How a Bull-headed Doctor Saved the Newsman's Life

David Brinkley was one of the best known and most highly respected newsmen of the 20^th century. From NBC’s Huntley-Brinkley Report to ABC’s This Week With David Brinkley, he was a regular face on television news for nearly 50 years. However, if it had not been for bureaucratic stubbornness, Brinkley probably would not have been around to experience that successful career.

In the fall of 1940, Brinkley was set to start his studies in journalism at the University of North Carolina. The clouds of war were hanging heavily on the horizon, though. He was well-informed enough to understand that the United States would eventually get involved in the war already raging in Europe. Rather than wait to be drafted, Brinkley joined the army. America was not yet involved in the fighting, so he spent a dull year in the stateside army waiting for the inevitable. However, before his unit was sent overseas, army medics decided that Brinkley had a kidney ailment. He did not believe anything was wrong with his kidneys and he never had a problem afterwards. Nevertheless, the doctors insisted and sent through the paperwork for him to be medically discharged. Brinkley went back to his home town of Wilmington, NC and got a job as a reporter with the local newspaper.

His unit was part of the D-Day invasion at Normandy and continued to fight the Germans as they advanced into France. A few weeks later, a fleet of American bombers flew out of England to bomb German positions. Due to the weather, they were unable to drop their bombs on their targets. They had to unload the bombs anyway and it just happened that the place where the bombs fell was right on top of the 120^th Infantry’s Thirtieth Infantry Division – the unit with which Brinkley had served. 245 of 250 men in that group were killed by that tragic friendly fire mistake. The probability is high that David Brinkley would have been among the fatalities if the army medics had not insisted that he had a phantom kidney ailment.

Sometimes seemingly stupid and bullheaded notions thwart our ambitions and leave us frustrated. However, those apparently random detours to the courses we have planned for our lives can lead us to a far better place than where we would have originally ended up. Instead of filling a body bag in France, Brinkley went on to a distinguished and influential career. Who knows where our disappointments may lead us?

Christians naturally see the finger of God in many of these apparently chance events. Such divine intervention is impossible to prove, but we do know that God loves us and that He wants things to work out for good in our lives.

Presidential Mamas

If John McCain is elected as our 44th president, he presumably will continue a trend of having his mother alive on his Inauguration Day. Presidents Bush 41, Clinton, and Bush 43 all had living mothers when they first took office. George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton lost their mothers during their presidencies. We pray that former first lady Barbara Bush will survive long past the end of her son's presidency in January.

If Barack Obama is elected, the string will end. Senator Obama mentioned in the debate last night that his mother had died of cancer.

Debates

It is frustrating watching the Presidential Debates, isn't it? Each candidate has his talking points and certain lines of attack he is determined to follow. Charges are made, but not documented with evidence. Charges are denied, but not refuted with evidence. It becomes little more than, "he says/he says" and viewers have no way of know who is telling the truth.

Debates seem to encourage voters to make choices based on how glib the candidates are with quips or how polished they are as speakers. All things being equal, I'd prefer to have a good communicator in the Oval Office, but a polished public speaking style is hardly the number one qualification for an effective president.

A couple of off-the-cuff observations based on tonight's debate:

1) McCain seemed focused and direct talking about foreign policy, but fuzzy on other matters.

2) McCain's idea about the government bailing out all homeowners who have lost value in their homes because of the fall of housing prices is scary on several levels.

3) I really wish someone would teach Obama how to pronounce the name of Pakistan. If he's not from Boston, he ought not be saying "Pockistahn."

Foreign Policy Experience

A lot of attention is being given to the fact that presumptive GOP vice-presidential nominee lacks any foreign policy experience. I thought it might be useful to list recent presidents who lacked any significant foreign policy experience before being elected President:

George W. Bush (2001-2009)
Bill Clinton (1993-2001)
Ronald Reagan (1981-1989)
Jimmy Carter (1977-1981)

In other words, four of the last five presidents were (or had been) state governors who never held federal office until their election as President.

This post is not an endorsement of Sarah Palin for I am not convinced that she is ready to be President. However, this is a call for honesty. Before Ms. Palin's opponents dismiss her as unqualified because she lacks foreign policy experience, they ought to explain how being governor of Georgia or governor of Arkansas qualifies one to be president, but being governor of Alaska does not. If they can't make the case with reason and logic that Governors Carter and Clinton were qualified to be President, but Governor Palin is not qualified to be Vice-President, then their complaints are nothing more than political hypocrisy.

Governor Palin's Daughter and Teen Pregnancy

Alaska governor and presumptive GOP vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin released information on Labor Day that her 17-year old daughter, Bristol, is pregnant. The young woman plans to marry the baby's father.

I don't expect this news to have much effect on the presidential campaign. Senator Obama responded quickly by stating that criticism of the Governor's family was off limits. He threatened to fire any of his staffers who were found to be spreading accusations against Palin's daughter. Obama's statement has not kept some partisan voices from heaping criticism on Governor Palin and her stand in favor of abstinence-only sex education. CNN, in particular, has been guilty of some low blows in their handling of this story. Former education secretary Bill Bennett was incensed at CNN reporting by a female staffer who admitted that she had gone to Alaska looking for dirt on Palin. If anything, vicious comments by far-left zealots might provoke a favorable backlash toward the Alaska governor's campaign.

On this one, I agree with Senator Obama. Bristol Palin needs to be accountable to the Lord for her actions, but she does not deserve to have her private life opened up to the prying eyes of the media. That is especially true when shameless partisans are eager to use those details for political advantage.

Leaving young Ms. Palin aside, this issue does raise important considerations about how Christians should deal with the unpleasant reality that a certain percentage of young people from even the most moral of families do have sex with pregnancy being the result. Here are some thoughts to keep in mind.

1. Getting pregnant is not a sin. The sin comes with having sex and the wrong committed is the same whether or not pregnancy results.

2. When pregnancy does occur, young women who choose life for their babies ought to be commended. Not commended for having sex, but commended for dealing responsibly and morally with the consequence of the sinful behavior.

3. The goal should always be restoration (to the extent it is possible). Teenagers who fornicate (to use the old-fashioned biblical word) cannot have their virginity restored to them. Many aspects of their lives inevitably change after teens become sexually active. When pregnancy ensues, the complications are multiplied. While clocks cannot be turned back, the souls of the young people can be rescued. Repentance and forgiveness are always possible and that should always be the goal of anyone who has an opportunity to influence the thinking of teens who have slipped from the moral standards they have been taught.

4. Marriage is not necessarily wise when teenagers conceive a child. "Shotgun" marriages should not take place because a couple of kids got caught misbehaving. Marriage is intended to be a lifelong commitment. Thus, those entering marriage need to be mature enough to make that kind of lifelong decision. All things being equal, it is better for a child to grow up in a family with mom and dad living together in harmony. However, when teenaged parents aren't ready to marry, it is better to let a child be born out of "wedlock" than to wed prematurely.

A Little Good News on the Ethics Front

The Josephson Institute of Ethics does a survey of American middle school and high school students every two years. They ask questions about ethical behaviors and, for a decade, the results kept getting more and more depressing. From 1992 to 2002, the Ethics of American Youth surveys found high schoolers getting worse about cheating, stealing, and lying. In the 2004 survey, however, there was a marked turnaround. Confirming that the 2004 results were not a fluke, the 2006 survey showed the trend to better behavior continuing. In 2002, 74% of high schoolers admitted cheating on a test within the last year. By 2006, the percentage of cheaters was down to 60%. 38% admitted having shoplifted at least once in the past year in 2002. In 2006, only 28% had shoplifted. 93% had lied to their parents in 2002; in 2006 that number dropped to 81%. 2008 results are not available yet; it will be interesting to see if these positive trends continue.

No one should celebrate that more than 80% of high school kids admit lying to their parents or that 6 out of 10 cheated and almost 3 out of 10 shoplifted. These stats are a case of being better, but not yet good.

Christian teens have to understand that they are called by the Lord to rise above the moral standards of the world around them. It is not enough to behave as well as everybody else. Your job is to let your light shine to the people around you who are living in the world of darkness. Leading others in the right way begins by doing right yourselves.

For more information about the survey, go to http://tinyurl.com/teenethics

Note:
The above article was written for my church bulletin this week. It isn't the article I started out to write, but I like to report stories that offer a glimpse of optimism that things are getting better. I was reading last night in Bill O'Reilly's 2003 book, Who's Looking Out for You? He cited the 2002 Josephson statistics as evidence for the decline in values in American culture. Just before introducing the Josephson statistics, O'Reilly commented, "But America is paying a heavy price for letting the good times roll, a price seen most vividly in the behavior of children and especially public high school students."

Before writing the article I had planned, I thought to check the Josephson Institute's web site to see if updated statistics were available. It was a pleasant surprise to see that 2004 and 2006 results from the biennial surveys showed a definite improvement in several character markers among U. S. high schoolers.

I think Mr. O'Reilly's basic point is still valid. Our culture does continue in moral decline, and that decline is evident in the behavior of high schoolers as well as just about every other element of society. However, it is delightful to find an occasional ray of sunshine amidst all the doom and gloom. Hopefully, the Josephson survey results from 2004 and 2006 are not an aberration, but instead are the beginning of a trend toward better character in America's youth. Historically, things like this tend to run in cycles and it is high time the cycle started turning around toward an increase of morality and virtue in the lives of the American people.

If It Ain't Broke . . . .

I bought some deodorant at Costco a few days ago. At wholesale clubs like Costco and Sam's Club, you don't buy just one of anything. Most things are quality in those stores, but everything is quantity. In the particular package of five Gillette deodorant sticks that I purchased, I got a free Fusion razor. I'd seen advertising for this new razor product, but had not paid much attention. Yesterday morning, I needed the new deodorant so opened the package. I decided to shave with the new razor and was surprised to find it had no fewer than five shaving edges on the razor head. I had heard another company advertise a razor with four blades, but had never tried that either. It really amazed me that somebody thinks a man needs five blades at one time to get his face shaved.

My shaving connection with Gillette goes back a long time. I bought an Atra razor, if I remember correctly, back in the 1970s. It had two blades and a swivel head. In my opinion, it was definitely a change for the better over the single stationary blade common before that time. Then maybe ten or twelve years ago, I changed to a Gillette Sensor razor . . . still two blades, swivel head, but it was an improvement because the shave was smoother and the blades lasted longer.

Two or three years ago, I made a startling discovery. I have a fairly heavy beard and had been troubled by the having beard particles clog the spaces around the blade edges. In time this made me have to throw away the blades before they had become dull. It occurred to me that leaving the razor head soaking in water might dissolve the buildup. Not only did that work, but I discovered that blades kept in water last much longer than otherwise. I'm probably revealing a secret that Gillette doesn't want men to know . . . but it really does work. I've gone as long as three months getting good shaves daily from one Sensor Excel razor head.

I have given all this history to demonstrate that I'm not one of those guys who has his set routines from which he will never vary. Invent a better mousetrap and I'll join the crowd beating a path to your door.

However, in this case, I'm not ready to jump on the Fusion bandwagon, if there is such a thing. The wider five-blade head forces you to shave at a different angle and makes some parts of your face difficult to reach. Plus the overall shave was nowhere near as good as what I was used to getting with the Sensor Excel blades. Gillette, you already have a great product. We don't need five blades to shave our faces. Leave well enough alone. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

If you've read this blog before, you know that we are not geared toward reviewing consumer products. Most of the time there is a "lesson" to be learned from the bytes of everyday life experiences that I usually share here. Today's entry is no different:

In Acts 17, the apostle Paul traveled alone to the Greek capital, Athens. After he encountered various people in the city, he concluded that both the Athenians and foreigners who lived there "spent their time in nothing else, but either to tell, or to hear some new thing" (Acts 17:21, KJV). If it was new, they were interested in it.

That view has not gone away over the centuries. We still have people who are infatuated with change for change's sake. I visited a church once and got to talking to the minister. He told me that they "made a deliberate effort" to do things completely differently in their worship assembly from one Sunday to the next.

It's a good thing to avoid getting oneself into a rut . . . either in our personal lives or in the life of the church. We need to be open to different ideas and methods as long as those ideas and methods are in harmony with God's will. However, just because something is new and different does not mean it is better.

We don't need to be afraid of change. Neither do we need to be enamored with change. Let everything be scrutinized carefully. If what we are doing now is better, don't change it just to be different. If a new way offers advantages over the old, then by all means, let's be willing to give it a try.

I think that is good strategy . . . whether we're talking about which razor to use . . . or how to carry out the work of the church.