How Very, Very True

If you want to be happy, here's a clue...

Life is not the way it's supposed to be.
It's the way it is.
The way you cope with it.
Is what makes the difference.
- Virginia Satir  --ThinkExist.com

Wanna Bet?

Seth Godin posted this the other day:

I was talking to a colleague about all the noise out there in the world, all the messages, ads, announcements, pitches and friend requests. "And you're sending even more every day into that maelstrom."

"No we're not," she said. "Ours isn't noise."

Yes it is.

The trick is to be able to tell which noise we should listen to. Unfortunately, too often we listen to the "cutest" or "trickiest" or the one with the most "special effects." How do we filter for the good noise, or at least the noise that makes the most sense. I don't think we have been doing all that good a job. We are tending more and more to be listening to the noise that we agree with, probably because it's easier than to work it out. The myriad, seemingly uncountable sources of noise that have multiplied over the past decade or two makes this all the more difficult.

So, remember your message is just another bit of noise. Why should people listen? Why should they respond? This is as true for me sitting in a therapy room, the preacher on Sunday morning, or the latest ad on the TV.

Why should they even bother to listen to me? What makes my noise more listenable? Keeping that in mind will hopefully prove to us that humility is far better than hubris or hyperbole. Which is a change of lifestyle and worldview.

I better think about that as we move toward Christmas.

Terrorist or Sociopath?

The lead of the article from the AP said this:

A Somali-born teenager plotted "a spectacular show" of terrorism for months, saying he didn't mind that children would die if he bombed a crowded Christmas tree-lighting ceremony, according to a law-enforcement official and court documents.

Reading over the article and news about this incident I wondered the very question I put in the title above. At least at this point as I write this, there doesn't seem to be any big link between this teenager and any major terrorist plot. It may only be a crazy (VERY CRAZY!) kid who has dreams of seeing death and destruction like on TV, the movies, or video games. That doesn't mean that lots of death and destruction is minimized by it. Not a chance. In fact the aimless, purposeless, cold approach just to have "a spectacular show" is downright more scary than an Al Qaeda plot. "Homegrown" terrorism is harder to understand.

Unless one looks at it from the view of psychology. We're talking sociopath. Officially, antisocial personality disorder. It often starts in adolescence as oppositional-defiant behavior. Sociopaths have no remorse, no thought to the consequences to anyone else of what is about to happen. There is no understanding of morality as most of us understand it. There is no need to justify, explain, or even want to recognize their actions. It just happens!

Sure, sociopaths will make good terrorists and there may be a connection between terrorism and sociopathy. The results are the same- terror, fear, death. But we should be careful to make sure we don't think that all sociopathic acts are acts of international terrorism. Yes, this one may turn out to be more than it seems today, but let's not jump to any conclusions. Sick sociopaths are not interested in international politics. International terrorism may sometimes get them excited, but they are not one and the same.

Above all with this situation, I am grateful that it didn't happen anywhere but in this sick kid's head.

Video Link to Celebration

Two weeks ago the Berea Moravian Church near St. Charles, MN, celebrated the completion of their Community House addition. It was fun and joyous. Here's the video I put together from the service. It is 15-minutes so it fits on You Tube. I hope you get a feel for the joy the congregation feels at this accomplishment. All thanks be to God!

On Serving God (or the Church)

I was having a conversation with a friend about doing work at church. In the middle of it I was reminded of an incident that occurred a few years ago that brought me up short. I was listening to a pastor talk about the announcements for his congregation. This particular congregation had volunteer snow shovelers since it did not have a lot of sidewalks and a local plowing service did the parking lot. He said he was offering people the "opportunity to serve God by signing up to shovel snow at the church."

It was like a ton of brinks. Somehow that whole idea made absolutely no sense. If he had said serve the church or something like that it might have sat differently. But it was the idea that shoveling snow at a suburban church building was serving God seemed ridiculous.

I realized at that moment that I had been as guilty as that pastor many times over my years in the pulpit. I, like many pastors, often equate serving the local church to serving God. Yes, I know that you can make the case that if the local church didn't exist, there would be no serving God at that place. Or at least not as much. There is this great big logical-thinking series that can easily get from one end to the other.

People need to get to church ---}
Church needs walks shoveled ---}
Church is the Body of Christ ---}
Christ is one of the persons of the Trinity ---}
The Church as the Body is part of the Trinity ---}
As part of the Trinity the Church is part of God ---}
Shoveling walks at the church is serving God ---}

Okay, it makes no sense. But it can easily get us mixed up in our thinking about service and being servants for (and of) God. As members of a congregation that needs work done, such as shoveling snow, it is part of our responsibility as members to do our part. It is service. But it is service to ourselves. God is pleased with that, I am sure. God wants us to serve.

But only in some syllogistic reasoning does this make any sense as serving God. How do we know we are serving God, then? Well, most of the time we don't. Unless we sense a specific call to a specific form of service and it is affirmed by the community of believers in one way or another, most of the time we probably end up like the sheep and the goats in Matthew 25:

31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’

44 “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’

45 “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’

46 “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”

What we do for the least, the lost, the lonely may be the best gauge for serving God. If I had to go back and do it over, as a pastor, I would be more cautious of my language.

And I might suggest that we get a list of widows, unemployed, and disabled people in our neighborhood and sign up to shovel their walks instead.

A Yearly Reflection

I think of this a number of times a year, but none as much as on Black Friday. I listen to the run-up to the "holiday shopping" season and find myself in the same place, year-in and year-out. Now, in this continuing time of a "recession" or whatever it is now, it is all the more worrisome.

It boils down to one huge and overwhelming thought:

Unless you go out and spend lots of money our economy is going to be in trouble. Unless you plan on being A Consumer, you will not be doing your All-American Patriotic duty.

It scares me with that every year. We get castigated for saving too much or not spending enough. No one ever tells me that I need to save more and spend less- except for the debt relief agencies. No one tells me that it might be a good idea to give fewer gifts this Christmas, or at least more meaningful ones.

There is something off-balance with a system that needs to push more and more products on more and more people every year in order to do more business and make more profit than last year. No, I am not being a Scrooge. I like giving gifts for Christmas; I like receiving gifts for Christmas. But as a civic duty? Buy a car and put it in the living room with a cute BIG bow on it? Diamonds and big screen TVs?

I don't know for sure what I am going to do this season this year. As I get closer to retirement age I am more and more aware that the day will be coming when I will not have the resources I do today. I won't need as much, either. So I won't buy as much superfluous stuff. I am sure Target and Wal-Mart and Best Buy and all the others who kept the newspapers alive for another week with their ads yesterday will think I am not really being caring and helpful. How can I truly celebrate Christmas if I am spending less than before?

And I haven't even mentioned the Baby Jesus in a bare stable.

Quiet Thanks

We didn't do Thanksgiving today. That will be on Saturday. But we had a good day, just the two of us. I made a simple rice and chicken dish for supper and we watched football.

What a wonderful Thanksgiving Day.

“Prayer after Eating” by Wendell Berry

I have taken in the light
that quickened eye and leaf.
May my brain be bright with praise
of what I eat, in the brief blaze
of motion and of thought.
May I be worthy of my meat.
HT to Kim on Connexions

Optimistic Optimism

THIS is really THE TRUTH....

All one has to do is adopt the right frame of mind.....

Source

The Winter Season Now Has Begun

Two weeks ago tomorrow it was 67 degrees!
Today's high was 23 after an overnight low of 11- only the 2nd below freezing day of the season and the first below 20.

So I am whining.

Now that I have that out of my system I feel better. (I am also in the warmth of my apartment. That helps, too!)

Let's Get The Season Started Right

I just discovered these guys on You Tube. (Nope. Nothing better to do with my time.)

Straight No Chaser. A Capella wonderment that knows the Season is Here.

Just So You Know

The most often played rivalry in college football is over there in the Patriot League. It was played again yesterday and the Lehigh Mountain Hawks were victorious:

Lehigh 20
Lafayette 13

Lehigh was undefeated in the Patriot League for the first time since 2001.
ESPN Link

You say you have never heard of it? Well here is the lead in Wikipedia:

The Rivalry is the college rivalry between Lafayette College and Lehigh University...  The two institutions are located 17 miles apart in eastern Pennsylvania. The Rivalry is not limited to one sport, but is seen in any meeting of the two schools.

As of 2010, the football rivalry has been played 146 times since 1884, making it the most-played football rivalry in the nation. It is also the longest uninterrupted rivalry, since the teams have met every year since 1897. (Although Harvard and Yale began The Game in 1875, they did not play in 1885, 1895, 1896, 1897, 1899, 1917, 1918, 1943, or 1944). Furthermore, Lehigh and Lafayette met twice in each football season during World War II. "The Rivalry" is so old that it predates football trophies; the winning team just gets to keep the game ball. These are painted with the score and displayed in winning institution's hall of fame. The evolution of the shape of the football can be seen in the displays of past game balls.

The football game is always sold out months in advance and has inspired books and a PBS television documentary narrated by the late Harry Kalas. In 2006, ESPNU ranked The Rivalry #8 in their Top Ten College Football Rivalries and Sports Illustrated has told its readers that seeing it "is something you have to do once in your life."

Well, I have been there five times, 1966 - 1970, games 102-106. Lehigh won in 1968 and 1969.

Here's the PBS video from You Tube:



The Lehigh Band, The Marching 97, won every year.

The Culprit

I know the scientists and others don't accept the idea, but after this week I sure do.

Shall Not Perish From the Earth

November 19, 1863
Gettysburg, PA


Gettysburg Address from Adam Gault on Vimeo.

Another Fun Night of Music

Our Rochester Community Band concert was last Saturday evening. While they were in the midst of snow up in the Cities, we had a rainy day which kept the concert on schedule. Two pieces bear mention.

First was a moment of long-sought redemption from years past. The American composer, Leroy Anderson has this piece called The Irish Washerwoman. At about 1:09 into the piece (in the video below) is a wicked, wicked passage for the trumpets (but not the cornets.) Probably around 20 years ago another community band I played in back in Watertown, WI, played this piece and the other trumpet and I have cursed it for years. So imagine my fear, chagrin, and panic when our director put this on the concert list.

I whined; I cried; I made snide remarks. The director smiled.

I offered to take one of the cornet parts; my colleagues shook their heads in mock sympathy.

(Allan and) I were stuck. Could we do it? Could we make up for my long years of agonizing memory? Listen below at about 1:09 and judge for yourself.



I think we did it. It felt good! Very good.!


But just as much fun was this piece, Abram's Pursuit, by composer David Holsinger. It is a relentless and complex piece of work that just pushes and pushes. Each time we rehearsed it I fell more in love with it. Here is the description on J. W. Pepper's product page:

Medium-Advanced
Pursuit, indeed! This rampaging work is a careening chase that starts with a bang and doesn't let up until the final notes! Inspired by the biblical story from Genesis, Holsinger has created a furious up-tempo composition marked with vivid accents, flurrying woodwind and keyboard percussion writing, and incessant percussion that rhythmically drives the piece. Extremely exciting and vibrant stuff for mature bands!

Enjoy!

Three Up, Three Down

The Good:

Twins' Gardenhire voted AL's top manager
Skipper wins honor for first time after five second-place finishes
--Twins

The Bad:

Greek Church takes on 'antichrist' in data card row
ATHENS (AFP) – Senior clerics in Greece have told the state in no uncertain terms that vigilance is required to prevent the antichrist from making a manifestation on new ID cards to be issued next year. The authorities must ensure that the cards contain no mention of the number 666, which in Greek Orthodox tradition is associated with the antichrist, the Church of Greece said in a statement.
--Yahoo! News

The Ugly:

Wis. man accused of shooting TV over Palin dance
Bail was set Wednesday at $1,500 for a town of Vermont man accused of shooting his television after becoming enraged by Bristol Palin’s performance on “Dancing with the Stars,” threatening his wife and sparking a 15-hour standoff with Dane County sheriff’s deputies.
--WI State Journal

This is Why I Don't Bet on Football

I have been "playing" Earthlink Pro Football Challenge they have through U-Pick-Em. Overall, I am picking about 61% of the games. Three weeks I was over at or near 80%. A couple times I have only missed one of the "early" games.

But my trick is actually none at all. I look at the list and think about how I feel about the possibilities. Sometimes I pick by wishful thinking. (I always choose the Packers!) Sometimes I pick by a little knowledge. No, it is not in general, random. Some thought goes into it.

But this past weekend I realized that it is simply that I sometimes pick the right upsets and sometimes I don't. Miami over Tennessee or Denver over Kansas City?. Nah. Until Sunday. But I got Jacksonville over Houston and Seattle over Arizona.

Which is why I don't bet on the games. Upsets happen. Any team can beat any other team on any given Sunday. (Even Detroit can win once in a while.) You just have to pick the right upsets.

(I don't do Fantasy Football. That takes too much time and work.)

But at least with the Earthlink game I can win something once in a while. So far I have won two Starbucks $5.00 gift cards. Not bad for an amateur.

Last Rays of Summer in Mid-Fall

I said last week I would post what may be the last pictures of the Fall of 2010. Last Monday was nothing short of spectacular and I was lucky enough to have the day off and went over to Lake Calhoun. Ducks and geese were around, the sun was brilliant for mid-November and the sky was alive!



There was still some color, but the transition from fall to winter is well under way in Minneapolis. Two shots of the same tree highlight its special place on the Lake Calhoun eastern shore.

Even a kayaker added color.

I cannot believe how great this past spring to early fall season has been. It is one that I will give thanks for, for many a year. It was great to be alive!

A Day of Celebration at Church

Berea Moravian Church, St. Charles, MN with Community House addition.

This morning at church we celebrated the completion of a new addition to our church outside St. Charles, MN. What a morning for dedicating the building and ourselves to ministry. The presence of the Spirit was profound to me as the service included communion and then moving to the new Community House addition for dedication and lunch. We broke it in real well- but I know the Spirit did, too.

Here's the short "music" video I put together for the service at their request showing the building progress from groundbreaking in May until last week.



I will also be working on a short 15-minute summary video of today's service as well. These only begin to capture a small part of the joy, excitement and spirit the church has at this great occasion for our ministry.

I Always Knew This to Be True.

New research has found that those with higher IQs tend to be nocturnal night-owls. That's what The Week has reported.

Some of the info:

Eveningness is an "evolutionarily novel preference" made by people with "a higher level of cognitive complexity." Basically, smart people evolve to stay up later.

So far so good. I would agree as a historic night person. It appears to be genetic, with which I would certainly agree. I have been a night person my whole life. Just because I get up at 5:30 every weekday morning and go work out has not changed that desire to stay up later and work and read.

But there is a downside:

Night owls tend to be less reliable, more emotionally unstable, and more likely to have problems with addictions and eating disorders, according to a 2008 study by psychologist Marina Giamnietro.

I'll have to get back to you on that one.





Morningness-Eveningness Test

Headline Worth Pondering

Think about the implications of the headline:

Ticket bought at Michigan porn shop worth $129M

No one is saying who bought the ticket. The man who came forth to claim the prize isn't even saying who the other winners are.

It reminds me of the joke:

Father Norton woke up Sunday morning and realizing it was an exceptionally beautiful and sunny early spring day, decided he just had to play golf.

So… he told the Associate Pastor that he was feeling sick and persuaded him to say Mass for him that day.

As soon as the Associate Pastor left the room, Father Norton headed out of town to a golf course about 40 miles away.

This way he knew he wouldn’t accidentally meet anyone he knew from his parish. Setting up on the first tee, he was alone. After all, it was Sunday morning and everyone else was in church!

At about this time, Saint Peter leaned over to the Lord while looking down from the heavens and exclaimed, “You’re not going to let him get away with this, are you?”

The Lord sighed, and said, “No, I guess not.”

Just then Father Norton hit the ball and it shot straight towards the pin, dropping just short of it, rolled up and fell into the hole.

IT WAS A 420 YARD HOLE IN ONE!

St. Peter was astonished. He looked at the Lord and asked, “Why did you let him do that?”

The Lord smiled and replied, “Who’s he going to tell?”
--Funny-A-Day

An Ancient Machine Still At Work

The Linotype machine.

I know- many of you have never heard of it, let alone seen one. But it was a true second revolution in printing after the invention of movable type by Gutenberg. I came across this video teaser of a documentary on the Linotype. As I watched, I was transported back 50 years to the neighborhood where I grew up. Three doors up the street, out back where the rest of us had our garage, Mr. D. had a print shop. It was small and independent. I don't remember if he had anyone working for him or not. But it was filled with machines that are now antique.

There was, of course, a printing press, But just as interesting was the Linotype. Just like the gentleman in the video, Mr. D. would sit and type the copy and out of the machine would come the lines of type (hence, Linotype). One year I wrote and helped produce the first student handbook at our high school in many years. I would walk up the street to Mr. D.'s shop and work with him on the process.

There was something neat and even exciting about the printing process when you would see the hot metal lines come out and be put into place for printing. We don't need to do that anymore. A few years ago I produced a book of my Christmas stories. It was fun and exciting- and a lot easier than the old printing press method. Plus I was involved in the creation process at my own computer.

Fortunately, with other modern technology we can go back and see these revolutionary machines at work. I hope the film is shown on TV on PBS or Discovery or one of them. It should be fun.



"Linotype: The Film" Teaser from Linotype: The Film on Vimeo.

Payoff Quote:
How does the Linotype fit in with the new technology?
It doesn't.

Veterans' Day

Here is one whose name and face are not unknown to me. Slightly older than "The Greatest Generation" (he would be 105 in a week), he was sent to Europe anyway. This was his ID card, issued, interestingly, exactly four years before my birthday.

Purple mountain majesty as a view from his final resting place only 20 years after the ID picture.  That was a long time gone, now. But I remember to say thanks today.

Embarassing Moments

They happen. Like, well, you know what happens.

I had one this evening. Innocently going about my business while stopping for a while at my favorite Caribou Coffee. I gave my order and put my computer and bag on the only empty table.

So far, so good.

I went up and got my drink and walked back to my table.

Where I promptly set the drink on the edge of the table from which it fell and splattered three feet in all directions.

Every eye in the full coffee shop turned to look at me. All I could do was shrug my shoulders and move out of the way.

Yes, they did make me a new one.

What can you do, though, when such things happen? I have a hunch that many of us live in dread of such moments. Even the most self-centered of us don't like that kind of attention. We seek to avoid it at all costs. If we want to be noticed, we want it to be for the good things we do, not for the dorky, klutzy things.

As I sat there watching the floor dry where it had been wiped by a helpful employee, I realized that within minutes, if not seconds, most people in the shop had forgotten all about it. They were back in their own worlds, doing their own things, and could care less about that older guy up there working on his computer.

This is actually a good thing. It keeps us from thinking too highly of ourselves. It reminds us that there are billions of people in the world and well over 99.9% of them have no idea that I even exist. And if that doesn't work, go outside on a clear night and look up.

Great Autumn Continues

What a day yesterday was! I had a day off and headed to Minneapolis for lunch with a friend. The sun was shining, a light breeze was blowing- and, get this- the temperature was 60. So, in my extra time I drove over to Lake Calhoun and spent some time walking and taking pictures. I wish I had taken my bike along. It was that good.

I will get to posting some pictures later this week I hope. I am currently in the midst of producing a slide/video for the church's dedication of a new community house addition this Sunday.

In the meantime, I will enjoy the weather. It's supposed to drop to normal by the end of the week. But it can sure take its time coming.

I Understand

From (The Customer is) Not Always Right:

(Bakery | Savannah, GA, USA. This bakery is a vintage style, family owned bakery with custom names for each product.)

Customer: “As a man of the cloth, I know this is a weird order. But could I get a Hazel Feelgood and a Drunk Blondie?”

It reminded me of the time my wife and I were moving into our first parsonage from a small apartment and we were out furniture shopping. We were looking at living room furniture and were deciding on end tables, etc. The salesman showed us what he called a "coffee table" which is what my family would have called it when I was young.

He then smiled, knowing that I was a young pastor, and said:

If you weren't a pastor, I would have called it a "cocktail table."

I still haven't figured out why he would even say that.

When Amusement Parks Die

For a good number of years my daughter and I spent several days each summer at the Six Flags in Gurnee, IL. It gave us many great memories of rides and fun and mostly roller coasters. When I came across this video on The Awesomer I watched it with an eerie, creepy feeling. Is this where memories go to die?

It is Six Flags in New Orleans permanently shuttered since Katrina. It looks like Six Flags in Gurnee and I can almost see the memories floating around of many fathers and daughters long since grown up.

Joe Pa at 400

 Joe Paterno and Penn State Football.

400 wins (# 400 today).
132 losses.
3 ties.

Age nearly 84.

He became head coach at Penn State my senior year in high school- 1966. Think about it....  Lyndon Johnson was president when he became head coach. The Vietnam War was beginning to get more attention, computers filled rooms, FM stereo radio was a novelty, gas was cheap, and Super Bowl #1 was still a few months in the future.

He's been on the staff there since I was 2 - 1950. Look at it this way:

Paterno has been on Penn State's coaching staff for 682 of their 1,204 games, 56.6% of all games played by the program dating back to its inception in 1887.
--Wikipedia

Truman was president when he started coaching at PSU.

Philadelphia Inquirer sports writer Phil Sheridan posted this earlier today:

He has not remained young. Paterno has aged, sometimes gracefully and sometimes not. He is stubborn and occasionally seems oblivious to the world beyond Happy Valley. He has dealt with injury and illness and ever-changing social mores.
--Link

Yes, in many ways he is a throwback to a different world. Joe Pa may have over-stayed his welcome; many have called for his retirement for years when things weren't going as well as they could.

But today he is still there. No, it won't be much longer, I am sure. There are hardly any other records for him to set. Age will catch up. It always does. Even Joe Pa can't escape that. But in his coaching he has shown his incredible commitment and focus. That's where his concerns and values in life have been maintained.

Six years ago my 26-year old nephew back in Pennsylvania was dying. Friends and family wanted to get him a Paterno-signed jersey. But what everyone heard and knew was that Joe Pa didn't do those things during the season. You didn't get in the way of his coaching. Until one of my nephew's friends let Joe Pa know what the situation was.

He signed the jersey and my nephew was given it at a party in his honor less than a month before he died.

There aren't many like Joe Paterno. There never has been. For good and bad, better and worse, we have been honored.

Jesus Would Agree, I Think

·         Childlike makes a great scientist.

Childish produces tantrums.

·         Childlike brings fresh eyes to marketing opportunities.

Childish rarely shows up as promised.

·         Childlike is fearless and powerful and willing to fail.

Childish is annoying.

·         Childlike inquires with a pure heart.

Childish is merely ignored.

--Seth Godin

What's YOUR Motivation

--Indexed

It's Coming- It's Coming

6:14 pm, CDT

Thursday, November 4, 2010

I just saw my first official Christmas ad on Comedy Central.

(It was for X-Box and Microsoft Kinect at Best Buy)

Once More to Keep the Hope Alive

--January 2008.

How quickly we forget.

Maybe we will remember again.

The Day After- At Last

All I can think of today is, that for the moment, the politics are ever so slightly quieter. At least the ads. I am still in a form of post-traumatic stress disorder over the campaign. It makes me shudder. No, not the outcome, necessarily, but the whole campaign itself.

As I sat and reflected this evening all I could think of was the following song from the 60s.

Love is but a song we sing
fear's the way we die
You can make the mountains ring
or make the angels cry

Though the dove is on the wing
and you may not know why

Come on people now
smile on your brother
everybody get together
and try to love one another right now

If you hear the song I sing
you will understand...listen
You hold the key to love and fear
all in your trembling hand
Just one key unlocks them both
Its there at your command

Come on people now
smile on your brother
Everybody get together
try to love one another right now

Or, perhaps, maybe this one:

You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will be as one

Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world...

Sandy Koufax - or - Brett Favre

Sandy Koufax (#32) is beyond doubt one of the greatest pitchers in the history of baseball. He was nothing short of remarkable. Here, from Wikipedia, is the opening summary of his career:

Sandy Koufax is an American left-handed former pitcher in Major League Baseball who played his entire career for the Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers, from 1955 to 1966. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1972, the youngest former player to receive that honor.

Koufax's career peaked with a run of six outstanding seasons from 1961 to 1966, before arthritis ended his career at age 30. He was named the National League's Most Valuable Player in 1963. He also won the 1963, 1965, and 1966 Cy Young Awards by unanimous votes, all during the period when only one pitcher was chosen per season, making him the first 3-time Cy Young winner in baseball history. In each of his Cy Young seasons, Koufax won the pitcher's triple crown by leading the NL in wins, strikeouts, and earned run average. Koufax's totals would also have led the American League in those seasons.

Koufax was the first major leaguer to pitch four no-hitters (including a perfect game). Despite his comparatively short career, Koufax's 2,396 career strikeouts ranked 7th in history as of his retirement, trailing only Warren Spahn (2,583) among left-handers. Retiring at the peak of his career, he became, at age 36 and 20 days, the youngest player ever elected to the Hall of Fame.

He only played 11 years; he was only 30 when he retired; he holds only one all-time career pitching record.

In his 12-season career, Koufax had a 165–87 record with a 2.76 ERA, 2,396 strikeouts, 137 complete games, and 40 shutouts. He was the first pitcher to average fewer than seven hits allowed per nine innings pitched in his career (6.79) and to strike out more than nine batters (9.28) per nine innings pitched in his career. He also became the 2nd pitcher in baseball history to have two games with 18 or more strikeouts, and the first to have eight games with 15 or more strikeouts. In his last ten seasons, from 1957 to 1966, batters hit .203 against Koufax, with a .271 on base percentage and a .315 slugging average.

Koufax's postseason record is impressive: a 4–3 won-lost record with a 0.95 earned run average, in four World Series. He is on the very short list of pitchers who retired with more career strikeouts than innings pitched. Koufax was selected for seven consecutive All-Star games (twice in 1961 (the last season with two All-Star Games), then 1962 to 1966).

Koufax was the first pitcher to win multiple Cy Young Awards, as well as the first pitcher to win a Cy Young Award by a unanimous vote. Each of Koufax's three Cy Young Awards were by unanimous vote. Koufax and Juan Marichal are the only two pitchers in the post-war era (1946-date) to have more than one 25-win season, with each pitcher recording three.

Among NL pitchers with at least 2,000 innings pitched who have debuted since 1913, he has the highest career winning percentage (.655) and had the lowest career ERA (2.76) until surpassed by Tom Seaver, whose NL career mark is 2.73.

He is perhaps best remembered for NOT pitching:

Koufax is also remembered as one of the outstanding Jewish athletes in American sports. His decision not to pitch Game 1 of the 1965 World Series because it fell on Yom Kippur garnered national attention as an example of conflict between social pressures and personal beliefs.

He retired because he was in pain and didn't want to permanently damage his body. he knew he wasn't immortal or invincible. He was just a very gifted human being who had his moment in the spotlight and was willing to move on at the peak of his career.

Leave them wanting more, not shaking their heads in sadness at the declining show.

Sure. The Vikings' Old Guy may still show some of the old spark, but many of us will sadly remember that he wanted one more- and then one more after that. We will feel the sadness of watching our hero of the past become all-too-mortal. And trying to ignore it.

In my pantheon of great athletes, The Old Guy former Packer will remain one of the greats. But Sandy will be far more than that- a positive role model for knowing what's important in his own life and sticking with it in the 1965 World Series game and the shocking early retirement.

And a quote on Koufax:

"I knew every pitch he was going to throw and still I couldn't hit him."

— Willie Mays

And The Season is Over

After 56 years, the Giants win the World Series. Quite a pitching exhibition by Tim Lincecum again last night. Quite a series for a number of players, including a rookie catcher, who have now done what many great ballplayers have never done. Won a World Series.

Congratulations to a remarkable team. And the Rangers weren't all that shabby, either.

But it is done. The Fall Classic has ended on the first of November.

Reality must now set in. The Season is over.

Baseball goes into hiatus, or, as it once was called, the Hot-Stove League.

So to end the season, here is a unique and wonderful version of the baseball song, Take Me Out to the Ball Game, as played by Harpo Marx on the I Love Lucy Show. It is downright heavenly.

Kind of like the game itself.

Monday Night Baseball

Game 5 is on deck for tonight. There is a sense, though, that I am simply trying to hang on to the summer game even as the world around me is crying Autumn and Winter's early signs.

But so be it. At least for tonight, the games are still on; the grass in Arlington, Texas, is still green; and we have another night of "summer."

Here is music from William and Mary Wind Symphony in a great modern piece by Jack Stamp called Pastime. Quite a celebration of the great American pastime.

A Prayer for All Saints

The road home, O God, seems long

                and at times is difficult and painful.

Grant me a holy communion, companionship with others,

                as I journey homeward to you.

I live in times of great trial:

                an age of change sits at my door.

Without a community with others

                I can so easily lose the way,

                can be led astray by illusions of holiness,

                misguided by my ego's desires.

Open my eyes to your precious gift

                of the Church's Communion of Saints.

"Saint" is a name I would never call myself,

                but the treasury of my faith

                teaches me about my holy birthright,

                that I am part of the web of sacred communion,

                uniting me with all other home-bound pilgrims

                and with all who now rejoice

                at their homecoming in you.

May I feed this day upon the food

                of this mystic, holy communion

                with those friends and fellow pilgrims

                with whom I share this planet earth,

                as well as those saints now fully one with you.

May this awareness of my companion journey

                with all the saints

                deepen my life of prayer

                and fertilize my faith in you, my Beloved.

By this communion of holy ones

                may I be daily challenged

                to greater compassion and charity

                as I walk the way of the Pilgrim.

-Edward Hays, Prayers for a Planetary Pilgrim. 1989,  p. 183.