The Tebow Miracle?

People are talking about Tim Tebow's Denver Bronco's overtime payoff victory over the Steelers as a miracle. Others see his 316 (as in John 3:16, perhaps the defining biblical verse of Christianity) passing yards in the game as a sign from God. You could even look at the game as battle between Tebow and the anti-Tebow (sorry Ben, you don't have the reputation of a good man).

Well, I don't believe they are signs or miracles. God doesn't care who wins the game. Going out on a limb, I don't believe Tebow thinks God is controlling the outcome of the game. What matters is that God is glorified—win or lose. If prayer or devotion swayed the outcome of your life in your favor, Christianity would be nothing more than a recitation of incantations. It is nothing close to that.

From what I have seen and read, Tebow is the real deal. The real deal Christian that is. Whether he is the real deal as a quarterback, to be listed with the greats, that is to be seen. 

He has proven himself to be a winner at every level he has played in. He QB'd his high school to a state championship, his college to the National Championship—twice. Not many thought his Broncos deserved to be in the playoffs, let alone given a chance to beat the Steelers. Well, anything can happen in the NFL.

One of my other favorite players was also a driven winner and a Christian—the Bears Mike Singletary. The iconic image of Samurai Mike was through his face mask with those crazy, intense eyes. Singletary is a man who believes that "The meek shall inherit the earth," but he would explain to you that meek is not a synonym for docile or wimpy. 

After Tebow ran in a touchdown, he had that same Singletary intensity. He was cheering on and motivating his teammates and causing the hair to stand up on my arm. My sixteen year old daughter said "wow" because she understands what a game face is and has seen that same desire to win.

So, when the Broncs lose in the playoffs (and they will, because they are not that good, yet) that does not mean Tim fell out of God's favor. If the outcome were that easily swayed by God, the Saints would win every Super Bowl and the Padres would win the World Series year after year.

Rahm and Residency

A few weeks back, an issue was made of Rahm Emanuel’s residency. From where I stand, the issue is clear. Rahm is not a resident of Chicago. However, there are two standards—one for the folks and one for the politicians. 

In Illinois you don’t have to ever live in the District you represent. This was the case with former US Representative Melissa Bean. When she first ran for the House, she promised to move into her District if she won the election. She won, but she did not move. Apparently, she and her family like their current house and neighborhood. How is this right or good?

When I was a kid, my Dad was a Chicago Fire Fighter. I learned union business from a young age. My parents and their friends were immersed in union politics. My Father ran for union office several times, as did many of his friends. Back in the day, among the hot issues were: manpower, retirement age, hair (including side burns and mustaches), and residency. 

The old timers cared about retirement age, the young guys cared about hair, but all firemen cared about residency. It touched everyone.

At the time, some guys lived in the ‘burbs. They lied about their real addresses. Some referred to their suburban home as their summer cottage, they put the title in their wife or parent’s name. Some used a relative’s address as their official address, although they did not live there. But, their mail went there.

I knew one family that kept Dad’s job a secret. They all said the old man was a builder. They never had firemen over for parties. The kids could not tell their schoolmates what their Dad really did.

One of the words I remember thrown about a lot was domicile. “Where do hang your hat?” That was the phrase. Where do you live with your wife? Where do your kids go to school? The rest was cheating.

When my retired parents passed away, my wife and I were cleaning out their house. I showed my wife the house plans my parents had for their dream house—in suburban Addison. They never built it, and we never lived there. My Dad told my Mom that if they were caught living out of the City, my Dad would lose his job or they would have to move. My Mom hated the idea of losing her dream home. So she never had it. 

Sorry, Rahm. Your residency is a sham. You lived in Washington D.C. for the past couple of years. Keeping a couple of boxes in a house you rented out does not maintain your residency. It is a ruse. You lied, but you got away with it. 

When you become Mayor, will you change the City policy and let cops and firemen to live where they want? I don’t think you will.

Illinois Budget Crisis (or Legislature Crisis)

In a time of budget crisis, the legislators in my home state of Illinois are looking to clobber us with Corporate Income Tax increase of 46% on top of a personal Income Tax boost of 75%. Our neighbors in Minnesota are debating eliminating Corporate Taxes. So, who’s crazy here? 

What if I told my customers that I did a lousy job running my business that caused me to go deeply in debt. Therefore, I will have to raise my prices—some up by 75%—to get through this tough time. I would not be able to get a going out of business sign up fast enough. That’s what would happen. 

Anger

This comes from a book I read. I found it fascinating. 

At a physiological level, the issue is not how high the level of cortisol spikes in our system during the fight-or-flight response but how quickly it returns to normal levels. "It takes less than 90 seconds for limbic system programs to be triggered, soar throughout the body, and then be completely flushed out of our systems," explains Jill Bolte Taylor. "If you stay angry after 90 seconds, it's because you've chosen to stay angry."

—Tony Schwartz,"The Way Were Working Isn't Working" p131

Think Tank: Flip-thinking - the new buzz word sweeping the US

A great article by Dan Pink about flipping the sequence to change your outcome.
http://bit.ly/9uSZa7
     
“If you do what you've always done, you'll get what you've always gotten.” —Unknown

The Fall Election

The upcoming fall 2010 election will not be a referendum on Obama. It will not be a referendum on Socialism. It will be a referendum on the bailout. This is the public’s first time to voice its displeasure with the government's corporate bond holder welfare scheme.

Facts & Stats: Chinese Cities

At least 25 cities in China have a population greater than Chicago (2.9 million).
Source