longer recognized or practiced.

I was chatting with a friend who is temporarily residing in another state where she is not yet familiar with the rules of the road and speed limit signs are not clearly posted. As such, she found herself pulled over by a state trooper for speeding (her first moving violation ever.)

She lamented to me about how she missed driving in California, where there is a posted highway speed and then there’s the understood policy about driving as fast as is safe given the flow of traffic. People exceed the freeway speed limits all the time in California and can go for years or for a lifetime without being cited.

I pointed out that, although people drive with the flow of traffic, any speed over the posted limits is breaking the law. If the posted limit is 65 mph and the driver is clocking 66 mph, the driver is breaking the law, technically.

My friend disagreed, saying that few people get pulled over for going 70 mph or more. “No one drives sixty-five on the freeway in California unless they’re ninety-two and a half years old or driving an eighteen-wheeler fully loaded or it’s pouring rain, and even then it’s iffy.”

I agreed with her comment, but then reiterated that the posted limit is the law, and the enforcement agencies give us a lot of grace by looking the other way most of the time. But if we’re driving faster than what’s allowed, we are breaking the law, whether or not we are caught. The citing does not mean we’ve broken the law, it’s simply one of the consequences.

Not wounded, but making sure other Marines are kept from injury, are Chaplain Nieto and members of MWSS 272-IRP. Photo courtesy of MWSS 272 (deployed), USMC. 

While our Congress and the NBC television network seem determined to undermine and emasculate our military, we the people are rising up in determined support of our troops. Not only are organizations like Rotary, AYSO and church groups shipping holiday goodies to those deployed, but there’s been a movement of individuals to send holiday greetings and statements of appreciation to our wounded.

This is a great idea, and I hope it blossoms into more than a seasonal trend. But a card addressed to “A Recovering American Soldier” cannot be delivered due to security reasons, making our good intentions go unfulfilled. Instead, here are two guaranteed options for getting our greetings and thanks delivered:

Operation Holiday Thanks

Operation Holiday Thanks is an effort by FoxNews to collect and send cards to recovering service members in military hospitals not only in the United States but also in Baghdad (according to E. D. Hill of Fox News America’s Pulse in her broadcast this morning.)

Operation PAL™ 

Another opportunity is through MarineParents.com. It’s known as Operation PAL™, and supports injured and ill Marines and sailors. Operation PAL™ has been in existence for awhile, and its web site lists specific individuals who are currently recovering from injury or illness. You address your letter to a specific individual and send it in care of Operation PAL™. A list of names is provided on the site.

Let’s keep this thanksgiving greetings campaign going all year long. Whatever holiday we celebrate during the year, it’s an occasion to remember the price of our freedoms that has been paid by our soldiers, Marines, pilots and sailors.

-Alvalyn Lundgren  

I’m a Californian. More than that, I’m a native Californian, second-generation, in fact. I have lived in southern California all my life. Every year has brought a “fire season”. That’s the way it is out here. The chaparral dries out, the Santa Ana winds blow hot and fierce, and the combination is either an enticement for people with a peculiar fire fascination or fodder for a flying spark from some non-human source.

I have been affected by this year’s firestorm in a second-hand way: I reside about 20 miles northwest of Malibu, and the smoke floats up the coastal canyons and over into my valley. My sky is reddened, ash falls and my sinuses go whankey. I have piles left from the winds to clean up.

All that said, I am amazed at the accusations that certain people have made in the last couple of days, that these fires are the fault of global warming, of human mismanagement, of overpopulation, of too much money spent on the Iraq war, or of some devious plot devised somewhere. We can’t point our finger at nature and its processes and get any satisfaction, so instead we stand on a soap box and cry “foul”.

Granted, these are the worst fires with the greatest damage I think this state – this nation – has seen. We’re in a prolonged drought. Humidity has been low. The Santa Anas were blowing at hurricane force for several days. These all came together and things ignited. Power lines snapped in the winds. Arsonists made the most of the opportunity.

I find it interesting that people stand far off and complain, accuse and politicize. Those who are not affected directly by the fires appear to be the most vocal. Some who lost a second home in Malibu are also bitter and loud. People who have no business complaining are complaining. In contrast, whole families who lost home and livelihood, pets and neighborhoods in a matter of minutes are expressing thanks and appreciation for lives for the heroic firefighters the support services and relief they are receiving. It’s more than contrast, it’s a polar opposite.

Life happens. Out here, life includes fire season. We have a lot of clean-up and restoration to do this year. We’ll accomplish it a lot faster if we stop complaining, come alongside each other and get to work.

How to throw like a guy. Don’t pass up any opportunity to play catch.
A well-developed sense of humor is invaluable for life.
Be playful; take time to have fun.
Give a lot of hugs. But be selective who you give them to.
Music…make it the background of your life.
Dogs fill out a family.
A cup of good coffee is a foundation for meaningful conversation.
Baseball is the best of all games.
Barbecue.
Listen. People appreciate it when you hear them.
Telling a story gets your point across quickly.
Apologize when you mess up.
Always accept the apology when someone messes you up.
Nothing is unforgivable.
Kids are worth all the effort you put into them.
Swedish pancakes…the ultimate breakfast.
Be neighborly.
Serve others, but also take care of yourself.
Letting the guy open the door for you honors him and allows him to honor you.
Stay in the Word and put the Word in you.
Pray until the answer comes.
You can make it through anything when you are confident that God has your best in mind.
Focus on what is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, praiseworthy and good. Put the other stuff behind you and stop looking back at it.

posted by Alvalyn Lundgren

In defense of a well-developed vocabulary…

Sometimes we get to apologize for the words we use. I am not referring to words that put others down, like calling someone stupid, foolish, unworthy or unlovable. I am referring to the big words in our vocabularies that we use easily because we know how to. Words like: magnanimous, erudite, supercilious, sagacious. Words of that ilk, which seem to make some people nervous because they don’t know their meaning and therefore they don’t know how to respond.

Sometimes we get to apologize for the fact that we read, and have read throughout our lives, and have allowed our imaginations to develop through the turn of words rather than flatten through the turn of a television knob. (Yes, I grew up the in era of knobs instead of buttons and click-wheels.)

Reasonable thought is developed through effort. Our minds are transformed by tackling the big words and mastering them; by reading and re-reading a passage until a concept becomes concrete or by following the layers of a past-century novel deemed too boring and too intricate for most. Or by simply looking up an unknown word in a dictionary and getting to know it.

If we use the occasional four-syllable word in the course of casual conversation, it’s not meant as a put down. We’re simply using our abilities and resources. Words are power. Others will take offense and often attack us (with words) when they believe they’re in the weaker position. We find we’re criticized—even ostracized—as being puffed up, haughty or stuck-up. However, we stand up to scrutiny because we can support our arguments with ideas that are often best expressed in multi-syllable words. We don’t have to hide behind emotional outbursts. We do not have to attack a person’s character in order to prevail in a discussion or to simply communicate an idea.

Ideas are formed through words. Beliefs are expressed in words. Faith is built through words. Words cause us to act. Words persuade. Thoughts, imaginings and convictions cannot be easily dissolved by undeveloped opinion and a banal vocabulary. Words are powerful things. The more you have of them, the more equipped you are.

So if any words used in these comments are offensive to you, please accept my apology. I’m only writing about what I know.

posted by Alvalyn Lundgren

Dr. Jerry Falwell, pastor, educator and leader, died this morning. Evidently his work here on earth is finished and so God took him home. He was 73 years old.

He was the founder of Liberty University in Virginia and the outspoken leader of the Moral Majority and Christian Conservatism in the ’80s and early 90s. He was a friend of presidents. No matter what people thought of him, several things can be rightly said and agreed upon about him:

He was passionate about what he believed, and did not compromise on those beliefs. As such, he was often labeled “intolerant” by those who believe we should be tolerant of everything.

He was consistent. We knew what to expect from him. He was a person of integrity.

He was influential for good. He made a difference in the lives of many people.

He bore up under ongoing ridicule from those who opposed him or wrote him off as a fanatic unworthy of being heard. He did not give up, but kept going. He was dedicated.

He responded to his critics with respect, and did not back down from his belief that what God says is true. He based his life work on that foundation. He did not ridicule those who disagreed with him.

When he made mistakes, he took responsibility for them. He did not hide or make excuses for himself, nor did he blame others for them.

He believed in goodness and in truth. He believed that certain things were right and a lot of things weren’t, and that human at any stage is valueable and worth fighting for.

He smiled a lot. A dour countenance was not his way, and he was definitely not an angry man. He did not yell or shout; he was quiet and firm.

With his death occurring only a few months after the death of Anna Nicole Smith, I cannot help making a comparison between the two: how they lived, their impact, and how they look from behind.

What did Smith contribute to the rest of us? What impact and influence did she have on the lives of others? How did she fill in the gap between the date of her birth and the date of her death? What did she believe? Did she help anyone become a better person? Did she stand for anything? We are fascinated by her life and more so by her death and the subsequent sparring that occurred because of it, but why? What did she do that was so impressive? Why did we honor her which so much notice? I don’t get it.

Falwell’s death is spoken of by reporters today in hushed tones. There is a quiet respect and admiration as the details of his death are given. There is no frenzy. From FoxNews to CNN there appears to be agreement across the board that this was a man of substance and influence. Why else would he have been interviewed only last week by CNN for his opinions on partial birth abortion, traditional families and God? It is clear that even the opposition respected his quiet confidence.

See you later, Jerry. I did not know you here on earth, but I look forward to catching up with you when I get to where you are.

Photo of Jerry Falwell courtesy of Jerry Falwell Ministries

In our fashion-forward era, we can measure people by their clothing, money, popularity, what they can get away with, etc. We choose our clothing and accessories very carefully so as to make just the right impression. We want make sure we’re remembered well and so that we’ll be welcomed again.

When we get dressed each day, we should begin not with the visible apparel but with what is unseen: our behaviors, attitudes and character. These are what make a truly lasting impression on people. We change our clothes at least once a day. We can’t change our character that easily.

What we leave behind in terms of how we handle the pressures, problems and stresses of life is telling. We can hide our character flaws for a little while, until we are put under pressure. It’s like when metal is heated to its melting point and the dross (the impurities) rise to the surface and are easily seen. It is then that our real character emerges and impresses people all around us. If our behavior drops like boulders onto people, we walk away leaving them broken, bruised, disappointed and wondering. Trust is broken. Relationship is compromised. It will take a lot of work to heal and mend, if that is even possible. But if we instead bear our circumstances with quiet confidence and gentleness, relationship builds. We will look really good from behind as people watch us go.

Are people glad to see us leave? Or are they glad we were there?

My daughter, a lance corporal in the US Marine Corps, is going to Iraq while all her friends are going to the mall. The significance of this divergence is not lost on her, nor on me, nor on any of those who are going with her.

Our lives are shaped by the choices we make. My daughter has made a difficult choice, has taken the harder road and because of it stands on higher ground. She does not belong to herself anymore; instead, she is government property, and lives and moves at its beck and call. She has chosen to give up her rights and to lay her life down for those friends who are headed for the mall. When she returns, how will she compare to them? How will their lives shape up compared to hers? How will they shape the lives of others? How will she? Which of them will respect freedom and understand its privilege and its price as she will? Which of them will appreciate service and sacrifice, and know satisfaction?

Her friends don’t get it. I observe them and it’s obvious that they don’t. They don’t understand that there is more to life than the abundance of things and the number of tunes one carries on his iPod. They don’t understand that we are meant for so much more than consuming stuff. They don’t understand that even the opportunity to have an abundance of things is worth fighting for and even dying for.

I am pleased with my daughter and the choices she has made. She’s given up her life, at least for the moment, so that her friends can go on enjoying theirs. They’re worth it to her.

I hope eventually they’ll get it.