Boy, it’s been a while. With the start of a new quarter, I can always find time for a “study break”. I’ve been enjoying this unique band, The Welcome Wagon, off Sujan Stevens label, Asthmatic Kitty Records. There’s not much evidence of them in video form on the internet – at least not of the songs I’ve been especially enjoying (“But For You Who Fear My Name” & “He Never Said A Mumblin’ Word”). I did find this nice contribution by someone who was better than me and actually did something about that lack of video presence (thanks!). It’s “I Am A Stranger” – enjoy:

John Poole/NPR

NPR posted the first long interview with Roxana Saberi today since her return home from Iran. It sounds like the “buying alcohol” and espionage charges were all untrue. She made a false confession to being  a U.S. spy and talks about then recanting and why she recanted:

“so I made a false confession and I said, “Yes, I’m a U.S. spy.” But because my conscience got the better of me and the God that I believe in — the God that I thought had abandoned me when I was first in prison — I realized [he] was always with me. And I realized that he was not pleased with what I had done by making this false confession. I recanted my confession, knowing full well that I would jeopardize my freedom.”

It’s fascinating because by recanting she knew the prosecutor would be mad and sure enough they were and she went to the one hour trial that initially ended with an eight year prison sentence:

“And indeed, that’s what happened: The prosecutor got upset with me for recanting my confession and sent my case to trial instead of freeing me, and that’s when I was sentenced to eight years in prison. I knew this was going to happen when I recanted my confession, but I told myself, I would rather tell the truth and stay in prison instead of telling lies to be free. And I didn’t want to set an example for people to come after me, that they have to give confessions in order to be free. Because even if you become free after telling lies, I felt, my conscience would always remain behind bars.”

“Because even if you become free after telling lies, I felt, my conscience would always remain behind bars.” Impressive woman.

A friend, Teresa, posted this on her Facebook and it caught my attention. Very compelling message from “Ain’t No Reason” by Brett Dennen – here’s one verse and the chorus:

Prison walls still standing tall,
Some things never change at all.
Keep on buildin’ prisons, gonna fill them all,
Keep on buildin’ bombs, gonna drop them all.
Working your fingers bear to the bone,
Breaking your back, make you sell your soul.
Like a lung that’s filled with coal, suffocatin’ slow.
The wind blows wild and I may move,
The politicians lie and I am not fooled.
You don’t need no reason or a three piece suit to argue the truth.
The air on my skin and the world under my toes,
Slavery stitched into the fabric of my clothes,
Chaos and commotion wherever I go, love I try to follow.

Love will come set me free
Love will come set me free, I do believe
Love will come set me free, I know it will
Love will come set me free, yes.

The best radio show you’ve likely never heard of happens here in Seattle from 7 to 10 pm in 97.3 FM: Too Beautiful to Live with Luke Burbank. Beyond the radio world’s heated debate over whether it should or shouldn’t endure it is simply darn good radio by a darn funny guy who once let me ride his powder-blue scooter around the block during college. Luke and my buddy Ben were fast friend-os and I enjoyed any time I had with Luke. I’ve been told I have a good sense of humor. Luke has a sense of humor you can make a living off. Along with Jen Andrews and Sean DeTore they offer wit and an endless supply of pop culture commentary that’s fresh radio air in Seattle. So today’s study break features a “fiendishly brilliant” bus ad they blogged about:

The Most Effective Advertisement Ever Made. Ever. Ever.

This is a bus stop ad for a Dutch gym. When you sit on the bench, it displays your weight. I’m torn between feeling awe at how brilliant this is and horror at how fiendishly brilliant it is.

Anyone else out there seen something this good? Hey, at least for the woman on the bench, I don’t understand the metric system! She’s light as a feather to my eyes! Anyhoo, when you’re in need of a break, check out their site and podcast TBTL. It’s worth it!

Working in ministry means you get invited into some of the most intimate times in people’s lives – both the joyous and tragic, and sometimes they overlap. I had the honor of doing the funeral earlier this year for Walt David, an older man I admired greatly from my home town. It truly was a bitter-sweet time of honoring the man and seeking to encourage his family and friends. Yesterday, Eugene Cho posted a poignant entry on his blog about the recent death of his congregant and friend, Craig Wong. When Kristi and I were attending Eugene’s church, Quest, after leaving the Seattle Vineyard, I would hear reports of Craig’s battle with brain cancer, though I did not know Craig or his family.  Throughout his treatment, writes Eugene, Craig began sharing “life lessons”:

Over the past 15 months, rather than wallowing in self pity, Craig had been preaching, teaching, speaking, calling, writing, emailing, and blogging to as many of his friends and family and anyone else who were willing to listen.  He wrote on his blog and called them “Craig’s Life Lessons.”  I believe that the Holy Spirit was impressing such things upon his heart and so in a desire to honor Craig’s life and faith, I want to share Craig’s 7 LIFE LESSONS with you:

Life Lesson #1:
None of you should fear death either. What you should fear is “not living” Make sure that you truly live during your life. Don’t just coast through life. Don’t just go through the motions. If you do, you will miss out on the gifts that God has provided for us. Make an effort to spend quality time with your kids everyday; Spend regular quality time with your family and friends. Don’t miss out on what life has to offer.

Life Lesson #2:
Don’t put things off. If you’ve been wanting to take a trip with the family or If you’ve always wanted to do something – do it now. Don’t put it off – there might not be a tomorrow.

Life Lesson #3:
Don’t take anything for granted. Live a good life. Be thankful to God for everything that you have. Be thankful for your family. Cherish the time you have with them. Be thankful for your health. Be thankful for being able to be carefree. Be thankful for every moment that you have on this Earth.

I’ve posted the first three here but you should head over to Eugene’s blog to read the others. It’s a wonderful list and a great testimony to Craig’s life.

I spout a lot of fan-atic words about Bono and his band U2. But my appreciation of him goes beyond his status as front man for the greatest rock band in the world. I also realize he does more to debunk his neo-messiah and straight-laced Christian status than anyone ever could – he is not perfect. But he has had his mind altered by a love for Africa and a passion for the plight of many Africans. And he gets the biblical concept of justice – its power and its demand to not be ignored – better than most 52-week-a-year-church-attending Christians. As Bono puts it about 1/2 way through the talk below:  “It’s a pain in the arse, this equality business.” So this study break is a little headier but just as melodic in it’s own way with a message as powerful as “Pride (In the Name of Love).” It’s Bono’s 2005 acceptance speech for the TED award.

I used to work at a psychiatric hospital. My work there included facilitating a classroom environment where kids with a variety of mental health issues from 6 to 18 could work on class skills. One of the best units I did was a historical look at the most prolific figures of the last millenium. I used a TV program put out by A & E and one of the top 5 people was George Washington (Johann Guttenberg was #1). I don’t remember which historian or celebrity narrated the brief case made for our first president. However, I remember being struck by the statement that Washington facilitated something that had never really happened before in political history: a peaceful transfer of power from one head of state to the next. The narrator talked about how Washington could have named himself king of the colonies and his popularity would have made such a power grab successful. Instead, after he felt his time was done, and despite the pleas of many to stay, he quietly rode his horse back to his farm, Mount Vernon, in Virginia and laid the foundation for what we do in the United States today: vote for another peaceful transfer of power. It’s worth noting that citizens of the U.S. today, having endured the longest, most expensive and invasive election in history, will simply mark a ballot to bring about major change in our country and the world.

I voted for Barack Obama for a myriad of reasons – his persona, his intellect, his inclusiveness, that he stood up against a war that the vast majority of his colleagues supported, his ability to inspire and create a vision for the direction of the country (something we sorely lacked th the last 8 years) etc. I wrestled with that vote for a few: his voting record on abortion, the potential that he will skyrocket spending and expand government in unhelpful ways. But in the end, after 8 years of a Republican in office who I feel has led the country down a destructive path in many areas (primarily the war in Iraq), I could not vote for John McCain. Yes, I realize that John McCain is not George Bush. But his intention to continue many of the same policies, the negative style of his campaign – it’s divisiveness, the invoking of ridiculous images of Obama by him (e.g. pal to terrorist, socialist) and his colleagues (slandering Obama by asserting he was Muslim, using his middle name as a negative, trying to portray him as ‘not one of us’ in many ways) – and his decision to have Sarah Palin as VP wore me out and disgusted me at times. I like John McCain and hope that we will see the return of the pre-campaign John McCain. I think it would be terrific for Obama to involve McCain in a high-level manner (if McCain were willing). But in the end, I voted Obama and will celebrate his victory if that happens today.

I’d like to think that George Washington would be proud that 209 years after his death we continue to transfer presidential authority without a single bullet being fired or tanks in the street or mobs beating their opposition as we see in other places. Another reason to appreciate this election is that we will make history one way or another. We’ll elect the first woman vice president in history (88 years after the right to vote is won for women) or the first black man president just 62 years after the last known public lynching. I love that history will turn a page no matter who wins. Regardless of who you vote for today, I thought these were some things worth noting.

“He loved the picture, don’t get me wrong, but he just couldn’t get over
the war,” his mother, Maureen Dwyer, said by telephone from her home in
Sunset Beach, N.C. “He wasn’t Joseph anymore. Joseph never came home.”

Dwyer’s parents said they tried to get help for their son, appealing to
Army and Veterans Affairs officials. Although he was treated off and on
in VA facilities, he was never able to shake his anxieties.

Dwyer became the ‘face’ of the rebuilding efforts in Iraq four years ago. Today, may the story of Dwyer’s life and struggles increase the aid returning soldiers who are battling PTSD deserve. You can read a full obituary on Dwyer here.

Finally, speaking for myself, I can draw a straight line from Joseph Dwyer’s story and Barack Obama’s Op-ed piece, “My Plan for Iraq,” in yesterday’s New York Times. Maybe you can too.

“Thanks for nothing, local leadership” is the phrase that came to mind. It’s a sad day in Sonic land as the trucks pack up today and head for the mid-west. As one local sports talk host said, we’ve gone from being a major league, 3 sport town to a 2nd rate sports town – how does it feel to be on par with Kansas City and Cincinnati, folks? That’s us. Frankly, it’s depressing that in a town supposedly full of innovative politicians and business leaders, we couldn’t figure out a way to keep 40+ years of civic pride around. But hey, I’m sure all the Barry Manilow concerts and environmental product conventions will replace the revenue an already sinking Seattle Center lost yesterday. Here’s a good blog entry about the politics of it at Crosscut.

Must be my blue-collar ‘Jersey roots…dragging in my ‘72 Camaro, cruising down to the boardwalk in my convertible with Mary , Roy Orbison playing too loud…oh wait, that’s not really me. But today in class at Fuller, I was reminded of a somewhat dormant love I have for Bruce Springsteen’s music – I still wince when I remember how my ‘87 powder-blue Ford Escort ‘ate’ 2 of the 4 Springsteen Box Set cassettes.

From articles in Catholic periodicals to multiple Mystery Science Theater 3000 references (one of the little robots called these lyrics the greatest ever in rock n roll: Wendy let me in, I wanna be your friend, I wanna guard your dreams and visions. Just wrap your legs round these velvet rims and strap your hands ‘cross my engines!), Bruce is everywhere. We heard a good lecture from Jeff Keuss today entitled “Darkness on the Edge of Town: The Gospel of Hope According to Bruce Springsteen”. Gotta love it – and tomorrow is U2 day! If i were on the College of Cardinals I’d nominate Keuss for Pope.

Now Wendy and those “Born to Run” lyrics above might be a little racy for catechism, but Bruce grounds many of his lyrics in dense imagery of faith, sin, redemption and resurrection. This is part of why, having seen U2, Dylan and Van Morrison, The Boss tops my musical ‘Bucket List’. Springsteen gets a bad rap as “the poor man’s Bob Dylan”, and while I understand this sentiment, I say y’all need to dust off your Flannery O’Connor books and give the Jersey boy another chance (he did endorse Obama after all). Plus, Clarence Clemons inspired one nerdy anglo 5th grader named Ryan Beattie to pick up the saxophone! From an America: The National Catholic Weekly article in February, 2003:

“The loss and search for faith and meaning have been at the core of my own work for most of my adult life…Those issues are still what motivate me to sit down, pick up my guitar and write.”

So, send your iTUnes gift cards to me so I can buy my lost Springsteen music and tell me who’s on your list of “wanna see live” before you cross over The River.