Thursday, September 28, 2006

TEAMWORK: THE ULTIMATE SOURCE OF POWER IN THE UNIVERSE


If this is true, it’s a big message for families.

Guess where this title came from? None other than Disney World. We hope Disney is living by this message.

But, many others also have it right including:

G.K. Chesterton: "We’re in a stormy sea and owe each other our total loyalty."

Max DePree: "A covenantal relationship rests on shared commitments to ideas, to issues, to values, to goals."

Bishop Stephen Neil: "Faith is nurtured only in the fellowship of believers."

Jean Vanier: "We have the power to call forth the gifts of others or to crush them."

Crick and Watson: "The Double Helix" - "All of life is connections."

They all say the same thing. It is in our connections where we find focus and power. Power through teamwork. It is the team that gives life to its members.

The terrorists are teaching us this. Why are they so powerful? They are one in purpose and action. Their mission is clear. They give their lives for that mission. That’s real power.
Disney and terror - two names not meant for each other. Disney has the words. The terrorists have the power.

Looks like we need to find the teamwork way to create a happy style for our families. Looks like families are stronger when members work together. It also looks like families gain support when families work together.

For a step toward teamwork, please see www.newhopecovenants.org and help with THE FAMILY CHALLENGE.

Wednesday, September 20, 2006

THE FAMILY AND THE VULGAR MEDIA


Who is responsible for the ad that uses overt sex to sell skin cream?

There is the studio staff - did they study all those years to produce smut?

There is the advertising agency manager - will he/she sell anything?

There is the corporate executive - any thought about impact on the family?

The media are the world spin experts. Now they have a new package of goodies. To print, film and radio they have added video, DVD, internet, blackberries and so on. We’re addicted to these new experiences.

The press claim a big contribution to a better world. They’re good at exposures but what are the contributions? The freedom of the press is totally compromised by the profit motive of the media corporations and the high profile careers of press people - apparently without any code of values.

They take every unhappy situation, push it to the extreme and spread it worldwide. They know all this pulls in buyers. Their only rule is "Does it grab and sell?" They are cashing in by using extremes of everything for a society that is distraught and overwhelmed by its complexity.

No one is free from the daily bombardment of thousands of bytes.

We asked a friend when all this tidal wave of unhealthy information will crest. The answer was - "It won’t."

For family members who want to do one good thing in the face of the media tsunami try: www.newhopecovenants.org.

Join in on our discussion of THE FAMILY CHALLENGE.

Monday, September 11, 2006

OUR FRAGMENTED FAMILY

Gone is the old church/school/community family support system. The family is now exposed to a barrage of sales pitches, new laws, age-group targeted media, recreation, trips and travel. These forces fragment the family; few efforts bring family members together.

U.S. News reports TV shows target youth that "only encouraged the mentality of spend, spend, spend."

School bussing segregates children and separates families from schools.

The kids can get anything on the internet and parents are still finding the keys.

School boards create public confrontations on key family values.

The family is still the only building block we have. It’s where adults still look for basic security. It’s where the character of children is nurtured. The problem is many families hardly get time to sit down to a meal together.

These powerful, fragmenting forces will continue. So, the families have work to do. They need to share views. That’s what www.eye-on-the-family.blogspot.com is designed to do.

Then, families need to face two challenges:

-Let’s figure out what it takes to lead a family.
-Let’s develop family support networks, with the aid of the internet.

Here are two goals. www.newhopecovenants.org helps get results from goals.

Let’s hear from you on our discussion of the THE FAMILY CHALLENGE.

Tuesday, September 05, 2006

OUR MIXED-UP DEMOCRACY

The "Economist" reports some government has just said NO to groups of Catholic, Mennonite, Jews and Muslims wanting to arbitrate disputes involving family law.

Does this mean that government with its lawyer/politicians and bureaucrats have greater skill and sensitivity on family matters than these faith groups? Or is this the old, old story of governments wanting to control everything including family disputes?

One wonders why these faith groups even bother with the government. They have the families. They’re in the local communities. They are not in some government office tower.

Maybe we have become conditioned to look to government for handling all our problems. They have most of our money.

Or, maybe, key groups in the community haven’t yet learned to work together.

We have a whole string of hot family issues, separation, child custody, divorce, abortion, gay rights, and euthanasia. Why in the world do our faith groups keep running to governments with petitions, placards, marches and emails - as if government has the wisdom or knowledge to help. Governments are mostly good at turning local issues into political, vote-getting schemes.

The community faith groups can avoid these political swamps by learning to pool resources and work together. In fact, they can use these key community family needs as occasions to work together - which they normally don’t do. If they teamed up, they would find governments in much better moods.

So why don’t we urge our local faith group to pick a current need and team up for families? Www.newhopecovenants.org can help that group focus on it’s goal and follow through to achieve it.

Join us for this ongoing discussion of our THE FAMILY CHALLENGE.