OK, the XM 70's radio channel is creating quite the debate lately. A few weeks back it had me discussing with my daughter the 5 best slow dance songs. Friday night, my 16 year old daughter was ridiculing the station from the back seat. And in the course of an hour, we heard five of the 15 worst songs of the 70's. (Too many to limit to 10)
15. You Light Up My Life - Debbie Boone
14. Candy Man - Sammy Davis , Jr.
13. Seasons in the Sun - Terry Jacks
12. The Night Chicago Died - Paper Lace
11. Bad Blood - Neil Sedaka and Elton John
IN THE ACTORS SHOULDN'T SING CATEGORY
10. Don't Give Up On Us Baby - David Soul
9. Let Her In - John Travolta
8. Kung Fu Fighting - Carl Douglass
7. Having My Baby - Paul Anka
6. Muskrat Love - Captain and Tennille
5. MacArthur Park - Donna Summer
THE WORST OF THE WORST
4. Convoy - CW McCall
3. Float On - Floaters
2. Billy Don't Be a Hero - Bo Donaldson and the Haywoods
1. Disco Duck - Reek Dees
February 20, 2011
February 9, 2011
Straight from My Rabbi
One of the great things in life is making new friends. Not the kind of Facebook click and accept friends, but real sit down over a meal and share friends. I hate that I don't get to see one of my old friends much anymore. Dan Nussbaum and I met several years ago. We are not necessarily what you would call a perfect match for being friends. Dan is from the academic world. My life has seemed to run and hide from all things academic. In other words don’t ask me about my SAT score! Dan is an ordained Rabbi and I grew up Southern Baptist. Dan’s life has been cemented in the culture of the Northeast and mine as a true Southern boy from the Carolinas. I tried to convert him to the joys of sweet tea and grits!
Our paths crossed in YMCA circles. Our friendship was planted in a soil of discussion around leadership and relationships. Our friendship soon grew among the fertilizer of discussion around Abraham, Isaac, and Moses. I once told him that I envied the Jewish faith with such beautiful customs that bring the family together within the household to worship. But my Rabbi soon counseled me that he envied the Christian Church and the sense of community within the church. “The grass is always greener,” he laughed.
One day when things were not going as planned and life seemed to throw me that curve ball away in the dirt, and of course I swung, Dan said, “Let me tell you a Midrash.” “A Midrash,” I replied? “Isn’t that something that I need to get a prescription for?” Dan just laughed. So my Rabbi taught me a new word. A Midrash is a story that contains extra material of anecdotal or allegorical nature, designed either to clarify historical material, or to teach a moral point.
When he told me the story I thought of all the times I could have used it with our staff and volunteers. Luckily our Y leaders didn’t give up when they were told that they couldn’t start a Y in Shelby. Or when we started the branch in Kings Mountain, people again questioned why. They laughed at us when we tried to raise $6.8 million dollars but we did that too!
Now it’s time to do it again. More money needs to be raised. New buildings need to be built, new programs created and more lives need to be changed. The naysayers will soon come out to slow us down, but I will call on my Rabbi to share his Midrash.
“A group of workers is asked to do something quite difficult and complicated. They protest, ‘the day is short’; ‘the work is hard’; ‘the project is too big’; ‘we do not have the right tools’; ‘and, anyway, we are too tired’; ‘we will never finish this job!’ Their teacher replies, ‘it is not for you to finish the task, but…you must start the task.”
We will never solve the problems of tomorrow unless we start on them today. Are you ready? I am, and that is your Midrash for the day. Straight from the Rabbi!
God Bless and Shalom!
Our paths crossed in YMCA circles. Our friendship was planted in a soil of discussion around leadership and relationships. Our friendship soon grew among the fertilizer of discussion around Abraham, Isaac, and Moses. I once told him that I envied the Jewish faith with such beautiful customs that bring the family together within the household to worship. But my Rabbi soon counseled me that he envied the Christian Church and the sense of community within the church. “The grass is always greener,” he laughed.
One day when things were not going as planned and life seemed to throw me that curve ball away in the dirt, and of course I swung, Dan said, “Let me tell you a Midrash.” “A Midrash,” I replied? “Isn’t that something that I need to get a prescription for?” Dan just laughed. So my Rabbi taught me a new word. A Midrash is a story that contains extra material of anecdotal or allegorical nature, designed either to clarify historical material, or to teach a moral point.
When he told me the story I thought of all the times I could have used it with our staff and volunteers. Luckily our Y leaders didn’t give up when they were told that they couldn’t start a Y in Shelby. Or when we started the branch in Kings Mountain, people again questioned why. They laughed at us when we tried to raise $6.8 million dollars but we did that too!
Now it’s time to do it again. More money needs to be raised. New buildings need to be built, new programs created and more lives need to be changed. The naysayers will soon come out to slow us down, but I will call on my Rabbi to share his Midrash.
“A group of workers is asked to do something quite difficult and complicated. They protest, ‘the day is short’; ‘the work is hard’; ‘the project is too big’; ‘we do not have the right tools’; ‘and, anyway, we are too tired’; ‘we will never finish this job!’ Their teacher replies, ‘it is not for you to finish the task, but…you must start the task.”
We will never solve the problems of tomorrow unless we start on them today. Are you ready? I am, and that is your Midrash for the day. Straight from the Rabbi!
God Bless and Shalom!
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