The New LPGA

The LPGA (Ladies’ Professional Golf Association) has issued a policy that if players don’t speak English well enough to pass an oral exam, their membership will be suspended.

Since when did any sport have language as a condition? There are lots of good reasons why a player coming to North America should learn some English. But to put it down as a condition of entering a tournament is unacceptable to me.

It sounds as if the American association is concerned that too many players from other countries are winning their tournaments. When it comes time to accept the prize, they are not as eloquent as their English-speaking counterparts. This apparently does not satisfy the sponsors and the television networks.

This ruling is no threat to most European golfers. Any visit to that continent will result in your realizing that most young people speak English quite well.

The policy seems to be directly aimed at Asian golfers.

I have one word for you LPGA – translators. What would you rather have, somebody’s words from the heart translated or that same person spitting out some clichés they have learned, giving 110% while doing it?

As far as marketing is concerned, if the Koreans are doing so well, why not approach companies like Kia and LG for sponsorships?

We just finished watching just over two weeks of the Olympic Games. Can you imagine how this spectacle would be tarnished if speaking English was a requirement? For me, it was this blend of cultures that made the competitions so interesting. I didn’t see any interviews with the Chinese gymnasts, but that didn’t seem to bother me. I had witnessed the best in the world competing against each other. That was enough.

I think I would like to change the meaning of the acronym LPGA to Let’s Play Golf Again and get over this bureaucratic regulation requiring somebody to be less than herself.

How To Say Goodbye

Sometimes I can't say it any better than others. I discovered this video today. I want to share it with you. Unfortunately, I couldn't imbed it in my blog, so you will have to click on the hyperlink. I hope you enjoy it. I have put the words below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fk5K-eTTkfM

How To Say Goodbye - Michael W. Smith
Tell me when the time we had slipped away
Tomorrow turned to yesterday
And I don't know how
Tell me what can stop this river of tears
It's been building up for years
For this moment now

Here I stand
Arms open wide
I've held ya close
Kept ya safe
Till you could fly

Tell me where the road ahead is gonna bend
And how to harness up the wind
And how to say goodbye

Tell me why
Why does following your dreams
Take you far away from me
And I knew that it would

Tell me how to feel the space you left behind
And how to laugh instead of cry
And how to say goodbye

Here I stand
Arms open wide
I've held ya close
Kept ya safe
Till you could fly

Tell me where the road ahead is gonna bend
And how to harness up the wind
And how to say goodbye

If you like this one, try another by Michael W. Smith.

Dealing with Disappointment

You are one of the finalists. You wait. You anticipate hearing your name called. The moment arrives. Somebody else’s name is called. You shake your head. You think it must be a mistake. You listen again for your name to be called. Silence.

For the last two months, I have waited to hear the good news that I was getting a certain job. It had to be. Fate had stepped in. All the pieces seemed to fit. The phone call for the interview came out of the blue. The executive director of the company called me. The salary was perfect. Even though the position was out of town, I was told I could work from home most of the time. I was asked if I like to travel, and I do. The interview went well. I was just waiting for the confirmation that I was the one.

I wasn’t the one. I found out today.

I feel like a home hit by a bomb. There is rubble everywhere.

This isn’t the first time I have had to deal with disappointment. It won’t be the last, but I have learned a lot from times like these.

The first lesson I have learned is that I can’t build on the rubble. After the initial bad news, I may have to go down even more. I have to get rid of all of the disappointment before I can start building again. It’s sort of a like a house of cards. There is no sense working with the few cards that remain. You might as well knock them down and start from zero. You have to clear away the crud.

But you aren’t really starting from zero. You have learned how to build your dreams up to a certain point. All you have to do is figure out how to finish it off.

I learn a lot from nature. The sun sets only to rise again the next day. One dream fades away; another grows.

There is no use wasting your energy on what might have been. There are so many “what will be” moments to prepare for.

Don’t get me wrong. I am not painting a pretty picture. I’m not trying to rationalize away my feelings. I am really disappointed right now. I have learned that before I can clean the toilet and get on with things, I have to flush it first. I am in that moment when I am flushing away all the waste. Tomorrow I will start again.

There are other hills to climb, other treasures to find, other victories to experience. There is no use dwelling on the failure, except to realize that I have learned from it.

It reminds me of an experience I had years ago. I went through a divorce that really hurt. I pressed on in life. A few years later, I got a job with Softball Canada. Some of the circumstances surrounding my getting the job were more than chance. I was going to the world championship in Taiwan. We had planned exhibition games in Japan before the event. Then we got the word from our Minister of Sport that he had agreed that we would play in China. He did this without our permission, but we didn’t have the choice. While we were in China, we were taken to the Great Wall. While I was walking along this structure, a voice said to me, “Your divorce wasn’t nice, but you have always wanted to walk on the Great Wall of China. While it would have been good to save your marriage, you wouldn’t have been here if it had.”

Great things often come out of great disappointment. The phoenix does rise out of the ashes. However, if you don’t look for it with expectation, it never will.

Our Olympic Team

Now that the Olympics are over, experts are looking into their crystal balls trying to figure out how Canada can do better at the next games. Inevitably, the discussion turns around to giving our athletes more funding.

While I am generally positive about the idea of the Olympics, I don’t like the idea of spending more money in the attempt to win medals. Here’s why.

1. It is still pretty well suspected that banned substances still play an important part in athlete performance.

2. Sports that require judging have been surrounded in controversy. Tae Kwan Do has been a disgrace for more than one Olympics. Boxing ranks a close second. Even more respected disciplines, like gymnastics and diving, are not above suspicion.

3. Some athletes are there to gain “experience”. That is another way of saying that they have no hope of getting a medal. Finishing 28th doesn’t warrant a free trip. Make it more difficult to get to the Olympics, then maybe people will perform at a higher level if they want to go badly enough. The money saved could be spent giving athletes more to train.

4. Yes, athletes train hard. Many of them party even harder. In Beijing, 100,000 condoms were available to athletes. For some athletes, years of training resulted in less than 15 seconds of performance if they were eliminated in the first heat of the 100 metres. After that, what do they do for the duration of the Games?

5. The sport system in Canada is inverted in some sports. The power is in the provinces and the national direction is weak. This is evident with some athletes seemingly representing Canada and Quebec, for example. If Canada is on your shirt that is what you are representing, period.

If we are to spend more money, then I make one suggestion. The athletes who receive funding need to give more back to their sport. Parading their talents every four years, then complaining that they don’t get coverage doesn’t do anything for me. There needs to be an outreach to the young kids in Canada. That means the javelin thrower who represents our country should be going into the community and encouraging others to take up the sport.

When I made my first softball team, I remember what my coach said. He asked us to promise to put more back into the sport than we took out of it. I took him seriously. Even in my teens, I was a player, a coach, an umpire and treasurer of the local league.

Finally, our Olympic athletes, with a few exceptions, are not our heroes. I have no idea who represented us in most sports. I feel we could be just as effective as we have been at spreading good will around the world without spending as much money as we do.

Is it impossible to compete without spending vast amounts of money? The best example was the USA’s men’s water polo team. It got very little, if any, funding, yet it won the silver medal.

Olympic Glory

The 2008 Olympics are officially over. For the past two and a bit weeks we have been glued to our television sets watching athletes perform in sports we don’t care about most of the time.

Aside from a sport or two we might care about, we will forget about most of the performances with the exceptions of Michael Phelps and Usain Bolt. Quick, who won the women’s 100 metres? Who won the marathon? My guess is that you don’t know the answer, even though both of these events took place less than a week ago. If you have forgotten them already, just how important are these competitions?

In some sports, the results don’t often reflect the efforts of the athletes. Much has been said about the irregularities of the judging in tae kwan do, wrestling and boxing. Diving and gymnastics fall into this category of suspect scores.

So why not ditch the Olympics altogether?

I don’t know if you have noticed, but with the coverage of the Olympics, coverage of the bad things of the world has decreased. Newspapers have only so many pages and television and radio have only so much time. If you put in more sports, you have to take something away. It has been kind of nice focusing on the accomplishments of men and women instead of the destruction.

I sort of like the idea of most of the countries of the world assembling for a common purpose. I like it even more that the all of them seem to get along together for a few weeks.

So, in spite of all its flaws, I like the idea of the Olympic games.

Happy Anniversary

One year ago, I wrote my first article for my blog. At that time the goal was to try to write something every day for a year. I have come pretty close to reaching that goal. With the exception of twenty days or so, I have penned something for you to read.

Creating this volume of articles has been a bit like running a marathon.

In the beginning, it was rather easy. I had a lifetime of ideas and thoughts jumping out of my brain onto the computer keyboard.

As the year went on, there were times when it was a struggle. The ideas didn’t come as quickly. Just like an athlete has to dig deeper to find the oxygen needed to run, I scraped my mind for anecdotes to my life.

Like tonight, there were many times I was writing against the clock. It is 11:24 pm and I have until midnight to complete this. I haven’t much time to weigh each word.

Like a marathon, there have been times when I have wanted to give up. I forced myself to write something, anything, in order to keep on going. Like the crowd on the side of the course, sometimes your cheering me on has helped get through the difficult times.

As the runner is focused on his performance, I have done the same. I immerse myself in my writing. While I am aware of some people writing what I read, I really don’t know who is reading this, when they read it, and how they feel about it unless they leave a comment. I don’t think that Oprah has discovered my blog yet.

As I look back on the race, there are moments when I feel I have written very well. Some of it is pretty good. Some of it is not very good at all. I have felt a kinship with the people who write comic strips for a living. Every one doesn’t make me laugh every day.

Writing everyday and searching for something to say brings vulnerability. It is as if I am standing naked in front of the world and everybody has his or her clothes on. You know what I am thinking. I have no idea what your feelings are. You may disagree with my views on a lot of things. That’s ok. Part of my belief is that for this world to work, we have to respect the fact that people will have different ideas about a lot of things. I have worked almost 58 years to come up with my opinions. I have earned them honestly. I am still learning.

I have crossed the finish line today. I have accomplished my goal. I am tired, yet satisfied, that I have had the discipline to do what I set out to do. I still intend to keep on writing, but I will not try to write for the sake of writing. There may be a few more gaps.

Unlike a marathon, I don’t know whether I won a gold medal or not. The judging is more like diving or gymnastics. Regardless, I gave it my best and I am happy and proud of that.

Setting Goals

If you aim for nothing, you will hit it every time. Unfortunately, you will learn nothing in the process.

I have just found that I have to go into the hospital for a hernia operation. It’s not too serious. It may be the result of my hip operation weakening the area.

My doctor recommended that I get it done at the Stratford Hospital. It didn’t take friends long to tell me that there was only one place to go – the Shouldice Hospital in Toronto. For the past fifty years they have only done hernia operations. Their procedure, which is different from what would be done in Stratford, has made it known world-wide. In spite of the trust in my doctor, my research on Shouldice convinced me that this is the place I should go.

When I looked at the website, I was impressed. Their approach is very different from other places. They repair each layer of muscle instead of a quick repair job. They say that you might even walk away from the operating room when the procedure is over. They keep you there for a few days, instead of releasing you. While you are there, you are encouraged to play pool and use their bowling alley. I am looking forward to the stay. They even have social events for former patients.

I filled out the paper work and sent it in. My operation date is December 3, but there is one catch. They told me that they expect me to lose twenty pounds.

The first reaction of many would be one of grief. I am actually excited. I now have a great reason to shed some weight. I look forward to the transformation that will take place in the next few months.

The hospital is very supportive. It is sending me a diet.

In the past few months, I have played the waiting game. I have been living in the present, but the future hasn’t showed much promise. Now I have something I can look forward to. I have a goal to reach. I have my Everest to conquer and I look forward to standing on top of world knowing that I have reached my objective.

Going down a road is much more interesting when you have a destination in mind.

Softball Gold

Japan upset the United States in women’s softball at the Olympics.

Softball has been taken off the Olympic roster and may never return. One of the reasons was that the USA has been so dominant in the sport. It has been as if people want to give them the gold medal before the tournament begins. In Beijing, you could have made a good case for doing just that.

Whether softball returns in 2016 is hard to say. Japan’s astounding win certainly improves the chance that it will, but a lot will depend on the politics of the Olympic sport associations.

I was reading the CBC comments to their report on their website. Somebody hinted that the fix was in. That person doesn’t understand softball very much and he knows the people who play it even less.

To start, it is a team sport. On any given day, any number of players can have a substandard game. If it is the pitcher, the team may be in big trouble. Even something as simple as who the hurler is going to be may be the determining factor.

In 1984, Canada was at the men’s world championship. In the semi-final, Canada’s pitcher dominated the USA and we won 4-0.

Rather than following through on the rotation, the coaches made a last-minute decision to go with the same pitcher. He wasn’t aware he was on the mound until two hours before the game. Unfortunately, he didn’t have enough time to prepare mentally, emotionally and physically. It was apparent from the first inning that he wasn’t as sharp as he had been the day before. Canada lost 3-1 to New Zealand.

On to the second point. As is the case with many sports, the difference between first and second place can be very small.

Finally, to suggest that a fix was in is an insult to the athletes. Do you really thing that the players would spend four years preparing for this competition, only to throw it away?

Don’t suggest for a minute that the officials might have decided the outcome. In international competitions, the umpires compete for the right to do home plate or be one of the officials in the final game. They are as proud to be a part of the Olympics as the players. There is no way they are going to favour one team or another. This is not like judging in many sports. It is a final game, and if the International Softball Federation used its regular formula, none of the umpires on the field was Japanese or American.

Yes, a great upset happened on the softball field, but not as much as you might think. This is the same Japanese team that lost a previous match to the USA in extra innings. And, no, there was no fix that the US loss was planned. On the contrary, give more credit to the planning to the Japanese coaching and the execution by their players.

And finally, yes, the result was good for softball in general. Having the US women dominate makes it boring. Having been the technical director when Canada lost the final game of the Men's World Championship to New Zealand, my heart goes out to the American women. It it tough when you feel that your moment of glory has been denied when you honestly believe you were the better team, but didn't perform up to your expectations on the day.

Passion

Doesn’t everybody feel the same way I do? If I do anything, I want to do it passionately.

There are many things I do in life with little passion. Mowing the lawn is the first thing that comes to mind. The grass grows and so I cut it. Sometimes I am tempted to let it grow and not cut it until I can get passionate about it, which will probably be never.

There are times when I write that I ache to get the words out. I can’t wait to get to the keyboard and let the thoughts spill onto the screen. I can be in bed in the middle of the night and something jumps into my mind and I leap out of my covers and rush to the computer.

One thing I love is having passionate conversations with people. A good example was tonight. The relatives of Nora Clench, who grew up in this house, are visiting and someone in town who knows a lot about her came over. I could feel the energy flow through the discussion.

It’s sad that I can no longer play softball due to a hip replacement. One of these days I may go out and play anyway. I am passionate about the game. I hate watching it, but when I am on the field, it is like I am on a stage. It is where I am meant to be. This passion has affected every team I have played for.

There are days as a teacher when I am passionate. These are days when I capture my students in a spell they can’t avoid. They are swept up in a tide of enthusiasm and something magical happens.

I enjoy being passionate about life. When I am I feel like a wild horse running at full speed with the wind running through its hair. My energy level is high and I don’t feel fatigue. Lately I have not been feeling that passion. I have been doing things that I am committed to do, like some volunteer work in the community, but I am aching to get into something that stirs my blood and focuses every bit of energy in my body.

Yes, I want to be passionate about life. I want my life to be like a sponge and soak up many positive experiences. Before I die, I want to squeeze that sponge so every bit of moisture is wrung out of it. I already have enough “what ifs” and “might have beens” in my biography. When opportunities come, I want to be ready to grasp them with vigour, not merely touch them.

Just Being Young

I watched a news report last night about students returning to university. It talked about the noise and violence that occurred at this institution last year. A local politician stated that steps were being taken by local government to make sure it didn’t happen again this year.

At the end of the interview a student was interviewed. She said that, in spite of efforts by others, it was frosh week. This meant that students would be carrying on with this type of activity because it was a tradition and just part of being a young university student.

Excuse me? Perhaps this was the reporter’s attempt of providing balanced coverage. Journalists often do this to give another viewpoint even when it may express what a small minority feels. The result can be making something big out of nothing – creating a problem that doesn’t really exist in order to appear fair to all sides.

I am getting tired of hearing viewpoints that make it sound like it is fine to disobey the law.

If we, as a society, are to be successful, we have to have a set of rules that we abide by. We have that. For every law, there is a good reason for it. While there may be mitigating circumstances to break a law for the common good, just being young is not one of them.

Our society has many problems because parents and others do not say no to our young people enough. I don’t mean saying no just for the sake of saying it, but I do mean saying no to things that are not good for society.

I don’t agree with every law that is written. That doesn’t mean I don’t respect them. If I choose not to obey one, then I am willing to suffer the consequences. What I can’t accept, I try to change in non-violent ways.

For example, I would have had trouble living in the parts of Ottawa a few years ago. Clotheslines were against the law. I find this hard to accept. Fortunately the province has made it illegal to ban clotheslines.

I often hear parents telling me that their kids are just being teenagers when they are doing something wrong. It’s as if they are unwilling to confront them in their errors and help them make wise decisions.

Growing up in today’s world is not easy. We are not making it any easier by ignoring the laws we have put into place for everyone for the sake of a few who want to disobey them.

The New NASCAR

When I lived in England, I got what many would consider the dream assignment from the CBC. I was sent to a racetrack called Silverstone to cover what was then known as Formula II auto racing. Formula II was one step down from Formula I.

I arrived at the track the day before race day to the sound of motors screeching around the course. They never let up all the time I was there. Race day was even worse. Every car was out on the track, squeezing ever ounce of energy out of its body, screaming all the way.

Those two days, followed by days of my ears ringing, strongly confirmed what I had suspected long before. I hate auto racing with a passion.

When I watch it on television, I have no idea what is going on. Once in awhile there is a crash. Often people scramble around madly to change tires and add fuel. Aside from this, I am just watching cars go around in a circle. I honestly think you could take the same footage from one year, edit it a bit differently, add a new commentary and nobody would know the difference. It would certainly save a lot of money and fuel.

The amount of fuel that is used bothers me. So does the amount of advertising you see everywhere. It’s on the cars, the driving suit, and the hats. It assaults you from every angle.

There is an argument that some may make that is a valid one. The fact that people raced cars from pretty much the moment they were invented has led to important advances in the technology. In the early days, something going 60 km an hour was considered foolhardy. These days much time and money is being spent on making the engines more fuel-efficient and the bodies more aerodynamic.

But I have a better idea. Why don’t we start a NASCAR circuit that is based on solar power? There are cross-country races based on solar vehicles, but this usually amounts to a few university students rising to the challenge. Let’s get the heavy hitters out there. Why can’t Ferrari, Honda, Porsche and others get into the game and start pushing the envelope on speed and efficiency produced with alternate energy?

My guess is that the competitive spirit would take over and it wouldn’t take long to produce vehicles that would be efficient and cheap to run. It would wean us off our need for petroleum. The advances in energy production for cars could be passed on to other needs.

And once there is no need for oil, then what happens to nations like Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates? People often say that the war in Iraq has a lot to do with oil. Won’t taking away the need for this precious liquid take away conflict?

And there will be one other good reason I just might like this new form of NASCAR. It will be quiet, that is until sponsors realize they can use the silence to have cars play audio versions of their commercials as they pass by the crowd.

One Silly Centimetre

Canada's Dylan Armstrong missed the bronze medal in the shot put at the Olympic games by one centimetre. That’s about the width of your baby finger.

Immediately my head is flooded with questions. How accurate are the people who measure where the ball landed? Was the tape they measured with as equally taut for Armstrong and the man who finished ahead of him? How would it feel to come so close after working so hard for something and miss by so little?

I then shift gears and start asking more questions. Aside from Dylan Armstrong and a few other shot put fanatics (I imagine there must be some), will anybody really care about anybody but the winner? Will anybody even care about the winner after the Olympics are over?

I love watching some sports at the Olympics, but for different reasons. In most cases, I don’t really care who wins. What I enjoy is the lesson learned that people can overcome obstacles to produce amazing results. I also learn that most things in life take dedication and hard work. Sometimes having the right genetic material helps. Unfortunately, having the right chemicals is often the difference. Regardless, the difference between first and fourth is often very, very small.

When it comes right down to it, I don’t really care about most of the sports. Fencing is a good example. Although I would like to try it someday, watching it doesn’t excite me. However, the story of fifty-year-old Jujie Luan from Edmonton interested me greatly. She returned to her native China to compete in fencing twenty-four years after winning a gold medal in fencing in Los Angeles. These stories about the human spirit are the ones that I enjoy.

The Olympics also teach me that there are often second chances in life. Four years ago, the Canadian eights rowing team, world champions at the time, finished fifth. Four years later, they have won gold with some of the same crew. Defeat was a mere stepping stone to eventual victory.

And if these stories can happen to these people, why can’t they happen to me? All I have to do is have the dedication and faith of these athletes and I can reach the podium on the desires of my life.

Somewhere

Somewhere out there you are waiting for me
And I just have to find you
Sometimes I feel so lost and I’m trying to see
And I just have to find you
Somehow I’m expecting the best is yet to be
And I just have to find you
Some way I will finally solve this mystery
And I just have to find you

One day I know you’ll be there
You will appear from nowhere
We will have so many moments to share
And you will know how I care

Do you feel the same way I do?
Tell me, I haven’t a clue
Is it hello or is it adieu?
I think it’s time that we knew

Somewhere out there you are waiting for me
And I just have to find you
Sometimes I feel so lost and I’m trying to see
And I just have to find you
Somehow I’m expecting the best is yet to be
And I just have to find you
Some way I will finally solve this mystery
And I just have to find you
Somewhere

The Olympics

I have been enjoying myself tonight watching the Olympics. I watched Michael Phelps win his seventh medal, but that isn't what excites me.

Although I was never at the level in any sport of reaching the Olympics, I did play at a very advanced level in fast pitch softball in the 1970s. The world champions were in my league in 1973. Men's softball has never been considered for the Olympics.

Still, that doesn't mean that I have never had that dream.

What I miss most about playing at such an elite level is the preparation for the game. I would try to go through the same routine every time.

I would arrive at the park very early. I would try to be the first one there. I would do my stretches and start tossing the ball back and forth. Gradually I would move back until I was throwing it about 40 yards without going over the receiver's head.

Eventually I would get into a zone where I would be totally focused on the task ahead. The only thing I had to be concerned about was executing what I was trained to do. The anticipation of success mixed with the intensity of my mind gave me a special feeling. Knowing that you are peaking for that special moment in your life is exhiliarating.

Watching the Olympics brings back all of these memories. It's a great feeling.

I’ve Been A Millionaire

It’s true. I have been a millionaire. In fact, I have been a multimillionaire. The only problem is that currency I had in such abundance was not the Canadian dollar. It was the Turkish lira in 1999. At that time a million Turkish lira were worth about $3.50 Canadian.

I was in Turkey teaching computer courses at the Canadian embassy in Ankara. The assignment lasted a month.

While I was there, I stayed at the Sheraton Hotel. By the end of my stay, my hotel bill was in the billions. There were so many zeros after the few numbers that it almost looked like the printer was in shock.

I even brought some million-lira bills back to Canada to give to people as stocking stuffers. At first they were impressed with their newfound wealth. Then they discovered how little the million lira was actually worth.

In life I have found people to be like that. The ones who are really worth a lot are not the ones who appear to be the most valuable with plenty of zeros after their character. It is the strong, silent ones that are often the most valuable.

A good example is my penpal, Marie-Jeanne. We have written for over 40 years. It has been nothing flashy, mostly a Christmas letter once a year. That friendship has endured and its strength was confirmed when she and her family visited recently. There isn’t much display or fanfare, but we just know that it is there, solid as a rock.

I was recently talking to a friend about cars. I was telling him that I hope one day to buy one that I really want, not just one I can afford. I told him that I want to buy a Jaguar. My reasoning is that people often buy cars to make a statement. They want something that will shout to everyone that they are rich, famous or very successful. A Jaguar doesn’t shout anything. It whispers very quietly that you don’t have to play this game. You simply have a car that defies comparison.

I can honestly say that my good friends are like Jaguars. They are not like Turkish lira – a lot of numbers with little worth.

Arab Logic

Talal Nasser al-Sabah, a member of Kuwait’s ruling family has been sentenced to death. He was caught in his home with more than 10 kilos of cocaine and 75 kilos of hashish.

There is a debate in this country about whether he will be pardoned because of his royal status. As an ordinary citizen, his fate would be sealed.

What impressed me was the judge’s reasoning on why such a harsh sentence was given.
Al-Sabah "deserves the death sentence ... for dealing with drugs and narcotics that threaten the security of society and lead its youth into the mire of addiction," according to the ruling.

It is not only in the Arab world that the penalty for being caught with drugs is death. Many countries in Asia have the same consequences. I remember being in the airport in Taipei and seeing a big sign as you walked towards your luggage stating that the penalty for being caught with drugs is death.

Meanwhile the governments in North America concede that they have lost the war on drugs. They keep on citing statistics from the Netherlands, with its liberal drug culture, showing that the soft approach is right.

I have been to China, Taiwan and Turkey, an Arab country. Being a foreigner, I may have been shielded from the sordid side of life, but I didn’t get the feeling that drugs were a problem at all in any of these places. I imagine that there are people who are taking them, but there is a general stance of non-tolerance to them and there is no evidence on the streets of any problem.

Notice that the death sentence statement doesn’t merely deal with Al-Sabah. It also looks at the consequences of his actions. He is part of society, so he bears some responsibility to it. Compare this with our individualistic way of life in North America.

What gets me is that we criticize some of the practices of other countries that to our eyes limit freedom. What we fail to realize is that, while we may have much more freedom, we are not responsible in the way we handle it.

We are preaching the democratic way to countries without the sensitivity that they may not want the social ills our society has created.

A Sad Day

I read the news today, oh boy! Actually, it was last week’s local weekly. In it was the death notice of a man I worked with a couple of years ago. The write-up was rather vague. I have learned that this usually means that the person took his own life. One conversation and a later phone call confirmed that Ron had gone into the garage, closed the door, started his car and went to sleep forever.

Although it is inevitable, death is a sad event. It is particularly sad when somebody chooses to commit suicide. It means that the person has lost all hope and sees no way out of his situation.

There are some who may be reading this who are thinking of ending it all. All I can say is don’t.

There are too many beautiful sunrises and sunsets to watch. There are puppies and kittens to hold. There are many joys that will eventually come your way. You want to be around to experience them.

Think of it this way. When you are down as low as you can go, there is nowhere else to go but up. The odds are heavily in your favour that things are going to get better.

Perhaps you have been hurt more than you can bear. What do you have to lose by hanging in there and see how that hurt can be turned into something beautiful? The pain you are experiencing now can actually be something that will strengthen you, even if you hate it.

Anyway, if you are eventually going to die anyway, why not just stay around longer to see what happens? You might be pleasantly surprised by the result. Miracles are possible.

You just have to look at the rhythm of life to know that there are cloudy days and there are sunny ones. There are times of sorrow. There are times of joy.

I saw a video yesterday of a tornado. It passed right by a tree. I expected it to be torn apart. For some reason, the tree looked pretty much the same after the wind passed. Although minus many leaves, some managed to remain attached.

As you go through the turbulent time in your life, be like that tree. Hold on tightly to your roots and ride out the storm. I can assure you that there will be a time in the future you will look back to the time when you decided not to commit suicide and know you made the right decision.

And if you need to talk to somebody, my email address is at the top of this page. Even if I don't know you, I care.

Three Churches in Montreal

Montreal is a great city. One of the many things it is known for is its churches and cathedrals.

One of the most beautiful is Notre Dame Basilica, which is nothing like the Notre Dame in Paris, but from photos I have seen, it is very beautiful inside. I can only talk about photos because refused to go inside, though. Why? They charge a five-dollar fee to visit the church. Apparently there is a ten-dollar light show you can attend, too.

Celine Dion had her fairy-tale wedding in this church. I wonder if this has anything to do with the charge for entry. Like any celebrity, fans often flock to anything that has to do with their idol.

Of course they have to raise money for maintenance and reconstruction, but it is a church, not a museum or a place of entertainment. In my opinion, there should never be an admission to a place of worship. To the secular world, charging an entry fee doesn’t seem so drastic. But God usually doesn’t make sense to a secular world. Why? Probably because people in the secular world are too busy trying to define God instead of letting him define them. Teachings like loving your enemy are difficult for everyone, yet a clear element of the Christian message.

Contrast Notre Dame with Marie-Reine-du-Monde. It is designed to be one-third the size and similar to St. Peter’s in Rome. There is no entry fee. What is even more impressive are the two signs, one in English, the other in French, at the door. They advise people who are visiting that they are entering a place of worship and to act and dress accordingly, especially during worship services. I only had a chance for a quick glimpse inside. My guess is that there is a box for donations.

The third is St. Joseph’s Oratory. It has the world’s second largest dome. St. Peter’s in Rome is the first. It is an impressive building. What was even more impressive was the reception we got. We arrived just as it was closing. Since there are many stairs leading up to the church, they provide a bus. The cost of the bus is by donation. Nobody prompts you to give.

When we hopped on, the driver got on the walkie-talkie and asked if the building could be kept open for a few more minutes so we could visit. We thought the other people on the bus were going up, too. They weren’t. They were waiting to go down, but they seemed to be all associated with the church. They sat in the bus chatting with great animation about a special service that was happening the next night. They mentioned it to us and invited us.

Here are my questions. Which church is merely a tourist attraction and which ones are functioning like places of worship? Which churches opened their arms to the public? Which ones are fulfilling the Christian message? From my brief exposure, I can’t say for sure, but I think I have a pretty good idea.

Of course, there are some who would take me to task for passing judgement on the three churches, but let’s put it this way. If I were to live in Montreal, I think it is a safe bet which church I wouldn’t be trying first as my spiritual home.

Life Is Hard

If it wasn’t hard, everybody would be doing it. It is the hard that makes it so great.

Tom Hanks said this to Geena Davis in A League of Their Own. Her character has just left the team because she felt that baseball was getting difficult. He is trying to talk her out of it.

I love this movie. It is about a women’s professional baseball league during that started during the Second World War and lasted into the 50s. Like all great movies, it is about more than that. It is also about life.

You can take the quote and apply it to almost any situation in life. It rings true every time.

I don’t want to live an ordinary life. I want to face challenges and conquer them. There will be times when everything will fall into place. More often than not, I will have to work very hard at things that are worthwhile.

In baseball, if you fail seven times out of ten, you are doing very well. Some say hitting a baseball is one of the most difficult tasks to do in sport. When you do get a hit, the feeling is sweet. Like the quote says, it is because it is so hard that it is so great when you can do it.

What obstacle are you facing in life? It may seem insurmountable right now, but when you finally overcome it, you will be so rewarding. Just hang in there tough. It will be worth it in the end.

Vacation

I am on vacation for awhile. I am showing my penpal and her family around Ontario and Quebec. I am not really near computers very often, so it is difficult to write a blog. Maybe that is a blessing. We have come too used to computers now. I have often thought that if terrorists want to cripple the western world, they should attack our computers, cell phones and Blackberries instead of people.

Oh well, I'll talk to you soon.