First, a couple of cool links.
The deeper into this video you go the better this guy gets. If I start practicing now....
Maestro
And if you like good photography: (scroll down to see them all)
Storms
I got a check in the mail from Maricopa County reimbursing me for my mileage on the day I had jury duty. The note with the letter thanked me for my service as a citizen. I cashed the check; with as little work as I've had lately I'm not going to turn my nose up at $38. But something didn't feel right about it. If jury duty is, in fact, my responsibility as a citizen it seems inappropriate to pay me for it. I should do it 'cause it's right.
It struck me as similar to saying something is free and then building in a charge of some sort.
Think some versions of salvation.
It does look pretty clear at this point - Obama & McCain as their party's candidates. Will Hillary and Obama beat each other up so much in the weeks ahead that the party is fractured coming out of the convention?
As I drove through a nearby intersection yesterday I saw a woman crossing the street. She looked to be middle age but shuffled like an old lady. She also looked unkempt and her flip-flops, on what was a fairly chilly day for these parts, led me to assume she was homeless. When she got to the far curb she sat down and put her thumb out, and as I drove by I could see that she was muttering to herself.
Sad.
Issues rise and fall on our consciousness. Not that long ago nobody thought much about ecological issues, or immigration, or performance enhancing drugs. Today they're part of our national conversation.
If I were king I'd make sure we spent more time thinking about and working on the problem of mental illness. Even the shooting at Illinois University, which now seems to have been a case of mental illness wreaking havoc for the sufferer and too many others, will slide off the radar by next weekend.
I know very little about mental illness. I don't even know what qualifies as mental illness. Where is the threshold? I just know it's more common that most of us realize. Sure, psychiatric meds (is that the right term?) are overused in the U.S. But a lot of people live meaningful and productive lives because they're available. And how many would be helped by them if they were diagnosed and treated? The stigma associated with mental health issues keeps the first group quiet and keeps many in the second from seeking help.
What do we do with people like the lady sitting on the curb? A high percentage of homeless people suffer from mental illness. Geriatric depression is going to be a growing issue as boomers age. For whatever reason, more and more children are exhibiting serious mental health problems.
What can we do about this?
In a not-unrelated news story, they're having a fund-raiser walk here in Phoenix this weekend. The cause? Raising funds and awareness for the problem of heart disease...in dogs! Makes absolutely no sense on so many levels.
Have a great weekend! And again, you are invited to join us at Pathway Bible Church Sunday morning. The info is in the upper right corner.
North Carolina: tobacco is a vegetable.
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