Thursday, Indianapolis, Indiana

Can you imagine being under unfair suspicion for a dozen years by the police - as well as the entire country - for the murder of your own young child? Here you are, stunned in grief that your little girl was killed in the basement, but you must use your energy and keep your focus on trying to prove your innocence! How do you even begin to get your mind around this trauma? You can’t even begin the coping process because the police have turned their suspicions on you as the suspect in the crime. This is the nightmare that came upon the Ramsey family in Boulder, Colorado in 1996.

After more than a decade of suspicion where the press accounts led many, if not most Americans to believe that the parents were somehow involved in their daughter’s murder, the Ramseys were finally exonerated. New DNA evidence formally eliminated the family as suspects and made clear that an unknown male was at the scene that night. Boulder District Attorney Mary Lacy officially apologized for the cloud of suspicion that has hung over the Ramseys for all these years. This was some comfort to John Ramsey but too late for mother Patsy who died in 2006 of ovarian cancer - going to her grave without the vindication she deserved.

We live in trust that the authorities will behave with honor and competence, and that while we might possibly become the victim of a criminal, we will be protected by the police and other law enforcement authorities. But when we become the victims of the very system itself, the nightmare becomes all too real. Today’s vindication comes far too late for the Ramsey family, virtually destroyed by the unspeakable tragedy visited on their house the night their little girl was slain.

The capricious whimsy that can bring down upon us the power of the civil authorities when we are innocent is among the most frightening possibilities of life. The Ramsey case is a cautionary tale. The District Attorney’s apology is weak and late and shameful.

Wednesday, Indianapolis, Indiana

I give a lot of speeches throughout the year to all sorts of groups. I speak to meetings of large corporations from a wide variety of industries. They could be sales meetings, leadership conferences, association gatherings or fundraisers. After spending 17 years as a nightclub standup comic, I have thoroughly enjoyed the past 12 years as a speaker (although my presentation does indeed include standup comedy). Traveling around the country you can imagine the number and variety of people I have met. Among the coolest experiences has been the opportunity to speak to gatherings of investment clients of extreme wealth.

I can attest in all honesty that I really don’t envy such wealth. Of course I want to do well, and I am a successful professional. Sally and I have a life we love. Materially we have what we need, which is not extreme. But it has been fascinating to meet and engage these remarkable individuals who have accumulated staggering levels of wealth either through inheritance or their own amazing business success. The reason I’m usually asked to speak to such gatherings is because of my message about quality of life, emotional balance and coping with the stress of living. In particular, the concern I have heard expressed most frequently from these groups is how they can raise their children in their unique family environment of affluence in a way that will ensure the development of good citizenship and solid moral character. And without exception I have been deeply impressed by the integrity of concerns these individuals have for this issue.

Perhaps it has been my exposure to these people who take seriously their obligation to balance their personal largess with civic responsibility. Aside from the silent, anonymous wealthy, we are all well aware of, and admire how people like Bill & Melinda Gates and Ted Turner, among others, comport themselves as people of limitless wealth - they are hard working, proud of their accomplishments, demanding of others - but also generous to the poor.

Whether you admire them or not, their commitment to service and sharing is what every person of limited means would like to believe that they themselves would do. And so it is in light of these examples that we are horrified by the public behavior of so many celebrity entertainers and athletes who flaunt their wealth and behave despicably. Talk about needing role models!

From the jet setting teenage girls of no particular talent, like Paris Hilton and her ilk, to singers and actors whose talents are admired completely out of proportion to what other people of skill do, and the pantheon of professional athletes who attained godlike status it is all so embarrassing. No one resents Tiger Woods, Bono, Michael Jordan, Tom Hanks and other worthy role models. But partly this is because their personal lives reflect the same characteristics of humility and gratitude as their professional lives.

Tuesday, Indianapolis, Indiana

Every baseball fan knows that the New York Yankees are more than a baseball team. With the richest winning tradition in their sport, they are also a lightrneing rod for publicity, living in the intense glare of the New York media juggernaut. They are a constant public soap opera whose stories get as much attention as the performance of the team on the field. The antics of the superstar players OFF the field are as much the focus of the media as their athletic statistics. And it seems that there is always a personal story brewing in the Bronx.

Among the many high profile Yankee stars followed by the tabloid as well as the sports media, Alex, “A Rod” Rodriguez is a frequent target of rumors and stores about his turbulent relationships with teammates and the fans. A Rod is among the highest paid athletes in America, as well as one of the most prolific hitters in baseball. But especially since arriving in New York City, he has been a constant subject of off-the-field stories, usually having to do with his complicated relationship with teammates and the notoriously demanding New York fans. But the latest lone is a real beaut! It seems that A Rod has been stepping out on his gorgeous wife with…er…MADONNA!!

Say what!?

Yeah, That MADONNA! The 49 year old whack-job singer, actress-wannabe Madonna has captured the heart of Rodriguez! Here he is, a young 20-something, incredibly rich and good looking stud superstar, smitten by the aging, pretentious pop-princess, publicity hound. A Rod’s wife Cynthia, on news of the shenanigans, filed divorce papers claiming that Alex has abandoned his family.

What in the name of heavens is this morton thinking? The infidelity is bad enough. But are you that shallow that you fall for the cheese ball, posing spirituality of multi-millionaire Madonna…ah…herself a married woman with young kids?

If there was any doubt about Rodriguez’s personal judgement, this seals it. He is now consigned to a laughing stock in popular culture.

Way to go, A … Rod!

Indicators that you have faulty personal judgement:

- At 50 years old, you tell you wife & kids that you’re quitting your job to “make it” in rock music

- For vacation you decide to go camping alone in the Columbian forest

- You cash in your 401K and invest your life savings in a women’s Roller Derby Franchise

- You propose to a woman you met a week after she is released from prison

- A week before starting a new job at an accounting firm you get a tattoo on your face

- Lured by an offer of 5% off the sticker price & 15% financing, you just bought a loaded Hummer

- Despite having no training you climb a pole in your yard to fix a faulty electrical connection

- Although you liver in a tiny, studio apartment in the city, you buy a Saint Bernard dog

- As a joke you streak at the wedding reception of your employer’s daughter

- When your computer emits a strange hum you try to fix it using a hammer

Monday, Indianapolis, Indiana

Of course it had to happen; no one lives forever. But this past weekend, fittingly during the Fourth of July holiday, a great icon of Americana passed over to the center ring in heaven. I’m sure there was a great gathering of deadly circus veteran in world history to give a “standing O” to one of the great O’s, BOZO the Clown.

For countless decades, BOZO was America’s clown. All you would have to say to someone is the name, BOZO, and the same picture appeared in their head as in yours. Every feature was recognizable and iconic; his voice instantly identifiable. BOZO brought joy to millions, and frightened many - although never intentionally. His image is so famous that it has become part of the English lexicon, often used derisively to describe someone who is frivolous. If someone calls you a BOZO, it is not a term of respect. But even though his name was bandied about to mock somebody, I don’t think BOZO was ever offended himself. Let’s face it, BOZO was secure. BOZO knew - and what - BOZO was.

Jerry Seinfeld used to make me laugh out loud with his short riff on Bozo. In his act he would ask “is it really necessary for BOZO to end the word ‘the clown?’ I mean is it really necessary to add that phrase? Is this so he wouldn’t be confused with BOZO the district attorney?” I know the legendary clown Barnum and Bailey CircusEmmett Kelly defined the identity of a clown for generations. But for baby boomers and below America’s clown was BOZO. Rest in peace.

Friday, Indianapolis, Indiana

Sameer is an honor student who, by the way attended the school where my wife Sally is the principal. He is polite, well spoken and obviously a brilliant young kid. Decked out in a jacket and tie, he was accompanied by his parents and siblings each of whom is a model of courtesy and decorum. At a time when we pay so much attention to anti-heroes, rebels and those iconoclasts who flout convention, kids like Sameer are rarely held up to be the role models they so richly deserve.

Cynics discount values that are perceived to be “old-fashioned” or “old school.” The fact is, however, it is the traditional values cultivated in our children, as they obviously have been in the Mishra family, that establishes character and raises leaders. Demanding that our children learn habits of respect, self-control and focused labor is not, as it is sometimes perceived, harsh parenting.

Being overly permissive in the raising of children is essentially to abandon them emotionally. Despite how pleased they may be in the moment to do as they wish, children are not done any favor when they are not held accountable. Insisting that children learn to take responsibility is the essential task of parenting.

Sameer Mishra and his parents deserve to be held in esteem; they deserve to be emulated. And what is most admirable about this family is far more than simply prowess in spelling.

Thursday, Lafayette, Indiana

As a college student during the turbulent late 1960’s, I certainly remember the onset of the drug culture among young people. It was during this time that marijuana, acid and, for the really heavy hitters, heroin became more widely used and, most significantly, more openly used than ever. And among the headline stories was of course the introduction of the psychedelic drug LSD, and its profit, Dr. Timothy Leary.

Leary, of all things off Harvard professor, claims that he accidentally ingested a small mushroom while in Mexico. The effects, he testified “blew his mind.” The experience he said was mystical and “spiritual.” In the subsequent years, Leary openly advocated the use of the psychedelics, urging young people to“ turn on, tune in and drop out.”

Yes, this was the sage counsel of one of Harvard’s research professors to the young people of America. Is it any wonder that so many look back on that era with scorn? Since that time, of course there is still a distressing popularity for the use of illegal drugs, but wreck havoc in the lives of individuals and families. The appetite that too many Americans have for addictive drugs to follow Leary’s dubious advice is what keeps the global drug industry more lucrative for poor farmers been growing rice, corn or coffee.

Be that as it may, an amazing new study at Johns Hopkins University in Maryland subjected these “magic mushrooms,” technically known as psilocybin, to controlled laboratory tests with human volunteers. About three dozen individuals, in laboratory safe conditions, were given one dose of the mushrooms and had their reactions followed. While many reported the predictable experience of visions and altered consciousness, what was perhaps most surprising to the researchers was the long-lasting effects but the experience has had on the subjects. In fact, after a year, the majority are still raving about the memory and ongoing effects of their participation, even though they never had another hallucinogenic dose. They routinely described the experience as so powerful that it has significantly altered their lives spiritually and psychologically! Whoa!

On the one hand, this report probably doesn’t do much to dissuade young people about using hallucinogenic drugs. If anything, the vaunted name of Johns Hopkins University verifying that “magic mushrooms” will indeed blow your mind is probably going to be in the sales literature for every dope dealer in the world. This was certainly not what the researchers had in mind, of course. In fact, their intent was far more noble, pointing out that this experience can offer great relief from the psychic and even physical suffering of individuals who have been diagnosed with a terminal illness. Who among us wouldn’t celebrate that?

And yet it’s a twisted irony that those who take this news as an encouragement to using psychedelic drugs have perhaps consigned themselves in the end to a terminal illness.

Wednesday, Lafayette, Indiana

It took me a while to think of a post today. This is in part because today marks the beginning of the third year of the pop-culture journal. That’s right, I have written every day for two years. First of all I want to express my profound thanks to all of you who have been steady readers. I have experimented with different topics and styles in the hopes that I have provided insight, entertainment and distraction to your busy day.

As a begin his third year, it is my hope to hear from you about what content you prefer. I’ve worked hard to maintain a balance between an open expression of my point of view, with respect for yours. I have never wanted this journal to be too narrowly partisan. I feel like I am best equipped to offer the insights that come with my training and experience as a therapist. If there are topics you would like me to comment upon, anything from your favorite television shows to what’s going on in society let me know. I will happily oblige.

E-mail me by clicking here

Tuesday, Kentland, Indiana

I’ve spent the majority of my life on the East Coast. Between New York and Long Island where I grew up and New England well went to school and lived for a time, I had little or no exposure to the Midwest. For good part of the past decade, however, I have lived in Indiana. My wife Sally grew up here and so now I have relatives who are Hoosiers. I’ve come to love them all.

Among my new family, one of my favorites is our niece and nephew, Brad & Jodi who are farmers. They grow crops and raise livestock and it’s been a great experience learning about what they do. For starters, I’ve been amazed at how technologically sophisticated farming has become. The crops are planted using incredible machines equipped with computers and global positioning systems. The care of their livestock utilizes the latest science about animal health and growth. I love going to the farm to simply watch how they do what they do.

Over the years we have celebrated the years of their bounty crop And we have prayed for them during the years when weather - too much rain or no rain at all - ruined their crops and meant that they essentially earned no money. What a life! But aside from the unpredictability of whether and other unexpected eventualities, what is most impressive to me is the steadfast commitment to life informing requires. The lifestyle allows very little flexibility for days off or time away. The livestock doesn’t take vacation and attending of the crops has its own in flexible schedule. Brad & Jodi, alone with their four children don’t miss a day of work because they cannot miss a day of work.

The demands and responsibilities that are inculcated with the children and farm families are unique. I don’t know of any other family lifestyle that teaches children life lessons in such broad strokes as that of a farm family. Farm kids learn about life, death and birth control or ability in ways that are profound, unlike anything I have never experienced. At a time and in a society where so many children grow up with a sense of entitlement, assuming that their needs will be taken care of by others, the lessons gained by growing up on a farm are probably what more of our kids need.

- Your farm does not have a barn

- The only tools you have in your barn are a hammer and a phillips head screwdriver

- You often plant crops while drunk

- You wear a jacket and tie every day

- You often feed your cattle table scraps

- Because of your neglect, your goats and sheep have mingled and bred

- Despite the consequences you insist on taking your vacation time during the harvest

- You keep forgetting to neuter the male calves and now you have two dozen mature bulls roaming your land

- Although your farm is in Minnesota, you planted 200 acres of bananas

Monday, Lafayette, Indiana

It was 150 years ago this week that Charles Darwin submitted a paper outlining his famous theory of evolution. His theory directly confronted the tenets of his Christian church. Challenging the belief of “intelligent design,” Darwin argued that the evidence around him suggested that living species change through a process having to do with adapting to their environment,“evolving” in order to survive.

As is the case with so many radical scientific theories, it challenges people of religious faith to themselves adapt, reconciling the scientific “evidence” with the accepted interpretations of the Bible and church dogma. Over the centuries this has happened on several occasions. Among the most famous, of course, was when astronomers verified that the Earth was not in fact the center of the universe, but was a planet that was itself orbiting around our sun. And of course as time went on this scale of the known universe was staggering beyond imagination. And of course, the church and its theologians were compelled to re-articulate their understanding of reality and the rule of the Creator God in this new context.

To this day, of course there are those who flatly reject the idea of evolution, and instead accept a literal reading of the book of Genesis that asserts the creation by God in a matter of days. It has become a hot button issue in education and politics as states and local school districts determine the science curriculum to be taught to their children. To those who stand firmly on either side of this debate, there is little flexibility in their ideology. And in such cases, we are reminded that rigid positions are rarely sustainable.

As a person of convicted faith, I just find such matters a useless distraction. While it is interesting intellectual discourse to ponder the scale of reality, it is ultimately, of course, well beyond my capacity. Living by faith means living without the assurance of evidence. What seems certain and real in times past frequently evaporates demanding a new understanding of the world. Inflexible religion is an obstacle to faith. And I find unthinking dogma as ludicrous as committed atheism. Both positions are absurd.

Wherever you find yourself on these matters, good luck with that. As for me, I’ll stick with the counsel of Jesus, to love God as fully as possible, and to love and serve my neighbor more than myself. I don’t always do it well, but it’s a significant enough challenge to occupy all of my human energy.

As for Darwin, we can never really know the full truth of what he proposed. But I know he was human.

Oh, and, by the way, he married his cousin.

- You can swim underwater for several minutes at a time

- Pictures of your great grandfather show that your eyes are significantly closer together

- Your hat size has decreased by two inches in the last ten years

- You hairline is now in the middle of your forehead

- Your grown children are six inches shorter than you

- Others notice that you move your lips like a fish

- Your toes are growing together

- When your arms hang at your side you can touch your knees

- While sleeping your snoring sounds like the chirping of a toad

- You can out run your dog

Friday, Lafayette, Indiana

I am not a gun owner…um…yet.
I say that because I have seriously considered getting a gun for a couple of very specific purposes in my life. One is that I am starting to spend more time taking photographs in some areas where there is a possibility I could encounter a critter that intends to do me harm. Although I believe the odds are quite low, and I’m not eager to start blasting away, I am considering it for my own peace of mind.

The other reason is that in our city we do have an encroaching problem with crime. Our neighborhood is great and safe, so far, but we are not far from areas where I know some bad guys live. Perhaps my awareness has been heightened because of the time I am spending with the police as their chaplain. And I might feel better for those times when I am not at home and my wife is alone in the house. So I’m thinking about it.

It seems that the decision has been made easier with the ruling of the United States Supreme Court yesterday affirming that the Second Amendment means that individual citizens have a right to be armed. It is not necessary that we belong to a local “militia.”

I asked several of my friends at the police department for their point of view about this issue. And overwhelmingly the opinion is agreement with this interpretation. What the police tell me is that their main issue is concealment and excessive firepower. The possibility of somebody they approach concealing a weapon is what elevates the danger to their life. And when it does happen that there’s an exchange of gunfire, being out matched by the criminal is a legitimate worry. But freedom to have and use a weapon is a right they believe we should have. In fact, many of the police officers I know are avid outdoor enthusiasts who hunt and fish. On the job, however, uncontrolled availability of concealed weapons changes the chemistry of all their encounters.

I did find it reassuring that the majority opinion of the court emphasized that this decision does not eradicate the ability of the government to make sensible laws for the public good. Not being a lawyer I don’t know exactly what this decision changes for people like me, for hunters or for criminal gang bangers. But I know that I will be paying attention.