Chris Explains the Facts of Life

05/07/2019 by Pat Shiplett 3 Comments

The congregation understands that children can’t be totally sealed off a carnal world.Because it was all new to the preteens, they were encouraged to submit anonymous questions about sexuality, reproduction, and rumors they had heard but weren’t totally sure of.

When the congregation asked for volunteers to teach the workshop, Chris Walker stepped forward. He and a woman who is a career educator would present the facts of life to the ten, eleven and twelve-year old boys and girls.

The connection between sexuality and world religions goes back to the commandment in the Book of Genesis to “be fruitful and multiply.” We’ve been hardwired (and plagued) with relentless sexual impulses to meet that responsibility.

Genesis goes on to tell us that humans became aware of their nakedness and felt the need to cover themselves.

Religions proceeded to restrict sex to marriage between a man and a woman — for the sole purpose of procreation. Of course those elaborate taboos made hanky all the more panky.

The workshop Chris taught is based on the belief that children can’t be totally sealed off from the world and need to be informed to navigate it. Ethics and consent were core teachings of the curriculum. Abstinence was encouraged as a right, responsible choice during the teen years.

Ministers and members of the Lake Street Church worship together regardless of sexual identity. Same-sex marriages are celebrated. Judge not lest ye be judged.

Chris discovered the adolescents to be as innocent about matters sexual as he had once been. There were moments of embarrassment, when disbelief flashed across their faces. They giggled when first hearing terms like scrotum, vagina, nipple, ejaculation, etc.

The kids weren’t always thrilled to be there. But they would return home savvier about human sexuality; armed with new, dangerous-sounding words they could throw around at the dinner table. They had earned that right.

Donald Trump’s Black Eye

04/29/2019 by Pat Shiplett 2 Comments

No matter how guilty of obstruction of justice Donald Trump may be, Robert Mueller did not have the authority to indict him.

His hands were by tied by Trump Justice Department policy and by the president’s handpicked attorney general bent on protecting him.

Mueller said he would have declared the president innocent of obstructing justice if he had confidence that was true — but he didn’t reach that judgment. The special counsel did not exonerate the president. Far from it.

In fact, given what he knows, Robert Mueller made a point of suggesting that Donald Trump can be impeached by Congress now, or criminally indicted the minute he leaves office.

Meet David Compton

04/23/2019 by Pat Shiplett 2 Comments

An achievement is measured by the distance between a challenge and the resources available to overcome it. David Compton was an architectural draftsman, capable, well-employed. It was linear, straight-forward work perfect for a person who needs to shut out the chaos around him and focus on the task at hand. He delivered a product he was proud of.

But his industry went digital, and with every architectural firm he called, it became clear his livelihood had vanished. Loss of steady work combined with the ins-and-outs of existence to take its toll.

People and organizations came to David’s aid. He has lived in public housing and at a YMCA. He currently receives Social Security Disability Insurance benefits. The C4 Centers facilitate his medications, offer group therapy sessions and have helped him find employment. He takes none of this for granted.

David was raised as a Jehovah’s Witness but was recently confirmed as an Episcopalian. His faith provides a foundation for hope. The more he has been tested the more he believes that the unwritten Eleventh Commandment is to never give up.

David now lives independently in a place of his own. He has a checking account, a credit card and a car he drives to work. He has five newspapers delivered each day. “They help get me out of myself.” he explains.

A charming man, a man perfectly suited to provide customer service at a nearby grocery store, David’s job definition requires attention to detail, precise follow through and doing things on a timely basis. He goes out of his way to connect with his customers (he recognized me from the coffee shop and we struck up a friendship).

David, like so many others who achieve success in their particular fields, is modest about his latest accomplishments.

Mexican Billboard

04/14/2019 by Pat Shiplett Leave a Comment

Fear is not a policy.

Hate is not a strategy.

Attacking the character and the sincerity of people fleeing violence and poverty will not secure our borders.

For two years President Trump, along with a Republican House and Senate, did nothing, nada. The result has been an unprecedented spike in migrant-family crossings.

Instead of workable solutions, Donald Trump resorts to bigotry and lies; dehumanizing the ninety million neighbors with whom we share a 1,954 mile border and who constitute our third largest trading partner.

One of six American families is Hispanic or Latino. They contribute, they serve. The crime rate among immigrants remains lower than the U.S. at large – homegrown supremacists are a more immediate threat.

We teach that the Creator endowed us with uncommon virtues as the source of our ‘American Exceptionalism.’ Reagan called America the shining city on the hill. Lincoln called it the last best hope of earth.

When our children hear politicians vilify Mexicans, Guatemalans, Nicaraguans and Hondurans as a group — pimping hysteria to win elections — they are learning the opposite lesson.

Warn your children about Donald Trump.

Laura And Her Lists

04/04/2019 by Pat Shiplett 1 Comment

Laura becomes physically uneasy if something causes her to miss even a single day. It has been an important part of her daily life, weekends and vacations included, for as long as she can remember.

Nothing is quite right until she stops and sets aside a moment to draw up her to-do list.

There are routine chores, ongoing projects broken down into manageable steps, as well as activities that promise pleasure and enrichment.

Some items get carried over from one day’s list to the next. When an entry is finally retired Laura goes back and crosses it off from that day’s list and all the earlier ones as well. Crossing off a unpleasant task is especially gratifying because now it is behind you and you’ve proven, once again, exactly what you’re made of.

Laura Dell keeps her lists organized just so. She staples her yellow legal-pad pages together at the end of the month and stores them chronologically in marked boxes.

Making a list sparks ideas and connections. Chance entries take on a life of their own. Penicillin must have on Fleming’s to-do list.

Laura’s mother impressed on her that time is not to be wasted, it’s not replaceable, and that you’ll need it if you mean to accomplish anything in life.

If her habit seems like a compulsion, it’s one that has served her well. She is a organization-development consultant whose billable hours are the basis of her income. As a divorced working woman who raised three children, survival has always depended of juggling demands.

Laura suspects that her obsession may have at times affected her physical well-being. To this day she delights in telling that when her children were young, they’d find her list and scribble ‘go to the bathroom’ as something she should consider doing from time to time.