Saturday, November 26, 2011
Thursday, November 24, 2011
HAPPY THANKSGIVING----2011
MAY ALMIGHTY GOD BLESS YOU AND YOUR FAMILY!
Out on the Prairie,
Glenn <><
Out on the Prairie,
Glenn <><
Saturday, November 19, 2011
Thursday, November 17, 2011
IMPORTANT Addition to my" Water Cooler Bliss" Post
I feel compelled to follow-up on my Water Cooler Bliss Post.
DISCLAIMER: The real examples were outside the realm of my pastoral duties. No Clergy-Parishioner breaches of Confidentiality have been committed.
I am not a Poor Man's Dr. Phil, although we both have the same hair style, or a licensed public counselor. My comments are Descriptive not Prescriptive. Local professionals should always be consulted to assist with marital situations.
Finally, while the thrust of my Post dealt with fidelity,it is not a commendation for spouses/children to remain in an abusive/dangerous relationship. Flee to a safe and secure facility!
Immediately seek local, competent, professional assistance!
DISCLAIMER: The real examples were outside the realm of my pastoral duties. No Clergy-Parishioner breaches of Confidentiality have been committed.
I am not a Poor Man's Dr. Phil, although we both have the same hair style, or a licensed public counselor. My comments are Descriptive not Prescriptive. Local professionals should always be consulted to assist with marital situations.
Finally, while the thrust of my Post dealt with fidelity,it is not a commendation for spouses/children to remain in an abusive/dangerous relationship. Flee to a safe and secure facility!
Immediately seek local, competent, professional assistance!
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Water Cooler Bliss
Experts on marriage generally agree that workplace romances are an increasing factor in divorce.
This fact was a topic of discussion I had with a person I have known many years. This Post is a brief summary of that discussion:
Specific cases:
1. A woman, with two teenage sons, had a well known affair with her boss. The affair was terminated when her husband was transferred to another location. She went with him, but a divorce quickly followed.
2. A woman with two teenage sons and a grade school son left her husband to marry a man who worked for her husband. They had many social contacts as a result of the work performed by her husband and her new suiter.
3. A woman with grown children carried on a long affair with a person at work. The affair terminated and the couple was reconciled and today have a strong, healthy marriage.
Please Note: While these examples all represent women, men are equally prone to toss years of marriage away for a new love located at the workplace.
My discussion simply asked the question: "Why do these things happen?"
The person with whom I aked the question had an interesting answer: "Economic independence brings with it the ability for women to make independent decisions in every area of her life---including matters of the heart."
I promptly replied,"If fidelity can be sold for a dollar, it was never worth a dime to start with!"
Upon Further Review (to borrow an NFL replay term) I later looked beyond my knee jerk response and tried to look a bit deeper. What follows is a result of that introspection:
1. An office environment shows people at their best. Clothes, manners, hair styles, and all kinds of attention getting perfumes and body sprays and after shave lotions that are guaranteed to start a sexual feeding frenzy.
Work is like an 8 hour date in your best clothes.
2. For some people getting older is a daily road trip to denial and every effort must be made to display desirability or to even pretend the clock of time can be reversed.
3. There are no children or in-laws to vie for your time and attention. This is a beautifully constructed world of well dressed and good smelling people.
4. Many people are looking for someone to confirm their "victim" status at home. There are lots of listening ears and understanding people at the workplace. "At last, someone will listen and take my side."
5. For others, a workplace romance is much easier than attempting to get counselling and strive for reconciliation. The ME generation is alive and well!
6. And for others, Lust is the same as Love. some will try Lust until Love comes along.
Many people today worry about violence by disgruntled employees. A far greater danger is for marriages to be destroyed by real or imagined affairs of the heart at the workplace.
This fact was a topic of discussion I had with a person I have known many years. This Post is a brief summary of that discussion:
Specific cases:
1. A woman, with two teenage sons, had a well known affair with her boss. The affair was terminated when her husband was transferred to another location. She went with him, but a divorce quickly followed.
2. A woman with two teenage sons and a grade school son left her husband to marry a man who worked for her husband. They had many social contacts as a result of the work performed by her husband and her new suiter.
3. A woman with grown children carried on a long affair with a person at work. The affair terminated and the couple was reconciled and today have a strong, healthy marriage.
Please Note: While these examples all represent women, men are equally prone to toss years of marriage away for a new love located at the workplace.
My discussion simply asked the question: "Why do these things happen?"
The person with whom I aked the question had an interesting answer: "Economic independence brings with it the ability for women to make independent decisions in every area of her life---including matters of the heart."
I promptly replied,"If fidelity can be sold for a dollar, it was never worth a dime to start with!"
Upon Further Review (to borrow an NFL replay term) I later looked beyond my knee jerk response and tried to look a bit deeper. What follows is a result of that introspection:
1. An office environment shows people at their best. Clothes, manners, hair styles, and all kinds of attention getting perfumes and body sprays and after shave lotions that are guaranteed to start a sexual feeding frenzy.
Work is like an 8 hour date in your best clothes.
2. For some people getting older is a daily road trip to denial and every effort must be made to display desirability or to even pretend the clock of time can be reversed.
3. There are no children or in-laws to vie for your time and attention. This is a beautifully constructed world of well dressed and good smelling people.
4. Many people are looking for someone to confirm their "victim" status at home. There are lots of listening ears and understanding people at the workplace. "At last, someone will listen and take my side."
5. For others, a workplace romance is much easier than attempting to get counselling and strive for reconciliation. The ME generation is alive and well!
6. And for others, Lust is the same as Love. some will try Lust until Love comes along.
Many people today worry about violence by disgruntled employees. A far greater danger is for marriages to be destroyed by real or imagined affairs of the heart at the workplace.
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Oklahoma: Is This A Great State Or What?
Kentucky holds the legal papers of my birth; Indiana holds my early education and coming of age memories; but it is Oklahoma that holds my heart!
In the past couple days we have had several tornadoes, severe thunderstorms, flash flooding, large hail, snow in our Panhandle, and many aftershocks to the record 5.6 magnitude earthquake experienced Saturday night. One student at a local college, he is from Georgia, said of our weather," You have Bi-Polar weather here!"
We had over 50 days of 100 degrees or higher weather this past summer, experienced the worst drought since the "Dust Bowl" days, (many ranchers had to sell their herds), had many wild fires that destroyed thousands of acres and many houses and out buildings, had the largest snowfall ever recorded in the state, and several ice storms that took out lots of power lines and closed many schools.
With wild bizarre weather like that, why would anyone voluntarily want to live here?
Just a few days in Oklahoma will provide the answer. It's the people! Oklahomans are caring, helping people. Maybe it's the shared hardships that creates such a strong bond; maybe it's still the Frontier Spirit--we are just over 100 years as a State; and maybe it's the varied topography and diverse population. Regardless, people still look you the eyes and say "Howdy". (The BBQ and Mexican food ain't bad either.) People will pray for you and with you. Faith, Family and Freedom are still prized.
I was once asked if I would ever return to Indiana or Kentucky to live? My reply: "Not unless God sends me an autographed message!"
Come experience the best kept secret in America!
In the past couple days we have had several tornadoes, severe thunderstorms, flash flooding, large hail, snow in our Panhandle, and many aftershocks to the record 5.6 magnitude earthquake experienced Saturday night. One student at a local college, he is from Georgia, said of our weather," You have Bi-Polar weather here!"
We had over 50 days of 100 degrees or higher weather this past summer, experienced the worst drought since the "Dust Bowl" days, (many ranchers had to sell their herds), had many wild fires that destroyed thousands of acres and many houses and out buildings, had the largest snowfall ever recorded in the state, and several ice storms that took out lots of power lines and closed many schools.
With wild bizarre weather like that, why would anyone voluntarily want to live here?
Just a few days in Oklahoma will provide the answer. It's the people! Oklahomans are caring, helping people. Maybe it's the shared hardships that creates such a strong bond; maybe it's still the Frontier Spirit--we are just over 100 years as a State; and maybe it's the varied topography and diverse population. Regardless, people still look you the eyes and say "Howdy". (The BBQ and Mexican food ain't bad either.) People will pray for you and with you. Faith, Family and Freedom are still prized.
I was once asked if I would ever return to Indiana or Kentucky to live? My reply: "Not unless God sends me an autographed message!"
Come experience the best kept secret in America!
Friday, November 4, 2011
ARCHIVE CLEAN UP
To save some space on the Blog, I will periodically remove some older Posts to provide greater ease of navigation and to save some space on the old hard drive. A few have just been removed.
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