Month: February 2010 Page 3 of 4

To say that my knowledge is spotty is to speak the obvious. I have spots of knowledge in a sea of ignorance. A map of my brain would look like a Dalmation’s coat.

That is why, the other day I heard a wonderful symphonic piece on the radio and found it vaguely familiar. I could not place where I’d heard it, but it was lovely. I quickly ran inside when I got home and turned on the radio there to keep listening and to hopefully catch the name of the piece. Turns out it was a selection from Swan Lake performed by the Philadelphia Orchestra and I soon thereafter bought and downloaded the piece from Amazon or iTunes, I can’t remember which.

That was operating in one patch in my brain which was completely disconnected from the patch that knew that we owned on cd the entire ballet performed by the St. Louis Symphony, a cd I discovered while doing some cleaning. This now resides on my computer and iPod.

Had those spots been earlier connected, I would have saved 99 cents. However, if you want a stirring portion of the ballet, I do recommend the above linked portion!

My mother’s brother, my Uncle Roger, was a prominent citizen of Valdosta in southern Georgia. Not only did he own Roger Budd Chevrolet, but he served for a time, I understand, in the Georgia State Legislature. His funeral was one of the largest I’ve ever attended.

After the funeral service proper, there was a very long procession from the church to the cemetery. What stunned me about the procession through this old southern town was that traffic coming from the opposite direction of the procession stopped. All traffic in both directions would pull over to let the procession through, showing obvious respect for those who were mourning the loss of a loved one, and for the deceased himself.

I have always assumed that this was a southern tradition. I never experienced it growing up in Ohio. And even though Bradenton is further south than Valdosta, Bradenton is not culturally southern. Some people here turn on their lights and cut into processions in order to sneak through traffic lights.

Not all people, of course.

Most of us simply ignore the funeral processions and secretly hope that we won’t get stopped by one if we are in a hurry. But we still have a number of people, no doubt raised in a slower and more respectful culture, who honor the dead and the mourning by stopping.

As a pastor, my car is normally placed in the procession just ahead of the hearse. From that vantage point, I am able to see just how respectful this whole stopping thing is.

Last Thursday I drove in a procession that snaked its way through the busiest parts of Bradenton during a busy time of day. Most drivers ignored us, but there were those who would, even if the road was two or three lanes in both directions, pull over and wait until the hearse, at least, had passed.

One man not only pulled over, but I saw him remove his hat as the hearse rode by. I was impressed. I hope the family saw him. I’d like to thank him.

Call these empty traditions if you want. Call them unnecessary in our busy, disconnected culture. But from the point of view of the hearse, I call this a kind gesture of respect that acknowledges in a small but meaningful way the wrenching realities of death, and the great honor of life.

It’s a tradition that I hope we can regain.

This is a bit creepy.

This article details how drug companies are having to adjust to an uncertain economy by melding technology and drugs.

Some drugmakers are beginning to sell ancillary services tied to their wares. Proteus’s technology, which enables pills to relay data about a patient back to doctors after they have been swallowed, is a prime example.

When one of Proteus’s pills is taken, stomach fluids activate the edible communications device it contains, which sends wireless signals through the body to another chip worn as a skin patch or embedded just under the skin. That, in turn, can upload data to a smart-phone or send it to a doctor via the internet. Thus it is easy to make sure a patient is taking his pills at the right time, to spot adverse reactions with other drugs and so on.

Vitality, an American firm, has come up with a cap for pill bottles that telephones hapless patients if they fail to take their medicine on time.

Curious.

I suppose that this is as good a place as any to reference this observation by C. S. Lewis. In The Abolition of Man he notes this:

“There is something which unites magic and applied science while separating both from the ‘wisdom’ of earlier ages. For the wise men of old the cardinal problem had been how to conform the soul to reality, and the solution had been knowledge, self-discipline, and virtue. For magic and applied science alike, the problem is how to subdue reality to the wishes of men: the solution is a technique; and both, in the practice of this technique, are ready to do things hitherto regarded as disgusting and impious — such as digging up and mutilating the dead.” (page 77)

There are few men as respected in college athletics as Michigan State University men’s basketball coach Tom Izzo. Having had the most successful run of any coach in school history, one could imagine that Coach Izzo could have his way with just about anything at MSU.

Apparently not so.

Recently word leaked out that he was working with the university president and with Nike to develop a consistent design for a school logo, which had not been consistent for many decades.

The picture here details the suggested changes – the old logo on the left, and the new one on the right. I can hardly see the differences.

For this Coach Izzo has endured a surprising level of criticism. One would think that he had suggested moving the school to Ann Arbor or Columbus judging from the uproar.

I guess when your team is 19-3 overall, 9-0 against the eleven (!) teams of the Big Ten, and ranked fifth in the country, as a fan there is little left to grumble about. So, you pick on the logo.

The church, it seems, is not the only institution resistant to change.

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As a footnote, many years ago, some progressive folk suggested a logo for the PCA. The one favored and put before the General Assembly showed a simple dove form with a single eye over top of an open Bible. I remember Dr. Ed Clowney saying it looked like a bird that had been shot in the head crashing into a book. He was right.

The PCA still has no logo.

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UPDATE: After Tuesday’s shelaccing at the hands of Wisconsin, MSU’s record now stands at 19-4 and 9-1. And I should add that I’ve always preferred the ‘Block S’ logo, but apparently that will be phased out. Bummer.

There is no question that Haiti has been devastated. Most of us don’t know what we can do other than send money.

So, we send money, and then forget about it.

Brian Fikkert and Steve Corbett, who both teach at Covenant College in Lookout Mountain, Georgia are offering an opportunity to learn from this crisis in Haiti and from their deep understanding of the realities of poverty and need.

They are offering a FREE three hour web-accessed seminar which will be airing starting Wednesday, February 17. If you have even the least amount of interest in the matters of mercy, need, and poverty, I encourage you to sign up for this and learn what these men can teach.

Click here for more information and to learn how to register.