morning after

all is forgotten.

today is a superbly crisp autumnal sort of day.

note to self: buy windshield de-icer quick.

change of season

so much for autumn.

we're in dark dreary slushy fall all right.

and it's going to be icy too.

in the name of jesus - henri nouwen (1989)

an unexpected contemplation of the three temptations of Jesus - to be relevant, to be spectacular, and to be powerful - and the antidotes - prayer, confession and forgiveness, and theological reflection.

i am blessed by the encounter.

dreams and shadows - robin wright (2008)

here is a fascinating story of dreams and ideals and proud civilizations and priceless heritage and how history tears them apart and feeds them to the dogs. it is a painful account of hope and courage and the corrupting influence of too much power, and is all the more poignant when read in the light of the arab spring of 2011.

what i say is, violence quite clearly is not the answer. not even when the other side is  blacker than black, because innocent people always suffer.

i also say, after reading this, things at home don't seem so bad after all. the grass may be greener but their streams are bloodier.

cas-pah 2

cutest set of ghouls award:

lady macbeth would turn in her grave.

!@#$%!

HOM and i and some friends have an unusually unpleasant encounter with ill-bred discourtesy.

was it a chinese guy? J2 wants to know. she is surprised to find out it was not. i thought for sure it would be, she says. it takes a chinese to know another, you could say.

you live and you learn i guess. i've learnt that ill breeding acknowledges no ethnic or national loyalties. all undifferentiated spawn of ol' man Abraham.

groundhog bonanza

3:30 pm go to airport

5 pm flight delayed

6 pm flight delayed

7 pm flight delayed

8 pm flight delayed

that's just the domestic leg

if you think you've heard this before you would be right on the money.

been there, done that

a young woman i know gets into medical school.

i'm so glad for you, i tell her. but take care, i also want to say, that you do not lose yourself in your dream. God does not call you to doctorhood. he calls you to a life well lived, and along the way he gives you things to do that you may rejoice in, or be strained by, for a short while, or for long, and one of them is your job. take care, i want to say, to store up for yourself treasure that the moths cannot get at, because it is so easy to stack up the other kind.

sigh

i miss trawling the art museums in d.c. on autumn friday mornings with J1. these days i lack:

• someone comfortable 
• to do it with, and
• the energy to go it alone.

HOM, bless him, is a lovely man but not given to art museums and he has to bring home the bacon besides.

fuzzy wuzzy 2

i am no longer on iCloud.

imConfused.