Today on the show...
In Cincinnati, Ohio, you can order a pizza and track down a county "Deadbeat Dad" at the same time. Customers at some of the local pizza shops are placing "wanted posters" attached to the top of their take-out, delivery pizza box tops.
The idea is to 'shame' the Deadbeat Dads within the county, in hopes to convince them to 'pay up' (or leave the county) with the authorities. Just a thought here; While they are shaming the dads, is anyone thinking of the children?
Deadbeat Dad's can be 'deadbeat' in moral behavior and responsibility, or they can be in some particular dire-straights. On the other side of this equation, ALL of the children will be heavily impacted.
We all know the pizza is the food item of choice for today's adolescent child. Every time someone shouts, "Let's order a pizza", we'll have some kids ask for extra pepperoni, others proclaiming, "leave off the onions", and a quiet, small number looking for the nearest exit.
Is the public humiliation worth the individual pain of embarrassment it may cause the children. If you were a youth leader, would you order a pizza from this company?
Presidential candidate John Edwards has started a project called, "Work a Day in My Shoes."
Edwards is encouraging all of the presidential candidates to spend quality time, "working" the jobs of those in the service industry, the common salaried marketplace and labor sector. Sounds like a great idea to me.
Why not encourage our candidates to spend 'days', not 'hours', working? Right now they work to raise $300 million to place political ads on media outlets, trying to convince people that they really understand the hassles of their lives.
I say actually 'spend a full 8-hour day' working at (with other workers) a nursing home, the check-out at a grocery store, or making decisions on fixing up a remedial house on a realistic budget. Here's another fun idea; They must drive themselves for a day in regular traffic.
Maybe, the next time someone asks a political candidate, "How much does a gallon of milk cost?", they might know the answer.
Under my determination to get away from "creeds" to serve others with God's love in "deeds", this gives me some hope for our political leaders, and it should challenge all of us in 'the church' to do the same.
Stop debating and wrestling over denominational, ego-centered "creeds"...let's douse them with our "deeds". They will know you by your love - Jesus' love through you, to Abba's Graceland.
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