A little cheese with that whine?

I removed my previous post, because it was too whiny. But I am very grateful to those who responded. Thank you for the reminder that it is possible, and that it just takes sitting down and writing/editing every single day. The new (and final) deadline is June 30th.

Samford Students Study On Saba Island

My friend Jennifer and her students talk about their Jan Term course on Saba in the Caribbean. Very cool!!

Guy Clark with Karen Matheson - Dublin Blues

Happy New Year 2010

It's hard to believe the "aughts" are already behind us. I didn't even know that's what the decade was called until the very end!! But here are a few exciting things that happened last year, and all bode well for the year and decade to come:

1) Rachel joined Annette and Wes on May 6th and is making all of our family gatherings a pure delight.

2) Amelia joined Lara and Bill (brand new!! Born on December 8th).

3) Dana Ness married my darling brother Richard (on November 29th).

4) My grandmother turned 105. Wow!!!!!

So all is well, in spite of the crazy economy and wars and rumors of war and all of that. I look forward to 2010 with hope and optimism and wish you and yours the very best for the new year and the new decade (the Teens!)

Alexander Rybak - Fairytale (2009 Eurovision Song Contest Wi

I just love the fun and madness that is Eurovision ... here is the 2009 winner. Enjoy!

Rapture Ready

A friend recommended Rapture Ready by Daniel Radosh. It is an in-depth exploration of the parallel universe of Christian pop culture. Here is the review in Slate. 

And here is a link to the Rapture Ready website, which has nothing to do with the book --- it's all about being ready for the rapture. 

I am an evangelical Christian but, like many other evangelical Christians, I do not believe in the teachings about the end times and the apocalypse espoused by dispensationalists (i.e., people who believe in the rapture). Rapture theology is a fringe belief that has really gained traction in the last 30 or 40 years. Although the mainstream Christian faiths do not hold to this hyperliteral and uncontextual reading of the Bible concerning the second coming of Christ, it plays a huge role in the Christian pop culture mentioned by Daniel Radosh, and is a significant element driving those Christian groups who are pushing to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem. It is not that they support Israel or the Israeli state, but rather that they wish to hasten the second coming, and believe that the power to do so lies in their hands. Jirair Tashjian from the Christian Resource Institute has written an article about the Second Coming in which he looks at the biblical writings concerning the second coming, and how those writings have been used to support teachings about the rapture.

I like Tashjian's concluding thoughts, which I will quote here:

There is no rapture in the book of Revelation. The church not taken out of the world and the earth destroyed. Instead, God comes down to dwell on earth. The church is in the world. This is a new heaven and a new earth because the older separation between heaven as the dwelling place of God and the earth as the dwelling place of human beings is transcended by God’s redemptive work in history. Now the earth becomes the dwelling place of God. There is no need for temple because God’s presence is no longer localized in a place but is pervasive (v. 22). There is no need for sun or moon because the glory of God is everywhere. Nations and kings continue to exist in the world, but now they conduct their work in the light of God’s glory (vv. 23-24). The gates of the city will never be shut because there is no longer any enmity or threat (v. 25).

I must confess that this picture of the end is much more appealing and hopeful than rapture theology can ever be. Rapture does not fit with the spirit of the Bible. The picture I get from the Bible is that God in the end will bring his kingdom fully and completely to earth. Affirming a fervent hope that some day Christ will return and the kingdom of God will be fully realized in the world ought to energize God’s people to work toward that end, or as 2 Peter puts it,

"What sort of persons ought you to be in leading lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God… Therefore, beloved, while you are waiting for these things, strive to be found by him at peace, without spot or blemish; and regard the patience of our Lord as salvation" (3:11-15).

When writers and preachers make such a big fuss about the Second Coming and the end of the world, they are forgetting something much more important. They are in effect minimizing the First Coming. In a real sense the world ended some two thousand years ago in Jesus. Something decisive happened for humanity and for our relationship with God in the life, death and resurrection of Christ. The New Testament is much more concerned with what it means to be crucified with Christ than with being glorified when he comes again.

Voices Against Violence

I want to commend Judge Agnes Chappell and Judge Annetta Verin for the work they have done in Birmingham with Voices Against Violence. 

Be Thou My Vision

My favorite hymn of all time....

Carolina Chocolate Drops "Cornbread and Butterbeans"

A little bit of a different sound by the Carolina Chocolate Drops. Enjoy!

Carolina Chocolate Drops: Acapella Gaelic Medley by Rhiannon

Just saw the Carolina Chocolate Drops in Moulton, AL. They are an incredible band, and just SO much fun in concert. Rhiannon also performed this piece there ... wonderful. Brings me back to my Celtic roots ....

March for Babies

I will be participating in the March for Babies on April 25th, 2009, at 8:00 a.m. If you would like to sponsor me by making a donation, please go to the link at the bottom of the page. If you are simply interested in finding out more about the plight of mothers and babies around the world, the following links are a place to start:

March of Dimes

Women for Women International

World Vision

If you know of other resources, please let me know and I'll be happy to post the links to those as well! I realize that this is just scratching the surface, but it's one way to help make a difference.

Let us unite in banishing fear

"After all, there is an element in the readjustment of our financial system more important than currency, more important than gold, and that is the confidence of the people. Confidence and courage are the essentials of success in carrying out our plan. You people must have faith; you must not be stampeded by rumors or guesses. Let us unite in banishing fear. "

Roosevelt said it well, and it's something I hope we will all hear again. I walked into class today and one student was showing a video (ah, the lovely combination of you tube and wifi in a college classroom) to his fellow classmates that went on and on about all of the reasons to fear Obama. I realized in that moment how tired I am of all of the talk of fear. It's time to act out of a position of health and wellness, to choose the good rather than running from the bad. It's also time for truth to make a come-back, rather than all of us being satisfied with the malicious spreading of rumor and innuendo in the hope that a fearful people will more easily be controlled.

So "let us unite in banishing fear", because, as Roosevelt said, "Together we cannot fail."

Can you find the words?

From a text message making the rounds in Accra, Ghana:

"Rosa Parks sat down so that Martin Luther King could walk so that Jesse Jackson could stand so that Obama could run so that our children can fly."

Seven-year-old Ohene:

"Daddy, you mean since God created the world this is the first time that a black person has become president of America?"

Wow, indeed.

I'm back!

After a REALLY long hiatus, I'm making a feeble comeback into cyberspace ... I hope you haven't all forgotten me!

Thoughts for the day:
1) Only in Germany can you get married in a barn and sleep in the hay on your wedding night. Seriously. Thank you NY Times!!

2) An open letter to the next President about Food as a national security issue (by Michael Pollen)--- I'll let you read it for yourself, but suffice it to say, that after listening to the show about it on NPR I found myself (very briefly) fantasizing about being a farmer. I agree and hope we can implement at least some of these ideas.

3) Who I'm voting for this year: Barack Obama. Because he's thoughtful and clearheaded and seems to have good ideas about how to get us out of this (take your pick!) mess. John McCain is a good person, but I don't think he's the right guy right now.

Solidarity = We're all in it together

More notes on Germany's health system -- highlights from today's Morning Edition on NPR:

* The health system is not funded by taxes; however, the government DOES regulate the non-profit (and for-profit) insurance companies to keep costs down, and also regulates what doctors can charge.

* Before you start worrying about the poor doctors, they are still the highest-paid professionals in Germany (higher paid than lawyers and architects; entrepreneurs can still earn much more, depending on how successful they are. There are millionaires living the German dream, even!) The doctors earn about 1/3 of what their U.S. counterparts earn. (Oh, and they don't have to pay ridiculous malpractice insurance premiums, because the German legal system is also regulated and there aren't lawsuits for malpractice going on all the time. If a doctor commits malpractice, depending on the severity, they lose their license and the patient harmed is paid; no need to tie up the legal system unduly. And German doctors didn't accrue hundreds of thousands of debt getting their eduction, so they aren't having to pay all of that off.)

* Each worker pays 8% of their salary into the health system. The employers also pay 8% per worker. It is based entirely on what you earn. If you earn more than 72,000 Euros, you can opt out of the required non-profit insurance and you can buy private (for-profit) insurance. Right now I have pretty good health insurance, although they don't cover everything. I have some kind of deductible ($500? $1000?) and I have to pay a co-pay each time I visit the doctor, as well as for medications, etc. The cost for my health insurance is a set rate, not based on my salary, but right now it comes to about 3%, and my employer puts in 9%. I would be more than happy to have that increased on my part (and decreased on the part of my employer) if I knew that a) I would always have access to high quality health care whether employed or not, b) I would be able to go to the doctor whenever I feel like it and not be charged and c) everyone else in my country was also paying in based on salary and also covered. I KNOW that 8% can come to a lot of money for some of you, but just remember that you won't have any other medical-related out-of-pocket expenses.

* The non-profit insurance provides a level of care equivalent or better to many places here in the U.S. You can even call your doctor in the middle of the night and reach him personally at home (not some service) and ask for a home visit to help care for your flu (unheard of here) or you can call him personally at home on a Sunday afternoon and he can arrange to see you in the clinic that very day (as happened to me once). By the way, I was just a tourist travelling through. They glanced at my insurance card (travel insurance) and took care of all that ailed me. I didn't have to pay a single penny out-of-pocket. It turns out that my travel insurance is one of those "pay first and we will reimburse you" types. So, the German doctor probably was not paid for the care that he rendered to me (I did not realize that at the time, but learned it over a year later). If you were badly injured in Germany, they would care for you without asking any questions about insurance.

* Private insurance entitles you to see any doctor you want, even the chief of medicine, get a free cup of coffee, jump to the head of the line, and get a private room in the hospital. (All according to today's show.)

One of the things said in the show was by a man who is familiar with both the German and U.S. health care systems (he's German, married to an American woman). He said that in Germany no one would ever go bankrupt trying to pay for healthcare, and that the healthcare system was one of the reasons that they would never consider moving to the U.S. And I thought of all of those personal pleas for funds --- all of the requests to leave a few dollars for little Suzie or little Johnny so that they can the operation they need; or please donate to St. Jude's or to the Ronald McDonald house, etc., etc.

It's not that I don't think it's great that Americans are so charitable, and that we give money to organizations to help others, but so many fall through the cracks that way, because St. Jude and Ronald McDonald can't possibly help every single person out there (and they focus on kids at any rate). And yes, there are lovely Make-a-wish foundation gifts and these great TV shows where they make over someone's house to help them out because they're good people who have fallen on hard times, and Oprah gives tons of money to people; but there are still so many who fall through the cracks. And we are the wealthiest nation on earth! (Holding onto that distinction by a thread at the moment, but still....)

Universal health care would cover everyone. It doesn't break the bank. It shouldn't even raise your taxes, if we fund it like Germany. Yes, the insurance company will need to be non-profit (shouldn't they all be?) and costs will need to be regulated, but aren't the lives of 48 million Americans worth it? We're spending billions a day on a war in Iraq in order to avenge the death of 3,000 Americans, but we won't spend any money so that the poorest among us can have a half-way decent quality of life?

In my many discussions with people about this, the most startling thing I've been told is that part of the "fun" of being an American, and the whole underpinning of the American Dream, is not just that any of us can have whatever we can achieve through our own hard work (bollocks, but I won't get into that now), but that one can have something that is more than what other people have. It's not just keeping up with the Jones's, it's BEING the Jones's and staying ahead of everyone else. (I've also been asked by some why they should give up their "hard-earned" money to help someone else -- when I get over the shock of hearing this, I think, because it will make our country better, stronger, and SAFER. Poverty fuels crime.)

I don't know if that's really true. The idealist in me, the part of me that wants there to be good in everyone, hopes that it isn't true. I KNOW that it isn't true for all of the Jones's out there, although it might be true for some. But can't we all get over our desire to have something more than others around us, and realize that each person having access to the same level of care would actually serve ALL of us, and make this an even better place?

Watch what you eat!

Monterey Bay Aquarium has a list of seafood you should seek out, and seafood you should avoid, either because of the damage done to the environment, or the damage done to us (by eating too much mercury.

How do they do it?

Have you ever wondered how it is that Germany can have a better (really!) healthcare system than the United States and still manage to spend half of what we do per person? This fascinating story at NPR will tell you. By "better" I don't mean that they have superior physicians. We have the best medical schools in the world, excellent doctors, excellent nurses and other healthcare providers, and we have wonderful hospitals and equipment etc. Germany has all of that as well, but the difference is that it is available to everyone. (We could argue about which medical schools are better; I've heard that the U.S. ones are, both from American and German doctors/medical students, but I'm sure there are those who would disagree. I have no personal knowledge about that.)

NPR is doing a series comparing medical systems in Europe and the U.S. There's even a link so that you can check individual costs across countries (Check out the interactive graphic!)

This is the year when we all need to be thinking about how healthcare in the U.S. can be improved, made more cost-effective and efficient, and how it can be made available to EVERYONE. Yep, I said it. I'm a crazy liberal, who thinks that all of God's children (and everyone else's children) should have access to good health and dental care. While we're at it, I also think they should have access to decent food, safe neighborhoods and good schools.

So let's get hoppin' ...

Bringing what she is able...

Texas in Africa wrote a provocative post today, asking what it is that we are able to give up so that someone else might have life, and asking hard questions about what it is to be church and to be Christians. I challenge you to read it and think about it. But if you can't, at least watch this beautiful video and let it touch your heart:

Let's do it!!

Come run with me (and many, many others) in the World Wide Half on October 11/12 this year! Thanks to Triviales Wissen for letting me know all about it :-). I probably won't "run" the whole thing, but love the idea of a worldwide event.

Ugh

It is a sad, sad day. "Deutschland vor, noch ein Tor".... *sigh*