Lightkeeper's Journal

Looky Here Pa......History Repeats Itself

 

 

Article By:  Curtis Beaird

Photography By:  Norma W. Beaird

 

The Federal Government and Wall Street have had a long love affair.  In the early days, as in 1790's early days, a small gathering of brokers traded stock under a Buttonwood tree in New York.  This little club did fairly well until 1790 when more stock and more money showed up in the form of government refinancing of both federal and state Revolutionary War debt. Does any of this sound familiar?  These bonds became the first major issues of publicly traded securities.  Then, things got exciting.

A couple of years later in 1792, the first insider showed up to place his bets; or, rather to attempt to manipulate the game.  William Duer, Assistant Secretary of the Treasury, under Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton, hoped to use his Hamilton connection for bond speculation.  It worked really well, until it didn't.  He overextended himself.  When he financially failed, the market also collapsed. 

"Too Big to Fail" was tested early and found wanting.  

History may be an excellent teacher, but students aren’t always all that attentive.

It has been a tough struggle getting a hold on the insider’s use of privileged information for personal gain.  It was William Duer's antics and the collapse that followed that brought about the beginnings of the New York Stock Exchange.  One would think they wanted to go formal and move inside to nicer digs.  Nope, they wanted to save the game.

The boys under the Buttonwood tree decided they needed some trading rules or they could ruin the game.   So in the remaining months of 1792, The Buttonwood Agreement came into existence.  In 1817, the traders became known as the NYSE.  Yes, it was self- regulated.

It's the old fox in the hen house story. 

The saga of the insider continued.  Railroads where the dot.coms of the 1800's.  Senator Kimble of the New York legislature managed a sweet stock manipulation combining legislation and short-selling to kill the price of the Harlem Railroad.  "Profits on short sales were realized," as it is said.

Russell Sage, a former U.S. Congressman, mixed bribing legislators with stock manipulations to pick up some nice change on the price movements of the Pacific Mail Steamship Company.   It seems the company also received a large amount of government subsidies.  I guess we could say Sage not only qualifies as an insider, he is also our first Lobbyist.

It wasn't until 1909, and four major economic disasters later, that someone decided to take note of insider trading on non-pubic information.  On May 3, 1909, the U.S.  Supreme Court ruled that insiders must disclose such information in Strong v. Repide.  The irony of this ruling is that it had nothing to do with The Hill and the Street.

Then came the 1929 Crash, the 1930's, and a guy named Ferdinand Pecora.  Pecora was U. S. Senate Banking Committee counsel.  He exposed the J.P. Morgan and Company stock connection with former President Calvin Coolidge and Franklin D. Roosevelt’s sitting Treasury Secretary.  He also exposed the stock connection with the chairmen of the Republican and Democratic national committees and a handful of CEO's.  That The Hill and Wall Street had been big buds for a long time became obvious.  When Pecora produced the J.P. Morgan Preferred Customer List during hearings, the public outrage encouraged FDR to make good on his promise of financial reform. That reform became The Securities Act of 1933.

That got that fixed, I guess. Now, tell me again the story of Hank Paulson, AIG, Ben Bernanke, Goldman Sachs, etc. etc. etc., and how in  2008 we all learned to use the word billions and bailout, like it was our first name.  Maybe more repair work?

That brings us to February 2012 and The House Amendment to S. 2038 aka STOCK Act.  More legislation to fix up, paint up and patch up after yet another economic market crash.   S. 2038 intends "to prohibit Members of Congress and employees of Congress from using non-public information derived from their official positions for personal benefit, and other purposes." 

Well, let's see. This road show started 220 years ago with William Duer, Assistant Secretary of the Treasury in 1792, using insider information for personal gain.  What do you suppose happened to Mr. Duer?

The boys under the Buttonwood tree didn't appreciate Mr. Duer wrecking the playpen.  The citizens of New York City were livid when he crashed their economy.  It is reported that they chased him through the streets and almost killed him. He died a few years later in debtor’s prison. 

I will never hear a member of Congress say, “unintended consequences" the same way ever again.

On to the next bubble.

 

Mark 8:36 (King James Version)

³⁶For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world,

and lose his own soul?

 

Copyright 2012, Curtis Beaird.  All rights reserved.

Signs You're Living in Georgia

It's amazing what you will see while sitting at a traffic light. 

 

Article by:  Norma W. Beaird

Photography by:  Curtis and Norma Beaird

Curtis and I absolutely love photography, mostly outdoor photography to include nature, landscapes, coastal scenes and old churches.  At the same time, in searching for beautiful and interesting photos, we sometimes come across signs that are very humorous (at least they're humorous to us).  On top of this, we love to laugh!  Laughter is like medicine, except it has less side effects!     

Sometimes, we need to trade the serious for the humorous,

and trade the chaos for the calm. 

As you can probably tell, we're a little eclectic in our subject matter.  Even though the world seems to have gone crazy at the moment, we need to train ourselves to occasionally view the positive and joyful side of life.   If we always feed our mind the constant bad news, the never-ending political spin and the horrifying apocalyptic predictions, we'll be a prime candidate for the latest anti-depressant on the market today.

Sometimes, despite the negativity that surrounds us 24/7, we need to laugh and find the humor that is all around us.  Sometimes, we need to photograph that funny sign that may not contribute anything towards world peace, but it gives us some emotional relief.   As a matter of fact, the Mayo Clinic endorses laughter as an effective means of stress management.

It's okay to laugh.  It's okay to have a sense of humor and be happy.

Proverbs 15: 13 

A merry heart maketh a cheerful countenance:

but by sorrow of the heart the spirit is broken. 

Proverbs 17:22

A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones.

Sometimes, we need to take a break from the stress, the traumas, and the little life dramas.  (Wow!......how poetic)  Sometimes, we need to "lighten up"  and give it a break......or a rest.  It may be as simple as going camping and admiring the beauty of nature.  It may be as simple as spending time with the grandchildren.  It may be as simple as a husband and wife scheduling a date night at their favorite secluded restaurant. 

Sometimes, it may be as simple as photographing your pet or a bird in the front yard.  You may relieve stress by writing your thoughts in a journal.  It may be as easy as watching a funny re-run on TV.  It may be as soothing as a pedicure or as relaxing as a drive through the quiet countryside.  It may be as simple as going fishing in your favorite pond or lake.  It doesn't have to be expensive or require a lot of planning, but it does need to relieve stress and redirect your thoughts to what is really important in life. 

Find a reason to laugh and bring some sunshine to a cloudy day.

Laughter is contagious!

As part of our humor therapy, we want to share some of the things that we find funny.  Since we live in Georgia, we have noticed that Georgia businesses have a knack for producing three things in their signage. 

1.  Signs with part of the lights out.  Blown-out light bulbs are a sure-fire sign you're in Georgia. 

2.  Signs with funny messages, whether or not it's meant to be humorous. 

3.  Signs with straight talk about their requirements for entering the premises. 

We also find pictures of things that don't necessarily classify as signage, but they're so funny that we have to share them!  Living in Georgia provides many opportunities for entertainment. 

There are times when we don't always have our cameras with us.  A few of these were photographed with our cell phone.  We just couldn't pass them up!  Hope you enjoy these as much as we do!

 

This sign doesn't mean that Georgia is filled with so many skinny folks that they can't keep their pants up.  No, siree!  Georgia is home to many buffets, where fried chicken, cornbread and grease are part of the food pyramid.   We do have some young folks who are really proud of their underwear. 

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Signs like this are everywhere.   I thought Missouri was the "Show Me" state.

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I'll never forget when we posted this sign on Facebook.  A very humorous and single friend of mine posted the following comment under this sign...."I'd like to have a hot Doug!"   Well, it wasn't long before she found one.  His name wasn't Doug, but according to her Facebook photos, it looks as though her love life has certainly improved! 

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Curtis attended a drag race at this particular drag strip near Macon just one time.  That's all it took.  Most businesses warn about illegal drugs and alcohol.  In Georgia, there are a few additions.

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St. R Bucks?   

  Do they need to increase the price of their Mocha Lattes to afford a few light bulbs? 

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With a name like Ed Obster, I would vote for him for president. 

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Are you serious?  Don't turn Uncle Ned loose on the Oconee River!

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First of all, we're not very traditional.  We had a nice dinner buffet on the Savannah Riverboat on Christmas Eve.  On Christmas Day, we had a more casual dinner at IHOP (yes, you read IHOP).  When we walked out of IHOP, this is what we saw in front of us.   As a man exited the driver's side, I inquired about his unusual passenger.  He replied with a grin, "Oh yes, that's my son-in-law!"

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You have to understand something.  When you eat at greasy (pronounced gree-zee) All-You-Can-Eat buffets in Georgia, you need to be near a restroom at all times.  Sometimes our digestive systems are not wired for an onslaught of fried catfish, collard greens, hushpuppies and sweet tea.  If you don't believe this, just ask Paula Deen. 

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Four things are really important to Georgia folks:   

Church fish fries, deer hunting, firearms and working bathrooms

 

 

Ecclesiastes 3:  1 - 8 (King James Version)

¹To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:

 ²A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;

 ³A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;

 ⁴A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;

 ⁵A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;

 ⁶A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;

 ⁷A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;

 ⁸A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.

 

Copyright 2012, Curtis and Norma Beaird.  All rights reserved.

 

The Calling

 

 

Article By:  Curtis Beaird

Photography By:  Norma W. Beaird

 My last article was entitled Sermon or Emotional Massage?  A commenter by the name of Michael Hansen replied with commentary that I would like to respond to in this article.

First of all, let me say that we appreciate comments from everyone, whether in agreement or disagreement, positive or negative.  So, thank you Michael for your commentary. 

Comment by Michael:

Truly I believe that neither one is correct. That doesn't mean I have an answer, but I do know that Christ said "It is finished" To many times Grace eludes the aggressive types. In fact it is non-existent. So the message they put forth is full of anger, and condemnation. "There is now therefore no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus" Very simple really. A condemning message is not of the Lord. Period. I tend to think that they are going to be surprised to find themselves among the goats. They beat people with words. and call it love. We are to believe that some formula and much grovelling and begging for forgiveness is the way to Christ. The truth is He weeps over that approach. Just what do you think Christ did on the Cross? Set the captives free. Who were the captives? People held in religious bondage to people who had no idea how the Father worked. Tied people up in law that they themselves could not keep. Christ fulfilled that law and satisfied the wrath of God to those who would believe. All the aggressive types want to do is be Gods hammer to the sheep. If I am forgiven, than I am forgiven, period. Jesus said that it was impossible for man to keep the law, hence the need for Him to do what He did. Why is it that most feel the need to point out the sins of others? and to do it with a 2 x 4 club. Why do you think Jesus pointed out all the sins that would keep one out of heaven? So we all could make another book of law that now includes all the ones we didn't realize were sins? NO NO NO do not be so stupid. To show us just how much in need we were of what it was He was going to accomplish. Which makes His sacrifice ever more rich for those who have the wisdom to see it. No mostly the aggressive ones are babes in the Lord if in the Lord at all. They are nothing more than a clanging symbol. I know this because I once was one. They are modern day Pharisees. The other type are modern day Saducees, and that is about as much time as Christ gave to Saducees too...

Here is my response:

While in Christ there is no condemnation, in life there are consequences.  I may be wrong, but I think most of us live with the scars of past bad decisions.  While thankfully, by the Grace of God, their debilitating power has been removed as far as the east is from the west, our memories serve us all too well.  My question, why take on more pain and live with more scars?

To the man who would say, “I just can’t communicate with my wife."  I think it is appropriate to ask, “Who are you communicating with?"  As a minister, I have done just that.  I had no intention of judging.  That power is not mine.  I am called to care.   In some circumstances, that means raising the thorny question.  The silence that followed the question was deafening.

Another friend having marital problems said to me in the checkout line at the grocery store, no less, that she wanted to come for counsel.  I had known her since she was a kid.   I grinned and asked, "Do you want counsel or permission?"

I see no reason to use the language of grace to avoid the issue.  Universalism addresses the pain of guilt and our sense of failure too lightly.  The warfare has ended.  Salvation is accomplished.   Start the party.  Then, why am I so depressed and feel guilty all the time?

I see no reason to use the language of scripture to condemn anyone.   Fundamentalism addresses the pain of guilt and failure through mental assent to verbal propositions.  Get the right answer and you come up with a conditional pardon.  Huh?

Neither of those approaches fit my job description.   My calling is to face into the hurts of life where grace and the forgiveness of God can do the work of bringing hope and new life. 

But, grace and God's forgiveness are most effective in the context of our acknowledged wounds, failures and sins.  In the "olden days", as my kids would say, they called it confession.   Without that acknowledgment, the conversation misses the possibility of healing and becomes little more than a religious discussion, or worse, a motivational speech.  Instead of a moment of hope and change leading to new life in Christ, it becomes a time for intellectual discussion and debate.  In other words, boring.

Effective ministry as I see it, grows out of the minister’s own need of grace, his experience with Christ, his engaging the Word, his appreciation for the Church as the Body of Christ, and never out of a sense of the power to judge.  I've never seen a minister as a channel of judgment.  As I said, that is not my job.  But, raising the question, at the appropriate time and in a caring manner, that is the calling. 

The model for this style of minister?  Jesus Christ.  In Mark's Gospel, Jesus asked something on the order of fifty questions.  Clearly, they were not of the milk and cookies variety.  In the face of a storm that He speaks into calmness, He asked his frightened and somewhat pouty disciples, "Why are you so fearful?  How is it that you have no faith?" 

It's a calling.

 

Mark 4:40 - 41 (King James Version)

⁴⁰And he said unto them, Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith?

 ⁴¹And they feared exceedingly, and said one to another, What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?

 

Copyright 2012, Curtis Beaird.  All rights reserved.

 

Sermon or Emotional Massage?

 

 

Article By:  Curtis Beaird

Photography By:  Norma W. Beaird

 

If you’re not a minister, you are free to skip this read.   Or, read it and find out how your minister functions.

Ministers, preachers, priests, and those claiming to be part-time prophets seem to come in two styles today; those who take the preventative approach to ministry and those who take the therapeutic approach.  The first is more aggressive.  The second leans toward the suggestive and is passive with the message.

The more aggressive minister takes a preventative approach to ministry.  They raise questions that are the constant "elephants in the room" that few care to address.    While they sing Softly and Tenderly, they are as eager to sing ….Up From the Grave He Arose.  They believe everything that is Biblically based can be included in their message and ministry.  Initiative is their middle name. 

When they see someone standing on a railroad track facing an oncoming train, they don't mind shouting a warning, "Get off the track!”  They spend as much time announcing that folks should "prepare to meet their God" as they do meandering through the lilies of the valley.

The more passive minister takes a therapeutic approach to ministry.  Basically, once we have a spill, they rush to do the obvious……clean up the mess.

Until she is pregnant, we don't talk about fornication.  Until Bud gets his third DUI, we don't mention the disastrous effects of alcohol abuse.  Until adultery or pornography ruins a marriage, we focus on locating the lost Jebusites or setting dates for the Second Coming. 

The list of religious dodges is a long one.   Why trouble a congregation?   Ignore the suggestion that there are consequences of bad choices.  Sidestep the pain associated with self-induced problems.  Promise them that God will give them the desires of their heart.   Promise them that a wave of blessings will follow in the wake of the offering plate.   Dismiss as negative anything that illuminates the ambiguous nature of living.

The rules of engagement for the passive, therapeutic minister are simple:  Wait, wait and wait.  Let circumstance force action.  

Aggressive ministers who engage in the preventative approach are not popular.  No one questions their presence or wonders whose side they are on.  They speak the name of God, not as a possibility, but as though all life flows from that one Name.  Safety is not their first concern; proclamation is.  They announce good news.  But, that announcement makes clear the need for change.  ....What?  ....Change?

These awakeners raise the disturbing questions.  They insist on Spirit as the presence of God rather than offering a simpering nostalgic hope for a bygone day of religion.  When inevitable grief cracks open our illusions, the aggressive minister, even in tears, will assert the presence of God.  "The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away.  Blessed be the name of the Lord."

The aggressive minister makes us uncomfortable.  They are the ones with a dream.  While they can and will use the language of inclusion, that language includes the name of Jesus at the top of the list.   We will find a reason to avoid them and their ways.  They have little or no capacity for the politically correct approach.  They ask too many questions.  They may join your club, but they never actually belong.

The more passive minister who follows the therapeutic approach waits with hands quietly folded on the mop handle until the mess runs under the office door.  The wait is seldom long. 

He is wonderful with people and always understands everything.  Drawing explanations from the language of inclusion, conversations tip toward the more psychological.   The name of Jesus may not be included in the message of consolation.  It will always be implied that we have the ability to manage.   The capacity to nurture and listen is unparalleled.  He is such calm in the storm.  If their presence doesn't bring peace to the valley, it will, for a moment, insulate us from the wreckage we are left to pick up as soon as he is out the door.

While we would hope that a minister would recognize the need for both the preventative and the therapeutic, the prophetic and pastoral, it's just plain safer to wait for the mess. 

Unfortunately, the Apostle Paul didn't get the memo.

 

II Timothy 4: 1 – 8 (King James Version)

¹I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom;

 ²Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long suffering and doctrine.

 ³For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;

 ⁴And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.

 ⁵But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry.

 ⁶For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand.

 ⁷I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith:

 ⁸Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing

 

Copyright 2012, Curtis Beaird.  All rights reserved.