It’s amazing what happens when you make a public blog post about things that are happening in your life. Suddenly the entry catches someone’s attention, and a few phone calls later the person who should have called in the first place calls back.

Today has been an interesting day. It’s been one of talking on the phone with family members, and then Monty from Franklin Coach Lines. He’s the one I wrote about in my previous post.

Well, it seems the delay of his call revolves around the fact that he himself was on a “fact-finding” mission of his own. Of course he knew the events of the day before as I had called him. He spent yesterday on the phone talking with bus drivers and seeing what transpired. In the end, an apology was accepted and now we’ll see if the bus drivers drive the posted speed limit or not.

So, as the title of this post says — “The Wheels of the Bus Go ‘Round & ‘Round.”

Keep safe;
Dr. Rus

What did you do for Memorial Day Weekend? We decided to head to Ontario, Canada and spend some time with family. All went well, until the drive back to New York State. That’s when I suddenly found myself in the middle of a situation where a bus decided to be a bully.

Driving eastbound on the 401 three Franklin Coach Line buses based out of Belleville, Ontario, Canada entered the 401 heading in the same direction. However, for whatever reason, the driver of bus number 226, Larry, whom by the way is also the Safety Coordinator for Franklin Coach Line, decided he didn’t like me. So, there I am in my little compact car, with a big Franklin Coach bus tailgating me all the way to the other side of Kingston. I finally decided to get off the 401 at the Gananoque Parkway simply to get away from Larry who obviously likes the fact he can bully small cars with his big bus.

For approximately 50 minutes Larry, who remember is supposed to be the Safety Coordinator for Franklin, is tailgating me. He would then decide to pass me, but as he passed, he would suddenly swerve his big bully bus toward me, almost forcing me off the road three times. Once in front of me, he would slow down. I would then pass him, but as soon as I passed him, he would once again speed up so he could tailgate me once again. I have no idea why he decided to drive like this, obviously the other two Franklin bus drivers knew how to drive as they were keeping their distance. Maybe Larry simply didn’t like seeing New York State license plates on the car ahead of him. Whatever the case may be, the so-called Franklin Coach Line Safety Coordinator apparently knows little about safety.

After arriving home from our trip I decided to call the Coach Line to let them know what went on. I was transferred to their answering service where I was assured a message would go to the owner, Monty, and he would call me back. Two hours passed, no Monty. That’s when I called the O.P.P., Ontario Provincial Police, and filed a complaint. I then called Franklin Coach Line again leaving yet another message for Monty to call me back. I also informed the person I spoke with to let him know I had called the O.P.P. Apparently this did nothing to phase Monty, as I have still not heard from him.

Now we’re to day number two of the bus playing bully. Instead of hearing from the owner, whom I thought would at least call to apologize, instead I hear from the bus driver Larry who proceeds to tell me I was the one in the wrong. Yeah, right. Remember, little compact car, great big bus. Who do you think the bully is in this case? Larry not only tells me I’m in the wrong, but he went on to say he was maintaining a speed of 110 KPH. Funny thing is, the speed limit on the 401 is 100 KPH! I guess the Safety Coordinator is not only a bully with his bus, but he also doesn’t know what the speed limit is on the 401. Also, keep in mind, he’s now not only endangering me with his erratic driving manner, but now he’s placing a bus load of unsuspecting people at risk by SPEEDING on the 401.

After receiving the rather rude call from Larry I decided to place a call to Monty again. Remember, he’s the owner of Franklin Coach Lines, and I would guess he would want to take care of such issues. But, alas, now another four hours have passed, and no returned call from Monty.

I don’t know, maybe it’s company policy for Franklin Coach Lines to hire bully bus drivers. But I’ll say one thing for sure, the next time I see a Franklin Bus I’ll be taking down the bus number and the license plate number and if I have to, I’ll call the police instantly informing them of where I am so a police officer can then take the bully bus right off the road.

Stay safe!
Dr. Rus

When politicians go wrong and make a fool of themselves, without even knowing it.

All over the news this morning are quotes from Senator Chris Dodd, D-Connecticut, talking about the Iraq war. Earlier today a vote was taken on support for the war in Iraq, and to the surprise of many Democratic pundits, the vote supports the war.

However, Senator Dodd, continuing to show his lack of support for our men and women fighting overseas protecting us from terrorists, decides to pull out a quote from Winston Churchill. I’m sure Senator Dodd thought he was being cute and figured he was showing his wealth of wisdom by quoting Churchill, but in the end, he simply showed his ignorance and revealed he doesn’t really know what’s going on, he’s simply another politician looking for a quick sound-bite and headline.

Speaking out against the Iraq war and against the vote the Senator said, he will “never give up, never, never, never.”

What a dumb thing to say! He’s speaking about not giving up his crusade to retreat from war. However, that flies in the face of what Winston Churchill was saying when he made the statement. The famous line comes from a college address when Churhill told an auditorium full of students to “never give up, never surrender, never, never, never” during wartime.

So Senator Dodd, the next time you decide to quote a truly great political leader, it might be a good idea to know the context of what you speak.

This is Memorial Day Weekend. Lets remember all of our men and women in uniform who have fought, or who are fighting, for our freedom.

Keep encouraged!
Dr. Rus

Webster’s dictionary defines “ode” as; a song or a lyric poem usually marked by exaltation of feeling and style, varying length of line, and complexity of stanza forms. Okay, so this might not be a true form ode, but it’s still an exaltation of feeling and style for my Mom.

As the days continue to pass by we find ourselves at another Mother’s Day. A day to remember, cherish and thank God for our Mom’s. My Mom is probably the best in the whole world. I know, I know, everyone says that, but that’s a good thing too. After all, whoever we are, and whomever our Mom might be, we should think of her as the best Mom in the whole wide world.

Mom’s are always there, no matter what. Somewhere in the Mom handbook they’ve discovered how to bandage the boo boo, wipe tears from eyes, prepare favorite dinners and desserts, and do everything else imaginable, and unimaginable, without a word of complaint. Where do they find their energy? It must come from some super-hero secret handbook on Motherhood. I know I could never keep up with my Mom, but I also know I’ve learned a lot from her. Mom taught me to cook, to clean, and yes, even wipe a runny nose or two on my own kids. She’s also taught me how to persevere in the face of difficulties when ends didn’t seem to meet and when sickness seemed to strike out of no-where.

I guess after saying all of that, I’d have to say the best lesson I’ve learned from my Mom in this “Ode to Mom” is that no matter what, we can be Overcomer’s as we face anything in life head on, and keep moving forward.

Thanks for the wonderful lessons of perseverance and how to be an overcomer Mom!

Have a blessed day.
Love, your son,
Rus

(Am I your favorite?)

For a couple weeks I’ve been talking with others about a backlash of sorts coming our way on two levels. However, even though they may appear different on the surface, they’re probably both related. With that said, I also believe they’re both media driven as well.

1. Talk Show Host Religious Talk Backlash
2. White House Evangelicalism Backlash

For the sake of argument, I do believe we’re now starting to see the first backlash bubbling in the pot we can call mainstream media.

What exactly is talk show host religious talk backlash? I believe it’s a backlash we’re going to see as people become frustrated with conservative talk show hosts discovering God and then spending all their time talking about their conversion experiences like everyone else should know what they’re talking about. Then, making matters even worse, when a caller to the show does not understand, the host instantly says, “Well, that’s because you really don’t understand anything about God. What you really need to do is come back to church like me because once I found out how wonderful a spiritual experience is, everything made sense.”

Now, this is true, and probably said in the sincerest of ways. However, I’ve been saying it’s going to backlash because those that should be mainstreaming the message, are simply not doing so. And, those that are trying to mainstream the message, simply don’t have the wisdom and knowledge to do so in appropriate ways. It becomes a bad case of “I found Jesus! Come follow me to find Jesus!” mentallity bashing people over the head with a 25 pound Bible.

Now enter the backlash effect that’s starting to bubble under the surface.

Today while listening to the Laura Ingraham show a caller commented after hearing an interview with Rudy Giuliani that he would rather vote for the mormon Mitch Romney who has a strong stance on abortion, than a Rudy Giuliani who seems to waver. Laura quickly said to the caller something like; “But Romney didn’t change his mind until recently.” Challenged by the caller, and corrected by one of her producers, Ingraham was told that Romney made his belief system change on abortion in 2002.

She quickly said something to the effect of; “Well that doesn’t matter. He still changed his mind, and that just doesn’t make sense.” To which the caller responded, “That’s just like someone who suddenly converts to catholicism and then pertains to be an expert without really knowing what she’s talking about.” (Which, by the way, Ingraham does quite often.) The caller was suddenly cut off.

Let the backlash begin. But, it also begs the question - Are there people out there who do know how to mainstream the message of hope?

Keep encouraged!
Dr. Rus

In 1974 Larry Norman released a satirical album entitled Streams of White Light into Darkened Corners. The album looked at the trend in mainstream music at the time of releasing diluted gospel songs recorded by big name artists. Peppered with commentary throughout, Norman points out the flaws of holding up mainstream artists searching for a quick buck just because they’re willing to sing about God, or as Norman Greenbaum put it, “The Spirit In The Sky.” Aside from a cover version of Greenbaum’s song, Larry Norman also covers songs such as “Shine A Light” by the Rolling Stones, “Bridge Over Troubled Water”, “Let It Be” and “My Sweet Lord.” While it’s true we are destined to repeat history, especially if we don’t know our history, I think it’s also true life seems to move in cycles. Here we are, firmly in the year 2007, and once again, it seems to be cool to talk about God.

From race car drivers, who’ve been doing it for years, to talk show hosts on mainstream radio, more and more it seems people are talking about God. A friend of mine, John Fenn, recently wrote a book entitled Leaving The Church To Find God. Is this a good thing, or is this a bad thing? What I find amazing is this, those who should be talking about God, those who’ve been walking with Him the longest, seem silent. Or at least we don’t hear from them on the mainstream. Could it be the result of living in a Christian cliché environment?

As a talk show host I find it amazing how many believers in God and Jesus don’t know how to mainstream their message. Instead, they quote platitude upon platitude without really connecting with their audience. Those who do discover how to mainstream the message are often ridiculed by those inside the church as sell outs, or even worse, someone who’s “crossed over to the other side.”

Reality is this, Jesus was the Master of mainstreaming the message. When He wanted to talk about the importance of remembering His Words and what He’d said, He told the story of one man who built his house on a rock foundation and another who built his house in the sandy area. When the storms hit, the man who’d listened, understood, and put the words of Jesus into practice, withstood the storm. But, the man who didn’t take to heart His words, found his house destroyed.

Not a very complicated message really. A quite simple one actually. He who has an ear let him hear, and you will prosper when hard times come. But alas, in this wonderful world of communication we live in, the world looks for the simple, and those who should know better respond with the verbose.

In the end, what are we all supposed to do within the environment we’re living in? We’re supposed to be streams of white light into darkened corners encouraging those around us.

Keep encouraged!
Dr. Rus

In the movie In A League of Their Own the character played by Tom Hanks declares — “There’s no crying in baseball!” Obviously some of the over-paid athletes of today have never watched that movie. Why is it every time we turn around there’s some athlete crying about being hurt and not showing up to play. Some of these over-paid softies have forgotten what it’s like to play little league in a dusty old ballpark where hometown heroes are made. I think this phenomenon says a lot about the celebrity hero worshipping culture we live in today.

What exactly is a hero? Webster’s defines hero as; “a mythological or legendary figure often of divine descent endowed with great strength or ability: an illustrious warrior: a man admired for his achievements and noble qualities: one that shows great courage.” If the definition is right, then many of the so-called athletes we call heroes today, fall very short of the bar set in the dictionary.

Let’s go through the list here;

“A mythological or legendary figure often of divine descent endowed with great strength or ability.” No where does it say in that definition that the hero will pump up with steroids for their strength.

“A illustrious warrior.” Nope, no warriors in baseball.

“A man admired for his achievements and noble qualities.” Once again, we have to say nope. After all, Barry “it’s never my fault” Bonds is pretty much being ignored as he approaches the Babe’s homerun record. Everyone knows Bonds is a cheater and deserves either an asterisk beside his name, or even booted from baseball all together.

And lastly, according to the Webster dictionary, a hero is “one who shows great courage.” Again, we have to say a resounding NO to baseball hero status.

So where do we find a hero today. Many times we look to our men and women overseas fighting for our freedom. While I’m the first to say yes men and women in uniform are heroes, I think we sometimes overlook our backyard heroes. People serving as police officers and firefighters.

But again, I find myself wondering, is that the only place to find a hero for today? Maybe we should also look to One who gave His life, so that His friends might have life.

Keep encouraged!
Dr. Rus