Your barista is not your enemy.

Schools across the US need to do a better job teaching civics and history.  What those history lessons will show is that unions are largely responsible for the creation of the middle class.  There wasn't always a middle class.  The emergence of the middle class happened when child labor was ended, when the 40 hour work-week was instituted, when safety on the job was recognized as a reasonable expectation, and when Henry Ford was forced to stop sending goon squads into the homes of his employees at night to conduct searches.

Yes, everyone can tell stories about how some union was too greedy or protected unworthy workers, or engaged in some other offense.  But overall, I have to believe that the good they have done vastly outweighs the evil they have done.  As evidence of that assertion take a second look at the above list and imagine those dark days returning.

The percentage of Americans with membership in unions has been declining for some time.  So too are the percentage of Americans that can describe themselves as Middle Class.  The Middle Class is rapidly becoming a sliver of our society.  Soon, I fear, we'll need a name for the largest segment of American society.  May I suggest the following:

• wage slaves
• the working poor
• serfs
• tired, poor, huddled masses
• the downwardly mobile
• former home owners

Union members are not Al Queda.  They are not the Viet Cong.  They are not anyone's enemies.  They are our neighbors, our kids' teachers, the people who keep us safe.  They are the people who make our lives better.

Why education is worth supporting.

As a young child I was taught, both at home, and in school, the value of good manners.  For example, if you want something that someone else is holding, you ask for it politely.  You say, "May I use that eraser?"  You do not grab at it; you do not demand it; you do not ask for it with a request laden with insults: "May I use that eraser, you Boogerhead?"

One of my concerns about the slash-and-burn approach to state and national budgets these days is that the quality of- and accessibility to- education seem clearly to be at risk.  If that education slips, opportunities for learning basic interpersonal skills, including manners, will be diminished. And if that happens, we'll have a generation of elected officials who don't have the necessary skills to govern.  They'll try to run through legislation at 1 AM when the opposition is on break.  They'll try to destroy collective bargaining, even as they watch textbook examples of unions agreeing to asked-for concessions.

Oh wait!  That day has already arrived.  The good news for Gov. Walker is that he has had the benefit of thousands of teachers that came to Madison to give him some remedial education.  Let's hope this time it sticks.

What's next for Egypt? What's next for any of us?

We've all been thrilled in the last few days to see Egyptians celebrating their success at ousting Mubarek.  The question in everybody's mind now is 'what's next?'  It's a long way from the vacating of the presidency to having a healthy, functioning, democratic government.  Protesting in the face of possible arrest and torture must have been frightening.  But the job ahead for Egyptians now is certainly daunting.

Over a hundred years ago Walt Whitman wrote this: Now understand me well-- it is provided in the essence of things that from any fruition of success, no matter what, shall come forth something to make a greater struggle necessary (Song of the Open Road, 14).

We can move from one success to the next, through struggle, but even when a goal has been reached, there is another struggle before us.  Maybe this sounds obvious, but I had some trouble learning this in life.  When working toward a goal I would always imagine the upcoming plateau to be longer and sweeter than it was, granting me a longer break from the next chapter than life would allow me.  I would feel disappointment that the next challenge was as big as it was, and as immediate.

With some age and experience I have changed the way I look at my work.  I put less emphasis on getting a challenge over with, and more emphasis on recognizing that the work I'm challenged with in the moment is the right work.  When you love what you do, and have appropriate challenges in front of you, life is good.  You can take a big bite and enjoy it, even if it's not easy.

Not all of us can do a lot about proclaiming the Kingdom of God in our workplaces, but each of us can look at our lives as a whole to see if, and where, we are engaged in the work that matters most.  Not all of us have to be Mother Theresa, but if we are engaged in the right work, somewhere in our lives, we will feel that we are, in fact, part of God's solution, and not mere spectators.  What's the right work for you?

"Stress Begins."

The front page of the Feb. 2 edition of the Vilas County News-Review featured a photo of  a doe in deep snow with this caption: STRESS BEGINS With snow depths going beyond 18 inches this week, biologists say the most stressful part of winter has begun for white-tailed deer."

The deer ain't alone!  Christmas is over, New Year's is over, even the Super Bowl is over.  Experience tells me that, even in places with shorter winters, this is a dangerous time.  People lose perspective.  People lose hope.  People lose focus.  That makes this the perfect time to reach out to someone.  Maybe that person that you sent a Christmas card to, but didn't hear back from.  Maybe that old classmate that you had that random thought about.  Go ahead and be a surprise to someone else.  It might be that nothing comes of it.  Or you might discover that you were a welcome lifeline to someone feeling even worse than you.

I've put suet in the bird feeder, and corn in the deer feeder.  Next I'm going to make a phone call to an old friend.

On the advent of the Super Bowl

The only sports team I've ever really followed is the Green Bay Packers.  That's due to the fact that I grew up in north-central Wisconsin.  I'm back home in Wisconsin now after living in IN, IL, KS, DE, MI, OH over the course of 30 years.  The green and gold just look "right" to me.

It was like a welcome-home gift from the Packers that they should make it to the Super Bowl my first year back.  And I'm not stupid-- I know they might lose.  But I'll watch the game anyway and scream and shout and enter into the whole group experience.  People in Wisconsin churches joke that the Packers are the "state religion."  And occasionally one hears grousing that church life must plan around the Pack: i.e. avoid after-church events on days when there's a noon kickoff.

But if Jesus was walking the earth today I think he would enjoy the Super Bowl.  I have to think he would enter into the human drama of following a team through the season and riding along with the ups and downs of a game.  Jesus understood how humans are wired and danced at weddings and cried at a friend's grave.

I won't lead prayers in worship for a Packers victory (though I expect they will be requested!), but I will joyfully be a part of the community experience and enjoy one of the great joys of human life -- being a part of a group endeavor, cheering on my friends -- even friends I know only at a distance.