Some Thoughts on Recreational Use of Marijuana

                I spend my days with teenagers. I’m a teacher. During the schoolyear from 7:30 until 3:45 I’m surrounded by young people. I hear them talk to each other. They talk with me. Some consider me part of the furniture, never pausing to consider what I might think about their conversations. Others enjoy having an adult that listen to them, finding teachers unusual since we actually value their opinions, sort of. Sometimes they’d rather not share their opinion, especially when they did not read the assignment. At any rate, I hear interesting things. I hear a lot of fuzzy logic, ill-considered things. Most of the time, I do not worry. Time takes care of many things without my personal intervention. I occasionally hear someone compare the recreational use of marijuana to enjoying a glass of wine or beer with dinner or a cocktail in the evening. On the face of it that statement sounds reasonable; however, despite the increasing number of states that have decriminalized marijuana use, there is a significant difference. I think we need to carefully consider that difference and its implications. These implications shed light on a variety of other behaviors. Sadly, as one who has engaged in using both substances in my past, I feel comfortable speaking on the issues at hand.

                Most people who enjoy an alcoholic beverage, especially with dinner, enjoy the taste pairing. A good red wine goes well with a steak or Italian food. A glass of beer compliments a hamburger, pizza, or Mexican food. A cold gin-n-tonic with lime over ice certainly refreshes on a sultry summer afternoon. We consume these beverages primarily for the taste benefit or they quench thirst. In fact, most consumers of alcohol carefully monitor their consumption levels to better enjoy their beverage of choice. Over consumption degrades or ruins the experience. A relatively small amount of alcohol dulls the taste buds; something wine connoisseurs fully understand, hence the somewhat disgusting, but necessary, practice of spitting into ready receptacles at serious wine competitions. It is the taste that matters. People consume marijuana for entirely different reasons.

                Users imbibe in marijuana seeking an altered perception of reality, the “high.” No one consumes marijuana for the taste. As far as I know there is no recipe for wilted marijuana salad. We want the effect that marijuana provides, that change in reality, the altered state. This does not mean that everyone that uses marijuana seeks an escape from some bitter commonplace existence. They may just enjoy the buzz. After all, it is rather pleasant. But, at the end of the day, they want to view things differently. They crave some level of an altered state. That is the key difference. When consuming alcohol we carefully monitor our intake in order to avoid the altered state that alcohol brings. In fact, some legitimately exclude alcohol consumption in any form based on this concept. So what is wrong with an altered state?

                An altered state seeks a different view, a perspective that does not conform to reality. When making decisions, large or small, we need a clear understanding of reality and the issues at hand. ⁶ So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober. I Thessalonians 5:6. The Bible is replete with similar counsel in other places. We must work to view the world clearly in order to render good judgments on any situation. Of course one might say, “It’s only for recreation, the short term effect.” That may be true. But that statement does not address the bigger issue of using something to alter your perception of reality.

Most of us find understanding the complex world around us difficult at best. Often we find relationships and the attending emotions byzantine and impenetrable. Altered states only cloud the issue, rendering thoughtful interaction near impossible. Indeed, those of us who claim Christ must always remember Paul’s injunction, “

                Living sober is more than simply a lack of any mind altering substances. Living sober includes your decision-making, your lifestyle. When we choose to alter our perception of reality, through any medium, we damage our sobriety. If I choose to binge-watch Star Trek instead of grading papers or grappling with some other thorny problem, I’m altering my perception of reality. If I seek comfort in a quart of my favorite ice-cream after a tough day in the classroom, I’m seeking to alter my reality. When I avoid work by “doinking around on Facebook,” I’m avoiding a responsibility I do not like. Reaching for that extra helping of mashed potatoes and gravy to feel good after a rejection email debases my understanding of the world around me. If I quaff a couple of pints to ease the burden of the day, I’m not dealing with the reality of my situation. We must view the world with a stringent, clear-headed mind in order to live soberly. And this is the problem with recreational marijuana use.

                This missive does not seek to address the issue of legalizing recreational use of marijuana. That is an entirely different subject with a completely separate group of issues. This essay focuses on living sober. That is the fundamental issue. By its nature, recreational use of marijuana damages or degrades sobriety. At its core, marijuana use seeks to alter reality; whether to dull or enhance.  We must guard our grip on reality, not alter it. Making valid decisions requires a complete understanding of what is going on around us. When we distort our sense of normal, we skew our decisions away from acceptable and will endure the consequences of such poor decisions. And as someone who's participated in a variety of horrendous activities while deployed, I understand wanting to avoid certain desperate realities. But, sobriety requires facing reality and not avoiding it. This concept applies to anything we use to avoid reality, legal or illegal. So while I might accept the proposition that the short-term effects of marijuana use are akin to drinking a glass of wine or beer the long-term negative influence on our perception of reality are profound and should be eschewed. 

Leadership Part II

                I recently posted the first half of my thoughts on leadership. Today, I offer the second half. I find the current lack of leadership at all levels of government appalling. We’ve elected a group of largely self-serving, self-absorbed politicians that gain their high office simply by pandering to our whims. They say what we want to hear, so we elect them. We must change our paradigm. We must start look for men and women who willingly take on the mantle of true leadership. Today, in Leadership Part II, I finish the list I started last week. I hope you enjoy and consider how you view leadership and those we select for prominent positions.

                True leaders praise in public and chastise in private. Good leaders take every opportunity to praise the subordinates and organization. They understand that people need reinforcement. But, leaders must chastise occasionally. It is part of the job description. When they must upbraid a subordinate, they do so in private. Public chastisement generates resentment and a lack of trust. Properly handled, private chastisement engenders trust and increases a willingness to change and an increased desire to labor for ongoing mission accomplishment.

                True leaders develop and communicate a vision that includes as many as possible. Leaders see a reality that does not exist and the road to that new place. They then find the means to communicate that to their subordinates, to the entire organization. Additionally, leaders know that we cannot leave others behind. Success includes as many people as possible. True leaders develop inclusive plans and practices that bring others up to the new place.

                True leaders willingly take risk. Progress often entails risk. True leaders understand that they must accept risk to obtain their goals. While the leader may see the goal and the road to get there, others may not. Leaders accept the risk as part of process and face it unflinchingly. They take appropriate actions to mitigate the risk, knowing that they cannot remove all risk. Despite the risk, they move forward. They do not accept guidance from their fears, knowing that our fears so often mislead us.

                True leaders understand that others will criticize them and accept that. One of the truths about being a leader is that others will always find things criticize about them. Leaders develop a thick enough skin to avoid lashing out at critics. But, at the same time they carefully listen in case there is some justifiable comment. Then they make the adjustment necessary to mission success. They do not let the criticism become their identity.

                True leaders understand that they are fallible. All of us harbor dreams or delusions of perfection. Leaders know that they will make mistakes and accept that. When they do make mistakes, they quickly admit them and then adjust their behavior as necessary. Understanding the inevitability of mistakes, they extend grace to others that make them.

                True leaders know that their organization will ultimately resemble them. Organizations adopt the personality and manner of thinking of their leader. Knowing this, leaders carefully consider what kind of person they are and make necessary adjustments. They minimize their faults and maximize their positive traits. They work hard to enhance their positive influence. 

                True leaders work themselves out of a job. Though all leaders should aspire to be qualified and the one for the job, good leaders consistently train their subordinates to assume greater roles of leadership. They envision a future where their subordinates take on greater roles of responsibility, greater levels of authority, and greater levels of autonomy.

                 There is nothing new or revolutionary in this list. Any decent work on leadership will include these ideas in some form or fashion. The Army teaches these traits of leadership at all levels and expects all leaders to display them. Despite readily available good guidance, leadership eludes many. We see many so call leaders who disregard good leadership practices; and all too often we suffer under such poor leaders. Perhaps, as we consider the various men and women that hold leadership positions, elected and otherwise, we will remember some of the more pertinent traits. And, when the time comes to cast ballots, we will vote for those who display true leadership and not for those who merely tell us what we want to hear. Then, if we elect enough leaders, our nation will move a good direction. 

Leadership Part I

                Leadership challenges even the most experienced and savvy people. I’ve spent the most of my adult life in pursuits requiring strong leadership. Of course, when we’re honest with ourselves very almost any activity worth pursing requires leadership skills. Despite that, recent events clearly demonstrate a dearth of leadership at all levels of our government. I find this situation intriguing and disheartening. Almost all bookstores carry a wide array of leadership tomes. The blogosphere is replete with leadership oriented postings. Any number of motivational speakers will gladly come and equip your staff or faculty with better leadership skills…all for a price mind you. With so many helps available, free or for fee, one would assume that developing good leadership traits is simply a matter of reading and practicing. But, we all know that truly great leaders do not come around every day. We’ve all suffered under poor leadership. Almost everyone has endured the depressing effect changing from a highly effective leader to a poor leader has on an organization. I spent twenty-seven years as a soldier; twenty-three of them as either and officer or a non-commissioned officer. Following that I turned to teaching, another profession replete with leadership challenges. I’ve worked for and with some of the finest leaders in the world. I’ve also suffered under some of the most toxic, selfish leaders ever to assume the title. Looking back over the best leaders I’ve either observed or known reveals a few consistent characteristics.

                True leaders unflinchingly adhere to the truth. They know that leadership periodically entails speaking truth to power and to their subordinates. They face the pain of admitting either mistakes or wrong-doing rather than prevaricating to avoid difficulty. They work hard to create an environment which fosters truth. They require it of themselves and their subordinates; all the time knowing that the momentary pain of telling the truth is preferable to the long-term consequences of a culture of lies.

                True leaders embrace the hard right over the easy wrong. As humans, like water, we tend to seek the easiest path, the path of least resistance, or the path of self-gratification. Leaders understand that fundamental human failing and call their subordinates, their organization to a higher plane of existence. They willingly work to elevate the culture of their organization. They include morality in the decision matrix, knowing that integrity carries its on intrinsic value.

True leaders understand that it is not about them. It is about the people that make up the organization and the successful mission accomplishment of the organization. They instinctively know that their purpose in life is to create an environment which fosters the greatest possible success for the largest number of people in their organization. They work hard to clear away the obstacles which impede progress. They view any success by their subordinates as evidence of their own success.

                True leaders understand that their position is a trust, not a right. Leaders understand that serving in a leadership position is an honor, not a right. Not everyone enjoys the opportunity to serve. Many aspire to such a position, but few arrive. They treat each day as a gift, an opportunity. They recognize the confidence in their character others have shown and respond appropriately. For most, the time spent in leadership passes all too quickly.

                True leaders willingly sacrifice for the good of their organization. By its nature leadership requires personal sacrifice. Leaders willingly put the good of others above their own comfort and security. They view the needs of subordinates not as problems, but opportunities to serve, opportunities to improve their subordinate’s ability to function. They willingly lay down their lives for others, considering them more important than themselves.

                True leaders lead instead of drive. Often those in leadership positions assume that haranguing, hectoring, and lecturing the will encourage or force their subordinates to adopt desired behavior patterns. Instead they should take the role of moving to the front and showing others the way. Subordinates more willingly follow someone who walks the path in front of them. They will balk at a leadership style that barks out commands from the rear.

                True leaders deflect praise and accept blame. Leaders worth following point to the work and efforts of their subordinates when praised and take responsibility for any failures of their organization. They know that success comes from the hard work and toil of their subordinates and recognize that publicly. They also realize that success comes with risk and encourage their organization to take risk. When things go badly, to the extent possible, they protect their subordinates from risk related failure.

                Leadership requires these and several other traits; more than a single blog post will allow. Here in part one, we’ve looked a few. In the next day or so I will post part two. At any rate, if you come this far, take some time to think about what you expect from a leader. Are the leaders in your life displaying these traits? If they are, then they are worth emulating. If not, then they only hold the position or title of leader and are not worthy following as they will not lead us any place we want to go. Tune in again for the second half. As always, leave a comment, good or ill, as honest feedback helps.

Trampling the Poor

                I grew up in a home where we honored God and His word. I thank the Lord every day for the example my parents and grand-parents displayed. Do not for a moment think I never swerved from the path illuminated by God, His word, and my family. Those of you that know me well know the depth of my personal failure and forays into darkness. Paul claims the role of “chief of all sinners,” but I cannot point an accusing finger at anyone. That said, during my life I can safely say that I’ve read the Bible cover-to-cover multiple times. Yet, despite that God still amazes me with stringent “oh my” moments.

                Opening His word with an open heart and mind regularly convicts me of my lack. God reveals His heart and mind in scripture. Most of the time, I enjoy the comfortable familiarity of scripture. I sit down with a good close friend and enjoy a pleasant chat over a good cup of coffee. We draw closer. He shares His intimate concerns, His love for me, how He inclined His heart toward me long before my feet printed the dust of this globe. I relish those moments. They comfort me. But then I run across a passage which shines light in places I’d rather not carefully examine. Today was one of those days.

                I’m reading Amos; one of the “minor” prophets. As a modern day protestant I tend to focus on the New Testament. Our modern view of scripture and God’s relationship with man as delineated through Jesus tends to make us minimize the Old Testament. But in all those words, those lives, those moments God speaks to us. He calls to us across millennia and miles revealing His heart and His love.  Amos might have penned the passage from chapter eight for me, today in Lubbock, Texas.

⁴ Hear this, you who trample on the needy

    and bring the poor of the land to an end,

⁵ saying, “When will the new moon be over,

    that we may sell grain?

And the Sabbath,

    that we may offer wheat for sale,

that we may make the ephah small and the shekel great

    and deal deceitfully with false balances,

⁶ that we may buy the poor for silver

    and the needy for a pair of sandals

    and sell the chaff of the wheat?” Amos 8:4-6

Evidently during the life of Amos, the leadership of Israel despised the poor. They considered the poor as a source of income. Apparently during the Sabbath, a time designed to increase their trust and thankfulness for God’s great mercy, they focused instead on how they might more effectively abuse the poor. They sought to rig the economic system of the day in ways that enhanced their riches while extracting everything they could from the poor. Forgetting that the riches they enjoyed came from the gracious hand of God, they dealt deceitfully with those of lessor means. Amos goes on in his preaching to proclaim that God will sweep the rich leaders away.  Clearly those of means had come to consider the poor as being that way due to their sinful nature. If they were righteous then God would bless them. Since they were poor then obviously they had done something despicable to earn such a state. Things have not changed much in the three-thousand years or so since Amos wrote.

We despise the poor today. We make the casual assumption that they remain poor in order to enjoy the fruits of our labor. After all, a person with only a modicum of ambition and effort would surely enjoy success and not be a drag on society. Mention the poor in one of my classes and students will dutifully trot out a raft of stories about how a somewhat distant relative or friend witnessed a poor person begging who at the end of the day, hops into a very nice car and cruises off after a comfortable day of bilking the ignorant generous. Or another favorite chestnut, the poor who only accept cash, not food or other form of help. While there may be some modicum of truth in those stories; just enough to give them currency, they signify a deeper problem. We assume that poverty indicates some level of nefarious malfeasance. The poor are poor because either they are so bent as to always make the wrong, lazy, choice or they enjoy a life of poverty and sloth. We agree with Scrooge as he sings in the musical about, “…the indolent masses sitting on their indolent asses…” Not only do we despise the poor, we take actions based on that base assessment.

We regularly enact and support a variety of laws that demean and abuse the poor. We hail means testing, drug-testing, and work-fare as great solutions to the problems of the selfish lazy that plunder our national coffers. I find it oddly discomfiting that scripture does not encourage such screens for generosity. Of course someone will dutifully trot out II Thessalonians 3:10. In that passage Paul does say, “…If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat.” But, if we look at that passage Paul is not speaking about the poor in general. He’s speaking about a specific group of fellow believers who were engaging in idleness. I believe it is taking that scripture far out of context when we use it to somehow limit our generosity. Interestingly enough a few verses later Paul says, “¹³ As for you, brothers, do not grow weary in doing good.” II Thessalonians 3:13. The passage, which we so often use to limit our generosity, ends with an admonition for us to continue to work despite the challenges this kind of work brings. We should not take the Pauline passage so out of context. Instead we ought to continue our benevolent work, cultivating compassion for the needy.

Amos cried out against viewing the poor with contempt. And we as Christians, followers of God, ought to echo that cry. We need to defend the poor and helpless. We need to work against attempts to limit the help our society offers those in need. It is true that they have made poor decisions life; so have we all. We ought to seek out ways to encourage them, to bind up their wounds, and extend to them the same help and love that we would desire if we encountered trouble. 

Incarceration

                Recently I had cause to visit someone in jail; not a frequent activity for me. Perhaps that is a significant comment on the shallowness of my faith and witness. At any rate, I sat there waiting

under the harsh green fluorescent lights in an uncomfortable indestructible industrial chair facing a small computer screen behind a thick layer of Plexiglas listening to the conversations around me. I listened to a father pour out his love on a struggling son. Across the way and young mother held an infant up to the screen, hoping that somehow the video would help the father form a bond with the tiny baby. Next to me a grandparent tried to encourage a distraught grand-daughter. Pain, love, loss, and gain all mingled in that harsh room of steel and plastic. In that room lives either come together of fall apart. Loved ones make the trek to the edge of town to blunt the edge of despair. If you drive the road during visiting hours you might even see a mother pushing a stroller down the shoulder, hoping, perhaps praying for better days. Occasionally you catch a glimpse of someone walking down the road back toward town. Released from confinement, no one came to get them so they trudge down a dusty, windy, West-Texas road toward an uncertain future. In that room dreams, futures, and hopes flare and die.

                No one gives birth to a child they hope will end up incarcerated. We all hold our children hoping for a better future, one filled with joy and fulfillment. All too frequently I take the easy way out and think of those who traffic that room as somehow deserving of that fate. After all, if they only made better choice in life. That is an overly simplistic and grossly self-serving view. Yes, personal choice do result in a variety of consequences; however, that person in an orange jumper is someone’s little boy or girl. They ache and they hurt for them. Painted into a corner, some make awful choices thinking there is no other way.

I listened to one father implore his son, “Son, yah gotta listen to me. When you get out, get out of here. There is nothing but wage-slavery for young black man with a record in this town.”

We could quibble with him all day long about the goodness and truth of his advice. But we would miss, perhaps ignore, the pain and loss in that father’s advice. All father’s want to help guide their sons into successful adulthood. The best he could do was to urge his son to flee; find another place to grow.

                Somehow we must learn to see those who we’ve incarcerated as individuals. Yes, individuals who’ve made mistakes, some horrible and gruesome, but individuals that someone loves. We must never forget that God made them in His image and that He loves them. It may be that society must lock them away for a while. We need some level of good order and discipline in our world. But, they remain people, not numbers, not animals dressed in orange. Their families, even though they may be fractured and dysfunctional, love them. They undergo significant deprivation and humiliation through this process. They need some sort of sympathy a measure of tenderness.

               We must learn out to reach out to those families that suffer such indignity and loss. They need our sensitivity not our condemnation. Of course we can dissect their mistakes and rationalize our way to ignoring them, casting them aside like so much refuse. But, that ignores their very real pain and loss. It does nothing to help them move forward into a better place. It also virtually guarantees that the next generation will follow them into another industrial room where love, pain, loss and hope mingle and the best of them die.

Family Easter

                Easter. Mention this holiday and most of us think of Easter Eggs, Chocolate Bunnies, and Peeps. One of the many memories that flicker past on the silver-screen of my mind finds its origin in Fort Worth, Texas; about 1966 or 67. I was in either first or second grade. Brian, my brother, would have been around four or five. We’d moved to Fort Worth while my father attended TCU, finishing up his PhD. Those two years provide a store of pleasant memories. This is a simple one. We gathered around the kitchen table color eggs; nothing profound, deeply meaningful or revealing; just the four of us enjoying dyeing eggs a variety of pastels. My mother showed me how to put two colors on one egg. After a few tries, resulting in rather muddy colors, I got a nice blue and green one. I remember the pleasure mastery of such a simple skill generated. I wish I could attach some deep meaningful insight to this event. But, no, it’s just one of many happy memories from my life. It just happened to occur on, or near Easter. Today, Easter means much more to me.

                Yesterday we gathered as a family for supper. Saturday was the day we could all get together. Brian came over early in the morning and we started smoking the brisket. All day long he and I chased the shade across my backyard as pungent smoke drifted past, intermingling with the unstructured ebb and flow of conversation. About two-thirty or so my father showed up to elevate the discussion and then the rest of the clan trickled in. Sometime around five-thirty-ish we crowded into my kitchen, joined hands in prayer, and then fell to. As is usual, the food was excellent. Tiffany cranked out some outstanding baked beans, my mother baked like a fiend and produced delectable pecan-pies and blackberry tarts, Brian and I managed to smoke up some passable Brisket and pork-shoulder. The walls fairly shook with laughter. Later, after we were all sated, the younger generations repaired to the back porch for several hours of “spoons.” Eventually they all headed home and quiet reigned once again. Today we attended the early service at Turning Point Community Church. So what does all this have to do with Easter?

                In John 10:10, Jesus reminds that he came so that we might have life and that more abundantly. In our modern North American Christian context we often skew this passage into material abundance, disregarding the rich abundance of the relational life Jesus brings. From the simple coloring of eggs to the boisterous happy gathering round the table, Jesus’ resurrection inhabits our days. When Jesus shouldered our sin and shame, He enabled rich and meaningful relationships. Unencumbered by guilt we embrace each other with freedom and joy. Sadness, mistrust, and guilt have no place at the table in the love of Jesus. The empty grave reminds me that He took all of that away. When the angel rolled the stone away, he also rolled away all the things that hinder personal relationships. All those things, the pain, the hurt, the betrayal, the anger, bitterness, and resentment, that stand between family members He took away. During the last supper, Jesus speaks clearly about his impending betrayal to the apostles. They insist they would stand fast until the bitter end. Peter boldly declares that he would remain steadfast to death. We all know how this unfolds. Peter fails his Lord and himself and flees shedding tears of wretched personal bankruptcy. Three days pass.

               Among the first messages Jesus passes to His beloved, is one for Peter. It lets him know that what was broken is now mended. The wounded have been healed. His presence is cherished. Relationship is restored. The joyful family gatherings that have so marked my life came as a result of the empty tomb. Easter enables right relationships. We do not have to limp along pretending that all is well when it is actually frightfully wrong. Easter brings the exciting hope and reality of renewal. Our pleasant evenings full of laughter come not because we’re paragons of familial bonhomie. They are the result of the new life that spreads out in ever-widening ripples from the empty tomb. Easter mends things, even those fragile and so easily damaged family relationships. After Easter, laughter rings off the walls. 

Transformation

                A meal transformed. I gaze at my supper, laid out on the square plate; a grilled lamb-chop, some steamed Brussels-sprouts, unleavened bread and a glass of wine. The aroma of the grilled lamb-chop drifts up; a mélange of olive-oil, garlic, coarsely ground pepper, and fresh rosemary at once familiar and yet exotic. I do not often cook lamb or unleavened bread. Despite the busyness of the day and rapid approach of the hour of our departure for Good Friday I was compelled to make my own Seder (Passover). I let my mind drift back several millennia to the first transformative Seder. A people trapped in bondage hurriedly feast, anticipating their impending transformation. The salt and herb encrusted lamb speaks of the bitterness of bondage, reminding me of my own struggles against the fetters of sin. The bread speaks loudly of sustenance, transforming my weakness into strength. Its flatness whispers of a hurried flight from darkness into light. All of this washed down with wine, grapes transformed. For a few moments I, those ancient slaves, and all those believers in between gaze at each other across the table; laden with broken bread, lamb, and wine. All transformed by ultimate pascal lamb. A meal, a people, a man transformed by a single death, the ultimate sacrifice the true pascal lamb.