A Religious Experience

The whole weekend was one big religious experience. Ashley and i headed down to Charlotte on Friday evening. We dropped Eli with my mother-in-law (he got a haircut this weekend). We continued on to Concord. We went with Kelley on Saturday morning out to BloodBath & Beyond to get part of our wedding gift and then off to Karmen's wedding.

Karmen and Nate have been dating for about 7 years and the ceremony and reception was very fancy. It was held at the Ballantyne Resort in South Charlotte. The ceremony was outside on the lawn. Our minister, Ron, performed the ceremony, there was a string quartet, and the rain held off until 5 minutes after we all got inside. They had amazing cocktails and then a lovely dinner. The live band was really great. They were very good and they covered a lot of very popular tunes that were great for the dancing. There were about 20 of us there from ARPC out of the 300. We got to hang out with Katie Blackwelder and Maggie and Erik Blackwelder and Emily Troutman, plus Rob and Donna Chambers.

On Sunday, i preached at ARPC and Jason and Ben were able to make it down to see me. The sermon might be available online at ARPC's website. i may post it on here later.

Projects

This is the latest t-shirt design. i'm posting it for 2 reasons:

A) It's cool
3) i finally figured out how to take a screen shot and i'm playing with it

Social Commentary through Music

Any of you who know me, know that i love social commentary, whether in sci-fi or movies or music. Last year, i got to compile a CD with tracks that had social commentary either on a specific subject or culture in general for the Project Burning Bush kids. i'm working on another CD for this year, but i doubt i'll finish in time for them. Here's what i chose last year...

I still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For - U2
Big Joe - David M. Bailey
Chico - David M. Bailey
Another Day in Paradise - Phil Collins
The Way It Is - Bruce Hornsby
Dirty Laundry - Don Henley
Jesus Freak - DC Talk
Dare You to Move - Switchfoot (as covered by an UNC acapella group)
Long Long Time - Guy Forsyth
Everybody Hurts - REM
Everybody's Fool - Evanescence
Popular - Nada Surf
Hands - Jewel

Habitatting

Ashley and i headed out today for a build. Richmond Habitat is building a whole neighborhood of 18 or 20 houses. One of them is their first ADA (American Disabilities) compliant house. There were several volunteer groups out there today and most of the office staff that Ashley works with.

Ashley's boss has twin girls who turned 16 this week and as their birthday party, they wanted to work on a Habitat house and invite about 40 of their friends (including 3 brave guys). Ashley joined their group in blue (the mom bought them ALL, including the adults, bright aqua shirts). They painted for the day.

i worked with a mixed group of Carmax folks and people from St. Mary's on another house. One of the Habitat professional construction people put me to a task and i found a mother and daughter and they were joined by a man and two women in their 60's who were total rock stars and did a great job pounding nails and moving ladders around. i discovered by the end of the day that they compromised most of the "i stay on the ground" crew. Most of the young Carmax and St. Mary's people were on the roof.

It was sort of a hoot to go expecting to learn more about construction (i haven't helped build a Habitat house in a couple years) and instead ended up leading a six person crew and showing them how to build a house. i hope to get out there again soon to help. i really like getting some exercise and volunteering for them. Although, Ashley tells me i got a bit of a sunburn today.

Under pressure from my friends

Well, enough of you have read my blog entries and rants and finally after much poking and prodding, i'm going for it. i've spent the obligatory months claiming i won't run. So now, i officially am declaring my candidacy. i'll be a write in candidate for the 2008 Presidential election. i will run as a Libertarian write-in in all 50 states.

What will the future hold?

i love technology, and sometimes i'm truly impressed. However, i rarely find reason to marvel. Yesterday i got a kick out of the Richmond cop with a Tom Tom GPS navigator on his dash. It's the same one my wife and i have. With dispatchers and low jack and his lap top, he still needs a Tom Tom.

The truly marvelous thing is my Skype experience. For those of you not familiar with Skype, it's fantastic. It's much like AOL or Yahoo messenger, but several more features and a very good video chat interface for your webcam. It also allows you to call or text land/cell lines for a monthly fee, usually cheaper (especially for international) than most phone companies.

So, as i was talking to my cousins in Japan, they added my aunt to the chat. She wasn't at her home in Raleigh or on her computer. She was on her cell phone on Route 75 en route to Baton Rouge. Dick Tracey would never have conceived it.

Fill 'er up...

Trying to keep it all in perspective...

I was reminded today of a political cartoon years ago in the Charlotte Disturber. It portrayed an angry man filling up his car at the gas station, complaining about the price of gas. The picture was labeled with the price of everything else per gallon, including his soda, milk, etc.

An article today suggested that maybe we should keep it in perspective. We've simply been spoiled for so long by low prices. With inflation, gas in 1922 would cost $3 today and it's at $3.77 on average in the US today ($4.00 here in Richmond for Regular Unleaded).

So to keep things in perspective, i did some calculations. In 2008, i thought it might be interesting to note the Richmond prices for the following:

2% Milk- $4.04/gallon
Coke (by 2L bottle)- $4.18/gallon
Coke (by can from vending machine)- $5.33/gallon
Coke (by cup at McDonald's)- $6.40/gallon
Aquafina (bottle from vending machine)- $8.00/gallon
Budweiser- $10.12/gallon
Starbuck's venti latte- $23/gallon
Shampoo (TRESemme)- $23.96/gallon
Shampoo (Pert)- $27.17/gallon

and of course...

Crest toothpaste- $63.79/gallon

Love and Marriage

In today's climate, marriage is always talked about as a "right." It is sometimes referred to as an institution or a union or sought for its tax benefits and legal standing. It is rarely discussed as a privilege or a building block of social stability. It is rarely referred to as a "holy ordinance" as the language of most wedding vows still reads.

Debate swirls around who should be "allowed" to marry and what marriage "means." Many proponents of broadening marriage definition to be more inclusive argue that marriage is a mess in this country and time anyways. While many opponents want to know why non-religious people (or often people who interpret scripture differently) would want to participate in a religiously-based ritual. There's a lot of talk about legislating morality.

The poll you will find on the left margin of this blog has 8 simple (or not so simple) questions about marriage. Please take the time to fill it out. It won't take long. I'll blog again in a few weeks when there has been some response.

Letters for a life time...

i've heard that once a photo is ever posted on the web, it can never be destroyed. i know that letters written on paper are a lost art to many. We reserve snail mail for paying bills and sending resumes and applications, maybe obligatory Christmas cards or birthday well wishes. It just makes the hand written letter (the original reason mail was invented) that much more special.

Just like words you speak, words you write can never really be taken back. You can change your mind about them or the meaning or regret putting them to paper, but once out there, they are permanent. Maybe that's one of the things we like about letters. There's something in them that you can always keep, like a memory that doesn't fade.

i know countless people who keep boxes of letters and cards. i did all through my childhood and did it again in college. i recently tossed a whole bunch after reading through and enjoying some old memories. i kept a couple, including one my parents wrote me when i was in college and one they sent me in seminary.

Today i found a folder with letters i received my first summer of college while i was away at camp. Most were from an old gf. i had two from an old close friend and two more from two other friends. Out of all of those, none of them keep in touch any more. i'm sad, but also reminded of the people who are still in my life and still write me letters. And no matter what happens to any of these people in my life, i will likely have their letters for a long time.

i will probably be chucking most of this mail here, but it's nice to be reminded of the good things you have in life by the things you no longer do.

But who will pay?

"The quality medical care Ted Kennedy quickly received after his brain cancer diagnosis would not be available to Americans if the U.S. adopted the healthcare policies advocated by the Massachusetts Senator..." (and Obama and Clinton). This is from a recent article on the treatments Ted Kennedy received and the future of that kind of treatment in the US. i sincerely doubt that it's buyer's remorse.

The article goes on. On universal healthcare in other countries...
"The expert cites the example of a 22-year-old woman in England — which has universal coverage — who complained of headaches for months, but had to wait a year to see a neurologist.

She then had to wait more than three months to get what Britain’s National Health Service decided was only a “relatively urgent” MRI scan.

Three days before the MRI appointment, she died."


Well, at least we know what to look forward to.

What will the rich do? Go elsewhere. For healthcare, for jobs, for tax shelters. Then no one will be here to pay for this reduced benefit system. Why can we surmise this?

The YMCA's of the nation and most pools are starved for lifeguards in the US. This is a relatively new problem. They cite a number of reasons, but the leading cause is motivational. A vast majority of lifeguards are teenagers and college kids. Think about the alternatives. For the same $8/hour, they can work at almost any retailer or fast food counter. They can show up half asleep, stoned, or hung over, and barely on time and do the job well enough to not get fired. Their training is paid for. Oh, and they get two free uniforms. Pools and YMCA's just can't compete with that.

The same will be true of America. Doctors who can get more money in other countries will leave. Patients who can afford better care will leave too. The richest one percent all have the means to live overseas and receive better care. Most of the wealthiest 10% could afford to travel overseas for specific appointments, treatments, prescriptions, or surgeries. Who pays for most of the government programs? Yup, that bracket. So, by all means, let's create a system that harms or at the very least benefits less those who pay for it. I'm sure they'll stay.

If you think they will, you credit them with high morals. If they had them, they'd already voluntarily be providing that healthcare.

Sticks and stones

Words are powerful. Rhetoric is powerful. Dialog is powerful. Take words, speak them allowed to someone or write them to someone and suddenly you are engaged in a struggle than can result in both parties becoming weaker or stronger.

Is "homophobe" as dangerously paralyzing a word as "homo?" I read a speech recently that addressed a similar issue. Basically, it made the very good point that in the dark ages, the term "heretic" could stop all discussion, debate and learning.

Neil DeGrasse Tyson points out in his book, Death by Black Hole, that the Catholic church attacked, condemned, and even killed many of the greatest astronomers and thinkers of humanity because they held opinions and ascribed to theories that were unpopular minority views.

The age old debate about how open minded is a liberal person if they refuse to listen to a skin head or neo-nazi thug is reborn. Does calling someone a "homophobe" in the atmosphere of a University for instance automatically silence a student or reduce them to the 21st cetury equivalent of a heretic, ignored by the majority and judged unworthy of participating in public debate, dialog, learning?

i'm the last person who would defend the viewpoint of a neo-nazi, but i will defend the right of anyone to espose an opinion, majority condoned or otherwise.

To quote the ultra liberal Michael Douglas in the American President:

"You want free speech? Let's see you acknowledge a man whose words make your blood boil, who's standing center stage and advocating at the top of his lungs that which you would spend a lifetime opposing at the top of yours."

Can you do it? How patriotic are you? How open-minded are you?

This just in...

I awake to the sound of jet engines this morning... in my house. The wife has her hair dryer for the first time since we've been married. She walks into the room and with a deadpan serene reserved for Willem Dafoe in Platoon...

"The heat index today is 105... welcome to death."

Guess she doesn't wanna move to Texas.

To the Church in Emphasis

So today, i've been reading blogs and one specifically written by this poor guy who doesn't know enough scripture to articulate his anti-gay viewpoint. Probably most people don't completely agree with me, but one of my biggest frustrations is the supposed Christian who comes to the Bible with what they believe and what they've been taught before they read it and then try to find the evidence in scripture and/or bend it to make it work.

i digress. So you end up with one kind of person who wants to emphasize pointing out everyone's sin (especially homosexuals) as his way of showing them love and one person who wants to emphasize only loving people unconditionally. These two kids battling on a blog. Both are hopelessly impotent.

The first guy thinks people will see he loves them if he points out the flaws he perceives. Any of you ever have a parent or adult or teacher in your life who never encouraged you, always criticized you, and strove simply to fix you? Did you feel loved?

The other girl wants to just go around with rainbows and flowers and love on everybody. i gotta admit, she sounds more fun. i'd rather have a dozen of her than one of the first guy. However, she's not doing anyone much good. Ever have a parent or adult or teacher or grandparent who stuffed you full of compliments and cookies no matter what you did wrong and never gave you rules or boundaries or correction? i bet they were fun. But did you learn? Did you grow? Did you become a better person? a better Christian?

Comes back to people not caring how much you know until they know how much you care. Maybe the second girl would give some guidance after a hug, but that's not the impression i got. Jesus says pretty clearly to take care of the log in your own eye before the splinter in someone else's. Seems the best way out of the situation for both of these kids is invite criticism and judgment with humility and to live lives of example rather than hollow self-righteousness or empty sweetness.

Education, the Opiate for the Masses?

i'm not being lazy. My cousin Jackie simply did the leg work on this one so well, i simply recommend you go to her blog for this topic...

California vs. Homeschooling
The case for requiring you send your kids to public/private school or face prison.

Unfortunately True

I'm not even going to editorialize...

Straight from the NY Times, copied and pasted...

"Representative William J. Jefferson of Louisiana, who was indicted for bribing a Nigerian official and engineering an international corruption scheme, announced today that he is casting his superdelegate vote for Mr. Obama.

“It is time to unify our party behind a nominee for President in order to give Democrats the best chance to win this fall,” Mr. Jefferson said in a statement.

Last week, a federal judge in Louisiana refused to toss out the bribery charges against Mr. Jefferson, who argued that his alleged crimes more closely resembled influence peddling than bribery."