Go Ahead... Pick my Nursing Home

This year I had the privilege of attending the graduation of one of my granddaughters.

The Leduc Composite High School event was held at the Jubilee Auditorium in

Edmonton.

She is the second of our granddaughters to attend Leduc Comp. and both

have graduated. Unfortunately I was unable to attend the first one.

It was quite a gala affair with the high school band in attendance, who incidentally did a

marvelous job of not only the fill music ahead of the event but also anything

that came afte r w a r d s ,excellent!!

As I am the one saddled with the task of processing the grad pictures for all the

grads in the area, Leduc, Wetaskiwin, Christ the King, Buck Lakeand Pigeon Lake

Regional High School, I sometimes become a bit depressed at the thought that all

these what appear to be nothing more than kids, will soon be running the country and maybe even working at the very nursing home I may soon be residing in. Some of them don’t even look

old enough to be out of grade school.

As the evening progressed, my mind was soon changed. These are bright and

outgoing young adults with new ideas and I must say they seem

to have a greater sense of who they are and the direction theyare headed in than I had at that

young age. When I was a young man, I was unable to express myself in public. These young

men and women are confidently able to step up to the podium and

speak their minds in an intelligent manner. They are also able to sing and play instruments.

They are composers, speakers, singers and mathematicians. They are compassionate not only

about the world around them but of the new ideas that they bring to the table. They are not afraid to speak their minds on any subject. They do not back away from confrontation and believe in a fair exchange of ideas with others. I believe we will be in good hands.

I was also impressed by the inclusion of prayer, not to some indefinable higher power,

but to God. Not only the student body gave thanks but the teachers aswell.

In this day and age, it is not something we have come to expect.

They gave thanks for their parents, their teachers and administrators

and the fact that they live in one of the most fantastic countries in the

world where they have the opportunity to go to school and have the

kind of educations that many in this world will never have. They are truly

a blessed and privileged generation.

After the ceremonies were over and I witnessed the large crowd of

grads throwing their mortar boards high in the air in celebration,

I felt a rather large lump form in my throat. I was proud of my granddaughter

and her circle of friends. I’m sure that at least this small part of the world will be in

better condition than what they found it in.

Kudos to the teachers and to the various schools in the area. I am sure that the feelings

that I experienced during this particular ceremony was repeated many, many times all

over the counties and cities of Leduc and Wetaskiwin. I am sure large, unmanageable lumps

formed in many throats as mothers, fathers, brothers sisters, uncles and aunts watched in pride

as these young men and women all through this area graduated into the next phase of their

young lives to take their places among us as responsible citizens.

Congratulations from all of us here at the Flyer. We are proud of all of you!!

I don’t feel so bad about that nursing home thing now.

Do We Have Value?

Do We Have Value?

Every time I meet someone on the street, they ask me the same question, how come you don’t write anymore, have you retired? The answer is no, I haven’t retired, I have just pulled back somewhat. I do plan to retire soon but the economy has forced Dian and I to stick around for a little while longer. Having said that I also need to say that one of the main reason’s I have cut back on my editorials is the fact that I really hate being beat-up over them. I’m a real shoot-from-the-hip kind of guy and I believe things should be a certain way and I’m not afraid to tell anyone. As my grandchildren will attest, “grandpa knows it all and has plenty of time to tell everyone about it”. Having said that, I have come to discover a few hard and fast facts. Truth is truth and nothing about that will ever change. Unlike lies, the truth can’t be twisted, bent or stretched in any way. No matter what you do or say, truth will always be truth.

We can tell ourselves that we can lie a little, I mean who hasn’t told a little white lie here and there. We can try to tell ourselves that whatever our spouse doesn’t know won’t hurt them. We can convince ourselves that stealing from a large corporation isn’t really stealing at all, after all we are just taking back what is rightfully ours, I mean they have certainly taken enough from us over the years. We can tell ourselves that abortion is okay, after all babies that small really aren’t persons so it isn’t murder. We can tell ourselves that homosexuality is normal, and what’s wrong with being normal? Therefore why not teach our children that it’s okay to experiment with their sexuality? We can have many out-of-wedlock relationships, I mean really, who does it hurt?

We live our lives to the fullest and enjoy everything that God has put on this earth and never worry about the consequences of our actions. We find it more convenient to live outside of the perceived restrictions God’s truths have place on us. I mean it’s really hard to enjoy life to the max with all the those rules.

The problem is, our bodies and our spirits are designed for a specific purpose and if we live outside of that purpose, there are consequences. If we drink to much and become alcoholics, our body suffers. If we smoke, our lungs suffer, if we over eat, we become obese and our muscles and organs suffer. We are beautifully made but if we do things we are not designed for, we suffer. But we have free will to do whatever we want to do, but the unchanged truth still remains, we can’t live in this manner without consequence. It all comes down to value. Do you value yourself? Do others value you? Do you actually have any value at all?

Existentialist Jean-Paul Sartre wrote, “The existentialist finds it extremely embarrassing that God does not exist, for there disappears with Him all possibility of finding values in an intelligible heaven.. Everything is indeed permitted if God does not exist, and man is in consequence forlorn, for he cannot find anything to depend on within or without himself.”

As stated in the book by Max Lucado entitled; No Wonder They Call Him Savior, Lucado writes. If man has no destiny, the next logical step is that man has no value. If man has no future, he isn’t worth much. He is worth, in fact about as much as a tree or a rock. There is no reason to be here, therefore, there is no value. Our system goes haywire. We feel useless and worthless. We create false value systems. We say that you are valuable if you are pretty or can slam dunk a basketball or snag a pop fly. Perhaps if you have a PHD behind your name or drive an expensive foreign car. Value is now measured by two criteria, appearance and performance. Self worth is measured by accomplishment.

The fact of the matter is, If there is no God then what is the point of our existence, we would be like animals living only to die with no other purpose than to eat, sleep, reproduce and defecate. A bleak existence to be sure.

So why don’t I write more frequently? Truth is, no one wants to be told that the things they are doing are wrong or outside of God’s purpose, especially by me. They want to believe that their particular version of the truth is the real truth. They feel justified in the way they live their lives. No one can tell them how to live, after all we live in a society where if it feels good. We have been told that this is all there is, why live for anything other than today.

When we live in the truth we have worth not only because we exist but because we have been created in the image of the creator and He values us.

I will be trying to write more in future editions. but I find that I am more critical than I should be. I should try to love more and criticize less. We should not have to beat truth down anyone’s throat, after all it doesn’t change a thing. Trying to live by example would be the right way to teach and to instruct but Christ did that and they crucified Him for it. Truth is I’m not anywhere near that good, so what would they do to me?

Ted Okkerse

I’m all choked up.. Uh, Ha!

I have heard several comments during these two weeks about the 2010 Olympics. Comments such as “What a colossal waste of money”, “Why didn’t they use the money to help the homeless?”, “Why couldn’t the money have been used for infrastructure?”
I suppose these are all legitimate questions, but would the money really be better spent on such projects or are the Olympics really worth the money.  The Olympic experience is in itself one of the most amazing events for getting the country, if not the world, to pull together in a way almost no other event could.
I am not a sports fan in any way, shape or form, but even I get caught up in the hype and excitement of the games. I even got emotional during the opening ceremonies. I found myself getting all choked up when I saw all those great Canadians making their way into B.C. Place. Anne Murray, Donald Sutherland, Wayne Gretzky, Rick Hansen, Nancy Greene-Raine, Terry Fox’s mom, Betty Fox,  Michaelle Jean, and our Prime Minister, Stephen Harper. Why I even got all teary eyed when K.D. Lang sang her number, she was fabulous.
What does patriotism cost? What is it worth? Actually many governments have tried to buy it but it can’t be bought because it’s priceless, it can’t be forced it can only be fostered. But when you have it, the country thrives because it’s people are proud to be citizens.
What does it mean to be a Canadian? Is it the beer we drink? Is it hockey, or the fact that we say Eh and some of us wear toques? No! It’s none of those things. It’s the fact that we are a unique blend of cultures, a tolerant mix that have over time become known as a standout country on the world stage. Always ready to help, always ready to stand on guard not only for our own country but also for the rights of other countries. Being Canadian is an experience that other countries can only dream of. In the words of American gold medalist Shani Davis during an interview after his speed skating win, he found it astounding that Canadians are so patriotic, even more so than Americans. We are not usually chest thumpers or flag wavers, but our patriotism runs deep and like our culture and our nature, it is understated, but don't ever think that our pride in our country isn’t deep and ingrained. True Patriot Love is not just part of a song, it’s defines who we are and how we live.
As for the Olympics, it makes me even more proud to be a part of such a great country. Yes it costs a lot of money to host such an event, but the benefits are huge. The infrastructure that was put in place will last for generations to come.
As it was in Edmonton when this city hosted the Commonwealth Games in 1978. The Kinsmen Aquatic Center was added to the Kinsmen Field House to host those games. Commonwealth Stadium also built for the Commonwealth Games, has been home to the Edmonton Eskimos for over three decades. So it was in Calgary.  Because of the winter Olympics that were held there, they now have a world class winter playground just on the outskirts of the city.
So it will be in Vancouver.
Do you believe? I do. Anything that can make someone like me actually sit down and watch 10 ends of curling which to me runs a close second to a hot game of Pick-up-Sticks as the most boring game on the planet, is just fine with me.
   I may be a hoser, but I love the place. Go Canada!!    

Thanks for the Fleas

Lately I have been getting a bit despondent about not only the direction of my personal life, but also my business life.

Although I’m normally a very optimistic person, of late I am becoming more and more critical of others and also more negative. I have even come to the point where I have actually begun to question God. Not the fact that He exists, but the things, at least in our estimation, He allows to occur.  I see all kinds of suffering around me. I see young single moms with little or no support, I see people living on the streets and in below standard housing. I see those who can barely afford the bare necessities of life and can’t even afford to clothe themselves properly and there are those who have so much, it would take a lifetime simply to count it. More and more we see lower income folks unable to afford even the very basics of life.

It makes one wonder why and leads us to question why God would allow these things to happen to His creation.

It’s impossible for us to understand what God is up to. The truth be known, we don’t even understand what we ourselves are up to. We are motivated by self and nothing else. Our own gratification is the only thing that concerns us. If we don’t have what we consider enough of whatever we consider important to us, we are unhappy. Basically our life motivations are pretty well the same as those of a child. If we have what we want, we are happy, if not we are sad. If someone else has to suffer to make us happy, so be it.

No human knows what God is up to but we do know that His ways are not our ways and His motives are not our motives. What we are made aware of through His teachings is the fact that He is wholly motivated by love. His ways are to keep us out of harm and for our own good, but He has given us free will and that constantly gets in the way. Most of us understand that we grow the most as individuals in the tough times. True enough the tough times are far from pleasant, but the easy times offer nothing in the way of emotional growth and spiritual learning. Although tough times are hard to swallow, if we pay attention there is always a lesson to be learned.

Dian and the kids and I went to listen to Pastor Mark Hughs from the Church of the Rock in Winnipeg at the Jubilee Auditorium on Saturday and his sermon touched a cord in me. He spoke on this very thing and as an illustration he used an excerpt from the book, The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom. In her book,  Ten Boom tells about an incident that taught her the principle of giving thanks in all things.

It was during World War II. Corrie and her sister, Betsy, had been harboring Jewish people in their home, so they were arrested and imprisoned at Ravensbruck Prison Camp. The barrack they were in was extremely crowded and infested with fleas. One morning they read in their tattered Bible from 1 Thessalonians  (Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus). Betsy said, "Corrie, we've got to give thanks for this barracks and even for these fleas." Corrie replied, "No way am I going to thank God for fleas." But Betsy was persuasive, and they did thank God not only for the horrible conditions they had to endure,  but even for the fleas. During the months that followed, they discovered that their barrack was left relatively free of sexual molestation by the Germans and they were even left alone enough to be able to do Bible study, talk openly, and even pray in the barracks. It was their only place of refuge. Several months later they learned that the reason the guards never entered their barracks was because of those blasted fleas. The other barracks were not infested with fleas and they were not as fortunate.

My point is that although we don’t have a clue what God is up to and why He is putting us through trying times, He has His reasons and it will come to our good. So remember to thank Him, not only for the good stuff, but also for the fleas.

KNOWING WHERE WE’RE FROM IS THE FIRST STEP ON THE ROAD HOME

Just before this Christmas season, I started reading the first volume of the Christian History Project book, “The Veil is Torn”. The project to date consists of 7 beautifully bound books with a final five to be published by sometime in 2010. The project lays out the entire history of Christianity in an easy to understand format including beautiful illustrations and side notes that are easy to understand even for the layperson. I have decided to mention these books at this time because the plight of christianity hangs heaviest on my heart during the Christmas season. Those wanting to learn where we came from and how some of our most cherished institutions came to be would do well to read these volumes. The following is a foreword written by Ted Byfield.

Foreword to The Veil Is Torn
“The most dangerous people, said the twentieth-century Christian essayist G.K. Chesterton, are those who have been cut off from their cultural roots. Had he lived long enough, he would have seen his observation hideously fulfilled. At the time of his death in 1936, Germany, one of the greatest of the Christian nations, had been amputated from its Christian origins and was embracing instead wild doctrines founded on sheer nonsense. Thus deluded, they set off the world’s worst-ever war. People who don’t believe in something, Chesterton also said, can be persuaded to believe in anything. How right he was. Today, we are just such a people. That America, indeed the whole western world, is being wrenched away from its cultural origins has become a self-evident fact. For half a century, our literature, our popular music and drama, the visual arts, Hollywood and much of the film industry have been disseminating a genre of nihilism which debases almost every form of human virtue and exalts sensual gratification beyond anything the senses could possibly fulfill. Meanwhile, the liberal arts faculties of our universities work zealously to cut off the branch they are sitting on, diligently destroying the very foundations upon which the whole concept of higher education rests. The result of all this is a culturally dispossessed people, the very situation in which Chesterton saw such mortal danger. What are our foundations? Though it has of late become intellectually unfashionable to even think it, let alone say it, the fact is that our cultural origins are almost wholly Christian. Our founding educational institutions, our medical system, our commitment to the care of the aged and infirm, our concept of individual rights and responsibilities all came to us through Christianity. Our best literature, our most enduring music, our finest sculptural masterpieces and many of the greatest paintings in every age are those of professed and dedicated Christians. Finally our concept of democracy came to us from the Greeks through Christianity. Is it by mere coincidence that all those nations that have best instituted and preserved democratic government emerged from Christian origins? I don’t think so. The purpose of this series is to describe these foundations, to say who we are and how we got here. That is, to establish our real roots. It has been a long journey, two thousand years, and neither it nor we have been uniformly benevolent. But this is our past, this our family, and knowing who it is and what it has done is the first step in finding our way home.

Ted Byfield”

(used by permission)

These words, written by one of Alberta’s most outspoken publicists Ted Byfield, ring even truer at the advent of this holiday season. A season when Albertans, Canadians and for that matter most of the western world, flock to mega malls and box stores by the millions to fulfill thier jaded Christmas fantasies with things they can’t afford and don’t need. With few exceptions most have forgotten why we celebrate Christmas and have gone so far as to totally replace the name of Christ himself with an X in an effort to eliminate any reference to our Christian roots. We are teaching our children that things of the material world rather than spiritual fulfillment will bring happiness and success to thier lives. But as with all material goods, emptiness soon follows and the void has to be filled over and over again. We have rushed headlong into the abyss of the material world and forsaken our very history. We have forgotten why we are here and what our real purpose is. God’s only Son laid down His life to pay for our transgressions and paved the narrow road to eternal life with His own blood. This is not a celebration of material goods, this is the celebration of the birth of Christ. He is our only fulfillment, He is all we need.

Ted Okkerse

Why let sleeping dog lie when it's so much fun poking them?

I observed with horror the events surrounding the “Tiger” incident this last week. I am not mortified by the actions of Mr. Woods but of the media coverage and the reaction of the general public. I find it appalling that three major newspapers in Edmonton, and I’m sure every large paper in every large centre in North America, featured the same hashed and re-hashed information about the man, including private emails, phone records, arguments with his spouse right down to the size and type of the golf club she used to whack his car. How low have we sunk as a society when the most important item on the front of our most prestigious newspapers, TV news reports and radio talk shows in the country have nothing better to report than the very private trials and tribulations of a so-called celebrity. It seems that we as a society some how feel violated because someone we had looked up to because he knows how to swing a golf club has fallen from the high pedestal we have placed him on. My goodness, is that the best we have to offer? Who the heck are we that we expect that this man, a golfer, owes us an explanation and a public apology for transgressions he perpetrated against his own family? It must be that it makes us all feel better about the skeletons in our own closets when we see others fail. I listened to a talk show the day that the story broke. People who called in where absolutely incensed that he would do such a thing, after all he seemed like such a nice guy. What makes them think that he is such a nice guy, they don’t even know him. They have no more of an idea of what he’s like than he knows what we are like. The man you see on TV and in magazines is a fabrication of the media and that is all. The real issues of the day seem to be all but forgotten. Take the so-called “Climate Gate” issue for instance. It is being largely ignored by the main-stream media. Apparently they find the lie too big to be true. Some so-called right wing newspapers are reporting on it, but because they are considered right wing they apparently have no clout or credibility with the main stream (small l) liberal world view regurgitated over and over again by larger, more influential media outlets. The fact that many so-called top climate scientists have been caught in bold faced manipulation of the facts doesn’t seem to be a big thing. As a matter of fact there are those who seem to think that a few lies here and there will not make any difference. There are many reputable scientists that still agree that the climate change models presented conclude that we are doomed to a fate worse than death. The only problem is that most of the skewed findings have been used world wide, even by honest researchers, putting into question the whole climate change model presented by even honest climatologists. Maybe I have my priorities backwards folks, but when will the scientists that lied and manipulated this data present us with an apology? When will they come forward and admit that they have skewed information in an effort to mislead the public. This is not a sports figure. These are people who are using public research funding, our tax dollars. And they are deliberately lying to divert more dollars from us, the taxpayer, into the coffers of phoney researchers in an effort to perpetuate the lie. Having said all that, I firmly believe that we are responsible for our environment. We have dominion over the earth and it’s flora and fauna, however that doesn’t give us the right to abuse that power. As stewards of the earth, we have a responsibility to conduct ourselves in such a way as to protect what we have been given dominion over and change is necesary and will will come. As for Tiger, leave the guy alone. If there is an apology forthcoming, it should be to his children and his wife. We have no right to expect anything from him except to sink that long putt and that’s all.By the way, our editor Brian Hahn promised to leave the Climate debate alone, but I didn’t.

Good Things Do Happen

Whenever we read the news it seems that for the best part we tend to focus on the bad rather than the good. I guess good just isn’t sensational enough. Especially when it comes to kids, adults seem to be under the impression that they’re all bad or at least heading that way. But you know what? They’re not. As a matter of fact I think  most kids are great. It’s just that the bad ones just stick out like sore thumbs.

This Halloween evening, the night of all nights when one would expect that if kids were going to do bad things, that would be the one night where bad would be the norm. Saturday evening (Halloween) Dian and I were not able to be home and we were in a bit of a pickle as to what to do about the dozens of kids, young and old, that normally stop by our house for the usual supply of Halloween goodies. I decided to take a leap of faith. We had a 2.5 gallon plastic pail just over half full of candy that we were going to give out. I devised a small paper sign and taped it to the top of the pail. It read; “Please help yourself. Please don’t be greedy as there are other’s besides yourselves”. I put the pail on the front porch of the house with the lights on and left for Camrose.

Several hours later on the way home, Dian and I were speculating on what the result of our little experiment might be. At the very least we were certain that all the candy would be gone and that would be fine, after all we did buy it for the kids. I for one was sure that not only would the candy be gone, the pail would also be nowhere to be found. I mean after all, what could be better for a little hoodlum than a ton of candy in a convenient carrying case?

The truth was far more astounding than the fictional scenarios we had built up in our minds. As we drove up to the house not only was the pail still on the porch, almost half of the candy was still in the pail! They did dig through the goodies to remove all the smarties though.
It reminded me of my morning Bible reading in the book of Matthew, that I should have had more faith and that we should not be judgemental of others.

Matthew 7
Judging Others

1."Do not judge, or you too will be judged.

2. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.

3. "Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?

4. How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye?

5. You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.


Thanks to the kids that came. It was a lesson learned for me.
Ted Okkerse