Upstander Reflections

One of my favorite parts of The Wizard of Oz is when the ragtag group of travelers arrive in the Emerald City. The Wizard himself lives there so the place is well fortified and seems like a sort of utopia. The weary travelers get all cleaned up and treated like royalty.      Dorothy, enjoying some pampering from the good people of The Emerald City. Source However, it doesn’t take long for Dorothy and company to figure out that the whole place is a sham. They follow the “wizard’s” command and get the witch’s broom, but he can’t fulfill his end of the bargain. “Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain!” That’s how I felt last week as the G20 summit was transpiring. This is a yearly meeting when the 19 wealthiest countries and the European Union get together to discuss “important” matters. There were protests. There are always protests. There were photo opts. There are always photo opts. This year the big hype was around the new American preside...

It’s been 241 years since our Founding Fathers got together and drafted the Declaration of Independence. This year, I decided I would go back and actually read it. The only line I remember learning about what this one:    We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. Here is a link to the online version I read if you want to give it a read. The Declaration of Independence It is a well written document and I’m it sure can be interpreted in many ways, but this is what I got from it: There are natural rights that all people should be granted (see above). It is the government’s job to protect those rights.   If the government does not protect those rights, then it is the right of the people to dissolve the government.   The king of Great Britain has mistreated us. Here is the long li...

School's out for me and that means it’s “project season.” The first project of this summer is a swingset. Between our house and our two next door neighbors, there are eight kids under nine. Ages: 9, 8, 7, 6, 4, 3, 2 and 6 months. Wanna come over...?    The six oldest. From left:   Leah, Sadie, Maddie, Finn, Katie, Nate Money is tight, but Maureen and I figured a swingset would be the best place to put $500. Now, If you don’t know anything about swingsets, like us, you might think that $500 would get you a pretty decent swingset. Not true. A good swing set can run into the thousands. The ones available for around $500 would be destroyed by the kids in a matter of weeks. Enter “project season.” We found one of those “expensive” swingsets on Craigslist for $200. The problem is, it’s over 10 years old, and is in someone else's lawn an hour into the suburbs. Now we just need to get a truck, disassemble it, transport it, sand it, stain it and reassemble it. It’...

Whatever words we utter should be chosen with care, for people will hear them and be influenced by them for good or ill. -Buddha I am a firm believer of the saying, “actions speak louder than words.” In my home, community, and work life I try my best to be a good example that others can follow. I believe that this is the most effective way to lead and influence others. This week has reminded that, when it comes to leading by example, words matter . I would argue that in this digital age, they matter more than they used it. On Wednesday, Thomas Hodgkinson found it necessary to open fire as Republican lawmakers were practicing for a bipartisan charity baseball game. He seriously wounded Republican Senator Steve Scalise and several others before he was killed by Capitol Police, who thank God were there as part of a security detail. Why would a 66 year old man from Illinois travel to DC to kill lawmakers? This is a question that everyone in this country needs to ...