Memorial Day & Unnoted Bravery

My eyes are drying just now after reading this article.  It was written by a man named Peter Collier in the WSJ in 2007; it is both awesome and timely for today.  Nothing I write can even come close. 

It is true that we have another day for living veterans; this day is meant for those who are gone.  Nevertheless, while Mr. Collier’s moving words reference men who are often dead, and almost all forgotten, I write to the men and women who are alive now.  Some of you have served, some are active, some are wives or teenagers whose husbands/fathers disappear for weeks or months.  All of you experience the same thing:  the stress of potential doom.  You are not dead now, but as military who have sworn to defend, even at life’s expense, you have taken the first step.  For the retired veterans, it is the sometimes horrible memories (PTSD?) and the thought that active sons or buddies you still have out there could die.  For others it is the thought, pushed back in your mind, that the war in some far off place could become your war in just days (or even hours). This haunting, this real darkness on the horizon, takes its own toll.

For all of you, we honor you on this day… and give thanks.  You protect us, you protect our neighbors –all of us undeserving — from that same stress.  We know doom could be out there.  We remember today that you stand ready to face it on our behalf.

We need Memorial Day.

We must never stop remembering.

Judge Not … ?

We all have faith, don’t we?  That is, we have faith in something.  I might be the  staunchest of atheists, yet faith in the possibility of staying alive, and making some progress in my endeavors, is required even of me as I get out of bed every morning.  Over the years, when sharing my faith with others, I have been told, “… judge not!”  This is meant, I have assumed, to shut the conversation down, or at least make sure my POV has no sharp edges.  It has been spoken as a sort of talisman– once out in the space between us, it is supposed to guarantee that no unacceptable words will come from my side (or at least give cover for ending the conversation with a note of, “… I told you not to go there.”)  While meditating on Christ’s words in Matt. 7:1 (the source of this idea), the realization came that I had significantly misunderstood it.  In reality, the Lord meant to say, “Sentence not…”  Continue reading “Judge Not … ?”

Inbox assault

I’ve been thinking about this post all day… and I’m still not sure I should write it.  Here it is, anyway, for a simple reason: I’ve never seen this before, and was not sure it was possible, but am now very concerned.  This is possible.  If you are not a parent and will likely never have an e-mail account, you can safely skip it.  For the rest of you…

I was sexually assaulted this morning — sort of.  As I was reading my inbox, a relatively attractive, smiling, unclothed woman popped up, with a phone number.  The e-mail was simple, had clearly gotten by all my spam filters, and I didn’t even need to open it.  There she was, in full glory, in the preview pane.  There was no virus or attachment; just one “come hither” JPEG with a phone #.  That said, I apologize for Continue reading “Inbox assault”

Sometimes, it’s that simple

It’s very unlikely that any of us will see what Thomas Yoxall saw on Jan. 12th- just 2 weeks ago.  When he saw it, however, here’s what he did.

In many situations, what to do in the split seconds after an attack has begun is not that simple.  This time, it was that simple.  Hope someone like him is around if I or my family ever need this kind of help.

Ambivert…

That must be:

  • a sexually confused amphibian?
  • the latest version of a popular face cream, with a new name that marketing thought was really swell?
  • an alien race which didn’t make it into the Star Trek script… ?

Apparently, since the 1920’s, ambiverts have been all around us, and we didn’t even know it!  Honestly, have you ever heard that word??  In reality, ambiverts are us.  That is, most of us are Continue reading “Ambivert…”

President Hussein (Ozbama)- “…not who we thought he was.”

UPDATE: Here’s a post I wrote in 2009, and then decided not to publish.  I supposed it was the “Oz” factor – this idea that our current president was larger than life, and that I would be scoffed at because I suspected something funny was going on behind the curtain.  Now that we are less than a month before the potential re-election of our emperor (that’s a future blog post), the WSJ has prompted me to pull this post out.  It seems, according to William McGurn, that the curtain has been pulled back.  In fact, Ozbama the Magnificent is not actually Continue reading “President Hussein (Ozbama)- “…not who we thought he was.””

Dancing in the darkness

So, I’m reading the Economist, a high-brow magazine based in London and available online.  Middle East wars, macro-economic Snowballtheory, election politics and … Snowball. Yep.  The world’s most famous dancing bird (or so they say) who lives in an animal shelter in … Schererville, Indiana??  Anyway, the article is about high-powered research into whether & why animals dance, to music or otherwise.  You can read the article, which is interesting, but that’s not what this post is about.  It’s about the even bigger “elephant in the room” (read the article for the 1st one).  That is, the plausible explanation for why humans dance that actually fits very well with the data, and which also would explain why (apparently) animals don’t, unless they mimic humans.

Could it be that we dance because Continue reading “Dancing in the darkness”

Worship the Image

Our church has an amazing pastor & teacher.  For years (and I’m not kidding) we have been learning from the book of Exodus, and recently Bill has been teaching on the “Ten Words”.  As a child, I learned them as the 10 Commandments, but they are actually more than that.  Today’s lesson was a kind of preparation for a detailed study of the 2nd word, which I always thought Continue reading “Worship the Image”

Home Is Where the Buck Stops

Do you remember cheating on tests in grade school?  As I think back, I honestly can’t, though I probably did.  (The sins I remember were mouthing off in class & bringing a baby snake to show & tell — but that’s another post!).  Now, let’s go one more step: did you ever, in your wildest dreams, think that your teacher was cheating on a test?  Or that her cheating would hurt you??  Or that she was doing it for the money, because she was a criminal running a giant scam on the school district???

According to a report commissioned by the governor & published recently in Georgia, the former Atlanta Public Schools Superintendent, Continue reading “Home Is Where the Buck Stops”