Category: Uncategorized
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One-Time Gifts
Gifts come in many forms and so generosity is measured on more than the scales of money and wealth. When I present my offerings at the Altar, it is in form of legal currency – cash, check, credit card. The time I spend caring for family members, friends, and neighbors, volunteering at the food panty etc. are gifts that do not get acknowledged by the church “Counters.” These precious gifts are not deductible, and as such, in my mind, do not factor into my giving equation. Sad, because these types of gifts often bring me the most joy and allow…
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Reflections on Giving
A good barometer of a healthy or unhealthy church is our use of and relationship with money. That being said, I encourage church leadership (and laity) to read Clif Christopher’s book “Rich Church, Poor Church”. Money, it appears, is not the problem. During Lent, I think it is appropriate to include our personal relationship with money in the self-examination process. One of the perspectives that Clif Christopher provides is the distinction between having a church centered mindset versus a Christ centered mindset. When I give to my church, I am giving to benefit me and my community of faith; and…
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Setting Down and Picking Up
Have you ever stopped into the grocery store for just a couple of items and instead came out with a couple bags full? I walked right past the hand baskets because I did not need one – right. By the time I got through I found myself setting down what was in my arms so that I could pick up something else. During Lent I am reminded that Jesus said if I want to follow Him, I have to deny myself pick up my cross daily. Before I pick up my cross, I have to empty my hands, just like…
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Memorized by Heart
Those of us from an older generation remember the task of memorizing something by heart, a prayer, a passage of Scripture, even the Preamble to the Constitution. Memorizing by heart means that I can recall my favorite scripture without thinking. It arises within me like a well-known song or hymn. Head memorization, however, is different. I use associations to recall a password, or even someone’s name. I have to stop and think. The heart is where the holy and sacred reside. It is where we encounter the mystery of Communion and where God dwells. Theology, the study of God, is…
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Of Lent and Ukraine
Today countless Christians will receive ashes on their foreheads to remind them that from dust they came and to dust they will return. For the next 40 days spiritual exercises will be observed throughout the Christian community. Prayer, Fasting and Alms Giving. A trinity to draw us closer to the Trinity. If I ever needed to draw closer to God, it is now. Putin’s war on Ukraine is pure darkness, casting a shadow on the free world. The darkness of Marx, Lenin, and Putin is an alternate trinity, a trinity of death. This darkness originated from the denial of God,…
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Lessons from a Gas Fired Boiler
As I write this, my 40-year-old gas fired boiler is being replaced with a high efficiency boiler that also replaces my 50-gallon hot water tank. Mass Save and the gas company offered a great rebate deal and a zero-interest loan to pay for the upgrade. The old boiler was working fine, but everything has a shelf life. It did not make sense to wait until the old boiler died before replacing it. Doing it now gave me time to do my homework and feel comfortable with our purchase. I didn’t want to wait for Murphy’s Law to kick in, as…
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$57 Billion
It is curious that while we live within a capitalist economic system, most public schools offer no courses in economics and personal finance. It could be true that ignorance is bliss in politics and sausage making, but in finance, it is deadly. When you do not know how wealth is created you could be led to believe that wealth is something that only belongs to the privileged. Those who do not know or understand how to participate in owning corporations and how to lend money to companies, governments, and banks are disadvantaged. Just knowing that through life insurance an estate…
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It Makes a World of Difference
Sometimes you hear a phrase, and it sticks with you. My wife Carol commented on the meaning of it “makes a world of difference” and it got me thinking. I could not find the origin, but I suspect it came from a Baby Boomer. My generation stands on the shoulders of the GI generation, the builders of institutions and creators of wealth. We are inheriting that wealth. Our generation has benefited from their sacrifice and hard work, and in the depths of our being, there is a sense of awe that fills us with gratitude. It is from this deep…
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In-Vestments
In one way or another I have been in the investment field for 38 years. I remember well the October 1987 crash, the recession in the early nineties, the 2002 dot.com crash, and the wonderful 2008-9 melt down. Yet there were many years on the upside. Exuberant years – the market is “different” this time years with excess returns. Stocks, over the long-term, return about 10%, so when we string two or more years of 20% returns, old timers like me know there is something called reversion to the mean. In other words, a correction back the long-term average. Investment…
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Too Little, Too Late
The idiom “too little, too late,” is thought to have originated in the military, e.g. the battle was lost because too few troops arrived too late. During the pandemic, in many parts of the world, too few medical resources arrived too late. I remember hearing that India did not have enough oxygen. Not being prepared contributes to the too little, too late outcome. Our current supply chain problems come to mind. In business, the sales department can bring in so much new business that it overwhelms production. Without adding people and buying inventory, customers experience too little, too late. The…