You can never go home again...or can you?

The signing of Ken Griffey Jr.  to Seattle has inspired me to write this blog entry with the giddiness of an overexuberant schoolgirl.  Ok, I must confess that it took me approximately two and a half seconds to get over the disappointment of not seeing him play in Hotlanta.  But back to the point at hand...

It got me to thinking about homecomings and perhaps I will use these musings to derrive some sort of greater meaning from the idea.  I think we've all been at some place at some point of time that's magical or at least we look back at some point of nostalgia with rose colored glasses.   It was a time when all was well with the World, everything had P-U-R-P-O-S-E (See Avenue Q for this somewhat forced and out of place reference), etc., etc., etc...

And that's exactly what this was -- not just for the Kid, but for an entire city.  I have read article after article from Seattlites of what watching him play meant; I have seen how one double can reshape the entire identity of a place.  Here's the thing...I didn't grow up in Seattle and I've never seen Griffey play as a Mariner.  I arrived to my adopted city in time to witness the Mariners win more games than any team in History.  Seattle has had it's share of great moments like the Sonices in 79 or the Dawgs in 91.  Sacred icons like Largent, Edgar, and the Dawgfather are ever looming.

And yet this somehow feels different.  Griffey was not only great -- perhaps the greatest talent to wield a bat -- but he was everything that was right with the game.  He played with such joy and effortless effort that you just couldn't help but like him.  He was warmly embraced and he never turned his back on the city even when he wore another uniform.

But now what...he's coming back.  Can he tarnish his legacy and ruin the indelible memories?  One of the few things I've learned in life is that those special moments are reserved for that time and place.  You can never go back because the atmosphere is never the same -- no matter how much you want it to be.  However, I think this is different.  New magic and new circumstances can always be created; it just can't be done in the same way.

A perfect storm is brewing.  Expectations have been set to where nobody expects the player that left.  The city has been ripped asunder and a hero has emmerged from the ashes to strap the remains to his back.  And that is what so special about sports -- the impossible is possible.  When the conditions are ripe, a hobbled vetern can limp around the bases leaving onlockers to gasp..."I don't believe what I just saw!"

Faith and Politics

Tonight was a night to be proud to be an American; a night to celebrate the political process and the witnessing of history.  I celebrated with this man who has the weight of the World on his shoulders and in the seamlessness and bloodlessness of the transition.  I wish Obama and his family all the best in the next four years.

We are also living in a Facebook World and nothing can so quickly illustrate the thoughts and views of the peope you know (or at least meant once or maybe not at all).  Among the many excited folks for this momentous day, there were a few that took this opportunity to take shots at Bush and the past Administration -- most of them from people I know to be Christians.  This did not sit well with me as I believe him to be a sincere believer and one has never been ashamed of his faith and that is at least one thing we can celebrate about his Presidency.

Now that I don't think his faith should be free reign to do anything and we should constantly be critical and discerning of any President's decisions.   There have been things that have been done in the name of Christianity that should not have been.  However, we also have to be able to separate the policies from the person.  We have to be careful in judging someone that we have never known on a personal basis.

By all accounts, President Clinton was a very smart and personable man with many strengths.  However the image of him that sticks in my mind is him saying "depends on what the meaning of is is" and toying with the institutions of marriage and the courtroom.  And that is why Bush receives higher marks in my book because he remained faithful in marriage and I believe him to have have been one who humbly sought the will of God (I am not trying to justify any of his actions with this statement).  And that is why I have the highest regard for President Carter.  From the accounts I have read, he had a tumultous Presidency but he has lived out his faith in magnificent ways since leaving office; he has constantly served and loved others.

And that brings me back to President Obama.  This man has already impressed me with the way that he has conducted himself.  He has shown wisdom in selecting his cabinent and has genuinely made efforts to cross the aisle.  He has avoided opportunities to gloat and he was gracious to the outgoing Administration.  He seems to be one that is committed to and genuinely loves his wife and daugthers.

We have to hold the decisions he makes to the highest of standards and to use the checks of our political system accordlingly; he is in a position of tremendous power.  I am a firm believer that character ultimately defines a person.  And so if Obama falls flat on his face and fails miserably, but does so in such a way that he can hold his head up high where he will have done what he believed best and did so with a discerning, humble, and trustworthy heart...then I will have considered him to be a success.  God Bless you Mr. President.

Praying to an invisible God

Ben Towne passed away.   There it is...such a simple statement but something that calls into existence much of what I believe.  Now I barely knew the Townes and I have really only followed the story from afar through blogs, and friends, and church community.  But yet this is a story that permeates through my very being -- I suppose more for what it says about God than anything else.

I have grown up in a fairly Conservative wing of the Presbyterian Church -- strong on the Bible, theology, and the tenets of Calvinism.  However, the miraculous often escapes us.  It  is not that we explicitly deny it, but we leave it hanging awkwardly in the distance not knowing quite what to do with it.  There is nothing that will challenge these notions quite like spending a little time abroad.  I have been propheshized to, seen the speaking of tongues, and witnessed a semi-exoricism among other things.  This has kicked off an internal struggle (as the Rev D. J. McKelvey can attest to) as to who God is and the role that God plays in the here and now.

And so that brings me back to Ben.  I prayed for the Towne family -- not just for the standard requests of comfort and support for the family but that God would heal this little boy.  I hoped that faith as small as a mustard seed and the prayers of hundreds of others would prove a testament to the living God.  

And now I'm left to wonder what it all means.  I was heartbroken at some of the posts I read from this family who was desperately grasping for air.  I know that you can't pick and choose with these things; trajedy, war and strife are as old as the Earth (just look at Israel) and faith has perservered.  But still, faith is supposed to mean something; the prayers of the people should change things; the hand of God should be everpresent.   I can recite a well versed and coherent arugument to the contary, but you know what...I just don't understand.

A funny thing happened while I was writing that last paragraph.  I have often bemused by the Psalms and how the Psalmist can curse and question God and yet come full cirlce to praise Him at the very end.  It is a natural part of faith.  You have to have a forum to question God, but then you have to realize your place.  I sometimes feel like the disciples...at the point when everyone else has deserted Jesus and he asks if they will to.  Peter answers that they have nowhere to go -- not exactly a glowing endorsement but a moment of genuine vulnerability.  For better or worse, I'm in this for the long haul.  Glory be to God in the Highest.  Amen.

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