A few signs that I might be getting older…

It is sometimes hard to know the thoughts and intent of others so I will try to speak only for myself in today’s post. For most of my life I have seen the world in a very consistent fashion and even though I notice the changes in my vision and my ability to do things physically, I am now starting to experience some other differences in the world around me. Not to worry, there is no pressing health issue, but there are a number of things going on around both locally and globally that give me pause for concern and frustration. I thought today would be a good time to share some of them.

Many of you may say that I am old fashioned and outdated. So be it. As I have gotten more experienced (aka-older) I have become much more comfortable in voicing my opinion more freely. In many cases I do so because people ask for my opinion. In other situations, and more increasingly because of what I feel is important, I do so to encourage change that might be of value.

Let’s look at a few things that have become like a rock in my shoe.

1. The word “sucks” has become part of the everyday vernacular-I hate this word. When something sucks it should either be a description of what a newborn does in order to gain nourishment or it might be used to describe a situation where vacuum is involved. Just about any other reference to the word “sucks” is crude and vulgar and it has no place in daily conversation, let alone in the headline of a magazine or newspaper article.

2. Body art (aka-tattoos) are out of control. I remember well seeing men with tattoos when I was growing up. Most of these men were current or former members of the armed services and most of them would freely admit that they got their tattoo after a night of uncontrolled drinking and wish they didn’t’ have it now. I have a number of younger friends (some less young) who have chosen to have a more discreet tattoo placed in an area that is not readily visible. I can handle that. The thing that catches me by surprise are those who get the full-blown body art or “sleeve” on one or both arms. While I fully support their right to have this, I find it to be more distracting and a concern for long term health issues. Tattoos are somewhat permanent and it just boggles my mind when I see what some people have done to their bodies. If you like art, but a t-shirt.

3. The statistics on marriage are alarming. Many of the societal ills that we face in our country can be easily traced back to the breakdown and the breakup of the traditional family. It concerns me that we continue to eat away at bedrock institutions like marriage when we can fully see the earlier harvests we have produced from other “replacements” for traditional marriage. Just call me old fashioned.

4. Focusing on schools to solely raise children. My wife taught in the classroom of a public school for many years, so we know this one first hand. Too many in positions of political power are trying to use the school, especially the public school, to correct issues that are broken in other parts of society. (see point 3) Until we address some of the root cause issues, the schools will continue to struggle to do enough to save and grow many of our leaders for tomorrow.

I’ll stop now. While this rant may appear to be something that is doom and gloom, I still have many reasons for optimism and hope. While I am not ecstatic about the current leadership of our country, both parties included, I do know who is ultimately in charge and because of His authority I know that we will always be heading in the right direction.

I suspect some of you will disagree with this post, some of you may be angry and hate me for my views.

I don’t hate anyone, but I do have to take time to stand up and profess what is right and what is wrong based on the values I hold most dear. Too many of us are become like a flag that will fly in whatever direction the wind blows. My flag days are over.

Love me, hate me, here I am.

Have a blessed day!