...yes, but not the inclination.

A couple more crash pics, this time wheeled vehicles.

My goal today was significant progress on the curriculum and I think I did OK. I have several files ready to email and all the letters are at the Post Office. I also set up a Yahoo Group for those who use the curriculum so they can share teaching tips, experiences, additional resources and the like.

I knew the tooth needed to come out eventually so when it started aching a week ago I wasn't surprised. It's the last molar on the upper right and its mate was pulled years ago, so it doesn't really serve any purpose. I called the dentist this morning and got in to see him this afternoon. Unfortunately, he won't go anywhere near an extraction. Seems this tooth, like most of mine, has monster roots that go to the jaw bone. So Monday I see the oral surgeon for a consult and to schedule the oral surgery.
What is it about dentists, never mind oral surgeons, that makes me (you?) so anxious. I've had doctors do unspeakable things to my body, yet I don't get nervous about them. But dentists? Heart pounding.

His last name is pronounced koo-tee-AYE. But you could be excused for pronouncing it differently when you hear that this Hispanic Roman Catholic priest from Florida, nicknamed "Father Oprah" for the advice he gives on his Spanish language radio show, was caught by photographers bare-chested in the arms of a woman on a Miami beach. An Archdiocese spokesperson was quoted as saying the news report and photos had sparked calls from sobbing women.
Father Cutie has been removed from his priestly duties.

According to this AP story Chrysler is now offering up to $6,000 in incentives for buying one of their cars. This is meant to overcome the natural hesitancy of people to buy a car from a company in bankruptcy. But what floored me about this article was the paragraph near the end of the article that says President Obama last week said Chrysler warranties would be backed by the U.S. govt.
Can he do that??? I don't remember that Presidential prerogative in the Constitution. And I can't, for the life of me, figure out why Republican Senators & Congressmen aren't jumping up and down screaming at this overstepping of power.
Where does it stop? Will he guarantee the warranty on my wash machine? The ceiling fan I put in last month?
You may be thinking, "Yeah, but those aren't American made products." In a matter of weeks Chrysler cars won't be, either.
If the UAW wants 55% of Chrysler let them cover the warranties! Hey, they're the ones who built the cars in the first place.
Nationalizing private industry, by any other name....

I predict a BIG night from Kobe.

The AZ University system is floating an idea - start a fourth state U. Why would they do that in an era of declining enrollment due to soaring tuition & fees? This U. wouldn't have any athletic programs or research programs, just academics. Imagine! A school that concentrates on education!
They figure the cost of an education would be half of what it is currently at the three state U.'s.
I'm thinking this is an idea with legs.

Never mind his golf swing, I want Barkley to take some diction lessons. Does he even know what a consonant is?
I still like listening to him. He is what my grandmother would call a hoot.

I am by nature an informal person. I was raised with suits but feel more comfortable in jeans. I was raised in the city and my parents taught me a measure of refinement, but I really liked living in the country and raising chickens and rabbits (for meat). A colleague on the faculty once derided me for lacking serious scholarship and my book for being too populus. I took the former as elitist and the latter as a compliment.

Don't get me wrong. I enjoy dressing up and going to the symphony, and dining as opposed to eating out. In fact I miss that. The culture here in AZ is very relaxed, and dressing up means "resort casual."

Would you agree that the nation as a whole is moving toward the informal and casual? The dress code for weddings and funerals serves as a barometer. Hey, the ceremonies themselves are an indicator, with weddings in non-traditional settings no longer unusual. President Bush required every man who entered the Oval Office to be wearing a suit and tie but President Obama has relaxed that and suit jackets are no longer required. America has never been big on pretense; we got rid of the monarchy with all its trappings. But the necktie is nearly an anachronism and casual Friday lasts all week.

Lately I've been thinking about one of the downsides to this increasing informality.
It's hard to stand in awe while wearing flip flops. The transcendent Creator seems to deserve greater reverence than I can express in blue jeans and a T-shirt.
I am NOT arguing for a dress code in church. I do think that for decades, centuries?, we stifled the Holy Spirit under starched collars and wingtips. (Note that I'm staying WAY away from women's couture. I am clueless on that topic!)

But if Moses needed to take off his shoes to stand on holy ground, when should we express in dress and action a deep sense of awe and reverence? That seems especially challenging for a church that meets in a dance studio on the west side of Phoenix.

We'll have communion at Pathway in a few weeks. Last week we learned from 1 Cor. 10 that the Lord's Supper involves a koinonia, a communion with Christ that transcends normal daily interactions. How can we approach this experience in a manner befitting its significance?