Random
Thoughts
May 2007
I have been traveling a bit lately. First I was in Chicago in
late April for a trip to Wrigley Field. I have been a baseball fan all of my
life but had never been to Wrigley. I am now glad to say that I have been
there. It was quite windy and cold for the Friday game, warmer on Saturday and
then nice and warm on Sunday. Since I am a Cardinal fan I was pleased to
witness the Redbirds taking 2 out of 3 from the Cubbies.
Speaking of the St. Louis Cardinals; it was oh so tragic to learn
of the death of pitcher Josh Hancock. He was only 29 years old. That’s too
young to die. The Cards had started slowly in any case, but with this tragedy
to deal with I am afraid it is going to be a long year. By the way, why do bad
things happen to good people? When I meet the Lord face to face upon crossing
over to the other side I am going to ask that very question. The best I can do
with it at this point is to think in terms of free will, bad choices, either on
the part of one’s self or others, and believe that God does not want bad things
to happen to good people. I still want a clear answer.
I also was in Omaha the first couple of days of May. I was there
along with fellow members of the Standing Commission for Ecumenical and
Interreligious Relations (that is not a misspelling) for our bi-annual meeting.
We continue, as a church and as a commission representing the Episcopal Church,
to work toward reconciling differences among the many varieties of Christians.
We work most closely with other mainline churches because they seem to be about
the only protestants willing to work toward unity. We also spent some time with
representatives from a Reformed Jewish Synagogue as well as people from the
Muslim community in Omaha. Some wonderful work is taking place in Omaha in the
arena of interreligious (that is not a misspelling) relations. I must tell you
that I miss being able to do that kind of work. There just is not the diversity
in Hot Springs, in terms of religions at least, that one finds in a larger city.
Well what do you know, George Tenent has written a book. And of
course the lines getting the most play have to do with Perle telling Tenet on
Sept. 12, 2001 that this was the chance to get Iraq. Whether this actually
occurred as reported or not, I believe this was the plan from probably even
earlier than that among Perle, Wolfowitcz, Cheney and to a lesser extent
Rumsfield and the Pres. This is just my opinion you understand, but of course I
am far from alone on this. And the group forming behind those of us who
believed this from the beginning is getting larger by the day.
Not surprisingly the President vetoed the war funding bill sent to
him by the congress. Now comes the showdown over a time table for troop
withdrawal. There is, of course, something to be said about telling the enemy
how long you are staying. It certainly gives them a target date. But on the
other hand it will give the Iraqi government maybe some real incentive to their
act together, if that is even a possibility. We really have unleashed hell on
those poor Iraqi citicizens. Thanks a whole lot Wolfowitcz, Perle, Cheney et
al.
I have just booked the flight to meet my son Craig in Colorado at
the end of June. We will be taking our annual backpacking trip to the big
mountains. We are meeting in Durango, CO, taking a train up to 14,000 ft. and
walking there for a week. It is incredibly exhilarating, physically demanding,
yet spiritually enriching. I look forward to it.
