Transplanted Buckeye

Here is a very important article on clergy burnout. Honk if anything in it sounds familiar to you.

From page 14 of the November, 2006 issue of "First Things."

The Dead Are With Us
by Gwen Hart


The dead are with us when they sing.
Though we can't see them anymore,
they sing in very little things.

They sing in clinking wedding rings,
in zippers of the clothes they wore.
The dead are with us. When they sing,

we hear their teaspoons jangling
in the corners of our kitchen drawers.
They sing in all the little things.

Their voices are not sparkling,
not melodious or pure,
but they are with us when they sing,

and we prefer that--anything!--
to silence, to the words no more.
We look for every little thing,

each pocket, box we can explore.
We feel them with us when they sing,
and that is not a little thing.

Which South Park kid are you most like? Stan You're pretty normal. Infact you're usually the sane voice of reason when everyone else is going crazy.

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The children's movies of late all seem to be the same thing over and over again. I know this isn't just my opinion. Many parents I talk to feel the same way.

Last night, we took our son and several of his friends to see "Flushed Away" in honor of my son's ninth birthday. You must see this film, especially if you like British humor.

It's been a long time since I've really laughed and laughed at a children's movie. Yes, there are always jokes meant for adults which make one chuckle. But this movie was full of delightful little details that kept me on my toes. I want to see it again just to scan the background for things I missed.

The plot was a whole lot different, but a whole lot the same. What was the same as the others? Animal gets thrown into an environment not his own, and learns to live and love in a different world, learns how to work with others, etc., etc. Valuable lessons to be sure.

What was different? It didn't feel preachy. Ever.

Go see this.

1. Favorite red food.
Red M & Ms.

2. Tell us about the bluest body of water you've ever seen in person.
To be honest, I don't think I've ever seen a "blue blue" water ever in my life. Maybe in Florida, but it looked more green to me.

3. It's movie rental time: Blue Planet, The Color Purple, or Crimson Tide?
How about Red Dawn?

4. What has you seeing red these days?
My messy house.

5. What or who picks you up when you're feeling blue?
My husband and my son.

I've boo hooed the election. I've lamented. Yes, I am a Republican, probably one of the few in my family. Probably one of the few Republican female clergy. It's a pro-life thing for me, and a 9/11 thing for me, for the most part. (Please don't make any comments here about the Republicans being pro-life until birth--that kind of talk is very unhelpful.)

I was a Democrat up until 1996. Voted straight ticket. Said I'd never vote Republican. Then again, I said I'd never move to Texas.

Thanks to Peggy Noonan, I'm feeling a whole lot better today.

Remember when there was a Democrat in the White House, and a Democratic House and Senate? There wasn't much accomplished. The best thing to happen to Bill Clinton was the revolution of 1994 (as much as I hated it at the time).

I'm sure some things are going to happen which I won't like. John Bolton might not be confirmed, even though moderate Republican George Voinovich has changed his mind, and Bolton has proven not to be the maniac some in the Democratic leadership would have him to be. Judges will be more difficult to confirm.

I really hope that there is bipartisan effort for the next couple of years, and not just a bunch of showboating and stalling. I hope the newly elected representatives and senators behave. I hope they, as Peggy Noonan says, "Take responsibility, and love America."

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Katsaris plays Chopin Funeral March from Sonata No.2

In Memoriam. 1994-2006

...except for the GOP got fat and lazy and deserved to lose. Just like the fat and lazy Democrats of 1994.

The analysis that I've like best so far is here.

I Don't Live in Missouri, But...

Here's an ad anyway.