Straight and Crooked Thinking

The title above is the name of a book I had to study in literature while attending university.  I have thought about it off and on during my life since then but never more so than this past year as the world seems to be hovering on the brink of something we thought had disappeared after 1945.  The rhetoric that Donald Trump has been spouting this year is echoed around the world but particularly in Europe partly as a consequence of many years of immigration into Europe.  Immigration coupled with the loss of manufacturing jobs in both North America and Europe is resulting in lower economic standards as well as expectations for the future for a large part of the population.  One can understand this discouragement but surely we should remember that pointing fingers at any ethnic group as the cause is a lesson we should have not only learned but been deeply ingrained into us as crooked thinking.

Using words like “nationalism”, “America First”, “making (insert country name) great again” and other phrases can and will be misconstrued to mean something more which in turn can lead to something very dangerous.  The world watched and even quietly participated in the mass destruction of a people before and during the Second World War.  No country in the world would accept Jewish refugees out of Europe in the 1930’s except for a handful of people here and there.  I bow my head in shame when I admit that even Canada and Denmark said no, two of the most generous countries in the world.

Today Europe has taken in millions of refugees from not only the Middle East but from Africa, Afghanistan and other countries including Eastern European countries.  As a consequence not only their economies have suffered by their social systems have become overburdened.  I can understand why the people of those countries are tired, upset and even angry when the systems they have contributed to with their tax dollars is now diminished and putting their retirements and children’s education at risk.  It’s easy for sly politicians to work on this dissatisfaction and so create political traction by exploiting discontent.  Just so did the Nazi party set to work in Germany.

I would as my readers to question what you read and hear over the next four years and to be sure that what you understand is not a “tickling of your ears” because of your personal circumstances.  Remember, this too shall pass.  When you come out on the other side I truly hope that it will be with Straight Thinking and no regrets.

Once again I would like to recommend the book “Every Man Dies Alone” by Hans Fallada.  My father had tried to convey to me what it was like to live in Germany when everyone feared their neighbour but it never resonated with me as strongly as the reading of this book did.  A remarkable telling by a German who experienced this in Berlin before, during and after the war.  Never should such a thing happen in Canada, please God.

A Beloved Grandmother

Today was my maternal grandmother’s birthday, 121 years ago.  It hardly seems possible that she was born that many years ago and only one generation separates the two of us.  I have to blink several times to remind myself that I am no spring chicken myself and yet . . .

Time is sneaky.  Day to day we question “what time is it” or “what day is it” and as Christmas comes upon us we start asking “I can’t believe another year has gone by”.  Sneaky little dickens, Mr. Time.  Time may be manmade but whatever we want to call it, it marches on without missing a beat and with no consideration towards the frailties of mankind.  A split second can make all the difference in an Olympic athlete’s life and a human life time can disappear before we can turn around.  That’s time and that’s life.

My grandmother was given the name Erla Algunda, Gunda for short and she was the second youngest in the family.  She was a beauty and also blessed with intelligence.  Oddly enough she did not marry young, as her sisters did, but instead had a career as a nanny that took her to Copenhagen.  At one point she was on the brink of immigrating to Australia to join an uncle and cousin but then she was called back to Fredrikshavn to care for her sister’s brother-in-law’s children.  He had become a widower and had 4 young children.  She knew him very well and the next thing she knew she was married to him. 

That’s how two sisters married two brothers and how my mother had three female cousins who were double first cousins.  My great aunt Olivia and great uncle Julius were my mother’s favorite relatives and she would holiday with them every year. Olivia was 10 years older than Gunda but they were very close as sisters.  Within a few years my grandparents moved to Aalborg but the family ties were strong and visits to each other’s homes were frequent.

Even though my grandmother married quite late in life, she was in her late 30’s, there was genuine love and sympathy between the couple as well as a shared sense of humour.  My mother tells many stories of how they would prank each other and tease each other and really the only noise in the house was their laughter and the clatter of children’s feet.  There was never any yelling or quarrelling.  Mom can only remember one time when her dad let out some swear words, that was the day when he set off to work after his breakfast, opened the door, exclaimed “For Fanden!” and slammed the door.  He went back to the kitchen table and poured another cup of coffee while the kids and Gunda asked why he wasn’t going to work.  “You won’t be going anywhere today.”  He said.  They all ran to the window.  Snow had come down overnight and was now knee deep after a wonderful spring Sunday the day before.  Mom said it was the only day in her working career where she was late to work.

I can just picture such a family scene.  Because of Gunda og Johs my mother’s demeanor has always mirrored their quiet way of being and our own home was likewise strife free.  Love and admiration go out to my beloved grandmother on this day, her birthday.

Normal Thinking vs Backward Thinking

I was going to post my Christmas story today but I thought better of it and instead though I would lead in the new year with my thoughts on thinking.  As you will recall I did a whole 90 minute course on improving thinking which was geared towards achieving goals in life, big, small, creative or routine.  This in turn lead to all kinds of humorous ways of perverting my thinking or making fun of said thinking.  But there was an awful lot of “thinking” going on in 2016 which disturbed many people, myself included.

As chance would have it the PBS ran two interesting programs in the last couple of months, one on the Reformation and one on Early Christianity.  Both programs invoked my thinking beyond religion into the trap groups of people can fall into by charismatic leaders.  Some may not even be true leaders but instead just good speakers and what might have been a good idea, thought or movement rapidly sinks into a morass of personal agendas and ideas that were never intended by the originator.  Part of the Early Christianity program dealt with the conflict of various followers of Jesus and then the various apostles in what they thought was the “right” way of thinking about Jesus.  Some felt that the teachings of Jesus was the key to Christianity while others thought his end was the most important basis of Christianity.  Now that is a fundamental difference in thinking.  From there it was not hard to see how the diversity of religion occurred.  Again the same thing started over with the Reformation as others thought Luther was not drastic enough in his returning to teachings of the holy scripture.

I take that as the example as I look at the current mode of thinking declines into degrading lies, hatred, racism and so much that is unworthy of humanity.  How did all of this type of thinking get so much traction?  Furthermore how did viewers, listeners and readers fall into the trap of countenancing this type of rhetoric and allowing it into our homes via television, radio and computers?  How can it be that such a large number of the population has lost their sense of discernment, their core values or the ability to think for themselves in a way that is uplifting not only for themselves but towards all of humanity?  Forgive the worn out comparison of the Romans feeding the mass frenzy in the coliseum but is this where we are being herded?

So when I title this normal thinking vs. backward thinking I hope my readers can appreciate that I am not wanting to disparage anyone but rather get them to pause at the politeness of the mirror.

Three Things for Canada - Acts of Service

Calgary’s Major Naheed Nenshi sent out a challenge not just to Calgarians but to all Canadians to help make 2017 an awesome and inspiring year but asking each citizen to do 3 Things for Canada (as acts of service) this year.  What an amazing thought and a wonderful way to celebrate Canada’s 150^th birthday year.  I hope that schools will take this on as a very teachable way to create good citizens for the future and corporations can take this on as their way of giving back to the community.  For the rest of us citizens it is a way to bring us back to our core values and forget the vanity and materialism in the world in putting other people first.  The way forward in civilization is to look out for one another and work towards the common good.  What a way to show Canada’s greatness in the world – leading the way (one hopes).

I have thought of various ways that this could be done without contravening my personal bias against charitable organizations or a volunteerism that would rob people of paying jobs.  It took some thinking and researching to come up with some ideas but here they are:

Blood donations, visiting with seniors, donating to the food bank, donating clothing to not-for-profit charities, paying forward at coffee shops or grocery stores, donating books and magazines to senior homes, local shelters and other organizations in need.  Donating time to community events and services, shovelling neighbours’ sidewalks or driveways, cutting their grass, helping weed their gardens, donating seeds or plants to other gardeners, walking neighbours’ dogs, volunteering at animal shelters or volunteering at school events.  Some of the volunteering is skirting the line in taking away a paid position but one also has to be cognizant of the need for these volunteers because the money just doesn’t seem to be forthcoming from the government.  There are a lot more types of volunteering such as helping to serve meals at local shelters, driving people to cancer treatments and more. 

My personal goal will be to try to do an act of service once a month therefore I will do a check-in with you in April to see how I am getting along.  I hope others may take the challenge that Mayor Nenshi has issued and at the same time find personal fulfillment in doing something nice for their neighbour.

 

Use hashtag  #3ThingsforCanada to move it forward and check it out at http://good-company.ca/3-things-canadas-150th/

2017 is Ringing In

Happy New Year.  Auld Lang Syne.  And so on and so forth.  As the Christmas season came upon us I started writing about what life was like a century ago but somehow it seemed much too cliché or pat or irrelevant to post.  And it was depressing.

Instead let’s try a different approach.  I woke up this morning.  Good start to the new year, I am alive.  The house is warm, the lights are working, and there is food in the cupboards and milk in the fridge.  The stove works and the kettle will soon have the coffee ready.  There’s still money in the bank and Canada is at peace.  Day to day is looking pretty good.

This year Canada celebrates 150 years of Confederation and citizens are getting a few perks like free passes to the National Parks.  Cities are planning events and I am having family from Europe for a visit.  Friends and family are rallying to entertain guests.  Summer plans look very good.

Costing out hens and bees; assessing building of hives and fences.  Checking on trees and bushes surviving the winter.  Customer base is viable and expanding.  The summer gardening season looks promising.

The Christmas pile of books look inviting, the study schedule at Yale is exciting and the writing skills are limbering up.  The imagination is primed, the humour is in perfect order, the inspiration is around the corner.  The brain activity is in high gear.

Friends abound in good wishes, invitations are starting to come in for the new social seasons, lunching here and brunching there.  The book club is meeting again and conversations are lively.  Mother’s brain is still in order and there is no need for silver bullets this year.  Cooking and baking recipes have been reviewed and hosting parties will soon be viable again.  The social hat is ready to wear.

I would say that 2017 looks very promising from a personal perspective.  I hope your mental review of the new year’s prospects are as nice as mine.