Between the Super Bowl and the Oscars
How should we celebrate President's Day? Let's start by taking the day off, if we work in a government capacity, and forgo all delivered mail. May I also suggest trying to name the presidents of a chosen century. The 21st should be easy, as should the 18th. Give yourself a lollipop if you can name all the presidents of the 20th century, either forwards or backwards. Don't forget Harding or Taft.
A post I saw on a newspaper site suggested that "giving the power to run the various agencies of the federal government to people who don't believe in government is like asking the Amish to handle the nation's electrical power grid." I had to laugh.
I recall dimly having a conversation with our young children twenty years ago or more about the difference between being a short-term celebrity and one who could stand the test of time. That's a hard concept for someone young to grasp. I seem to also remember citing one person and predicting lengthy fame. And this person, if I'm recalling correctly, was.......Whitney Houston. Her passing, from whatever cause, is a sad event.
It would be nice to think that the days of one political party constantly selling itself as more pious and closer to God than the other are about over, but they haven't ended yet. Rick Santorum was speaking to a group of Tea baggers and let fly last week with the accusation that the President's religious beliefs were bogus, at least compared to his own. I doubt the two have ever met and am even more certain that there's been no theological discussion between them. Perhaps I should take this as good news, because the GOP seems out of ammo these days if the president's theology is all they can find to attack. Maybe it's Santorum's faith we should be calling into question instead of Romney's. All I know is that Santorum seems typical of this weak field of GOP presidential wannabes.
I have a new church assignment after more than five years at the old one. I get to sit up front next to our local leader, the bishop, who in real life is a county employee. Mona's gotten a little relief from her three assignments in the form of a guy who plays the organ every other week in her place. He's a nice young fellow, a dentist, who plays in a kind of theatrical style. But he's not perfect. During one song yesterday he hit a whole series of chords that gave new meaning to the word "dissonance". When it was over, the bishop turned to me and whispered, smiling, "I bet your wife really liked that." I didn't make much reply, but I certainly understood what he meant.
A post I saw on a newspaper site suggested that "giving the power to run the various agencies of the federal government to people who don't believe in government is like asking the Amish to handle the nation's electrical power grid." I had to laugh.
I recall dimly having a conversation with our young children twenty years ago or more about the difference between being a short-term celebrity and one who could stand the test of time. That's a hard concept for someone young to grasp. I seem to also remember citing one person and predicting lengthy fame. And this person, if I'm recalling correctly, was.......Whitney Houston. Her passing, from whatever cause, is a sad event.
It would be nice to think that the days of one political party constantly selling itself as more pious and closer to God than the other are about over, but they haven't ended yet. Rick Santorum was speaking to a group of Tea baggers and let fly last week with the accusation that the President's religious beliefs were bogus, at least compared to his own. I doubt the two have ever met and am even more certain that there's been no theological discussion between them. Perhaps I should take this as good news, because the GOP seems out of ammo these days if the president's theology is all they can find to attack. Maybe it's Santorum's faith we should be calling into question instead of Romney's. All I know is that Santorum seems typical of this weak field of GOP presidential wannabes.
I have a new church assignment after more than five years at the old one. I get to sit up front next to our local leader, the bishop, who in real life is a county employee. Mona's gotten a little relief from her three assignments in the form of a guy who plays the organ every other week in her place. He's a nice young fellow, a dentist, who plays in a kind of theatrical style. But he's not perfect. During one song yesterday he hit a whole series of chords that gave new meaning to the word "dissonance". When it was over, the bishop turned to me and whispered, smiling, "I bet your wife really liked that." I didn't make much reply, but I certainly understood what he meant.
posted by Mark at 3:23 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home