Lincoln Speaks

I had the pleasure of visiting Washington DC this Christmas. During my time there, Sheri and I got to spend a day together (alone!) walking the Mall and seeing the sights.

We got cards to the Library of Congress.

I finally got to see the World War II monument (which is beautiful and provocative).

And we got to make the trek from the steps of the Capital to the seat of Lincoln in what might qualify as a national temple.

Many things have been said about Lincoln--some people argue that he manipulated the nation with his gift of rhetoric. Some have lauded him as one of the two most important men in our nation's history. It is easy, in hindsight, to attribute motives and speculate on the purposes of great men after they can no longer argue their points. But Lincoln left us his words to defend his actions, and they challenge us even today.

Walking through the WWII and Vietnam memorials to reach Lincoln, his reflections on the conflict he was leading the nation through were all the more poignant. Living in a time when we are facing a new age, a new chapter to our history being written as we live each day, I think we must remember what ideas have led us through the dark days that have gone before.

During this election season, its become clear that a change is occurring in our nation--it has been called for and it will come, in one form or another. This change has come as a result of the new conflict that we have been immersed in. This should not depress us--conflict is not necessarily bad! Conflict helps us define ourselves; without conflict, growth does not occur. That doesn't mean that all change is good, or that we should seek strife. In every day, there are troubles enough, without looking for more. But when faced with a challenge, we should not shirk the responsibility that confronts us. In taking up the struggle, and changing as time and circumstance dictate, we grow--hopefully--into better versions of ourselves. This can only happen with hope and vision. We cannot answer today's questions by pretending they come from yesterday's test. Neither can we survive if we abandon the heritage that made us what we are today.

So, how do we strike a balance? How do we have hope in the new whilst defending the good of the old? Lincoln challenged us to remember who is sovereign in the lives of men. Lincoln recognized that there is a cost to be paid for the wrongs we have done--and that being a nation of justice and liberty came at a price. Lincoln told us that we must accept the sacrifice demanded of us, if we were to survive--and more importantly, if we would not abandon the work altogether. This meant that the nation of 1865 would not be the nation of 1860. This meant a cost in blood money, time, and energy. But it also meant a new morning in our nation, and ultimately the world.

As we choose our leaders this year, may we reflect on the wisdom of one of the prolific leaders of our nation; he led in the midst of a revolution. He saw a peace leaders had fought to preserve for four score and seven years explode. He shouldered a terrifying burden and trusted in the principles and beliefs that birthed the nation. And he speaks to us today.

At this second appearing to take the oath of the presidential office, there is less occasion for an extended address than there was at the first. Then a statement, somewhat in detail, of a course to be pursued, seemed fitting and proper. Now, at the expiration of four years, during which public declarations have been constantly called forth on every point and phase of the great contest which still absorbs the attention, and engrosses the energies of the nation, little that is new could be presented. The progress of our arms, upon which all else chiefly depends, is as well known to the public as to myself; and it is, I trust, reasonably satisfactory and encouraging to all. With high hope for the future, no prediction in regard to it is ventured.

On the occasion corresponding to this four years ago, all thoughts were anxiously directed to an impending civil war. All dreaded it--all sought to avert it. While the inaugeral [sic] address was being delivered from this place, devoted altogether to saving the Union without war, insurgent agents were in the city seeking to destroy it without war--seeking to dissole [sic] the Union, and divide effects, by negotiation. Both parties deprecated war; but one of them would make war rather than let the nation survive; and the other would accept war rather than let it perish. And the war came.

One eighth of the whole population were colored slaves, not distributed generally over the Union, but localized in the Southern part of it. These slaves constituted a peculiar and powerful interest. All knew that this interest was, somehow, the cause of the war. To strengthen, perpetuate, and extend this interest was the object for which the insurgents would rend the Union, even by war; while the government claimed no right to do more than to restrict the territorial enlargement of it. Neither party expected for the war, the magnitude, or the duration, which it has already attained. Neither anticipated that the cause of the conflict might cease with, or even before, the conflict itself should cease. Each looked for an easier triumph, and a result less fundamental and astounding. Both read the same Bible, and pray to the same God; and each invokes His aid against the other. It may seem strange that any men should dare to ask a just God's assistance in wringing their bread from the sweat of other men's faces; but let us judge not that we be not judged. The prayers of both could not be answered; that of neither has been answered fully. The Almighty has his own purposes. "Woe unto the world because of offences! for it must needs be that offences come; but woe to that man by whom the offence cometh!" If we shall suppose that American Slavery is one of those offences which, in the providence of God, must needs come, but which, having continued through His appointed time, He now wills to remove, and that He gives to both North and South, this terrible war, as the woe due to those by whom the offence came, shall we discern therein any departure from those divine attributes which the believers in a Living God always ascribe to Him? Fondly do we hope--fervently do we pray--that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away. Yet, if God wills that it continue, until all the wealth piled by the bond-man's two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash, shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, as was said three thousand years ago, so still it must be said "the judgments of the Lord, are true and righteous altogether"

With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation's wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan--to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace, among ourselves, and with all nations.

Abraham Lincoln, 1864

Creating Check Lists

I have the task of creating Check Lists for a few processes at my work.

I cannot complain--I even suggested making a few of them. But creating a check list is different from wanting a check list. The processes I am documenting are now a seamless (well, mostly seamless) work flow for me now. I now do, rather than think about each step...most of the time...

Which means that enumerating the steps is...tricky. I might do it one way one time, and a different way the next...and who's to say which order is better, so long as the results are the same?

I have decided to practice on other ordinary tasks...

Check List for starting the work day:

1. Get out of the car, lock the doors and put your key away.

2. Remember you left your lunch and return to the car after getting halfway to the building.

3. Repeat step 1.

4. Walk to the door on the West side of the building.

5. Use card to access the building.

6. Reflect on the fun of having your ID badge on an retract-able string...rather like a garrote...contemplate the meaning of this connection to the mafia in your work place...

7. Proceed down the hall to the third door on the right.

8. Use card to open door, and enter.

9. Go to desk and drop off bags.

10. Wake your computer up by moving the mouse.

11. Clock in at co-worker's computer.

12. Make your way to the galley, and proceed to try to find room in the common fridge for your lunch. Discover its impossible...start eating lunch...

13. Realize you left your badge at your desk...and are now locked out...start trying to attract the attention of coworkers without acting like a criminal trying to force his way into the more sensitive areas of the Credit Union...

14. Succeed in getting a co-worker's attention...get razzed for being locked out again...return to desk and thank the Lord its Friday...

Ah, work.

The Beautiful Ordinary

One of the nice things about getting up early to go work is that you get to kiss your wife goodbye while she's still asleep.

Sleeping may not make you the most attractive person to the rest of the world...but there's something wonderful about being the one that gets to kiss her goodbye while she's still dreaming.

Its enough to make me smile even after being at work for 4 hours.

Why, why, why?

For the second time in almost as many days, Huckabee launches himself into a mess.

Do you really want to be the Southern, Evangelical Christian Republican candidate who wraps himself in the Confederate flag?

On the heels of saying (and I know this is one specific way of hearing his remarks, but I am tired of having to parse the words of the communicator, so I don't care!) that he wants to see the Constitution support God's laws, the image on every news station is Huckabee and waving CSA flags.

I know its manipulation. I know that Huckabee's position is not as asinine as it appears on the cameras. But come on! Don't feed the beasts. Certain images cannot be embraced by would-be leaders of the free-world--even if you just support the right of people to preserve those images. Its not a fun reality...but its reality. You have to play the game. Huck is not playing a national game, and its yet another reason I don't think he makes the right candidate.

Sigh.

Since I'm paying my Civic Duty...

Although I was always going to vote, it seems particularly appropriate to discuss voting while serving Jury Duty.

Actually, on a side note, for any of you that avoid voting to avoid Jury Duty...its a myth. The Jury pool is drawn from two sources--the voting lists and the DMV divers license lists. If you drive, your hat is still in the ring for service. Might as well vote, if that was what was keeping you...

Now to that topic with no end of discussion on the web, the primaries.

I will not try to offer my in depth opinions on all things political...as you really can get better opinions from a lot of other places. But I have been wanting to weigh in on different things...its been frustrating having thoughts about what's going on (and even being right on occasion, contrary to polling and political aficionados) and being unable to blog...so I will seize the opportunity.

First, the Republicans;

Thompson: Several months ago I realized that Thompson had failed to do what a late comer needed to do in order to be a serious contender. He joined under the suggestion that he was the best hope for Conservatives and his rally cry was that the true base of the party could finally find their man in him. I was hopeful, and talked with friends about his chances. I held out through the early stages of his late campaign, hoping that the fire-in-the-belly he promised would finally ignite...and it never did. This is old news, but that was where I was in, goodness, about October. I think I officially started looking for a better alternate late October, early November...and discovered my new guy...

Romney: The thing that sealed it for me was his speech on religion and politics. Any man that can be that eloquent about something so important, who can craft a vision of what the nation should be with his words (I am starved for a real communicator in the office), and whose position on something so important as the inseparably linked but still distinct realms of personal beliefs and public politics could hardly be ignored. The more I watched, read, and heard, the more I liked him. I am now convinced he is the eventual candidate for the Republicans...and I hope we can come together as a party once the necessary and healthy process of primaries runs its course. We won't be settling for the best worst candidate...he'll be a good President, if he lives up to his promise.

As to the others...

McCain: I don't trust him, and I don't think that will ever change. Being a war hero does not a good president make.

Huckabee: a good man, I don't like his politics. That oh so important line I mentioned above, which Romney clearly understands, seems blurred if not invisible to Huck. I think he'd be bad for Republicans and bad for America.

Rudy: good public servant...I'd prefer him to McCain, but I echo others in wishing he'd be our nation's top lawyer, not President.

I am hoping we have to go to the Convention...I love the fact that this race is making professional political prognosticators look as uninformed as the rest of us...its a real race and things really change from day to day. If it were another nation, I'd be worried about revolution or martial law...but its America, and so its just really exciting to see the system work.

As for the Dem's...

Edwards deserves the least, so let me say I think he's a ridiculous candidate. He's a sleazeball lawyer and holds policy stances which should embarrass him. He obviously doesn't agree, and thinks he offers change. But honestly, as a Democrat running against a Clinton woman, and a Black man, did anyone ever really think he had a chance?

Clinton: she's a real politician. My favorite week for the Dem's has been the whole New Hampshire mess. In the fallout from Iowa, Clinton was being blasted for not being likable, for being to much like a serious politician. In response to this, the media was soon filled with images of her crying...and it was brilliant. Normally the discussion that we'd be having if a woman was running would center on fears that she would be too emotional, too weak to lead. Hillary is not the normal woman though. She has like-ability liabilities...which we'll talk about instead of real issues. How does she navigate this gender stereo-type minefield? She cries publicly. Whether it was real or not doesn't matter...it was masterful. She gets to appear emotional, but doesn't have to worry about being labeled with the image of feminine frailty, because at this point most people have thought of her as too cold to care. Meanwhile...how many people can watch a woman cry and feel no pity? She also gets to ride the wave of expectation...building on the media frenzy over Obama, she was able to appeal to the voters from a position of needing help. Again, a softer appeal from the strongest Dem candidate. I think she's very much in control of the situation, and if Obama is going to compete he'll need to start offering substance to his followers. Which brings us to...

Obama: the most electric candidate of the race. He's got the press drooling over the very idea of him winning the nomination. He uses positive language. He has no record haunting him...but he also has no record. He has very little to offer people that actually digest the messages the talking heads spew. He could force the Dem's to a convention too...which I think would make this the best political year of the last...30? 40? He is a sexy candidate. He is also a scary potential President. I'd prefer Hillary to Obama, as she's essentially Rudy, only a little more to the Left, and wouldn't cause the damage that electing Rudy as a Republican would to the Conservative cause.

I don't know exactly what Obama would do...since he hasn't offered any insight, but I have serious doubts that he would be committed to our interests in the Middle East...and like it or not, we have interests in the Middle East. Its the most volatile part of the globe...Pakistan's most recent upheaval obviously not helping matters. Our next President cannot cave into the demands of extremists and abandon our position in the Middle East. Our efforts in Iraq must succeed, we must have a foothold in the area, just as in the late 1930's it was vital to maintain a hold in Southeast Asia in the Philippines. Something the last few years should have made clear to us...conventional ground troop warfare hasn't gone out of style. Boots on the ground matter, and the best way to put boots on the ground is to have a base from which to support them. I firmly believe that this is an issue that must be addressed is this next election--but to do it, whoever the next President is must offer a vision of why it is we fight--otherwise s/he will be selling a false hope of an easy fix.

$50 on the Packers for Superbowl Champs

First, I'm not jumping on the bandwagon. I don't bleed green and gold...I am not a cheese head...and the Packers were my second choice (barely) for taking everything.

But I hold familial ties to at least two parts of our nation, and I have adopted their respective teams as my own, handed down from my Dad. I am a Redskins fan, and a Packers fan, and after that, as my Dad always says, I am a fan of anyone playing against Dallas. I hate Dallas.

The honest truth is that as a Skins fan, I have had very little to yell about since 1991. The mid-late 90's were good to fans of the Pack, and I am overjoyed that my favorite player in the NFL has weathered the years to return to the NFC championship game, and stands a real shot of playing in the Superbowl in the twilight of his fantastic career.

In fact, Farve is the reason I am seriously considering placing a bet on the Packers, once they overcome the Giants. I believe, in the wake of a fantastic game against the Seahawks, the Packers have the momentum to smother their NFC competition, and that they have the heart that will be the only thing that could possibly play spoiler to the perfect Patriots.

The match-up reminds me a lot of the second time Farve led the Packers to the Superbowl in 1998. They were the better team, and everyone expected them to destroy the Bronco's...but strange things can happen when the game is that important and you have as prolific a quarterback on the field as Elway. The Bronco's played their best game all season, the Pack their worst, and Elway got his ring.

I don't know if there is a wrench made that could prevent the machine-like Patriots from sweeping everyone and every record with their march to the Superbowl...but my guess is that if there's a chance, it resides in the heart and arm of Brett Farve. He moves his team, and better teams have failed when confronted with a team that rallies to a leader with heart and a genuine obvious love of the game.

Obviously I'm just a pleased spectator. If the Pack don't make it past the Giants, I'll cheer for the Pats to break all records ever...but I would love to see a truly great athlete get the laurels one last time.

Unforseen Gifts

As is readily apparent if you have bothered to visit my miserably starved blog over the past...year?, you are aware of the lack of posting that has been going on here. I believe the tally of posts for all of 2007 was something like 37. 37! The blogosphere would laugh at me...if they knew or cared that my pathetic blog existed, which they might if I ever posted.

Still, I haven't had many choices. I have two jobs, a very busy wife just five months away from finally achieving her nursing degree and a three year old son. More than that...I still have dial-up Internet access. Yes, I know...the United States doesn't condone torture...but we are allowed to do what we like in the privacy of our own homes. Dial-up...and sadistic dial-up at that. Its a miracle I check e-mail at all...most of the time it will connect long enough for me to launch the program of choice and then disconnect once more. Somewhere there's an administrator laughing at my attempts to connect with the Web...but, its free. So, what can you do?

I have probably mentioned all of these things in a sad attempt to excuse my lack of posts, correspondence, etc with the Internet. But today is different.

You see, today...today, I am serving Jury Duty.

I know you're wondering, "How are you on the computer while serving Jury Duty?" Well, the reason is simple and wonderful...I am stuck in a room with nothing to do all day until they figure out if I am going to have to serve or not. And it just so happens, they have computers with Internet access for the duration of our wait. So, I have spent the $12 for full day access and now, though I wouldn't have imagined it, I actually get to blog without a concern in the world...until they call me to serve. Who'd have thunk it?

Drastic Action

Desperate times call for desperate measures, and at this time it is only through desperate endeavors that I am able to get the time/energy/web-access necessary to post...as my dusty, dank little blog can attest.

I am not satisfied with this complete lack of activity, and so I am trying to solve the problem...unfortunately without some sort of change in my computer situation, I am not sure how to change the situation...but I am brainstorming...

We have an announcement...

Well, now that Aiden is about to turn three, and Sheri's nearing the end of school, we've decided that we are able to allow our family to grow. We have been coming to this decision for the past three months or so...and today seems to have been the big day.

Friends, I'd like to announce that we're going to be having two additions to our family. Pictures to come soon, Reepicheep and Peepiceek are the newest inhabitants of the house. We were initially planning on getting a hampster, then talked about a Guinea Pig, but it finally became clear that rats were the way to go. Not ugly, vicious sewer rats...these are cute, curious, albeit somewhat poopy rats. Seriously, a ton of fun. Sheri and I are acting like new parents again...checking in on them every few minutes. And hopefully, Aiden will get the opportunity to learn how to care for animals.

Fun times with Reep & Peep.
*****************************
Another update..."Peep" is no longer Peep. After some study, we discovered that Rats can actually learn to respond to names. Reep and Peep sound alike. Not good. So now, its Reepicheep and Basil...as in Basil of Bakerstreet. And yes, Lindsay...Ratatouille IS too French...even though I loved the movie. :)

Update in Brief...

I am working at ECCU. I am working at Starbucks. Sheri's in school. We're busy. We're poor. We're happy. Aiden turns three in 10 days. He's amazing. I have decided what I want to focus on in my MA...if you want to know, e-mail me. Now I get to start studying for the GRE's and applying to schools. Life is good. God is God. I just wish I could blog once and a while...

Dear Blog

I miss you. I miss being able to think and write. Currently, I am working...but you're not forgotten. I'll get back...get back...get back to where you once belonged...

Nostalgia

So I entered the world of Facebook over the weekend.

Its been interesting...I have been made a Zombie by a friend from middle school...I have poked friends that I can poke in real life on a regular basis...who knew that all this and more was just waiting on the interweb...my wife laughs at me, and then performs the obligatory eye-roll-groan and tells me I'd better not spend too much time on this new distraction. As if I spend too much time on this poor blog of mine...

There was a moment, when I was asking everyone I found to confirm me as their friend, that it occurred to me how sad it would be if I was rejected. Who gets rejected by even an acquaintance when they request to be confirmed as your friend on something as trivial as Facebook? This thought urged on a real, albeit momentary, panic...

"I will be the first person everyone denies knowing. My friends have 500 friends...but I am not one of them...*You've been confirmed as X's friend*...YES!!! I have friends!!! I am officially cool--I bet other people had to wait for hours, even days, for their friends to confirm them, but my friends, they accept me instantly, even the ones that haven't seen or talked to me in 7 years...I'm accepted, important...cool."

I need more sleep, obviously.

The other odd thing I experienced was a major wave of nostalgia. I suppose its to be expected...in the last 24 hours I got back in touch, so to speak, with people that knew me when I was 11. They knew me before I was a teenager. I am now 25, have been married for 4 years, and have a son that is about to turn 3. Not only have they known me since before life began, somehow almost none of those people remain near to me...which is, honestly, a difficult thing. One of the greatest blessings of marrying the love of my life is that she "knew me back when..." She remains one of the few touchstones I have to 18 years of life that hold no permanence in this world.

This sounds rather dramatic. Sorry...a friend just gave me a Michael Buble album, with the song "Home" on it...and its probably not helping me avoid the dramatic presently.

So, I was reflecting on my lack of having a home, and started wanting to travel. Which struck me as the oddest of all possible desires when one is wishing for a non-existant home...until it occured to me that this has always been my response when this desire rears up inside me. And I think that the reason this is so has something to do with the ideas Chesterton mentioned in Orthodoxy; the concept of a familiar adventure, the practical romance. See Chesterton identified the need within us to be at once at home and yet to feel the thrill of adventure. Well for me, I think in some ways, the only way I feel at home is when I am moving, traveling, or am somewhere else waiting to get to where I am going. In fact, once I leave, I can begin to miss the place I was, or await the arrival at where I am going...which is as close to being at home as I get, in some ways.

So...now I have to figure out how to travel...preferably to somewhere with good friends...

Spend a Day in Revolting France...

So someone wants to get people together to simulate the French Revolution. The game takes something like 30 people, and the better part of a day to play.

Here's my only question...why, if you were someone that enjoyed playing games of a complicated nature, involving strategy and even some role playing perhaps...even so...what would entice anyone (and the game creators are included in this) to settle on an all day French Revolution game? I mean, really? Really?

I could understand if you wanted to play a Sinn Fein game (I call Michael Collins!) or a Roman Republic game or a Trojan War, even a Pelloponesian War re-enactment, roleplay game--very cool. But the French Revolution?

Se la vie.

Ah, work.

So...I started work today. A 12 hour day for my first day on the lot...my feet are killing me.

There are many things that happened today to make me both laugh and cringe (both mostly on the inside). There was a customer who had a social security card belonging to a deceased person. And there was the fact that my general sales manager mentioned that I was a priority employee who they wanted to see succeed...because I'm white, and I make the third white person working on the lot. That was an experience I didn't think I'd have...ever.

But so far...no cars sold. I know--its only been one day. I'm not discouraged. Tired, but not discouraged. I am learning more about Toyota's than I ever thought possible. It is a comfort to be selling a good product.

I am currently relaxing, waiting for my dinner to finish cooking...watching Envy, a fantastic movie for those of us thinking about money and work a lot. Its not a bad night.

Why can't I live here?

Doooode...I gots a job.

So...it took a Summer to find the right job to fill a very specific need...and the honest truth is, we are sort of jumping and hoping that all it promises it might be it in fact will be...but as of my first interview this morning I was offered a job at the number 1 Toyota dealer in the O.C., and after two more interviews, I decided that that was the position for me.

So...anyone need to buy a car? New or used, I got what you need. The great thing, especially if I can make it work for us, is that I'll be making a living helping people avoid feeling the awful stress of buying a car from someone they fear is only trying to milk them for every cent he can get from them.

My only problem is (and its a silly problem in a way) I have hard time anytime I start doing a job whose overall goal is generally to make a good living. I feel as if my life has lost purpose, as if I have instantly become a suit who is living for the next new thing he can buy. Of course...that's not an accurate summation of the situation. I am providing for my family...and as I said, I can do my job to help others, rather than use them. But every now and then, I have to remind myself of that important reality...because I can lose steam quickly if I forget that a job that earns money isn't a bad thing.

The other problem is...as I will be working weekends (and especially as Labor Day weekend should be a great time to start a career in sales)...I will probably have to miss, if not all, at least large chunks of one of my favorite events of the year...the aforementioned Homer Marathon.

Sigh.

Sometimes being a grown-up isn't as much fun as it sounds. Maybe I can read the Illiad to Aiden...

What a Lovely Wooden Horse--of course I'll sign for it!

Only two weeks left till I get to read the Illiad and the Odyssey at our annual Homer Marathon. Its the best Labor Day party around.

I Don't Want to be a Millionaire

I have been thinking a lot about finances recently...perhaps the result of having few finances...and I revisited a discussion I had about a year ago with God concerning money.

See, I assured Him that if only He'd bless me with millions of dollars, I would use a large portion of it to honor Him--do mission work, fund ministry, help good people that shouldn't have to worry about money before they do the good things they do. Of course, this is a naive outlook towards money...for a variety of reasons. That discussion concluded with the realization that God has not asked me to come up with the best plan I can think of for how I could do amazing things with resources from Him...but He has asked me to do what I know I should be doing today.

It was a humbling but important reminder of the most basic lessons of the scripture..."He has shown thee, oh man, what is good an what the Lord requires of thee; to do justly, to love mercy, to walk humbly with thy God." To be told that all ambitions, all dreams, all aspirations are in fact not what the Lord has called us to pursue, and to see the simplicity of a righteous life enumerated in plain and obvious terms is both liberating and challenging. The honest truth being...I am so frequently distracted by my desires for more that this simple lesson is completely forgotten.

The most recent discussion on this topic has built on that old lesson. I have frequently heard from men that I respect that they wouldn't want to be millionaires. This has always been hard for me to understand, and the men being good men, I cannot believe this to be false modesty or eccentricity speaking...but I have also not comprehended what it was they found undesireable about having the means to accomplish whatever they could want. The other day, I was having a discussion essentially about that same simple lesson I had been reminded of once again, and my friend and I began to discuss the nature of our desire for certain types of employment and financial security. We speculated on how this desire seems to come almost completely from our desire to have the solution to our financial problems. We want to know that we have a plan to fix the problem, and the means to do so. As we both said the same thing, almost at the same time, we reflected on how that sort of goal revolved around a desire, if not directly, still unquestionably present, to remove ourselves from the constant dependence on the provision of the Lord. We want security so we don't have to ask the Lord to provide what we ourselves cannot.

From this realization, we began discussing the nature of tithing, and how it can be such a challenge to give, especially when you live as we live, where 10% is a sizeable and important chunk of the monthly budget. But we also both noticed how when we were faithful in honoring the Lord with our finances, the freedom we experienced when it came to our budget was amazing. Its an act of commiting our condition to the hands of God, and trusting that He will provide what is needed (if that is not always what we want).

It was at this point that a thought occured to us that surprised and challenged me. The joy of tithing when it is difficult to "justify" doing so is the dependence on the Lord that it inspires--which is exactly the thing we had just acknowledged trying to avoid, in a way, through our quest for security. So, we wondered, how could a millionaire ever appreciate that sort of dependence on the Lord? How could someone like, say, Bill Gates, ever feel the complete and total dependence on the Lord's provision that the widow with the pennies felt when she gave everything she had to honor the Lord in the temple? How can the man with everything feel the same complete need for the sustenance of the Lord? How can someone that has wealth to provide for his grandchildren's grandchildren behave as if every moment of every day, every cent that he owns comes soley from the hand of the Lord?

Its not that I doubt a millionaire could understand that dependence...its just that I suddenly realized for the first time how difficult that must be...since I don't understand that dependence even when I don't have almost any money. To grasp that, when you have almost no needs on a regular basis...that must be nearly impossible.

Hence my conclusion...I don't want to be a millionaire. I don't think I could handle it...I remember when I asked the Lord for money to do all sorts of things, I imagined feeling the freedom of giving so much because I didn't need any more...but that isn't what we are called to offer to the Lord. The first fruits belong to Him--the hardest to give, the best of the season...but the most liberating to offer, because when we offer them, we are free from the burden of trusting in our own means to provide for ourselves.

Regis...you can keep the money...I'm gonna walk.

With Screwtape in Mind

Puck had an appropriate response to Christians getting uppity about Harry Potter. I found this and thought of her and our shared frustration at the ridiculous idea of insisting the Harry Potter is an instrument of the occult. Enjoy.

Hallows, not Horcruxes

Reader beware...there will be spoilers ahead. If you haven't finished reading The Deathly Hallows, and you don't want to know more than you already do, stop reading.

Ye have been warned.

To begin with, HP:TDH was, in my opinion, excellent. Its taken me about three weeks to process my thoughts on this final book...but that's the first thought I had when I finished, and it remains my opinion even now.

There are so many themes in this story. Rowling truly outdid herself in this final addition. The book deals with the coming of age of childhood heroes; the importance of friendship; the nature of family; the nature of power; the reality of war, the painful truth of resisting evil, and beyond all the others I haven't listed...of course...it deals with death. Death...its place in our society's consciousness, whether or not it is a thing to be feared, and ultimately what death actually is.

Throughout the first six books, almost from page one of book one, fans of Rowling have been obsessed with Harry surviving the inevitable final confrontation with Voldemort. He who must not be named posed threat after threat, and by the 4th book (if we don't count the death's that started it all, James and Lily Potter), each victory came at a price, and each price was successively more costly...first Cedric, then Sirius, and finally Dumbledore. By the time we reached the 7th book, we were gripping ourselves for the final blow, wondering who would make it...afraid to ask, almost afraid to read, lest more beloved characters fall to the lethal pen strokes that had already taken beloved heroes from us.

And, of course, we were not disappointed. Death was waiting, in abundance, in the Deathly Hallows. Kicking us off with Hedwig, we soon suffered the loss of, among others, Madeye, Dobby, Ted Tonks, Lupin, Tonks herself, Snape, Colin Creevey, even Fred Weasley...until the time came, and Harry himself had to die.

It was brilliantly done.

Because, when that final cataclysmic moment came, Harry didn't fight desperately; he didn't beg pathetically; he didn't even stand defiantly and challenge Voldemort with his dying breath. No...he just walked out to meet his enemy and died, turning his thoughts to his love before the final moment came.

It was poignant and simple. I would guess it was generally unexpected too...the best I can claim is that I suspected that something essential about Harry would have to change if he was going to defeat Voldemort. I did not go so far as to guess that his death was the answer...I had suspicions, but not an actualized guess.

But of course death was the answer for Harry, as it usually is in this life. Rather than pursuing power to master death and defeat an enemy, Harry sought to destroy the enchantments of death that Voldemort used to cheat death, and ultimately accepted death himself. And by dying willingly, Harry saved not only his own life, but effectively secured the lives of those he loved and sacrificed himself to spare.

Life coming from death…and without death, that life could not exist…but after that death, life will be better; stronger; more beautiful and full than life before it ever was. A more profoundly Christian message is difficult to find.

This message is remarkable, and one can only wonder what it will do to this generation. One expects these sorts of stories from the men that manned the trenches in WWI, who encouraged the people through WWII…what do we do with this message from a woman that has lived most of her life in a time without a drastic struggle, who speaks it at a time when we would rather look the other way than acknowledge the challenges that face us?

But this ending should not have been surprising coming from Rowling. From the beginning, she had been telling us that Death was not the enemy we assume it to be. In Book 1, Dumbledore tells an incredulous Harry that though Nicholas Flamel and his wife will die as a result of no longer having the Elixir of Life, death is not the worst end to a well ordered life; rather, it’s the beginning of something new. This message is repeated over and over again in the books…but as a testament to her skill, the final solution being Harry’s accepted death still manages to surprise. And the power of the message still manages to challenge us. If we would hold our lives loosely (not cheaply, but loosely) what might our world look like?

All in all…it was wonderful. The bottom line is…this book should be read. I think it will be read a hundred years from now…making it a classic. Maybe I’m too caught in the fanboy spirit to see the faults…but I think this book (this series actually) deals with too much truth in too beautiful a manner to pass out of reckoning or to be passed over as trite.

Sigh. My only problem now is…the story is over. Harry…we’ll miss you. Thanks for the years of waiting and the hours of reading.