Getting Loose

Shaking the Hand of the Man

I had begged Charles many times to go.

He would usally just look away and wave his hand as if to say, "Scram, Son, you are bothering me."

But today he actually called me to go. I was glad to have him.

Man, the place was crowded. Cars everywhere.

Even the meeting was crowded with guests and members.

The speaker spoke on autism, and that was clearly a topic that moved Charles’s heart as his beloved child is autistic.

After the meeting was over, since we have both parked our cars out back, I knew a short cut and asked Charles if he wanted to follow me to get to where he needed to go.

He consented, and after walking through a rat maze, we were getting close to the last door to push open, when out of the corner of my eye, I happened to notice a man sitting at a table who looked familiar. I thought to myself, "Naw . . . it couldn’t be him. Just a look-alike."

But Charles looked up and exclaimed, "Mr. President!" And walked over to him and greeted him profusely.

He recounted to him a story the details of which were familiar to the President.

And when the President asked him what he was doing now, instead if pulling out his prestigious work at a national level, Charles replied that he was the emeritus pastor of my church. And then he said, "I’d like for you to meet our senior pastor."

The President stuck out his hand.

I was flabbergasted. I shook it and said, "Mr. President, it is so very good to meet you."

Later, I thought, "Wow! How many people ever get to shake the hand of the President of the United States of America?"

I know I am the first one in my family ever to have done so.

More Bang for the Buck

I have a cousin who wrote me and asked, "What in the world does a guy get for $3700?" Of course she was referring to the Eliot Spitzer embroilment.

My response was that I did not know. I didn’t even know how to guess. But I think I now may have found the answer.

Russ Alan Prince wrote a book, The Sky’s the Limit. He says that out of a survey of 661 who own private jets, 34% of men, and 20% of the women who are super wealthy use escort services. When trying to ferret out why they do, he discovered that the most popular reason was "unique experiences" (71%), followed by "higher quality experiences"(57%). "With the wealthy," Mr. Prince says "it’s all about power and control and new experiences." Interesting.

It was also interesting that Dr. Laura suggested that we do not know what was happening at their home. How nurturing and attentive was Silda Spitzer to Eliot. Why did he find the necessity to do this? I still say there is some issue in his family of origin that will shed some light, I just don’t know what those issues are.

Eliot Spitzer

Well, the Eliot Spitzer imbroglio is all over the news.  I kind of feel sorry for him, but my heart really goes out to his wife and their three children.  Did you see her face and demeanor?

I remember one time hearing Rabbi Friedman, bless his soul, say that the crusaders in society virtually all of the time are trying hard to address issues in their own background (e.g., Jimmy Swaggert, Ted Haggard, Chuck Colson, etc.). Here, in past years, Spitzer so aggressively pushed for ethics and fair play, and now he is seen for the hypocrite that he is. Makes me think of a passage where Jesus says, "Don't pick on people, jump on their failures, criticize their faults—unless, of course, you want the same treatment. That critical spirit has a way of boomeranging."