How to Travel the World Without Leaving Layton . . . Or Wherever You Live!

"Perhaps travel cannot prevent bigotry, but by demonstrating that all people cry, laugh, eat, worry, and die, it can introduce the idea that if we try and understand each other, we may even become friends."     -Maya Angelou

Travel . . . the soul of adventure, magic, escape, discovery.

And who isn't thinking escape as the temps drop to toe-curling lows, the mailbox wallows into oblivion, and the car gasps for breath beneath endless drifts? The Caribbean comes to mind, Florida at the very least. Pipe dreams. For local responsibilities demand, the value of the dollar drops, terrorism runs rampant.

Locked tightly in my Layton cocoon, hands to the fire, blankets to the rescue, I settle down for a long winter's nap like the peonies by the front walk. Wake me in late April.

Cousin Bill from Glasgow, Scotland,
connects weekly with Layton vis Skype.

But last week the siren song of travel sang its sweet melody and called me from my hibernation to points . . . near. . . . Scranton and Wilkes Barre. No bathing suits, no sunshine, no aircraft and taxis.

For travel's glory is not only the monuments and mountains of foreign soil. It is people - their food, traditions, music, language, and culture. By this definition travel can happen even to our local city, where coal was king, if foreigners are involved.

And foreigners were the prime focus in last week's travel adventure.

First stop, Marywood College - for "Conversation Corner" with English language learners from around the world who are studying at the school. Afternoon conversation took me to Asia and the Middle East.

My first conversation partner was Zhicheng Zhang (also called Frank). Frank came to the U.S. just two months ago. "Fresh off the boat," eager, and enthusiastic about all things American,  he chose instead to walk the streets of Beijing with me, to remember favorite dishes, to practice his English and my Mandarin, and to reminisce about Chinese holiday celebrations. Frank's studies in health care will prepare him to return to China to "help his country."

Without the aid of technology or transportation, I left China for Kurdistan-Iraq, a Middle Eastern location which I will probably never visit. But Mr. Mohammed brought the country he loves to Northeast Pennsylvania. He, his wife, and children came to the U.S.two years ago so he could obtain a master's degree in public administration. Mohammed will return to Kurdistan at the end of the year to work for his government. War-torn and beleaguered, the Kurds have fought bravely for their country against Muslim extremists. My first Kurdish friend left me with a sweet taste of the courage, strength, and character of the people of Kurdistan-Iraq.

An avid traveler himself, Mark Twain once said, "Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness." May I amend your thought, Mr. Twain? "Befriending people from around the world is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness." Our world is a hot bed of seething war and strife. What can one person do to make a difference in such a world, especially when travel to some countries is impossible? I suggest that the way to make a difference in the world is to make friends with the foreigners in our own backyards.

These trips to China and Kurdistan were early in last week's travel adventures. Sans jet lag and luggage, I hustled back to China again for the Chinese New Year celebrations. The holiday fell this year on February 18th.

Dr. Youyu Phillips, Keystone College

We heralded the year of the sheep with the Northeastern Pennsylvania Chinese-American Association at the King's Buffet in Wilkes Barre to do what all good Chinese and Americans do on a holiday - eat. Dr. Youyu Phillips, a professor of mathematics at Keystone College, is the president of the association to which I now proudly belong. Dr. Phillips and I met last week for the first time, but we talk every Friday on the phone as she is the Mandarin translator for our "Voice of Hope," blogtalk radio program to Chinese around the world:  www.blogtalkradio.com/voiceofhope

Shiyong Liang and Xiangni Wang,
Keystone students

Another Chinese dinner last week with American friends who have worked with me in China plus a Skype call to cousins near Glasgow, Scotland, and yet another continent, completed a week of rich cross-cultural interaction and friendship. I traveled continents last week, and the only expense was the Chinese buffet. I experienced countries because I experienced people. "My destination was not a place, but it was a new way of seeing things" (Henry Miller).

Passports and visas were  moot issues. 

Flight delays and cancellations, non-existent. 

Food, language, culture, and friendship, abundant and rich,

during the week I traveled around the world

without leaving

Layton.

Mid-Winter Magnificat

Astilbe, asleep beside the drive,
Peonies, cone flowers,
          day lilies,
               burrowed beneath down bits of snow, energizing, strengthening for the
                   grand appearance,
                           their pop, burst of color.
Rampant violets whose wild race about the yard
      is temporarily stilled, silent, awaiting the next season's      dance.
Pine trees, each branch iced to bending, green dresses tinged       with white swaying at the ball that is winter.

Garden soil, resting, quiet,

           readying for the unfettered abundance of tomatoes, beans.

Forest, aglitter in splintered sun,
           diamonds horizon strewn.
Flakes swirl east-west, north-south to an unheard                          symphony.
Unbroken slate of white, clean, unsullied,
           field of dreams . . . purity and perfection.
House, shingle-heavy, insulation-bound,

    nobly faces storm and completes its       mission - shelter.

     This is winter on Layton.

A waiting, a pause, a breath-holding,
     A Lazarus tomb, expectant, a resurrection in three days.
         Hope, it's coming.
              New life, warmth, green, buds, fruit.
He never fails, ever faithful, ever bringing new from old,
              ashes from beauty, life from death, growth.
The Great Maker, Renewer, will do the miracle. It will arrive . . .

             This Spring on Layton.

In 2015 How About a Little More . . .

Laughter?

Who among us couldn't use a little more?

Ed Wynn

One of my all-time favorite movie scenes involves Ed Wynn as Uncle Albert in Mary Poppins. Singing "I Love to Laugh," he literally lifted off the floor and floated to the ceiling, light with the freedom of laughter. Bert (Dick VanDyke) and Jane and Michael Banks caught Uncle Albert's infectious laughter and drifted up to join him, all of them laughing uncontrollably as they tumbled and twisted, free from gravity and earth's bonds.

The characters in Mary Poppins each had his or her own share of difficulty and heartache. Bert was a chimney sweep, Uncle Albert lived the humble life of the aged, and Jane and Michael's parents, over-committed to work and personal interests, remained uninvolved in the children's lives. But from the ceiling of that sitting room, they had a new perspective. And from those heights they laughed, the laugh of the unfettered, the released, the free.

In 2015 we need perspective and laughter. Not the laughter of scorn or derision. Not a laughter of fools. There's plenty of that afoot. We need the laughter of joy.

For what's to be seen from the heights of our sitting rooms? Lives filled with small miracles. Grace running rampant on mundane days. Love in unexpected corners. The presence of the Eternal. God working. Take a look around from up there. See the joy of the forever-loved, the never-left-alone. 

Those thousand pound weights, that bind our spirits to the floor, even to the basement, even to the sewer, cling more tightly as we study them, contrive to escape them, work to release ourselves. 

But feel the freedom, experience the loosening of the bonds, watch the chain weights of worry fall as our perspectives shift . . . to the God who says "cast all your care upon me." Lay each weight at the foot of the cross and slap your spiritual hands each time you try to pick it up. He will carry the burden. His love, His power, already proven on a cross. 

Feel the weights fall off. Soar. Free. Up to the highest heights. Laughing the joy of the redeemed, the protected, the blessed, the forgiven, the loved.

Author Ann Voskamp calls this laughter "oxygenated grace." Author Anne Lamott calls it "carbonated holiness." Let's live high in 2015 on the oxygenated, carbonated joy of our freedom and position in Christ. And let's laugh.

It seemed like a dream, "too good to be true," writes the psalmist, "when God returned Zion's exiles, freed from their bonds (italics, my words). We laughed, we sang, we couldn't believe our good fortune . . . God was wonderful to us; we are one happy people." (The Message, Psalm 126:1-3)

Yes, in 2015 we could use a little more laughter in the world . . .

and, certainly, here on Layton.

The Touch

Last week's news . . . he touched her!

Prince William, Kate, and LeBron

That's right. Le Bron James, star of the Cleveland Cavaliers, met Prince William and his wife Kate last week when they attended his NBA game against the Brooklyn Nets, and . . . he touched her! In a typically American gesture of friendliness and familiarity, LeBron put his arm around the shoulder of the future queen of England.

The result was a collective gasp from the British media, a gasp heard round the world. "British media has its knickers in a bunch," said the Mercury News Network. How dare LeBron presume to touch the nation's treasure!

"According to protocol in Britain, a commoner is not supposed to touch members of the royal family, even if it is an innocent gesture," chimed the Huffington Post. Americans have become infamous for breaching the "no touch" rule, the Post affirmed, citing a faux pas of Michelle Obama who put her arm on Queen Elizabeth II's back during a 2009 visit to Buckingham Palace.

"Invading the personal space of others is practically an American duty," wrote Tony Hicks for the Mercury News.

This week's news . . . He touched us!

In startling juxtaposition to the protocol, traditions, and expectations of the British monarchy stands the King of the universe, God, whose kingdom encompasses the British Empire and all kingdoms to the outer reaches of our galaxy and beyond, God . . . the King of all kings.

This King entered our physical realm one night in a dirty stable, in a non-descript town, in a distant part of our world. He entered the world as a baby who needed to be touched and cuddled. He entered our space because He wanted us to touch the one true and living God.

No protocol about keeping a safe distance from the Holy of Holies. No concerns about maintaining a respectful distance.The "no touch" rule of the world's monarchies did not exist for God. His goal was to be up close and personal with His created people. To touch and be touched.

This week we celebrate His birth, His stepping into touchableness, His accessibility. "Come close," He whispered.


News for the weeks to come . . .

God in human form, Jesus, took the ultimate step in closing the space between us. He sacrificed Himself on a cross, and with that one act He provided the forgiveness that would forever eliminate the gap between the Creator God and His creation. Accepting His sacrifice drew us into Him . . . no separation. The unfathomable, untouchable God became Christ IN us. Distance forever dispersed.

He became Emmanuel, God with us, God in us. God forever walking in touchable nearness.

Whatever the weeks of 2015 may hold, know that God longs to put His arm on your shoulder or pat you on the back or comfort you in your pain or direct you in your indecision or lift you in your depression . . . His royalty does not preclude His love.

SEEK TO TOUCH GOD. BLESSED CHRISTMAS.

Michelangelo's depiction of God, reaching out to touch . . . us.

"I live pro life every day." Melanie Madeira

I went to my first political rally last night . . . (that is if you don't consider the vehement speeches in history class during the Kennedy-Nixon campaign in 1960 as official political fire branding).

Voting faithfully in every election and one stint as a juror have been my nod to civic responsibility
 . . . (that is if you don't consider my commitment to recycling and collecting litter).

I make this admission with remorse, for every day now I see and hear of the denigration of our culture and the encroaching extremist terror. I realize that our freedoms and the integrity of our country truly may be disintegrating. I love my life on Layton. I value that life for my children and grandchildren. It is long past time that I should become actively involved in the political process.

So . . . I went to my first political rally. I expected free food and loud music. I expected political promises, usually empty and unfulfilled. I expected generic talk about keeping America free.

What I didn't expect was inspiration.

The candidate was Melanie Madeira who is running for state representative in the 114th district in Pennsylvania against Sid Michaels Kavulich. I was impressed and persuaded. I stand ready to support Melanie.

Melanie Madeira, candidate for state representative
in the 114th District.

A candidate's pro-life conviction is an integral factor. A pro-life conviction is not just about saving the lives of the unborn. It is about putting value on every individual's life, whether that individual is still in the womb or whether the individual has a diminished mental capacity or whether that person can contribute to society or whether the individual is treading the edge of life at 95.

God created life, and for that reason alone it has value . . . at any age and in any condition. 

"I live pro life every day, " Melanie stated. She and her husband, Dave Madeira of the talk radio program, the Dave Madeira Show, from 6:00 to 9:00 a.m. on 94.3, are parents to six children. Melanie has home schooled the children since they began school.

One of their children, Nicholas, has Down's syndrome. Just two days ago Nicky thought it was Christmas and proceeded to wind an entire roll of electrical tape up the stair railing. Living with a special needs child is not easy, but to the Madeiras, every individual matters. Nicky matters, and God will use him in a special way . . . just wait and see.

Dave and Melanie Madeira with their six children.

I have lived in a culture that does not value individual life, a culture that is not pro life, and I have seen how that belief system can direct a government and its policies. I have lived in China.

China routinely practices abortion on women who have already had their sole child. One woman I met had ten abortions. Special education classes are not provided in public schools. Children who cannot pass the mandatory national testing may not enter high school. Nursing homes are not a routine option for the elderly. Life does not carry a high price tag. Life is dispensable.

Government policies reflect this lack of value on the individual. If  you cannot perform, if you cannot contribute, if you haven't earned the right, you are dispensable.

In contrast, America was founded on the rights of the individual because of the God-ordained value of the individual. I am so glad that I live in America (I might not qualify as worthy in another culture!). 

So the candidate, who is willing to put value on each person and is willing to LIVE pro life, is the candidate for me.

Melanie also speaks wisdom, based on our individual rights as valued people, about the Second Amendment, the tax burden on the elderly, education spending, energy development, and jobs. She can be believed because she lives what she believes. 

Vote this November. Vote for the basic tenet of life . . . you are a creation of God. You have value.

"Our Land Defines Us and our Chosen Lifestyle" . . . Trevor Walczak

Life in Northeast Pennsylvania and the land on which we've built our home and family have a firm grip on our generations. 

My son Trevor recently wrote this article, which was published in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, in response to editor Dan Simpson's article "Fracking Compromises the Future of Pennsylvania." I have reprinted a portion of the article here because it offers a contrasting view to much of the media coverage about the Marcellus . . . and because family and home are a legacy worth cultivating.

by Trevor Walczak
Vice-President, National Association of Royalty Owners – Pennsylvania

The Marcellus Opportunity

I am from coal country. The hard coal region of Pennsylvania. My family’s immigrant patriarchs all spent their early working years carving out a living in the mines throughout the first half of the twentieth century. While the mines were cold, dark, and dangerous, they were the means to give these new immigrant families a better life. When they had enough money saved to buy their freedom, they did.

Freedom for my dad’s family was a plot of farmland in what we now call Marcellus country, far from the colliery spoils, mine fires, and acid mine drainage. As a kid traveling into town, I remember seeing those still recent scars, which were a stark contrast to the natural beauty to which I’ve grown accustomed. But that’s what those scars are for me: a reminder of the blood and sweat, paid forward, to give a better, cleaner chance at life for my young family and me.

So how do we take the lessons of the coal era and apply them to our future energy needs?

While coal and gas are both natural resources which fueled an economic transformation, a key distinction in legacy will be found in mineral ownership. Coal companies typically owned the land where they mined, while the Marcellus is owned by hundreds of thousands of Pennsylvanians who have built their lives for generations on top of its hidden treasure. These farmers, sportsmen, and conservationists have invested in their land for generations out of love for the lifestyle without knowledge of the coming energy boom.

The Marcellus has already been good to these property owners. By the spring of 2013, the Associated Press estimated that over $1.2 billion had been paid to Pennsylvania mineral owners in the form of royalties. Where I come from, this money is saving the family farms from previous foreclosure threats, keeping properties from being subdivided, saving us all from the associated effects of urban sprawl, and, overall, making a hard way of life a little easier. Royalty owners are using this money and investing it in our kids, in better farming and forestry practices, as well as into the communities through support of local businesses, and into the state through personal income taxes.

We are not seeing farms abandoned in exchange for tropical islands. I see new tractors, new roofs on barns, and charitable donations.

Dan Simpson, a writer for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, recently referred in his editorial to this phenomenon as an “El Dorado of unearned wealth,” a phrase I fundamentally reject, and I believe that perversion of the debate is meant to sow envy, which only further marginalizes the minority which shares that view. Many of us have endured multi-generational financial struggles to simply hang on to our most valuable asset: our property. Out here in Marcellus country, our land often defines us and our chosen lifestyle. Unconventional shale gas reservoirs are our property. When you look out your window at those “scenic views,” remember someone actually owns them, and there’s a story behind why they exist. Our land is not just a backdrop to your commute.

Inevitably, it is the owners of the Marcellus who are on the front lines of energy independence. This development is taking place on our land, and I have yet to meet anyone who will stand complicit with any practices which jeopardize their family’s safety or that of the greater community. Dan Simpson’s attempt to equate environmental destruction with all shale drilling is unfounded. According to DEP, Pennsylvania’s unconventional gas well count stands at 9,550. If environmental degradation was inevitable for each gas well drilled, as asserted, we’d see that after over seven years of Marcellus Shale development. No one wants to see anyone’s water supply damaged, and I expect to see the industry’s environmental record continue to improve from the early exploration, but the numbers prove that fear mongering is over-stated. 

As royalty owners, we feel a strong, well-funded regulatory body to oversee the drilling operations will protect all citizens of the Commonwealth. The Act 13 Impact Fee increased yearly funds to DEP by $6,000,000 and an additional yearly allocation of $7,500,000 to County Conservation Districts to assist in site inspections.

In growing numbers, the “frackers,” as you call them, are also from inside our communities. The pride I see them take in protecting their hometowns is a key component to safeguarding the development as well. We need to recognize industry leaders like Cabot Oil and Gas who have invested heavily in education inside of the communities they operate in. In April of 2014, they announced a $2.5 million gift to Lackawanna College’s School of Petroleum & Natural Gas. This is a massive investment in our kids, our future, and our environment.

There’s nothing mythical about the positive impact shale gas drilling is having on our entire state. Realistically, even the non-Marcellus region has discovered “El Dorado” through the Act 13 Impact Fee, which has generated over $630 million, to date, according to the Public Utility Commission (PUC). While 60% is designated to return to the counties where the drilling is taking place, the balance is transferred to non-Marcellus production counties after some defined allocations are made to regulating agencies. To date, that’s over $250 million sent downstate as a diplomatic gesture.

The radical anti-drilling crowd is promoting a statewide moratorium, thinly veiled as a call for a severance tax, while refusing to recognize the effectiveness of the Impact Fee to remedy the real drilling impacts. The “adequate” tax you propose isn’t about remedying impacts, but rather feeding a “tax and spend” system whose insatiable thirst will inevitably yield to a market-driven moratorium.

In the Rendell years, numerous severance tax proposals would have placed Pennsylvania’s proposed energy tax at or above a national high of 7.5%, in addition to Pennsylvania already having the nation’s highest corporate tax rate of 9.99%, in effect crippling the development success we now enjoy. According to Associated Petroleum Industries of Pennsylvania, our current state tax structure has already generated over $2 billion from the drilling industry since 2007.

Mr. Simpson’s editorial attempted to rally support by invoking envy. He falsely portrayed the severance tax as being “extracted from the fracking companies,” but in reality, the rise in energy costs as a result of a new tax will be passed on to the consumer, which only raises heating and electricity costs, hurting the poorest among us most. The residents of Marcellus country overwhelmingly oppose the imposition of a new energy tax, demonstrated in the proposal’s defeat in the most recent budget battle. When these facts are weighed, we think our contributions from Marcellus country are more than “adequate” already.

We are building the legacy of shale gas development in Pennsylvania today, but I am far more optimistic about how history will remember us. It will be an organized, informed, and engaged royalty owner who will be the catalyst for balanced, common-sense shale gas development. 96% of unconventional natural gas produced in Pennsylvania is produced by members of the leading industry trade group. Royalty owners also need to recognize the value of organizing around our interests in an effort to ward off threats to our rights which include the imposition of punitive taxes, moratoriums, and our on-going struggle to be paid properly for our gas.

Blog

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When is it "Time to Die"?

"Thanks to medicine's prowess in sustaining life on the edge," writes Dr. Leon Kass, former chairman of the President's Council on Bioethics, "it is harder than ever to know when it is 'time to die'."

When is it time to die?  

This is the question that many individuals and families, including ours, face today as medical advances have sustained life for the seriously ill. Slow death and medical advances "compel physicians and families to decide the best treatment for the seriously ill and to determine when life ends and when treatment should be terminated." (A Time to Die, p. 19)

In his book A Time to Die: A Biblical Look at End-of-Life Issues, Dr. Wally Morris, who received his masters and doctorate from Bob Jones University, considers the many questions and dilemmas faced by people in end-of-life situations. His years as a pastor have exposed him to countless situations where crucial decisions about life and death must be made. A Time to Die is the result of his experience and extensive study in the relatively new field of bioethics.

Dr. Morris' book presents a plethora of guidelines to prepare someone for the end of life as far as it is humanly and emotionally possible. The book's goal is to help Christians develop a theological framework that will guide them in making decisions about this critical time of an individual's life. If biblical principles do not guide the Christian's decisions, "personal opinion, pragmatic concerns, and emotionalism will control the decision-making process and affect the conclusions" (p. 39).

A Time to Die discusses the historical development of end-of-life issues as well as the biblical, ethical, medical, and legal issues. It provides samples of advance directives for health care.

In His sovereignty God placed this book in my hands a few months ago. During that time my 93-year-old father suffered a heart attack that revealed the need for an aortic heart valve replacement. His high risk status disqualified him for the usual open-heart surgery. Two physicians handed him a death sentence. "Allow nature to take its course . . . even performing a routine catheterization could cause his death . . . take him home . . . use a nursing home facility for the remaining six months or so of his life." Basically, as one doctor phrased it later, they were willing to "cast him to the ash heap."

Eventually, a cardiologist happened to mention tentatively, "There is a new procedure being done (in another city) that allows the aortic valve to be replaced without the invasive procedure of cutting open the chest. The new heart valve is inserted with a catheter through the groin. It is called TAVR, or trans aortic valve replacement." This was a glimmer of hope and life, and my dad chose life.

Three weeks ago the TAVR was performed, and dad came through "with flying colors," according to the surgeon. Dad could have taken the alternate route . . . to do nothing and face imminent death. But at every turn in the decision-making, Dad chose life.

Dr. Morris affirmed Dad's controversial decision. He reiterates in his book that we are made in the image of God, that He has good reasons for the painful and confusing circumstances of death, that these circumstances are part of the believer's conforming to the image of Christ. Morris stresses the importance of Christians investing time in biblical growth in order to understand more clearly God's plan for our lives.

Despite the sensitive, difficult, and complicated subject matter of this book, its clarity and readability make it a must-read for any living, breathing person. for eventually . . . we will all face death. Dr. Morris's book will help the reader prepare for the complexities of end-of-life decisions.

Visit the publisher's web page on A Time to Die: http://ambassador-international.com/books/time-die-biblical-look-end-life-issues/

This book was provided free to the blog reviewer by Ambassadors International.

About the author:

Dr. Wally Morris, a graduate of the University of Georgia, received his masters and doctorate from Bob Jones University. His articles have appeared in the Fort Wayne Journal-Gazette and Huntington Herald-Press. He has recorded radio programs for Fort Wayne’s 1090 AM. Dr. Morris is currently the pastor of Charity Baptist Church, located in Huntington, IN, where he has been since 1996.