Brother Fire

One of my least favorite things about the end of the year are the number of year-end retrospectives that pop-up all over the media. Most of it is centered around celebrities of which I could care less. But this one from http://politicalhumor.about.com tickles my funny bone. Enjoy. Top 10 Bushisms of 2007 The Dumbest Things President Bush Said in 2007 10. "And there is distrust in Washington. I am surprised, frankly, at the amount of distrust that exists in this town. And I'm sorry it's the case, and I'll work hard to try to elevate it." --interview on National Public Radio, Jan. 29, 2007 9. "I fully understand those who say you can't win this thing militarily. That's exactly what the United States military says, that you can't win this military." --on the need for political progress in Iraq, Washington, D.C., Oct. 17, 2007 8. "One of my concerns is that the health care not be as good as it can possibly be." --on ...

Ugh! That's the only word to describe the attitude of those who are scurrying around to find the "latest thing" to buy each other for Christmas. It seems that negativity is a prerequisite feeling for shoppers who think that the importance of the holiday is not that guy....you know...that famous guy...whatsHisname...oh yeah....JESUS, but rather buying stuff for people.. I generally am not a big retail store shopper. Which is ironic being that I work in retail part-time. I prefer casually meandering through small shops and patiently finding things that mean a lot to friends and family for the holidays. If I can't find that 'special something,' well then...that special something was not meant to be found and a gift card will have to do. Presents are nice. But clearly...that's not the point. And the point definitely isn't to make sure one says, "Merry Christmas!" instead of "Happy Holidays"...because if I don't say "Merry Chris...

Recently, I was speaking to my dear friend Virginia Walsh about how disturbing it is that Christians go after each other in the name of Jesus. The irony is that His greatest commandment is to love each other, yet we act as if Jesus' words have no meaning. I asked Virginia to write for my blog about an idea that she has to address the anger and disdain that opposing Christian camps have for one another. She sent an email introducing the post and I thought the email was as powerful as the post itself so I'm sharing it here: I'm deeply troubled, as I'm sure we all are, by the hurtful, sniping, name-calling, and generally disrespectful "dialogue" in civil society. In many ways, I believe that those behaviors have infected the Church. Does the following paragraph sound familiar? They're out to undermine our nation. They call themselves Christians, but they have no real understanding of God or morality. They pray, but they don't actually have a living relati...