That said, my perception of both traditional and direct media coverage surrounding the announcement is that it contains a hidden message as important as Legoland itself. I encourage you to read this post from The Daily Disney blog “A Mom and the Mouse” by Kristin Ford. The column highlights the Lego Imagination Center at Downtown Disney, which is an existing interactive play area and Lego store to which children flock en masse. The author includes an important paragraph acknowledging the new Polk Legoland and its proximity to the Orlando attractions. And she closes the piece by encouraging financial incentives and other “tie-ins” to entice visitors to venture off the Disney property and try something new.

As I read more about the author, I learned that she is a self-proclaimed Disney enthusiast who’s been given a space on that blog by The Orlando Sentinel specifically to discuss activities at Disney. So “don’t look now,” but here’s another example of a neighbor to our East focused on a big deal in Polk, and encouraging regional ties.

What’s more, news from around the world has been regionally refreshing. Read this post by an on-line British news source titled Legoland Florida Coming 2011 to be World’s Biggest. This London-based piece tells readers how near Legoland will be to the other Orlando theme parks, while acknowledging the prominence it will enjoy among Florida’s best attractions. Here is the writer’s closing argument :
“Florida is already home to the biggest Disney park in the world, as well as Universal Orlando, which features two theme parks – Universal Studios Florida and Universal’s Islands of Adventure. Now no one will be able to go wrong with a vacation in the Sunshine State.”

The bottom line is that if you’re from London, Stuttgart or Tokyo, a 40-minute hop isn’t far at all to visit another first-class attraction. And you won’t know, nor will you care, that the local folks there are struggling to develop as a world “Super Region.” To you, it already is, which leads me to my point: It’s happening in spite of ourselves. But if we embrace regionalism by cooperating with our neighbors, I submit that it’ll make all the difference in the world.

Just an aside, but as we contemplate all the folks who’ll now be considering a brand new Central Florida theme park, I can’t help but ponder the question: How should we transport them throughout our region?

photo credit: Amodiovalerio Verde

I share all of this with you to explain that when my pastor picked young Kim, a new acolyte, instead of my best friend and I, who were seasoned acolytes growing up in our Lutheran Church — I– we were outraged! I remember distinctly being 12 years old and thinking “Lighting an advent wreath is far too important a task for someone who is 10!”

I guess that is why Kim, who was already nervous about lighting the right candle and the walk down the Church aisle by herself, never noticed my friends or I slip a tinny piece of flash paper inside of the gold candle head that third Sunday in Advent. Needless to say, after the pastor read the candle prayer and the congregation sang “This Little Light of Mine”, the lighting of the third candle in Advent made quite a –flash — light! “Don’t worry, the church didn’t catch fire or burn down, and nobody was hurt — just surprised.”

I have to admit 27 some years later now, even though I definitely got in plenty of trouble, whenever I light an advent candle on Sunday mornings I still stand back thinking about the flame and bang that could possibly take place!

I thought this little candle story would be a good reminder about the importance candles and light have in religious celebrations. This past Saturday opened the Festival of Lights, Hanukkah or Chanukah the Jewish eight day holiday commemorating the second century rededication of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem. The tradition is celebrated by the lighting of one candle each day on a nine branched Menorah candle stand.

The daily Menorah candle is lit each day by a tenth candle which is called the Shamash Candle which usually is kept just above or below the Menorah candles. Shamash in Hebrew means–guard, service or justice–and this candle is used to represent how each of the other candles are meant to be lit.

This Shamash light is taken from the other lit candles to light the next. In essence, the message is that we pass the light of hope into the dark places of life, by guarding a light of service and justice.

One of the most powerful moments of Christmas each year for me is the end of our Christmas Eve service when all the lights in the sanctuary are turned down and people pass single lit candles throughout the congregation as “Silent Night” is sung. For me, the moment is so powerful because I love how all the single candles lit together brighten the whole space we are in.

Now, integrating the Hanukkah, Shamash candle imagery of carrying God’s light into the word with service and justice in dark places, I will most certainly hold my “Silent Night” candle with a much more directive hand.

This year, as you light your Advent wreath or Menorah, I would like you to consider which places in your life or in the world could use Shamash light.

“He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men’s hearts. At that time each will receive his praise from God. “(1 Cor 4:5)

My son, Li Alexius Santiago, was born at 24 weeks, and he only had a 30 percent chance of survival.

The nurses at St. Joe’s NICU told us that recording our voices and playing it for the baby would be beneficial. So, my wife and I recorded him a welcome to the world message and read him children stories. A few weeks later, I recorded and added an original song to his “playlist.”

Below is the poem/song I wrote and recorded for him. Li listened to it most days in his incubator, until he came home.

“Little Li”

Wake up is morning,
Oh please, don’t cry.
Don’t feel so lonely,
I’m right by your side.

Be strong sweet baby.
Please fight for your life.
Oh, I’ll be waiting
For you to come back.

Come back to me boy.
Come, I’ll take you home.
Come back to me boy.
Come, I’ll take you home.

You were near Heaven
That late afternoon,
But faith and prayer
Kept us near you.

Now, “mami” is waiting
For you to come home.
We’ll all be patient.
My son, I love you.

Come back to me boy.
Come, I’ll take you home.
Come back to me boy.
Come, I’ll take you home.

Until this day, when he is not feeling well, or driving us crazy, I play and sing the song for him. And until this day, it calms him down like it would in the St. Joe’s NICU.

Creating this song was interesting because the original music was a 48 second score I wrote for a friend’s independent movie. The score, titled “Sad Love Song,” was never used, but the music served as “Little Li’s” core melody.

Below you can listen to both versions: “Sad Love Song” and “Little Li”

In all honesty, yoga by itself is not too bad– stretching, reaching. Learning body movement to soft music after a hard day could be a very healthy way to build energy and relax one’s mind. The trouble I was initially having with yoga was the trouble most men have with athletic activities. With a roomful of flexible women, I wanted to show off! “If they can do that, I can do that!” What was supposed to be a personal journey of peace into compassion turned into a competition! I decided to reach too far, stretching too much. My mind was on the room and the level of the people around me rather than on my breath, body or spirit.

Once the first couple of classes broke me in, I realized that yoga was not a comparison of power or speed. Truthfully, my level of pain the next day made me admit that if yoga was a game, it was not a game I was going to win! Once I realized that most in the room did not even know I was there, I relaxed into the peace of the stretch, music and movement of the class.

I guess I share this funny little adventure because I see many of the same traps in the way people live out their religious life as the trap I fell into with yoga. When you look around your Synagogue, temple or church, how many people come to your mind that seem to be living their faith as a competition they are trying to win? The church ladies who know everyone’s business, the deacons who watch how much people put in the collection plate. People whose religious life seems to be more about keeping their level of Christianity on a score card. How many Sundays they attend, how many souls they have saved. People are not just keeping their own score but trying to tally your score as well!

It sounds silly when you first think about it. After all, how could people think that God would choose to love them more because of some kind of personal score? However, when I delve a little deeper into myself, I see the same sin that traps others also enters my own mind. How many flat tires have I fixed thinking to myself, “What did I do to deserve this?” I have to admit deep down there is a church voice which was ingrained in me long ago that says, “If you do what is right, God will watch over me extra close.”

I think this is the paradox that all religious people walk in; the paradox of faith is wrapped up in the first being last and the last being first. All major religions have this one truth in common; the poor, broken and innocent are always named as being closer to God. It is the paradox of the Beatitudes, it is the message Jesus shared with the disciples when he told them to enter the kingdom like a little child. The Buddha did not experience Zen until he became one with the broken community outside his father’s kingdom. Allah showed the light on his people only when they stood in the poorness of their spirit. I call this challenge of faith a paradox because study, academics, money, power are all gifts of love, objectives of man as they mature, stabilize and root themselves for the prosperity of their families.

I believe the answer to this puzzle is wrapped up in the same lesson I learned in my yoga class. The point is not to be in competition with the room around you. Peace and growth come from attempting to be one with your body, mind and spirit. Yoga, love, God and Christ observe no score card, their peace comes from opening yourself to where you are at the moment. You cannot be more of a Christian than your spirit is ready for any more than your arm can be more flexible then your body will allow. The arch in your neighbor’s “downward dog” will not cause you to lose balance any more than the amount your neighbor puts in a collection plate will cause you to sin.

I wish sometimes church would end the same way yoga class does with the word “Namaste”. This closing blessing at the end of every yoga class is accompanied with a bow that simply means “I greet the God in you”. Wouldn’t it be great if we ended our religious services by bowing to those around us with the word “Namaste” or “I greet the God I see working and living through you”?

For you singles out there reading this, what are the “deal breaker” statements that a date could make or has made, where inwardly you wanted to throw up a red flag and go home?

I decided for this week’s article to take my “deal breaker” question on the road.

Ginger, age 31, at Beacon Road Starbucks: “In the first hour of a date, the guy I was with asked if I would be his ‘girlfriend’!” Tom, age 36, at Tampa Church Street: “Either, so what kind of car do you drive or so how much do you make?” Tami, age 23, in Ybor City: “I had a guy on a first date once ask me where I bought my purse—just saying, red flag!” Sarah, age 24, in Ybor City: “I once had a guy after three hours of our first date ask if I had a sister or girlfriend I could bring on our next date!” Bill, age 42, from a bar in Channelside said, “My red flag is when a woman tells me in the first 15 minutes of dating, ‘by the way, I’m Christian’.” He said it is a red flag because usually at that point in the conversation the date begins to probe and judge him.

It is kind of funny that one of the most important questions and commentaries on someone’s life, their Christianity, can sometimes be wielded like a sword to become a major deal breaker.

Keeping with the theme of “deal breaker” I asked my Homeless Prayer Support group if they had, or have ever had, deal breaking decisions they had to make for their families. One woman said she knew it was finally time to leave her husband when he stopped hitting her and started threatening their child. No job, no place to live, and no family nearby, she simply said, “Even for better or worse, it was still a deal breaker…and we had to go!” One Hispanic man in the group said that his deal breaker was when he found out his employer was not sending checks to his family as he promised he would.

It is true that Christ says we must forgive our neighbor seventy times seven. And yes, Jesus asks his disciples to turn the other cheek when they are struck. But Jesus also asked Satan to get behind him and turned the temple change tables when he saw his father’s home being desecrated as a market. I believe that there are deal breakers that Christ instills in our souls. I believe they are words, ideas and actions that lead us away from love. Love of ourselves, love of others and anything that would lead our gaze from the love of our creator.

So what are your deal breakers?

My intention in asking the Holy Spirit to intercede is also an invitation for God to use my life to speak words of hope, even when the words do not seem to be in me. There is so much hurt in the world, I sometimes need help to know what things I am capable of handling and which things are too big for me and the truth of my humanity to handle. As a counselor I have to constantly decide which lives would most benefit from the time I could spend with them. As a friend I am often trying to decide which relationships are going to bear fruit and which ones are simply toxic. Life sometimes feels as though it is moving faster by the day — the older I get. I wonder how and if I can make a positive difference in someone’s life.

With the challenge of discerning God’s will in mind, the American protestant theologian Reinhold Niebuhr’s Serenity Prayer has always had a close place to my heart.

“God grant me the serenity
To accept the things I cannot change;
The courage to change the things I can;
And wisdom to know the difference. ”

The prayer has become such an inspiration to me that I recently added it as a part of a sleeve tattoo on my right arm. (One day I will do a whole article regarding tattoos as religious icons and historical memory holders.) But for now you will just have to take my word. I have the Serenity Prayer on my arm and I love it.

I have shared all this background and build up with you simply to tell you about what happened to me last Friday night in Ybor. After a long week of work in Lakeland, I sometimes try to escape to the freedom and anonymity of Ybor City. I do not know if I would prescribe this outlet to anyone else, but I find I am the most useful and attentive to others’ needs during the week when I allow myself time to relax and get away.

Somewhere in the midst of my evening in Ybor City, I was in the center of a crowded standing-room only Parrot bar. It was a night of flirting, laughing and letting go of stress with friends. All of a sudden a gentleman from seemingly nowhere walked over to me, looked me straight in the eyes and said, “You are a message from God. I have to go home!”

After some discussion – right there in the center of the bar – it turns out that the man had been four years sober, and tonight he had slipped up and ended up drinking in Ybor. Apparently when he saw my Serenity Prayer tattoo, he interpreted it as the voice of God telling him to stop his drinking and go back home to his wife and children. The Serenity Prayer was a prayer he had resisted for years at his AA meetings. He said seeing the prayer on my arm allowed him to recite it, right when he needed to the most.

This moment was such a good reminder to me that we can all be tools and voices for God’s hope and peace, sometimes even despite the brokenness and best intentions of sin and humanity.

“And in the same way the Spirit also helps our weaknesses; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words; and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.” Romans 8:26-27

photo credit: Chris Craig for MetroI4News.com

April 11, 2009: Religion in the City
April 18, 2009: The Routine
April 25, 2009: Sacred Spaces

May 2, 2009: The Dance
May 9, 2009: Wu Wei – Friend
May 16, 2009: By Their Fruit
May 23, 2009: Defeatist Faith
May 30, 2009: Integrity of the Word

June 6, 2009: Mythos
June 13, 2009: The Stories We Hold
June 20, 2009: Abba Father
June 27, 2009: Choose a Box

July 4, 2009: Perspective

(Ed. note: Chris Craig’s columns are easily bookmarked at: http://bit.ly/CafeChaplain and you can find him on Twitter @cafechaplain )

History tells of the social failures throughout the world’s nations. History tells of the failures of our own social programs. Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, Entitlements, Foreign Aid, Education, is there any social program, which can be declared a success?

The Great Depression can be measured as that time between 1929-1946. Almost two decades. Massive federal programs of the Roosevelt Era were more an effort to improve conditions than they were a statistical success. Further, the current belief that WWII, and the huge dollars that went into producing a war machine, brought us out of the Depression is wrong!

With the surrender of the Japanese in August of 1945, America found itself with 20,000,000 more people than existed in 1930, and no housing, no automobiles, no appliances, none of Life’s demands required by a population, now totaling 135 million men, women and children, eager to buy, with money saved, that which had been unavailable for almost 20 years!

As President Truman released 10,000,000 uniformed men and women into civilian life they found waiting employers looking to produce what the market demanded.

The difference between then and now is apparent to those that look, and see what they’re looking at. During the war years money was accumulated, saved, because there was so very little to buy. The economy was “stimulated” by the market’s demands for a wide range of goods and services long unavailable. Times were good. Very, very good.

Today we have a glut – a massive oversupply of houses, autos, computers, appliances, most everything.

Why the glut of goods? The culprit(s) are easy to identify, although the (minor) media and Socialists (aka Democrats) will deny the allegation. It begins with Congress. President Carter initiated the movement to provide housing for those who did not meet current loan standards, and Congress demanded that lending organizations – banks – drop interest rates, and lower the threshold for qualification. These two areas, Housing and Banks, spanning from coast-to-coast, reaching from Canada to Mexico, are the principal culprits in today’s malaise, first spawned by a flawed effort to meet, with private resources, the living standards of those less fortunate, and second, a frenzy of construction driven by rapidly rising land and housing values, each promising riches for all time. For several years the banks and developers have enjoyed the ride. Now, not so much.

At this critical juncture in our economy we are burdened with a Congress unable to understand how the market place works in the real world we call America. There is a
significant oversupply of homes. New homes, foreclosed homes, older homes, vacation homes, homes built on speculation, and entire developments in various stages of limbo.

Similarly, there is an oversupply of vehicles. An oversupply, which literally threatens the continued existence of a true American industry. It’s more than just an oversupply, of course. Contractual obligations, foreign competition, governmental requirements, and market demands for certain types and makes of vehicles, are each crushing down, dictating bankruptcy/reorganization.

Bail-outs? Stimulus packages? Putting money into the hands of lending institutions and individuals who are inundated with goods and services not demanded by the market place? No!

You agree? Want more thoughts on this, and a variety of other subjects important to our lives? My recently released The Politically Incorrect Notebook covers 25 different and contentious matters, and is available by calling Three Rivers Books at 1-863-289-1191. (It’s also available through amazon.com, but at a much higher price!)

photo credit: lakewentworth

Today’s video is from the Lakeland PigFest. The band is Atlanta Rhythm Section. The video was shot by Darby Critendon.

Click on the triangle at bottom right of the video to play the High Quality version.

Surprisingly, the majority weren’t maps.

I’ve been working behind the scenes on some revisions and additions, but I’m just going to tease you today. Look for more news tomorrow.

Meanwhile, some CSX news of interest:

Despite criticisms in Tallahassee and complaints in Lakeland, a group of federal, state and local officials said Friday that the Central Florida commuter-rail project remains on track.– Orlando Sentinel

No doubt the Il Duce of the Apalachee Parkway’s appearance at Southeastern will be of keen interest to the local peasants, especially since it was Bush who, behind closed doors, sold the city down the river for 491 million pieces of silver..– Jeb, Visionary? Lakeland Folks Might Disagree

To help remind you of the law, the Lakeland Police Department will be out in force from 7:30 am to 3:00 pm today to help educate drivers in the following areas:

• The Polk County Parkway.

• Harden Blvd between Beacon Road and Lakeside Village Shopping Center.

• South Road 98 (Bartow Highway) between Edgewood Drive and South Crystal Lake Drive.

According to LPD, “Violators of this law will be stopped and given literature and anything from a verbal warning to a uniform traffic citation.”

The interview took place in the living room of the upscale home of the Ledger’s publisher, who, with his wife, was big in such limousine liberal circles as existed in Polk County, Florida, in those days. Contrary to the stereotype of the day — conservative meanie vs. caring n’ compassionate liberal nice guys — Buckley the conservative was the very soul of graciousness, treating a reporter he had just met with all respect and civility, while the publisher treated me like hired help. Which I was, but that’s no excuse. The wife and the uniformed maid ignored my existence. — Buckley in the Provinces

I’m willing to bet there are a couple of more sides to that story. I have no idea who was the publisher for the Ledger in 1976. Thornberry obviously doesn’t name him. I plan to stop the library and read that article though. I wonder if Thornberry was able to keep his politics out of the story? Whether he did or not, it is a good reminder that not all reporters are liberal, not all media publishers are conservative, and it doesn’t hurt to remind the public of our biases.

An act relating to the University of South Florida Lakeland; creating s. 1004.345, F.S.; establishing and designating the University of South Florida Lakeland campus; providing legislative intent; requiring the Board of Trustees to appoint a Campus Board; providing membership, powers, and duties of the Campus Board; providing that the university is administered by a Campus Executive Officer; requiring the President of the University of South Florida to consult with the Campus Board before hiring or terminating the Campus Executive Officer; providing duties and powers of the Campus Executive Officer; providing that students enrolled at a branch campus of the university have the same rights as other students; requiring the University of South Florida to provide for a system of student registration that meets certain conditions; providing an effective date.

That pretty much sums up the bill. You can read a PDF of the full bill here.

The Mets are bringing their A team to the game today. Unfortunately, I mean their Single-A team. MLB requires spring training teams take at least five players from the major league roster to every away game. That’s exactly what the Mets are doing today: Ryan Church,Ramon Castro, Pedro Feliciano, Jorge Sosa and Mike Pelfrey are the MLB players scheduled to appear in Lakeland.

When you go to the park be prepared for a couple of changes: parking went up to $7 and don’t try to turn left onto Lakeland Hills Blvd. from Al Kaline. That’s a right turn only now. You can solve both problems by getting to the game early and parking at the church at the corner of Grenada and Lakeland Hills. Parking there was just a $3 donation last year.

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For those who read Lakeland Local on email or through a feed…remember there all all kinds of spring training maps and links on our home page special Spring Training column.

In an effort to help those who need coffee to navigate I-4 at rush hour, Dunkin’ Donuts will offer 99-cent small lattes, cappuccinos and espresso drinks today from 1 pm until 9:30.

I’m not including a map of all Starbucks and Dunkin’ Donut shops. The afternoon drive is too wired as it is.

This information has been presented as public service announcement. With caffeine.