Distraction

Distraction is defined according to The World Book Dictionary as: "the act of drawing away the attention, confusion of the mind, disturbance of thought"(emphasis added). In aviation this distraction, this "disturbance of thought" has caused many accidents and an entire field of study on this subject is called Crew Resource Management (CRM). I have researched this field of study and have produced numerous presentations on distractions in the cockpit. Much of it centers around the pilot losing focus on the larger problem by fixating on the relatively minor fault. This fixation on the minor causes the pilot to "forget to fly the jet". As you can imagine, typically a crash follows. A tragic example that I have witnessed was on a practice bombing mission while flying fighters in the Philippines, the crew of a Navy A-6 was so fixated on the target to put "bombs on target" that the pilot flew the fighter into the ground trying to correct for a perfect bomb drop.

Target fixation = Forget to fly the Jet

Jesus Christ speaks to this distraction in Mark 4:19:

"Then the cares and anxieties of the world and distractions of the age, and the pleasure and delight and false glamour and deceitfulness of riches, and the craving and passionate desire for other things creep in and choke and suffocate the Word, and it becomes fruitless." (Amplified Bible)

Neil Postman, in his book Technopoly - The Surrender of Culture to Technology, writes on page 179 about how our culture is driven by technology to the detriment of society and family cohesiveness:

"Into this void comes the Technopoly story, with its emphasis on progress without limits, rights without responsibilities, and technology without cost. The Technopoly story is without a moral center. it puts in its place efficiency, interest, and economic advance. It promises heaven on earth through the conveniences of technological progress. It cast aside all traditional narratives and symbols that suggest stability and orderliness, and tells, instead, of a life of skills, technical expertise, and the ecstasy of consumption." (Emphasis mine - Vintage Books, New York 1993)

It takes an enormous amount of discipline not to become "target fixated" and thereby crash the jet. People and relationships are what matter, typically you realize this when you are old - not trophies, not stuff, and not technology (and sometimes tragically you are too old to realize this). Caution: target fixation can result in lost relationships.

The following video clip is found on YouTube and is one of the latest commercials promoting the new "Windows App" on a cell phone. I find this commercial interesting because is shows tragically the children left behind (relationships lost) and is about the newest technology to, again, takes us away from relationships. I see this a Pee Wee Football games or Little League Baseball games - watching the parents texting while their child (relationships lost) is playing the sport: "Are You Kidding" and "Come On Man!" Technology will save the day.

Come On Man - a video from YouTube

C'ya
Eagle Driver
check 6

Disclaimer: This blog is not intended to endorse any product nor does its author receive compensation for displaying this commercial. This blog neither endorses nor criticizes the product on the tagged YouTube video.

New Beginnings

The deficit that our government faces is quite overwhelming, but not an excuse to throw our hands up and surrender. Hopefully with the new beginning of Congress there will be a sober heads and realistic elected officials who will for once in a very long time chose for America instead of for their re-electability. Here is a start, the New York Times has a Deficit Calculator called the Budget Puzzle. Here is an interactive look at decisions you could make to reduce our deficit if you were in charge of Congress. Very interesting and you have to make tough choices to balance the budget. Enlightening to say the least.

Is there a deficit of Truth? As Luke Skywalker is given his father's Lightsaber by Obi-Wan Kenobi in the original Star Wars movie (Episode IV), a decision, a way of life must be made by Luke constantly: Use the Lightsaber for Good or use it for Evil. If Luke fights for Good his Lightsaber will be identified as such. Drawing from this symbolism, we must fight for Good while acknowledging that the Dark Side will always be enticing us to convert. We must not give into the apparent pleasures of the power provided by the Dark Side.

Truth requires a lifestyle of decisions for Good and a discipline to battle the Dark Side that attempts to creep into one's life.

Ephesians 6:10-17 describes the fortress of Truth and the use of the Lightsaber of Truth - Scripture:

¹⁰ "Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. ¹¹ Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. ¹² For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. ¹³ Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. ¹⁴ Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, ¹⁵ and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. ¹⁶ In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. ¹⁷ Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God."

C'ya
Eagle Driver
check 6

What is Truth - Johnny Cash

As I begin my "mythical journey" as a modern-day Luke Skywalker searching for what is "the" Truth, I found an old clip from the Johnny Cash Show back in the 1970s. As I listened to the message, I was struck at it's current relevancy. Our generation that are the CEOs, Pastors, Athletes, Politicians, and other leaders of our country and community have not produced perpetual examples of ethical leaders who welcome new ideas. We rise to power, forgetting that we had new ideas, and fall into the "ancestor worship" mode of "this is the way it is done" style of running a business, a church, a sport's team, a political party, etc. "New" ideas are not welcome and seen as a threat to one's power (perfect example is General Motors management and the demise of the company). Honesty must be crouched by "sugar-coating" and "spinning" to the point where it is so compromised that honesty is minimized. Those who stand for truth and utter the famous statement of the character Col. Nathan R. Jessep (played by Jack Nicholson) in the movie, A Few Good Men - "You can't handle the Truth!", are removed from committees and relegated to a serf's role in the kingdom. Who as a leader has a youth to remind them that they were young and mortal? Without the youth:

Churches become museums of saints instead of hospitals for sinners.

Today the youth are asking the same questions of adults and adult leadership, and sadly they are receiving the same morally bankrupted hypocritical answers that we received in the 1970s when we were the youth. If you don't believe me watch and listen to Johnny Cash from 1970. What happened to us? Johnny Cash's song is convicting, please watch and receive the lesson.

Here's to the youth and their questions!

Johnny Cash on YouTube

C'ya
Eagle Driver
check 6

Hope - Where can we find it?

Now that the dust is settling on the mid-term elections, I have been reflecting on what has transpired since the contrast of the two Presidential candidates themes. Many in the nation felt the message of "Hope" and "Change" resonated with their personal themes. Now two years later many believe that the President did not deliver on these basic themes of Hope and Change. So much of the country has changed the "non-change" of the President. This is evident by the significant number of state's governments changing for the first time to the Republican majority since the 1800s. So I guess we can accurately say that the President brought change - just not the change I think he wanted or thought.

As I reflected on our nation's "change", I began to look at the "church" within the Christian "nation". What change needs to happen? This is where I remembered the other part of the campaign message - Hope! So much of teaching I have been listening to from many pulpits is what we are doing wrong. So much of what I'm hearing from young Christians is confusion and lack of direction. So much of what I read on Christian blogs is argument, some of it quite aggressive.

So much yelling, confusion, egos, and complete lack of mercy. The system is broke and need fixing. Where are the leaders that (to bring up an old axiom) "think outside the box"? It is time for us to listen to the young generation and give them Hope, give them an example, give them the truth, give them ethical behavior, give them a real answer not simply theory.

In John 8:32 is recorded a famous quote of Jesus Christ:

"and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free" (NASB).

I find it interesting that John records this as "the" truth and again "the" truth. What is "the" truth? Ah a quest for me to discover the answer and the direction of this blog for the future. Suffice it to say as an initial thought, I would say that:

"the" truth is the Prerequisite of Freedom.

So as the mythical Luke Skywalker of the movie series Star Wars sets off on a quest to "learn the ways of the Force", I too am beginning my search for the Truth.

Image found at: http://descasa.i.ph/blogs/descasa/index.php?tag=shallow

C'ya
Eagle Driver
check 6