Mentat
November 2, 2006
Dogs, Tennis, and Dolphins
In case you haven't noticed I've been away so I thought I'd recap briefly what I've been up to. First of all, I've been preoccupied with the care of my whippet who punctured his skull while running 35 miles per hour underneath the camper. Oops. After some staples and lots of TLC, he is on the mend but it has been quite disturbing as you can imagine.
In other news, I just returned from Hawaii (The Big Island) where I watched my partner play tennis in the USTA 4.0 National Championship (or LSTA Championship as I keep calling it). I was part of the unflagging support team that lugged Gatorade, cheered enthusiastically and strategically, and consoled as needed. Luckily, not much consoling necessary, the team made it through their flight to compete in the finals. They beat Texas (thank God - take THAT land o' Bush) and in the final lost to Puerto Rico. It was a nail biter. The whole tournament was a blast and a great way to spend a vacation.
 | Only one thing could compete with the excitement of the tournament... swimming with wild dophins. We went out with Dolphin Journeys and swam with over 100 wild spinner dolphins (including babies). They mostly just swam by as we hung around in their pod but at one point, |
one came up behind me and suddenly I was eye to eye with him. We couldn't have been more than six inches apart. Then he went to the surface and slapped the water with his tail. I thought he was showing off but it may have been a warning. There was a hammerhead shark in the water. Eventually the dolphins chased the shark away. Incredible animals. They get their name no doubt because they leap out of the water and spin like a top. Just for the fun of it.
And now, I'm back in the saddle and almost ready to focus on work. Not an easy transition. So instead of plunging in, I thought I'd share this very creative music video that only a librarian would bother making (and perhaps appreciate). Check it out.
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June 21, 2006
God Miffed in Chicago
Finally some good news for the Illinois Family Institute (IFI), an "organization dedicated to championing and re-affirming Biblical morals and values." They have been hard at work getting an anti-gay marriage amendment on the state's November ballot, and banning vulgar books like Freakonomics and The Awakening.
It's been rough being a religously conservative Chicagoan what with the Gay Games being held there in July and the Gay Pride parade scheduled for June 25th in downtown Chicago. The IFI complained that Chicago Mayor Richard Daley wouldn't bid for the Republic National Convention yet he "excitedly courted" the Gay Games and spent "lavishly" on the Democratic Convention in 1996. IFI was waging the war to protect the family all alone.
So finally, God (who else could it have been?), finally got involved and set the GLBT section of the library on fire. That must have made the folks at IFI feel better.
Now that The Big Guy has taken notice, I suspect that if that Gay Marriage Amendment doesn't pass, Chicagoans will be getting a faceful of water from one of those Lake Michigan tsunamis that have a way of turning up unexpectedly. You see God has been very clear about the being against Gay Marriage. Toward that end, the IFI has developed a document that summarizes the arguments against Gay Marriage:
- Homosexual marriage is not a civil rights issue
- Scripture condemns homosexual practice
- If homosexual marriage can be justified by the equal protection language of the Constitution, so can polygamy and incest
- The history of human civilization supports heterosexual marriage
- Marriage is heterosexual to support the proper rearing of children
- Legalizing homosexual marriage undermines the moral foundation of marriage
This is all part of the IFI mission to be "Christ-like" and to "speak the truth in love." The IFI believes that "since Jesus went about teaching and preaching and doing good and healing, we should do likewise. A Biblical view of compassion for our neighbor demands it of us."
And what could more more compassionate than a Constitutional ban on Gay Marriage?
Spread the love! And ban those books!
NEWS FLASH: This just in. It was NOT God that set the blaze at Chicago Public. Or, it was God disguised as a homeless woman... More here.
Posted by at 12:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
June 6, 2006
Chesapeake - James A. Michener
Chesapeake tells the story of the Chesapeake Bay Region starting from 1583 through th 1970s. I picked it up because of my interest in Quakers. Michener was a Quaker and a Quaker family is one of the families we follow throughout the novel including right up to the downfall of Richard M. Nixon (also a Quaker). It's a great read. I learned things I thought I knew about already (but evidently was quite wrong about) including how Catholics ended up in the New World and how rough their lives were starting out; how exactly the Native Americans of the area got wiped out; what becomes of an African slave stolen from his village for delivery to the New World, and of course how the rich, white, Protestant land baron family changes over time.
Another thread throughout the book is the affect of people have on nature including the geese, oysters, blue herons and the land itself.
As I said, I bought it for the Quaker history so I'll share with you a passage I found quite beautiful. The scene is a Quaker meeting in which a young couple (Rachel and Bartley) are pledging themselves to one another publicly. After they make their pledge, the members are the meeting are free to speak (or not). This quote is from one of the women in the meeting:
"Marriage is a holy sacrament ordained by God and precious in His sight. But it is also the union of two lively bodies, and if we forget that, we lose the mission of God. Rachel and Bartley, find joy in each other. Have children. Have laughter in thy home. Love each other increasingly, for when the ardor of youth is gone, the remembrance of great love will continue and make all the years of thy life glorious. In this meeting house today are many old couples whose lives have been made bearable and fruitful because of the passion they have known for each other, and it will be so with thee when thee looks back fifty years from this day."
May thee have laughter in thy home. And let's all try to love each other increasingly.
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April 3, 2005
I love the Quakers!
I've recently been reading everything I can get my hands on that has to do with Quakers. I find their beliefs uncannily aligned with my own. The basic idea is "there is a direct relationship between God and the individual, and that each person is therefore uniquely precious." They "cherish the belief that there is that of God in each person, leading us to respect the worth and dignity of all....[They] seek and trust the power of the Spirit to guide the individual and collective search for truth and practical action." [more]
The Quakers are very activist. They were among the first (if not the first) religious group to oppose slavery and they are still active in the struggles for race and gender equality. They oppose the death penalty and war. They truly believe in the equality of people. They value simplicity and straightforwardness. They are gentle and loving. I can't find anything NOT to like about the Quakers.
The American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) has been a strong anti-war organization since 1917. Their site has some great resources on Iraq including their Current News in Context page and the Iraq Resource Guide.
If your son or daughter is approaching draft age, I strongly recommend you get information on the AFSC's Youth and Militarism Program.
I'd also like to plug Mary Ellen McNish's article "A Budget Bereft of Compassion":
Our moral values call us to "speak up, judge righteously, champion the poor and the needy" (Proverbs 31:9). Unfortunately, the federal budget President Bush wants Congress to approve champions those who have the most in our society at the expense of those who have the least.
Communities of faith must speak loud and clear: A federal budget that champions tax cuts for our nation's richest people while shredding the safety net for our nation's poorest people is not a moral budget. [more]
I'm sure you'll be hearing more about Quakers from me....
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