Walk-Off Single

As we head into the new game of June tomorrow, here's a thought:

I need to replace the light bulb in the lamp by my bed. After an unsatisfying presual of the light bulbs at Sam's (every single one was the new, mercury-laden, compact flourescent kind), I decided to look elsewhere. But it got me thinking:

Pretty soon, the government will be telling me what kind of lightbulb I can use in the lamp on my bedside table. Also, they will probably be telling me where I can set my thermostat at night.

So, the next time the so-called "liberals" in our society tell me that they want to get the government out of our bedrooms, I'm ready to tell them what a bunch of liars I think they are.

But then, I've always known that they were liars.

St Paul's "Desiderata"

To our graduates:

I'm showing my age here. Back when I was in high school, there was a little "prose poem" that was all the rage, called the Desiderata. The word is Latin for "desired things", and for a while in the late 60s and early 70s, you couldn't walk into a gift shop, poster store, or - most likely - a mainline church without seeing the words on a poster.

The poem's origins were shrouded in mystery at the time, adding to its popularity. That seemed to be a recurring theme, about annually there for a while, where the popular culture would get all involved in trying to decipher ambiguous or mysterious song lyrics. Ask your elders sometime about the whole "Paul is dead" thing, or about Don McLean's American Pie song.

Anyway, the poem Desiderata was actually penned by Max Ehrmann, an attorney from Terre Haute, Indiana, in 1927. In his diary, Mr Ehrmann wrote: I should like, if I could, to leave a humble gift -- a bit of chaste prose that had caught up some noble moods. And then he began with the now famous line, "Go placidly amid the noise and the haste and remember what peace there may be in silence . . ." In 1969, the Rev Frederick Kates, the Rector of St Paul's Church in Baltimore, used the Desiderata in a series of devotionals for his congregation. As the devotional materials were passed around and the Desiderata gained in popularity, people believed that the poem was found in the church because of the devotional's heading of "Old St Paul's Church AD 1692".

Wikipedia reports: "As of 1977, the rector of St. Paul's Church was not amused by the confusion. Having dealt with the confusion "40 times a week for 15 years," he was sick of it." It seems that "Exasperation 101" was a required course in Episcopal seminaries even back then.

So even if Old St Paul's Church was merely a clearinghouse for the poem and not its source, the church's namesake nevertheless wrote of similar "desired things" in the twelfth chapter of the book of Romans. I offer you St Paul of Tarsus' "humble gift": some "chaste prose" that definitely catches some "noble moods":

Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good.
Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves.
Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.
Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.
Share with the Lord's people who are in need. Practice hospitality.

Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.
Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn.
Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not think you are superior.

Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone.
If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.
Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: "It is mine to avenge; I will repay," says the Lord.
On the contrary:
If your enemy is hungry, feed him;
if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.
In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

- Romans 12:9-21 (Today's New International Version)

And so, dear graduates, "go placidly amid the noise and haste" and know that "whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should." In other words, the Lord reigns and he loves you. My prayer for you is that you make it your heart's desire to love and serve Him all your days.

Line of the Night

Speaking of Return of the Jedi, Jason had the line of the evening. We were watching the scene where Han and Leia are trying to hack into the control bunker for the big parabolic dish. C3PO and R2D2 are up the hill and the Ewoks are all around. C3PO gets the idea to draw the Imperial Storm Troopers away from Han and Leia. He calls to the Storm Troopers and they come running to them. Then, the Ewoks begin their ambush of the Storm Troopers.

Jason said, "I always thought they missed an opportunity for a line here. When the Storm Troopers see C3PO and R2D2, one of them should have said, 'Son of a bitch - these are the droids we were looking for!"

Common Ground

Here's something I never would have thought: Rambo, the Ewoks, and Arnold Schwarzenegger have a lot in common. Spike TV was running an action marathon last evening and we saw Rambo: First Blood, Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, and Predator. And what was the common thread? In all of them, the good guys improvised with items found in nature to devise methods of attack. There seemed to be a theme of making large horizontal poles with deadly wooden spikes - even the furry little Ewoks got into the act.

I went to bed after Predator - maybe there was a MacGyver episode to round out the evening.

Top of the Twentieth

May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had, so that with one mind and one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
- Romans 15:5-6

On the Other Hand

The California Supreme Court may have just handed John McCain all the electoral votes of our most populous state.

Top of the Twelfth

Let your work be manifest to your servants,
and your glorious power to their children.

Let the favour of the Lord our God be upon us,
and prosper for us the work of our hands -

O prosper the work of our hands!

Psalm 90:16-17

I'm Officially Old (Part 3)

Today was our annual Day of Care at church. The Deacons sponsor this day and teams go out to homes where people need a little extra help - some gutters cleaned or flowers planted. Special thanks to my friend, Deacon Bill Savage, for chairing the effort. Bill, you've set the bar very high for next year!

But here's where I'm feeling old. Our team headed out to east of Broken Arrow to replace a man's hot water heater and shore up the subflooring. I told one of our team members that they could follow me. I punched the address into my GPS as we waited at one of the lights downtown. The nice woman's computerized voice came on and said, "Continue forward for point-two miles" . . . and I did - without even looking to see that I had a red light!

I'm Officially Old (Part 2)

Yesterday, as I walked out of the locker room at the Health Club, there was a big reception going on. The nuns, doctors and nurses of the hospital were all chatting over cocktails and hors d'ouevres. I noticed that everyone was staring at me and thought, well, I'm not dressed up like you all, but so what.

Then I got into my truck and noticed that I was unzipped.

But that's not the worst part. This is the third time in a couple of weeks that this has happened.

I'm Officially Old (Part 1)

Today, for the fourth time in five days, I noticed that I had been driving with my turn signal blinking - who knows how long.

But it gets worse . . .

Bottom of the Ninth

As we head into extra innings this month, here's a great quote from James Lileks today:

The future should never come as a surprise to anyone who’s been paying attention.

Have a good night!

Top of the Fifth

The Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you put your hand to.

- Deuteronomy 15:10

Bottom of the Third

Couldn't let the day pass without wishing two of my friends Happy Birthday: Barry Friedman and Erick Devine. They're both in their "golden years" now, so be nice to them. They're also both so good on the stage that they would have made fine attorneys, but Barry's a comic and Erick is an actor, so it's nice to know that they chose more honorable professions!

Barry can be seen all over the hemisphere headlining at comedy clubs and is also the author of three books recounting his life on the road. Barry's wife, Susan, is an accomplished songwriter and singer.

Erick has acted all over the world and has appeared on Broadway in Cats, Ragtime, and others. He is also General Schmitz on the original Broadway cast recording of Seussical, the Musical by Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrends.

Happy birthday, fellows!

Extra! Extra!

Read all about Lindsay and Chester in the Tulsa World today! The article is linked here. Thanks to Cory Young from the World for this picture and to Kim Brown for the article!

Not Ashamed of the PC

Thanks, Reverend Michael, for the link to Pastor Dan Kimball's post about the rise of militant Macscism (my term: Rev Kimball was much nicer about it). It's intended to be a funny post, but it also spoke of some things that I have witnessed first-hand as a Windows user.

Can't we all just get along?

Top of the First

And a very special day it is, too!

At this very time (5:28am) 24 years ago (1984), our lives were blessed beyond measure when Lindsay Katherine made her debut into this world. And it has been blessing upon blessing ever since.

Happy birthday, darling!

"I thank my God every time I remember you." - Philippians 1:3