“You will never reach your destination if you stop and throw stones at every dog that barks.” (Churchill) – as seen recently on the Jack’s Winning Words blog.
The 2016 Presidential Campaign is one of the nastier that I’ve seen in my lifetime, but it is also consistent with the lack of civility that has become part and parcel of the partisan politics in America. On the Republican side every candidate (except Kasich) is busy calling the other candidates liars or worse – not conservative enough. On the Democratic side the two seem to be trying to out-liberal each other – trying to convince voters that they are the most “progressive.”
The Republican contest would be a hoot to watch if the thought of one on these contestants getting the nomination weren’t so scary. John Kasich seems at times to be almost amused to be sharing the stage with the sideshow that is going on around him. He is the calm voice of reason almost the maelstrom that is the Republican Party these days.
The point of Churchill’s quote seems to be that it is a waste of our time to stop and react, perhaps defensively or to go on the offense, every time someone throws a stone (an insult, a slight, a demand or a rejection) our way. To Churchill’s way of thinking those are just barking dogs and we have more important things to do – a destination (or destiny) to reach. His point is that you are taking your eye off your goals if you allow yourself to be distracted by the barking dogs in your life; and that is on you.
While it is important not to let the barking dogs distract you from your goals, it might also be important to understand what the barking is about and see if there is something that you are currently doing that needs to be changed, i.e. to learn from the barking. What you may learn that is most valuable to you is what it is about you that caused the dogs to bark. 
Is it the way that you’ve treated others; or the way that you comport yourself in public. Do you elicit envy or disdain because of a showy display of wealth? Do you cause a protective reflex from others because of past displays of anger or hostility? Do you secretly enjoy the fear that you cause in others due to your appearance? Do others mistakenly take your naturally shy behavior as an indication of lack of interest in them or their points of view? These are all things that can start the dogs barking in your life. There’s no need to stop and throw stones at those dogs, but you can be sensitive enough about them to make some personal changes that may keep the dogs quite in the future.
Keep in mind also that many times a dog barks because it wants your attention and 
affection. It wants you to play. There may be important people in your life who are barking at you because they too want your attention. Sometimes we get so wrapped up in our pursuit of our goals in life that we forget to pay attention to those for whom we believe we are pursuing those goals. We miss the opportunities to play with our children or to show affection for our loved ones. All we hear are barking dogs clamoring for our time and attention; but we are too busy to do anything but stop and throw a few stones – “Not now, can’t you see that daddy’s busy” or maybe “We’ll take a vacation next year, I’m too overloaded at the office right now.”
If those are all too familiar stones that you’ve been tossing in your life, perhaps it’s time to stop and reexamine the destination that you’ve been so consumed in the pursuit of.
Those aren’t just barking dogs in your life; they are the reason for your life. Your real goal (destination) should not just be to work hard so that you can get things for them; but rather, to provide a loving, safe and happy environment for them and yourself. Those aren’t barking dogs in your life, they are your family pack that is inviting you to become a member. Don’t throw stone at them, join them and go have some fun. That’s what the barking at home is all about.
Posted by Norm Werner 
day-to-day life, and that is their loss. What pops into your mind if you see a person of color coming towards you with dreadlocks and dresses in Hip Hop fashion? How about if you see a person dressed in distressed skinny jeans or a young lady with purple hair and a nose ring? Did you have good thoughts? Did you think, “Oh, how interesting, I want to meet this person”; or did your thoughts turn to “How can I avoid this person?” What do you think they were thinking about you?
judgement about people based solely upon their appearance. Others might rush to judge based upon their voice or maybe the vocabulary that they use or perhaps the accent that is evident in their speech. We all tend to stereotype or profile the people that we meet based upon some set of criteria that lurks in the back of our minds. That’s unfortunate and usually a mistake, since we have no real proof to go on when pre-judging people that we’ve just encountered.
The proof is usually found in their words to, since they tend to define broad categories of people that they have some issue about or judgement of. Thus, in their minds it is ALL blacks, or ALL gays, or ALL the homeless who possess and display the characteristics that they fear or abhor.
person. I know that I’m not the only one who’s ever wondered how the homeless man sitting on the corner with a sign that reads “will work for food” got into that situation. We use a prayer for forgiveness in church every week,asking that we be forgiven for the things that we have done and those things that we have left undone. I have not stopped to ask or to help and that is my loss for leaving that undone. When I have taken the time to get to the story behind the person that I see in front of me there is usually something to learn and someone that I end up enjoying knowing. Try it yourself: you might be pleasantly surprised.
things in the news, since the news media thinks we want to see and hear about the misfortunes of others, or at least the sensational bad things that happen in the world around us. In our daily lives both good and bad things happen all around us and we choose which we will focus upon. We encounter people as we go through the day and we can choose to greet them with suspicion and cynicism or with a smile and an open mind.
ion of this approach
So, instead of spending any more time dwelling on that past incident, take the advice of today’s little quote and distance yourself from that and all negative things. Focus instead on finding the beautiful things that are also happening in your life. Meet someone new and perhaps make a new friend. Try something new and perhaps discover a new passion. Look for the rainbows in life and not the dark clouds
church Lent Soup Supper every year. In many of our local Chamber of Commerce events there are always people doing things like collecting trash or manning street barricades or setting up and tearing down tents or tables and chairs. Those aren’t the glamour jobs and those behind-the-scenes workers are seldom shown in the publicity pictures that make the paper; however the event could not take place without them toiling away somewhere out of sight. Doing those jobs well and without worrying about getting credit or publicity for them can be very satisfactory because it is a pure act of service.
never had time for earlier in life. An interesting side benefit of being a little more mature is that you are better able to understand and properly categorize and integrate new knowledge into the knowledge base that you have been accumulating all of your life. For many, the sense of wonder at new things is superseded by a sense of appreciation for them, because you now see more clearly how things fit together and make sense.
tomorrow and do what you can to make today as great as it can be today, knowing that if you do what’s right today, tomorrow will take care of itself. Perhaps we need a little more of that type of thinking at all stages in life. What will your tomorrows bring? No one can say for sure; but, do what’s right today and you’ll at least be able to look forward to tomorrow.
numerous topics in her act. Today’s little saying; which, of course, I saw on the 
confrontational. I’ve written here a few times about letting go of the intractable problems of life or the fears that we conjure up about events that we have no ability to change. Our minds are fantastic at imagining all of the worst possible scenarios, which we then feel obligated to try to solve or come up with plans to deal with them. It usually turns out that none of our imagined disasters really occur and everything works out in the end.
feeling that you have sole responsibility from you. Then, ask for courage, guidance and strength in dealing with the issue, rather than hoping for some miracle that makes the whole problem just go away. That will get you thinking straight again.
comes from letting go of the sense of failure or the fears that accompany particularly thorny problems not only allows me to get to sleep, but usually results in awakening without the fear of facing the problem head on. After all, if God is with me; how bad can any earthly problem really be?
judgments. Yet, if we used our brains, we might ask ourselves, upon what basis of facts, other than color am I basing these feelings or opinions? Have I even talked to this person? Do I even know their name or anything about their life story? How can I have jumped to a conclusion of fear or mistrust, based solely upon the one input of color? Yet many do. Use your brain.
discriminatory opinions. We have had such an influx of immigration from so many foreign countries that it is almost impossible not to overhear others speaking in a language that we do not understand or with an accent that is noticeable. There is also the street slang (sometimes labeled Ebonics) that is used by a portion of the African-American population. Any of these cues can kick off an immediate reaction that is just as powerful as the recognition of the color of the individual. Those reactions are often not favorable and lead to conclusions that are just as wrong as those based solely upon color. Use your brain.
perverted it through our prejudices into “guilty until they can prove themselves to be innocent.” If, instead of thinking (with our minds) that every person of color or language difference that you meet is somehow out to do you harm; it might make life more interesting and rewarding, if you went into each meeting with a new person in the frame of mind that you were going to get to know them and see what interesting things that you might learn from them. You can do that if you, Use your brain.
prove themselves to you somehow. They may have also jumped to conclusions about you, based upon what they see or hear from you. They may have fears about you and what you may do to them, especially if you happen to be wearing a police uniform. You might immediately say how could they think that about you? Well, duh; use your brain; what’s on the news all too often these days. “If they only got to know me”, you might think; “they wouldn’t be afraid of me.” OK, so why is the opposite not true? Use your brain.
frequency in which you let some preconceived prejudice in your mind take control of you and shape your reactions to people. The more you become aware of it the easier it might become to at least stop and try to Use your brain.
So, today’s saying by Father Basil, one of two Detroit guys who started a monastery in a remote spot in Michigan’s U.P. that was recently featured in a Detroit Free Press feature article, may provide us all with a small starting point to making a better world for everyone. If each of us resolved to become a better person – kinder, gentler and more caring for others – perhaps a tsunami of goodness would sweep across the world and it woud become a better place for us all.
prayer. Not all of us can just get up and go live in a monastery in the U.P.; however, all of us can take some time to pray each day. Perhaps if we focused out prayer not on things or needs and upon asking for God to make us better people our worlds would become better places. Maybe if instead of asking for God to give you this or that, you could ask him to help you make better decisions in your life and do the right things. I’ve occasionally prayed when I bought a lotto ticket not that God let me win, but that if I should win that God help me do the right things with the money. So far, I guess I haven’t change enough to be given that responsibility.
opportunities to actually be a better person as your day goes on. Don’t hesitate in front of the man on the sidewalk who is obviously down on his luck; stop and ask how you can help. And, if you reach in your pocket and give him the money that you had set aside for your latte or perhaps your lunch; keep in mind that you may be providing him with the means to buy the only meal that he may get today. You were a better person and the world is better for it.
In some marriages the phrase “I’m sorry” is used more often than the phrase “I love you.” Those marriages don’t usually last long. Saying “I’m sorry” is easy. In fact Brenda Lee had a hit song titled, 
a throw-away that we toss in to situations without making the personal investment of actually being sorry.
Maybe of you start of each day and pause to think about not doing things that you’ll have to say “I’m sorry” about you’ll have a better day and you’ll spend a whole lot less time saying and being sorry. But, then; maybe you don’t buy any of this and will just go on being the way you’ve always been – you’ll probably end up sorry about that.
Those secrets take on a life of their own. The life of Herbert Philbrick sometimes became very complicated as he worked to make sure that the secret life that he was leading for the FBI didn’t somehow spill over or disturb the other lives he led and a family man and a businessman. Our lives can get like that as we try to juggle the “facts” of the various lives that we might be leading. It is trying to keep track of the facts verse the lies that becomes complex when you lead multiple lives. It is an oft-used phrase that, “my life is an open book”; however, it is often a book with a few chapters that the speaker chooses to leave out.
point at which we start thinking about the “end game” in our own lives. For most people it is something that is there, in the back of your mind for years, which slowly works its way forward until it demands some thought time and attention.
you are a Christian, you understand that the only way to enter the place that is there for you is through your belief in Jesus Christ. For all who truly embrace Jesus there is a lifting of the fear of death, for it was His promise that, through his death on the cross, He had forever banished death from those who believed in Him.
they embrace the saving grace of Jesus. For some there is a new sense of purpose and a desire to share the good news. For a few there is a sense of mission that leads to a new way of life. For all of those people the starting point to that new life is the removal of the fear of death.
comfort zone, building walls to keep others out. The trouble is that those same walls keep you held in; you become trapped in who you are and never get to explore who you could be, if only you tried some new things. Your comfort zone becomes your personal prison.
with a great variety of people. Choosing to live life with few, if any, close friends is like sitting down with a coloring book and having only one or two crayons. It can get pretty dull pretty quick and you can lose interest. Making friends and understanding their different points of view fills you crayon box with many colors and makes the pictures that you do much more interesting.
do that is to try to meet someone new each day. Each new person that you meet adds a new crayon to your box and allows you to add a new shade or color to your life story.
or after work. Try something new, a different route to or from work or maybe a stop on the way to or from work that we don’t normally make. Maybe you can try something completely different on a weekend; go someplace that you’ve never been or try a new activity that you’ve never tried. You don’t have to go out and try sky diving, but maybe something as simple as going to a sports event that you’ve never been to or actually participating in a sport that you’ve never tried.
become more than you were then because you did something that you didn’t know that you could do. And, unless this all happens on a desert island, you will also find that you now know more people than you’ve ever known, because you put yourself out there where they were, too.
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