tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6743929838151978142024-02-20T22:40:35.374-08:00One Step Up and Two Steps BackI'm the same old story, same old act...Louchart45http://www.blogger.com/profile/18247516548876365143noreply@blogger.comBlogger56125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-674392983815197814.post-51792986279030681382021-04-25T12:48:00.000-07:002021-04-25T12:48:08.382-07:00Reminders in the music<p> Today I played some music after church. There's nothing inherently noteworthy about that, but it was remarkable for me. Let me explain. For the past year and a half we have been attending church services at the local Episcopal church here in town. It is a wonderful, welcoming place with amazing people who are some of the nicest, most caring people I have ever met. We have quickly become reasonably active members of the church and we could not feel more welcomed. I love our new church.</p><p>But I have a problem. I grew up Catholic. I was married in the Catholic Church. My kids were baptized in the Catholic Church. Over the years I was an altar server, an usher, a lector, a eucharistic minister, and a music minister. I even (briefly) considered the priesthood when I was in college. My Catholic roots run deep in my biological family, as well as in my married family. I have always felt like a Catholic to my core. All of which leads one to wonder "Why are you not attending the Catholic Church?"</p><p>Simply, the Catholic Church is not the place it once was, not the place it needs to be. In some places, including in our town until a few years ago, the local parish runs interference between the harsh legalism and clericalism of the Church as a whole. Those places made the Catholic Church feel like home. But in the spring of 2018, there was a change made in our local parish. Our wonderful, loving priest left and was replaced by a harsh, authoritarian, backwards-looking, imperious priest whose only goal seemed to be dismantling everything that was remotely welcoming or inclusive. The worst of our community's instincts were brought to the surface. We tried to make it work for 18 months, but when I was excluded from communion because of the way I was receiving the cup, I could do it no longer. We tried other nearby churches, even driving over 30 miles away, but they all had the same issues, more or less. In despair we tried our local Episcopal church and we immediately realized it was a good place for us. It's not a perfect fit, but it's close.</p><p>So why the existential crisis? Simply put, I know what the Catholic Church can be. I know that it can be as inclusive as our new church, because I have seen it. I know it can be loving and welcoming, because it used to be. I know it can focus on common faith and love. But I also know that the global church insists on excluding some of the people I love most in the world, either completely, in the case of my LGBTQ+ family and friends, or by marginalizing the women I love and care about. Our local church, which once mitigated that damage, now gleefully amplifies it. What was once a beautiful, holy, welcoming, warm, energetic place that I loved to be, has now become a somber, angry, isolated place. I can't even think about it without mourning what we've lost.</p><p>Which brings me (finally) to the music this morning. Our Episcopal church is very traditional in its music. I don't know whether that is unique to our local church and its predominantly older congregation, or if it is a part of the church as a whole. I appreciate it for what it is, but it doesn't really speak to me. So, this morning, I got out my guitar and a modern Catholic setting of Psalm 23 that I dearly love. As I sang it, I found myself fighting back tears. It hurt to know that the church I loved and worked in for 47 years, the church that made me understand that God truly loves everyone, the church that once gave me life, no longer wants me or my family. And it breaks my heart.</p>Louchart45http://www.blogger.com/profile/18247516548876365143noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-674392983815197814.post-13025568052982092112019-12-17T20:31:00.002-08:002019-12-17T20:31:29.762-08:00I don't believe you. I've seen the evidence.I guess it just boils down to feeling afraid. I don't wish ill on anyone, with the possible exception of the ringleader of all this nonsense. Hating people is not really who I am.<br />
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But I know they wish ill on me. I know because I've seen it.<br />
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I've seen the defenders of gun violence after Newtown and Las Vegas and Charleston and so many others with their NRA stickers and threats to anyone who would suggest a restriction to their desire to shoot people. I've seen the cars they used to kill a woman in Charlottesville who thought like I do, who dared to say racism is bad. I've seen the weaponization of the border in order to show how much we don't want brown people in the country. I've seen them tear children from their parents and lock them in cages. I have watched them chant their hatred at members of the press whose only crime is questioning a leader they won't question. (We know how that turns out.)<br />
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I am speaking out because I know that when his supporters come for me, there will be no one left to speak up for me. To his supporters, I say I don't hate you but I fear you, because I don't believe you when you say you don't hate me and wish me no harm. I've seen what you did to those who agree with me. I know you wouldn't stop supporting him if he murdered me in the street, because I believe you would do it for him.Louchart45http://www.blogger.com/profile/18247516548876365143noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-674392983815197814.post-7955125155871285202019-08-20T21:52:00.000-07:002019-08-20T22:08:03.009-07:00A gift of tearsI cry very easily these days. I’m not sure why, but I suspect it has something to do with stress and the fact that my older baby boy is just a few months away from graduating and leaving home. Today I have shed tears while watching YouTube videos, while reminiscing with my wife, and while taking a walk.<br />
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This evening, the occasion has been listening to <i>The Indigo Girls</i>, the self-titled album from 1989. Part of the emotion comes from feeling my age a little bit recently, as well as the realization that it has been 30 years since these songs first changed my life. It is not an exaggeration to say that their music helped make me, a small-minded small town Republican teenager, into a much more open and tolerant adult than I might have been otherwise.<br />
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It’s also true that the music of The Indigo Girls was the soundtrack of my college years, especially of my relationship with my wife. One of my fondest memories is of listening to <i>The Indigo Girls</i> on my first, life-changing trip to San Francisco with Katie and her mom at Christmastime 1992. We were packed into the tiny front seat of a 1990 Nissan pickup for 700 miles, accompanied by Amy and Emily, Marc Cohn, Simon & Garfunkel, and a few other long forgotten tapes. (Remember those, kids?) My mother-in-law would have been 76 on Sunday and her absence inhabits some of my emotion as well.<br />
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The words to these songs bring my heart to the surface as well. The opening track on the album, “Closer To Fine,” is one of my favorite songs of all time. Its message of accepting life as it comes, of finding your own path without fear of getting it wrong, and of not forcing yourself into answers that don’t fit your life and circumstances only gets more poignant and appropriate as I get older. Another song, “Love’s Recovery,” could be the story of my life with Katie, particularly our sometimes rocky beginning together.<br />
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I don’t need all these reasons to tear up, of course; I do fine with all my other foibles and neuroses. However, I can’t think of a nicer way to spend an evening, crying.<br />
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Thanks for reading. I’ll try to do better next time.Louchart45http://www.blogger.com/profile/18247516548876365143noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-674392983815197814.post-26249364431120314202016-07-06T03:25:00.001-07:002016-07-06T03:26:22.631-07:00Maybe it's just me...Maybe it's just me, but I have a hard time getting worked up over how someone uses their email account. Just like, I had a hard time getting too pissed off over a guy lying because he slept with someone who wasn't his wife. Are those things problematic on some level? Certainly. Do they call into question the honesty of the people involved? To some extent. However, I know that I have sent personal emails from work and vice versa. I may have even checked my Facebook, etc. from my work computer! *gasp!* In my life, I have left information out or over-parsed words to avoid responsibility for my own errors and misbehavior. I'm not proud of these things, but they don't disqualify me from my job.<div><br></div><div>On the other hand, calling on all Americans to hate an entire religious group; making disparaging remarks about women, Muslims, Hispanics, Jews, and the disabled; encouraging torture of an even more heinous variety than what we have seen criticized over the past decade; and focusing on the pursuit of monetary gain above all else, even when it hurts others <i><b>would</b></i> seem to disqualify a person. If I did most of those things, I would no longer have a job. But some people are so focused on avenging a political loss from 24 years ago, they are willing to overlook the evil Racist Cheeto candidate in order to punish the Clintons for winning the 1992 election, and for reminding America that the Reagan years weren't really as super-amazing as the right wingers would have us all believe. It seems like there is an "Anyone But the Clintons" camp who are angry that they can't convince the rest of the world that the Clintons are dirty rotten scoundrels and would rather drive the country off a cliff than let the 1992 election recede into history.</div><div><br></div><div>But maybe that's just me.</div>Louchart45http://www.blogger.com/profile/18247516548876365143noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-674392983815197814.post-55075590366959196402016-06-20T11:01:00.001-07:002016-06-20T11:06:13.628-07:00You mad, bro?I haven't spent much time talking about the election recently. I won't convince any of the supporters of the GOP's presumptive nominee that they are wrong, as they obviously are. And the Democratic nomination is wrapped up as well, leaving only one possible option for those of us who would like to see our country maintain its freedoms, successes, and place in the world. <div><br></div><div>I can't believe, however, that some of my fellow Bernie supporters are seriously arguing that Hillary is just as bad as Trump. (Actually, I don't think that they are serious. I think they are pissed off.) I have never believed in a candidate's message more than I believe in Senator Sanders' message. However, I also know that Sec. Clinton (or a handful of dryer lint) would be a VASTLY better choice than the Racist Cheeto. As the Huffington Post always reminds us, the GOP nominee "<em style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">regularly incites political violence and is a serial liar, rampant xenophobe, racist, misogynist <span style="box-sizing: inherit;"><wbr style="box-sizing: inherit;"></span>and birther who has repeatedly pledged to ban all Muslims — 1.6 billion members of an entire religion — from entering the U.S."</em></div><div><em style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></em></div><div>Only once in my voting life (in 2008) have I supported a candidate in the primaries who wound up winning the nomination. Typically, I have come around to vote for the candidate I believed would do the better job, or at least would not destroy the country. There are times to cast a protest vote, and I have done so in the past; this is not one of those times. There is too much to lose as a nation if the Fascist Pumpkin Spice Latte gets elected. I only hope that my fellow Bernie fans will come around before it's too late.</div><div><br></div><div>Thanks for reading. I'll try to do better next time.</div>Louchart45http://www.blogger.com/profile/18247516548876365143noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-674392983815197814.post-41337391192632202122016-01-22T21:55:00.001-08:002016-01-23T19:16:38.733-08:00You belong to the night...<span style="font-family: inherit;">I'm not used to writing this often, and I wish I didn't have to now. Last week I wrote about Alan Rickman and David Bowie. Today I turn to two other losses from the last few days that hit even closer to home. Both of these gentlemen passed away on Sunday and I heard the news of their passing within minutes of each other on Monday evening; it was not a good night.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The Eagles are one of my favorite bands and Glenn Frey was an irreplaceable part of that group. He was also difficult and unreasonably demanding. And I loved his music. <span style="font-family: "helvetica neue light" , , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">"Miami Vice" was a touchstone for my generation and the songs of Glenn Frey's that were featured prominently in the show ("Smuggler's Blues" and "You Belong to the City") are two of my favorite '80s songs. Somehow singing along made the 13 year old version of me feel very cool. "The Heat is On" from "Beverly Hills Cop" is a staple of '80s oldies radio. Glenn Frey's solo career provided some high points in the soundtrack of my youth, but the Eagles were much more important. </span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">It is fashionable to trash the Eagles music. They embodied the excesses of '70s and '80s rock stars and rich people. They also happened to have some amazing music. While I readily admit that the Eagles didn't break the kind of ground that David Bowie did, I am more likely to sit down and listen to an Eagles album than I am to listen to any of Bowie's albums. </span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue light" , , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;">I might never have become a singer if it weren't for the Eagles. My earliest memories of music are of my dad and my Uncle Ray singing together. The songs that stick in my head from all those years ago are songs by the Eagles (even though they didn't do very many Eagles songs together) and Simon and Garfunkel. When I started playing drums in bar bands, the Eagles were a staple. The first harmonies I learned were in songs by the Eagles and the Doobie Brothers. When I started singing lead vocals, Eagles songs were some of my first solos. I love that band, even though it isn't cool. I have Eagles bootlegs from the end of their first run. I am sad I never got to see them in person.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The other gentleman is not someone you have heard of, in all likelihood. Terry Davis was a social studies teacher at Flagstaff High School from 1969-2004. When I was first hired at FHS, Mr. Davis and I shared a terribly thin wall. He was gracious and tolerant of a new teacher with classes filled with rowdy resource students. Gradually, I got better, my classes got quieter, and Mr. Davis welcomed me into the history department when I was transferred in-building in the middle of the year. He was the first person I turned to with questions about policies and procedures, etc. He also gave me advice on buying a house and putting family first. He sat around and drank coffee with me and shot the breeze. <span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">He was a consistent voice for the kids who fell through the cracks.</span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue light" , , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"> Terry was my friend, a mentor, and a wonderful man. When he retired, I got his room. I have taught in room 718 for 12 years and, even though I may be at FHS for another 15 years, it will always be Mr. Davis's room. I loved seeing him around town with Mrs. Davis after they retired, and I will miss him very much.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Thanks for letting me share my memories and thanks for reading. I'll try to do better next time.</span></div>
Louchart45http://www.blogger.com/profile/18247516548876365143noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-674392983815197814.post-51873629212245778542016-01-14T18:25:00.001-08:002016-01-14T20:13:50.190-08:00Ashes to AshesMonday morning the world woke up to news that we had lost David Bowie, a true genius. I admit that I have never been a gigantic Bowie fan, but I enjoy much of his music and I certainly recognize his importance as an innovator and trendsetter. My most indelible memory of him was as The Goblin King in "Labyrinth," which I saw in Canton, MIchigan with my cool Uncle Nelson, still one of my favorite people. My lasting impressions of the movie were 1) I was in love with Jennifer Connelly, and 2) David Bowie was the coolest guy on the planet, even when he creeped me out. I was saddened at what we lost as a culture.<div><br></div><div>This morning I heard the news that another 69-year-old Brit had passed away. My first memory of Alan Rickman is the same as almost everyone else's: "yippee ky-ay..." Alan Rickman in "Die Hard" was a classic 80s action movie baddie and I hated/loved him. Another bad guy role I loved was the Sheriff of Nottingham in that otherwise terrible Kevin Costner movie. He was wonderful as Eamon de Valera in "Michael Collins," a movie I loved but not many others saw. But the reason I shed tears when I found out about Mr. Rickman's passing was his role as Severus Snape. It is no secret that I love the Harry Potter books and Snape is the best character in the books. I loved the way he was written and completely drawn in by Rickman's performance. I am so sad that I won't get to see him in anything else. Even his interviews were wonderful.</div><div><br></div><div>Nothing particularly inspirational to say about all this. Cancer sucks and I am sorry that we have been cheated out of whatever else these two talented gentlemen might have produced. I'll listen to Bowie and smile, watch Snape die and cry, and be glad we got the chance to share those moments.</div><div><br></div><div>Thanks for reading. I'll try to do better next time.</div>Louchart45http://www.blogger.com/profile/18247516548876365143noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-674392983815197814.post-61514612063117447892015-12-05T10:08:00.001-08:002015-12-05T10:12:03.552-08:00The way I amThis is not an apology. I cannot and will not apologize for the things I am about to say. It is, however, an explanation. If you disagree, fine. I don't need to hear about it. I'm probably in the minority, and that's fine. I am also thoroughly convinced that I am right.<div><br></div><div>I hate guns. I have had a distaste and fear of them since I was 7 years old. My uncle was shot during the commission of a crime. It wasn't life-threatening, but it affected him for the rest of his life. A number of other gun-involved events, including some with fatal outcomes, continued to happen throughout my youth. I wasn't conscious of the impact guns were having on me, but it is clear to me that they were indeed having an impact.</div><div><br></div><div>In my adult life, gun violence has disrupted my comfort and sanity for years. My sleep is often interrupted when images of the carnage and devastation caused by the weapons creep into my consciousness. One of the reasons I left a job early in my career was that I dreamed about being shot on a nearly nightly basis, and I couldn't find a way to deal with it. I now deal with anxiety and periodic panic attacks, both of which can be caused by the daily drumbeat of gun violence in our tragically gun-obsessed society.</div><div><br></div><div>Guns are different from other tools. Guns have one and only one purpose: guns kill/murder. That's it. You can't use a gun to build a house. You can't use a gun to make a sandwich. You can't use a gun to fix a road. Guns kill. Period. If you have a gun, you have it with the purpose of killing someone or something. (Don't argue that you can competition shoot with guns. A few hundred people in the whole country actually do that <b><i>and only that </i></b>with guns. That's a b.s. argument and you know it.) Guns have daily utility only if you provide all of your food by hunting. I have eaten lots of game from hunters, but I have never known anyone who provided for themselves and their family exclusively through hunting as people did several hundred years ago. Again, no reason to have a gun here.</div><div><br></div><div>Many anti-gun people say they don't want to take away guns. I do. Get rid of them all. That way, if you have one, you are breaking the law and you should pay a penalty. Keep doing it and you should get locked up, because your obsession with being able to kill stuff is unhealthy and dangerous. If we could do that, it would be so easy to see the bad guys. If you aren't in the military or a police officer and you have a gun, you're the bad guy. Easy peasy. "If guns are outlawed, only outlaws will have guns." Exactly. Arrest the people who have one. Problem solved.</div><div><br></div><div>If you live near me and have a gun, you are making me and my family less safe. The only reason to have a gun is to kill, and if you have one, I am a potential target. I don't believe that there are people who own guns, but would never use them. If that's true, you don't need one. You just like to play with them, and that's dangerous. (I've done it too. Guns can be a lot of fun. So is Yahtzee. Do that instead.) Private citizens don't ever stop these shootings with their own guns. And if a private citizen starts shooting in such a situation, it is very likely to make the situation even worse. You don't <i>need</i> a gun; you <i>want</i> a gun, and that's very different. I want to not get killed. That's me living versus you having a cool toy. I think my concern wins.</div><div><br></div><div>I'm not arguing here. I will never ever think guns are a good idea. I'm just explaining why they are such a bad idea. I have heard all the pro-gun propaganda and it doesn't sway me. Like, at all. I don't need you to rehash them. I probably won't even read them. Like this or don't, but it's just an explanation. If you really love your guns more than other people's lives, I'm not going to convince you with this post. Just delete it, ignore it, or whatever and move on. It's fine. You aren't that worried about my life anyway.</div>Louchart45http://www.blogger.com/profile/18247516548876365143noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-674392983815197814.post-13035640240666204692015-11-27T14:48:00.001-08:002015-11-27T14:53:26.638-08:00His ego is huuge...<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><i>Buy low, sell high<br>You get rich and you still die<br>Money talks, people jump<br>Ask how high, low-life Donald what's-his-name<br>And who cares?<br>I don't wanna know what his girlfriend doesn't wear<br>Its a shame that the people at work<br>Wanna hear about this kind of jerk</i></span><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">-John Gorka, "Where the Bottles Break" 1990<br></span><div><br><div>I want to be clear on this occasion that my opposition to Donald Trump is almost entirely about him as a person and not about his policy ideas. I can be as partisan as anyone, so I have opposed other Republican candidates on policy grounds, including John McCain, who I admire very much as a human being. I just happen to think he is wrong on nearly every possible political issue. In the case of "The Donald," he is a horrible person. He has no policy positions aside from tricking Mexico into building a giant wall between the countries. He is a bully and an arrogant piece of trash who mocks people for disabilities, gender, race, and anything else he can think of. He is everything that is wrong with the country. I am pleased to see that people are turning against him. I only hope it continues and he crawls back into the slime he came from.</div></div></div>Louchart45http://www.blogger.com/profile/18247516548876365143noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-674392983815197814.post-88506517289362836542015-08-16T22:53:00.001-07:002015-08-16T23:02:09.750-07:00To love another person is to see the face of GodToday I got to see my oldest son perform on stage as Javert for the last time. The performances were wonderful and I really couldn't be more proud of him and the whole cast. It was remarkable as a work of art, but it resonated with me for a whole different reason.<div><br></div><div>I remember many years ago an occasion that has always stuck with me, but I never really understood it until now. When I was playing in bands with my dad when I was in high school, I was the second (and sometimes third) best vocalist in the band. I was starting to come into my own, but I wasn't quite there. Then we played at a benefit concert and I felt like I had arrived. An old friend of my dad's told him, "you aren't the best singer in the band anymore." I didn't agree, and I still don't, but my dad said he did and he was happier to hear that than if his friend had told him he was still the best. I couldn't understand that. I thought he was just agreeing to make me feel good about myself. When Dermot walked on stage and began to sing his first lines: "Bring me prisoner 24601! Your time is up and your parole's begun!" I choked up and my eyes filled with tears, even at this unsentimental opening scene. This beautiful young man was Inspector Javert and he occupied the stage in a way I never could have. And I was bursting. I cried every time he took the stage that first night. (And a whole bunch of other times, because "Les Miserables.") I finally understood my dad's reaction. I was happier with his triumph than I ever was with one of my own.</div><div><br></div><div>So thank you to everyone who made it possible. Thank you to Theatrikos and Theatrikids. Thank you to the directors, Joe and Kennlyn. You brought Javert out of him.</div><div><br></div><div>Thank you to the cast for welcoming him and giving this young man so much happiness. You are his world right now and I couldn't pick a better group of people. </div><div><br></div><div>Thank you to his SMS friends in the cast. You will be his link to this show in the coming days.</div><div><br></div><div>Thank you to his onstage foils for making the show so wonderful. Thank you to those of you who have become close to him and made him one of your own. I am inspired by your kindness and love for my son. </div><div><br></div><div>Thank you to the members of the cast who are moving on and have finished your final Theatrikids show. Your contributions will live in the performances Dermot will undertake going forward. </div><div><br></div><div>Thank you to the cast of "Our Town" who first made him feel welcome at the Doris Harper White Playhouse. It is his new home away from home, as it is for so many of you.</div><div><br></div><div>I could not be more proud of my son tonight. I think all of us who were there were very lucky. The songs of the show speak of being selfless and helping others and focusing on each person's humanity. It was nice to be reminded of that through those songs, but it was even more powerful for me to see it in action in so many large and small ways. Again, I thank you.</div><div><br></div><div>Thanks for reading. I'll try to do better next time.</div>Louchart45http://www.blogger.com/profile/18247516548876365143noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-674392983815197814.post-60028077214611228832015-07-22T00:00:00.001-07:002015-07-22T00:02:08.703-07:00Thinking about the musicI've been thinking about music today. Over the last year or so, I have acquired several "box sets" of CDs which include most or all of the albums of a particular artist. A few weeks ago, I decided to get them all out and listen to the whole batch in precise chronological order. That's the music set-up.<div><br></div><div>Now I need you to permit me a necessary digression. There is a particular type of Catholic spirituality, derived from St. Ignatius of Loyola's <i>Spiritual Exercises, </i>called active contemplation. It is similar to Carl Jung's "active imagination." In religious practice, the participant uses Scripture and his or her own imagination to place themselves into the Gospel story, etc. in order to experience it more completely. That's the rest of the set-up.</div><div><br></div><div>So I started listening to the CDs yesterday, but as I was driving and listening to music from the mid- to late 1960s, I began drifting into the music in a way I had not expected. As in Ignatian Contemplation, I found myself experiencing the music as I might have in, say, April of 1968. Suddenly, I was returning home from the record store and marveling at the songwriting of Paul Simon as I listened to <i>Bookends </i>for the first time. Later, I heard the chants of "The whole world is watching..." from Chicago's 1969 debut album. I could picture myself recalling those awful August nights 8 months earlier as I tried to categorize the new sounds coming from the vinyl.</div><div><br></div><div>Most vividly, I could feel the electricity in the crowd as I listened to Simon and Garfunkel in concert in late 1969, when they tested the new material which would make up their next album in a month or two. In those moments, I heard "Bridge Over Troubled Water" as for the first time. Tears rolled down my face in silent testimony to the power of the music and a tingle ran up my spine as I heard the crowd's reaction from that November night 46 years ago mirroring my own. I could get used to music this way.</div><div><br></div><div>Thanks for reading. I'll try to do better next time.</div>Louchart45http://www.blogger.com/profile/18247516548876365143noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-674392983815197814.post-64411522297176707202015-06-20T09:42:00.001-07:002015-06-20T11:01:30.462-07:00So tired of thisI am very frustrated with the state of affairs in the U.S. today; this will come as no shock to anyone who knows me. It has taken a particularly nasty turn over the past few days. A dear old friend of mine is very angry with me because I have dared to question the sanity of America's destructive love affair with guns. He says I shouldn't talk about it in the aftermath of Charleston, that it's just playing politics. Perhaps we <i>should</i> spend more time away from these incidents decrying the gun obsession, but we don't. Then, when things like Charleston happen, as they inevitably do in our country, the pro-gun crew try to shush anyone who complains about it. That's how they change the subject.<div><br></div><div>I have shared this before, but it remains one of the better responses to the gun crisis in America, so I share it again:<br><div><div><br></div><div>Matt Gottschling, a friend from Portland, with whom I had the pleasure of teaching for a couple of years, posted this after another mass shooting a few years ago. It is the most reasonable response I've heard so far.</div><div><br></div><div>"A lot of pro-gun advocates use the argument that “vehicles kill people too, and no one talks about banning them”. Okay, let’s treat guns like vehicles. Here’s how:</div><div><br></div><div>1. Require those who wish to own a gun to first... obtain a license. They must pass a test, complete a background check, and periodically have to renew their license. First-time gun owners should also have to take a course on gun safety, and how to properly secure their firearms.</div><div>2. Those who have conditions that prevent them from safely operating vehicles are not legally allowed to operate vehicles. The same should be true of guns.</div><div>3. Require all firearms to be registered. Also, any transactions of firearms (whether sold by a dealer, at a gun show, or by private parties) must include an official transfer of title or bill of sale (just as a vehicle does).</div><div>4. Vehicles can not be purchased or operated by the very young, despite the fact that they are not intentionally designed to hurt people. Guns are designed to hurt people, and yet I know many who believe that it is okay for young children to operate them.</div><div>5. Vehicles can’t be used everywhere. I can’t drive my car on a sidewalk, in a store, or through a park. Guns should not be allowed anywhere and everywhere. Contrary to what elected officials in my former state believe, guns should never be carried in schools, bars, or college campuses – except of course by law enforcement officials.</div><div>6. Vehicles have regulations to ensure their safe operation. Guns should as well. I can’t drive a vehicle that is forty feet wide and seventy feet long – even if it makes me feel empowered and awesome. Guns that serve functions that go well beyond the reasonable uses of “sport” or “self-defense” should not be legal. No automatic or semi-automatic weapons. No extended magazines. No armor piercing bullets.</div><div><br></div><div>There's no way of knowing if any of these ideas would prevent a tragedy like the one that occurred yesterday. However, I believe that it is important to fundamentally change our "gun culture" in this nation. I do not believe that it is too soon to have this conversation. If we won't do anything about it in the aftermath of such a stupid and senseless act, then when will we?"</div></div></div><div><br></div><div>I'd much rather find a way to restrict access to guns, as they did in the U.K. when there was a massacre like this. I don't think that will happen. Maybe I will just keep posting this every time one of these gun massacres happen. At least until there is no one left to read it.</div><div><br></div><div>Thanks for reading. I'll try to do better next time.</div>Louchart45http://www.blogger.com/profile/18247516548876365143noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-674392983815197814.post-14889033781269063982015-03-07T14:18:00.000-08:002015-03-07T14:18:18.299-08:00The world sucks right nowThe world is upside down. Arizona, a place I have loved, has lost its soul. In the new AZ, <a href="http://azcapitoltimes.com/news/2015/03/03/doug-ducey-gop-leaders-reach-budget-deal/" target="_blank">education is bad.</a> Guns and, inevitably, shooting people with them is <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/nra-sick-reference-gabby-giffords-attack-article-1.2139045" target="_blank">good</a>. People who look different than you <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arizona_SB1070" target="_blank">are bad</a> and should be sent away. People who speak a different language than you are bad and should be sent away. People who believe in a different version of God <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/22/us/religious-right-in-arizona-cheers-bill-allowing-businesses-to-refuse-to-serve-gays.html" target="_blank">are bad</a> and should be sent away. Rich people are good, but allowing poor people a chance to become rich, or even middle class, <a href="http://blogforarizona.net/doug-duceys-plan-to-help-poor-single-mothers-is-to-further-subject-poor-young-men-to-prosecution/" target="_blank">is bad</a>. People who love someone that the power brokers don't think you should love <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2014/02/21/us/arizona-anti-gay-bill/index.html" target="_blank">is bad</a>. Any idea that comes from somewhere else, particularly east of, say, Houston is automatically bad, so bad, in fact, we should <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jeff-biggers/arizona-tea-party-gone-wi_b_818392.html" target="_blank">ignore it</a>, despite the clear Constitutional conflict that incurs.<br />
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The Republican Party has been overrun by the worst form of reactionary sludge, the so-called Tea Party. These are the people who propagate the nonsense I just detailed. The Republican Party I proudly registered for and of which I was a voting member for nearly 10 years, no longer exists. Stupidity and ignorance is valued. Truth, especially truth with scientific support, is denied. I have been called a terrorist by a previous Secretary of Education and by a 2016 presidential hopeful for the crime of being a public school teacher. I dedicate more of my life to the public service of education than I do to my own family, and I am compared to ISIS.<a href="http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2015/02/scott_walker_compares_unions_to_isis_the_wisconsin_governor_thinks_fighting.html" target="_blank"> Literally</a>. I am tired of it. I don't even have the energy to fight, outside my own vote.<br />
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The bad guys have won. The only time I have been hopeful in my adult life, politically speaking, was on the night of the 2008 presidential election, and the awful Tea Party people ruined that optimism. I am more depressed today than I remember being in a very long time. Politics matters. when the bad people win, bad things happen and the voices of good people are ignored, including the hundreds and thousands who have protested the way things are now. I really don't know what to do. I am usually a positive person, but I am without hope today. I need to go grade 180+ tests, write my lesson plans, and care about all those kids, which makes me Public Enemy Number 1.Louchart45http://www.blogger.com/profile/18247516548876365143noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-674392983815197814.post-53228518661801069672014-06-10T19:47:00.001-07:002014-06-10T19:47:51.378-07:00Caution: May Contain Liberal ContentI am simultaneously thrilled and horrified to see Eric Cantor lose his seat in Congress. He has been a terrible obstructionist leader, causing immeasurable damage to the United States with his blatant political pandering. For that reason, I am thrilled. On the other hand, the tea party backed candidate who won will likely win the election because, in some very backwards parts of the country, such as large parts of the Deep South and Arizona, people will vote for anyone with an "R" behind their name, regardless of their actual beliefs. The defeat of Cantor over a perceived willingness to work with Democrats on immigration means that the possibility of any action or compromise whatsoever is gone. For this reason, I am horrified.<div><br></div><div>But, I am also encouraged in a bizarre way. If enough extremists win in the Republican party primaries between now and 2016, as they appear to be doing, the Repubs will be stuck with another unwinnable presidential candidate and another unwinnable national election. This would, obviously, be good for the country, especially if the new and inferior party of no, formerly known as the Republicans, win Congress in November. At least the White House can be a firewall against further tea party idiocy.</div><div><br></div><div>Thanks for reading. I'll try to have better news next time.</div>Louchart45http://www.blogger.com/profile/18247516548876365143noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-674392983815197814.post-42579491895047642952014-05-27T20:46:00.001-07:002014-05-27T21:14:12.250-07:00Just stay homeWe went to the Sinagua Middle School beginning band/choir/orchestra concert tonight. Of course, the kids were great - voice cracks, reed squeaks, honks, string screeches, and all - but I think I can safely say I have never been in a group of people who were more rude, obnoxious, inconsiderate, unpleasant people. Let's take roll, shall we?<div><br></div><div>Sick and screaming 2-year old? Here for some reason.</div><div><br></div><div>Mom of said 2-year old who is too busy talking to her friend to attend to the child? Present-ish.</div><div><br></div><div>Parents who both spent the entire time looking at their phones, pausing only to shout "you da man!" like a drunken golf fan between each piece? Yo.</div><div><br></div><div>The child of the above parents who thinks we are at a track meet? Here. And gone. And here. And gone.</div><div><br></div><div>Grandmother who is hard of hearing and carries on a conversation through the entire concert at a volume more appropriate for a KISS concert? HERE!!!</div><div><br></div><div>Innumerable people wandering the aisles before, during, and after each piece? Definitely here.</div><div><br></div><div>I am so frustrated with my fellow humans right now. If you aren't here to listen to the concert, please, for the rest of us, stay home!</div><div><br></div><div>Sorry I'm so grumpy. Thanks for reading. I'll try to do better next time.</div>Louchart45http://www.blogger.com/profile/18247516548876365143noreply@blogger.com0Flagstaff Flagstaff35.198027 -111.597646tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-674392983815197814.post-28744739754090823942014-04-28T08:56:00.001-07:002014-04-28T08:56:46.860-07:00"Don't talk back to me, alright?!" - Randy JohnsonThis morning I have come across a number of news stories, etc. and I have violated my own rule about not reading the comments. Already this morning, I have seen comments psychoanalyzing the author of an article, questioning the author's bias in a completely apolitical piece, and arguing with Dear Abby! What is going on?!<div><br></div><div>Actually, I know the problem. People have very much bought into the foolishness of the current media obsession known as "join the conversation." Actually, don't. I don't want to read about your problems, politics, or opinions when I'm reading the sports or news or an advice column. If you want to write about it on your Facebook, or Tweet about it, or even blog about it (I know: who does that anymore?) then go right ahead. That's why those forums exist. Unfortunately, the comments section of most every website is a cesspool of stupidity, in which you can find the rhetorical equivalent of "You're a big dummyhead!" "I know you are but what am I?" played out for public consumption.</div><div><br></div><div>If you want to read opinions, turn to the editorial section of a newspaper or website. But do everyone a favor: don't "join the conversation."</div><div><br></div><div>Thanks for reading. I'll try to do better next time.</div>Louchart45http://www.blogger.com/profile/18247516548876365143noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-674392983815197814.post-27532151283958306682014-01-16T20:28:00.000-08:002014-01-16T20:28:59.702-08:00Passing of a friendToday is coming to a close in an unexpected fashion, with the news that an old friend has passed away. Mike Cole was one of the first people I remember knowing after I moved to Show Low when I was 6 years old. We were friends throughout our time in school, especially when were in CCD and CYO together. Along with Joe Prust, we were the Three Catholic Musketeers for years. I remember spending the night at Mike's house a few times. We annoyed his sister, Tricia, and wandered around Fools Hollow, even at night. I wasn't as close to Mike as I was years ago, and I was never as close as many of my old Show Low friends were, but Mike was my friend. <br />
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I have lost family members, even recently. I have lost people I looked up to and even idolized. I have been there with friends when they were grieving their losses, and I have watched as my role models growing up have left this life. This is the first time anyone I ever considered a close friend has passed away, however. I can't say I am dealing with it well, although there isn't a particularly good way to deal with loss. I miss the people I grew up with, I miss the life I lived when Mike and I were friends, and tonight I am missing Michael James Cole. Rest in peace, my friend.Louchart45http://www.blogger.com/profile/18247516548876365143noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-674392983815197814.post-43218099086264476942013-06-04T20:02:00.002-07:002013-06-04T20:02:57.144-07:00Religion and baseball. Really.Watching the Diamondbacks game tonight and I saw a really bad call, which is having some impact on the game. I'm not sure why, but it suddenly struck me that the situation was distressingly similar to some issues with the church. It really isn't even much of a stretch.<br />
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One of the things that bugs me most about baseball is its reluctance to just make changes that need to be made. They knew about steroids for years before they addressed the problem. They complain about the length of games but they won't enforce rules to speed up the game. And, in the most glaring example, they won't address the issue of replay in a timely manner. Umpires are not allowed to review anything outside a very narrow band of calls. The review tonight would have taken ten seconds, but the powers that be are more interested in following some rule than they are in getting it right.<br />
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This is where the similarity to the church comes in. Too many church leaders are interested in following some rule about who can get married, etc., and they are totally disinterested in doing what is right for actual human people. This bothers me more daily in two of my favorite institutions: Major League Baseball and the church.<br />
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Thanks for reading. I'll try to do better next time.Louchart45http://www.blogger.com/profile/18247516548876365143noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-674392983815197814.post-45406696566188547752013-02-22T21:14:00.000-08:002013-02-22T21:14:43.402-08:00Pure Parental HappinessLet me start by saying for the record that <i>The Princess Bride</i> is my favorite movie of all time. I have seen it dozens of time and it is the only movie I can think of that I could finish watching and immediately restart to watch again. Katie and I both quote from it on a daily basis, often leaving the children rolling their eyes.<br />
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Despite all of this, somehow my kids had never seen it before. Dermot had expressed some interest, but we just never got around to it. So tonight, when we had an unclaimed block of time for a change, we decided to fill it with<i> The Princess Bride.</i> It was the best decision of the year. At every kissing scene, Kieran echoed the Fred Savage character: "Oh gross! They're kissing!" and other exclamations of mock horror. Meanwhile, Dermot began quoting the movie as it continued, in the manner of 10-year-olds everywhere. The best part is that it matched the famously quotable lines:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>"Anybody want a peanut?"</li>
<li>"You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means."</li>
<li>"Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father; prepare to die."</li>
<li>"Mawidge, the bwessed awangement..."</li>
<li>"You'd make a wonderful Dread Pirate Roberts."</li>
</ul>
He even did them with the appropriate accents. <br />
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I noticed as the movie progressed that whenever I looked over at him and he was laughing and loving the movie, I got a little choked up. Let me be clear: I am extremely proud of my kids. Kieran is a funny little spark plug. I can't wait for Little League because he gets so into it. Dermot is a budding scientist and writer. (I'm envisioning the next Malcolm Gladwell.) In fact, tomorrow Dermot will be competing in the Coconino County Spelling Bee as the two-time reigning Knoles Elementary Spelling Bee champion. Yet, somehow, I felt myself getting a lump in my throat over my kids' joy at a movie. <br />
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Maybe it's silly, but I can't help it. Tonight, watching that movie with them, I was as happy as I've ever been as a parent. I will apologize for being sappy, goofy, distractible, myopic, and overweight, but I won't apologize for what happened tonight. For me, that's the good stuff.<br />
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Thanks for reading. I'll try to do better next time.Louchart45http://www.blogger.com/profile/18247516548876365143noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-674392983815197814.post-79179577664932356022012-07-18T12:49:00.004-07:002012-07-18T17:02:54.606-07:00Dumb people and other love songsHaven't done this in awhile. I hope I remember how...<br />
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I'll be trying to post my more inflammatory statements through the blog so I piss off fewer people. <br />
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Have you noticed that Joe Arpaio does more ridiculous things as the federal government gets closer to nailing him for his racial profiling and incompetence at his job? Also, most of his campaign money comes from outside the state.<br />
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<div class="title-news">
You would have to be completely lost in your own paranoid brand of unreality to believe - even for a minute - Rush Limbaugh's statements that the President of the United States actually hates the country he runs. Pretty stupid. I can respect people who disagree with the policies of the president or others on my side of the political divide, but as soon as you say actively stupid things, I can't respect you anymore. (To be clear: "I don't think the president is doing a very good job turning around the economy" is fine. I disagree, but I can understand. When you say "I wish this president would learn how to be an American," you have crossed the line into stupidity.)</div>
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Don't read the comments sections of any online posting. Most of the time the people who respond to online articles have been required to fail an IQ test before being allowed to post. Also, don't comment on news articles. Please.<br />
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I can't wait to stay on the North Rim.<br />
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I hope California is foggy when we get there.<br />
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I was worried about Katie's high school reunion, but it was fun. I didn't know those folks very well, but it was still great to reminisce over the shared experiences we <i>did </i>have together.<br />
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I love my job, but I wish the people I feel best about working with would stop leaving. Not only am I losing out on the chance to collaborate with some terrific educators, but I'm starting to get a complex! This time, I still have a couple teachers left to work with, but just by the skin of their teeth.<br />
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I'm not leaving the Catholic Church, but I'm not very happy with the state of affairs therein.<br />
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I'm really glad that I finally talked Katie into getting a Facebook account.<br />
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And speaking of Katie, I am the luckiest man on earth. Not only do I get to spend every day with a couple of terrific little boys, I also get to look at the best person I have ever known as I fall asleep every night. Her strength and beauty–in every aspect of her life–inspire me every day.<br />
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I wish I could have been at my baby cousin's wedding. As it turns out, she isn't a baby anymore. In fact she's a doctor, but I still wish I could have gone to her wedding.<br />
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I guess the Diamondbacks are going to trade Justin Upton. I have no idea why they would do that. And on the subject of the D-backs, where the heck is Daron Sutton?!<br />
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Thanks for reading. I'll try to do better next time.Louchart45http://www.blogger.com/profile/18247516548876365143noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-674392983815197814.post-72247593577710798842012-01-25T10:04:00.000-08:002012-01-25T10:04:03.131-08:00Just tiredMaybe I'm over-tired, at home with a sick 4 year old, but I'm a little emotional today. I watched Gabby Giffords resign today. I heard the things her colleagues, both Republican and Democrat, said about her. I want to believe those things.<br />
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When I was a little kid I would say, like all little kids, that I wanted to be President someday. I don't actually want that anymore, but I want to believe that the people who represent us are good people. I want real people who are doing what they think is right to run this country, not people who will say one thing one day, and change their tune to deny an opponent a victory. I want to believe that the tears I saw on the floor of the House of Representatives were real. When I see John Boehner, I don't want to think he's prepping a photo-op. The system as it stands now makes it hard for me to believe those things, though.<br />
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I haven't stopped believing in the things I have always believed in. I am still a ridiculously left of center liberal. I just don't want to be a bomb-thrower anymore. If someone I know believes something from the right, I don't want to think they are bad; I just want to think they are simply wrong. Watching the State of the Union and Rep. Giffords resignation, I got a brief reminder of how it felt when I could believe passionately without hating passionately. <br />
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I don't want to believe that all Republicans are Rush Limbaugh or Ann Coulter or Russell Pearce or Joe Arpaio and I don't want to be the liberal equivalent of those hate-mongers. I fear that is precisely what I have become. I want to remember that you can disagree with someone and still believe them to be a fine person. And I want to remember that even people I generally agree with and admire make poor decisions or have bad ideas; I don't automatically oppose you because I disagree with you. <br />
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I need to believe that people are basically good, whether I agree with them or not. I'm tired of being cynical. I am tired of being angry. I am tired of pointing fingers. I am tired of my thin skin. I am tired of the political person I have become. I can't change the system, and I can't change what others think or say about me, but I can change me and that is enough.<br />
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Thanks for reading. I'll try to do better next time.Louchart45http://www.blogger.com/profile/18247516548876365143noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-674392983815197814.post-7418921754762179792011-11-23T07:57:00.000-08:002011-11-23T07:57:46.677-08:00A love letter to NPROne of the best parts of my day is just after I wake up. I wander to the kitchen and make some coffee with the radio tuned to 91.7 FM. That's our local NPR station. I love getting my brain going with such quality information.<br />
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NPR does good reporting on so many things. I have learned about new psychological research, which I included in my class. I have learned about scientific breakthroughs, world politics, artists, films, books and writers. I read things I would never have read, watch things I would never have watched, and even eat things I would never have eaten. Case in point: a number of years ago, I tried the infamous Pepto-Bismol pink cranberry relish that Susan Stamberg extols each year at this time. It has become a staple of our Thanksgiving feast.<br />
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This morning I heard Tina Brown of The Daily Beast/ Newsweek on <i>Morning Edition</i>. She talked about articles by Peggy Noonan and David Brooks, two well-known Republican writers. Most of you who will read this know that I am firmly on the opposite side of the aisle. However, because of the appearance on NPR, I was willing to give them a chance. In fact, I read both columns and they are great, not just good. I had to think and accommodate new information and opinions. This is a good thing.<br />
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Wherever you are, find the closest NPR station and listen. There is only the bias provided by actual facts and there is so much more than that. You can also expect to be entertained and moved and challenged. Let this happen and enjoy the experience.<br />
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Thanks for reading. I'll try to do better next time.Louchart45http://www.blogger.com/profile/18247516548876365143noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-674392983815197814.post-58868239914491497862011-11-21T21:01:00.000-08:002011-11-21T21:01:24.437-08:00Stupid people and other Arizona politiciansJan Brewer is an idiot. Once upon a time on this blog I defended her actions. That was before the wildly racist SB1070 and her fictional account of the border debate with the federal government. Then she decided to overstep her Constitutional authority to remove an independent from the Arizona redistricting commission. Now that she has finally been stopped (by an entirely Republican Supreme Court), she is playing dumb and denying that she knows why her arbitrary action was overturned.<br />
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Yes, Jan Brewer is an idiot. We need to recall her, just like we recalled Russell "The White Supremacist" Pearce. There is no room for racists in public office. And there is no room for stupid people.Louchart45http://www.blogger.com/profile/18247516548876365143noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-674392983815197814.post-92059043977066316662011-11-20T21:00:00.000-08:002011-11-20T21:00:16.173-08:00Random stuff on a random dayI finished writing music for the new Mass responses and prayers. I hope they work out. After spending a lot of time with the new texts, I'm really not sure why a lot of these changes needed to be made.<br />
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The Lions are the first team since at least 1950 to win three games in which they trailed by 17 or more points.<br />
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Today Tony Stewart won the closest NASCAR championship race in history. It reminded me of the great 1992 race which Alan Kulwicki won. (BTW, if we had been operating under today's Chase rules, Kyle Petty would have been champion that year.)<br />
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The idiots who booed Michelle Obama at the race are the people who give rednecks a bad name. Most of those in attendance were cheering her appearance on behalf of Veterans and the families of deployed service members. Apparently the moron contingent who were booing are not in support of our military.<br />
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My wife is the best person I know.<br />
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I'm looking forward to Thanksgiving with the whole, gigantic, extended family. And also a little nervous.<br />
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Thanks for reading. I'll try to do better next time.Louchart45http://www.blogger.com/profile/18247516548876365143noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-674392983815197814.post-28453010577898245172011-07-15T12:03:00.000-07:002011-07-15T12:03:53.693-07:00Words of wisdomHowdy everyone!<br />
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I have been horrified by some comments I've seen on Facebook in response to a new law in California. I thought I'd revisit my favorite story on the subject. It also happens to be a wonderful reflection of Rich Mullins, a man I admire very much. <br />
<br />
This is the story:<br />
In November 1995, the late Rich Mullins was in concert in Knoxville and told a story that stopped this writer in his tracks. Rich’s story was later recounted in the June 1997 edition of CCM magazine that was devoted to AIDS, Christian artists and the church.<br />
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Rich said he befriended a man at a steakhouse while hiking along the Appalachian Trail. As darkness fell, the man (whom the magazine refers to as "John) offered Rich a ride back to his campsite. As the truck pulls out of town, John speaks up.<br />
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<strong>John:</strong> I probably oughta tell you that I’m gay.<br />
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<strong>Rich:</strong> I probably oughta tell you that I’m a Christian.<br />
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<strong>John:</strong> Well do you want to get out of the truck?<br />
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<strong>Rich:</strong> No. It’s still getting dark, and (my camp) is still four miles up the road.<br />
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<strong>John: </strong>But I thought Christians hated gays.<br />
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<strong>Rich: </strong>That’s really weird. My understanding of what Christ told us was that Christians were to love. I didn’t know there were a lot of parameters set on that.<br />
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<strong>John: </strong>I thought God hated gays.<br />
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<strong>Rich: </strong>That’s funny, because I thought God is love, and He has no choice but to love because that is what He is.<br />
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<strong>John: </strong>Do you believe AIDS is God’s punishment on gays?<br />
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<strong>Rich: </strong>Well possibly, in the same sense that presidents are God’s punishment on voters. I mean there are consequences. We make choices, and there are natural consequences for those choices.<br />
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<strong>John: </strong>Will I go to hell for being gay?<br />
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<strong>Rich: </strong>(I was ready to go, "Well, yes, of course, you’ll go to hell for being gay." But that was one of those moments when the Good News really impressed me. What I heard myself say was ...) No, of course you won’t go to hell for being gay any more than I would go to hell for being dishonest. The only reason anybody ever went to hell was because they rejected the grace that God so longed to give them.<br />
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<strong>John: </strong>I grew up in the church, and I’ve never heard anybody say that God loved me.<br />
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<strong>Rich: </strong>I think that of all the diseases in the world, the disease that all humankind suffers from, the disease that is most devastating to us is not AIDS, it’s not gluttony, it’s not cancer, it’s not any of those things. It is the disease that comes about because we live in the ignorance of the wealth of love that God has for us. What a great message we in the church have. It’s relevant to people with AIDS and people without AIDS. It’s relevant to homosexuals and homophobes. It’s relevant to Republicans and Democrats, to abortionists and anti-abortionists. It’s relevant across the board.<br />
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And that's about all there is to that. Thanks for reading. I'll try to do better next time.Louchart45http://www.blogger.com/profile/18247516548876365143noreply@blogger.com0