Work has been really busy lately for a number of reasons (that I won’t go into now) and this blog has been one of the victims. The other thing that has been driving me nuts is the weather has been so nice I did manage to get out a fly for an hour last Monday, but there have been another 4 or 5 (including today) that have been absolutely gorgeous (and most of them not too windy) that I’d love to have flown more. I did take the opportunity to intercept and track radials and even took two turns around in a hold at the Appleton VOR (APE). I still need to do a post on the book I read last Sunday. It has been a while since I read a book from cover to cover in one day, but I did last weekend, but that is a topic that requires more time than I can devote to it right now. Today is Ash Wednesday, but I didn’t make it to church this evening because I was working on something that my daughter needed. I have a book (or two or three) that I’d like to knock off my list during Lent, but whether or not that happens will be determined in part by how much more work I need to put into the paper I’ve been working on. More on that later, too. Last thought for this evening, today was the first spring training game and the Reds won, 7-0. No, I didn’t watch or listen, just read that online after the fact. I’m hoping for a better year than the last 8, but I’m not holding my breath. Hopefully, my next post won’t be so scattered. Shalom. —Jim
Category: Lent
I like this guy
I was browsing some of the blogs I follow and today came across two posts that I enjoyed from a Disciples of Christ pastor in St. Joseph, MO. The first one was an interesting look at Lent from someone who didn’t observe it growing up, and only discovered it in seminary. As a UCC PK, I’ve known what Lent was for as long as I can remember, but that doesn’t mean that I always take it all that seriously (hey, I’m human), but this did get me to stop and think for a moment. This year, I’ll try to be more serious about my observance of it. The second one was about the movie Juno which I haven’t seen yet, but probably will. By most accounts it seems to be a good movie, though in the last day or two, all of the sudden I’m seeing arguments on whether the movie is “pro-life” or “pro-choice” or whether Hollywood is selling out to the “Religious Right” (as if they’d have each other), give me a break. I couldn’t help but chuckle at this passage on abortion though (as it largely describes my feelings, though obvious the particulars are his — and in case you’re counting there are at least 5 hands there).
I feel more than a bit conflicted about it. On the one hand, I’m a card-carrying liberal with a lot of white male guilt, so the last thing I want to do is tell a woman what to do with her body. On the other hand, I’m a father, because two women felt very strongly that abortion was wrong for them and made an adoption plan instead. On the other hand, that was their choice and who am I to say what is the right choice for someone else when it comes to such a personal and painful issue? On the other hand, even if I remain unconvinced that life begins at conception or even the first trimester or even beyond that–I’m not sure when it begins, I still believe the potential for life is there. I’ve counseled couples who grieved over a miscarriage and that grief was real–we did not have a funeral but we did grieve together. On the other hand, so many anti-abortion people are just so arrogant and mean and ridiculous–you want to stop abortion but you’re against sex education and birth control! What’s up with that? I could go on.
Oh, and finally, I was also amused by a story in today’s Columbus Dispatch about the problems being caused by the fact that St. Patrick’s Day falls during Holy Week this year (drinking your green beer to excess doesn’t exactly seem appropriate during Holy Week).