Charles (Chuck) Kensinger

Quantum Leap is returning

September 24, 2022

I remember the TV show “Quantum Leap.” This science fiction series from 1989 is being reimagined. I saw this week’s episode and enjoyed it. The connection between the original and the current series was established in the first hour. We even had an update on Al, the hologram that followed Sam around.

Sam is still out there somewhere as far as anyone knows. My speculation is that they will be continuing to discuss him. I would not be amazed to watch an episode where they find him and try to rescue him.

For those of you who are not familiar with either “Quantum Leap” series, the premise is that you can time travel within your own lifetime. This is an interpretation of the string theory of time that Sheldon in “Big Bang Theory” talks about. I am not a physicist and I do not play one on television, but I have a slight knowledge gained through other sci-fi stories.

Many writers have asserted that it is impossible to change history. The storylines of these scripts revolve around the changes that must be made in the lives of people around the person that is leaped into. While these are small changes as history is concerned, they are major in the futures of the characters.

Rod Serling, the creator and host of “Twilight Zone,” wrote and produced episodes that dealt with time travel. The “Time Tunnel” was a direct contradiction of string theory in that the main characters were unable to change history and went to times outside of their lifetimes. Many other time travel stories have been very different from these TV shows.

A story that I wrote years ago involves a person who does not change history. He is involved in a circular process where he is also trapped in events that take place in a set period. Someday I will publish this story on my website. I haven’t posted much fiction here to this point. Let me know what you think.

I would like to give you my understanding of time to finish this column. Time is a part of creation. It is not just that God created the universe. He also created time when He made the stars, planets, and moons. Our time is measured by the movement of the sun. Our seasons and months are determined by the movements of the moon and the sun.

When we enter into the presence of the Father, we will no longer have a method of measuring time because it will no longer exist. As long as we are here it is fun to speculate on the possibility of time travel. One more point. We are all time travelers. We are only traveling in one direction. Into the future. We can only travel back through our memories.

Classics are not always good

September 22, 2022

A classic is defined as, “Judged over a period of time to be of the highest quality and outstanding of its kind.” I’ve read several classic novels, watched numerous classic movies, classic music from the thirties to the eighties is on my playlist, and many of my cars over the years have been close to classics.

The Ford Edsel is considered a classic. It may have been high quality when it first came out. It was not well accepted at that time. The thing that makes vehicles classic is not always the quality. It is usually the age.

Many classic books also were not accepted when first published. Some were ahead of their time. Others were thought to be classic material but have not survived the years. Of all the stories I have read some I consider good and others bad. When I read a classic, I may decide before finishing it that I do not care for the way the story is being told. At times this is because of what was considered proper techniques during that period.

Most novels I read line up on my scale from good to bad. Most are three to four on a one to five scales. Some I read are not worth rating at all in my opinion. Not all of these are considered classics. From junior high school through college, I disagreed with the ratings of the literary experts. Many of these stories were in textbooks.

A few authors that are considered classics are not my favorites. I may enjoy a story or two by Hemingway or others. As I read more of their work, I conclude that while they did well on some tales, the majority of what I have read is not what I consider quality.

This also goes for classic music. Classic in this genre is often what is called “long-haired” music. That is not what I am talking about. I think of every type of music from different eras as a classic due to their age. Some old music does not fall into the classic category for me.

Artists may be thought of as excellent by you and I do not enjoy any or all of what they have recorded. Two people that are examples of this are Willy Nelson and Janis Joplin. I realize that the first is country and the second is thought of as a rock singer. The type of music is not where I decide if I like it or not. I listen to almost every kind of music. My one exception is opera. I can think of no selection in this group that I enjoy.

I may have mentioned some of your favorites as not being ones that I like. Don’t worry about this. Many people disagree with me. I learned many years ago that if you do not have the same opinion as I, you are not necessarily wrong. Remember that holds true for all of us. Do not argue with others. You may both be correct.

Businesses must make money.

September 20, 2022

If you watch broadcast television and cable networks that air commercials, you have seen the ads for automobile and home warranty insurance. They are not what they seem to be. All insurance works the same way. They charge enough to cover their costs and make a profit. They also do not always pay for what the customers expect.

Local attorneys run spots telling us that companies will not pay as much to you unless you hire them to challenge the insurance provider. Personal injury lawyers make money from clients that use these providers who do not want to provide what the customer thought was covered.

It does not matter whether you buy an extended warranty or insurance. They are the same thing. A friend bought a house that had just been built. The builder convinced them to purchase a home warranty instead of paying for an inspection. Within three years, problems with the construction became apparent. The insurance company would not cover any of these repairs.

These policies are only as good as the paper they are written on. To be sure that you are getting what you think you are paying for, you need a lawyer to read the contract and tell you specifically what it does and does not cover.

Do not believe the commercials. There is a reason why some of these promises sound reasonable. They are as valuable as the political promises made by candidates. It isn’t just the so-called warranty providers.

There are life and health insurance companies that also want you to buy their products. They offer term policies that last only a limited number of years and then who knows what and if you can purchase another product. I applied for a health insurance policy a few years ago. I did not know that my physicians would have to be changed.

Many companies and not just those that I have mentioned here are not going to give you the service that you expect. Think about the fast-food restaurants that give you a bag of food that is not what you ordered. We all know of plumbers, auto mechanics, or other service professionals that do not stand behind their work.

There is an old Latin phrase that I first heard in high school. Caveat Emptor means “Let the buyer beware.” This has been a philosophy I have tried to follow all my life. Watch your back and be sure that you know what you are getting into when you buy a product or sign a contract.

He’s my Boy

September 19, 2022

We have heard many stories about blended families in our time. When I was a boy, almost all my friends had a mom and dad and at least one sibling. Many had more than one brother or sister as I did. Few of the kids I went to school or church with had last names different from one parent.

In high school, I began to meet others whose mother and father both had a family name that did not match theirs. The song “My boy” is about this type of situation. Elvie Shane wrote this song and it was first recorded in 2020. It is the true story of His wife and her son.

One of the lines that affect me the most is “He’s got somebody else’s eyes I’m seeing myself in.” When my children and grandchildren were born people commented on their features. “She has your nose” or your eyes or your teeth. That’s right. When my daughters were born, they had my dad’s teeth. He didn’t have any real ones in his mouth. They were man-made.

The serious part of this line is “I’m seeing myself in.” We need to stop and view ourselves through the eyes of children. They do not judge. They can measure their worth through how we treat them. My kids and grandkids react to me as the one who is trying to be funny. “Don’t take Pawpaw too seriously” is the byword around me. How does your son or daughter react to you?

Keep in mind that Mr. Shane and his boy do not have the same name. It makes no difference to a true dad. The emotions are the same. Love is a choice. It is a verb. His boy knows that he loves him because he hasn’t missed a ballgame yet. A dad is there for what is important to his kid.

My mom and dad were at the important events in my life. The school activities like open houses and annual fundraisers. In my senior year in high school, they even came to watch my debate partner and me compete against the two best speakers in our school. There was no official decision after. When we got home, they told me they thought I had won. That was love.

This is what should never change. The love of a parent for a child is present when they are at your death bed, and you see the pain in their eyes. They think they are losing you. You know his step is necessary if you want to spend eternity together as believers in Christ. That is also love.

Some fathers have walked away. Not Elvie. This young man is not his entire life. He is an integral part and is making him a better dad. Your children make you a better mom or dad because they test your love and your patience. Paul tells us in first Corinthians chapter 13 verse four that love is patient and kind. That will make a family last.

Motivation?

September 11, 2022

It is what encourages you to do something. Your boss uses many means to get you to do your work. He pays you a salary. He may offer promotions with additional pay. Some managers threaten, curse, or even reprimand. For those of us who are in school, the same types of things can be used by teachers, parents, and others that feel they are in authority over us.

Your husband or wife uses many of the same methods to spur the results they are hoping for. I want to talk to you about self-motivation. We have all heard motivational speakers. I heard a feeble one once. He walked onto the stage after a fifteen-minute introduction. He stood staring at us for a minute. Then he yelled, “What are you doing just sitting here? Get up and get back to work.”

We all glanced around wondering what we should do. We were in a hotel meeting room and most of us had driven for hours to attend this training session. The organizer who introduced him was smiling off to one side of the stage. The speaker glared at us a minute or two longer.

A smile crept onto his face. He laughed and asked if we were motivated by that. Some whispered, no. He said, “Of course, you weren’t. Why do you think that will work for those under your control.” The rest of his seminar was interesting, informative, and inspirational. That was over thirty years ago, and I still remember it.

I want to give you the ability to do that for yourself. There are things that you have wanted to do for years. What will it take for you to convince yourself that you can get a better job? What else have you considered doing? Start a business. Ask someone to marry you. Move to the community you’ve always dreamed of living in.

It is time to weigh your options and try what you always wanted to do. Write a book. Paint a picture. Sing a song. Try stand-up comedy. Quit procrastinating. Step up and become the person you always knew you could be. Analyze where you want to be next year and make it happen today.

Goal setting is the first step. Planning what you need to do is the next one. Put one foot in front of the other and begin the journey of a thousand miles. All it takes is to get off your backside and make the changes you always wanted to. Start now.

Why are you under that car?

August 30, 2022

For years thieves have been taking the catalytic converters from vehicles by crawling under them and using battery-operated saws to cut them off. The money that these crooks receive from the sale of what they take is substantially less than the cost to the victims. It is bad enough when our news media reports these incidents and teaches hundreds of people another way to become criminals.

To add insult to injury they are now teaching us how to steal gasoline from vehicles with locking gas caps or fuel cap covers. They tell us that they are warning us to park our cars and trucks in our garages. As the young people used to say, “Duh.” Is that really needed?

If you had a garage that was clean enough to park in, why would you not already be keeping your wheels there? The best thing that the news could tell us is that if you see someone crawling in or out from under a vehicle, pull out your phone. Take a picture of the car. If you can, photograph the person without putting yourself in danger. Call the police and report it.

Whether it is in your neighborhood, a parking lot, or something your security camera caught, you should report it. The next one who is victimized by these scumbags might be you. I know that you are thinking this is a misdemeanor and little will be done to them, but our legislatures should be changing laws.

The value of a stolen item should not be the criteria to measure the impact of the crime. Any action that disables a vehicle or home or prevents someone from earning a living should be viewed from the point of view of the victims. This means that the actual value of repair is the cost of the crime.

If you drill a hole in my fuel tank and steal five gallons from me, you may cost me a day of work. If I drop a lit cigarette outside my car and it starts a fire, you should be held responsible for my injury or death or the destruction of my home. You did not intend to do this. What did you think the result of spreading gasoline on concrete, asphalt, or a gravel drive would be?

The only way to prevent these criminals from continuing to victimize others is to increase the punishment for their actions. Congressmen and Senators do not punish for the crime. Make the punishment fit the crime. If a potential catastrophe could be prevented by stopping the crime, then make the fine, imprisonment, or punishment as severe as if the worst that could happen, did happen.

Lawmakers, pull your heads out of the sand or wherever you keep them. Make the laws that your constituents need to protect them and their property. You will never solve the problem of violent crimes until you stop petty thefts. That may mean passing a law to put your own families in jail for your family businesses.

Let me elaborate on that last line. Business owners who purchase stolen goods need to be prosecuted more severely. They make money from items they purchase from thieves and should know that someone that returns every ten days with a new supply of the same type of goods is not completely honest.

Good, Good, Father

August 29, 2022

My Father is very important to me. The way he loved me in his way. The way he provided for me, my mother, and my three siblings. He was not perfect. He became agree at times. He did not curse but I have heard him cry out in pain when he skinned his knuckles, or the hammer hit his thumb. Usually, there were no recognizable words. I may have heard a dam or two in all my years with him.

Growing up with both my mother and father for over thirty years was a fortunate circumstance for us that you may not have enjoyed. So that you know that our lives were not “Leave it to Beaver” or “Father Knows Best” I will tell you some things that may have occurred in your life.

Dad suffered from mental illness. Mom became so angry with him over what she thought were things he could control that she yelled and threw dishes at him once. Don’t think that the kids were unaware of this problem. He was finally diagnosed with schizophrenia when I was in college. We were not told what had caused it until years later.

With that introduction, I wish to tell you about a perfect Father. Pat Barrett and Anthony Brown wrote the song “Good, Good Father” and Chris Tomlin released it in 2016. He is not the only Christian artist to record it. He was the first to make it a number one hit.

The song begins by talking about the stories that are told about God the Father. Our songwriter speaks of hearing Him speak in the dark of night. The words are encouraging. We are reminded that He has promised we would never be alone.

The second verse talks of those looking for answers in a way that relates to “Desperately Seeking Susan” or “Looking for love in all the wrong places.” Jehovah is the only one who has all the answers for us. He is not surprised at what we need even though we may be.

Our Father’s love is undeniable, unexplainable, and deep. We are not perfect. He is. Jehovah means I am that I am. We call Him the great I am. Jesus said, “I am the way, I am the truth, and I am the life.” He also said. “I am the good shepherd” and I am “The door.”

We are loved by him. The love that He has for us is greater than we expect from ourselves or each other. He is who He is. We are who we are. There is no way for us to be other than us. He always is love. He is always our good, good father. It is who He is.

November is Coming

August 28, 2022

This column is written for all of us who will go to the polls for the election. It does not matter which party you belong to. I hope that when you select a candidate you consider the person. I am not interested in the party line. We want decent human beings who will vote how we think they should.

Personally, I do not want anyone who still believes that Donald Trump was a good choice for this country. He is still only interested in himself. I will not vote for anyone that believes his endorsement is a positive attribute for them. My desire is that you do the same.

I also do not want anyone who thinks that talking badly about their opponents or candidates from another group is a wise thing to do. These two perspectives reduce my options a lot. I also need to know what you mean. Acronyms and abbreviations used by your ads leave me confused.

I do not know the political language and do not care about who supports you. Everyone that may believe you are an excellent choice means nothing to me. What conservative, liberal, outsider, CRT, woke, or any of your other bywords may vary with the person who uses them.

If you want me to vote for you, I need specifics about what you have done and will do if you are voted into office. How do you stand on the reversal of the Roe vs. Wade Supreme Court decision? I know you all have recognized that our economy is in trouble. Don’t blame someone else for that.

Your solution to this problem is what I need to hear. You cannot lower gas prices. Do not tell me that you will solve this problem. Washington is not the trouble. The people in Congress, the Senate, or other elected offices may or may not be doing their jobs correctly. My opinion and yours may be different.

Tell me what your plan is. How will you vote? I need to know that you will work with anyone else that you must. I was in business for over forty years. I had to change my approach depending on who I worked with. I want you to keep your position working to solve problems. Shutting down the government is never an acceptable result.

We want you to work for us and with each other. We will vote in November. When you lie to us, you will never get our vote again. The voter’s slogan should be, “Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.”

The Shooting Revisited

August 21, 2022

Do you ever listen to and watch the commercials that are on television and the radio? I do. I recognize the stupid Sonic ads. I enjoy the sappy Hallmark card spots. I admire the graceful PSAs (Public Service Announcements). I just saw one for the first time.

A man is rushing into his house while on his phone. He is speaking with his wife. The shot shows him pulling open a drawer on a bedside table. “The gun is not here.” The camera returns to run down the hall and stops at a bedroom door where he is calling his son’s name. The CGA on the screen is about suicide. It closes by saying that there is no extra life. The terror in the man’s voice seems natural.

One of the chapters in “Doulos” is titled “The Shooting.” “Doulos” is the memoir that I finished about eight years ago. That chapter is about an accidental shooting that happened in February of 1966. Here is the story.

Mom woke us up that Saturday morning and we drove to Marshfield to visit with Aunt Nina, Uncle Paul, and the cousins. The snow was drifting across route 66 through Strafford and Northview. The farm was beautiful with snow everywhere. It did not stop us from making the trip.

I had asked to be left home that day. Mom said we were all going and that I would enjoy it when we got there. She was correct. Climbing out of the car I ran into the farmhouse with everyone else. I was ready to go for a walk through the fields looking for rabbits in the snow. My cousin Dennis grabbed a shotgun, and we headed out the backdoor and through the gate.

We walked and talked watching the ground. No one had a watch. We had no idea how long we had been gone or how far it was to get back to the house. We were standing in a circle. My two brothers, Dennis, and me. I was direct across from my cousin. The gun was pointed at an angle toward the ground.

We heard a boom. I sat down on the ground. Dennis ran to me. He looked at my left leg. The firearm was given to my brother Bud. Kenny was sent running back to where our parents were. Dennis picked the wadding from the shotgun shell off the leg of my jeans. “You were just hit by the wadding.” He picked me up and took me to the milk barn. Buddy followed us.

I was sat down on the milk cooler and was told I had been shot. I knew that already. I could not stand on my left leg. It was numb. There was no blood. He carried me into the living room of the house. Mine and Dennis’ parents began to fuss over me. The look on my mom’s face came to my mind when I heard that voice on the TV this morning.

An ambulance had been requested. I was taken to Burge hospital in Springfield, Missouri. You know it as Cox North. My leg was X-rayed, and the prognosis was that I would heal with pellets still in my leg and the two in my knee could be removed if they caused any pain.

Today I have pellets in the calf of my leg. The two in my knee were removed in December of 1966. Many of the buckshot came out over the years. I was able to pop them out one at a time for the first few years. It was interesting to watch the reaction of friends when I did that.

Life has been much the same as it would have been without the shooting. I remember a man that worked at Cox that told my mother that first night that if the angle of the barrel had been two degrees higher and two feet farther away, I would have been hit in the abdomen and would not have survived. That is why this commercial caused me to want to share my story again.

On Route 66

August 11, 2022

Here in Springfield, Missouri, we hear about this road that was named here and began construction in 1926. That’s correct. In four years, we will celebrate the 100^th anniversary of the mother road. We have a birthplace of Route 66 festival that begins today, the eleventh of August here in the queen city of the Ozarks.

As with most other events, it has not taken place during the pandemic. If you have never attended, now is the time to plan to be at the parade Friday evening or some of the concerts. You can just go to check out the displays and vendors during the weekend. Do not miss this opportunity. Almost all of us like music, cars, or motorcycles.

My wife and I have gone to the parade for many years. We usually sit on St. Louis Street. Many of the automobiles that are in the parade return each year. Some of the owners bring their cars from other states.

Springfield has become a destination for car enthusiasts from all over the world. Driving the original path of Route 66 is a tradition for many. According to Bobby Troup’s song “Get Your Kicks on Route 66,” runs from Chicago to L.A. and is more than two thousand miles. This song came out in 1946 and was recorded originally by Nat King Cole.

The cities mentioned in the song are Chicago, St. Louis, Joplin, Oklahoma City, Amarillo, Gallop, Flagstaff, Winona, Kingman, Barstow, San Bernardino, and Los Angeles. Springfield is not mentioned. Troup and his wife were driving from Pennsylvania to California. They began on Route 40. In Chicago, they changed to 66, and the song was renamed, and the lyrics spoke of the last half of the trip.

Bobby’s first song was “Baby, Baby, All the Time” recorded by Nat King Cole in 1946, the same year “Route 66” came out. Some of his other songs were “Feeling of Jazz” by Duke Ellington, “It happened once before” by The Four Freshmen, “Lonely Girl”, “Meaning of the Blues”, and “Now You Know.”

One of my favorite facts about Bobby Troup is the TV series “Emergency” that he and his then-wife Julie London starred in. This show was filmed and set in Los Angeles. I think it is fun to watch these episodes now and think of how his career began with this song that he wrote shortly after traveling through my hometown.

The TV show Route 66 was first aired in 1960. Martin Milner and George Maharis play two friends who are driving a Corvette. Not all the episodes feature the highway known as Route 66. Milner went on to star in “Adam-12” which was produced by the same people who brought us “Emergency.”

Springfield is considered the birthplace of the mother road because the suggestion of the designation for the US highway that would travel from Chicago to California and travel through Illinois, Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, and end in California was suggested by businessmen in the Springfield area. The first notification came via telegram to them at the Colonial Hotel in downtown Springfield, Missouri.

I hope this background helps you while you enjoy the festival. Get your kicks on Route 66 as you share the things that you like whether it is music, cars, or motorcycles. Stop by the museums and read up on the history. Just because you haven’t lived here all your life doesn’t mean you can’t learn something new.

Walk With a Servant