He gets credit for thinking big.

Tonight the ache and weakness is gone; it's just the stuffy, sloppy, dripping head part of a head cold. But today I learned...

This morning I had to go into Scottsdale to pick up keys for the latest four houses we're taking from Provident Partners. And even though I knew it was going to be a hot ride and I felt a little punky, I took the motorcycle. The van just eats too much gas.

Today I learned that a cold-induced sneeze causes problems inside a full-face helmet.

This afternoon I replaced a sprinkler system timer at one of those houses. I'll go back next week to repair the rolled roof over the patio which has split and leaks, but that's not a job that should be done in the middle of the afternoon, at least not here at this time of the year. I'll go back some morning next week and be up there by 7:00 a.m.

I don't know if you've seen footage of Father Pfleger's (sic) sermon on the news. Here's the relevant part. His major diss of Hilary Clinton begins at 1:55, but what comes before that is just as problematic.
What makes this newsworthy is Fr. Pfleger's connection with Barak Obama. Up until this clip hit the airwaves Pfleger was listed on Obama's web site as a supporter. Shortly after it went national his name disappeared from the website and Obama disavowed Pfleger's comments.
On the heals of the rhetoric of Rev. Wright, this episode may warrant a second look (at least for me) at Obama's association with Trinity United Church of Christ. At the beginning of the aforementioned clip the man introducing Pfleger to the congregation makes it clear that he is well known to Trinity and has preached there before. Doesn't this suggest a pattern of rhetoric (I can't call it preaching because that term implies for me a message based in Scripture) that qualifies as extreme? Obama repudiated the comments of Wright when they became public and I gave him the benefit of the doubt: I allowed that those clips were not representative of the whole of Trinity's, or of Rev. Wright's ministry . But now we learn that Fr. Pfleger, whose preaching is just as offensive, is something of a regular at Trinity. Obama has now disassociated himself from Pfleger (did he just learn that Pfleger spouted that kind of stuff), but the bigger question is how to explain what seems to be a common theme at Trinity, Obama's home church. This is no longer about one, or two preachers. It's about a church and Obama's identification with it.
OK, some of you are saying, "What took you so long?" But I want to err on the side of graciousness even if it puts me at risk of naivety.

I'm happy for all the bright and hardworking kids who have progressed to the national level of the spelling bee. They should be proud of their accomplishment whether they make it into the finals or not. But a spelling bee is not sport. Which means it should not occupy several hours of broadcasting on ESPN! Especially when real sport, like the French Open, gets passed over.

Lakers are in!

I finished my sermon today, although I'll be working it until I stand up there Sunday morning. In connection with this passage (the first half of James 2) I've been thinking about diversity and how much I value it. Sure, there are productive and counterproductive ways to achieve diversity, and the best way is naturally.
When the boys started school we lived north of Salinas, CA and they went to Castroville Elementary. Eighty percent of the students were Hispanic and many of those were the children of migrant workers.
We moved from there to a suburb east of Riverside, CA now known as Moreno Valley (it was Sunnymead back then). There they attended a middle school that included, in almost equal numbers, Anglos, Hispanics and Asians, as well as students from other ethnic groups. I'm convinced that mingling with kids just like them except for the matter of race was a very positive influence.
All of that moving came as the result of the vagabond life of a dad who's a pastor. Our church north of Salinas was in a very rural area, and I can't remember a single college grad in the church. I have nothing but fond memories of those folk, who were as common as dirt and as good as gold.
Our church in Riverside included a guy doing post-doctoral work on soy bean genetics, a large animal vet, a librarian, a CPA......and two mailmen (that's what we called them back then), a retired janitor and a truck driver.
So while they were going to very diverse schools the boys were seeing diversity between and among churches.

I said a week ago that I was thankful for having grown up in an ethnic community. But if I had to choose between the two I'd go with diversity every time. It equips a child for life in the 21st century, it enriches through exposure to other cultures, and it reminds us all that God's grace knows no boundaries - not ethnic, economic, geographical or cultural.