Month: April 2010 Page 1 of 2

Alfred Gore

On April 30, 2010

My son and I just finished listening to a wonderful recorded version of E. B. White’s The Trumpet of the Swan.

This story of the trumpeter swan, Louis (as in Louis Armstrong), born without a voice and who learns to play a stolen trumpet and must earn money to pay off his debt and win his love is one of the sweetest in the catalog. The recorded version is special as it is read by the author. Mr. White reads with a certain New England ambience that adds real character to the story. I commend this edition to anyone.

The author introduces a character who makes an appearance on the streets of Billings, Montana, with a name that is strangely familiar: Alfred Gore. Though it is not quite right, even Google can’t tell the difference. Search for Alfred Gore and the top hit is former VP Al Gore’s Wikipedia page.

What’s funny is that poor Alfred Gore, created by Mr. White when the future Vice President was a mere 20 year old still hitting the bars with Harvard roommate Tommy Lee Jones, is presented as a character with little environmental knowledge or concern. I smile.

I introduce you here to Mr. Alfred Gore:

[A storekeeper who has just decided to donate money to the Audubon Society is speaking.]

“The Audubon Society is kind to birds. I want this money to be used to help birds. Some birds are in real trouble. They face extinction.”

“What’s extinction?” asked Alfred Gore. “Does is mean they stink?”

Fair

By Randy

On April 30, 2010

In Politics

I know that the topic of immigration, legal or otherwise, is a highly charged and emotional issue. I know that people feel very strongly about the matter for many deeply seated personal reasons. I understand that, and do not want anyone to take personally anything I might say about the matter. My concern in this case is not the immigration issue itself. That is a complex issue that politicians tend to avoid because it has no simple answers. My concern is that when those who possess power wield that power in ways that isolate the powerless, the potential for injustice is so great that we should take notice and ponder carefully the implications.

Megan McCardle, a libertarian commentator for the Atlantic Monthly makes the point I want to make very well here. A sample:

If, however, this law could not possibly be passed if it affected the majority, because it’s far too intrusive and would result in a lot of people passing unhappy hours in jail or waiting by the side of the road while the police checked their ID with immigration . . . well, then, it’s probably not something we should be doing to other people, either.

But I encourage the reading of the whole. It’s short.

A Minor Sadness

By Randy

On April 29, 2010

In Sports

As much as I love major league baseball, there is something very special about minor league ball. I’ve posted before about the fun that can be. Generally, men playing in the minors are pursuing their dreams with little immediate gratification other than the dream itself.

As we get ready to leave the town we’ve lived in for nearly 25 years, this town decides to get its very own minor league team! The Bradenton Marauders, a high A affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates are playing their inaugural season in what is arguably the sweetest ball park in all of Florida.

My wife, son, and I took in the inaugural game a few weeks ago, and loved every minute of it. I could easily see me following this team regularly. I mean, they play less than ten minutes from my house. We could… oh, yes, that’s right: we’re moving.

Every move has its share of excitement and sadness. We are excited about the move. But ‘twould have been nice had the Pirates installed this team a couple decades ago!

+ + + + +

One could hope, however, if Arizona does not repeal it’s awful new immigration law, that some major league teams will choose to relocate their spring training programs to Florida. If any major league GMs are reading this, I know of 16 prime acres in Oviedo, Florida for sale. Call me.

My Friend, the Root Canal

By Randy

On April 27, 2010

In Life

Last week I compared change to visiting the dentist. We never want to visit, but we are always glad that we have.

As if to add emphasis to that thought, at the end of last week I had to see my friend the dentist. He determined that it would be a good idea to meet his friend the endodontist. My new friend the endodontist liked me so much that tomorrow morning he has invited me back to meet his friend the root canal.

I’ve met enough friends this week.

J. R. R. Greenwald

By Randy

On April 26, 2010

In Uncategorized

To write a book about God, if your name is not John Frame, requires you to author it not as ‘Bob’ or ‘Jim’ or whatever your name is, but to author it with initials. Note these:

The Holiness of God, R. C. Sproul.
Knowledge of the Holy One, A. W. Tozer.
And the all-time best Knowing God, J. I. Packer.

I long ago concluded that I could not write such a book for, among other more formidable deficiencies is the simple fact that I am, simply, Randy. I am Randall to the IRS and to the phone company, but Randy to everyone else.

I ruled out many years ago using my initials. “R. R. Greenwald” sounds like a car trying to start with a nearly dead battery. It lacks the pop of a ‘J. I. Packer’. So the book will remain unwritten.

It has occurred to me recently however that ‘R. R.’ does have some precedent not in theology directly, but in literature. If I could get someone to loan me a ‘J’, ‘J. R. R. Greenwald’ doesn’t sound half bad.

Meet and Eat

By Randy

On April 24, 2010

In Movies

My son and I have been watching when we can the Discovery Life series. It is beautifully photographed, so beautiful that I wonder if James Cameron has gotten involved. Somehow, though, this series is not as captivating as the previous Planet Earth series.

Perhaps others have formed a different opinion, but the series seems to predominantly explore who eats whom (which we watch in graphic detail) and how various creatures copulate. I guess there’s not much else going on out there in nature.

Admittedly, I’ve seen but two of the ten. To early to form a solid opinion.

Our Heavenly Father

By Randy

On April 23, 2010

In Theology

For a meeting the other night, I was led to read for our devotional a portion of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, a portion which we all needed to hear:

“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” (Matthew 6:25-34)

I’ve read the passage, of course, dozens of times. But it certainly takes on greater meaning when read during a period of uncertainty and transition.

No one, I have long held, is able to stop worrying. We cannot “turn off” the worry button. What the passage asks us to do is to look to the abiding and unfailing love of our Father. When we do that, and see that he has loved us to a degree in his Son that we cannot measure, worry of its own fades to the background.

When I read it, a memory was triggered, a memory of some lines from an old Phil Keaggy song. The lines (dredged up from some deep part in my memory and reproduced here, perhaps imperfectly) may not be original with him, and they will never be mistaken for great poetry. Nevertheless, they drive my heart to where it needs to be:

Said the robin to the sparrow,
“I would really like to know
Why these anxious human beings
Rush about and worry so.”

Said the sparrow to the robin,
“Friend, I think that it must be
That they have no heavenly Father
Such as cares for you and me.”

The End of the World As We Know It, Volume 43

By Randy

On April 21, 2010

In Technology

My wife just informed me that we have changed our cell phone plan to include unlimited texting.

I’ve resisted texting, like I resist a lot of what seems to be initially senseless technology. But then I get consumed by it.

Thus falls another wall of defense against the modern world.

Of course, with our antique ‘dumb’ phones (what else do you call phones that are not ‘smart’ phones?), we won’t text as much as some. I suggested on a trip to see our son and daughter-in-law that Barb text them to let them know we were on the road.

Eight miles later, she had completed the task.

A Little Child Shall Lead Us

By Randy

On April 21, 2010

In Church

Most of us are aware that a volcano has been spewing ash all over Europe and shutting down flights in and out of the continent.

This has happened at the tail end of the Easter holiday in England leaving numbers of British travelers stuck in Florida.

This led, for us, to finding some new and wonderful friends. A stranded family from Yorkshire (Christine, Andrew, and Alex) joined us for worship on Sunday. We invited them to have Sunday dinner with us, and we had a great time comparing cultures, churches, and stories.

It would have been better had they spoken our language, but we managed to deal with that barrier.

We sympathized for them in their dilemma, but we all agreed that there could be worse places to be stranded!

+ + + + +

As we spoke about their experience here, they told us that when they pulled into our church parking lot, they were greeted by a very polite young man who directed them where to go and where to find things. He was their guide from the parking lot into worship.

This is such a wonderful and welcoming ministry. This young man was demonstrating a sensitivity to newness that few of us in the church understand. Coming to a new church is daunting and confusing. To have someone naturally and casually and in an unprogrammed way take interest in our experience will leave an impression upon our guests far greater than most anything else we do as a church.

I should add: this young man is only nine years old. Pretty cool. [This detail, I should note, will identify the ‘young man’ of the story to some. But for the rest I leave him anonymous. His natural and sincere care for the stranger humbles me as it should us all!]

Change Is a, uh, Friend

By Randy

On April 20, 2010

In Life

Given the changes happening in our lives right now, a friend sent me a message in which she said, and I quote, “Change is my friend.”

People who know me know that change is not at all my friend. There are times I want to say that change is my mortal enemy.

But that, I realize, is WAY over the top. The reality is that it is through change that God brings growth into our lives. A plant that does not change is, well, dead.

So, I’ve decided that change is my friend. Like my dentist is my friend. I never want to go see him. But I’m always glad that I did.