"We know what happens to people who stay in the middle of the road. They get run over." - Aneurin Bevan

That bit I wrote Sunday night about getting back on the bike being painful and humiliating? I was right. Monday wasn't good, today was just painful. 

Why did I ever stop??

SCORE!!

I went down to that VW boneyard at lunch today. Scary 'hood! I realized driving back I was going past the flea market where an off-duty cop doing security was shot and killed over the weekend. And the guy who runs this place is exactly what you'd expect for someone who has been selling old VW parts out of a double-wide for 35 years. (I think he took his last bath the day he opened for business.) But look what I came home with:

That's two pre-'65 low back seats, very hard to find. VW changed the frame design in '65 and then again in '68 so these are pretty scarce. The right rear fender is straight and unmolested, including without the spit in the metal that often shows up at the bottom. And an original early (40 hp) air cleaner. All that for just under $230. That, ladies and gentlemen, is a terrific deal. I found a guy with a pair of low backs in So. Cal. and he wanted $200 plus shipping, and that's just for the seats. I got these plus the fender plus the air cleaner for less than I would have paid for those seats.

Yep, I'm happy! And I know where to go when the time comes to get other parts I need.

I had the classical music station playing this afternoon while I did some reading. Ravel's "Bolero" transcribed for piano.

One more time: "not everything that can be done should be done."

Seriously, who thought we needed another version of that piece?

What went through Bin Laden's mind when he heard those helicopters coming closer, and closer, and eventually landing just outside that home?

"The mill wheel of God grinds slowly, but it grinds exceedingly small."

I hope they don't release photos. Besides the incitement they may provide to groups intent on doing us harm it just feels wrong. He was an evil man, but he was a human being, not a 10-point buck or a 40" Northern Pike. 

Which raises a question about the Body World exhibits that have made news around the country. One of the many versions is here in Phoenix until May 20. 

I read an article a few years ago when the first exhibit was making the rounds - don't remember where I read it - that argued Christians should not attend. One of the principles that appears throughout Scripture is the respect that should be shown the human body. Ham mocked his drunk father Noah's nakedness and suffered for it, whereas Shem and Japheth respectfully covered him. Exposed nakedness is associated with shame in the Bible, the notable exception mentioned in connection with Adam and Eve before their sin, when they were naked "and felt no shame." Immediately thereafter Adam and Eve instinctively covered their nakedness. It was an intentional point of shame that our Savior was crucified exposed in his nakedness. I'm not sure I understand the dynamic, never mind be able to articulate it. But I know the Bible assigns a certain sanctity to the human form, and modesty requires that it be covered. 

It is in this connection that Paul says the husband's body belongs to his wife and visa versa. For a man to look at the naked body of another woman is wrong; it is sinful. (Shall we talk about movies here? Or HBO?) If that body is stripped of its clothes and given a transparent skin does it fall outside of this sanctity? Does putting it in a science exhibit exempt it from divine principle?

I realize this raises more questions, more difficult questions, than I have answers for. I'm not even sure how I feel about the Body World exhibits. What about classic art, including sculpture? What I can say is that however counter it may run to accepted norms and standards, I must always let the Bible define right and wrong. 

Hmmmm.