From the Observation Deck

In one of my first posts I talked about how I really love kids—other people’s kids. I am fortunate that my brother and his wife decided to have four of them. I get four kids to love, spoil, play with, and then give back.

Last weekend the Crowe clan gathered at the Crowe’s Nest in Bethany Beach. It’s a bit of a shock to my system when we gather. I go from the quiet tranquility of my house to the chaotic tornado-like atmosphere of a house full of kids who are constantly teasing, wrestling, laughing, running, and singing. On one of the more cloudy days I thought it would be fun to interview the kids. That was before I spent an hour trying to wrangle them to sit down for a few minutes and actually give me answers that I could publish.

So consider this my back-to-school assignment and your introduction to my family.

Dawn: What was the most fun thing you did this summer?

• Zenia, age 14: Went to New Life Bible camp in Buffalo Mills, PA. It was fun because my friends were there. I’m going to go back next year.
• Julia, age 13: The camping trip. It was all mellow and everyone was happy.
• Tyler, age 9: (Tyler was not cooperating for the interview so Zenia answered for him.) He got rejected by four girls and got slapped by two of them.
• Harmon, age 7: Played Wii. (Okay, that wasn’t very exciting so I asked him what else he did this summer.) We went camping. I don’t know where though. Lake something. (What was the best thing about camping?) Eating and taking naps. And playing poker.

Dawn: Were you excited to go back to school?

• Harmon: No. (Why not?) Because there’s so much more work than I would have to do in public school. But Mom wanted me to be home schooled.
• Zenia: No. Well actually yes. ‘Cause after camp there was nothing really left to do.
• Julia: Yes. Because going to school (for her) isn’t like going to school. I get up early and finish early. Then I go for a run, play soccer, listen to music and then go to soccer practice.
• Tyler: No. Because that is a dungeon of non sophisticatedness.

 Dawn: What makes you special?

• Harmon: My awesome whaaa, whaaa. (He did some karate moves around the house as he shouted whaaa, whaaaa).
  
• Zenia: My butt. I speak my mind. I say what I mean and mean what I say. (Julia says she has to be right.)
  
• Julia: I’m the best soccer player in the family.
• Tyler: (Again he wasn’t cooperating so Zenia replied, wrestling.)

Dawn: What are your future goals? Or, what do you want to be when you grow up?

• Zenia: I want to go to VA Tech. I want to go to the University of Maryland first and then transfer. I want to become involved in the government and work in embassies.
• Julia: I want to become a pro soccer player and then maybe marry Donovan or Tim Howard.
• Harmon: A spy. I want to be in the army but I haven’t decided if I want to be a spy or someone in the army. A spy has a better chance of not dying so I’m gonna say spy now. Once I’m in college I’ll pick. Because that’s when you get the choice to pick.
• Tyler: An HP. (What’s that?) A hot person.

Dawn: What’s your favorite movie?

• Harmon: Star Wars the Clone Wars. Because it has my favorite people and more violence.
• Zenia: Get Smart. (She changes her mind after hearing Julia.) Oh okay, Blades of Glory.
• Julia: Blades of Glory.
• Tyler: Pride of Chucky. (Zenia says he hasn’t even seen it.)

Dawn: Who’s your favorite Aunt?

• Harmon: You! (I love you, too H.)

Dawn: Who’s your favorite dog?

• Harmon: Grendel. (Two days earlier he convinced himself that he was scared of Grendel and hid in the basement when we came over.)

Well, there you go. Four of the most fun munchkins I know.

It’s the end of the summer. Big bummer. We tend to define summer’s end with the Labor Day holiday. But with the August unemployment rate hitting a 26-year high of 9.7%, I would say that this Labor Day has a lot fewer people celebrating their labors. This is why I try not to watch or read the news anymore. But occasionally I just have to because otherwise I feel like I’m living in a bubble. The good news is that those who are working get a day off and those of us who aren’t get a guilt-free day because everyone else is off, too.

I’m spending this weekend with my family. And before the weekend got into full swing, I got some quality time in with one of my nephews. Tyler is nine and he’s about as smart as they come. He’s one of those photographic memory-types. Beware of what you say because he’ll remember it in vivid detail three years from now.

Tyler, being the brains of the outfit, was able to give me some career advice. At this point I’ll take anything—you never know where opportunity awaits. After hearing that I had not found a job yet, Tyler told me I should go to 99.5.com and listen to “hot jobs hookup.” “What’s that?” I asked. “It’s a place where people who want a job can call in and other people listening can hire them,” he said. I looked it up and the kid was right.

He then told me that he’s going to dress up as a woman (Princess Leia) for Halloween this year. I’m not sure if he meant that to be advice on what to wear for my next interview. (Conversations with Tyler are often eclectic.) Happy Labor Day and good luck to those seeking meaningful employment.

That statement was made by the famous philosopher, Socrates. I believe that we need deep thinkers in this world. They keep us entertained if nothing else. And the other day as I watched a video on BNET of philosopher Alain de Botton, I was very entertained. He’s an interesting speaker and was talking about anxiety over work and life, job snobbery, fears of being an underachiever, and social inequalities. He discusses the concept of meritocracy and some alternative ways of thinking. You can watch the video at the bottom of this post.

What made me write about Alain (I’m going to use his first name because it has a nice ring to it) and his video segment was the fact that he declares himself to be secular and yet on several occasions references the Bible and Christian concepts and admits that those teachings have value. As a Christian, it’s a challenge to hear people seemingly believe in or have the desire to follow Christ’s teachings but then say they aren’t “religious” or they are “secular” or an “atheist” or even stereotype Christians and insult them as a group.

In the video, Alain quotes St. Augustine who said, “It’s a sin to judge any man by his post. Only God can put everyone in their place and He’ll do that on the Day of Judgment.” Alain says it’s an insane idea to secular people like him. And yet he believes there is value in that idea. Don’t judge people, hmmmmm.

He goes on to discuss a certain characteristic about modern society and why it causes us anxiety. He says, “Modern society has nothing at its center that is non human. We tend to worship ourselves. Most other societies have something else they worship.” So Alain, isn’t it possible to believe that without God in our lives, we are empty? We try to fill voids with things instead of Jesus? It sounds kind of like that to me.

I keep seeing videos of and articles written by really smart people who say they are not followers of Christ (and in fact refer to themselves as atheists, secular, not religious, etc.), and yet they support Christian concepts that are taught in the Bible. I hope they someday let themselves be open to God because they certainly are seeing his point of view. And it’s precisely this that we need to show the world. Not the crazy people who just spout out the “don’ts” in life, but the people who see the beauty, the intelligence, and the wonder of God which is LOVE, patience, grace, and everything good. Can we get the media behind that?

So those are my deep thoughts for the day. What’s on your mind?