Charles (Chuck) Kensinger

Pay Attention

January 25, 2023

I often mention to folks that I am so poor I can’t even pay attention. I also like to share with others that the main problems with America are ignorance and apathy, but I don’t know, and I don’t care. Yes, I understand that these are old jokes, and I don’t know how to tell a joke.

I want you to continue reading anyway because I am going to talk about a problem worse than gun violence. It has been a problem longer than Covid-19 and has been like the frog in the pot. You do not know about the frog? You cannot boil a frog as you do pasta. You must put him in the pot first. Add lukewarm water and turn the heat on low. If nothing scares him, he sits there and boils to death.

Yes, we are frogs, and this perpetual problem is not getting any better. Many years ago, I started telling people that we needed to change laws to make this problem more manageable. What kills all these innocent people, and our society does not want to take any steps to try to control it?

The problem is driving while under the influence. When I began complaining about this situation it was mostly drunk drivers. I witnessed an accident involving such a driver. I gave my contact information to the police and the victims. I was at the court for the trial and a plea bargain was made.

What angered me was the fact that it was his third offense of this type. He also did not have a valid driver’s license. The car he was in was not his. A friend had given him permission to drive. Witnesses had to stop him and a passenger from walking or staggering away from the accident.

What can be done to stop these offenses? On the first arrest, they should be required to spend time in public service. Preferably in a hospital or clinic that serves those injured in automobile accidents. They need to be shown what their actions cause. They should also be obliged to attend therapy sessions. If they complete this, they should be allowed to drive again with a device on the car that prevents it from starting if they are intoxicated.

The second offense should carry more public service and therapy. A longer suspended or revoked period on the driver’s license. Driving without a valid license should include permanent confiscation of the vehicle they are driving. The machine should be sold, and the proceeds used to compensate victims of these types of collisions. If they are not the owners, the police should look for a stolen vehicle report. Anyone who allows a DUI recipient to use their car should be warned that if it happens a second time, they will lose their transportation.

A third offense should require mandatory jail time and permanent exclusion from driving. We must stop being lenient on these offenses. Our legislature should be required to enact stricter laws on driving under the influence. This is even more important now that the recreational use of marijuana has been legitimized.

If legislators do not vote for increased penalties these folks should be removed from their positions. We also should investigate their background and stop them from being reelected, if there is any inappropriate use of alcohol or other substances. Those who would have reason to fear these restrictions do not need to be responsible for putting them in place. Stop the stupidity.

Banned books

January 23, 2023

I received an e-mail from Penguin Random House today with a list of banned books I might want to read. As I went through the list, I found four that I had read. I can add a few more to their list from my favorites. It surprises me when I discover what books are deemed offensive by groups around the world.

The four from the list? Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five, George Orwell’s Animal Farm and 1984, and Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison. I added Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn from my Uncle Sam. I’ll begin with the oldest books. Mark Twain is famous for writing period pieces. Most were from the time in which he lived.

Recently some of Twain’s books have been removed from libraries because of the language used in them. The common term for the word that is objected to is the “N” word. It is considered derogatory in our culture. In Samuel Clemens’s day, it was a word used to describe certain people. Even in that time, some used that term to denigrate others.

These books are valuable for showing us how minorities were abused in the past. These practices need to be corrected in our world. Removing offensive language from the culture can be done without eliminating non-offensive literature. We should agree on which word is acceptable in our society and positively descriptive of this people group.

George Orwell wrote 1984 to show that a tyrannical government can control its citizens in many significant ways. We have the wonderful phrase “Big brother is watching you” from this amazing story. In the 1940s the technology to watch us 24/7 was not yet available. Today it is.

Why it and Animal Farm should be banned is not obvious to me. A story about a society inhabited by species of animals is nothing new to us now. Orwell was trying to teach us about prejudice and trying to control others for our own purposes. There is an alternative message here. Take care of others and you help yourself.

I first met the writings of Kurt Vonnegut in 1973 at Southwest Missouri State University in Springfield, Missouri. I was a sophomore, and they offered their first class in science fiction as literature. Our instructor was a Vonnegut fan, and I was not at first. Slaughterhouse has never been a favorite. Again, I do not fully understand why they should be banned. My guess is that someone like me did not enjoy reading it.

You guessed wrong if you believe The Invisible Man is a sci-fi book. I first read this book for a literature class at SMSU. Ralph Ellison writes a memoir of what it was like growing up as a young black man in white America. As you can notice from the title his main observation is that being black made him invisible to many.

The story that I tell most often about this book is sitting in the student union reading it when a nice-looking young lady approached me and began talking to me about it. After a short conversation, I realized she had mistaken it for the H.C. Wells novel. The kicker was that she was African American. I never told her about her mistake. We enjoyed several other conversations that year. When I transferred to another university, we lost track of each other.

As a writer I recommend books I have read, and I also advise against others that I felt were a waste of time. I do not like the concept of banning books for any reason. My wife and I did try to control what our daughters read at each stage as they matured.

I do not support the bill currently in the Missouri legislature that could penalize libraries for offering certain tomes to students whose parents do not believe that they are age appropriate. This type of legislation has failed to reach the floor for a vote in previous sessions. It should fail this year as well.

Falling in love

January 21, 2023

“I don’t love her anymore. I don’t remember when I did.” This is a line from “The Twilight Zone” episode that is titled “The Trouble with Templeton”. Actor Booth Templeton expresses his disdain to his servant about the current Mrs. Templeton’s dalliance and speculates on what his life would be like if his first wife had not died so young.

The episode ends when his first wife and best friend ask him to go back to where he came from. A disappointing end to time travel reminds us that we must continue to live even when life seems hard. Time travel is a common vehicle on this sci-fi anthology series from the 1960s.

The questions this brought to my mind were do we love because we must, or do we love because we want to? Love is a choice. Love is a verb. These are phrases you may have read in my articles before. It also is not an emotion as many believe.

The term making love is a misnomer, as well. Love is not a noun. It is not something that you can create. The proper term is having sex. There are other phrases that you can use without stating the acronym for the full use of carnal knowledge.

I have heard people using this excuse for divorce by saying they are no longer in love with their spouse. Men and women both reason their desire to end the relationship by this logic. Sometimes lack of sex is considered the indication they are no longer loved. Sex and love have no correlation.

Physical touch is one of the “Five Love Languages” talked about in Dr. Gary Chapman’s books. This demonstration of love is not always expressed through sexual contact. Couples continue to love and experience love when they no longer express their commitment through intercourse.

I will speak about the definition of this word in another column or series of columns. As you know, sometimes I have more to say about a subject than will fit into one piece. Keep in mind that much of what I share with you is not original to me.

I read a great deal. I research through files that I have collected over the last fifty years. Would you believe that I have maintained all my college class notes? I do use the internet; I like to fall back on older research materials.

The Bible is one of my favorite resources. I do not always quote chapters and verses when using the information and wisdom it provides. I am one of those oddballs that believe in the validity of scripture. It says that God is love and those who follow Christ are to love as He did. After all, He is God.

Paul tells us in his letters in the New Testament to love our spouses, children, and everyone that we know. Even the Old Testament commands us to love our neighbors as ourselves. Jesus said this was the second most important of the commandments we received from the Hebrews.

Computer illiteracy

January 18, 2023

The picture was ancient. Two nice-looking girls were sitting at manual typewriters in a school room. You knew it was old because it was black & white, and their clothes were vintage. My comment to the question on Facebook “Do you remember this?” was “Yes, I am the guy behind the two girls.” Slightly out of focus and in the background was a young man with horn rim glasses and a white shirt. He was your typical nerd from the fifties and sixties. You couldn’t see his pocket protector, but I’m sure it was there.

My keyboarding career started that way. Typing class in high school. A few guys. Mostly girls getting a head start on their stimulating careers in the secretarial field. Today, I am using a laptop to write. That class at Hillcrest is not typing now but keyboarding and it will soon die because no one gets to high school without being able to use a keyboard. Most get that education in kindergarten.

Computers first came to my attention in grade school. It was the Univac that I saw in magazines and books. Then there was the IBM monstrosity that NASA used to compute trajectories for the Mercury missions. I never knew what a computer really was until I saw Secret Treasures. Who knew that people used to be called computers? We just called them smart kids.

Our first computer keyboard was on a Texas Instrument device smaller than my first AM radio. Then came the Commodore, the Atari, and the 86-format machine. That was the first with minor connectivity and its own monitor. The rest is plugged into the TV like your first video game. My first video game was brother Bud’s Pong.

I’ve run DOS and Windows 3 and up. I have not upgraded to eleven yet, but I am sure it will happen. I have wanted to be computer literate since I was in the third grade. I used my daughters as an excuse to get our first desktop machine. I still have floppy disks with my writing files on them. I should go back and look at some of those columns and stories.

Before COVID-19 shut down I took a class at OTC to learn about Windows Office. I learned about Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, and other programs that I have used for years. The difference now is I know how to use many functions that I had not mastered before.

Between video, audio, and word processing software, I feel I currently have mastery of the computer I need. What will come is a mystery to me. This is as true as it was in 1960.

The end of political parties

January 7, 2023

I have opposed the two-party system for fifty years. If you have wondered why we should eliminate this antiquated system, turn on the news. Our Congress cannot elect a speaker. Apparently, no one can do anything about the gridlock between two factions in one of the parties.

I believe that the voters should contact our congresspersons and tell them that if they have been supporting the man that Trump wants and have lost ten votes already, you want them to get to work or you will recall them.

We elected these men and women to represent us. Stop messing around and get to work. This should be the last term that any of these people serve in congress. If you can’t elect the person that will lead you for the next two years, how can we expect you to get anything else done?

Josh Hawley the senior senator from Missouri announced the end of the Republican Party as it is currently known after the election in November. According to him, this is because of Donald Trump supports certain candidates nationwide. Those that were supported by the former President, failed to be elected. His statement was that independent voters did not approve of these men and women.

For myself, I did not vote for anyone on my ballot that had been endorsed by this treasonous, lying, the former president. Hawley’s statement is opposed to what he was saying two years ago. He still reminds us that he liked many of the things that Trump did as President.

It does not surprise me when I think of his election for Missouri’s Attorney General in 2016, where he promised us, he was not a politician and had no aspirations for other offices. Missourians believed him. A majority supported him in his 2018 bid for the Senate.

We are surrounded by liars and incompetence. It isn’t just the Republicans. Even the Democrats don’t seem to be making good choices. Political parties have only one purpose currently. They finance the election of those that toe the party line. I am sick and tired of the Republicrats and Demicans slowing down the process of passing laws.

It has been years since the US budget has been passed for an entire year. We constantly hear about last-minute approval of a stop-gap measure to keep the country from shutting down. We are told that one party doesn’t want to work with the other. Then the two parties have internal disagreements.

We need several things done by the congress, senate, and president. We need term limits, a balanced budget amendment, and a change in the primary process that allows all the voters to choose who will be on the ballot in November. The political parties have seen their day.

Help me get the word out and remind the congressman from the Missouri seventh district that those first two were campaign promises of his. And the first thing he should propose is that his and the others’ pay should be suspended until the budget is balanced. You think congress is in turmoil now. Wait until he suggests that one.

COSMIC FLATULENCE

January 4, 2023

The seventh and eighth-grade boys sat in the room at the church in Springfield, Missouri. They listened as well as they could as the teacher tried to expound the love of Christ to them. From out of nowhere it appeared. No, you could not see it and this time it was not heard. It was there and you knew it because of the odor that spread through the entire room. The windows had to be opened. Even then it took interminable minutes to dissipate.

That was the moment when this theory of the origin of the Universe was born. It sounds odd. Sometimes flashes of inspiration appear just like that strange smell. Which of the times this happened was the actual trigger is not known. The beginning of time became clear one day in this green fog.

When I was beginning college, I had doubts that the story of Jehovah creating the universe was a myth. I asked God to show himself to me. I wanted to believe. I began to see the hand of a creator in the sunset, the sunrise, the rain, the stars, and a thousand other parts of creation itself.

When my children were born, I knew that the process of procreation was named properly. Everything about our world and our universe points directly to a creator. If you can’t see that, I am sorry. I wanted to believe in Yahweh. I know that it is said that we believe what we want to.

Hebrews 11:1 in the New Testament of the Bible says, “Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things that are not seen.” This is one of my favorite scriptures. My belief in a creator allows me to see Him and have proof in my own mind that He does in fact exist.

The main theory that contends with creation is something that is called The Big Bang Theory. This ideology states that when there was nothing it exploded. Can nothing explode? I do not think that is a scientific fact. I do not believe that anyone has been able to record a vacuum doing anything. My Cosmic Flatulence concept is the Big Bang with an explanation of where whatever banged came from.

Can this theory be proven? No, it cannot. It makes sense to me that something must have entered the nothing that was where the universe is now. Going back to that room and that cloud of smelly gas that came from nowhere, I decided that if the Big Bang was correct, God must have passed gas.

If you do not want to accept that the universe was created, then explain to me how nothing exploded or where whatever did explode came from. Just like the boy that created that cloud, you are denying the truth. Something was there. It came from somewhere. Nothing or something blew up either by accident or by some cause.

I have no problem accepting that our Universe started with a cloud of something like gas exploding. I need to know where whatever explosion came from. Do not lie to yourself and everyone else by saying that nothing can explode. If you do not want to acknowledge that something came from somewhere. Acknowledge that everything you believe in is a lie according to science.

I understand that you believe that I am believing a lie and that I am confused and stupid. I will not call you the names that you call those of us who accept a creator God. I wish that something someone says will touch you and you will stop believing the lies that have been told.

I Do Not Resolve

January 3, 2023

Several years ago, I made a resolution before the new year, and I have not broken it to this day. Have you made a promise this year to do something that will change your life? This is the thing to do. You may be like me and have succeeded in previous years.

Some resolve to lose weight. I was skinny as a boy and through high school and college. When I was married my wife and I were young and trim. I had heard the joke about turning sideways and being mistaken for a zipper. As I grew older my weight increased and now, I am considered obese. I am working on this problem. I have never resolved to lose weight.

Smoking, drinking, taking narcotics, or other illegal substances have never been something that I do. I have activities that I enjoy. They are not illegal and in my mind are not immoral. Some of you would say, “I would never do that.” Good. If you do not enjoy it or think it is “not beneficial” to you, don’t do it. Make that a resolution.

What I am talking about is that when you recognize something as bad for you, stop doing it. I do not mouth off to stupid people. It can get you hurt. I learned that the hard way. I still say stupid things. Only to my friends. They understand.

If there is something that you should do, like bathing more often, eating breakfast, reading, spending time exercising, or just enjoying people, do it. Do it as often as you want. Except for eating breakfast. Once a day is enough.

Waiting for a particular time to do something is not the best way to make changes in your life. A friend of mine decided he would quit smoking. For years it was his New Years’ resolution. He rarely made it through January. Someone told him to quit the next time he finished a pack. That did not help.

One day he was at a business meeting and pulled out his cigarettes at break time to leave the building to take a smoke. Someone detained him to talk about sports or something that interested him. When the next open time came, he continued the conversation.

After returning home, he left the smokes at home. If he did not have them with him, he did not buy more. He found something else to take his mind off them. When he told me about this, he had quit for five months. The process started three years before and he still had that partial pack.

Setting goals is a good thing. The first of the year can be a good time. So can any time of the year. If you slip, start again. That is how I deal with my weight. Every time I overeat or eat the wrong things, I refocus my energy to do better. Sometimes I lose three or four pounds and only regain one or two. That is better than I have done in the past.

Oh, what was that last New Year’s resolution? I resolved to never make another one. It worked.

Would I lie to you?

January 2, 2023

When I saw this game show advertised on television, my first thought was, “Yes, you would if you thought you could get away with it.” If you are a politician, the answer is “of course”.

A local attorney says that he would not lie to you. He might tell you things that you do not wish to hear, but he will not lie to you. Falsehood is at epidemic proportions. There is no vaccine to prevent it. There is not a medication that will help those who seem to be infected with it.

The best of us do it. We even have a holiday to celebrate it and we call it April Fool’s Day. It is celebrated on April the first. Playing jokes on others is lying. Yes, we all do it. The problem is knowing when to tell the truth and when a lie is the kinder alternative.

Gentlemen do not tell your wife that it isn’t the dress when she asks if it makes her look fat. Many of us have problems with self-image. That statement will not help. I always tell my wife that she is beautiful in my eyes. She has never agreed with me. It is the truth whether she accepts it or not.

I recently finished a book that discussed dealing with those who have lost touch with reality. This may be due to dementia or mental illness. Either way, the kind thing to do is to not confront someone with the straight truth. If they ask where they are and you know the answer will upset them, tell the truth in love. You are where you need to be right now.

When will their spouse come to see them? Soon is an answer that should work. Often the loved one is the one they asked the question of. It hurts that they don’t recognize you, but it may be kinder than reminding them they have forgotten.

My memory has never been perfect. I have many techniques I use to aid it. One is asking the person I am talking to what the word I am trying to think of is. Do not finish my sentence for me. Paul tells us that love is patient and kind. Being patient is kindness.

There are hundreds of other situations where the truth is not the best policy. A child may ask where Grandma has gone after she has died. If you don’t believe in Heaven or do not think she could possibly be admitted, tell the youngster that she is far away, and they should see them again. If they ask when say it will be a long time.

The answer to my question is yes. I would lie to you. If I thought the truth would hurt. I try not to lie to you for selfish reasons. Sometimes I even fail at that.

What Year is it for You?

January 1, 2023

2022 is over. What year is that for you? Did you have your first child? Is that event due later this year? Will you graduate from high school or college? Will this be a significant year that you can look on in the future and say, “I did this in 2023?”

We’ve heard how awful the last two or three years have been. Why? Did you die from Covid-19? I’m guessing you did not, or you would not be reading this. I’ve lost some dear friends in the last three years. Most were not from the pandemic.

What makes a year memorable or forgettable? I don’t remember the year I was born. My mother did. It was one of the hottest in history for my hometown. Let me share some good years with you. This is my point of view. Yours may not be the same.

1960 was the year I started school. Mrs. Jackson was my teacher that year. Alan Shepherd became the first American in space that same year. I began high school in ’68. The first decade I remember the end of was the 1960s. I also passed my first driving test in 1970.

I graduated from high school in 1972. That means my class had our 50^th reunion last spring. High School was a time I remember as being fun and difficult at the same time. I was 14^th in my graduating class. I just heard you say, “So, there were only 15 that graduated that year from your school.” We had over 300 graduates.

I wasn’t the best, but I made it out and into college the following fall. I graduated from there four years later. The best thing about 1976 wasn’t that I finished college. That was also the year I began my marriage. “A good year for you and a bad one for your wife.” I heard that.

1979 was a banner year for us. Our first daughter was born, and we both started new jobs. Cindy’s lasted until after our third daughter came along and we decided it was time she became a stay-at-home mom. Mine lasted 25 years when I decided it was time to make a change.

Each of those years was good because our family was comfortable, and we did not go through significantly rough years. Our three daughters all graduated high school and college and began their families. Which was the best year? Most would say it wasn’t 2009.

That was the year I was laid off from the best job I ever had. Why was it the best? I was doing what I enjoyed with people I liked at a company that treated me well. It was a good year because I began publishing columns while I was unemployed. God used that as a turning point in my life.

My health has taken a plunge in the last few years. My wife and I had Covid-19 in 2020 before it had been identified in the United States. We both survived. Cindy is going through the long haul with it. I have retired and find it easy to stay away from people and stay home with the dogs.

During the shutdown, my wife worked from home, and we helped with some of the grandkids when they could not be in school. We helped our daughter and son-in-law get their two oldest kids to school. Because of that, I can’t say the last three years have been bad for us.

Will this year be better or worse? It depends on how I want it to be. My attitude is what makes the difference. I plan on making it one of my best years ever. It can be one of yours also. Don’t let circumstances rule your life. Make what you do affect what happens this year.

It’s beginning to look a lot like marketing

December 30, 2022

This is a time of year that we often hear the statement that Jesus is the reason for the season. Originally, December 25^th was the date for a celebration of a pagan winter holiday. When the emperor of the Roman Empire converted to Christianity, he allowed the change of holidays to keep the people happy and alter the focus from debauchery to a form of holiness.

Yes, I said a form. Many of our traditions have been taken from other cultures and nations. The evergreen tree, ornaments, lights, the nativity scene, and gift-giving. According to our current culture, gifts began with wise men. Gold, myrrh, and frankincense are what they brought.

Today, the candy, toy, floral, electronics, and clothing industries use this concept of sharing with others to make a profit. They are not the only people who use the holidays to earn money. Christmas and New Year are not the only times of year to sell these products as well as food, alcoholic beverages, and decorations.

After graduating from college with a degree in Religious Education I was looking for a job that would support my wife and I. She began a position in direct marketing with a man from our church. He sold funeral supplies.

Yea, I had not realized that there was a market for clothing, flowers, and sundries for this field of endeavor. He was creating a catalog with new products and a unique line of items he was importing from Europe. They were not easily marketable to his current clientele. He needed photographs and a marketing strategy that was different from what he did at that time.

My experience as a photographer aided me in acquiring the position of marketing director. It lasted as long as it took me to create the new marketing materials and a ten-year plan. While my job ended after six months, my knowledge of marketing that I had gained for the effectiveness of this program has remained.

I wish I had written this commercial.

I have added to it with over forty years of sales and purchasing experience. I know that July is when you must order Christmas products. Spring brings its own marketing strategy for clothing, vacation plans, and outdoor supplies.

Christmas has been expanded to a time to market not just products but the not-for-profit industry. I am talking about what was once called charities. For 19 dollars a month you can help children with medical problems, the homeless, disabled veterans, animals, and countless other organizations that survive on the American market’s pension for helping others.

Be careful how you help these well-deserving people and creatures. If you want to help abused animals, donate to a local shelter. Do not agree to send money to an organization you have not researched or vetted thoroughly. Help a family that you know is struggling. Do it with kindness and anonymity.

Walk the streets and ask the homeless what they need. It is easy to give money. Can you contribute the time to help one person get back on the track they were following? Do not focus on what you think they should do. Help them make the decisions themselves. Start with your family and friends and let the love spread.

Time is more valuable than cash. Give it liberally to anyone who needs some of yours. If I had a dime for every minute I have given away, I would not just be wealthy. I would be able to help those that I am now reaching.

Do not take this the wrong way. I believe that we all should be in the business of serving others. My ministry has been one of doing what I can for the health and wisdom of others. You are now experiencing the latest incarnation of what Jehovah called me to do. Follow this page and see where He takes me in 2023.

Walk With a Servant