The Bible is a GPS for life. We trust that a GPS will get us to our destination. Why do we wonder whether the Bible can get us to our life destination?
We only need to know where we want to end up!

This was a comment made by a women on a website for new software that “cleans up” our iTunes library. I cracked up!

“thank the lawd bb jesus for this one. can’t wait for the mac version because my itunes definitely needs a tune up. forrr sho’.”

I have to remember that, “Thank the lawd bb jesus!” Almost like “weejus” prayers I learned about while doing “CPE” (Clinical Pastoral Education) as a chaplain in a hospital during seminary. What are “weejus” prayers, you might ask? Well…
“Lawd bb jesus, weejus ask that you take care of sister…”

I feel like I should be posting something…
Has anyone noticed how Harry Potter and Jacob (son of Isaac, grandson of Abraham) are a lot alike?
I celebrated at a different parish this past Sunday (yesterday).
At one point, I equated Harry Potter with Jacob wrestling…
I explained that the reason I brought up Harry Potter is because to a generation of people, Harry Potter exerts a great deal of influence upon their understanding of their times. They see in Harry and Ron and Hermione, themselves. They see their own life stories in the characters of the Harry Potter books.
Scripture used to play that kind of role for far more people than it does, today. People much more easily experienced the stories of Scripture by seeing themselves in the lives of the characters of the Bible. The West made Scripture into an object to examine and deconstruct, rather than seeing a story through which we better understand ourselves. We have to prove it, rather than feel it. People feel Harry Potter. They don’t have to deconstruct or prove anything.
We lost the forest because we focus so much on twigs.
Kind of like the different between Latin and Sanskrit.

Okay, this is just cute, except for when his eyes roll back and all you see are the whites of his eyes. Not so cute. And, yes, I know it is not yet Christmastide.

Squashed Philosophers

As I was waking up this morning, I listened to NPR news and they reported that American Airlines was now going to charge $15.00 to check a single piece of luggage. This makes a difference because I am trying to find a flight for my nephew to come and visit me this summer. According to the report, AA is adding the surcharge due to the cost of fuel. Market forces will make it so they have to raise prices, but…
I understand why the airlines don’t simply raise the base price of their tickets – after all, when using Travelocity, Orbits, etc., most people look for the lowest price rather than the final price. Yet, at some point the add-on charges will get ridiculous.
So, here is what I think a “bill” for an airline ticket will look like next year:
Cleveland to New York on a big airline:
Ticket Price: $300.00 (Okay, decent price!)
Fuel fee: $20.00 (to cover the increased cost)
Luggage fee: $15.00 per piece of checked luggage
Carry-on fee: $10.00 per additional carry-on luggage after the first piece
Walk-on fee: $5.00 (after all, all those feet walking wear out the carpet)
Pilot fee: $15.00 (unions, you know)
Stewart fee: $ 5.00 (see above)
Poundage fee: $2.00 (for every pound a passenger is over 200 pounds – additional thrust needed for take-off, more fuel needed, etc.)
Convenience fee: $10.00 (it’s a lot more convenient flying than driving, or an airline fee to pay for the inconvenience of having to deal with passengers)
Safety fee: $10.00 (having the stewards read the escape plan and a seat cushion life-preserver provided in case of a crash)
Insurance fee: $25.00 (to cover the cost of having to defend themselves when passengers sue the airline.)
Inspection fee: $20.00 (making sure there are no wire short circuits or fuselage cracks costs a lot of money – unions, again, and the pesky government)
The final airline price is: $445.00 (Doesn’t $300.00 look so much better when trying to find a cheap flight?)
Oops, I forgot Food & Beverage fee: $5.00 drinks; $15.00 booze; $3.00 peanuts; $20.00 meal. (Paid by cash only on the plane.)
Add to that, a fee for a headset if you want to watch movies or listen to music: $10.00 (and you even have to turn it in at the end of the flight, else you can’t get off the plane! There could be an exit fee somewhere in the future, too.)
Pillows and blankets are still for free! For now…
Of course, then one must add the airport fees, landing right fees, city, county, state, and federal taxes.

Bar Stool Economics:
Suppose that every day, ten men go out for beer and the bill for all ten comes to $100. If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this:
The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing.
The fifth would pay $1.
The sixth would pay $3.
The seventh would pay $7.
The eighth would pay $12.
The ninth would pay $18.
The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59.
So, that’s what they decided to do. The ten men drank in the bar every day and seemed quite happy with the arrangement, until one day, the owner threw them a curve. ‘Since you are all such good customers, he said, ‘I’m going to reduce the cost of your daily beer by $20. Drinks for the ten now cost just $80.
The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes so the first four men were unaffected. They would still drink for free. But what about the other six men – the paying customers? How could they divide the $20 windfall so that everyone would get his ‘fair share?’ They realized that $20 divided by six is $3.33. But if they subtracted that from everybody’s share, then the fifth man and the sixth man would each end up being paid to drink his beer. So, the bar owner suggested that it would be fair to reduce each man’s bill by roughly the same amount, and he proceeded to work out the amounts each should pay.
And so:
The fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (100% savings).
The sixth now paid $2 instead of $3 (33%savings).
The seventh now pay $5 instead of $7 (28%savings).
The eighth now paid $9 instead of $12 (25% savings).
The ninth now paid $14 instead of $18 (22% savings).
The tenth now paid $49 instead of $59 (16% savings).
Each of the six was better off than before. And the first four continued to drink for free. But once outside the restaurant the men began to compare their savings.
‘I only got a dollar out of the $20,’declared the sixth man. He pointed to the tenth man,’ but he got $10!’
‘Yeah, that’s right,’ exclaimed the fifth man. ‘I only saved a dollar, too. It’s unfair that he got ten times more than I!’
‘That’s true!!’ shouted the seventh man. ‘Why should he get $10 back when I got only two? The wealthy get all the breaks!’
‘Wait a minute,’ yelled the first four men in unison. ‘We didn’t get anything at all.. The system exploits the poor!’
The nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up.
The next night the tenth man didn’t show up for drinks, so the nine sat down and had beers without him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered something important. They didn’t have enough money between all of them for even half of the bill!
And that, boys and girls, journalists and college professors, is how our tax system works. The people who pay the highest taxes get the most benefit from a tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack them for being wealthy, and they just may not show up anymore. In fact, they might start drinking overseas where the atmosphere is somewhat friendlier.
David R. Kamerschen, Ph.D.
Professor of Economics, University of Georgia

The franchise continues…

Star Trek: Of Gods and Men

Star Trek: Phase II (New Voyages)

Okay, so Low-Church or High-Church, Cassock-alb or Cassock-amise-alb, whatever you druthers concerning what are proper vestments…
How about these vestments of praise!???