Francis Collins at Stanford

Frances Collins, the director of the Human Genome Project, spoke at an InterVarsity sponsored event at Stanford recently.

“As we study the DNA of our organisms, we are looking at the language of God,” Dr. Collins said. You may care to read the whole thing.

Regarding Collins' religious views, this is from the Wiki bio, to which I link in the first link above:

In Collins' book The Language of God: A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief (published in July 2006), he considers scientific discoveries an "opportunity to worship." In his book Collins examines and subsequently rejects creationism and Intelligent Design. His own belief system is Theistic Evolution (TE) which he prefers to term BioLogos. BioLogos rests on the following premises: (1) The universe came into being out of nothingness, approximately 14 billion years ago, (2) Despite massive improbabilities, the properties of the universe appear to have been precisely tuned for life, (3) While the precise mechanism of the origin of life on earth remains unknown, once life arose, the process of evolution and natural selection permitted the development of biological diversity and complexity over very long periods of time, (4) Once evolution got under way no special supernatural intervention was required, (5) Humans are part of this process, sharing a common ancestor with the great apes, (6) But humans are also unique in ways that defy evolutionary explanation and point to our spiritual nature. This includes the existence of the Moral Law (the knowledge of right and wrong) and the search for God that characterizes all human cultures throughout history.

We've looked at this before, especially by means of the link to the article by Cardinal Dulles, wherein he writes, in part:

Catholics who are expert in the biological sciences take several different positions on evolution. As I have indicated, one group, while explaining evolution in terms of random mutations and survival of the fittest, accepts the Darwinist account as accurate on the scientific level but rejects Darwinism as a philosophical system. This first group holds that God, eternally foreseeing all the products of evolution, uses the natural process of evolution to work out his creative plan. Following Fred Hoyle, some members of this group speak of the “anthropic principle,” meaning that the universe was “fine-tuned” from the first moment of creation to allow the emergence of human life.

A recent example of this point of view may be found in Francis S. Collins’ 2006 book, The Language of God. Collins, a world-renowned expert on genetics and microbiology, was reared without any religious belief and became a Christian after finishing his education in chemistry, biology, and medicine. His professional knowledge in these fields convinced him that the beauty and symmetry of human genes and genomes strongly testifies in favor of a wise and loving Creator. But God, he believes, does not need to intervene in the process of bodily evolution. Collins holds for a theory of theistic evolutionism that he designates as the BioLogos position.

Although Collins is not a Catholic, he approvingly refers to the views of John Paul II on evolution in the 1996 message to the Pontifical Academy of Sciences. He builds on the work of the Anglican priest Arthur Peacock, who has written a book with the title Evolution: The Disguised Friend of Faith. He quotes with satisfaction the words of President Bill Clinton, who declared at a White House celebration of the Human Genome Project in June 2000: “Today we are learning the language in which God created life. We are gaining ever more awe for the complexity, the beauty, and the wonder of God’s most divine and sacred gift.”

Theistic evolutionism, like classical Darwinism, refrains from asserting any divine intervention in the process of evolution. It concedes that the emergence of living bodies, including the human, can be accounted for on the empirical level by random mutations and survival of the fittest.

But theistic evolutionism rejects the atheistic conclusions of Dawkins and his cohorts. The physical sciences, it maintains, are not the sole acceptable source of truth and certitude. Science has a real though limited competence. It can tell us a great deal about the processes that can be observed or controlled by the senses and by instruments, but it has no way of answering deeper questions involving reality as a whole. Far from being able to replace religion, it cannot begin to tell us what brought the world into existence, nor why the world exists, nor what our ultimate destiny is, nor how we should act in order to be the kind of persons we ought to be.

So long, and thanks for all the help!

Mom and Dad just left Austin for the M-I-A-Yo. We were sad to see them go, as they were so very helpful with Honor. Especially since I've been sick for what seems like months between allergies and colds.

So, thanks very much Mom and Dad!

We're so grateful for our folks: first Kellsey's mom helped with week 1, and my folks for week 2.

(And now, Dana will be arriving to help us make it through week three post Appendectomy.)

Srsly

Wingo

New Camera

Remember when our old one was stolen? Bought a new Canon EOS Rebel off Ebay. Tried it out today. As Sean notes, I like shiny and new (to me) things!

Valentines Leftovers (from Dad to Mom)


Pulp Science Fiction


Hey! Uncle!


Hey!!!! UNCLE!


Look at me!



Kells did all the research and winning at Ebay. Naturally!

Really, Really Outrageous

Our Saudi "friends" attempt a number on the Brits. Thanks for the link, Glenn Reynolds. (And I hope Glenn is right.)

In Austin this Weekend

Carol and I are in Austin this weekend. In a way, we stepped out of our own whirlwind into two others! Right now I'm at Macon and Kellsey's house, all by myself. Macon is at work, Aidan is at pre-school, and Kellsey and Carol took Honor to a scheduled doctor's visit. In a few minutes, Walter will pick me up for lunch, and Morgan's mother, Mickie will be there! That will be fun. We just need the Sewells and Mike and Mary and it would be perfect. But it is still very, very good!

Macon picked me up at the airport yesterday and then we drove to meet Kellsey, Aidan, Honor, and Carol at a restaurant named "Fred's". Very, very Austin. Kind of run-down, but not really run-down. Not a bit of glitz. None. The waitresses wore black t-shirts that had messages on the back, such as, for example. "Fred Happens". (Fred must be a character.) It has an indoor restaurant, that looked a little like the outside of Shorties at home, but we ate outdoors under some oak trees and on picnic tables. The area had a big playground thing for the little kids, and there were a lot of them there with their moms and some dads, who were eating lunch too. It made my heart sing to see so many little children. It was a beautiful day, in the low 70s.

Aidan and Honor have grown, of course, since we saw them last. Aidan is three and seems very, very articulate for such a little one. Macon and Kellsey talk to him almost as if he were an adult, and that I think shows. They are pretty firm with him, and he is having growing pains. I admire them for the way they help him discipline himself, but it still breaks my heart to see him unhappy and their having to help him behave propertly. That's the grandparent in me, of course. I am proud of the way they deal with their children, and of course proud of them.

Walter and Morgan came to Macon and Kellsey's house for supper with us last night. They are waiting for the next shoe to fall on their adoption proceedings. Who else but the US government is standing in the way here, courtesy of our immigration "service". Really, really, the people who think the federal government has the answers should get a life. The same view that the "the Federal Government Saves", showing us how by building a nation top down in Iraq, is the same view that states that the main immigration solution is to keep people out, even if they are orphans from Ethiopia heading for middle-class couples in Austin. What puzzles me is how the Democrats, so critical of our involvement in Iraq and with the immigration mess, can turn around and promise that the Federal Government will solve the health care problem, the public education problem, and whatever else ails this country. We know who "saves" and it is not the government, Federal, State, Local.

See, I get time to rant.

Signing off for now.

Secretary of Defense Gates Speaks

Why isn't this man running for President? Thanks, Thomas P. M. Barnett. I think if I were recruiting for the kind of foreign service people the need for which Secretary Gates describes so convincingly, I would turn to the "dynasty families" (second, third, soon fourth generation missionaries), large and small, that I got a glimpse of as a result of my exposure to Africa Inland Mission through Mary's work.

Ready, Set, Go!

Mary accepted to Bryn.

"Daddy, is this an adventure?!?"

More from the Stocks' newsletter:

* Kids Home * We had a great time with the kids over Christmas and early January, despite the unrest. They have a great attitude and took things in stride. At one point, Jodie, after we had hustled into the house to escape the chasing mob, asked, "Daddy, is this an adventure?!?"

By the way, these are the same Stocks that I mentioned last year in connection with the murder of missionaries in Kenya. Mary refers to the extended Stock family as a "dynasty family", of which there are several such families that extend out from Kenya.

Been There

Report from Pakistan

Paul and Pat Stock are missionaries in Pakistan and friends of the Lahmeyers. Van forwards us the Stocks' newsletter. Here is an excerpt from the latest:


Dr. Reginald freed Last month we wrote to our prayer partners who are on email with an urgent request for prayer for Dr. Reginald, a Pakistani Christian doctor friend, who was kidnapped by the Taliban on December 8th along with his Muslim driver. He is a skilled surgeon and the Director of the Christian Hospital in Bannu, an area where the Taliban have a stronghold. They were driven blindfolded for about 8 hours into the mountains bordering on Afghanistan. For 25 days they were kept in a windowless room and given poor food and dirty water. In spite of this neither of them became ill. Frequently Dr. Reginald was pressured to become a Muslim. Finally he asked, "Where in the Koran does it say to force people to convert to Islam?"

After that they changed their tactics and demanded that he write all donors to his hospital and ask for over a million dollars ransom. Under pressure he wrote the letter but assured them the money would not be sent. The letter was sent to Taliban headquarters. They recognized him as the doctor who had treated their wounded at various times. They wrote back telling his captors to release him. They delayed in obeying hoping to get ransom money. Amazingly, on Jan. 2nd the Taliban returned all personal effects they had taken from them and drove them back to the hospital gate, without receiving any ransom. Dr. Reginald said those 25 days with God were priceless. He had time to repent and to enjoy God's forgiveness and loving presence. He also had time to fully present the gospel to his Muslim driver who was greatly upset at what was being done to them in the name of Islam. Pray that the driver will come to saving faith. Pray their Taliban captors will start to doubt their own faith in the face of the strength and forgiveness they saw in Reginald. Pray for Dr. Reginald and his wife Dr. Rebecca as they give their testimony about this experience with others, and plan to continue their service at Banu Hospital.

Hello on Saturday morning!

Mary has three new posts up. What a treat! She had trouble sleeping Saturday night (where would she get that?), but that's our gain.

The last of the three posts describes her conversation with a seller at the Maasi market. It shows how she and the seller became people to each other, stepping out of the role of seller and buyer (which are fierce roles at that market, Mary no less than the Kenyan, I can tell you), over to that of person and person, and then back to buyer and seller but buyer and seller transformed. It reminds me of a story from my working for Jack Hunter, a fine lawyer from Raleigh, during the summer between my first and second years of law school.

Jack, a litigator who practiced "solo" (not really solo - he had a great legal secretary), had a case representing some black people who were injured when their car, traveling in rural Eastern NC, had a wreck when two mules ran across the highway in front of them. Letting one's mules loose was against the law, and my job was to drive to the tobacco growing area where this happened and find some witnesses. Jack said to get up early and see if I could find people going out into the fields, especially farmers, who might have seen or heard something.

He gave this advice: "Don't walk up to someone, introduce yourself as working for me in Raleigh, and start asking your questions. Greet the person in a friendly way, talk about the weather, talk about the crops, talk about the tractor, tell them your name, and begin to get into the question of the accident only after all of that."

OK. So here I am. I pull off the road in my car, when I see a farmer sitting on a tractor out in a field. I have on a coat and tie, wingtips, the uniform, you know. And I walk out between the tobacco rows, and as I approach the farmer (he has seen me, by this time), I say something like "Hello, beautiful day. Has it been this way all week? . . . . This tobacco looks really healthy (!) . . . Have you started picking any of the leaves yet? . . . Etc." He joins in the conversation. He in his overalls sitting on his tractor, I in my city clothes, both talking like we were just standing there waiting for a bus. Then, finally, I ask him if he heard about the accident. "Yessir, you mean that car full of n******s than ran into those mules?" "Yes, sir," I said, "it's too bad, because of couple of those folks were hurt and have been in the hospital." And then we spoke in earnest. (His use of the N word was not unfriendly. This was a different world in 1969, at least in that place.)

What I was trying to find out is if he knew that the mules belonged to Farmer X, which he did, and whether he had ever seen them running loose before. The second question was important, because there was no absolute liability standard for an owner whose livestock causes an accident. There needed to be some proof that the owner did not do a good job of keeping his property fenced, and evidence that people had seen these mules running loose before was admissible on the subject of the owner's negligence.

Anyway, the farmer was forthcoming, courteous, and helpful. But as he had to prepare his fields to receive the tobacco seed to have any hope of a good crop, I had to show him a human being behind the suit, a human being who recognized another human being who happened to be sitting on a tractor, wearing bib-overalls.

This "cutting to the chase" idea, so popular with people who measure out hours and minutes as if they are precious gold (see the second of Mary's new posts) is really not so effective and efficient, whether one is Nairobi, in eastern North Carolina, or, for that matter, in Miami.

Lighting Up Africa

From Popular Mechanics.

Mini-Cars: Being Smart About It

The WSJ is now free in substantial part. Tuesday's issue had an article on mini-cars either already on or soon to hit the market. These cars are/will be great on gas. But they will also be a little pricey, if one is looking for some style. Finally, there is this:

The factor that is perhaps most likely to keep potential buyers away from mini cars is the worry that they won't hold up in a crash, particularly if they collide with a larger vehicle. A spokesman with the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety says the death rate for mini cars is 106 fatalities per million registered vehicles, more than double the 41 fatalities per million for very large models like the Lincoln Town Car.

Makers of small cars say the cars are designed to be as safe as possible in collisions. Smart's [Smart fortwo pictured above] marketing tackles the crashworthiness question directly. Smart dealerships even have the fortwo's frame on display without body panels to show the "safety cell" where passengers sit and energy-absorbing bumpers called "crash boxes." [Also above. I know it's confusing with actually two pictures above, but the crash box is in the picture without the driver.] The Smart hasn't been crash-tested yet, but the Insurance Institute plans to do so in the next month or two.

The Insurance Institute says cars in this category aren't good choices for drivers concerned mainly about safety. There are several fuel-efficient larger cars that offer far better occupant protection with only a small decrease in fuel efficiency.

"All cars have gotten safer, but you can't get away from the laws of physics," says Adrian Lund, president of the institute. "There's just less car there to protect you."

It seems to me that if you are making an economic analysis, where you would, of course, include price and gasoline costs over the useful life of the car, you must also assign a cost factor to the mortality and injury risk that you assume when you buy a car.

Maybe that would be all the market needed to deal with this question - requiring that on the sticker, there be a cost assigned to the mortality/injury risk, just as we now require some sort of MPG rating.

Beyond that, it may be that heavier cars ought to bear some extra expense burden, maybe in the form of taxes of some sort, in addition to the higher gasoline costs which they already face, to take into consideration the risk those cars present to others. Perhaps their manufacture should simply be limited. I know this sounds like anti-market heresy, but there you are. I'm still a Democrat.

Meanwhile, I'm driving the larger automobiles.

Good Commentary on the Republican Infighting (and some of my own)

From Instapundit. (Thanks, Carol.)

From what I read about McCain's abrasive personality, I think the real key here is that he ticked so many people off during his long political career. George Smathers, the Senator from FL from 1952 to 1970, told me once, "Paul, it really doesn't matter what people do to you, as long as they are nice about it."

I know that sounds a little extreme, but it captures the importance of being nice to people, even when you disagree with them and even if they are not very nice to you. Smathers was a terrific politician and, for the law firm and himself, a great rain-maker. He was also a crafty individual who loved money, power, and adulation, and was able to acquire a measure of each that few people are able to acquire (or care to acquire).

My sense is that McCain never learned that lesson. Maybe his crankiness helped him survive the Hanoi Hilton, but maybe it made it tougher. But certainly the Senate was not the place for being unkind, and now the chickens are coming home to roost, perhaps to the detriment of the country.

Connectivity

From the hospital room:



A blessing and a curse in general. The past 36 hours: a blessing.

Kellsey is now appendix free!

Sunday AM Kells started feeling a bit icky, but being the trooper that she is, she thought she'd just shake it off. So Sunday afternoon she took Aidan for a walk in the stroller, and carried Honor in the bjorn. After that walk, she had a pain in the right side of her abdomen, but thought she'd just pulled a muscle.

Monday, around 4pm, I got the call at work, "Come home. We need to go to the ER." Walter, who was about 5 ft away at the time was willingly shang-hi-ed into following me home to stand watch on the kiddos.

Monday night she went into surgery around midnight and we hope that we'll be able to go home this afternoon.

No picking up anything heavier than 10lbs for 4 weeks, though. Which includes 20lb Honor.

So that's a bummer. But Honor can sleep on the floor: it's carpeted.

MarsEdit Testing

Yes, I realize I've kind of fallen off the map in terms of posting. So I'm experimenting with a blogging program for the Mac called MarsEdit.

Among other things, I can create/edit posts offline, and I can post here, Undependent, a personal blog I'm experimenting with over at VOX, and an internal company blog.

Daring Fireball, one of my super favorite blogs, digs MarsEdit.

And since I can try it out for 30 days with no charge, seems like a good deal to me.

"Deep Seeded"?

I saw this phrase used in a writing recently. The writer was referring to something deeply felt. I had always thought the phrase was "deep-seated". I am correct, apparently, and the writer is mistaken.

Steve Peifer and the Policeman

I have posted before on Steve Piefer and his ministry in Kenya. Among the things he has done is to have organized a school lunch program for many schools in Kenya. During the recent troubles, getting food to the schools has been a big problem. He reported this to those of us on his email list:

We have been trying hard to get the food to the schools. Margaret, the Kenyan woman who administers the School Lunch program, asked me to go with her to Muchorui, one of the nine schools we have just been able to add to the feeding program; we are up to 34 schools and 15,000 thousand children fed a day. Thank you for what you have done.

She asked me to go with her because, although she is adept at dodging riots and problems, there was one policeman that she couldn’t get past. He was insistent that she couldn’t pass his checkpoint without giving him nine bags of maize.

I’ve had several bad experiences with police in Kenya. Once I was delivering food and they told us they were going to arrest us; they explained that we would need to drive them to the police station, where they would process our paperwork, and then I would drive them back to their checkpoint. Then, I would drive myself back to the jail so they could put me in jail. Another time I picked up a drunken police officer who amused himself by pointing his rifle at the back of my head.

I wasn’t anxious to do this. But sometimes you just need to have a showdown with the worst of yourself and face your fears. I went with her and met the policeman.

Policeman: You must give me nine bags before you are permitted to pass.
Me: Why?
Policeman: Because you have stolen it.
Me: Here is the bill of sale.
Policeman: I will not allow you to pass until you pay me nine bags of maize.
Me: I will do it if you do one thing for me.
Policeman: What is it?
Me: You must go with me to the school and pick out 40 children who will not be fed because of what you have done. You tell me which 40 do not deserve food, and I will give you the bags.
Policeman: I will do it.
At this point, he stopped and said `I cannot make that choice.’
Me: Neither can I.
Policeman: You can go.
So we went and the children were so happy. Prices have increased so much that many of these kids will only eat what is provided at the school.

(Want to help? Here's the link to Steve's website that deals with the food program.)

Another RVA Correspondent

A dorm parent's "Postcard from Kenya."

And word from Mary, if you didn't already see it.

More on Convervatives and McCain

It is understandable to lament the absence of conservative purity, but ahistorical to suggest that any recent Republican president would have met any of the litmus tests now demanded, given the dependency of the middle class on entitlements and its touchy-feely worldview. Victor Davis Hanson

But the other point of view.

MORE: Good article on McCain in the conservative Weekly Standard.

EVEN MORE: Victor Davis Hanson discusses each candidate. Did you know that both McCain and Thompson are cancer survivors? Thompson had/has lymphoma. He has a beautiful wife. I didn't know we had so much in common.

Me too; this time from Kenya!

8 things I'm passionate about:

1. Seeking first the Kingdom of God
2. My family
3. My friends
4. New things and new ideas (I am my father's daughter)
5. Kenya
6. My students
7. Beautiful places
8. Cooking for my family and friends and students (I am my mother's daughter, too)

8 things I want to do before I die:

1. Fall in love and get married
2. Run a marathon
3. Become a doctor
4. Climb Mt. Kilimanjaro
5. See more of Africa
6. Have more adventures
7. Hang out more with my wonderful family
8. Pray more

8 things I say often:

1. Hi, how are you? or Habari?
2. I'm fine, thank you. or Mzuri.
3. Hodee (this is the kikuyu way to say "Hi, is anyone home? I'm coming in!")
4. Hello my wonderful students.
5. Hey guys, please be quiet.
6. I love coffee.
7. I'm tired.
8. Oh my.

8 [books I've recently read] (I changed this one since I really don't have a TV to watch here):

1. The Great Gatsby, by F. S. Fitzgerald (this one for English class)
2. Busman's Honeymoon, by Dorothy Sayers
3. When the Crocodile Eats the Sun, by Peter Godwin
4. The 2 1/2 Pillars of Wisdom, by Alexander McCall Smith
5. The Kiterunner (can't remember the guy who wrote it--but it's the one you're thinking of)
6. Left to Tell, by Immaculee Ilibagiza
7. Have his Carcase, by Dorothy Sayers (a prequel to #2)
8. Middlemarch, by George Eliot

Songs I could listen to over and over (or the most listened to songs on my itunes) (this would be a good playlist formy funeral, by the way--not that I'm planning on that happening anytime soon, of course--I've still got to do those 8 things listed above :)

1. Love and Peace or Else, U2
2. All These Things I've Done, The Killers
3. Psalm 131, Waterdeep
4. Vivir Sin Aire, Mana
5. Blessed To Be a Witness, Ben Harper and Ladysmith Black Mambazo
6. Into the West, Annie Lenox (LOTR soundtrack)
7. Blessed Be Your Name, Matt Redman
8. At the Moment, Stavesacre

8 Things that attract me to my best friends:

1. They're interested in really getting to know me
2. I'm interested in really getting to know them
3. They're passionate about some or all of the things listed above
4. We can hang out and talk, and especially laugh, for hours, peferctly content
5. There's something a little different about them--it's hard to say exactly what it is; I had a friend who called this "mustard"--something that definitely runs counter to the mainstream or expected
6. Their lives aren't all about themselves
7. They're not too picky
8. I feel completely at ease in their presence

8 Things I have been reminded of this past year:

1. God's faithfulness
2. God's mercy and grace
3. How wonderful my parents are
4. How blessed we are in the US to have a democratic system which really does work quite well
5. I love learning
6. I love new experiences
7. I love helping people
8. I love not always having a schedule or structure in my days

8 People I think should do "8":

See post below.

Kellsey Tagged Me

OK. Let's see here:

8 Things I'm Passionate About

1. Carol
2. My family
3. Being a Christian
4. Having time to myself
5. Order
6. New things and new ideas
7. Carol's cooking
8. My friends

8 Things I Want to Do Before I Die

1. Go camping in the Blue Ridge Mountains during the Spring
2. See a jaw dropping miracle and know that's what I'm seeing
3. Read the Great Books
4. Play golf well enough not to be embarrased
5. Learn to cook
6. Speak Spanish
7. Write something useful or entertaining or both
8. Get my work done

8 Things I say Often

Not sure here what to do. Does this include what one would say to himself and not to others? Or only to others? I will include both. And as there are two Pauls, I am not sure for whom I should be talking, so I will include both here as well.

1. Carol, you are a marvelous cook person!
2. Thank you so much, Lord! Thank you!
3. If I get under my desk, will they be able to find me?
4. Where did I put (a) my keys, (b) the remote, (c) my wallet, (d) my watch (e) etc.
5. Shoot!
6. I'm sorry. That was Bad Paul. I'm Good Paul. I try to keep Bad Paul in the closet but he will get out, especially toward the end of the work week. So, on his behalf, I'm sorry.
7. God help us! (I inherited this from Juanita.)
8. I'm going to bed.

8 TV Shows I Recently Watched

I don't watch much TV. I saw most of the NFL playoff games. I saw a couple episodes of Terminator. I'm watching Walter and Morgan's set of the first two seasons of West Wing. That's it.

Songs I Could Listen to Over and Over

Very few, actually, especially on an over and over basis. Very few on Kellsey's list ring a bell at all. I'm just not in the loop. Sad, isn't it? My mind goes to arias and other classical pieces, some songs from the sixties, and a few Crash Dog pieces. But beyond that I strike out here. Sorry.

Things that Attract Me to My Best Friends.

1. They put up with me. This is a great mystery and, actually, a jaw dropping miracle.
2. They have a positive outlook.
3. They ask me about my family. And its OK if they tell me about their's first. But they do ask about my family.
4. They agree with me reasonably and disagree with me reasonably.
5. They take my belief in God and his Son and the Holy Spirit seriously, even if they reject those beliefs totally.
6. They are humble and they are self-confident.
7. If they are younger, they treat me with a certain deference. That doesn't mean that a younger person needs to agree with me, of course.
8. They are not so "other directed" in the Riesman sense. They have ideas that run against the popular culture, not for the sake of running against it but because those ideas are well grounded. Their house is built on the rock.

8 Things I have Learned (or been reminded of) this year.

Already? Its just been a month.

1. Bad Paul and Good Paul are the same, and I am responsible for both of them. Sigh.
2. I have to delegate, but in delegating I cannot disconnect from the task. Delegation is not getting rid of responsibility. It transforms responsibility. Shoot!
3. Reading the Bible every day is just so, so helpful.
4. If you eat too much, you gain weight.
5. I need one day off a week. Period. Let's see what to call it? Sabbath maybe.
6. Carol is so beautiful.
7. I don't deserve these blessings. God is tough, but God is merciful and a font of Grace. I haven't the slightest idea why. He simply defines love. Jaw dropping.
8. I can't keep up with things.

8 People I think should do "8"

1. Those on Kellsey's list
2. Sean
3-8 Guys from Friday morning breakfast. (Let me know if you will do this, and I will add you to the list of folks who can post on this blog.)

Thanks, Kellsey!

Friday Morning Bible Study Breakfast at Grunberg's

Left to right: Brad, Austin, Paul, Sam and Russ. (Missing Hank, Rick, and Rob.)

Friday Night Under the Lights

Last night Carol and I went to Milander Stadium to watch the girls soccer team from Miami Springs Senior High play Lourdes in the Class 6A Regional Tournament. Last year Springs lost a heartbreaker to Lourdes in the same tournament when Lourdes tied them in the waning minutes of the game and then beat them on penalty kicks. But last night, Springs blasted Lourdes 3-0, two of the scores being made by Abby Carr, my friend Austin's younger daughter.

This is the first time I had seen Abby play, but through Austin, the community newspaper, the Miami Herald and word of mouth from others, I have been following her soccer career for several years. Only a sophomore and actually a year younger than her grade level, she has already achieved recognition county and state-wide as an outstanding soccer player. Last year she was All-Dade, first team - as a freshman. So last night I got a chance to see her.

Amazing. I wish I had the knowledge of soccer to be able to describe what I saw accurately, but I'll do the best I can.

The first thing I noticed about her is her field presence. She doesn't seem to spend any unnecessary energy. From her position as a forward, she seems to know just where to be on the field and moves there quietly and efficiently, watching the play intently. Then quickly she moves to the point where she thinks the ball will travel, and usually gets control of the ball and takes it or sends it where she wants it to go a good part of the time. And she moves with remarkable fluidity and grace, again with evident purpose, intelligently.

Her first score came off a foul committed against her as she was driving toward the goal. Her penalty kick sailed over the heads of the wall and then the goalie: a perfect arc into the net. The second kick was a free kick from the edge of the penalty box. As Abby again drove for a score, the goalie dove for the ball right at the edge of the penalty box, and as the goalie fell, taking Abby down with her, the goalie touched the ball with her hand just outside the box, so it was a hand ball.

It must have seemed to the Lourdes players that what followed would be a penalty kick, but it was a free kick. In other words, the refs would not stop the action until the defense got into position as the refs would do on a penalty kick. Maybe it looked like a penalty to the Lourdes players. But Abby astutely and immediately put the ball right down on the ground and kicked it into the goal. The Lourdes team was scattered all over the field and wasn't ready. Shame on them, but it reflected the sort of smart move that characterizes Abby's play.

That second goal broke the back of the other side - the third point scored by the daughter of the Miami Springs Mayor was very near the end of the game and icing on the cake. Abby had a number of other shots on goal that showed her quickness and phenomenal accuracy.

Carol and I sat with Austin in the stands. The first half of the game, we were on the Lourdes side, because it put us at the end of the field where Abby was playing. Behind us were several men, watching the game and commenting, Lourdes fans. They started talking about Abby's play not long after the game started - she was playing right in front of us there. And their remarks were full of respect and admiration. The three of us heard those remarks of course. What a joy the whole thing must be for Austin.

It was fun to be at Milander Stadium again. This is the field for Hialeah High School, my alma matter (Class of '64), and I saw a bunch of high school games there. This also the home field for Miami Springs Senior High, so we saw many more football games there, as our children moved through that school. (But never soccer games, curiously.) Milander looks much the same, except the field is now some sort of astroturf. Austin said that the ball rolls faster of that surface.

It didn't seem to bother Abby.

I've Been Tagged

My friend Katy has tagged me. So, here are my things of 8:

8 Things I am passionate about:
1. The Trinity
2. Scripture
3. My husband and children
4. The rest of my family
5. My friends
6. Rich and full stories
7. Helping soon-to-be-new-moms get ready for their babies
8. Fuzzi Bunz and Bum Genius 2.0 All-in-One Diapers

8 Things I want to do before I die...
1. See my children grow up
2. get the toddler totes I designed actually made and maybe sold
3. Go to Italy with my husband on a romantic getaway
4. Sleep until I can sleep no more, instead of waking up at 5:15 every morning with my daughter
5. Paint every room in my house a different color
6. Grow into a more disciplined spiritual life
7. Maybe get my counseling license...but I am not really sure that I REALLY want that....we'll have to wait and see
8. I can't think of anything else here....ummmmm, hmmmmm....eat more nutella?

8 Things I say often...
1. Good job!
2. Stop Whining and use your words nicely please
3. I completely understand
4. I love you so
5. I love you even when I am angry or frustrated
6. All ahoo **
7. I'm sorry
8. I forgive you

(Sheesh! Can you tell I am the mother of a 3 year old?)
** this one is because I am on book 15 out of 20 of the Aubrey/Maturin series--by patrick o'bryan--a british naval historical fiction series based in the Napoleonic Era.

8 TV Shows I have recently watched...
1. Stargate Atlantis
2. Flash Gordon
3. Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (Don't know if I'll stick with this one or not)
4. Backyardigans (a Nick Jr. show)
5. Blue's Clues
6. Man, with the writers on strike this is it, although usually I would be watching Grey's Anatomy, Lost, and maybe Private Practice as well

8 Songs I could listen to over and over...
1. Thanksgiving--George Winston on piano
2. A Woman's Work--Kate Bush
3. Homesick--The Kings of Convenience
4. How to Save a Life--the Fray
5. I'll Fly Away--as done by Alison Kraus
6. Resplendent--BIll Mallonee and the Vigilantes of Love
7. Redemption Day--Sheryl Crow
8. Don't Give Up--Peter Gabriel

8 Things that attract me to my best friends...
1. love of Jesus
2. genuineness
3. vulnerability
4. honesty
5. self-awareness
6. laughter
7. healthy boundaries
8. a deep appreciation of the silly things in life

8 Things I have learned (or been reminded of) this past year...
1. Parenting is it's own spiritual discipline
2. God loves me deeply
3. God is patient, so so patient
4. the importance of laughter, especially when you'd rather scream
5. the importance of washing cloth diapers by the second day (and not letting them sit for too long...phew!)
6. how much of a rest it is for my soul to sit down and immerse myself in a good book
7. That I am not enough for anyone else, even for my children (or perhaps especially!)
8. That I am not responsible for how others respond and can only change myself and my reactions

8 People I think should do "8"
1. Macon
2. Paul
3. Carol
4. Mary
5. Walter
6. Scott
7. Lindsay C.
8. Emilie W.

Another Florida Election Scandal!

I had earlier reported that I had changed by mail my registration from Democrat to Republican, so that I could vote in the Florida Republican primary. However, when I arrived to vote on Tuesday, the voter roll there still showed me to be a Democrat and nothing could be done. So I voted as a Democrat.

Intellectually, I was disappointed. But in my heart . . .

McCain vs. Conservatives

I'm glad to see, finally, that some conservatives in the blogosphere are questioning the doom and gloom attitude of their movement regarding McCain. (See various recent posts and links on Instapundit.)

Having been a voter for 40+ years, I can tell you that the Republican Conservative movement only once had a Presidential candidate who won, and that was Reagan. And during that time, they only had one other Presidential nominee, Barry Goldwater. In fact, start at the end of WWII and you still have to wait until Reagan to get a conservative in the White House. And I would suggest that the people elected him more on the basis of his communication skills and the weakness of the Democratic nominees than on ideology.

What hubris that the conservatives believe that they somehow own the Republican party and that now its been stolen. They never did. They never will. I like this comment to which Glenn Reynolds linked. I think it summed up what the conservative movement needs to do.

Ouch!

Camille Paglia on Hillary.

McCain and a Poke in the Eye

Mark Steyn thinks about jumping out of a window.

Orwellian Rhetoric in the "War on Terrorism"

On Anti-Islamic activity in Britain.

The 247 lb. Vegan?!

Tony Gonzalez of the Kansas City Chiefs.

Joint Task Force Horn-of-Africa

Good to know they've been there. (Thanks, Thomas P.M. Barnett.) (And, Congratulatons, Sean!)

Kenyans in the Miami Marathon

"Just this past Tuesday [in Kenya], fellow runner Wesley Ngetich, 34, who won the 2007 Grandma's Marathon in Duluth, Minn., was fatally shot with an arrow.".

Sweet Sweet Smile

While Macon is busy posting about skiing with Aidan, I thought I would throw in a couple of photos of the girl. Even sick, she has a sweet sweet smile!

Aidan On Ice

I'm on vacation. Remember last time?

Today Aidan took his first trip on skis. His Papa (Kellsey's Dad) coached him, and I walked along beside him. (Kells was the photographer.) Aidan did really well, though I have no idea if he'll want to do any more skiing until next year.


No skiing for me anymore. Just the board. I like only having to worry about two edges, instead of four.

Good-Bye, Sarah Connor

I watched my third and last episode of the Terminator series Monday night. For the same reason I stopped watching Heroes two years ago, I am letting Sarah go. The reason is the graphically obscene way the show deals with human bodies, not in the pornographic sense, but in the sense of gore and mutilation. Even my senses, dulled as they are by the staged violence of the media for 60+ plus years, found what I saw on Monday just too repelling. I reacted the same way that I reacted to the cadavers that were all over Heroes by its second or third episode. (And, for that matter, to the images in Sin City.)

When we consider that our corporeal selves are the image of God, should we voluntarily expose ourselves to such contrived and violated images?

Ah, Miami!

This morning I went by the little food/coffee stand in our lobby. Its refrigerated display includes some little Jello cups, and I decided to get one because my stomach has been giving me a little trouble the last few days and I'm eating carefully.

It was busy and noisy, and when the saleslady got to me I asked for some "Orange Jello". She bent down and brought up a bottled orange drink. "No", I said, "orange Jello", and pointed to a row of little cups at the bottom of the cabinet. "Oh," she said, "Yello. That's Yello." "OK," I smiled, "Yello", and I got it.

Tom Sowell on the Primaries

Not a Hobson's choice, even without a viable conservative.

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles

So, what did you think?

UPDATE: I saw the second episode last Monday night. It was very good too. I think I am getting hooked. Glenn Reynolds likes it. Here is his post on various Terminator editions.

Someone needs to come up with a graphical way to chart the various time jumps, because this is beginning to get complicated and I am getting on in years. Let me see, do we know people who are graphically gifted?

Marathon Man

A hero for my demographic.

Internet Power

Last night, Carol and I wanted to watch the Republican Presidential candidate debate. We thought it would be on the Fox network channel here in Miami. It was not. Perhaps it was on the Fox cable news channel, but we do not have cable.

So we went to Foxnews.com on the internet, and there it was.

Power to the People!

The Ultimate Reference of Merit

The December 2007 issue of The New Criterion magazine features a special section on Art. It includes an essay by Marco Grassi, a "private paintings conservator and dealer in New York". The essay, entitled "The Great Collectors" proposes that "one way to understand the history of art is through a history of collecting." Grassi writes, "We can divide the last century into four periods, each exemplifying certain attitudes toward art collecting". He goes on to describe those periods in a very well written and informative way.

Grassi is not happy about the last period, which he describes as "the postmodern". In this period, typified by the Saatchi brothers, the norm is "the exploitation of art for speculative and headline-grabbng self-aggrandizement . . . Museums, rather than being final destinations for lifelong collecting endeavors, have all too often become useful marketing stopovers for lender-entrepreneurs who exercise droit de signeur over the holdings . . . "

Grassi cites the yearly Miami-Basel "kermesse" as an example of the culmination of the postmodern malaise. He writes:

Drawing a line, in this time frame [of the past century], from Frick [the "imperial" phase, 1880-1920] through Kress [partnered with the Continis] and Simon [the "modern"], and ending with Saatchi, one sees all too clearly how these collectors embody the aspirations, myths, an ideals of each period; and how - in an ascending curve - the function of money has played an ever-increasing role. Wealth, of course, has always been important, but now it has become, finally, the only protagonist - the ultimate reference of merit, quality, content, and meaning.

I certainly cannot second guess Grasso on his history, but I can affirm the idea that money seems to have become "the ultimate reference of merit, quality, content, and meaning" in so many endeavors, including the law. But is this new or is this simply God versus mammon, an eternal struggle, although one with which our country seems to be having particular difficulty?

What Lax Anti-Gun Laws Will Do.

Glenn Reynolds reports.

Dave McDonald

On a somewhat difficult estate planning matter, I have run into a lawyer I have known for years, Dave McDonald. He is sort of the "general counsel" for a successful businessman who became my estate planning client last year. This has given me an occasion to renew my acquaintance with Dave, who is a terrific trial lawyer.

I found that out during the early 70s, in a jury trial in which I represented Lloyds and he represented the owners of a cargo airplane that crashed in Africa. My client had the "hull" coverage, meaning that the Lloyds syndicate I represented was supposed to pay the owners the value of the airplane that went down. Our defense, as I recall it, was a clause the excluded coverage in the event of a war. The plane may have been shot down by guerrillas.

I knew I was in trouble when all the older trial lawyers at the firm I was with back peddled away from the case. (The trial was only the second or third I had tried on my own.) The case was actually controlled by a lawyer in a law firm in New York City through whom the case came to my firm. He didn't went to settle the case, and insisted we try it, and I did, and the NY lawyer sat next to me during the trial as an observer. A locally well known judge, Judge James W. Kehoe, presided. (His weekend job was as a referee for high school football games. Later, he became a federal judge in the US District Court for the Southern District of Florida.) It was before a jury.

When the jury came back with a verdict for Dave's client, several of the jurors came over and shook my hand and told me I had done a good job, which is the only time that ever happened. The court house was close enough to our law office to walk, and we always did. Before I returned from the court house to our law office, Judge Kehoe had called one of the senior partners at the firm to tell him that I had done a good job and that the NY lawyer was a jerk.

Anyway, Dave did a fine job in winning the case for his client. He was always a complete gentleman and was (and is still) a gritty, intelligent advocate. I was glad to run into him again on the current estate planning case.

"Prenup OK?"

The return of the Bittersweets!

It's not raining rain, it's raining . . .

iguanas? Welcome to South Florida.

Sysyphus

Our last 2007 business day at the firm closed with a bang. Putting together the numbers so that my partners and I can decide on a fair way to divide the profits is always a challenge. For the past several years the other partners were content to have me figure all of that out. To have any sort of hope of getting the division just right requires us to collect the data as close to the end of the year as possible. Then we need to analyze it, decide on a division proposal, present it to the other partners and get their approval, and then notify our payroll manager (Paychex) of how it should cut the checks. Our deadline was 2 PM on Monday. Carol called Paychex about 1:55!

But this year, Carol and I started early in putting together a format for allocating revenues and costs in a deliberate manner, using our commercial time and billing system and figuring out how to import its data into Excel spreadsheets we invented ourselves. Carol really worked hard at the task, and I put hours in on the matter. At one point, we engaged our accountants to help us, but we realized that beyond their confirming that our general approach was correct and helping Carol with some adjusting entries (as they do each year anyway), the real work was up to us.

During the year, Carol had collected a number of articles concerning compensation approaches for law firms that I found very helpful. Of course, having been in law firms since 1972, I have had experience with all sorts of approaches. One of the articles showed a sort of history of law firm compensation that exactly reflected my own experiences. When I began practicing, the compensation scheme was basically seniority driven and that lasted well into the 1980s until the firm essentially exploded because the younger partners felt the system unfairly held them back economically. Then we moved into a struggle between the "origination" approach and the "billable hour" approach, with "originations" finally prevailing, at least for awhile. But that contributed to firm instability in a big way. In all of these approaches, firm management sought to capture just the right "formula", a sort of deus ex machina solution. This way, with a formula, one wouldn't need to actually sit down and look at his partners in the eye and say, "This is how much I think you are worth and how much I think I am worth", and then sit back and see if anyone is upset to the point of walking out. But that's really the way it is, finally, whether that the explosion (or not) takes place at the end of the year in fast motion or whether the explosion occurs in slow motion, taking several months thereafter finally to pull the relationships apart.

We worked hard to put together a formula that was mainly based on "production", that is, how many dollars came in the door as a result of one's billable hours. We then worked on attributing dollars to partners that were earned by non-partners. Finally we allocated costs to each partner and came out with a "net revenue" number for each of us.

But we didn't distribute on the basis of net revenue. We took those numbers and added intangibles to it. One intangible was a sense that we should treat each other the same. Another was "originations" - how much recognition should be given to the partner who brought in the client in the first place, regardless of how much he worked on the client's case. And other factors as well. When we finished massaging the numbers, one could ask why we had gone to the trouble of getting to the "net revenue" numbers in the first place. But that number was the platform upon which our gestalt allocations could be made. And everyone had the spreadsheets that got us to the "net revenue" numbers. So there was full disclosure. Finally, when we had our meeting with 2 PM breathing down our necks and reached agreement on the numbers, everyone at least seemed to be happy.

So we got that big stone up to the top at 2 PM December 31.

Of course, it rolled down the mountain yesterday, and I'm beginning to walk down after it this morning. I know a lot of people are making that walk this morning. If it's happiness I feel, it is a strange sort of happiness.

But what about world peace?

Anyone want to argue about man's depravity?

Thanks Instapundit.

(On the other hand, we have only his side of the story. But beauty queen? No.)

UPDATE: This is a very sad looking group of people. Note also that the beauty pageant people are not exactly backing up their winner 100%. The beauty pageant's spokesman said:

"While this young woman was indeed named Miss Pima County 2005, we find it important to note that the Miss Pima County scholarship pageant was under different leadership at the time."

She Walks!

You know, you can never get the camera fast enough, and once you've got it, they'll never do for you again what they just finished doing before you got the camera.
Honor had just walked back and forth between me and Macon at least a few times, a feat that required her to take 3 or 4 steps at a time each way. As soon as I got the camera, it was all over. So I am very sorry not to have recorded for all of you fine folks one of her longer jaunts. Even so, it is so fun to have a video of at least this one step. I hope that all you grandparents and aunts and uncles (and friends) enjoy!

Rollin', Rollin', Rollin'....

Ladies and Gentlemen, may I introduce a very fine young rider, Miss Honor.



All that bouncing at the beginning is totally her. Macon is not helping her bounce at all. She really likes riding Fire!

London: The World's Financial Capital

I read this boast somewhere the other day. I can believe it. All the oil money the West sends to the Middle East is recyled back to the West through Islam-friendly Britain where, at Oxford, public loudspeakers call the submissive to prayer. But are we far behind?

Shoot! Missed asking for this at Christmas . . .

. . . maybe Valentine's Day?

Trouble in Kenya

Mary sent us an email advising that RVA is delaying the opening of the new term because of the election difficulties. She's OK, she said. But a matter for some prayer.

Lojack for Laptops

WSJ reported on Thursday about a service offered by Absolute Software Corp. under which you download tracking software to your laptop, which then sends a signal to the service's monitoring center every time it logs onto the internet. If you report your machine missing, the service will be able to trace the computer by its Internet protocol address. "The company then works with law-enforcement agencies to recover the laptop by locating the network it has logged on to - say, a local coffee shop." The article mentions two other such services, Cyberangel Security Solutions and Brigadoon Security Group.

I haven't read these sites with any care, but it seems to me that the thing to do is for the service to send a virus to the computer, having preset a sort of portal so that it gets by the firewall or general virus security. (I am assuming that everything would be backed up, so you really can survive without the machine.) Or maybe the signal would simply lock the Laptop down, if there was any chance of actually retrieving the machine.

And I would have it connected to a little mp3 program that would scream, "Help, Thief! Help, Thief, Call the Police!!!"

A Mile Wide and an Inch Deep

I heard someone say this about Christianity in Kenya when I was there. I thought, "But what about the American church?"

Bill Hybels seems to think something like that exists here and that his approach to ministry had something to do with it.

Juanita's Bible

I was looking at Juanita's old Bible last night. The frontispiece reads "Presented to Mother by Paul, Little Walter, Daddy. Birthday - November 17, 1950." She was 30 that year. Notes in the Bible, remind me that my brother Walter died the following March. (He was two years younger than I; born September 8, 1948.) My sister came along December 11, 1952.

There's a page between the Old and New Testament entitled "Deaths". Here are notes from that page:

Audrey Atrue Jordan Warren born March 13, 1902, died February 1, 1949. Buried Panthersville Presbyterian Church, Panthersville, GA, Dekalb, County. (My mother's mother. Jordan was her maiden name; Warren, the family name of the husband, Ike, to whom she was married when she died. I never heard or read of the name "Atrue" before last night.)

Walter Levi Stokes born June 6, 1877, died December 20, 1949. 5:15 PM. Buried December 22, 1949 2:00 Westview Cemetery (Atlanta) (My dad's father. I have only one memory of him, a visit, probably Thanksgiving the year he died. He was sick and in bed. I was three years old that year. I don't know where that middle name came from.)

Hettie Louise [Johnson] Stokes. Born October 24, 1884. Died July 12, 1959 7:30 AM. Buried July 14, 1959 2PM Westview Cemetery (Atlanta). (My dad's mother. She moved to Miami Springs sometime in the early 50s and lived with my Aunt Frances' family. My Aunt Frances and her family moved to Miami Springs from Greensboro about that time.)

Walter Johnson Stokes. Died October 10, 1996. Westview - ATL. (My dad. He was born August 9, 1912.)

Walter Johnson Stokes II Born September 8 1948, died March 21, 1951, buried March 23, 1951. Westview Cemetery. (Again, my little brother. I have lots of pretty clear memories of him. He was born with damage to his brain because of a lack of oxygen during the birthing process. He had "infantile paralysis" as a result, had to wear braces on his legs and had "convulsions", which is what they called seizures back then. I don't recall anything wrong with his mind. We played together a lot. He died of one of those "convulsions" at Variety Children's Hospital. By the time our kids came along, that hospital was known as Miami Children's Hospital, and again became a familiar place to me. He really wasn't a "II". He was a "Jr.", because he had my dad's name. But my grandmother called my dad "Junior" because his dad was a Walter too, even though Grandfather Walter's middle name was not Johnson but Levi. But my grandmother called my dad "Junior" anyway, so my parents gave my brother the "II". But why wouldn't they call him III then, I would ask my mother? She said it was because he did not have the same name as Walter Levi, he had the same name as my father. But why not III, then, I would ask, if they weren't going to pay attention to middle names. She would just look at me. Pretty appalling mix-up, I would say. I guess that would make my son Walter number IV. But that wouldn't make sense, because Macon always said Walter was II, but I think Macon was referring to something else and he wasn't thinking Roman numerals. My brother is buried in Westview too. I remember riding the train up to Atlanta from Miami with my Mom and Dad. I think we rode the train because the casket with my brother in it was on the same train. We had a Pullman compartment where the porter came in when we were ready to go to bed and put down the beds. I remember the funeral at the Hemperley Funeral Home, and my brother beforehand in the open casket in one of the parlors. He looked like he was asleep. I was sure all that I had to do was reach over and open his eyes and he would wake up. My mother was with me and she told me that it wouldn't work. I was 4 years old. I remember her being dressed up like we were going to church, and I remember her being very young. The memories of all that are very, very clear.)

Carlos Mason Hemperley died June 11, 1971. (This was my mother's father, and my "grandaddy" growing up. What a hero he was to me. He was just 70 when he died, and had been getting ready to come to my graduation from law school when he went to the hospital. Carol and I skipped the graduation ceremony and drove down to Atlanta, hoping to see him before he died, but got there in time for the funeral. He's buried in Westview Cemetery. I don't know where the "Carlos" came from, other than the fact that we are direct descendants of El Cid. Just kidding. The "Mason" is the family name of my grandfather's father's business partner. They were in the retail furniture business, and carried a line of caskets. They spun off the casket business into a funeral home and my great-grandfather founded Hemperley Funeral Home in East Point. My cousin, Carlos M. Hemperley III (?), son of my uncle Carlos M. Hemperley Jr., carries on that business to this day. My grandfather offered a place in that business to my dad early on. Nope. There are lots of good stories about my granddaddy.)

Nancy R. Della Lanford Jordan Born February 14, 1883 [Valentine's Day] Died September 9, 1971. Buried Corinth Baptist Church Stone Mountain, GA. (This was my mother's grandmother, Audrey's mother. When my mother's parents were divorced, I think my mother was abut 7, I'm not sure. But "Grandma Jordan" pretty much raised my mom. She was a "Lanford.". That was a strong family, and I heard a lot about them from my mother, especially "Great Grandpa Lanford". Macon's middle name is Lanford. Grandma Jordan (pronounced "JURdn" not "JORDON") and her husband were in the retail business in downtown Atlanta. I never noticed the "R." in her name until last night and don't know what it stands for. Ruth? I have lots of fond and even funny memories of her. She never stopped and was always working at something - sewing, cooking, cleaning. Not only did she raise my mother and her brother, Carlos Mason Hemperley Jr., she also virtually raised my uncle's three kids, my cousins Becky, Bobbie, and Butch (CMHIII), while Uncle Carlos and his wife, Ellen, ran the funeral business.)

Carol and Paul Baby Girl. Born and Died August 12, 1973. (We were going to name her some combination of Elizabeth and Rebeka. She is buried in a cemetery in Greensboro, now next to Carol's mom and dad.)

Frances Stokes Harris. Died September 2, 1991. (My dad's sister. She was widowed when I was in junior high and lived in Miami Springs into the 1980s. She then moved to Atlanta where her sons, my cousins Ken and Tim, had moved. She was about as sweet a person as one could ever meet, and she became a good friend to Carol and me during our young marriage and was there for our us when our first baby died. We always went by to see her in Atlanta on the way to or from NC on our vacations. She was buried in Westview Cemetery too, next to her husband Uncle Harold.)

Mary [Whiteside] Crocker. Died February 2, 1994. (Carol's mom, and the perfect mother-in-law. She made me feel welcome from the very first moment. Her house and her life had a peace to it that Carol brought to our family. She reminded me so much of Grandmother Jordan, especially how she was always working and serving others. For example, she was driving "Meals on Wheels" in Greensboro into her 80s and to people who were much younger than she. Much more to write about her.)

Willilu (Sox) Burch Hemperley. Died August 20, 1994. (This was my granddaddy's second wife, my step-grandmother. But she was the only maternal grandmother that I ever knew, and she was a great, great friend. She was a surgical nurse at Grady Hospital in Atlanta, and another lady that never stopped. She was tough too. Even though Juanita was her step-daughter, she treated her as one of her own and treated me as if I were her flesh and blood. Once there was a gathering of her family. She had several brothers and sisters and they all had children, some of them about my age, and all of them were there. Her father was there too, and he told all the grandchildren to line up in a line, because he was going to give each of them a $20 bill - big money back then. Grandmother walked me up and put me at the end of the line, and I got my $20. Her father didn't notice that I didn't exactly belong, and was totally confused when he realized that he had given one $20 bill more than he had figured. She never told him what happened.)

Mom liked to put notes in her Bible. One is handwritten by her, a quote from the poet/athlete Satchel Paige. "Age is a thing of mind and matter - if you don't mind, it doesn't matter."

Christmas Eve in Miami Springs

Tonight our church had its traditional Christmas Eve service. Lots of memories of Christmas Eve services there, and lots of friends came tonight. Among them, Marti and Hank, Jim and Donna. Marti and Jim's mother, Mary Nelle, a dear friend of Juanita, died this year too. Marti gave me a poem that Ginny Combs, another Miami Springs girl, included in her Christmas newsletter. Ginny's mother also passed away this year, and she knew Mary Nelle well and Juanita. Suzie's Mom, Charlotte, also died to this world in 2007. The first Christmas Eve Service I attended at our church was on a date with Suzie when we were 16. Four Miami Springs moms, all friends with each other, all gone to heaven this year. Here's the poem:

I see the countless Christmas Trees around the world below
with tiny lights, like heaven's stars, reflecting on the snow.
The sight is so spectacular, please wipe away that tear,
for I am spending Christmas with Jesus Christ this year.

I hear the many Christmas songs that people hold so dear,but
the sounds of music can't compare with the Christmas choir up here.
I have no words to tell you, the joy their voices bring,
for it is beyond description, to hear the angels sing.

I know how much you miss me. [You got that right, Mom].
I see the pain inside your heart,
but I am not so far away. We really aren't apart.

So be happy for me dear ones. You know I hold you dear,
and be glad I'm spending Christmas, with Jesus Christ this year.
I send you each a special gift, from my heavenly home above.
I send you each a memory, of my undying love.

After all "Love" is the gift, more precious than pure gold.
It was always most important in the stories Jesus told.

Please love and keep each other, as my Father said to do,
for I can't count the blessing or love he has for each of you.
So, have a Merry Christmas and wipe away that tear.
Remember, I'm spending Christmas, with Jesus Christ this year.

Don't tell the guys, but . . .

I'm reading A Voice in the Wind by Francine Rivers. When the admiring blurbs on the back cover are from Romantic Times Magazine and Affaire de Coeur, you know that, if you are a guy, you need to carry this around in a plain wrapper.

The book is the first of a three volume series called "Mark of the Lion". Francine Rivers is a gifted writer - her prose is smooth and very readable. Now and then I read someone and think, "I would love to be able to write sentences and paragraphs like that", and she is one of them. This book follows the story of a young Jewish woman, a Christian, whose family was caught in Jerusalem when the Romans leveled it in 70AD. She loses her family in the carnage but survives herself. She is taken into slavery, ending up with a wealthy family in Rome.

There are other interesting characters and a plot that carries you right along. It is a very undemanding read, which is refreshing after all the tough reading I do during the day, and the plot is just complex enough. The characters are not exactly complicated people, but they have do have flesh and blood. The themes are right out there for you to see, but that's fine. The author has done her homework on the historical period in question. It is so good to read a Christian writer who obviously knows her craft, is truly gifted, and takes great care with her writing.

Mary tells me that Francine Rivers' books are very popular among the missionary families.

Sue and Doug gave us these books last Christmas, and I finally got to open this one a couple of weeks ago. I'm on page 358 of a 500 page volume! (Francine must write all the time).

Thanks, Sue!

PS If you like this book and the series, be sure to go back and read The Robe, by Lloyd C. Douglas. It was huge best-seller in the 50s, and there was a mega-movie based on the book with Richard Burton and Jean Simmons, also worth a look. And while you're at it, pick up Ben-Hur by Lew Wallace, a book that gave the genre a kick start in 1880. That one produced two terrific movies.

Upcoming Elections in Kenya

Hank sent me this link. Mary has posted about these elections here. (Be sure to read the comments to Mary's post. Very interesting.)

The McCaffrey Report on Iraq Status

This is a fascinating and informative report by a retired General and adjunct professor at West Point. Here's one gem among many:

Mr. Rumsfeld was an American patriot, of great personal talent, energy, experience, bureaucratic cleverness, and charisma—who operated with personal arrogance, intimidation and disrespect for the military, lack of forthright candor, avoidance of personal responsibility, and fundamental bad judgment.

Read every word of it.

Something Fun

Well, it's been a while since I made the time to post anything, so I thought I'd put up a few pics.




For Halloween, Aidan was Dr. Aidan, and Honor was a Tulip Fairy (doesn't Macon look fabulous wearing Honor's little Tulip Fairy headband?)


Also, I just wanted to include a recent photo of Aidan and his pony, "Fire." Fire lives at my parents' house and has been quite the hit. And, for any of you out there who doubt that children imitate what they see on television, let me share a story. There is an episode of the Backyardigans where Uniqua is a western horse rider and Pablo is a jockey. They compete against one another and at one point as they are boasting and competing, they decide to ride on their horses, standing on one leg while the horse turns in circles. What do you think was the first thing Aidan did after getting onto Fire's back? That's right! He got up on one leg and "rode" Fire while standing on said one leg. Note: all the while he was saying, "Look, Mommy, I can ride just like Pablo and Uniqua!"

This does not bode well, and I can't wait to start explaining to the emergency room doctors about the fantastical feats that my children will no doubt soon be doing.

How Aquatic!

The Tuna to rescue the Dolphins.

A Running Mate for McCain

What do you think? (Watch the video.) Thanks, Instapundit.

Hate Crimes Trump Gun Control Ideologies

At least with the Miami Herald. Otherwise, you would never hear of this from MSM.

UPDATE: Speaking of Race and Guns, see what Condoleezza says about gun-control.

Mary's TZ Post.

Sooooo interesting!

FIU Med School and Miami Children's Hospital

The new med school at Florida International University (opening 2009) will be working with Miami Children's Hospital, the latter institution having been a big part of our family's life.

Big personal life changes

I'm changing my voter's registration to Republican so that I can vote for McCain. Having gotten a new workstation at the office that has Word 2007 already installed, I'm changing to Word and saying good by to WordPerfect. Both choices are flawed and I'm turning my back on a lot of history, but the choices are the best available at this point.

UPDATE: Good company.

UPDATE UPDATE: See the video.

"Don't Mormons believe that Jesus and the Devil are brothers?"

Oh, well.

Bye, Huck.

The Baptists are Coming! The Baptists are Coming!

Huckabee corrals the endorsement of Pastor Howard's kids. He can't lose!

(Pastor Howard is my partner Jane's pastor, at the First Baptist Church of Homestead. See his blog here. Funny post here.)

Maybe not the way to win the election, but . . .

Huckabee, wow! But this was in 1998. Will he affirm it today? Will be interesting to watch.

Ron Paul. Seriously?

He's got the abortion thing right.

O, Christmas Tree!

We had a Christmas party at our house Saturday night for the people in our Bible study classes and their spouses. The purpose was, in part, to force us to get our house ready for the Holiday. With none of our children coming home this year, we thought we needed a little prodding like this. The rest was social.

Counting Carol and me, we had 29 people. Carol crock-potted a turkey breast (a recipe from Micki) and fixed a chicken curry dish that we enjoyed last year in Kenya at the home of one of Mary's colleagues. The curry is served on a bed of rice (or wrapped in a chapati; one of our Indian friends brought chapati, which is sort of like a tortilla, but made of wheat, I think). The curry called for toppings, chopped pineapple, raisins, chopped onions, and chopped peppers, all of them together if you like (and I liked - mmmm!). For the rest of the feast, it was "covered dish", a formula for a plentiful and varied banquet.

This is what our Christmas tree looks like. (Click on the picture to enlarge. At the bottom of the tree, on the right hand side, is a little felt christmas-tree ornament that Walter made, and it has his photo in it.) Once I got the tree in place, Carol did the decorating. (I have to confess, I don't have much patience for tree trimming. But I help with untrimming it.) The tree is in our living room, next to the bookcase.

On the bookcase are some items from Christmas past, including two Nativity creations of Mary, one on a shoe-box lid (three shelves from the bottom, on the left) and the other made from Popsicle sticks (five shelves from the bottom, on the right). The two stockings hung on the bottom are for Carol and me (Carol made them years ago, and one each for the kids). The stocking toward the top of the right bookcase belonged to Juanita, and she bought it years ago from the 10,000 Villages store in Montreat. It is embroidered and was made in India, I believe. It's there in memory of her. She celebrates her first year in heaven this year.

On the top of the bookcases, on the right, there is a reindeer head, made from the base of a palm frond, the part where the rest of the palm frond is attached to the trunk. Mary and Walter each made one of these in pre-school. The other one is hanging elsewhere in the house.

The tree, of course, is also full of memories, as family Christmas trees become over the years, and the rest of the living room, den, dining room, and kitchen are full of such objects as well.

As people are finding out that we have no kids home this Christmas, we are getting some invitations for meals and the like on Christmas day. But we are going to drive over to see my sister Julia and her family in New Port Richey, FL, after we get up and open our presents. My niece Audrey is having a party at 4PM that day, and so we will go to that party and spend the night with Julia, her husband Greg, and their son, Gregory Paul. We will drive home Wednesday morning.

Way to go, Steve!

Steve Peifer won one of CNN's Heroes awards on December 6. There's a lot at the CCN site about the show, the process of selection, video, and photos of Steve and the other winners and nominees. I would start here.

The Love of a Christian Father

At yesterday's men's breakfast, the issue of abortion came up, and Austin told us a family story of a Christian father's leadership and love.

Years ago, Austin's uncle and aunt brought into their home to live a teenage boy, 15 or 16 years of age, whose own family was so broken that the young man did not have a place even to sleep. (Austin's uncle and family are members of the Reformed Church, where Austin's immediate family were Pentecostal. He described how important and intensely held were the particular Christian beliefs of their two families, and it seemed to us that presently a great deal of that intensity has seeped out of American Christianity.)

The boy was about the same age as a daughter of Austin's uncle, and after awhile she became pregnant by the boy. I can only imagine the intensity of that crisis. Abortion would have been a quick solution and, of course, throwing that ungrateful boy out of the house.

Instead, Austin's uncle told the young people they needed to get married and, as their respective guardians, he signed the marriage license on behalf of each of them.

Now this young couple have grown up; they have 8 children and a couple of grandchildren. (Austin said the couple's own children married young.) They live in their own house, near where Austin's uncle and aunt live, with a big yard that has a big tree and a tire swing and a bunch of kids running around having fun. The young man is a cabinet maker and so good at it that wealthy people from Boston fly him to their city to do work for them. Their first baby was a boy, Josiah, and all of their children have Biblical names. Josiah attended Pensacola Bible College.

I have heard Austin tell that story before, and I love to hear it. What a wonderful story of love, of a sort of muscular forgiveness on the father's part, and of how God redeems a difficult situation, especially when those "in charge", a father this time, are obedient to him.

CQ CQ CQ

Ham radio to the rescue.

Mary Scrubs

More here.

The Other Robert E. Lee

Maybe Robert E. Lee is not a big deal in that part of your mind's eye that looks back over American history. He wasn't at the center of my study of Southern history at Duke, but I understood something like he was the greatest man the South ever produced, etc. I did enjoy Grant's biography, which I read a couple of years ago, but I guess, from the South's perspective, Grant's best use was as a slightly disreputable, cigar smoking foil for General Lee, and that the best thing one could say about Grant was that he treated General Lee well and let the rebels keep their guns at Appomattox.

In the September 2007 issue of The New Criterion, Daniel Mark Epstein has it out for Lee, as he reviews Elizabeth Brown's Reading the Man: A Portrait of Robert E. Lee Through His Private Letters. His review, entitled "Who Cares About Robert E. Lee?" presents the revisionist view of the great man.

For example: Lee married well, or it looked like that initially. But when he was 49, his father-in-law died, "naming him as executor in charge of a debt-ridden estate and 196 slaves on several plantations". The father in law stipulated in his will that the slaves should be liberated, and they all expected to be. But Lee didn't liberate them and, instead, leased out the able-bodied ones to raise money for the estate. He broke up families to do so and "most of these families had been together since General Washington's time". Two of the slaves ran away when they learned they would not be freed, a young man and a young woman, brother and sister, but they were apprehended and brought back. Lee supervised 50 lashes for the young man and 20 for the young woman.

This is only one part of the indictment. The indictment also alleges that he was not such a great general, that he was silent when the Virginia legislature might have stayed in the union had he spoken up, and that he resigned his commission, thereby renouncing an oath, and took up arms against the US, all out of pride and not out of a true sense of duty to Virginia. The worst charge of all (to my mind) was that he was an engineer and thought like one. Now, as a liberal arts major, I can concede that that criticism may have some merit to it.

But first Beowulf, and now General Lee. I just don't know what to say,

Bush Gets One Right!

Some backbone on stem-cells gets him some credit. (See my earlier post on the stem cell breakthrough subject.)

So Bad!