McSane & the former Succubus

I am back, and am going to start posting regularly again since I took a hiatus from inviting you into the recesses of my mind...scary I know. So, I want to blog about something that has been burning within me for this week.

If you are like me, you have been watching with baited breath the dichotomy between the Democratic National Convention and the Republican National Convention. It's been very eye opening to see the stark contrast between the two events. In fact, this whole election so far has been polorizingly different extremes. You have one candidate that offers change and hope, and the other, well...he is a fear inducing veteran who continues to remind the American people just how rough he had it in the Hanoi Hilton. Well, you know just because you are a veteran, does not make you the best qualified person for the job. What it proves is an overzealous sense of militarism and patriotism. Makes anyone with an arm reach for a sick bag so they can fill the damn thing.

Now, my first impression of the RNC is all the empty seats in the arena. Look at the DNC....pretty much standing room only at that venue. When cameras scan back to reveal the emptiness of the arena, it's almost as if it relates well to the messages themselves spoken from the floor of that place. AND, does anyone see any striking diversity among the throngs of mostly white people? I don't. Well, ok, I see the occasional token black veteran, but can anyone see the difference between the diversity of people who were at the DNC compared to this circus known as the RNC? I mean, being from North Dakota, I can see the pale skinned resemblances I am used to, dotting the floor of the arena holding their signs up as if they will magically inspire me to come to the dark side. In fact, seeing such moronic advertising reaffirms why I am backing BO and JB.

Let's take Sarah Palin on for a second. It seems that career driven, power brokering, and politically backwoods, Red Man chewing women now have a hero. I am glad that she is a lifetime member of the NRA. That's alright. I am a member too. But, the difference between her and I is that, she actually believes in the political posturing the NRA attempts to provide for gun toting, rootin tootin shootin Americans. Me, I like to go and shoot rounds through paper plates with a 38 Special or a 9mm Glock. Maybe I like the challenge. Oh, and the NRA membership I have? It was a gift given to me. I am not sure I would pay for one to be honest. Anyway, I was appalled and shocked as the majority of Americans to hear that Grampy McSane had chosen Sarah Palin as his VP choice. Strange choice it is. It's like going to Wal-Mart, going to the pet section where all the fish tanks are, looking at the thousands of tiny goldfish swimming around, and telling the nice salesperson, you want that the orange one. Of all the viable candidates he could have chosen, he chooses this strange, unknown, awkward overextended mother of 5.

Now, I could care less if she's a mom or not. Nor could I care less about her NRA membership, or her former affiliation with a group that wanted to secede Alaska from the rest of the states. Nor do I care if she was mayor of a town of 8000. Nor do I care if she won the Governor of AK job by about 17k votes. Heck how many people are actually residents of AK that are close to a voting place? Figures right? Nor do I care that she is a former Roman Catholic (a recovering Catholic I call her or anyone who have left the RC church on account of reason alone) who is now a card carrying Pentecostal with strong roots to the Assembly of God denomination. It is widely known that she tends to know just what God's will really is as she plainly stated at her home church recently, "I think God's will has to be done in unifying people and companies to get that gas line built." Now, I am an ordained pastor and I don't even know God's will, nor do I suggest to know it, nor do I hint at it. I tend to realize that God is God and that's the way He prefers it. Nor do I think it ironic given her "Bible-believing" faith that she is an outright supporter of capital punishment. Hmmm...which looked at through the lens of faith, one has to ask, what does it cost our own sense of life when we are willing to take it as justification. Nor do I think that her stance on sex-education of which she supports abstinence only is any cause to be alarmed since we all know just how well that talk went considering her 17 year old daughter really didn't know what a condom was. Nor do I think it strange that only 3 days after giving birth to her second son this past April, did she feel the need to go back to work...you know, to govern the space that is Alaska. Nor do I care that her husband is a man's man, racing snowmobiles and hunting Reindeer. In fact, I bet he makes a mean deer sausage.

But, I do care about what qualifies her to be the next Vice President of our nation. You know the position I am talking about, that is, if Grampy McSane dies in office, that she takes the hot seat?!?! My God. What the hell was he thinking? What because she was a PTA organizer, the mayor of a small village, mother of five, and an infant governor of Alaska? Those are the qualifications of a VP? Yes, she is not a part of the DC elite...hell, I wouldn't want that type of person either. But, she has no track record to prove her competence of governance or GOVERNMENT to speak of. I want to know that if our president dies or is removed from office, we can be confident in the number two choice. It seems that the Repubs have really screwed this up since both Bushes took office. Why do they pick these out of touch, power driven people who could possibly run the country? What are they thinking?

Well, it seems they do not think for one. The Repubs run on fear...they control it, they broker it, they buy it, they sell it, and they have national conventions with speeches that are driven by it. And what it remarkable to me after watching Palin speak last night, was that she is lock stock and barrel, a part of that fear machine. She buys into it, she promotes it, and she tries to prove how in touch and tough she can be when it needs to be defeated. Oh, I love how she mentioned that BO had not mentioned once the word "victory" other than in relation to his own campaign. Well, let's be honest Mommy Dearest, there needs to be a fight with two clear cut opponents to garnish a victory. There is no war to be victorious about. This has not been about defeating an enemy in the right place. This war has been about defeating an enemy to fulfill some kind of agenda that the Bush machine drafted day one of the administration. In Iraq, there is no enemy to be victorious over. Go where we need to be, and start there. Victory? Victory for what and for whom? We as a nation? Because all I have heard is how many bodies we bring home to be buried all in the name of "freedom." Freedom and victory? Sarah Palin, you ask the mothers and fathers of those who had to bury their sons and daughters if the non-negotiable terms of freedom and victory are worth dying for? I bet, you would get a sobering answer that would wipe the smile off your face causing you to take back any frivolous use of the word victory of which you know nothing about.

This election is going to get interesting real fast. Watch for the spin, watch for the language, and watch for the tactics of the Repubs. They will work Palin as the female savior the Republican Party that will try and win votes to their side. That is the only reason they asked her to be the VP candidate...it somehow lures former Hillary supporters because she is a woman. Actually, she is another empty pantsuit like Hillary, but that's for another blog. More later...

Cut Me Off? You.... Ewww!

Let me clue you in on a specific type of person I live around who tries way too hard to be something they are most likely not. I was on my way home from the VA Hospital this afternoon, and I was close to the Mega-Campus that is UW, and as I was rounding the corner, a red little sportsy car cut me off. Now, generally I mentally flip people off...might not be good to actually do it, since my license plate is "1BADREV" So, I generally keep the finger down. But, as this car started to stop in front of me, I read the license plate, noted the make and model of the car, looked at the driver, and almost barfed. The car was a 2008 candy apple red Mercedes SLK280....it's a hardtop convertible, comfortably able to seat two skinny rich people. The woman driving it was probably in her mid-fifties, kinda chunky, but with bad hair. This hair was probably bought and paid for numerous times over because I doubt that she even knew what a curling iron is or does. She was wearing the expensive Gucci shades....how did I know this? Because of that ugly symbol on the bows of the sunglasses. But, that's not the worst part. The license plate on this "I need a boy-toy car" read "Prada." What kind of shallow, fake, pretentious person needs to advertise a brand that most of us cannot or choose to not afford in the first place? I mean, who in their right mind needs to tell the whole world about their love for some overpriced, ugly, and I do mean ugly, brand of crusty fashion accoutrements? Obviously, if someone is that dire for need of attention from the brand name she is obsessed about, is it any wonder she is telling the world just how shallow and pretentious her life really is? Middle aged women with bad hair and ugly sunglasses, who drive small sporty cars with arrogant and intentional markings of greed faceted to them, need to realize that all that cannot replace time they have lost, or the time they have left. Find happiness some other way, because it's obvious to the world you are advertising to, this way is not working, and it looks just plain desperate. More later...

I am now on Facebook. Yippee for me. I was resistent for a long time, simply because I figured I was already on Myspace, and then this monstrosity. So, I wasn't all that interested in maintaining another social thing. BUT, thanks to my wife who is addicted to Facebook, she got me hooked too. SO, now I have found friends that I haven't talked to in years, and that's just crazy. Anyway. Packing for Lifest today. Will be gone through Sunday afternoon. Kind of a lame lineup this year for Lifest...you'd think being it's their tenth anniversary, they'd have some decent acts. We'll see. I am taking three high school girls from our youth group with, so that in itself should be interesting to deal with. Anyway, pray I keep my sanity as it will be on edge. At least I will bring deodorant and a fine tent. More later...

This past weekend, we confirmed 16 of our crazy youth. The service was one of the best confirmation services I have been a part of. Because I think that for the most part, most of the students genuinely were excited that this was finally happening for them, and they worked hard to get to that point. Anyway, a mother of one of the students emailed me some photos of the service. My sermon title was "Faith or Flash?" in which I talked about hope that comes out of my faith, not because I have to get my faith right or have all the correct answers to it, but that I realize faith is simply trust. I began by asking why Jesus didn't have some sort of an advertising schtick to attract followers so that they could have hope. I asked, "Why didn't Jesus have something like say, a pair of these?" And I put those glasses on. They have a button on the earpiece and when you push it, lights come on, and they flash around the frame of the glasses. You can't really see the lights, but I assure you, they were on. This of course got huge laughs and reaction. After this service, I was asked by all sorts of people where I got those. Well, I borrowed them from my three and half year old, but he got them from Grandpa who happens to be a Shriner...he sent a box full of these little light-up gadgets that can make a normal person have seizures if you turn all of them on and stare at all of them at once! Anyway, this was one of the more fun sermons I have shared with not only the students but for all the weekend services as I got to preach this thing three times. By the 3rd time, I nailed it I think.

This picture shows my colleague and I simply laying hands on the students, asking God to guide them and bless them. This is an amazing part which I am always humbled to do each year for each student. It's hard to explain, but this symbol of blessing with the laying on of hands is a powerful symbol. I was ordained using this same method, but that the Bishop and numerous pastors, my parents, my wife...all laid their hands on me at once, and that was just indescribable. Anyway, I always feel privileged in moments like this to be able to participate in life-moments such as confirmation. All the work leading up to it is the kick in the pants for me, and the stressful stuff. It's as if I along with the students, work to get to this point every year. But, it's all worth it. It is moments like these that remind me why I enjoy and love what I do. More later...

I know, I know, it's been a month since my last post! Things happen, life gets busy, I get stressed out...the normal happenings of this time of year. Let's just say that I am thankful that confirmation is over. BUT, now that it's over, I have to begin thinking about next year, and I need to plan it all out by the end of June. I am feeling under the gun. So, let me offer some highlights from the past month for those of you keeping score at home:

* I passed my hunter safety education course. Yes, I can now go and hunt stuff. I mostly want to see if I can do it. I think I want to actually try for pheasants. Can you hunt those with a Howitzer? I hope so...

* We bought a shed to keep the snowblower and other outdoor tools of death, sweat, and pain. Yeah so what it sat in my garage for about three weeks after delivery. We finally put the stupid thing together this past weekend. I swear, you needed a degree in physics from MIT to construct it, but then again, I was a helluva Lego builder as a kid. So, it is up and killing the piece of grass I put it on. We went for the all plastic construction with built in floor. Very sweet!

* Went to Ikea a couple weeks back to buy our boy a new "bigboy" bed. Plus, I needed a sidetable and lamp for my office to go with my new office furniture (see April 11th post). Anyway, I swear to you...each time I go to Ikea, I think the greater Chicago area knows I am coming and they show up at the same time I do, just to piss me off. Wall to wall people is not my idea of enjoyment. I went because we needed to as Ikea has some great deal with the above said items. My boy now has this bed he will most likely keep at least until he grows past the 6'3'' range, and then we might have to invest in something else.

* I have been thinking about Bram ALOT lately. I was scanning the radio a few weeks back, and out of the blue, my scanner stopped at this random station, and then and there, The Cure came on. I sang along of course. I was then thinking about Bram the other day I as I was downloading Prince "Lovesexy." He loved that album. We both had that thing memorized...Bram even would imitate all the damn instrument parts....that was funny as hell. I got a DVD from his parents a week or so ago...this is the same DVD that we all watched at the college the day before his funeral. I finally worked myself up to watch it today and pretty much cried through the whole thing. Between the music and the photos of Bram, it is such a great tribute to him. Anyway, I have been thinking how much I miss him, and how much I wish he was still around. I have been somewhat depressed because of all that. I hate feeling this way, because I thought most of my grieving was done. But, I guess not...

* On a lighter note, there have been some great CDs released lately that I have been tossing around in the Ipod:

Dokken - Lightning Strikes Again











The Seventh Power - Dominion & Power

Rush - Snakes and Arrows Live

Joe Satriani - Professor Satchafunkilus and the Musterion of Rock









Well, that's about it for now. Lots going on with me. I feel like my life just needs to slow the hell down. I feel like I am missing some important parts of it. I just wish that I could throw out the stress caused by weddings, confirmation planning, preaching planning, countless meetings, and not being able to spend the time I need to for my family. That's what is getting me lately (yes, this is my pissing match with me). Help. More later...