David Adams Richards' "God is"

Well as I mentioned a couple of posts ago, I've been looking forward to reading this book and I finally got to do just that.

Let me say this first because it must be said and I want to get it out of the way. I found the writing to be quite unclear and repetitive at times.

There, enough about that.

Otherwise, I think Richards did a great thing here. In a culture that is increasingly breaking down the barriers between audience and performer, Richards has let us into his life like a memoir focused on his spiritual life.

I thought his tactic of focusing on God's existence because we see that there are things wrong in the world to be an intriguing way of looking at things.

The first part of his book deals with how the academic elite he's had the opportunity, or more often challege, to deal with are as closed minded as the religion they condemn in their classrooms. (I kept thinking how ironic it was that I was introduced to David Adams Richards at the University of Ottawa). He made a very good point that refusing to talk about things does not make them go away.

He also talked a lot about violence. He really challenges us to think about how violent we are even though we don't actively participate. Mob mentality, violent speech, etc., are addressed in the book and I don't ever remember reading anything like it anywhere, even in more obviously spiritual books (anything from Zondervan or Tyndale, I mean.)

The main thing I get from the book is that Richards really is passionate about both his own spirituality and vitriolic against people's lack of respect for those who dare to have faith.

All in all, its a good background to Richards fiction, giving insight as to where he's coming from with some of his more complex characters he's written over the years but also a good addition to the "Is he or isn't he" debate that's going on in Canada over the past few years.

Help me find out who this is!

This guys been at our feeder the last couple of days... any ideas anyone? Almost like a small cowbird!

God is There

I'm eagerly anticipating reading a book by one of my favourite... make that my only favourite, Canadian author. David Adams Richards writes from north-eastern New Brunswick but writes about humanity. He has recently published a book called "God is". Simple but thought provoking and I've only read the front cover so far. I'm in the queue at the library and getting to the top of the list. Apparently there are more David Adams Richards fans out there than I knew. This is not a post about that book.

Its more about country music.

Yesterday I got some unexpected news affecting our future. Not bad, just unexpected. It got me wondering. I do that now and then. Wondering what was next, mostly.

Post-haste from that point to a free concert with Diamond Rio. We walked in a couple of minutes late, just in time to hear "Beautiful Mess" begin, and Sabrina and I both had to acknowledge that the song was written about our lives. From there they soon launched into a song reminding us that "God is there". Now sadly at this same time a woman right behind us collapsed and was taken out by a nurse in a wheelchair and the juxtaposition of that situation with the words of the song literally made me cry. I had to close my eyes and soak in the wonder of God. He was there when a woman faced a medical crisis and He was there as I faced the struggle of what next fall should look like. Through it all, God is. God is there. Don't forget it. I'm talking to me.

My Dad

In honour of your upcoming bypass surgery, I thought I'd tell the whole world.


You're the best man I know.

I wanna wish you a Merry Christmas

from the bottom of my heart.

May not get a chance to post here before then, but I do want to acknowledge the day.

Christ first in all things.

Oddibe Young-Again McDowell

If you know Chris Berman you know he's got these great nicknames for athletes he throws into his sportscasts. One of my favourites has always been... Oddibe young-again Mcdowell. How he thinks of them, I don't know, but he's got lots.

Anyway, I thought of Oddibe Mcdowell and his nickname again this morning (Mcdowell's been retired for fifteen years now. We had the joy of watching our three children open their gifts and the pure joy over something like a pencil case, a colouring book, a.... brought wonder and joy back to my old calloused heart. I mean, knees to the chest leaping... those who know our kids probably know who would be that intense over something like, say, a wallet.

Anyway, here's to youth not being wasted on the young. And here's to us 'olds' who get to enjoy it!

Have a tremendous Christmas season everyone!

Human Conscience through the eyes of a dog.

So, we got a dog. Some of you know this. This is not the point.

This dear pup, Gabi, likes to run free. So do I. No restraints would be ideal. Right? Can I get a witness? She always has come back so far. So have I. So far.

Usually she pulls her whole restraint system right out of the ground and makes a break for it. Often that means she's soon entangled by the nearby trees. Me too.

The other day though, I saw me in her for the first time. I let down my guard for just a second and she broke free. This does not mean take off in a straight line for the horizon, it means begin making ever larger arcs while sniffing every leaf, rock and stick. So in her first ten seconds of freedom she moved about twenty feet, not far. Now, this has happened before and so, I begin my ever-so-subtle trap. Crouch, smile, speak softly, "Here, Gabi." She immediately looks at me over her shoulder, or whatever you call that part of the dog...and now she has a choice and I see my reflection for the first time.

"Do I stay or do I go now?"

She goes.

And doesn't look back.

And there I am. I see what I have to do to avoid the sin I so easily fall into. When I catch the Father's eye, when I know that I'm about to step outside of his will, I must obey then, or I crush my conscience. I can't play, I simply won't look back.

Not only will I not, look back, I can't look back.

And that is guilt. Its needed, because it reminds me I have broken something and it needs immediate attention. Reminds me of the new Switchfoot song...lyrics below.

(Though I do wish there was mention of the word sin, not just sickness. The analogy is good, but its overplayed in Christianity to the point we forget its not illness, its a choice!)



Mess of Me

I am my own affliction
I am my own disease
There ain´t no drug that they could sell
Ah there ain´t no drugs to make me well

There ain´t no drug
It´s not enough
There ain´t no drug
The sickness is myself

- Chorus -
I made a mess of me I wanna get back the rest of me
I´ve made a mess of me I wanna spend the rest of my life alive
I´ve made a mess of me I wanna reverse this tragedy
I´ve made a mess of me I wanna spend the rest of my live alive
The rest of my life alive!

We lock our souls in cages
We hide inside our shells
It´s hard to free to the ones you love
Oh when you can´t forgive yourself
Yeah forgive yourself!

There ain´t no drug
There ain´t no drug
There ain´t no drug
The sickness is myself

- Chorus -
I made a mess of me I wanna get back the rest of me
I´ve made a mess of me I wanna spend the rest of my life alive
I´ve made a mess of me I wanna reverse this tragedy
I´ve made a mess of me I wanna spend the rest of my live alive
The rest of my life alive!

AHHHHHHOOOOO! Right

There ain´t no drug
There ain´t no drug
There ain´t no drug
No drugs to make me well
There ain´t no drug
It´s not enough
I´m breaking up
The sickness is myself
The sickness is myself

- Chorus -
I made a mess of me I wanna get back the rest of me
I´ve made a mess of me I wanna spend the rest of my life alive
I´ve made a mess of me I wanna reverse this tragedy
I´ve made a mess of me I wanna spend the rest of my live alive
The rest of my life alive!!

We will remember

Today was another important celebration of Remembrance Day.

I couldn't help but come to grips today with the reality of a soldier's life. For the first time I told myself I'd be okay with one of our boys joining the army. I'm not going to tuck them into bed with dreams of army life, but I do see a bigger picture now than I have been able to before.

Every time the veterans parade by, I have to hold back the tears. People clap and say thank you to them as they pass by. There is real appreciation, everyone stops for that two minutes of silence, even small children seem to know.

And I wonder, wonder how I respect the one who I'm called to remember? Do I have to hold back the tears? Do I not understand? Why can we get a (too) small crowd to the cenotaph, but a scattered few to remember Jesus?

When we grow up, I'll be dead!

1 Corinthians 2:6
However, we speak wisdom among those who are mature, yet not the wisdom of this age, nor of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing.
1 Corinthians 14:20
Brethren, do not be children in understanding; however, in malice be babes, but in understanding be mature.
Philippians 3:15
Therefore let us, as many as are mature, have this mind; and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal even this to you.
Matthew 13:30
Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.”’”
Ephesians 2:21
in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord,
Ephesians 4:15
but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ
Ephesians 4:16
from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.
Colossians 2:19
and not holding fast to the Head, from whom all the body, nourished and knit together by joints and ligaments, grows with the increase that is from God.
2 Thessalonians 1:3
We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is fitting, because your faith grows exceedingly, and the love of every one of you all abounds toward each others
2 Thessalonians 3:13
But as for you, brethren, do not grow weary in doing good.
1 Peter 2:2
as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby,
2 Peter 1:5
But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge,
2 Peter 3:18
but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and forever. Amen.

Trying to Write More

I'm trying to write more, and I read this evening that when you want to write, write. If you don't have anything to say, write. You'll soon have something to say, the muse, as they say, will strike. Why I was reading about writing and not writing, well, its the story of many a life. We don't want to do, so we read about it... or watch Youtube. We pretend to be something, but its more dreaming that we are that, then the reality of who we are. Sad way to live. Life offers more to us than the option to read about living.

I've been thinking a little over the past few months, since I've left my comfortable job, of what I would do differently to end up in a different place today, well, same place but with a different job. But, I can't go back. I don't really want to. I need to have some joy in this time, this day, this moment! I can make plans for tomorrow, but not for yesterday. Why do we "what if" about the past? Because then we get to make up a life we don't have now, generate excuses for why we're not doing something (anything?)now. Its safer to fly if you keep at least one foot on the ground, right? Same for life. Grasp it firmly by the horns, as long as the horns are made of paper and don't have 2000 pounds of risk attached to the other end of them.

Get a life! Stop dreaming, the morning has come.

Life Lessons from For Whom the Bell Tolls

So we watched a classic not on "our list" Saturday evening... For Whom the Bell Tolls. The movie is based on a Hemingway novel which gets its name from a John Donne poem... confused yet?

I couldn't help but follow the similarities between Gary Cooper's character, Robert Jordan, and Jesus. Jordan comes in from a foreign country (America of course!)to help a people not his own because it is something he believes in. A line from the movie hints at the reason, "A man will only fight for something he believes in". In Jesus situation he not only fought, he died, as did Robert Jordan.

Now, Gary Cooper's not Jesus, but as I've stated before, I believe we can find "the best" story hidden in all these other ones. Here's an earthy reminder to us of sacrifice and counting the cost.

Look what I got in the mail yesterday!

Why did Nobel go this way?

Some possible reasons why Barack Obama won the Nobel Prize:

a) Voting was done last December or January, it was a popularity thing.
b) Nobel was hoping to hear their name in the news and the easiest way to do that was to attach Obama to themselves.
c) Nobel Inc. hope that this makes Obama do something, feel guilty about doing almost nothing about peace.

Of course, I don’t really know what I’m talking about here, but, come on. Really, the Nobel Peace Prize means something doesn’t it? What could be a greater honour? Why would they feel they need to cheapen their award to give to someone who is more popular than busy? A bigger splash could be made by giving it to someone no one has ever heard of. Suddenly the Peace Prize means almost nothing, unless there is some major unheralded peace agreement that Obama has arranged. And there isn’t. Diplomacy is not something to award a prize for.

"The Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided that the Nobel Peace Prize for 2009 is to be awarded to President Barack Obama for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples. The Committee has attached special importance to Obama's vision of and work for a world without nuclear weapons...”

Doesn’t diplomacy imply talk, not action- kind of like a blog, except with people actually listening? Mr. President has had the opportunity for lots of talk, where are the results? I don’t knock him, he’s a made for tv politician. Rhetoric and charm. I just figured that Nobel prizes were outside the bounds of public opinion and trying to win favour.

The View From Here... sorry TVO

Here's the view we had on our recent baseball tour.

Philadelphia's Citizens Bank Park:

Our first time to Nationals' Park, Washington DC:

Oriole Park at Camden Yards, Baltimore

Back to Washington... back row of the upper deck!

And finally, CitiField in New York City

A few thoughts that are cluttering my mind

Just going to type some random musings..,

Is our Canadian health care system broken? Do the elderly get pushed out? Do we lose out on treatment options? I don't really think so, but that's because it doesn't seem to affect me and I'm ignorant of what other options are out there. Our system is being bad-mouthed many places on the internet, especially by Americans opposed to their system going public. Is it that bad?

Is it okay to tell people we're upset with things? Online people sure feel free to vent, but why do we tend to hold back face to face, why not say, "Hey, that is upsetting"? Are negative people bad?

Does the television make me less inteligent? What would happen if I didn't know everything I think I want to know about Hermes handbags? About who makes how much or who's off to prison? Don't I now have enough knowledge to take the edge off my naivete? Wouldn't it be safe to take the training wheels off the bike, turn off the tv and start applying what I know?

And how does that apply to Church? Do we get too wrapped up in doing church and not get wrapped up enough in being The Church?

Notes from the Top of the Ladder

-There is no pink ceiling.

-There is no glass ceiling.

-Paint doesn't fall straight down, it heads straight for that little wrinkle in the drop cloth.

-You always put the ladder away, or wash the brush just before you'll discover you need it again.

When do summer holidays start?

Song for the Day after Father's Day

The Rub Of Love
Chagal Guevara

Dad said he wanted a boy

Held me like a bundle of joy

These days, don't even smile

Like I'm cramping his style

Son, it's not true

Of course I love you

But the pressure keeps building again

Dad's gone AWOL

Absent without leave, and

The rub of love

Dad's not talking at all

Everything's making him mad

Used to come running to him

Now I'm learning to crawl

Son, get used to the cold

You'll soon have to face it alone

Please stop holding my hand

You're getting too old

Heard him last night

Say, "The boy's all right

But the father thing still doesn't fit

Gotta get away for awhile

Gotta find out who I am"

The rub of love

What was that vow you made?

What about the girl you wed?

Worked double shifts to keep us fed

Dad says he sorted it out

Got himself a better career

Had himself a new baby boy

Another bundle of joy

Every other week, on visiting day

I get tolerated by his new wife

I swear if you ever really held me

They'd have to pry me off with the jaws of life

The rub of love

What was that vow you made?

Was that too much to bear?

Dad, do you really even care?

That isn't love

Stepping through

Well... its been another typically busy June, as anyone who has checked back here regularly likely can guess.

Too many things to clog up the internet with... but... report cards are now done. Graduation is four days away. Last week of gainful employment is upon me and, well, I feel fine! Just thought some of you may want to know that we made it through another June, semi-unscathed. I think we're getting good at it, must be time to quit!

Waterboarding for beginners...

The following is a quote from several members of America's legal "elite", to the Attorney General of the US.

"Waterboarding is torture. It causes severe physical suffering in the form of reflexive choking, gagging, and the feeling of suffocation. It may cause severe pain in some cases. If uninterrupted, waterboarding will cause death by suffocation. It is also foreseeable that waterboarding, by producing an experience of drowning, will cause severe mental pain and suffering. The technique is a form of mock execution by suffocation with water. The process incapacitates the victim from drawing breath, and causes panic, distress, and terror of imminent death. Many victims of waterboarding suffer prolonged mental harm for years and even decades afterward.

Waterboarding, when used against people captured in the context of war, may also amount to a war crime as defined under the federal war crimes statute 18 U.S.C. § 2441, which criminalizes grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions (in international armed conflicts), and violations of Article 3 common to the four Geneva Conventions (in non-international armed conflicts). Waterboarding is also an assault, and thus violates the federal assault statute, 18 U.S.C. § 113, when it occurs in the “special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the United States,” a jurisdictional area which includes government installations overseas. In cases involving the U.S. armed forces, waterboarding also amounts to assault, and cruelty and maltreatment under the Uniform Code of Military Justice.

Under the laws of the land, U.S. personnel who order or take part in waterboading are committing criminal acts—torture, assault, and war crimes—which are punishable as felony offenses. The Department of Justice should clarify this to all U.S. personnel, and prosecute violations of the law.

We have no doubt that if a captured American were subjected to waterboarding, the U.S. government would condemn this as torture and demand or seek prosecution.

We also urge you to clarify the legality of other abusive interrogation techniques, such as subjection to extreme temperatures, forced standing, binding in stress positions, and severe sleep deprivation. These techniques, like waterboarding, cause physical and mental suffering and are illegal under domestic and international law. At minimum, these techniques amount to cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment, categorically prohibited under the 2006 Defense Authorization Act; and they violate U.S. obligations under international human rights and humanitarian laws, including the Convention Against Torture and the Geneva Conventions. Depending on how they are used, these and other abusive techniques can amount to torture, potentially prosecutable under the U.S. torture and war crimes statutes. The U.S. State Department has condemned numerous other countries for utilizing these techniques, in many cases stating that the techniques amount to torture.

As the Attorney General, you have the responsibility to speak clearly on matters of the legal standards for detention and interrogation of prisoners, and as the executive branch's chief legal officer, you are obliged to enforce U.S. laws.

Moreover, you owe it to U.S. military and security personnel, including those who authorize and conduct interrogations, to specify accurately that the techniques described above are not legal. This is vitally important because personnel who rely on advice to the contrary place themselves in legal peril.

We sincerely hope that you will uphold the legal standards discussed above, and make efforts to articulate them clearly and publicly.
Signed,
Richard Abel, UCLA School of Law
Bruce Ackerman, Yale University
Catherine Adcock Admay, Duke University
Madelaine Adelman, Arizona State University
Jose E. Alvarez, Columbia Law School (former attorney-adviser, Department of State)
Paul Amar, University of California-Santa Barbara
Fran Ansley, University of Tennessee College of Law
Michael Avery, Suffolk Law School
Amy Bartholomew, Carleton University
Katherine Beckett, University of Washington
George Bisharat, Hastings College of the Law
Christopher L. Blakesley, William S. Boyd School of Law (UNLV)
Gary Blasi, Professor of Law, UCLA School of Law
John Charles Boger, University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill
David Bowker, adjunct, Cardozo Law School (former attorney-adviser, Department of State)Alice C. Briggs, Franklin Pierce Law Center
John Brigham, University of Massachusetts, Amherst
Peter Brooks, University of Virginia
Rosa Brooks, University of Virginia
William T. Burke, University of Washington School of Law
William Burke-White, University of Pennsylvania School of Law
Kitty Calavita, University of California-Irvine
Henry (Chip) Carey, Georgia State University
Anupam Chander, University of California-Davis
Oscar G. Chase, New York University Law School
Kathleen Clark, Washington University
Cornell W. Clayton, Washington State University
Marjorie Cohn, Thomas Jefferson School of Law
David Cole, Georgetown University Law Center
John Comaroff, University of Chicago
Michael Comiskey, Pennsylvania State University
Marianne Constable, University of California- Berkeley
Don Crowley, University of Idaho
Scott Cummings, UCLA School of Law
Eve Darian-Smith, University of Massachusetts-Amherst
Benjamin Davis, University of Toledo College of Law
Stephen F. Diamond, Santa Clara University School of Law
Hilal Elver, University of California-Santa Barbara
Richard Falk, Princeton University and University of California-Santa Barbara
Thomas G. Field, Jr. Franklin Pierce Law Center
Gregory H. Fox, Wayne State University Law School
Lawrence M. Friedman, Stanford University
Michael Froomkin, University of Miami School of Law
David R. Ginsburg, UCLA School of Law
Angelina Snodgrass Godoy, University of Washington
Leslie F.Goldstein, University of Delaware
Kenneth W. Graham, Jr., UCLA Law School
David Greenberg, New York University
Lisa Hajjar, University of California-Santa Barbara
Joel F. Handler, UCLA School of Law
Hendrik Hartog, Princeton University
Lynne Henderson, University of Nevada-Las Vegas
William O. Hennessey, Franklin Pierce Law Center
Richard A. Hesse, Franklin Pierce Law Center
Elisabeth Hilbink, University of Minnesota
Jennifer L. Hochschild, Harvard University
Scott Horton, Adjunct, Columbia Law School
Derek Jinks, University of Texas School of Law
Jerry Kang, UCLA School of Law
Lisa A. Kelly, University of Washington School of Law
Heinz Klug, University of Wisconsin
Itzchak E. Kornfeld, Drexel University
Ariana R. Levinson, UCLA School of Law
Sanford Levinson, University of Texas Law School
Robert Justin Lipkin, Widener University School of Law
Lynn M. LoPucki, UCLA School of Law
David Luban, Georgetown University Law Center
Deborah Maranville, University of Washington School of Law
Ann Elizabeth Mayer, University of Pennsylvania
Jamie Mayerfeld, University of Washington
Joel Migdal, University of Washington
Martha Minow, Harvard Law School
William W. Monning, Monterrey College of Law
Kathleen M. Moore, University of California-Santa Barbara
Forrest S. Mosten, UCLA School of Law
Ken Mott, Gettysburg College
Stephen R. Munzer, UCLA School of Law
Jyoti Nanda, UCLA School of Law
Smita Narula, New York University School of Law
Julie Novkov, University of Oregon
Frances Olsen, UCLA School of Law
John Orcutt, Franklin Pierce Law Center
Arzoo Osanloo, University of Washington
Jordan J. Paust, University of Houston
William P. Quigley, Loyola University, New Orleans
Christopher J. Peters, Wayne State University Law School
Judith Resnik, Yale Law School
Sandra L. Rierson, Thomas Jefferson School of Law
Brad R. Roth, Wayne State University
Gary Rowe, UCLA School of Law
Austin Sarat, Amherst College
Margaret L. Satterthwaite, New York University School of Law
Stuart A. Scheingold, University of Washington
Kim Lane Scheppele, Woodrow Wilson School and Princeton University
Benjamin N. Schiff, Oberlin College
David Schultz, Hamline University
Robert A. Sedler, Wayne State University
Barry Shanks, Franklin Pierce Law Center
Anne-Marie Slaughter, Dean, Woodrow Wilson School, Princeton University
Charles Anthony Smith, University of Miami
Eunice Son, UCLA School of Law
Susan Sterett, University of Denver
Jacqueline Stevens, University of California-Santa Barbara
Katherine Stone, UCLA School of Law
Steven Tauber, University of South Florida
Samuel. C. Thompson, Jr, UCLA School of Law
Beth Van Schaack, Santa Clara University School of Law
Andrew Strauss, Widener University School of Law
Stephen I. Vladeck, University of Miami School of Law
Richard Weisberg, Cardozo Law School
Deborah M. Weissman, University of North Carolina School of Law
Burns H. Weston, University of Iowa and Vermont Law School
Adam Winkler, UCLA School of LawMaryann Zavez, Vermont Law School
Richard O. Zerbe Jr., University of Washington

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/08/AR2007110802150.html

http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2005/11/20/cia-whitewashing-torture

On May 22, 2009, conservative radio talk show host Erich "Mancow" Muller subjected himself to waterboarding to prove that it is not torture. Mancow was able to endure the technique for six seconds, a few moments after which he declared, "It is way worse than I thought it would be, and that's no joke." Mancow likened it to a time when he nearly drowned as a child and had to be revived. Mancow said, "It is such an odd feeling to have water poured down your nose with your head back...It was instantaneous...and I don't want to say this: absolutely torture."

Anyone tell me why the end justifies the means? Does stopping someone from killing others mean we can stoop to similar levels?

Dinosaurs, Part 2

Well, apparently I'm more of a dinosaur than I thought. I posted somewhere else that supporting torture was "idiotic". Apparently that is not a good idea, and, apparently there are lots of people who believe there are good reasons for supporting torture. I can barely fathom coming to that conclusion, but I won't make the mistake of saying its idiotic to do so again! I just might be way behind the times!

Dinosaurs become extinct?

For the first time that I can recall, I felt like a dinosaur yesterday. I bought plastic bags at the grocery store. And I felt so pathetic.



Poor dinosaur guy, doesn't even know that plastic has gone the way of the pterodactyl. No wonder he's lost most of his hair, he uses plastic. That guy doesn't care about children, he uses plastic. Plastic is for evil people, should I call the police on him? People who use plastic should be shipped to an island in the arctic. Burn him!

Those last few lines were what was in my own head. No one actually said anything. It was just that they all looked at me so pathetically. I felt like a moron.

Okay, I made that part up too, but I still felt like times were passing me by. When you can't go prepared to the grocery store, can you do anything else productive?


I admit it, I'm a dinosaur! I'm trying to deal with it.

How to get things done in a democracy

Apparently some are under the misguided idea that to get things done in a democracy you just block traffic, make people mad, get some media attention and suddenly the province or country are supposed to drop everything and deal with your issue. It doesn't matter whether people sympathize or not, there is no such thing as bad publicity.

Wrong.

Start a facebook group.

That's how you get things done in a democracy.

Can We Fix it?

It has been said before, but it bears repeating. I wish I'd said the following, but I'm glad someone did.

The last line makes the rest worth the trip.

God Sends Quails
The 77's
(from the album Sticks and Stones)

You fail
You try half-hearted and fail
One foot drags behind you
One foot tripping in front of you


You fail
You spit out manna,
God sends quails
Dry bones pile up behind you
More wet mirages in front of you


You can't go back
You can't go back


You failed
You sunk like Jonah to the whale
Big mouths follow behind you
Still small voice swallowed by you


You failed
You picked the right time to fail
Got your past behind you
Got your future in front of you


You can't go back
You can go on

The Thick Grey Line

or,

why does my box only have one colour?

See the box? It says "Bright and Vivid Colors".


Why is the only colour in my box grey then?
The world is in colour, but I only get to colour with one...

Fear Only You
from the album "Shades of Grey"
Youth Choir... (aka the choir)

I dream in living color
But I see in shades of gray
At the dawn of understanding
Praying for the full of day
And when the San Onofre sun goes down
On concrete power domes
I may shudder for a moment
But this world is not my home


I'm not afraid of the thunder in the sky
All I fear is the lightning in Your eyes
For I love only You
And I fear only You


When the reverend waves his sword and cries
"Go save the golden dream"
From the terrace of his mansion
He won't hear the children scream
No, I won't fight the war he wages
Flesh and blood won't conquer me
But the demons know my enemy
Is my idolatry

I'm not afraid of the thunder in the sky
All I fear is the lightning in Your eyes
I'm not afraid of the rulers in this land
All I fear is the power in Your hand
For I love only You
And I fear only You
For I love only You
And I fear only You

You gotta have Faith

So if its right when things are going well, if I know it is right when all is sunny and bright, or even when I can plan a bright future, doesn't that mean I have to believe it is still right when the end seems less certain?

I've been really challenged by my own fickle faith. I can see how God can get something done, so I allow Him to work by making choices for Him. Then, when things look darker, when I don't know how He's going to do it, I at very least begin to doubt.

I've thought a little lately about the verse that says, "Don't worry about tomorrow, each day has enough trouble of its own." When I live and react and trust, I'm dealing with today's trouble. When I worry, I'm taking on tomorrow's and therefore throwing away today's opportunities and responsibilities, adding things to this day that I just I don't need, things I can do nothing about!

Anyway, the word of the day, of every day, is now, not hope, but FAITH