THANKSGIVING GETS NO RESPECT

 

     I have noticed one thing. For the past 5 years I have blogged the same opinion I have each year about the Thanksgiving holiday. So let me continue the same tradition! Thanksgiving is the Rodney Dangerfield of holidays. It gets no respect!! On November 1st this past year I walked into a Dollar Tree store and as soon as I entered I felt like I was in a Christmas shop! Christmas decorations everywhere!! Actually I noticed some Christmas merchandise was out a few weeks before Halloween!! That's unbelievable! It's as if we all want to rush straight for Christmas and avoid the Thanksgiving holiday. I even heard someone say "Well Thanksgiving is only one day while Christmas is an entire season!" I say "Hogwash!!"

     Please don't get me wrong. I know Christmas is fun and we all love the presents, the lights, decorating Christmas trees, watching Christmas movies and shows and singing Christmas carols. I always love watching the movie "A Christmas Story" a gazillion timeson Christmas Day. Ralphie might shoot his eye out! Thanksgiving is always overlooked. We all want to have that Christmas cheer but we don't want to give thanks. We only have one day a year to give thanks when we need to be thanking God every day for what He has provided for us. We should all thank God for the roof over our head, the food we eat, the clothes we wear, the cars we drive and the jobs we have. I say this because I realize not everyone has a roof over their head, many starve and have no food to eat, some wear raggedy clothes, drive cars that are falling apart and unemployment is on the rise. I thank God every morning even after I struggle with back pain and it hurts getting out of bed. I thank Him for giving me breath and the opportunity to serve Him for yet another day. 

     So this Thanksgiving as you sit at a nice decorated table with a delicious turkey and enough food to feed 10 armies, let's remember to give thanks to the Lord for He is good!! He really is!!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!!  

THE WINDSHIELD & THE REARVIEW MIRROR

     During most of my morning and afternoon commutes to work, I will often listen to sports radio. I remember in 1986 listening to Art Rust Jr. on WABC an AM station at night. I used to laugh at so many listeners calling in with outlandish trade propositions. "The Mets should trade Dwight Gooden to the A's for Dave Kingman!!" WHAT???  I was very happy when WFAN began a year later because it meant sports radio would now be on the radio 24/7. Fast forward 35 years later and lately their is less talk about sports and more talk about other topics. Don't get me started on that. I'll save that for another blog down the road but not today!

     Last August I was listening to an interview with the Head Coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers, Mike Tomlin. My brother Mike is a die hard Steelers fan and growing up in the 1970's he enjoyed many Super Bowl appearances and wins by his team while my team, the New York Giants were cellar dwellers missing the playoffs every year and playing lousy football. During this radio interview, Mike Tomlin gave an analogy about his team and how he was reflecting on his teams previous season in 2021. He said in a nutshell "When we look at last season, we need to look at it as we are looking in a rearview mirror in a car. When we look at this upcoming season, we need to look at it as a windshield in that same car." That is not a direct quote from him but a paraphrased version of it. What he was trying to say really inspired me. When you are driving a car and you have the windshield in front of you, you have a clear vision of what's ahead and what's in front of you. You can see all the cars ahead of you, the street signs, the traffic lights and the road ahead. Coach Tomlin was stating it is very important to always look ahead because it is much more clearer than looking back. When you are in a car, it is hard to see what is behind you. Each car has this little mirror over your windshield that is called a rearview mirror. When someone is tailgating you, it's had to see who the perpetrator is. At night all you see are two headlights. What is more annoying is when they have their high beams on!! Each car has what is called a blind spot. I still laugh whenever I watch the movie "Back to the Future" when Biff tells George McFly, "I can't believe you'd loan me your car without telling me it had a blind spot. I could have been killed!" Every car has a blind spot and yes, there are times you want to merge onto a major highway and you might almost hit another car because you didn't see them moving up in their lane. Looking back in life should be just like that tiny rearview mirror. What is behind us or in the past is over with and done. It's time to look ahead.

     In my own personal life I have taken the approach to look out of the windshield in my "Car of life" and strive toward what is ahead. When you look at the political climate, the state our world is in and the hatred you see all across the world, it might seem very bleak and dreary. So why would anyone want to look ahead? Sure, the candidate I voted for Governor of New York did not win. In other races "the left" may have won but I take the approach that God is still in control no matter what. That is why I don't look at the rearview mirror and I also don't like discussing politics!. What happened in 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018 and years before that are over with and done! Take a look at an example in the bible of someone who looked back. It is interesting that in Genesis 19, Lot's wife looked back at the destruction of the city of Sodom and Gomorrah and turned to a pillar of salt. Why? She looked back! She didn't look ahead! She didn't see a bright future ahead of her, she only dwelled on the destruction that took place that was in the past. It is also interesting that she never had a name. She was always known as "Lot's wife." 

     No one ever drives a car looking out of the rearview mirror. If they do, it is obvious they will have a huge accident. You need to see what is in front of you in order to operate your vehicle. My challenge to everyone is simple!! Look ahead and not behind you. See the bright future ahead in your life and not the past that is over with and done! Look ahead!! 

HAVE A BLESSED WEEK!!   

 

MISTAKES

 

     We all make mistakes! I have made several...okay...millions since I was born in 1964. I'm sure if all my mistakes were 1 foot long you would probably be able to wrap them around our world several times! I will be the first to admit that I am not perfect. Lately while looking at a pencil it got me thinking one thing. It's a good thing that pencils have erasers. You write or draw something and you make a mistake and then...you turn the pencil upside down and use the other end that has an eraser. I remember being very young trying to learn math and erasing answers to problems I had to solve. "What is 144 times 144? 20,136!! No? Erase that! It's 20,736! 

  

     I have found in life that mistakes are made but we can definitely learn from them. I have made personal, ministry and hard decisions my entire life and many mistakes. I think of some real doozies as a children's pastor that I have made. I once wanted to create a method of reaching the children of our town and created a program called "Super Saturday". The only problem was I was the only person excited about this idea and it failed big time. I even thought about renting out the Smithtown Movie Theater. Boy was that a lesson learned. Even personally at the age of 22 I remember buying a new/used car without having someone check it out for me to make sure it was a good car. Auto mechanic Dave (I'm being sarcastic) put too much oil in the car and guess what? The car lasted all of 2 weeks. Lesson learned! In sports, many baseball and football players have made mistakes. Ralph Branca, a pitcher for the Brooklyn Dodgers had to live with for the remainder of his life giving up a game winning homerun to Bobby Thomson of the New York Giants in 1951. He made one mistake in the pitch he threw and the rest is history. On November 19, 1978, The New York Giants were leading the Philadelphia Eagles 17-12 with 26 seconds left in the game. All their quarterback Joe Pisarcik had to do was kneel down after taking the snap at scrimmage and they would have won the game. Instead, he tried to hand off to Larry Csonka and...oh no... a fumble!! Herman Edwards of the Eagles picked up the ball and ran into the end zone. Eagles win. My brother in law Dave was very happy and reminds me often of that mishap. Thanks Joe Pisarcik! After that game, the Offensive Coordinator of the Giants was fired and the coach was fired after the season was over. In game six of the 1986 World Series in the bottom of the 10th inning, Mookie Wilson of the New York Mets hit a slow ground ball to first base. Bill Buckner tried to field the ball but it went through his legs. The Mets won the game and eventually the series in 7 games. After he retired, Bill Buckner who actually had a very good baseball career went into hiding somewhere in Idaho to avoid the press and avoid being harassed by fans. These 3 sporting events just show you anyone could have made a mistake. What would have happened if Bobby Thomson struck out? Or if Joe Pisarcik ignored the play call that came in and knelt down? Or if Bill Buckner fielded the ball and beat Mookie Wilson to the first base bag? The results would have been different obviously!

     Recently I made 2 costly mistakes. Costly because I had to pay a fine. Both times I was driving on a busy road and both times a school bus stopped without me noticing the flashing lights. The second time was on Jericho Turnpike in Commack. Both times the State Comptroller sent me a lovely letter with pictures of my car showing me where I went wrong along with an invitation to send him money because I was a Bozo! Both times I was very mad at myself but also mad that a bus just HAD to stop on a busy road and I just happened to be passing by both times. I own up to the fact that I made a mistake and from here on in even when a bus stops with without flashing lights you better believe I pull over and stop. I'm running out of money!!

     I'm sure in this blog many of you will notice I make mitsakes in my various blogs! Ha! I'm sure you caught that one! I hope you, just like me learn from mistakes you make. I have learned recently to stop beating myself up from a mistake I make but to take a step back and try to learn from them. I have realized in my many years that I am not alone. Everyone makes mistakes! The key is always what we can learn from them. To conclude with yet another sports story, I recently heard a story about Jerry Rice. He was a wide receiver for the San Francisco 49ers. After his team one one of their Super Bowls, instead of celebrating the very next day, Jerry Rice was outside at the team facility running passing routes and trying to stay in shape for the next season. Running passing routes? Your team just won a championship, Jerry? Jerry Rice explained that he wanted to work on a few mistakes he made during the big game. What a great example to us of someone who is humble enough to work on a mistake he made and look to improve on it!

     How about us? Do we have that same approach? Do we work on mistakes? Many times after I preach or do a kids program I will always watch and listen to how I sound on video. No, not because I think I am the most amazing preacher in the world and the greatest ventriloquist. I will always take a look at how I sound, how it looks and look at what I can improve on. My theory is simple! There is always room for improvement! So, let's learn from our mistakes!!

HAVE A GREAT WEEK EVERYONE!!