through a glass darkly

Elections and Baptisms

2008-10-10T15:05:00.000-07:00

After visiting Columbus, Ohio for the baptism of our grandson, Geert Willem Fischer, I have decided to vote for the Republican ticket. Do I love the candidates? Not particularly. Do I hate Mr. Obama? Not particularly. Frankly, I think both tickets are greatly flawed. In the end, however, I will vote my conscience, and my Christian, Calvinistic, mid-western, middle class, female conscience says that I will vote for the candidates and party platform which most closely aligns with my Biblical beliefs and ethical worldview.
So what does baptism have to do with elections? Just this, that a baby is infinitely precious to his family and to God. The thought that the Democratic party supports abortion as a policy is repugnant to me. Mr. Obama himself assents to abortion and even to allow the destruction of a child who survives abortion because, he says, it is the law of the land. That only makes sense to the mind of a Harvard lawyer who has no personal ethic, who cannot think morally, and who is so politically centered, that he cannot rise above the "law" to think about the ethic and moral implications of the law. There is civil law and there are moral laws and they often conflict.
Will he have the vision and courage to distinguish between the two?
I can't understand why some voters, especially Christians, can bypass this issue. I have been told that I shouldn't be a "one-issue" voter" as though one issue couldn't mean that much. I resent people looking down their erudite noses at me as though I am too ignorant to think logically, or too old to have wisdom, or too emotional to make the best objective decision. If I told you that Mr. Obama favors limiting the number of dogs born in America by strangling them or crushing their heads before they are born, then cutting them up into pieces before they are removed from the mother, most people would be so disgusted that they would dismiss him as a candidate without discussion. But this is exactly what he supports, not of dogs but of infants--children!
Strip all of life down to its essentials and you will find that there is no real value in money, or houses, or bank accounts (literally!), in position, in politics, in the media, in opinion, in power, etc.
The only essential that has value for now and eternity is God and his Word and our relationship to both, especially within the family dynamic. If you believe God's Word to be true and have absolute value, you will want to follow God's laws and promote it, even when or if it differs from the civil law under which you may live. This may be a difficult position; you may be mocked; you may be ostracized; you may suffer. But that's what we do; we suffer. Whether for good or evil, we suffer. I would prefer to suffer for good, wouldn't you?
Obviously, this is an issue much larger than the abortion issue alone.
You may be saying, you can't expect your politicians to have the same values as you have. You are right. But that doesn't mean I have to vote for them. I will vote for the party and the platform that comes closest to Biblical precepts that guide my life. Will they be perfect candidates? Heavens, NO. Are you perfect? Am I perfect? But I know that our country is at a moral crossroads, and this is no time to forget our Christian principles and vote for the wrong person for the wrong reason.
Geert Willem is a precious child. I teach precious children every day. No one has the right to allow, and certainly not to promote the killing of precious children like them. No one.

Surprises

2008-09-21T17:49:00.000-07:00

I love the Wall Street Journal. I don't really care about the financial section, because I don't understand finances except as they apply to me--NOW or to my belief system and world view. But the rest of the WSJ is filled with the most fascinating perspectives on life and culture. Occasionally the various ideas I read from here and there and everywhere come crashing together and then my tiny brain has a revelation which seems to have significance, if only for me. The problem is gathering all of it together in a meaningful way--for you as well as for me. So here goes my feeble effort.
On Friday (9/19/08) I read an adaptation of a commencement address by David Foster Wallace given by him to the class of 2005 at Kenyon College. I was drawn to the article, not because I knew of Wallace's life or works, but because I didn't, and because I had heard that he committed suicide the previous week.

What would someone say about life or death or the future when within three years he will be dead? What is he doing right now? Why were his words so significant that he had been hailed as an up and coming, authentic voice of post-modernism? What I found was that his words from the grave were dangerously close to the truth and very appropriate for today's world. Pity he didn't see the financial crash of last week strengthen his argument, which goes something like this.
1. The most important realities are often the ones that are the hardest to see and talk about. (this assumes that there are realities)

2. Most of what we believe turns out to be wrong and deluded and the greatest delusion is " that I am the absolute center of the universe, the realest, most vivid and important person in existence." He calls this our "default system, hard-wired into our boards at birth."

3. "Twenty years after my own graduation, I have come gradually to understand that the liberal-arts cliche about "Learning how to think" really means learning how to exercise some control over how and what you think. It means being conscious and aware enough to choose what you pay attention to and to choose how you construct meaning from experience." Eerily, he says that most suicides are actually dead before they pull the trigger.
The value of your liberal-arts education is "How to keep from going through your comfortable, prosperous, respectable adult life dead, unconscious, a slave to your head and to your natural default-setting of being uniquely, completely imperially alone, day in and day out."

We take a deep breath and go on. He then takes a brilliant walk through what the phrase "day in and day out" means. It's his view of the rat race and the reaction choices one can make. You must read this yourself--priceless.
4. "If you have really learned how to think, it will actually be within your power to experience a crowded, loud, slow, consumer-hell-type situation as not only meaningful but sacred, on fire with the same force that lit the stars--compassion, love, the sub-surface unity of all things. The only thing that's capital T-True is that you get to decide how you're going to try to see it. . . You get to decide what to worship. . .

5. "There is actually no such thing as atheism. There is no such thing as not worshiping. Everybody worships. The only choice we get is what to worship."

6. "The world will not discourage you from operating on your default-settings, because the world of men and money and power hums along quite nicely on the fuel of fear and contempt and frustration and craving and the worship of self. Our own present culture has harnessed these forces in ways that have yielded extraordinary wealth and comfort and personal freedom. The freedom to be lords of our own tiny skull-sized kingdom, alone at the center of all creation.

7. "The really important kind of freedom involves attention, and awareness, and discipline, and effort, and being able truly to care about other people and to sacrifice for them, over and over, in myriad petty little unsexy ways, every day."

This speech blew me away. Sometimes the capital-T Truth is more clearly spoken by those on the other side of the philosophical fence than by those on our own. Just ten years ago, as I was finishing up a Masters in Education, we were warned that the school of liberal arts was in its death pangs and would not be resurrected. I don't believe that, because thinking about Truth needs a social institution or construct in which to function. I am not sure of the form it will take, but Truth will continue to exist no matter what we do, and there will always be those who seek it, and there will be those who keep it safe and distribute it to those who are awake and aware.
As Wallace concludes, "The capital-T Truth is about life before death. It is about making it to 30, or maybe 50, without wanting to shoot yourself in the head. It is about simple awareness--awareness of what is so real and essential, so hidden in plain sight all around us, . . . It is unimaginably hard to do this, to stay conscious and alive, day in and day out."
What a tragedy, to be so close to the capital-T Truth and not to have really known it fully. As a Christian I would counter that not only is it hard to do this, it is impossible without the Holy
Spirit counseling and encouraging and renewing our minds constantly. Jonathan Edwards described our position as sliding down a steep incline with the inevitable outcome of Hell catching us at the end of the fall. The only way of salvation is for the hand of God to reach down and lift us up--not just to stop the fall, but to lift us up and put our feet on the solid ground of absolute Truth.
The other element of surprise for me was how this view into the mind of David Wallace reinforced what I have been studying by way of "Living Beyond Yourself" by Beth Moore.
What Wallace refers to as "Living by default" corresponds to the Biblical concept of " living by the flesh" in Galatians 5 and 6; we are by nature inclined to live within ourselves, slaves to sin and pride. Christian belief is not an intellectual assent to a religious construct and a desire to be better than we are, or even "religulous" as Bill Maher might call it; it is, in contrast, the sure knowledge that in ourselves, we hold no power of wisdom or knowledge that amount to anything of value. The Capital-T Truth is that I was as blind to the truth as David Wallace, and the reason I can live in hope instead of despair is because the Holy Spirit has opened my eyes to see spiritual Truth in spiritual Words. It has nothing to do with what I do to reach beyond my default option, it is all about how God has reached down to me and given me the Holy Spirit to show me the Truth. I don't know why He did that for me; I don't know why He didn't do that for David. My only response is to praise and worship God. What else can I do?

On the facing page of this article is a little one by Molly Hemingway, "Look Who's Irrational Now" an answer to "comedian"and atheist Bill Maher's claim that "You can't be a rational person six days of the week, . . .and on one day of the week go to a building and think you're drinking the blood of a 2,000 year old space god." She uses strong emperical evidence to prove that it is actually the irreligious that tend to be more superstitious and "irrational." But most interesting to the discussion is her concluding quote from G.D. Chesterton's Father Brown character that all atheists, secularists, humanists, and rationalists are susceptible to superstition: "It's the first effect of not believing in God that you lose your common sense, and can't see things as they are."
"Good" education teaches students to understand that the most essential realities exist outside of our senses and that they can only be" seen and heard" and understood by the power of the God who created them.

Womenists Reign

2008-09-12T22:05:00.000-07:00

The presidential election, for which I could arouse no interest, much less passion, has taken an amazing twist, changed the political landscape, and hooked me with its surprises. I've been wondering why this is true, and why I feel a sense of release and freedom because of the inclusion of Sarah Palin into the mix.
First, my age gave me a distinct advantage as to perspective. Feminism as a political force was gaining speed during and after my college years. It rose from the 60's, the bra burners, the yellow Volkswagen vans painted with flowers and reeking with marijuana. It seemed to offer women freedom from the male oppression they had in many cases suffered in the past. It had profound effects on society--a few good but many bad. Personally, I was not one of their followers, not so much because I disagreed with their plan at the time, but because I was repulsed by being a member of any group that socially controlled me--not the social top of the heap (not that they would have wanted me)--not the loners--not the druggies--not the cheerleaders. This was no noble characteristic of mine, it was just the outcome of some factors in my life that I had not chosen but God had providentially placed there. I was born and raised in middle America, with small town values, strong Christian teaching and living, a value for loving and caring all people. My parents taught, they did not indoctrinate. They modeled, they didn't preach. They cared and served others,they didn't feel they deserved to be cared for. They worked long and hard and faithfully and treated each other with the respect you give someone who works equally with you for a common goal.
The Feminists' agenda opposed all of that and sneered at those elements of my life. Being a college student, and prone to stupidity and naivete, their ideas seemed attractive; you don't need men, you should not be forced to bear children, your life must not be given for the sake of others, you have the freedom to control your own body, money, health, and profession. Finally, independence for women was at hand. The social implications and fall-out were huge and immediate, and few were, in my opinion, positive. The assumptions grew that marrying and being faithful was giving in to old domination, that having children should be optional and that abortion was a right, that childcare should be a shared burden, and that it should never intrude on your rights and freedoms. Men and marriage were necessary evils and could be shed at will. In all fairness, women were given new professional freedom in a variety of areas--a benefit we still enjoy, although we are still waiting for equal pay for equal work!
There were shocking effects: the emasculation of a generation of men: a rising divorce rate: a rising abortion rate: the end of breast-feeding for many women: smaller families and broken families. It would be unfair to credit the Feminists for all this, but their radical views appealed to many, and their agenda was accomplished. The original leaders are nearly gone, but those who have taken their places are even more radical and hateful and now have the benefit of the media and the schools to carry out their agenda.
So, what does this have to do with Sarah Palin? She isn't Hillary Clinton. Hillary was the last great hope of the Feminists to achieve the highest politial office in the land. She seemed to be a shoe-in at first. Then came Obama. And even though they each had about 18 million votes, she was "let go" by the Democratic power faction. Then, she was ignored as a VP candidate as well.
Unbelievable! She represented far more than a woman candidate--she was a Feminist candidate. That's why the fact that Palin is a woman who has succeeded as a politician and as a wife and mother and a Christian means nothing to them. In fact, she is anathema to them. I am sorry for Hillary--she got a bum deal. But I am also sorry for Sarah, because she will have to suffer the wrath of many angry women. I am glad that the shake-up has taken place and that the good-old-girls club is powerless, at least for the moment.

Labor Day Weekend

2008-08-31T21:40:00.000-07:00

Looking about for something interesting to do on this holiday weekend, we (Bill and I, Sara and Andrew, Emma and Lucy) all took off for Omaha for an adventure. We still feel surprised to be living in Kansas, and now we are vacationing in Nebraska? Whatever . . . We were even more surprised that Omaha was a cool and interesting place to visit. We went to the zoo first because it was the only thing we knew about, and it was fabulous, besides the weather was perfect and it was delightful just to walk around. The exhibits were unique and the animals exotic. Notice the river swarming with Koi--incredible sight.
Later, there was shopping in Old Town, dinner together at the Spaghetti Works, swimming in the pool.
Today (Sunday) we separated and did our own things. A highlight for me was to visit the Prairie Lane Christian Reformed Church where I had worked on a SWIM team (Summer Workshop in Missions) 45 years ago. At that time there were about 30 people in the church, so we canvassed the area and ran some VBS programs to help grow the church. At that time there was no church building, but since then, they built one church in the 70's and a new one just last year, and they now have about 50 families as members and about 130 people attending weekly.
We also toured the Joslyn Art Museum, which was surprisingly well done with a collection which was not wide but deep with quality artists represented.
Finally, we searched for the spot where Lewis and Clark stood on the bluffs in Council Bluffs, Iowa overlooking the Missouri River. We finally found it and were rewarded with a beautiful view of the entire area, despite the misty haze.
All in all, it was a fun and interesting weekend.

A Great Day!

2008-08-18T17:59:00.000-07:00

This is a great day for me! Last week I signed onto a new job as an Instructional Assistant in the Shawnee Mission School District. Although the pay is not great, this job offers what I have been pursuing and failing to get--health insurance! Yippee! I have been trying to get insurance for myself for the past few months, but have been refused by all the major companies. Meanwhile, I have COBRA insurance which will run out in February, and it costs $650 a month + $150 meds for my "condition." This was a hefty amount for us, but we would have kept paying it, if it was available. By getting this new job, I now have FREE Blue Cross/Blue Shield insurance + life insurance + dental + vision + disability! Unbelievable! Praise God!
I am not teaching high school English or college composition--no, 4 yr 0lds! These are four year olds with learning disabilities or ESL kids who are in need of some help to get ready for Kindergarten. What a switch from my usual fall fare. No stress- no difficult work- no homework!
I took a job this summer at a day care and cared for 1's and 2's (see my little ones in photo above and my friend Safa who worked with me). This was such hard work, I thought I would die, but I stayed on for a month before the new job was offered. It was great training for me, and I loved the dear little kids. It opened my eyes to the day care system and how it runs, but it also showed me how God knew what I needed, even before I knew (you would think that I was old enough to understand that by now!) I also see now, how people's lives are affected by the health insurance problem in America for good or for ill. This is a huge issue, and hopefully our candidates for president have a plan that will improve the situation. Anyway, I am celebrating tonight and I am very thankful.

The Grandkids Visit

2008-08-02T19:42:00.000-07:00

The end of June meant the long-awaited visit of the Michigan grandkids. They were here for a week while their mom and dad went off to San Antonio for a conference. We started out with a bang, going swimming, to the farm, playing with the Kansas grandkids, Lucy and Emma. Then, without warning, they each tumbled to the flu--one at a time, but overlapping. Then Pop-pop also caught it, and Lucy, and Sara and then Lynn, when she returned from the trip! Everyone was throwing up for about 24 hours. Thankfully, I was the only one left standing, so that I could care for them. Even though I was exhausted and tired of cleaning up the messes, I found that there isn't a better way to bond with kids than to care for them when they are ill! All in all, it was a marvelous week, and I hope this becomes a traditional summer thing to do--to visit Oma and Pop-Pop, not to get sick!

Food Features

2008-06-07T19:28:00.000-07:00

We were looking forward to the great food in Florence until we started studying Italian and could interpret some of the names of the typical foods. Since Bill hates cooked vegetables, we were already off to a bad start, but when we heard about the favorite food, tripe (the intestines of a cow) we were really freaked and decided to be careful about what we ordered. (We saw people eating tripe in the outdoor market as it was dredged out of a pot of meat juice and fat, and slapped on to a sandwich of boiled beef.) It looked like white sausage casing and extremely gross!
We are really just talking about dinners now, since the hotel provided the breakfast and lunch gratis.
Our first dinners were fixed price meals, where all of the courses are included in the price. Keeping in mind that the dollar was worth 60 cents, a typical dinner (as in the picture of an outdoor cafe) will run 10-15 euros ($14-21). It may have a pasta, some chicken, and a salad--pedestrian at best. A meal on the run might be pizza or a stuffed sandwich with a cup of warm coke for perhaps 8 euros ($11). The only way to get really good food--the food you have read about and drooled over is to go to a really good restaurant and plan to pay--a lot! We did that for our last night there. We had seen a restaurant in the Rick Steves book that looked really good, so off we set to find it. It was raining occasionally, and we seemed to walk for miles, when we came to the street in question. We shared the narrow street with some vagabonds (to put it nicely) and a few garbage cans, but then, in the distance, we saw some people waiting to get into a door, and sure enough, it was our restaurant. Normally, they wouldn't take you without reservations, but it was not a very busy night, so they kindly took us in.
The service was sooo slow, until we realized that the waiter did nothing until we directed him to do so. Finally we ordered the three courses. I had a tasty onion soup that was bold but not overpowering, a cheese and pear over greens salad that was outstanding, and veal with potatoes for the main course. Bill had a tortellini soup, shared my salad, and steak (from a breed of steer unique to Tuscany). It was a memorable meal, with each part being very tasty and wonderful. The eat and wait and discussion and wait, meant that the meal took 2 1/2 to 3 hours, which is typical. This is a Florentine evening activity, evidently, so you are not only buying a meal, but you are renting a seat! We added bottle of wine (should have had red, but we don't like red, so we had white) and a bottle of water, for a grand total of $180 ! And we were cheap! Needless to say, once was all that we could afford.
But the best food in Florence was the Gelato--the wonderful ice cream, custard, of a million flavors. We had it nearly every day, and normally that would be disastrous for the waist line, but we walked 10 hours a day, so we didn't gain weight. It is the best ice cream anywhere.
We ate in a McDonald's one night, and it was great to taste American food and coffee far from home.

Florence

2008-06-01T23:39:00.001-07:00

The Euro during our trip rose
to its highest value against
the dollar, which fell to a value of just $.60.
Since we charged most of our purchases, it wasn't until we got home that we realized the true cost!

Florence

2008-06-01T22:22:00.000-07:00

Believe it or not, this was our hotel, the Hotel Paris. Our room was not terrific, but this breakfast room was lovely, with its fresco ceiling and old world service. The food was great, too (hard rolls and meats and cheeses, yogurt and cereals, fresh fruits and lattes, coffees, and croissants) Every day, we would make sandwiches from the breakfast foods, grab a piece of fruit, and we were good to go for lunch and snack. This was all included in the room price (which was hefty), along with lots of help with arrangements and advice.
The sweet little patio area was filled with potted rose bushes, but the floor was covered with moss and was very slippery, so we didn't spend much time out there. It had a picturesque view of a quiet back street.
Our room had shuttered windows that we could open to peer down the street. In order the keep out the noise of the very busy street (ambulance lane?!), we closed the shutters, the outside window, and the double-pane inner window, and the drapes, but it was still noisy. We ended up wearing ear plugs in order to sleep!
The streets are very narrow in the historic section, but traffic is fast and furious, with buses and motorcycles and cars fighting for space. Pedestrians could reach out and touch the buses from the sidewalk. Motorcycles are the preferred way to travel and some streets have parking for them, side-by-side--forty to fifty in a row.

Fabulous Florence

2008-06-01T21:26:00.000-07:00

Our trip to Florence, Italy in April was the completion of a similar trip we made 40 years ago. We were married in the Calvin College Chapel in 1966, after completing our junior year there. Dirt poor, we got married on Saturday afternoon, honeymooned in Traverse City for the weekend, and then went back to classes on Monday. Two years later, after we had saved some money, we went on a real honeymoon to Europe for a summer, touring the Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Belgium, Italy, and France, and England in a green Volkswagon bug that we had purchased across the street from the airport in Amsterdam. It was a fantastic experience and CHEAP since the dollar was really worth a lot then. However, on our way North from Rome, we intended to stop in Florence, but it was so hot and we were so tired, that we just rode on by, hoping that someday we might return. Now, 40 years later, we finally made the trip. It cost infinitely more, but this time we had done our homework and could understand what we were seeing. Some people question why we would go there, rather than a hundred other places, and I would say that it is because Florence doesn't just have museums with great art, Florence IS a museum in itself. It was the pivot point, the turning point in history between the classical world and the Renaissance world, the ancient world and the emerging modern world. And although art of all kinds is essential in portraying these changing civilizations, it is only one aspect of the change. One needs also to see the role of the church and religion, political factions and philosophies, architecture and inventions, money and banking, medicine and diseases, etc. In a sense, Florence was the eye of the storm of change, and all of these factors were swirling around it. Going there and studying all of these factors was like putting together the pieces of the puzzle we had been carrying with us for a long time.
I won't be showing you photos of everything we saw, but rather picking a few that had special significance for us. I hope you enjoy them.

A New Little One

2008-05-27T21:15:00.000-07:00

This morning a new little one joined our family. His name is Geert Willem Fischer and he weighed in at 7lbs. 4 oz. and is 20 1/2 inches long. He has lots of dark hair and appears to be very Strong and aggressive! Brad and Stacy are well and happy to have a son to join Leva. We are so happy and thankful to God for this healthy child and relatively easy delivery. Geert is #7 grandchild for us and we are so blessed to have all of these sweet and loving grandchildren. The Dutch name is in honor of Brad's Grandfather and Great-Grandfather. I think Brad and Stacy would love to live in the Netherlands, someday--if only for the bicycle-riding populace.

New Views

2008-05-22T07:53:00.000-07:00

What a great spring we had! We began the season with substitute teaching as much as possible, in order to save for the travel plans we had. Then on April 14 we started off on our trip to Florence, Italy for 10 days. I will devote space elsewhere to write some of the highlights of the trip-which was amazing. We arrived home, did a bit more subbing, and then took off for Columbus, Ohio to visit Brad and Stacy and Leva, and hopefully to be there for the arrival of the second darling child! The new baby decided to "bake" for a little longer, so we didn't get in on the arrival, but we had a great time anyway. Then it was off to New Jersey for the wedding of our niece, Kelly and her loving man, Michael. It was an awesome event, and it was so good to see the Fischer family again.
Anyone who knows Bill, knows that he cannot be that close to New York City and not visit, so we did. We had specific objectives, however, since we had so little time. I will also cover that in another entry, but suffice it to say, that we now long to live in Brooklyn Heights for at least a few months; what an awesome place for history and literary buffs.
The whole trip was nearly 3000 miles in a Honda Civic with gas prices between $353 and $392! But my Honda came through with 35 miles to the gallon overall, and I am very proud of her. With no accidents or delays, anywhere, we made good time and accomplished all that we wanted to do. We were exhausted when we arrived home (a 20 hour trip), but after one day of rest, we have been substituting again, and have paid for our expenses.
For some reason, I felt that God gave us "eyes to see" those people and places around us in a new way during this trip. I am not sure why that happened, or really what it means about where we are spiritually and intellectually at this stage in our lives, but perhaps that will reveal itself as I retake the travels with readers in mind. Thanks for joining me.

Change!

2008-03-27T18:51:00.000-07:00

My, how things "change" whether you want them to or not! It's been a long time since I visited my blog, only to return to several unwanted comments, and 3 comments from people I respect. Still the political context for the comments has already changed greatly. Now it is Obama himself who raises the race issue (or should we say racist issue) by defending the position of his friend and mentor Mr. Wright. And now he even got his wife's grandmother in trouble! Suddenly Michelle, his wife, is noticeable quiet. I think he will need at least 4 more years in the Senate before he tries again to run for president. By the way, it seems to me that Frankie Shaeffer gives himself far too much credit, and that his comments on Obama belie the fact that anyone to would kill a child of a botched abortion is not pro-life on any level. Twenty years of listening to the social gospel has taken away his sense of the value of life as a absolute.
Mrs. Clinton, who appeared to have the nomination sewn up long ago, is watching in agony as that lead evaporates into thin air. Poor Bill, who seems to be fantasizing himself as the vice-president (could anyone else possible fill the role?) is scrambling around in the background, seeing what dirty tricks he can perform, since, he says, "All is far in love and politics." Is that Machiavelli? Generally, the Democrats seem to be on self-destruct. They will change the rules of the primary in Mich. and Florida, change the rules about super-delegates, and change the rules of the convention. What next, the constitution?
Meanwhile McCain is touring the war zone and trying to act presidential. He will never be able to shed the cloak of the hawk Republican, and he continues to avoid conservative positions, so he will lose his Republican base. He is the default candidate of three bad candidates.
And all the while, the media goes about as a roaring lion, seeking whom it might devour. The whole process is a disaster, and all we can do is pray, pray, and pray that God will rule through all of this. He will, as Romans tells us, put his person in place and we are to honor whoever that is. I have a feeling that he has a few more changes in mind before the dust settles.
It seems to me that President Bush is in the catbird's seat. He is Horton, sitting on the egg. He told us terrorism is a worldwide evil; it is. He told us the war would be awful; it is. He told us it would be expensive; it is. He told us that only a few of us would have the guts to wait it out until the end; that was an understatement. As it happens, he may be the only one to hatch the precious egg at the end of the conflict, but you can be sure he will not be the one to get the credit for his persistence. Perhaps a little respect for authority is due.

Caucusing and Complaining

2008-02-18T18:13:00.000-08:00

For the first time in my life, this year I participated in a caucus. It was great fun and something of an education. Of course it was the Republican caucus and the first one for Kansas in 22 years. Before the balloting, four speakers had 2 minutes each to speak for the candidates (that was when we still had a choice!). One of those speakers turned out to be Barry Goldwater, Jr.! Bill was thrilled because he was in the Goldwater for President campaign when he was in high school! Yes, believe it or not.
This is such a disappointing election, in my opinion. I really like Mike Huckabee, and although he has been much maligned and then ignored by the media, and pushed off the stage by the Republican establishment, he is such a breath of fresh air and so Reaganesque, that I would trust him to do the job. Besides, I don't trust McCain who is not a true Republican, and certainly not Mrs. Clinton who bought her way into New York politics and a senate seat while we lived in NY, and not even Obama, who is not another John Kennedy, no matter how much he would like to be. His speeches are patched together with lines from other African Americans, especially ML King. Only his speeches are all feeling and no substance. I find him dangerous, especially since he could not bring himself to vote against partial birth abortion. So basically, I have no candidate and feel quite disenfranchised as a voter. Bummer.

Back to Basketball

2008-02-18T18:00:00.001-08:00

Bill and I have returned to attending basketball games--this time not for our children, but for our grandchild. Here you see Emma on the left (Sara and Andrew's daughter) playing Saturday morning basketball with her SECOND GRADE team! She is so confident and aggressive out there. We were very proud of her. This is a great program, where no scores are kept, lots of teaching goes on during the game, and everyone is very kind and supportive. Sara is also the assistant coach and loves it.
What fun!

Huckabee ?

2008-01-02T22:23:00.000-08:00

I stayed up tonight to see how Mike Huckabee would fare on the Jay Leno show, and I must say he really looked good. He had to get through the picket line to get on the show, but he was funny, and real, and a good guitarist, and he looks like he is having fun. Tomorrow we will see what happens in Iowa, but he is so refreshing as a candidate, that I hope he wins this caucus, and many more. It is amazing that he is a Christian and a Baptist, and still people see someone in him that they can trust. Here's one to watch!

The other side

2008-01-02T17:47:00.000-08:00

Have you noticed how often we are forced to see that every event, every condition, every thought has an equal and opposite side? And also how our ability to move from the vision of one or the other of those sides reveals our position in relation to them. For instance, Brad and Stacy and Leva arrived by plane on the Saturday before Christmas. We were there to greet them, but just as they were about to land, there was a white out blizzard at the airport. I went from window to window to get a view of the plane landing, but I couldn't see it. One lady there, also waiting for family, assured me that the plane had already landed. Another told me that it was in a holding pattern waiting to land. I was in a panic, so I walked off by myself, quietly praying that the plane would land safely and that everyone would get inside the terminal without incident. A few minutes later, the plane taxied to the walkway and our dear passengers appeared through the tunnel. Joy. Thanksgiving.
Minutes later, we were on our way home, warmly tucked into the CRV, moving slowly through the snowy, gray afternoon, and looking forward to arriving home. Suddenly, a long pickup truck jack-knifed ahead of us, and in a kind of slow-motion dance, it hit a small blue car next to us, turned the other way, and we unavoidably, hit the truck head on. Little Leva, pregnant Stacy, and I shared the back seat, while Brad and Dad sat in the front seat. We were all concerned about the others' welfare, but in shock. Thankfully, we were all fine. However, when we tried to get to the side of the road with the other two cars involved, we realized that we were in even more danger as cars seemed to be hurtling toward us, unaware of our inability to get away! The reality of our dangerous position dissipated the relief at finding ourselves unharmed and fear took hold. Thankfully, Brad moved us onto the exit and safely to the nearest gas station, where within minutes we were warm, safe, feeding Leva a banana, using the restrooms, eating hotdogs, talking to strangers, and even becoming bored with the wait for a tow truck. Amazing! One minute we are facing death and the next we are bored with no action.
About a month ago, I had a personal encounter with death. I got up early on a Saturday morning to work on the computer for my class. After about two hours, I decided to go downstairs and make some coffee. I was stiff from bending over the computer, so I did a few stretching exercises as I looked outside onto the deck. Suddenly, my eyes crossed, I lost my balance, and lunged into the wall. Pulling myself up with my eyes closed, I staggered through the kitchen and fell into the leather chair in the living room. Weakly I called to Bill several times until he came to help. By this time my face and arms were going numb and it was increasingly hard to talk. I thought stroke, but I was sure that a stroke would affect only one side, while this episode was affecting both sides. I was cold stone sober as I told myself to move my arms and feet and to keep talking and moving. Meanwhile Bill called 911 and almost instantly we heard the sirens as both the firetruck and ambulance sped toward our house. I remember thinking, "This is it. You need to say good-by, but I couldn't. I couldn't even open my eyes to see Bill or the house or the ambulance or the person helping me. I simply prayed God for more time to see the grandkids grow up and kept talking. Sara greeted us at the hospital and I could tell that she was shocked to see the left half of my face dragging, but she and Bill kept talking to me as though this was just a temporary problem, and they were right. Three hours later, I was on my way home. Although I had another incident 1 1/2 weeks later that landed me in the hospital again, my medications are now in balance and I am doing very well. I finished teaching my course at the college and the computer course I was taking as well, and life returned to an even keal. Certainly I look at life differently now. Every moment is a treasure and the chance to see all of the grandkids and kids at Christmas was a miracle.
But back to the idea. The difference between here and the other side is tissue paper thin. And perhaps for the Christian, it is even less than that. Perhaps we are living on both sides at the same time. Perhaps a clear view of eternity from this side of it makes the move from one side to the other quite effortless. It isn't the other side we fear, it's the passage between the two that has the fear factor. The sting of death is gone even though the reality of death will always remain.
"If I should die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take." No fear. Happy New Year.

Christmas Chaos

2007-12-29T13:40:00.000-08:00

It can't be over already! We have been planning for weeks for the arrival of all of the kids and grandkids for Christmas Week, and now they are gone. It is so quiet here--I can't stand it. I have cleaned all 4 bathrooms and have attacked the mountains of laundry in an effort to avoid the awful truth--they are gone! It was a great week though and fortunately we have lots of photos to remind us of all the special moments. The grandkids surprise us by their unique and developing personalitites. It is so gratifying to see how the kids are doing beautifully in the job of bringing up their kids. What a sweet bunch! It must be some kind of miracle to have everyone under one roof and still to be able to have a blast with each other, kid around, and look out for the other's welfare. It is chaotic and heavenly at the same time, which is surely a description of the Christian life in general. I wouldn't have it any other way.

We took the family out to an Italian restaurant, Cinzetti's. Not being sure how the kids would like the food, Bill and I took them on a tour of all the food stations they could choose from at the buffet. That got them really pumped up and adventurous about the food, and they really ate well, (Emma even tried the Calamari!) but ice cream and the Italian ices really made the greatest hit. Notice all the ice cream cups on the table?

The boys are outnumbered 4 to 2 in the family, but they enjoy the special times with "Pop-pop" who took them out for breakfast and spent time helping the boys decorate ornaments with their names on them in sparkle paints and glitter.

Christmas 2007

2007-12-27T19:15:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas

"He who has eyes to see, . . .

2007-08-29T21:29:00.000-07:00

The Kansas one-room schoolhouse (below) stood on a hilltop ( an odd place to put it considering the blistering hot wind most of the year and the freezing blustery wind in the winter) from which hundreds of miles of prairie spread in every direction. There were two homes in view. The playground is just about the right size.
I've been reading Kathleen Norris's book, Dakota, written in the tradition of the Desert Fathers' mystical view of reality. She loves the monastical and mystical in landscapes, so she writes of deserts, and grasses, and wind--the elementals. It all has to do with the seeing. She relates describing her beloved Dakota plains to a friend from New York, who replied, "But what is there to see?" Norris replies, " Nothing. Land, sky, and the everchanging light. . .it's like looking at an ocean. . . .Here the eye learns to appreciate slight variations, the possibilities inherent in emptiness."
She quotes Michael Martone. "The midwestern landscape is abstract, and our response to the geology of the region might be similar to our response to the contemporary walls of paint in museums. We are forced to live in our eye." This brings to mind the awesome new Kansas City Art Museum addition--three huge white boxes sunken into green hillsides and slashed by windows of light. Quiet Riot. Walking Eyeballs.

The Trail West

2007-07-19T14:07:00.000-07:00

We just returned from a short trip to Colorado where we visited my sister Mary and her husband John. I have made this trip twice before (Kansas City to Colorado), but both times it was via Route 70, and the experience was similar to that of having a root canal (long and painful), but this time we took the southern route which basically follows the Santa Fe trail with a few variations. Since we had no tight schedule, we pulled off for anything that looked interesting, which is the perfect way to explore.

Our first stop was in the area of the Flint Hills of Kansas and the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve near Strong City, off Rt. 50. These two types of topography seem to contradict each other. On one hand, the tallgrass prairie has grasses whose roots go down nearly 12 feet to reach the water which is under the levels of shale and rock called flint. Much of the flint hills are covered in short grass and make fantastic grazing land for the thousands of cattle who roam here (formerly occupied by buffalo). Some of the land is covered by the prairie grass referred to by settlers as a green ocean with mile long crests of waves. Although its roots can go down 12 feet, its height is to the shoulder of a horse. These grasses held the prairie down even in the greatest drought. Most acreage is now covered with wheat and corn--as far as your eye can see for hundreds of miles. The unusual rain of this spring has produced amazing crops except where the land is too low with little drainage-here the crops rot away.

The funny thing is that you could ride through here thinking that it is a totally boring sight, when all the time the land holds an incredible history of noble families who braved the insufferable heat and constant wind, hacked their way through the tall grass, crossed rivers, buried their loved ones in shallow graves because they couldn't dig through the "flint", and faced native tribes threatened by their presence and willing to defend to the death the very land the settlers would also die for. Add to that the newly established farmers who began to surround their land and protect their cattle by putting up barbed wire fences, thereby aggravating the cattle drivers bringing up thousands of cattle from Texas who needed free- roaming ranges, the cattle barons who would be happy to force you off your land, the wagon trains that wanted to move through to the West, and later the iron horse--the Acheson, Topeka, and the Santa Fe. The territorial wars were fierce. It's no wonder that Kansas provides the setting for the majority of Western and cowboy movies. There were an unlimited number of conflicts to work with and any number of unique characters to plant into the tales of the West.
We even stopped at Dodge City, which we thought would be really corny, but it turned out to be very interesting. They have an amazing little museum, the original "Boot Hill" cemetery, and a "real, live, shootout" between the sheriff and the bad guys. You wouldn't believe who won!

2007-07-10T16:56:00.000-07:00

Quick Clips
~ So Sarah Jessica Parker is creating fashion for the common man (woman) now! Is this penance for spending her time and earning a fortune shredding what was left of the fabric of decency for those same families? UGH!
~Our Kansas City Royals have just lately begun to climb out of the pit of defeat, and now the momentum has been stalled by the All-Star games. We still have great hopes for some more great moments, especially with Tony Pena, Jr. , John Buck, and Gil Meche. Despite the KC Star's fickle reporting (accentuate the negative), there have been moments of greatness and the team is maturing. Go Royals!
~ My age is showing! I need a new phone, and that is all I want- no music, no text messageing, no e-mail. The new phones are too complicated for me--and too expensive. I grew up with a phone in a big wooden box on the wall, and when I picked up the earpiece and turned the handle, a real person asked, "Number please?" Our number was 4F23 (line 4, 2 long and 3 short rings-I believe). Occasionally, you could hear a click while you were talking, which meant that someone was listening in and waiting you you to hang up. A private line was too expensive, so the party line was the only choice. You always had the choice of saying, "Excuse me, I am using the line," but you didn't want to be too rude, since the other party lived just down the road and my Aunt Ella was the operator. Talk about surveillance!

2007-07-08T18:20:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Bill and I went on an adventure. We weren't sure where we were going, nor what we would find when we got there, or whether it would be worth the trip (and at the price of gas, this is serious!). We got up early, drank our coffee and read the paper, threw some food and drink in the cooler and we were off. Armed with our AAA Guide Book and our book of Kansas City day trips, we were ready. We headed in a northeasterly direction, vaguely looking for a section of Missouri where many Amish live. We had heard of a little town called Jamesport--a place where the Amish sell their baked goods, baskets, furniture, etc., and this became our destination. We barreled through KC noting the numerous building projects going on and the transformation of many of the old factories along the river into lofts and apartment buildings. As we moved north, urban became rural, rolling hills rose before us, meandering streams could be traced by the trees and brush growing beside them. A huge hawk hung in the sky above us and a tiny bird weaved in and out next to him. At first we thought the hawk was stalking him and would destroy him, but as we came nearer, we could see that the tiny bird would fly on this own for a moment and then hitch a ride for just a few seconds on the wigs of the older and larger bird. The huge wing would then toss him back into the air stream and off he would go again, until he tired. Once again the hawk would fly beneath him, give him a rest and then push him away. It was an amazing sight.

We were tucking that experience into our minds when we saw a sign for an historical site at a state park--Watson's Mill State Park. Being suckers for this sort of thing, we swung off the road and followed the winding road throughout the park. Suddenly we saw water. Now coming from Kansas where there are no natural lakes at all, and few of any kind, we were drawn to this one. We drove into a picnic area, got out the food and drinks, sat in the shade where the cool breeze off the lake (it was now 93 degrees) felt delicious. We read our books and listened to the swarms of kids splashing in the water at the beach just a little way down the shore. We saw a perfect place to kayak or canoe. It was sweet.

When we finally dragged ourselves away, we headed for the historical site, which turned out to be one of the many woolen mills which operated here mid-1800's, along with a gorgeous church and plantation house from that period. The mill is the only one with the original machinery still inside. It is a perfect place to see the effect of the industrial revolution on rural midwestern society. Unfortunately, we were late arriving, and we didn't have time to take the tours, but we will return to Watson's Mill--hopefully with with Andrew and Sara and Emma and Lucy in tow.

Then it was back on the road, to find the Amish settlement. To be honest, we had already had enough adventure to have called the day a success. Jamesport, however, was worth the few extra miles. Although there were people here trying to make money off the tourists, the town still had the air of authenticity--to say nothing of the farm air and its familiar smells. There were many original buildings, and lots of quilts, baskets, furniture, and baked good to go around.
We enjoyed our pieces of coconut cream and strawberry rhubarb pie along with some surprisingly delicious coffee. On the way home, we rode behind the black wagons , tried to avoid the piles of manure on the streets, and admired the neat and tidy farms with no electricity (the lines full of clothes blowing in the wind brought back memories of mom).
All in all, it was a delightful adventure, which will, I'm sure lead to many others.

2007-06-28T18:55:00.000-07:00

It's been raining in Kansas for two days! It's summer! This is not right, and it's messing up everything. The grass has been intending to die for some time now, and simply can't get to it. The pools, normally swarming with sweaty bodies, are empty. Walmart still has plants for sale and they are ALIVE! Although people are bummed about the canceled parties and fading tans, the bugs are happy. We have a bumper crop of mosquitoes and black biting flies and gnats, but especially the chiggers. For you Northerners, chiggers are insects whose tiny larvae crawl onto your ankles and up up your legs until they find a nice warm piece of flesh on which to gnaw and release their oily spit. They generally stop the migration when they meet a stretch of elastic or a waistband. Once they drop the bomb, they themselves drop off and die in the shower or inside your clothing. Why they bother to make the trip is beyond me, but the result of the oil deposited on your skin starts as an irritation after a day or so and develops into gigantic cyst-like welts that itch beyond description. Perhaps calculating the itch factor as 100 to one--one being a mosquito bite's itch potency--will help bring it home to you. How do I know? You guessed it. I carry the proof. I can't go swimming because I look like I have the plague on my legs, and I wouldn't be welcome in the pool. Oh, well, it's raining anyway. . .