Rick Warren's Big Saddle/Come Back

Last night we watched the "faith" Q & A session run by Pastor Rick Warren of Saddleback. We missed the first few showings of it.

This DID bring us further down the decision road. The way the two candidates spoke of their own faith, or didn't speak of it, as well as their comfort levels in this environment, gave us additional information and perhaps insight.

Watching this, I realize now, is how McCain reminds me of Richard Nixon. If you're really young, Nixon ran against John F. Kennedy although he eventually did become President after that loss. Neither McCain nor Nixon is/was any good on television. Neither seems comfortable with himself let alone someone else having control over a situation in which he is participating.

McCain means well. I paid particular attention to his response about the "Cone of Silence" question when Warren was greeting him. He didn't answer the question asked but tried to make room for a clever response. He truly did not want to lie so he just didn't tell the truth. That cone thing was probably a bad location for a POW anyway. Imagine.

His sense of humor truly was activated for this event and I was pleased to see he can deliver a funny line of his own or a good writer's creation. I had not witnessed it previously. And, he was moved in stating, and we in hearing, his biggest moral failure. Many Americans relate to him right there, right now. Let's hope it is not a vote getter. We saw his human qualities more during this event than elsewhere.

But, as in his inclusion of "drill...right here, right now", he never caught on to this arrangement being an intimate conversation opportunity. He revealed very little about himself; he responded by looking briefly at RW then turning to the camera and talking and it just didn't feel right, as a viewer, to not have him look RW in the eye when he answered the question the pastor put before him.

Watching him more recently, at the intro of Sarah Palin, he looked over her shoulder repeatedly, at her papers on the podium. What, in case he needed to help her with big words? I have not doubt he's a good man, personable, thoughtful, devoted to his senatorial position and constituents. It is sad to see him being thrown in as the RNC's sacrificial lamb, a toss confirmed by pitching us an up and coming, raw not rare, VP candidate. At times he seemed to be thinking, "Now, who is this woman and what did I tell her she could do?". Gov. Palin will be someone we will see again. This is it for Senator McCain.

It's difficult for me not to be swept up by Obama; I'm still holding on to my vote and quelling my inclination to stop reading and listening because I just want to believe in America again. But I do have to say, when he was asked about America's biggest moral failure and came back with, in his lifetime, it is us not living up to Matthew 25's verses, my heart leaped and tried to take my voter registration card with it. He is right...well, he did get it from the Bible. He gets it.

I like Obama as a person. He knows our Bible better than I know it. I like what he says. I like how he says it and his choice of words. I like that he conversed with Warren. I like his VP candidate and believe Biden is a good backup. I like his family. I like that he is composed, assured, contemplative, thoughtful, prepared. I like how he puts people at ease. I think our country is falling in love with him. I am thrilled he occasionally refers to us all as friends and never insults us by claiming us as "my friends". I despise those who try to take him down by calling him "messiah". That's wrong and rude. Criticize what he wants to do; don't give him a religious toned label thinking Christians will be offended and change their minds.

These two men received the same prep material and guidelines. One appeared to take them and "go with it". The other appeared to "go along with it".

Neither candidate will ever put into play all he is saying he'll get done, especially by himself. Obama further moved me when he state the realism - we all have to cut back, give up, re-think, change, maybe call it sacrifice; we all have to understand we have to pay a price of some sort in order to better the world.

It's exciting to have strong candidates and I hope their respective "runners up" stay behind them, lifting them up in prayer and deed. I hope we continue to see the real differentiation each needs to put before us and policy meat on the campaign skeletons, rather than mudslinging or whining or negative advertising which is waiting in the wings to bully us.

Let's not disappoint them. We need to be willing to appreciate the right to choose our leader, willing to learn about all the candidates and platforms. VOTE on November 4th.

Butt Measurement

That got your attention!
Well, if I had taken such a sensitive measurement at the beginning of August and again at the end I suspect there would be a bit of a spread. I am a confessed couch potato.
Olympics - watched 'em
DNC convention - watched it
RNC convention - plan to watch it
Even the dogs are beginning to think the television is another family member. After all, we pay a lot of attention to it!

But (no pun intended), the fact is, for the first time in ages I, like so many seasoned voters who regularly went through the motions of punching holes in IBM cards or pulling levers, sense the country is breathing excitedly about the opportunity we have. This is exhilarating. I look forward to learning who will be the VP nominee for Republicans so I can start to make my Ben Franklin list.

If you don't know what that list is, you may still have used one...it's listing all the pluses/pro's on one side of a paper and the negatives/no's on the other and see how they look side by side.

Bush wasn't ALL bad. Unfortunately we have some BIG issues he faced and/or brought on during his terms. I do like that he has convictions. I also think he's been ready to go back to the ranch for a couple of years.

The two new teams - well, I'm still not sure. It's hard to look at the energy behind one and yet not fully understand how we could do all that is being touted as the plan. Looking across the row I see too much "living in the past" and no sense of what reality is.

Throw 'em in together. Make 'em divvy up the work and budget. Oh, that's what Congress dies. HA! The fact is that the country is more complex and population is so large that one person really has her/his hands full. The president is a figurehead. The candidates need to stop saying "I will..." and start admitting "We will work towards..." "We are putting together a team now to begin working on..." "The long term plan is being implemented by a team...". A leader on either side needs to admit it takes a lot of believers, volunteers, dedicated staffers - all sorts - to get the pendulum swinging, the dinosaur up and moving, the energy flowing.

Anyway I look at it - it's great to see so much involvement, interest, and appreciation of our freedom of choice!

No Ordinary Day In Springfield, Illinois

We're close enough we could have gone. But, damn, it's hot. And there were 35,000 people surrounding the Old State Capitol. It didn't take long to decide we'd not be in the front row this time and instead would do what we'd planned.

But we did watch the Obama/Biden visit on television, with my mom. What a country!

All the same, a walk through our day yielded a praying mantis and a yellow spider, as well as a stop at a Fly-In.



It was not an ordinary day, in any way.


No day is.

Angels Among Us

My mom is in a nursing home.
What a way to reach the end. I have said that.
We visited today. Mornings are best.
We were wheeling her from therapy to her room, for a visit, when we passed a small gathering room with 3 residents and 3 visitors in it. One person had a guitar and was singing. We chose to go there instead.
It was nothing less than a miraculous experience. The guitar player had an easy-listening folksy voice. She knew the 3 residents well. Clearly they were a long and well-established group. One of the other "outsiders" was with her and one with a resident.
We were welcomed without question.
We stayed an hour and hated to leave.
Jan, the musician, showed us not only that she has the makings of an angel in her voice, but also in her life.
One man, whose age is undetermined, had brain damage, probably from birth. He spoke well enough that she understood him. They joked a lot.
Another man, between 35-40, is now paralyzed from the chin down, doing all movements of his chair with his chin. She acknowledged his intellectual level honorably.
The third, Bubba, was also of an unknown age. He's probably younger than we'd think and we'd probably think that is unfortunate. He weighs 50 lbs. perhaps and is curled up - no speech, no communication capability that we observed. That is until we experience the jam session.
Jan told him long stories within a song she knew he'd recall, strumming her guitar all the time. Everyone else learned from her interaction with him as she reminded him of his friends, other song fests, visits in the room that is now for therapy.
We sang, "In The Garden" twice because my mom didn't remember the first time. We heard "Be Still" - I cried. We played kids' instruments to "Old MacDonald Had a Band", and so much more.
We came away realizing that God continues to amaze us. He took us into this room to be with people we pitied previously and He showed us how whole they are in His eyes by letting us see how whole they are in Jan's eyes.
There are angels among us.
Being in this home has been a blessing, whether my mom knows it or not. They are good to her. And, we believe God takes you home when your work is done. Her presence there may be nothing more than to open our eyes and hearts more. This may be her final gift. This may be how she is an angel among the other residents.
She may be leading us to really see all the others.
It was a humbling and memorable day.
Next time we go we an say "Hey Kenny", "Hi Gary" and "Howdy Bubba" with fresh eyes. People we thought were not whole truly are. People we felt sorry for really don't want us to feel that way.
There are angels. They are among us. Look for yourself. See.

Once a Baby, Now a Boomer

What a sad tale this fellow has but now APL has taken him into the shelter. Nuts as we are, Boomer may come to live his final weeks, months or years out at our house. Hopefully someone who has fewer dogs will benefit from his love but if not, he'll be bunking here with dogs in his own age group - 12-14 years.

Sometimes I question our sanity. But, it is never for long. We have the space. Yes, there is plenty of dust inside and let's not discuss dog hair. Our energy levels are not what we think they are. Dogs bark for attention and we can only hold so many on our laps at one time. I just laugh at the prospects of bringing in #7.

If pets bring laughter into our lives before we even meet them, imagine the joy and love possible when they take ownership of us!

Wherever Boomer takes up residency it is sure to be a better place than where he was. And, he will be loved to the end. For this and for him we are thankful for our choices.

AUGUST 20th update: Boomer has his new home and it is not with us. He and his lady love will spend his remaining years in great comfort together! Celebrate the companionship they are building!

Senator O returns to Springfield

It really seems as if it was yesterday when my husband was in DC having breakfast and doing a photo opp with Obama and shortly after that we were shivering, but front and center, at his presidential announcement at the Old State Capitol downtown-Springfield.
Now he's coming back to the same place and may be bringing his VP. I'm not certain we'll be able to go but it still quickens the pulse. We may choose to NOT deal with the crowd.

But, what does this say about Obama? He is sentimental - coming back to the place where he first served, to where he first launched his campaign. I like that in a leader.

I'm still not sure about policies - his or McCain's. That means I'm firmly rooted in the Independent column and don't do polls. So much is rhetoric these days. Each candidate repeats what he is handed with little time to review materials. Do they each go to sleep at night wondering what they said and if it makes sense?

Maybe there's too much talk, just too much. We're already spinning from the whirlwind travels and he said-he said blah blah blah.

Maybe that's why this action - this coming back to the base - is so vitally essential and key to me.

Since I struggle with both presidential candidates (and would have it were Hillary and anyone) I guess my vote will be for the VP! Anyone with me on this?

Quotes to consider:

Whenever I hear people talking about "liberal ideas," I am always astounded that men should love to fool themselves with empty sounds. An idea should never be liberal; it must be vigorous, positive, and without loose ends so that it may fulfill its divine mission and be productive. The proper place for liberality is in the realm of the emotions.

Divide and rule, a sound motto. Unite and lead, a better one.
both from J.W. Goethe

I Remember When They Asked "Beach Volleyball is an Olympic Sport?

Yes, it seems there was a day when Beach Volleyball was not considered worthy of Olympic game status but it's not a day in the year 2008! I'm not following the men, although I should. But those women ROCK. It may be I skip my book group tonight to see them play. We're reading JANE EYRE.
She never played volleyball anywhere! No doubt the Bronte sisters led much less public lives than the vast majority of females today.



Anyway, I enjoy the games and the commentary about where our tremendous duo goes, that they each got married, etc. It's nice. And we need nice in our lives.

Flex your muscles, ladies! Guys - what can I say? These are exciting times and we should all be excited for each of the athletes and their accomplishments.

When the Games are done I'll go back to reading the Classics.