Busy...

No real post for today...

Or for the rest of the week.

Maybe?

I've got a bunch of things to do including planning our upcoming trip, preparing some things for church and, oh, too many to list really...

Any spare time I have for computer stuff will be devoted to completing the subs from the Methodist blogroll, doing something new to my template and maybe working on getting my archives re-uploaded...

Thanks to everyone for the recent comments...

It amazes me that anyone wants to look at this mess, but thanks anyway. And I really enjoy reading all the new blogs I've found...

God bless you all and have a nice weekend!

This is Creepy!

This is creepy!


Think of a letter between A and W.


Repeat it out loud as you scroll down.


Keep going...


Don't stop...


Think of an animal that begins with that letter.


Repeat it out loud as you scroll down.


Keep going...


Don't stop...


Think of either a man's/woman's name that begins with the last letter in the animals name


Repeat it out loud as you scroll down.


Keep going...


Don't stop...


Almost there........


Now count out the letters in that name on the fingers of the hand you are not using to scroll down.


Now take the hand you counted with and hold it out in front of you at face level.


Look at your palm very closely and notice the lines in your hand.


Do the lines take the form of the first letter in the persons name?


...


...


Of course not... Now smack yourself in the head, get a life, and quit playing stupid e-mail games!

My wife sent me that in an e-mail.

Yes, I fell for it.

I hope you did too!

It's a Strange World after all...

So I leave work tonight...

O.K., technically it was yesterday.

So sue me - I'm a 'shifter'.

Anyway, I had to stop at the corner market to patch up my wreck of a van for the 13 mile trip home. I have got to get a new ride! The radiator doesn't leak any more but now it's a leaky tire.

So I did my business at the free air pump and, as I'm preparing to get back into the pitiful van, I see a guy crossing Cedar Street on foot. No big deal, I figure he's taking a shortcut to Lincoln through the market parking lot.

But he's crossing the street diagonally, headed straight for me and he's walking very intensely - Almost like one of those speed walkers, only hunched over more.

I didn't give it much thought as I got into the van and fished in my pocket for the keys. But then I turned to look again and he's much closer now and he's still coming directly toward me. And he's close now - maybe 20 feet away... I get the keys in and start up and this guy is right on me...

And he looks sort of like this:
Only a lot scarier and crazier looking...

And it's dark, almost midnight, no one else is around and he's not letting up on that intense speed-walking thing...

I'm starting to get a little concerned...

Now I like to think that I can take care of myself. I'm a super-cautious type of person - A belt and suspenders type of guy. I circle my van before I get in and, yes, I look into the back to make sure no psycho is lurking in there to kill me me when I get in. I don't carry a gun but I keep a tire iron under the seat just in case I need it. I like to tell myself that if worse comes to worse I could probably kick at least 50% of the butts that are out there and, if all else fails, I know that I can run faster than the average 39 year old.

But I didn't really have time for any of that. By the time I realized this nutter had me in his sights, all I could do was slam the van door shut and hit the lock... Just as he grabbed the door handle!

I yelled something like "What the phlox are you doing?" To which he responded, "Wharughhhhhhh!" and held up to the window what, for the life of me, looked like a half-eaten candy bar.

I put the gear selector in 'R' and punched the accelerator. My rear-view mirror caught the guy's arm and sort of spun him around. He didn't fall though - he just did that freaky-intense-walk thing right into the market where he passed the cop coming out with with his sandwich and super-sized coffee.

The cop didn't seem to notice anything unusual.

I pulled over to the squad car as I saw crazy guy in the market gesturing wildly to the lady at the register, half rolled down my window and asked the cop, "What's up with that guy?"

"Oh him? Uh, Why?"

Why? Well, I don't know him from Adam but he just just tried to get into the van with me and he wanted to give me a partially consumed snack item...

"Aw, he's harmless. He probably forgot to take his medicine...

AGAIN."

Reassure me please folks, this kind of thing happens to other people all the time. Right?

Right?

Headline...

Police On Lookout For Poorly-Drawn Man

From the Onion - Radio news.

Huh?

I received a check in the mail today...

Not a bad thing, mind you, but I don't know why I got this check. The attached letter explained that it was my portion of the settlement from a class-action lawsuit filed against a financial institution that I have not dealt with in several years.

The letter also mentioned that I had been previously notified of this matter...

I have absolutely no recollection of that.

That, and it was a check for $1.72!

A dollar and seventy-two cents!

What the...

By the time you take into account postage costs, accounting costs, attorney fees and so on, it probably cost them five dollars to send me my buck 7-2!

The letter also made clear that I must cash the check before March 22, 2007 or it would become null and void.

I'll be sure to mark that date on my calendar!

Our Weekend Trip.

We were looking for some cheap entertainment this weekend and, since gas is now relatively inexpensive and none of us had been to Sewanee since Stacie quit working up there, we made the drive to the ‘mountain’ to have a look around.

We stopped at “The Big Rock” on the way up.
This thing is some king of natural sandstone outcropping right on the side of Highway 41. It’s surrounded on the other sides by dense primeval forest and a sheer cliff.

Many years ago someone added some masonry steps on the side so you can climb the thing with relative ease and look down into the valley. I remember doing this a couple of times as a kid so we stopped to let our kids have the same experience. Fortunately they’ve scrubbed a lot of the graffiti off and generally cleaned the area up a lot in the ensuing years.

The kids got a big kick out of climbing the rock – especially Tad - who started crawling around on all fours, saying things like ‘my precious’ and ‘it hurt’s us’ over and over again. He was a little too exited about the rock for my tastes because, even though it’s only about 30 feet or so above the roadway on the front, the rear of this formation is hundreds of feet above the valley below. So I held on to my little ‘Gollum’ most of the time we were up there.

Here's a view from the top of the rock looking toward the valley, down to the highway ,

and the rock from the back:

We moved on from there and drove out toward the Templeton Library, passing St. Mary’s Convent,

and on to the Natural Bridge preserve.

We hiked down to the ‘bridge’ – another stone formation

– and the kids and I climbed across. Stacie wouldn’t do it, though.

There were some other folks there and one young guy not only went across but climbed down into the cave below and was scaling the side of the bridge as we left. My son looked on enviously. Stacie said, “Don’t even think about it!”

We went back to the Templeton Library and self-toured the grounds. I’ve never seen it up close though I can see it as a speck from my house on a clear day.

We saw the statue of Sir John Templeton himself and pretty much just walked around the building saying ‘wow’ repeatedly. Tad wanted to go in a ‘check out a book” Shelby punched him and said “It’s not that kind of a library – DUH!” She was right – the library is actually a repository for John Templeton’s extensive papers. I guess Sir Templeton wrote a lot – five stories worth, maybe?

From the back we had a panoramic view of the Elk River Valley. Tad claimed he could see our house… he couldn’t.




From there we went by the University of the South and headed out to the Memorial Cross. The kids had never been there and it’s been years since I’ve seen it. Again, they’ve cleaned it up a lot. It used to be mainly unattended and at one time had a lot of graffiti on it. Today, it’s a nice memorial for war dead from Franklin County. It’s a beautiful and serene place – a fitting memorial.


You can get a sense of the size of this cross if you look at the bottom of the picture on the left where you can see the tiny figures of my family.
It’s also a check point on the perimeter trail. Which of course Tad wanted to hike – today! We finally got him out of there, but I had to promise to bring him back one weekend and hike the whole 20 mile trail.

Since we were in Sewanee, I said it would be good to see the campus, not realizing it was family day, soccer game day and SACA craft fair day, and apparently a couple of other types of special days, at the university. We crept though the traffic at a snail’s pace but it allowed me to take some pictures from the moving vehicle (which I normally don’t recommend).

We saw several of the dormitories and lecture halls – all of ancient sandstone of course, as well as the new Theology Department facilities, All Saint’s Chapel, Otey Parish (which I didn’t get a picture of, and whatever this is.

Shelby seemed more interested in these than the other sights we'd seen. Tad on the other hand was now bored…



All day he'd been taking in the dense forests, the caves and stone formations interspersed with larger-than-life man-made structures that looked a thousand years old – not to mention all the strange creatures (students) we had run into. All this time a thought had been slowly forming in his over active imagination – something seemed familiar about all this…

It was at this point that he saw a street sign reading “Rivendell” and it all came together for him: “I KNEW it! – We've been in 'Middle Earth' all day!”

Close son, close.

Busy weekend...

Shelby had her first middle school dance on Friday night. We met Stacie after work, went out to eat and then took Shelby to the dance.
How cool they are:


Saturday, of course, was game day.

Arkansas beat Alabama. Yes! In OT no less!!

Tennessee won against the Hundering Therd of Marshall. Ooooh!

And Vanderbilt beat cross- town non-rival Tennessee State. Incredibly this was the first time VU has ever played TSU. The first time! I’m sure this goes back to the days of segregation when TSU was the ‘black’ state supported university in Middle Tennessee with MTSU, as its all white counterpart down the road in Murfreesboro, but that’s been a long time ago. What gives? Maybe it's a socioeconomic status type thing...

And my mighty Blue Raiders succumbed to Oklahoma. I realize the sooners were pumped - they had something to prove... Why did they have to prove it against my school?

What in the world was MTSU doing playing Oklahoma anyway???

Well, every once in a while, they let Middle play a real football team (usually with similar results). Although the Raiders destroyed Tennessee Tech last week, they were themselves even more destroyed by OK this week. Just look at the combined score of the last two MTSU games:

Winner 103
Loser 0

Too bad we were on the wrong side of the zero side this time…

But there were a lot of huge scores and huge blowouts in college ball this week...

Speaking of car wrecks, I saw two this weekend (literally): one on Friday as I went to meet Stacie and one on Saturday after our trip to Sewanee (more on that later).
In each case, we came upon the wreck on a two lane road in the middle of nowhere with no detour possible and nothing to do but sit and wait and take pictures of someone else’s misfortune. The weather here has been bad so I’m sure that contributed, and, seriously, I hope no one was hurt…

Today, we all went to St. Paul again. I brought the message and the ladies of the church were delighted to see Stacie and the kids. They even drafted Stacie to sing with them in the choir… I think they like her better than me… But that’s O.K., I’m used to that. Again, it seemed to go over well, but I’m still having trouble determining that objectively. I think I’m going to take LutherPunk’s suggestion and tape myself in practice. I won’t be back to St. Paul for a month because of our upcoming trip, so maybe by then I will has learned something…

I'm not sure what this means...

Is a high score a good score or a bad score in this case?

Thanks to LutherPunk for putting me on to this... (he scored 24!)

My Mid-Life Crisis?

My lovely wife (who is quite a bit younger than me) sent me a link to an MSN story called "How to Have a Mid-Life Crisis - Sometimes a man has to lose his bearings to find his way".

What does it mean that she sent this to me?

What is she trying to tell me?

And how did she come across this link?

Was she looking for something about men having mid-life crises? Does she think I'm, uh, you know, having one?

Am I thinking too much (again)?

Maybe, but obviously she wanted me to read the story. Obviously she thinks that either I needed to read this for some reason or that I will learn something from it.

Is she expecting me to identify with the things that are discussed in the article or is she trying to tell me what to watch out for?

Or is it both?

I came to terms with my advancing age a few years ago. When I turned 35, someone said, "Welcome to middle-age."

Gee, Thanks.

I had always thought of M-A as 45 to 60 or so but I did some reading and, sure enough (depending on which expert you cite), middle-age begins somewhere between 35 and 40.

But, like it or not, I'm now almost 40 and, for the life of me, I can't get over the feeling that it's not quite real!

I feel 25 and I have for, well, almost 15 years!

I'm happily married, but to a much younger (and very attractive) woman. I'm more fit than I have been for most of my adult life. I've lost weight - almost 50 pounds and counting, I exercise a couple of times a week, I have a good job that I (mostly) enjoy, I have few good friends and some engaging hobbies. Most people say I don't look my age and girls (almost) young enough to be my daughter sometimes still flirt with me. I'm active, healthy and generally enjoying my life more than I ever have...

So what is the problem? What has changed?

Well, plenty has changed but I don't see these changes as problems. I think of them as benefits...

I started the health and appearance improvement kick about a year ago, with some measure of success so I'm told.

I decided to go back to school to get my (second) degree.

I started this "exploring phase" of what might be a call to full time service in the church.

I've test-driven a bunch of sports cars.

I'm listening to more music (mostly from my youth)...

And I started playing the guitar again - I even bought a new amp!

Finally, I started blogging, which is why you are reading this.

So, yeah, things have changed.

Does this mean I'm having a mid-life crisis?

To some, I'm sure it sounds like it...

I don't know.

It seems to me that I'm just doing the things that I want or need to do...

Things that I neither had the time, money, nor wisdom to do when I was younger.

I don't see how these are bad things - I have always thought of a "mid-life crisis" as something BAD.

It is called a "crisis" after all... You know, realize you're going to die someday, start hanging out with counter-culture types, do some drugs, have an affair... do some really irresponsible (and stupid) stuff.

And I haven't, nor will I, do those things (except maybe hanging out with counter-culture types).

I do realize that I will die at some point. I accept that. And I have changed. My circumstances have changed... My life has changed, but it's almost totally for the better...

In short, I'm happy.

Someone explain to me how, exactly, is this a "crisis"?

Stop illegal immigration!

Some time ago, a group of illegal immigrants came to this land looking for a better life. They illegally trespassed on this land - a sovereign nation - and gleefully used whatever resources of this land they felt they needed or wanted.

As if that wasn't bad enough, these illegals then began to abuse the rightfully born people of this land. Some of these immigrants even turned out to be murderers and rapists...

And to pour salt on the wound they had already inflicted here, these immigrants attempted to set up an alternate government in opposition to 'our' natural and God-given right to rule this land.

At first, it didn't go over so well. Some of 'our' people took great offense at these activities and repelled the dirty intruders. But the intruders tried again and again and eventually gained a foothold. With some (like a lot of) help from back home, they eventually made a lasting impact on this land of 'ours' and began to systematically displace, imprison, enslave or even kill 'our' native people as they strove to set up their own way of government and impose their rule, religion and culture on 'us'.

Of course you probably realize by now that these events happened around four centuries ago. The land in question was, in fact, the land that the people we now call Americans live on. But the illegal immigrants I speak of were our very forefathers - figuratively if not literally.

The native peoples of 'our' land have been virtually eliminated from the landscape now, and us 'illegals' took over long ago, becoming 'legal' in the process.

And it is at this late date that many of us rightful Americans, the descendents of those original illegal aliens, seethingly and vehemently seek to repel anyone who comes to these shores looking, speaking, sounding, or smelling a little differently.

And many will say, "I don't mind people coming here as long as they are 'legal'".

Many of those people are LYING.

I have heard folks say that we ought to deport people who look or sound different than we do. I have heard some say that we ought to shoot those who cross our borders. I even heard a seemingly nice young lady say that we should bomb the $#!# out of that country because they are 'sending us all their trash'.

I have to ask, why are 'they' coming here? Would you want to go to a foreign country, a foreign culture, not knowing the language or the customs just to get a sub-minimum wage job consisting of back-breaking labor - with no benefits and no promise of a meaningful future?

Well, yes you would. You would do it in a heartbeat if things were ten times as bad in your own country. You would do it if you lived in a garbage dump. You would do it if your children were starving. You would do it if you had no hope...

For the record, I think illegal immigration is a bad thing and I firmly believe that we ought to do everything in our power to stop it.

That doesn't mean I think we should shoot people or bomb people or deport people.

I think that we should aide Mexico in any and every way we can to improve their infrastructure, their job market and their economy. We should expand the paltry trade agreements we have with them and pour the money we now spend on waging ill-conceived wars half way around the globe into educating the children in our own backyard.

If we were to do these neighborly and Christian things, maybe there wouldn't be so many of 'them' coming 'over here' !

And if we really wanted to reduce illegal immigration, we wouldn't talk about shooting people or putting up fences to keep them out. If we were really serious about this, we would be tearing down the fences that already exist. We would be giving them a helping hand as they crossed the border to look for jobs that no self-respecting American is willing to do.

If we were really serious about reducing illegal immigration, we would make it easier for folks to come here legally. But I really don't think most of us want that. We just don't want them here period!

PERIOD!

Then again, what do I know? I'm just a descendent of a bunch of illegal immigrants!

Methodists...

I don't know how I keep getting stuck on these themes. It's accidental, I assure you. Or maybe it's a coincidence...

At any rate, I received another interesting e-mail that I thought I'd share with you. It came from my wife who received it from our pastor who got it from his wife who, well you know, on and on...

This was supposedly adapted from an essay by Garrison Keillor but it looks like there are several sources, things probably being added as it flew around the web.

Enjoy:

METHODISTS

We make fun of Methodists for their blandness, their excessive calm, their fear of giving offense, their lack of speed and also for their secret fondness for macaroni and cheese. But nobody sings like them. If you were to ask an audience in New York City , a relatively Methodistless place, to sing along on the chorus of "Michael Row the Boat Ashore," they will look daggers at you as if you had asked them to strip to their underwear. But if you do this among Methodists, they'll smile and row that boat ashore and up on the beach! And down the road! Many Methodists are bred from childhood to sing in four-part harmony. It's a talent that comes from sitting on the lap of someone singing alto or tenor or bass and hearing the harmonic intervals by putting your little head against that person's rib cage. It's natural for Methodists to sing in harmony. We're too modest to be soloists, too worldly to sing in unison. When you're singing in the key of C and you slide into the A7th and D7th chords, all two hundred of you, it's an emotionally fulfilling moment.

By our joining in harmony, we somehow promise that we will not forsake each
other. I do believe this: People, these Methodists, who love to sing in four-part harmony are the sort of people you could call up when you're in deep distress. If you're dying, they'll comfort you. If you're lonely, they'll talk to you. And if you're hungry, they'll give you tuna salad!

1. Methodists believe in prayer, but would practically die if asked to pray out loud.

2. Methodists like to sing, except when confronted with a new hymn or a hymn with more than four stanzas.

3. Methodists believe their pastors will visit them in the hospital, even if they don't notify them that they are there.

4. Methodists usually follow the official liturgy and will feel it is their way of suffering for their sins.

5. Methodists believe in miracles and even expect miracles, especially during their stewardship visitation programs or when passing the plate.

6. Methodists feel that applauding for their children's choirs would make the kids too proud and conceited.

7. Methodists think that the Bible forbids them from crossing the aisle while passing the peace.

8. Methodists drink coffee as if it were the Third Sacrament.

9. Methodists feel guilty for not staying to clean up after their own wedding reception in the Fellowship Hall.

10. Methodists are willing to pay up to one dollar for a meal at church.

11. Methodists still serve Jell-O in the proper liturgical color of the season but think that peas in a tuna noodle casserole adds too much color.

12. Methodists believe that it is OK to poke fun at themselves and never take themselves too seriously.

And finally, you know you're a Methodist when:

-- It's 100 degrees, with 90% humidity, and you still have coffee after the service.

-- You hear something really funny during the sermon and smile as loudly as you can!

-- Donuts are a line item in the church budget, just like coffee.

-- When you watch a "Star Wars" movie and they say, May the Force be with you, you respond, "and also with you".

-- it takes ten minutes to say "good-bye".

Almost never was...

In addition to the e-mail I received yesterday telling me how not to be such a loser in trying to attract women I don't want to attract who are such losers that they would be attracted to any loser who would need to get advice from a third-rate e-mail scam, I also received a rather puzzling e-mail from my university.

One of my advisors e-mailed me about some very important academic goings-on at the ol' school for the current semester.

Um, no one bothered to tell you that I'm not taking classes this semester?

True, I didn't personally inform this person that I was sitting out this semester but I would tend to think that the lack of a check in the mail would, at the very least, have been a clue.

Does this mean I need to drop the classes I had thought about registering for? Do I need to call the professors I might have had to tell them why they have never heard of me? Do I need to cite sources in the papers I could have written? Should I try to reconnect with old friends I never met?

Just wondering.

I could go on, but what's the point?

I guess it's easy for one insignificant, 30-something, part-time student to slip through the virtual cracks when there are 25,000 or so of my class-mates out there vying for attention as well.

Now, if I can just figure out how to get a grade out of this...

Dating advice for married men...

In between the emails I got today telling me how to grow more hair or what pills to take for this or that, I saw an email that offered to help me be more successful with women:

(my comments over here)







Deadly mistakes???

Women like mean guys...

and guys who don't care what women think...

Thoughtless guys too...


We all know women hate men who buy them gifts...

or are emotionally honest.

Women of course love men who think they have it all figured out...


Women like ugly and poor men?

Control freaks - always popular!


And know-it-all types. Yes women love them.


And we all know women everywhere are going to fight over any guy who is desperate enough to click on the link that followed #10, pay their $49.95 and download the ebook chock full of even more well-considered advice on how to be successful with women.

First and last.

Since I've been impersonating a preacher recently, my pastor invited me to a lectionary Bible study at Winchester FUMC this morning. He said he thought I would contribute a lot, which, I think, was his over-nice way of saying I could probably learn a thing or two.

As late as last night I was still debating on whether to go or not. For one thing 8:30 a.m. is pretty much the middle of the night for me. And I would be one of the younger people there, probably the only lay person, the least educated and definitly the least experienced when it comes to preaching and teaching. I thought I would feel uncomfortable or out of place in that situation.

But some of those are the reasons I wanted to go: to associate with some people who are smarter, wiser and more experienced than I am. And Stacie more or less ordered me to go - she even called me this morning to make sure I got up.

So I went.

There were eight people in attendance, mostly United Methodist: a couple of retired ministers, Jack, Nan, a PCUSA minister, one Episcopalian, a local pastor who is in Seminary at the University of the South, and me.

I did feel a little out of place at first but I was welcomed warmly with barely a mention of my lack of credentials.

The discussion was not quite what I had expected, though. It was very informal. When I reminded the Episcopalian minister that we had previously met, he said, "Oh yeah, I think it was at one of the local bars..." I'm not sure if it was me or him that the others were staring at after that comment.

In addition to the week's texts, we discussed the Pope, an upcoming Senate election, the wars in the Middle East, and the immigration controversy.

The discussion proper centered on the Mark reading and the idea of 'first and last'. There were a lot of good ideas thrown around and I took a lot of notes and spoke very little. Someone talked about the inclination most of us have to put ourselves first. We want to be the greatest just like the disciples. Jesus' message is clear: 'looking out for number one' is not the way to be great. Assuming the role of the servant, letting go of what we possess, helping the helpless - these are the ways to become 'great'.

As these things were being discussed, I couldn't help but think that part of the reason I was reluctant to attend this meeting was that I would be a lot closer to 'last' than 'first' in this group.

But I like to be FIRST. I like to be the center of attention. I like to be the authority figure. I'm the guy with all the answers... At least in my own mind.

If any of that is ever true, it certainly wasn't true in the meeting today. And maybe that's the point. Maybe that's what I needed to hear.

At any rate, it gave me a good idea for a sermon...

Mister Rogers' Neighborhood Gerrymandered To Serve King Friday's Make-Believe Agenda

MISTER ROGERS' NEIGHBORHOOD, PA—A plan to radically redistrict Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood to further cement the control of the powerful King Friday XIII political machine is expected to pass this week and deeply affect current taxation structure, voting patterns, and services. "Meow-me-meow can't afford meow property tax as it stands now meow, and meow don't want everything I've worked for to be destroyed meow," said one resident, who asked to remain anonymous. Among the anticipated changes are sharp cutbacks in speedy deliveries, the elimination of trolley routes to such low-income districts as Someplace Else and the platypus mound, as well as the destruction of the Museum-Go-Round to make room for a massive new headquarters for The Electric Company.

Stolen from Couresy of The Onion.

Weekend drive...

We also went for a little drive on Saturday afternoon. We needed run some errands but weren't on any time schedule so, on a whim, we decided to drive out to Lt. Dan's new house. Stacie drove and I grabbed the camera since the weather was (still) so beautiful. That soybean (left) field just captivates me. The colors are so vivid. We drove through the countryside looking at the farmland:



And past Tim's Ford Lake:



And more farmland:



Then to within viewing distance of the Plateau:













And got back home in time to get a nice sunset picture of the maple beside my house:

Cookin' with Junior...

Apart from Tennessee losing to Florida, we had a pretty good weekend.

I had some time on my hands, so I decided to do some cooking. I love to cook and, though I am not always great at it, I will say that my recent experiments turned out better than I had hoped.

I had found what sounded like a good Gumbo recipe at Junior's Juke Joint.

This is a great site - primarily about the blues, reason enough to recommend it - but he also tells a mean story (if you're not easily embarrassed or offended) .

Fair warning.

Then there's his recipes. They all looked good but I decided on the gumbo. I've tried several gumbo recipes in the past - all were OK but none I've made fully met my expectations.

until now...

I started with the basics: fresh okra, bell peppers, celery, garlic, onions, home-canned tomatoes, and about a pound and a half each of deboned white chicken meat and ham hocks:

I cooked the vegetables down in some butter...

And about an hour later they looked like this:

I dumped this, along with the meat, into the broth and cooked it for another couple of hours.
Oh, I almost forgot the most important part: Blair's Death Sauce!

Here's the result:

It looks like hell but tastes like heaven!

College ball!

I'm bummed that our Volunteers lost to Florida. At Neyland too! And Meyers' first try! Bring back Zook I say!



But at least it was only one point. We should have won but what with poor officiating, even poorer coaching and one of the worst attemps at a PAT I've ever seen, it could have been a LOT worse.

Vandy lost too but I got to see my buddy D-Day's nephew, Cassen Jackson-Garrison take one in for a score.

Possibly the most shocking game of the weekend was Michigan's man-handling of #2 Notre Dame. Make that formerly #2!

But I am at peace because MTSU shut out midstate rival Tennessee Tech...

44 to 0!

GO BIG BLUE!

Blogging Methodists. Finally!

Blogging Methodists finally got around to updating their blog roll.

Yes, I'm now listed.

Finally!

And, just days ago, I had finished making my way through the old blogroll. A lot of the blogs were inactive or even dead. Some didn't appeal to me for one reason or another but I got a few good links from them -

So now I've got to go back through and visit all the sites I missed. Glad I got that BlogLines thing set up...

I guess I need to do the 'reciprocal link' thingy but no way am I going to put all 200 or so links in my sidebar.

I think I'll either just link to their site in my sidebar or I'll do a Bloglines public folder type thing.

For now, the link in this post will have to suffice.

If you are, in any way, interested in Methodism, check it out.

A doomful mission!

I was just doing some random internet reading when I came across a reference to the Battle Hymn of the Republic on WikiPedia's main page.

From there, I clicked a link to Mark Twain's 1901 Phillipine War parody version. I had read this years ago and found it mildly amusing.

Mine eyes have seen the orgy of the launching of the Sword
He is searching out the hoardings where the stranger's wealth is stored
He hath loosed his fateful lightnings, and with woe and death has scored
His lust is marching on.
I have seen him in the watch-fires of a hundred circling camps
They have builded him an altar in the Eastern dews and damps
I have read his doomful mission by the dim and flaring lamps
His night is marching on.
I have read his bandit gospel writ in burnished rows of steel
"As ye deal with my pretensions, so with you my wrath shall deal
Let the faithless son of Freedom crush the patriot with his heel
Lo, Greed is marching on!
"We have legalized the strumpet and are guarding her retreat
Greed is seeking out commercial souls before his judgement seat
O, be swift, ye clods, to answer him! be jubilant my feet!
Our god is marching on!
In a sordid slime harmonious Greed was born in yonder ditch,
With a longing in his bosom—and for others' goods an itch.
As Christ died to make men holy, let men die to make us rich—
Our god is marching on.

I no longer find these words quite so amusing.

Some feet to wash...

I attended the charge conference at church tonight. Not exactly a bag of laughs but, as a serious meeting recapping all of our ministries, it could have been a lot worse...

Jack, of course, had everything organized to perfection and our new District superintendent kept things moving right along. I'm quite impressed with her, by the way. I first met her several weeks ago when we were discussing my 'opportunity' with St. Paul UMC. She seems genuine, caring, more than capable and just plain nice to boot. I also met the Rev. Mosae Han from Decherd UMC who was there as an observer.

The reports were given and most were mercifully brief. Prayers were offered and a few short speeches made. My report, such that it was, as a Certified Lay Speaker was accepted and my approval passed on for the next round of, uh, approvals. We talked about money, ministry, worship, outreach and...

Foot washing.

Yes, foot washing. Rev. Leimenstoll mentioned Jesus' act of humility as a lead-in to her remarks on how we should be servants of others. Great. She said that she wanted to recreate that act as an expression of that belief. Fine. Jack stands up and heads toward the corner of the room. It was then, and only then, that I noticed a big basin and some towels in the corner. Stacie kicked me under the table at this point and whispered, "They have real water!".

As opposed to fake water I guess.

Now I know that there are some denominations that regularly recreate the footwashing scene. I've even participated in several symbolic footwashing services. And each and every one of those were powerful reminders of Christ's message... But in all of those, we did in fact use 'fake water' - dry towels - to wash each others feet.

But tonight, they had a tub of water!

Real water.

Symbolic?

NO!

Well, maybe.

They were actually going to wash people's feet. Our Lay Leader and the three ordained ministers took off their shoes and socks and literally washed each others' feet with water.

At first, I thought, "This is pretty silly." You know, back when Jesus washed the feet of his disciples, this kind of thing meant something. People didn't wear shoes and socks, they walked in the dirt and had neither showers nor soap. The washing of feet was a daily chore that had to be done out of necessity, not some misplaced thought of servitude or righteousness.

The emergent, post-modern, know-it-all Christian in me wanted to stand up and say, "Hey, this is cute and all, but it doesn't really mean anything. Make it meaningful! Can't we move on, get some cafe-lattes and discuss stopping war, violence and disease or feeding hungry children..."

But a funny thing happened as I watched these events unfold. I saw the emotions on their faces as they washed each others feet. I heard the sincerity of their prayers as they had their feet washed. I saw how their pride disappeared and their embarrassment faded as they lost themselves in serving others. And I realized that even though they were using real water, their actions were still symbolic. But the symbolism took on a new meaning for me - instead of a dry towel symbolizing the water, the act itself was one step closer to what it had really been. The symbolism became much closer to what Jesus had intended, I think. These acts represent serving others.

And serving others is what Christ commands that we do. Discussing such things over coffee (or Guinness - if your really emergent) is just talk. Symbolic foot washing is just a reminder. Even using real water on bare feet, as moving as it can be, is just a symbolic act. If it doesn't cause us to act in some way to make make the kingdom of God a present reality then it's just an empty promise.

The real power in these things, the only power in these things, is that they might cause us to actually do something.

Do some things like, oh, feed hungry people, clothe the naked and refuse to continue accepting the violence and poverty and homelessness and militarism in this culture of greed that we call modern life.

Maybe the meeting wasn't a bag of laughs, but life is not all laughs for those who are starving or dying or suffering.

And it wasn't silly either because it reminded me of why I am a Christian - because I believe in helping other people.

Unfortunately Fortunately, it also reminded me of just how poorly I live out that belief.

Maybe I have some feet to wash...

Wow...

The Armed Services Committee of the U.S. Senate approved their own, more sensible, version of a terrorist detainee bill over a version backed by the president .

With bi-partisan support.

The administration's version of the bill would not allow classified evidence to be used by defendants but would allow coerced testimony to be used. It also would protect interrogators from prosecution if they violate Geneva convention rules.

This seems like a bad idea to a lot of folks on both sides of the aisle (as well as to those of us happily in between).

John Warner, John McCain, Lindsey Graham and Susan Collins all oppose the president on this.

Even Colin Powell is against it: "The world is beginning to doubt the moral basis of our fight against terrorism".

Tony Snow says Powell is just 'confused'.

Well, Snow's partly correct... someone is confused.

I could use the cash but...

Found this link on Gavin's blog :

My blog is worth $1,129.08.
How much is your blog worth?

Ha! Just over a thousand dollars.

The sky!

The weather here today is incredible! And the sky - beautiful. The color reminds me so much of the sky on the morning of Sept. 11 five years ago. So, instead of taking a nap this afternoon like I should have, I went outside with the digital camera... Here are some of the results.

The soybean field in front of my house:

Clouds:

More clouds and soybeans:



The trees behind my house:

More clouds:



Some of my dad's horses grazing:


Hope you enjoyed...