My brush with death

Last night was most certainly the closest I've ever come to dying.  As I was walking under a covered walkway at the airport, a runaway shuttle accelerated and took out one of the poles about 10 feet behind me.  The pole flew into a man and he went still to the ground with his blood soaking the pavement.   The whole experience was so surreal like something that could only happen in a movie. 

I remember hearing a story about the Value Jet flight that went down in '96.  A man was running after the plane and just missed it; hours later he was left to ponder his new lease on life.  Now my experience wasn't quite so cut and dry, but I can now empathize a little bit more with what he must have been going through.  It is events like this that make you contemplate your position in life.  Some will say that God was watching after me.  Now, that very well could be the case, but it seems a bit hollow when another man may have lost his life.

I turned on the news last night in hopes of hearing something of the outcome.  I scoured online news sources in search of some account of the incident, but nary a word.  I did however stumble come across a few other equally as tragic events and was left with a reality where things like this are almost blasѐ.  Nevertheless, I will be left with two images from the night: one of the man lying on the ground and the other of the driver frantically pacing.

I don't know what this means for me -- probably not a whole lot for the immediate future.  It is a reminder of the frailty of life and how quickly it can be taken from us.  I have been embarrassed by some of my emotions and pensive about others.  I am going to refrain from making any pronouncements about God's role in this.  I do however want to use this as a marker in my life that will keep me grounded and pointed in the right direction -- now if i could only figure out which way that was...

Can Obama unite us?

I think just about everyone must have an opinion on this recent election.  Many are jubilantly celebrating and still others think this country just took a turn for the worst.  I received a somewhat troubling call today; this individual told me they were sick about what had just happened. I tried to surmise as to why and heard much about his voting record and stances on abortion which are perfectly legitimate ideological reasons not to vote for someone.  The troubling thing was not the person's vote but that they had given up on him before he had even started -- that they had already determined what his legacy would be.

We are a nation divided.  In a election widely hailed as a landslide victory, 46% still voted in the minority.  I have known many individuals, Christians no less, who are both to the far right and to the far left.   I have lived in the Bible Belt, the heart of perhaps the most liberal city of America, and even the UK.  I have heard disturbing comments from all sides -- how can a real Christian possibly believe that?!  It is a sort of tribalism -- not all that different from the regional conflicts that permeate the World.

And then there comes the election of the first black President elect.  The sad thing is that many people voted against him because of his skin color and still many others voted for him precisely because of his skin color.  Nevertheless, it is truly a remarkable achievement of one man who has cvercome tremdous odds.  It is a reminder for those of us cynics that we should dream the impossible dreams and that the the improbable can truly become a reality.  

There are many people in this World who present one public facade only to turn into something else behind closed doors.  The challenge of an election is to try and ascertain the true character of a politician beneath the continuous rhetoric.  One of the measures of character is how a person acts when they are in power.  I think of the story of King David and how he listened to the prophet Nathan when he could have easily had him killed.  And that is the thing that struck me about Barack Obama last night.  He had just achieved an overwhelming victory and had every right to relish in the moment with his supporters.  However, he made a point to reach out to those who didn't vote for him and say "I will be your president too" -- that to me was a sign of character.

With that speech, I got excited about an Obama Presidency.  Now here's the thing...I tend to be on the Conservative side of things and I do have my concerns about some of his polices as well as the worries of an unchecked Democratic Congress.  But I look at him and I see a man who is committed to his family and who has a genuine desire to help this country.  He has earned the respect afforded to the highest office in this land and an opportunity to change all the rules.  Only time will tell if he can retain that respect and truly be a President for all the people. 

Paul Newman

I was struck by the recent passing of Paul Newman.  Now I've never given much thought to him beyond the occasional bottle of salad dressing, but as deaths often do, you begin to learn a lot about a person.  

It is rare when an individual transcends life -- where they are universally acclaimed and seen as being genuine.  In an age of spin and posturing, seldom do you find a private life that matches the public image.

I think I would have liked Paul Newman.  And I know everyone likes Paul Newman, but I think I would have enjoyed grabbing a beer with him, shooting the breeze, and soaking up the moment.  The guy was the essence of cool -- somebody who just had it without even trying.  He raced cars into his 80s, was a notorious practical joke, and made the type of movies that guys enjoy seeing.

But that's the thing about Paul Newman, he could have stopped there and the eulogies would have still come pouring in.  But he didn't...he dared to care about something beyond himself.  He was faithful in marriage, took an interest in important issues, and started this little hole in the wall organization. 

There are many people, both past and present, both famous and unknown, that I strive to learn from and I believe that he falls into this category.  As far as I know, Paul Newman held no religous convictions and that is one place that I draw a distinction between him and me.  But one thing I do know, it is refreshing to hear of an individual who used their prestigue to make a difference.  Oh, and Butch Cassidy was a pretty good flick too :)

Snake Bit

I went on a hike last weekend with a friend of mine from high school. We saw the second largest tree in Georgia -- it’s big (but not as big as the largest). So we’re walking along, minding our own business when his wife says “you guys just stepped over a Copperhead”. For those of you that slept through biology…that would be a poisonous snake. Sure enough, there sat a motionless snake with his head perched up ready to strike. His gray markings left him barely distinguishable from the path below. And to be exact, it was my friend who stepped over the snake whose head happened to be pointed in my direction. Welcome to the South…

Here I sit nearly 3 months into this adventure. My first project is wrapping up, I actually have phone numbers of people who aren’t family, and I met someone who knows the infamous Jeff Fisher. Having more free time in the evenings, I’ve taken to cooking quite a bit – I even bought a live lobster! So I was watching the Food Network and I felt inspired to make a Basil Pesto sauce. I bought a real basil plant, toasted the pinenuts, and nearly cut off my fingers in the blender. I then thought I would go all Italiano and do the old frying pan pasta wrist flip thing that you might see at a pasteria -- so yeah…dinner ended up being a little…ok a lot smaller than I was expecting. Watch out Emeril…bam!

So work? Bermuda is in the books and New York could be on the horizon – but hey this is Consulting and “New York” could turn into Bismark, North Dakota in January :). Family? It’s been fun to see my folks, my sisters, my nieces and nephews, and a lot of youth soccer and baseball. Church? Small groups are kicking into high gear and I’ve been hanging with this guy Judd who may just know everybody in Atlanta. And other news…the Stone Mountain Great Miller Lite Chili Cook-Off is in a week – best chili east of Texas…oh yeah!

Signs You’re In the South

• You don’t go 5 minutes in a conversation without hearing the phrase “Y’all”
• Waffle House – 24 hour breakfast any time, cheap eat, dining mecca…located roughly every quarter mile on the freeway…fine dining!
• Your apartment door (3^rd floor no less) gets flooded with menus from every Americanized Chinese restaurant in Greater Northern Atlanta
• Atlanta in a nutshell – On Saturday night, I’m at this fancy café (it has a drink menu that has about 40 pages) that looks like it’s straight out of 19^th century Austria with fountains, crepes, 50+ cakes, etc. I walk out the door and across the street in the mall parking lot is the Budweiser tent with big screens tuned into the Georgia football game

So this is where I live...

So here I am four weeks in – three weeks in Atlanta and one in Bermuda. This is a place that is completely familiar and foreign all at the same time. It is dotted with strip malls and super Wal-marts and the rustic lakes are lined with oaks. Much like Seattle, you can find just about any type of food (even fish!!). And if you thought the Northgate Target contained the World’s only shopping cart escalator or that places like Red Robin and the Rock Bottom Brewery were only in Seattle – oh, you would be wrong!

This city is the centerpiece for urban sprawl. It seems like every family has their 2 car garage their 1.4 kids, and a careful eye on what their neighbor is doing. Traffic is anywhere and everywhere and good luck trying to scamper across the 10 lane highways. The afternoons are mildly warm (oh say around 95 or so) and it seems like the only proper way to cool down is with a glass of sweet tea – iced of course (or a coke as the Coca-Cola factory is here as well).

I’ve attended Peachtree Presbyterian the past two weeks. Like many Atlanta Churches (we are in the Bible belt after all), it’s quite big and you need a map and a compass to get from one end to the other. Nevertheless, I managed to find my way to a Sunday School class for single 20 somethings out of college. The first week we talked about Abraham – of how God told him to leave everything behind and go to a foreign land. Now I don’t know if God has called me here or not but I couldn’t help but think of the parallels to my current situation…of leaving behind a very comfortable place. To follow it up on week two, we looked at the story of Sarah – of how she tried to fulfill God’s promise in her own timing by telling her husband to sleep with her maid servant. It’s a chilling story and one with dire consequences. How often have I charged ahead with my agenda before seeking God?...hopefully not as many times as I fear.

And to make an awkward segway, I have adapted the popular Irishisms from two years ago to:

Signs you’re in the South…

• You meet people with names like Judd and Savannah
• An order of "tea" at any restaurant will result in a concoction that is half sugar and one that the locals refer to as "Sweet tea"
• Going through the grocery store on Sunday, I had my bottle of wine taken away from me --- don't worry, you can still drink at the local watering holes to your heart’s content ;)
• [actual conversation about 8500 member Church inferring that it wasn't] – “some people consider this to be a big Church”