DaddyRoBlog

A Roger Waters Christmas

As the next week will afford me very little free time, and because most of my creative energies will be directed towards finding Christmas presents and doing Christmas services, I've decided to devote my posts during that time to my favorite poems.

I also figure that Christmas/the holidays are a meant to be a time of great heart, and in my own life at least, poetry does a good job of nurturing that.

My first selection  is really a song, but I think it makes a good poem to.   It's one of those that I find running through my head with some regularity.  It seems particularly good for year's end, and considering where we are--or are not--in life.

Wish You Were Here

So, so you think you can tell Heaven from Hell,
blue skies from pain.
Can you tell a green field from a cold steel rail? A smile from a veil?
Do you think you can tell?

And did they get you trade your heroes for ghosts?
Hot ashes for trees? Hot air for a cool breeze?
Cold comfort for change? And did you exchange
a walk on part in the war for a lead role in a cage?

How I wish, how I wish you were here.
We're just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl,
year after year,
running over the same old ground. What have we found?
The same old fears,
wish you were here.

--Pink Floyd

One of the Great Mysteries of the World

On one stretch of road on my way to work, there are two lights that are maybe 100 yards a part.  The second light is a long one, and it generally turns red just as the first light turns green.  In other words, there is no point is speeding off from the first light only to spend a extended period of time sitting at the second.

But that does not deter cars from riding right on one’s bumper if he doesn’t take off like a bat out of hell.  Maybe twenty yards from the light a second turning lane opens up.  At that point the trailing car switches into this other lane, hits the gas, and pulls ahead.

For maybe a second, that is.  Then they have to hit the brakes.  Hard. He might get to the light a half second quicker, but that just means he sits there a half second longer. 

I keep trying to figure out what is gained by this.  But frankly, I just don’t get it.

King! Kong! Ten Times as Big as a Man!

Anybody remember that song from Saturday  morning cartoons?

OK, my review from the midnight showing of King Kong last night is posted at:  http://stmatthewssterling.com/Home.aspx.  As usual, left hand side under What's New, third item from top I think (we left up Narnia review as we figured folks would continue to be interested).

King Kong Arrives Earlier Than I Thought

A couple weeks ago we bought four tickets for the midnight showing of King Kong.  I thought, however, that it opened on Friday, so the midnight showing would be at 11:59 Thursday night.

That's not so bad, since Friday is my day off.  And even though I usually end up working, on Fridays I do so from home.  Most the time I don't have appointments or meetings through which I need to stay awake.

As for my wife and kids, even if they are tired on Friday, it's only one day.  The can always catch up on their sleep Saturday morning or with a nap Saturday afternoon.

But yesterday at dinner my oldest daughter informed us that the movie is actually tonight (Tuesday).    That's a little bit tougher to swing.  My wife and younger daughter bowed out, but Christine and I decided what the heck--you only go around once in this life so we might as well make the most of it.  We'll be there.

I'll let you know tomorrow how it is if I am coherent enough to type...

Tribute to Neil Gaiman

This week's sermon title:  "Mind the Gap"

http://stmatthewssterling.org/Home.aspx  (left hand side,  under What's New).

A good example of the "new" old wisdom (and even some pictures of Calvin and Hobbes thrown in)...

Local Church Provides Escort Service

As you may know, we recently had a brief but heavy snow here.  With the bright sunlight of the days followed by the cold nights (it was 18 degrees this morning) there has been some melting and refreezing.

That meant the church parking lot and sidewalks were a mess when I arrived at 7AM. To eliminate any possibility of people attending services taking a fall, we made sure escorts were available to walk people into the building and then back out to their cars when services were done.

We do three services, with our 10:30 service generally being our biggest.  Following that service, there was a group of men and teenage boys waiting in a line to take the arms of anyone wanting an escort.  And it was not jut men escorting women.  A retired high ranking military officer, for example, was escorted by a young lady (who just happened to be an ex-Marine).

It was actually very touching to see—a potentially bad situation that built a great sense of camaraderie instead.

Hectic and Harried

For all those who might be feeling the pressure of the holiday season--the hustle and bustle of all that "needs" to be done, here is a picture.

Do you think she knows something we don't?

Or, if you've seen my  "Message from God" below, maybe this should be "Message from God, Part 2"?

Narnia--The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe

My review of the movie, along with Dean Koontz's Forever Odd and Kate Wilhelm's The Price of Silence, is now up at http://stmatthewssterling.org/Home.aspx.  You'll find it on the left hand side under "What's New".

We ended up with about 30 people going, mostly kids (which surprised me given the hour).  They were all counting on a snow day due to a winter storm with 3-6 inches of snow forecast.  However, when the movie started at midnight, the first flake had not even fallen and most the snow seemed to be passing to our north.

But when the movie was ended, someone opened up the door of the theater.  It looked like Narnia in winter outside--the snow was pouring down heavily like rain and was already well on its way to accumulating nicely.

So yes, the kids did get a snow day today.  Perhaps we'll go get our tree...

Churches Closed for Christmas

A friend pointed me to an article on churches not having services for Christmas (http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2005-12-06-christmas-churches_x.htm).

It is an interesting thought.  When it takes so much “production” to “put on” church, is it worth it if only a few people come out? 

For us, that is not an issue.  We will scale back our services and only do one instead of our usual three on a Sunday morning.  The service will be quiet and simple. In fact, I think it will be very much like the first Christmas in that regard—which, in fact, is why I would not miss it for the world (the play on words is intentional).

I’d be interested: What do you think?

Pride and Prejudice

16 degrees right now.  Burrr. Even then cats don’t want to go outside.

I hope to write a review of The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe tonight—we have tickets to the 11:59 showing—but we’ll have to see if the weather cooperates.

On the same day I posted the poem below, one of my appointments was with a black woman (one of the great things about the area in which we live is its incredible diversity). 

Anyway, at the conclusion of our time together I shared with her the poem.  The thing is, I think it is only in recent years that I’ve actually understood what the poet was saying.  When I first heard it, I think what I mainly appreciated was the joke.  I knew there was something more there, but I didn’t quite get it.

Funny how something can stick with a person all those years, running through his head, and then one day all of a sudden he says, “Wow!  I get it!”

So basically, I wanted to test my thoughts by the thoughts and experiences of the woman I was meeting with.  She commented that the poet sounded awfully depressed.

I said I didn’t think so. I didn’t think the poet was using “black” in that way, but as a symbol of her choice to proudly and enthusiastically live into her racial identity. The point, I think now, was the challenge of doing so in what is often a “white” world.

The woman I was meeting with wondered if the poet would write the poem any differently today.  It’s a good question.  Is the world less prejudiced?

I’d like to think so, but I think there are plenty of people who would answer “no”.