A Transition

The semester is over. No more ethics, no more stats. No time for relaxing though.

I’ve written a lot the past four months and explored areas of ethical life that I didn’t even realize existed.

The jury is still out whether or not my personal ethics have changed. I really don’t think so. I do know that I am much more aware of issues that affect our lives everyday, and that to me, is a successful semester.

Now, I embark on a new chapter and another new adventure in my life. Most of you know that one of my greatest passions is traveling. The opportunity to spend two months in Argentina was just too good to pass up.

I leave with an open mind and a grateful heart. I am already falling in love with that country, her history and her people. There is generosity of spirit and life in Argentina and I am anxious to harvest all of the knowledge and wisdom that I can during my two-month stay.

And so this serves as a transition chapter for my blog. I will be updating this frequently while I am away.

I finish with the prayer for travelers that my parish prayed with me this past Sunday:

O God, our heavenly Father whose glory fills the whole creation, and whose presence we find wherever we go: Preserve those who travel; surround them with your loving care; protect them from every danger; and bring them in safety to their journey’s end; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

It is my hope that I can somehow capture my experiences in word, pictures and video and share them with all of you. This will be my first crack at a travel blog.

I hope you enjoy . . .

. . . and for now, a very warm adieu.

Incredulous

Whenever I attend the public meetings in the city and county building, I sit in the far corner so I have a view of both those officiating the meetings and the public attendees. I walked out of the meeting tonight feeling embarrassed for my future profession and quite honestly a little incensed at how the board treated one of the applicants.

I think that there is a very nuanced ethical dilemma that creeps into some of the applications presented at these meetings. While the majority are fairly cut and dry cases, there are those that really test the notion of the letter versus the spirit of the law.

I sat there and watched the faces of the applicants as their cases were approved or denied tonight and I couldn’t help but recognize that there are real people’s lives that are affected by these decisions. Their emotions were palpable at times.

The board members did not look at the public once during their votes. (Even if it was in their favor).

There was a complete disconnect.

In my mind this is unacceptable. Zoning, planning, adjustments, master plans are all tools that are designed to enhance the community and its citizen’s lives. They are not to be used against them. Those that do should be ashamed and sent to the next village down the road.

If everyone owned a piece of property that was perfectly equal in size the rules would be easy to apply. In the real world though, the zoning rules just don’t make sense for certain outliers.

It is the duty of the planning staff to understand this and to make thoughtful (and dare I say wise) recommendations. They failed. During the meeting, the planning staff behaved like petulant adolescents, gossiping and mocking both the board members and some members of the public. Their body language indicated their displeasure with being there and after each of their cases were decided they ungraciously exited the meeting.

Am I being harsh? Definitely. I expect any organization, be it public or private, to have pride, passion and professionalism in what they do. This was clearly absent from this event.

The members of the board of adjustment and the planning staff of Salt Lake City are walking a very fine line when they portray they are doing the public a favor simply by showing up.

It may be time to hit reset and clean house.

Heavenly Diplomacy

I have never boiled an egg in my life. It doesn’t strike me as overly complicated; I just haven’t had the occasion to do so. I am not exactly sure how colored eggs became intertwined with Easter, but I’m glad they are. Amazement always struck every Easter morning that the Easter Bunny knew exactly which eggs I had dyed and that they all ended up in my Easter basket.

My idea of Easter back then was fairly simple. A kid can’t go wrong when he’s surrounded by good food and lots of family that loves him. It was always a special day.

As an adult, Easter’s meaning and tradition has changed. For the better part of this decade I had been on a self-imposed “time-out” from God. There was some serious negotiating that needed to be done between us. There was never any open hostility, but I had effectively recalled my ambassador. Thankfully, God never recalls His.

I have to admit that God’s diplomacy is pretty dang effective. To date, I have been the one to make all of the concessions (no surprise there) and I have pretty much given up on my list of demands.

God doesn’t use strong-arm tactics in his negotiating. There are those that masquerade as part of His team that have tried to convince me otherwise. But the older I get, the more I have come to understand that God’s message is simple.

Which is why this Easter morning I am hopeful. It is the ultimate day of thanksgiving and joy. It is the symbolic embodiment of God’s message to us all:

That He gives of His love freely to ALL, no conditions. (Even if I haven’t boiled an egg).