Time to say good bye, for a little while...

Funeral today at the funeral home, 10am.

Funeral Arrangements made

Visitation will be at Braun Funeral Home in Cahokia, from 4 until 8 p.m tomorrow (Sunday, June 24). The funeral will most likely be at the funeral home as well, but I don't have that time in front of me.

Any questions, let me know.

A sad way to begin the weekend...

Greetings, y'all:

Just wanted to let you all know that at about 12:30 this morning up in Columbia, IL, my grandma's brief battle with cancer ended as the Lord decided to take her home.

Funeral arrangements are, as far as I know, not yet set. The good thing is that Brandon and Renee are in Cape Girardeau, visiting family as Brandon is heading from to his new posting in Phoenix. The tricky thing is that he's due in Phoenix on the 30th. They were planning to leave Cape Sunday morning or early afternoon. So, to avoid a long drive (and a lot of logistical problems for Brandon and Renee), the visitation may be as early as tonight (Friday, June 22nd), with the funeral on Saturday, June 23rd. Or, the visitation may be on Monday, June 25th, with the funeral on Tuesday, June 26th. I'll keep things updated here on my blog. The only thing I'm fairly sure on is that visitation (and possibly the funeral) will be at Braun Funeral Home in Cahokia. But I'm not even 100% sure on that. And most of these conclusions were decided on while Ellen and I were hanging up the phone at 1:00 this morning. (w/o the benefit of coffee or chocolate, but with the benefit of quiet, sleeping children. Kinda balances out...)

Like I said, check the blog, give me a call, and I'll give you the latest.

Greg

For the first time, and for the last time it'll be true...

Happy 29th Birthday, Renee!

Daily Thought :: June 19th, 2007

Extraordianry people visualize
not what is possible or probable,
but rather what is impossible.
And by visualizing the impossible,
they begin to see it as possible."

:: Cherie Carter-Scott

Daily Thought -- June 18th, 2007

Iron rusts from disuse;
stagnant water loses its purity
and in cold, becomes frozen.
Even so does inaction sap the vigors of the mind.

:: Leonardo da Vinci

Yep, this one describes me...

From my favorite wake-up morning show, "John Boy and Billy", this lit'l tune from "Married Man"...

"DAD TO THE BONE" :: Married Man
(To the tune of "Bad To The Bone" by George Thorogood)

I Get Up In The Mornin'
And I Go Off To Work
I Don't Like My Job
Cause The Boss Is A Jerk
But I Gotta Make That Money
Gotta Take It On Home
I'm Here To Tell You Buddy
That I'm Dad To The Bone
Dad To The Bone

Make A Thousand Bucks
But Still I Am Blue
Need A Thousand More Baby
For The Bills That Are Due
I'm In The Hole Pretty Baby
Sinkin Just Like A Stone
Got A Wife And Four Kids
I'm Dad To The Bone
Dad To The Bone...

Got Two Kids With Jelly
All Over Their Faces
One Who Needs A New Bike
And One That Needs Braces
Got A Wife Pretty Baby
With A Brand New Cellular Phone
I'm Bout To Go Broke
I'm Dad To The Bone
Dad To The Bone..

I Hear So Much Talk
My Ears Are Bleeding
My Life Is A Mess
And My Hairline's Receding
I'm A Wreck Pretty Baby
Makes Me Wanna Moan
I'm Here To Tell You Honey
That I'm Dad To The Bone
Dad To The Bone...

Happy Father's Day. And thanks.

Daily Thought -- June 17, 2007

Think that day lost whose descending sun
Views from thy hand no noble action done.

:: Jacob Bobart

"Freedom of Religion" :: A freedom to choose, not to "leave vacant"

One of the things we include in our weekly worship bulletins at church are often small thoughts and bible verses that serve either to focus and prepare our minds for worship (called "As We Gather"), or conclude the service with a thought to take home, a sort of punctuation on the end of the service (called "As We Depart"). Regardless on how creative we've been on titling these features, they often work rather well with the general message of the day. Many more times often than not, our worship coordinator and designer comes up with these, but sometimes, I surf the web, seeing what I can dredge up to serve in one of these two roles.

I was looking for something for our July 1st bulletin this past week, and as we always do, the Sunday before Independance Day takes a very patriotic flavor. In my web wanderings, I came across this from the Acton Institute,a a group up in Michigan that focuses on the writings of Lord Acton ("Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely...") It added some support to my thinking that a religion is necessary to a free society.

Here's a link to the article if you want to read it now, or save it until later...
http://www.acton.org/publicat/books/religion/hmention2.html

I've thought for some time that there's no way to "legisltate morality." (I've also thought for sometime that everyone has the unalienable, unstoppable, and unmutable "freedom to be as stupid, ignorant, and moronic as you can survive to be, which somehow ties into this...) But, in a sence, we need to inorder to have a free society. Why is it illegal to kill other people? To cheat? Lie, slander, steal from others? "Because it's morally wrong." Who says? In a society guided by a religion, it's a god (in most western cultures, the Christian God.) who holds the moral authority to set what is right and what is wrong. But in a society without a religion, who has the authorty to "play god"? That would be the state. See the USSR and Communist China for details on how that goes over.

But the thought that a religion, much less the Christian faith, as essential to a free society? It does make sence -- where in virtually every other religion, works, sacrifices, or some other duties are required to gain the favor of their god in order to please him/her/it, in an attempt to gain salvation and an eternal reward; in Christianity, all the "doing" stuff has already been done. (See any of the Gospels for that story). And later on, in the book of Epheisans...

Saving is all his idea, and all his work. All we do is trust him enough to let him do it. It's God's gift from start to finish! We don't play the major role. If we did, we'd probably go around bragging that we'd done the whole thing! No, we neither make nor save ourselves. God does both the making and saving.

Ephesians 2:8-9 (MSG)

So, it's either be a "slave" to fear (i.e., the State is the society's god), a slave to duty (i.e., religions that require you to do something in order to gain favor with god), or free people called to a duty to help others...

He creates each of us by Christ Jesus to join him in the work he does, the good work he has gotten ready for us to do, work we had better be doing.

Ephesians 2:10 (MSG)

Am I saying that in order to enjoy the rights and liberties of the United States, you must be a Christian? Absolutely not. As an American, I can't justly say that if your not a Christian, you have no right to speak, assemble, bear arms, to testify against your self in a court of law, to be free, voting citizens of this country. That's what, as an American, I stand against. But I do find comfort that in this society, in this country, I have the right to exist, to make my own choices, and to seek out and pursue my calling ("life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness"). But here's the tough part. Nothing ever comes free, least of all freedom. Part of being free is living within the guardrails. And part of living free is a call to duty: to serve others and, in turn, serve my God and my country. This means, as I go speeding down the freeway of life, if I see someone out of gas, with a flat tire, or in need of directions to a great lit'l place to eat, I pull over and offer a helping hand.

Being an American isn't easy. It isn't cheap. And it's not a life for the lazy. But, the payout at the end of the day makes it all worth while.

What do you think?

Daily Thought II -- June 16, 2007

Found this in an article about the way the Sopranos ended it's run. It's a good view on the end of Tony, and in life in general:

Life doesn't have tidy little endings.

:: Steven Van Zandt
"Silvio Dante"
(and a side gig playing in
Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band)

Daily Thought I -- June 16, 2007

I would rather have
a mind opened by wonder
than one closed by belief.

:: Gerry Spence

Daily Thought -- June 15, 2007

I like to listen
I have learned a great deal
from listening carefully.
Most people never listen.

:: Ernest Hemingway

Daily Thought -- June 14, 2007

One half of knowing what you want
is knowing what you must give up
before you get it.

:: Sidney Howard

Daily Thought -- June 13, 2007

Everybody gets so much information all day long
that they lose their common sense.

:: Gertrude Stein

A tough thing for a Christian to do...

Though I am free and belong to no man,
I make myself a slave to everyone,to win as many as possible.
To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews.
To those under the law I became like one under the law
(though I myself am not under the law),
so as to win those under the law.
To those not having the law
I became like one not having the law
(though I am not free from God's law
but am under Christ's law),
so as to win those not having the law.
To the weak I became weak, to win the weak.
I have become all things to all men
so that by all possible means I might save some.

I Corinthians 9:19-22 (NIV)

We're all creatures of habit and sequence. It takes a truly brilliant (and twisted) mind to appreciate chaos and disorder, mostly because in their mind, they're able to make sense of the chaos and calamity. And when it comes to most religions and faiths...heck, one of the essential elements of services in most houses of worship is a sence of proceedure, of ritual, of sequence.

Which brings me to my comment today. I don't know if special classes need to be taught, or a guest speaker to do a seminar, but this needs to be taught to all Christians of every denomination. "Thinking Like a Non-Christian". Or, "Non-Believers for Dummies." I see this problem everytime I see a "Visitor's Parking" sign in a parking lot, or when I run into objections (loud, long, annoyingly persistant objections) when we put the music in the worship bulletins. "Oh, everybody knows where to park...everybody knows how that song goes..."

Folks, I've visited other churches before, in other denominations. And even in other Lutheran chruches, ones that are more traditional (or more progressive) in their worship styles, it often takes me quite a bit of time to figure out what the heck they're doing! Whether it's trying to make sence of the hymnal (and missal, and order of service, and...) why must people make it sooooooooo difficult and complicated to come in, sit down, and worship God?

When I visit other churches for the first time, I NEVER park in the visitor spots, pick up a special name tag or gift, or stand up for a special greeting. I want to be INVISIBLE! I want to see how the MEMBERS and REGULAR ATTENDERS act here, not get a special production and guided tour. I don't want to see what YOU want me to see, I want to see what I want to see.

In restaurant management, retail management, basically any sort of business where you are dealing with customers, clients, or anyone else that's giving you money, it's always important (and always taught) to see things from "the customer's viewpoint." I guess to paraphrase the I Corinthians verse above (an important one for me when it comes to outreach), we must become like the customer in order to win the customer. The Message paraphrase has it a slightly different way...

Even though I am free of the demands and expectations of everyone,
I have voluntarily become a servant to any and all
in order to reach a wide range of people:
religious, nonreligious, meticulous moralists,
loose-living immoralists,the defeated, the demoralized—whoever.
I didn't take on their way of life.
I kept my bearings in Christ—
but I entered their world and tried to experience things
from their point of view.
I've become just about every sort of servant there is
in my attempts to lead those I meet into a God-saved life.
I did all this because of the Message.
I didn't just want to talk about it; I wanted to be in on it!

I Corinthians 9:13-23 (MSG)

No, I'm not perfect at it. But at least I try, and try to keep improving. And I think I'm going down the right road on this. So, I guess I'm doing what I can. I'll let God take it from here.

Dennis hits the mark again...

I thoroughly enjoy Dennis Miller. He strikes me as a smart, intelligent man, who takes a special joy in laying out the cold, clear logic of his arguments, but makes you laugh at the absurdity of the opponent's postulates. Case in point, his short commentaries at the end of "The 1/2 Hour News Hour" on Sunday nights. What a way to end a "news" show! This past weekend's target was Sen. Reid (D-NV)

Click here to go to FoxNews.com and take a look at this week's edition of "The Buck Starts Here."

Daily Thought -- June 12, 2007

One is not born a genius,
one becomes a genius.

Simon de Beauvoir

More of the same old, same old, unfortunately...

Another beatiful Monday morning. Sun shining, a little chilly, but otherwise, a beautiful Monday morning. First day of my vacation, too. A little hot fudge on top of the sundae...

Traveling through Tennessee, then North Carolina. Twist and turns through the Smoky Mountains, up and down. Noontime sun helps put the little kids to sleep, and makes the scenery a little more intriguing to the 5 year old. Then on the radio, something about a shooting at Virgina Tech. 33 students died. Worst mass shooting in American History. The skies turn partly cloudy. The day's not quite as beautiful now as it was.

Two hours later, the skies start to darken. Rightful sorrow and grief turns altogether too quickly to the usual shouts. This was expected, as the clouds that sprung up shortly after noon looked just like the thunderclouds and squall line that have popped up before. The typical winds howl --

why didn't the school "lock down"
(try "locking down" a town of 26,000 with a comparatively tiny "police force"), how did the gunman get his weapon,
what was he doing with a weapon,
how did he get it,
why do we allow guns in our culture.......

Night falls, the tornados spawn. Lightening flashes and thunder booms...

"Ban the guns!"
"Ban the bullets!"
"It works in France and throughout Europe!"
"Fire the whole administration,
from the president through the police chief!"
"Let's be safe, for the children's sake..."

By midnight, the storms have broken up a little bit. The stars are a bit dimmer now, for it has been a bad day. The only question is, are they saddened by the loss of 33 people, or the fact that it only took a few short miles of beautiful interstate driving, a few short hours, for such a terrible event to become fuel for political fires.

But it was expected. Expecting a different destination when we are traveling the same roads is ignorance at best, insanity, indifference and insensitivity at worst

Tuesday morning. The sun rose again. Clear skies. But the raindrops are still fresh on the lawn, reminding me that the previous 12 hours weren't as tranquil or pacific as the current one. It causes me to take a moment to pause, and remember.

I'm sure I'll write something political after this day, something about our rights, responsibilities and obligations. But not today. Today, the ground needs to dry out a little. At least before the next storm...

"All you need is love..."

Watching "Cold Case" last week -- regarding a case where back in the 1960's, a pregnant high-school girl was put in the nunery, so to speak. "St. Mary's Home for Un-wed Mothers" was the name of the place, I believe. Of course, there were plenty of old-school nuns, down to the habits. (I thoroughly expected wooden rulers to come flying out at any moment. But I digress...) As a part of the arrangement at this "home for unwed mothers," the girl was expected to give up the child for adoption. Typically, the teen's aren't too enthused about the deal, and this victim was no exception...

As a part of convincing the young mother-to-be to sign the yet-to-be-born infant away, the chief nun hands the girl a piece of paper, and asks her to write down everything that another family could give her young baby on one side of the paper, and everything that she herself could give the child on the other. On the left were listed "mother, father, house, food, clothing, money..."

On the right side? Simply the word "love."

The first thing that crossed my mind wasn't anything sung by The Beatles (though that fell in the top 5), but instead a little bit of scripture, read at most weddings. I Corinthians 13. I'm partial to The Message paraphrase. Here's a few bits...

If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy
but don't love,I'm nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate.

If I speak God's Word with power, revealing all his mysteries
and making everything plain as day,
and if I have faith that says to a mountain, "Jump," and it jumps,
but I don't love, I'm nothing.

If I give everything I own to the poor
and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr,
but I don't love, I've gotten nowhere.

So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do,
I'm bankrupt without love.

Love never gives up.
Love cares more for others than for self.
Love doesn't want what it doesn't have.
Love doesn't strut,
Doesn't have a swelled head,
Doesn't force itself on others,
Isn't always "me first,"
Doesn't fly off the handle,
Doesn't keep score of the sins of others,
Doesn't revel when others grovel,
Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,
Puts up with anything,
Trusts God always,
Always looks for the best,
Never looks back,
But keeps going to the end.

We don't yet see things clearly. We're squinting in a fog, peering through a
mist. But it won't be long before the weather clears and the sun shines bright!
We'll see it all then, see it all as clearly as God sees us, knowing him
directly just as he knows us!
But for right now, until that completeness, we have three things to do to lead us toward that consummation: Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly.

And the best of the three is love.

It was true back in the 60's, and it's still true today. Money, house, car, school, opportunities, all play a role in making our lives easier. But both rich and poor have reaped the benefits of a simple four-letter word, and both have suffered dearly by the lack of that same simple word.

So THAT'S why I hate February...

Ok, I try not to be supersticious. Really, I don't. But it seems that every year, around February, bad stuff happens. The car breaks down. Kids get really sick. AND, the Christmas bills really start to pile up.

And then there's the weather. February in Southeast Missouri is typically gray, perpetually overcast, cold and wet. No snow though, just rain. This does WONDERS on my general outlook on life.

I came across this article off of Slate, via MSN.com, about the history of February. It's angle of attack was to explain why February gets "shafted" with only 28 days when every other month gets 30 or 31. Interesting reading. Perhaps February's past explains why I tend to look on the poor lil' month with such disfavor.

But then again, I'm not supersticious. Not at all...

The Explainer: Answers to your questions about the news.
28 Days? Why February gets the shaft.
By Melonyce McAfee :: Posted Tuesday, Feb. 27, 2007, at
6:51 PM ET

The shortest month of the year seems to have gone by in a flash. Why does
February have only 28 days?

It's the Romans' fault. Our modern calendar is loosely based on their old, confusing one. Though records on the Roman calendar are sparse and sketchy, legend has it that Romulus, the first king of Rome, devised a 10-month lunar calendar that began at the spring equinox in March and ended with December. It is unclear whether there were any official months between December and March, but it's likely they were left off because the wintertime wasn't important for the harvest.

The second king of Rome, Numa Pompilius, decided to make the calendar more accurate by syncing it up with the actual lunar year—which is about 354 days long. Numa tacked on two months—January and February—after December to account for the new days.

The new months each had 28 days. But that didn't sit well with Numa because even numbers were considered bad luck at the time. So, he added a day on to January, giving the year an odd-numbered 355 days. No one knows why February was left with 28 and remained an unlucky month. It may be related to the fact that Romans honored the dead and performed rites of purification in February. (The word februare means "to purify" in the dialect of the ancient Sabine tribe.)

The 355-day calendar couldn't stay in sync with the seasons because it didn't account for the amount of time it took for the Earth to orbit the sun. So, an extra "intercalary" month of 27 days was inserted after February 23 every couple of years or so to even things out. The pontiffs who were in charge of calendar upkeep didn't always add the extra month on schedule. (Some officials took advantage of the system to extend their time in office, for example.)

In around 45 B.C., Julius Caesar commissioned an expert to put aside the lunar origins of the Roman calendar and make it sun-based, like the Egyptian one. Caesar added 10 days to the calendar year and an extra day in February every four years. (The leap-year day was inserted after the 23rd, the same time as the old intercalary month.) Now, the year averaged out to 365.25 days, very close to the actual average length of a year: 365.2425 days (and even that varies).

Some have speculated that Caesar added a day to February when he reformed the calendar—making it 29 days long. The story goes that when the Senate renamed the month of Sextilis to honor the emperor Augustus, that day was subtracted from February and added to August in order to make it equal in number to July—the month named for Caesar. But this theory is now believed to be bunk; it's likely that Julius never even added a day to February.