Random Thoughts

I was visiting with a "headhunter" the other day who had contacted me at my workplace. This person was not looking for me in particular; she had only called the company and asked for the director of operations. While she was speaking in very general terms, she asked me what my ideal position would be. Of course I knew that she was talking about the transportation business, but I said, "I would like to write."

That's it. If I could do anything in the world that I could choose, I would choose to write full-time. Whether it is about religion or politics or anything else under the sun, I love to write. How ironic it is that at this very moment, I can think of absolutely nothing to write about.

However, it occurred to me while I was thinking about my ideal that I was completely engrossed in only what interested me. There was no thought about how such a position would affect my family or my home, there was no thought about whether this might be what the Lord would want me to do, and there was not even much of a thought about whether I could make a living at it.

Yes, I have tried to sell a few pieces here and there, but one syndicated writer who was kind enough to evaluate my work warned me to expect several rejections. If this is part of the game, then I am well on the road to success! Incidentally, he liked what I sent him but he refused to pay for it. Funny guy.

Other random thoughts:

• How much information do I really need? A high school senior, apparently very popular, outgoing, and accomplished, was recently killed in a single-car crash. Her school and almost the entire state mourned her passing. She was young and beautiful. It was later discovered that she was drunk with traces of cocaine in her system. Did the entire state really need to know this?
• Why is power so intoxicating? This nation's Congress is as divided as this nation's churches. It is not enough to simply disagree and try to prove the other wrong. It seems we would rather destroy the offending party for ... what? Control. Power. We want - no - we NEED to be right. But even more than this, we NEED the opposition to be wrong. Only then can complete dominance be achieved.
• How badly was FEMA managed during Katrina? Think about it. New Orleans knew for DAYS that a massive hurricane was coming. As I understand it, the Feds cannot come in without permission from the state. Folks are still displaced, audits are discovering that huge amounts of money have been virtually given away without really checking things out, there are 10,000 mobile homes parked in Arkansas that were originally destined for the gulf region to be used as homes that now cannot be used down there. But was all this mismanagement or political knee-jerk reactions without any real thought process?
• Was it really that big of a deal? The vice president was involved in a hunting accident. So was Billy-Bubba and a host of others, some of whose victims did not live to tell about it. Why was the vice president's mishap of such national importance?
• The government cannot be all things to all people. My congressman sits on the House Armed Services and the Veterans Affairs committees. Both committees are exploring how to provide the best care for veterans, and I am sure they are focused on the current war on terror. However, should non-combat veterans be entitled to the same benefits as our counter-parts who have endured the horrors of war? I was a peace time Marine and was proud to serve. However, I just don't feel "entitled". Does this make sense? The government, contrary to popular opinion, has limited resources. If choices have to be made to cut anything in order to provide what is really needed, shouldn't the non-combat vets be willing to stand aside? After all, our service was "self-less", wasn't it?

Is this a great country or what??