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Showing posts from February, 2008

When will pro football come to Detroit?

The Detroit Lions have decided to raise their season ticket prices. From the Detroit Free Press: “In order for us to maintain competitiveness in the NFL, we have to do this,” executive vice president Tom Lewand said today. (emphasis mine) As a recovering Lions fan, maintain??? Most every Lion fan I know, save the cornbread addicts, would be thrilled with competitiveness. Competitiveness left town when Matt (How do I still have a job?) Millen hit the 313. Last week, Mr. 50 games below .500 said he would be upset with him if he was a fan. Thank goodness, he isn't a fan or he might do something like, honorably quit. Also from the Detroit Free Press: Asked about raising prices after going 31-81 in seven seasons, Lewand said: “This is the first increase of this nature since we opened the stadium in 2002.” Lewand pointed out the salary cap was set at averages of league revenues, and the Lions needed to maintain financial competitiveness. The NFL salary cap increases to $116 million this

An Immaculate Concept

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From the Lutheran Husker.

Upon Further Review

My chief legal eagle, Law & Gospel , saw my vent and added her two cents worth. You can read it here . This post was brewing for a while, and I had held it for a couple of days to see if I still felt that way. I want to make it clear to any Powers That Be who read my little rantings (yeah, right) that I want to complete the program and become an ordained pastor in the ELCA. I'm willing to deal with the process, I want to complete the process, I just think the process could be a little more "user-friendly." Of course, after hearing today's First Lesson ( Exodus 17:1-7 ) I am feeling a little whiny. But then I heard the Second Lesson ( Romans 5:1-11 4 5 ) and I have decided to " boast in our sufferings , knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us."

Baptism of Fire

Brothers In Arms - Dire Straits - video from The West Wing The high pitched whining you are about to encounter has not been approved by anyone except me. And I'm not so sure I agree with everything I typed, but BOY, did it feel good. I'm the Coach, and I half-heartedly approve this message. This has been a tough week for the Class of 2011 at The LTS. Almost a third of us have been stricken with an especially virulent virus, combining congestion, sore throats & projectile vomiting. The plague, as we are referring to it in polite company, has laid some of the toughest amongst us low. It has pulled the heart out of some of the people who are most called to pastor to God's people and has weakened their bodies, and challenges their hearts. The process that we are undertaking, the call to ministry, is a long, grinding road. It is designed to ensure that those who the church approves to be leaders are acceptable to the synod, regional and national authorities. It is also dehu

Something Odd I Heard

The southern PA & Maryland area got socked with a big snowstorm last night. My TV comes on as kind of an alarm clock. As I'm listening to the anchor from the Baltimore station talk about how many schools are closed, included in the two hour delays was the U. S. Naval Academy. Just didn't think that would be effected.

Seminary Cheat Sheet

I heard a rumor that at least one prospective seminary student may be reading my blog to see what seminary life is like. YIKES! The power to shape and influence people is not something I want to have, ... errrrr, well not yet. Not until they take the training wheels off of my clerical collar. But, just in case, here are ALL of the answers you will need for any exam, quiz or question in your Lutheran Seminary experience. In case of a paper, expand and double space. Some of these answers will probably work for other Christian traditions, but you're on your own there. Hoping that I avoid double-secret academic probation, here are the answers: To any question with conflicting answers, or issues in paradox Yes (or all of the above) To any question about who did or said something Jesus (if it has a peaceful, compassionate tone), Luther (if it sounds angry) To any question where something does not seem right It was a redaction from _____ (insert a book of the Bible here) To any question

Tribute to My Dad

A video of pictures put together to remember my dad, who passed away a couple of weeks ago. The Chieftans with Sting - Mo Ghile Mear (Our Hero) [1 & Chorus] Sé mo laoch mo Ghile Mear ‘Sé mo Chaesar, Ghile Mear, Suan ná séan ní bhfuaireas féin Ó chuaigh i gcéin mo Ghile Mear. [2] Grief and pain are all I know My heart is sore My tears a'flow, We saw him go .... No word we know of him... Chorus [3] A proud and gallant cavalier A high man's scion of gentle mien A fiery blade engaged to reap He'd break the bravest in the field Chorus [4] Come sing his praise as sweet harps play And proudly toast his noble frame With spirit and with mind aflame So wish him strength and length of day Chorus

Tagged: Random Book

Trish at What Is Going On Here? tagged me for a meme! Here it is: Pick up the nearest book of 123 pages or more. (No cheating!) Find Page 123. Find the first 5 sentences.Post the next 3 sentences. Since I was working on catching up on my Systematic Theology reading, here we go from Lift Every Voice. Today many men and women are struggling to redress this unfortunate stereotype that leads to the nonpayment of child support, the high teenage pregnancy rate, and the poverty of single-parent women struggling to raise children alone. If no other argument made here is valid, at least contemplating the social devistation of continuing to assert that males are "more easily separable from the reproductive role" should give us pause. It will not seem surprising that those who oppose inclusive language use in regard to religion reject metaphorical interpretations of language use and opt for denotative essentialist theories of language. I would tag people, but I've seen this meme on

Springtime

The first sign of Spring has come to the LTS. Tour buses have been sighted along Seminary Ridge. Ah, life in a tourist town.

I Back Barack

I'll get back to my dealing with my dad's passing, but I want to take time out for something else. I will vote for Barack Obama to be our President this fall, and encourage you to vote for him then and in any primary you may be able to vote in this Spring and Summer. I think he is our best hope in bringing our country together. I think Senators McCain and Clinton could be very good Presidents. I think neither of them could bring the country or the government together to move in any direction. The speech below is the keynote address to the Call to Renewal's Building a New Covenant for America. I think it articulates many of Senator Obama's attitudes and beliefs which I support. I do not agree with all of his policies. I do not know all of his policies. But I believe I can trust his judgement to do what he feels is in the best interest of this country. And that is all that I can hope that my President will do.

Dunno

I'm back at The LTS, and trying to get caught up on Mt. O' Reading. Holding out for 2 weeks will do that for you. While I'm interested in the reading, I just don't care to get it done. I want to sit and do nothing. I want to be here, and not be here. I want to bawl like a baby, and I want to watch the funeral's slide show over and over. I want to talk, but I'm sick of my own voice.

Why It Should Be Obama vs. McCain

By Jim Sleeper - from TPM Cafe Mario Cuomo drew the distinction between “the poetry of campaigning” and “the prose of governing” in 1982, but he embodied it a bit too well: He electrified the Democratic National Convention of 1984 but never made his own bid to govern nationally. That has made Barack Obama the first likely liberal-Democratic nominee to tap the mystic chords of memory and destiny since 1980, when Ted Kennedy, conceding defeat in the primaries, vowed, “The cause endures, the hope still lives, and the dream shall never die.” Kennedy has endured, but even if his passing the torch to Obama last week propels the latter’s nomination, we’ll be only halfway to the convergence of mythic currents that would have occurred in 1980 had Kennedy faced that other poet of the republic, Ronald Reagan. Jimmy Carter did that, but even as an incumbent he was no more a poet than is the quasi-incumbent Hillary Clinton. Two great American crosscurrents -- of liberal communal provision, without

Sometimes I Can't Make It On My Own

U2 - Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own Tough, you think you've got the stuff You're telling me and anyone You're hard enough You don't have to put up a fight You don't have to always be right Let me take some of the punches For you tonight Listen to me now I need to let you know You don't have to go it alone And it's you when I look in the mirror And it's you when I don't pick up the phone Sometimes you can't make it on your own We fight all the time You and I... that's alright We're the same soul I don't need... I don't need to hear you say That if we weren't so alike You'd like me a whole lot more Listen to me now I need to let you know You don't have to go it alone And it's you when I look in the mirror And it's you when I don't pick up the phone Sometimes you can't make it on your own I know that we don't talk I'm sick of it all Can you hear me when I S

Back in the LTS

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I made it back to Gettysburg tonight. Thirteen inches of snow and a ton of guilt couldn't keep me away. This photo was taken several years ago in the TV broadcast booth at Tiger Stadium. The dorky looking guy in the red is me. On either side of me are my two childhood heroes. Al Kaline, Tiger Hall of Famer, is on the right wearing a tie. My dad is on the left in light blue. I purchased this package to go to a Tiger game as part of Sparky Anderson's CATCH charity. We watched half of the game from the box seats behind home plate and the other half from the TV booth where Al Kaline and George Kell were broadcasting. Al Kaline was a hero of mine. He was the type of athlete we all hope to idolize. He did things the right way. He never embarrassed himself or the team or the community. In the weeks leading up to going to the game, I rehearsed what I wanted to say to Mr. Kaline. I wanted to tell him he was my idol. He made me love baseball. He showed me and everyone what the right way

Privilege?

I found this post which I was working on when I first heard about the accident my parents were in. I guess now is as good of a time to post it as any. From What Privileges Do You Have? , based on an exercise about class and privilege developed by Will Barratt, Meagan Cahill, Angie Carlen, Minnette Huck, Drew Lurker, Stacy Ploskonka at Illinois State University. If you participate in this blog game, they ask that you PLEASE acknowledge their copyright. Bold the true statements. 1. Father went to college. 2. Father finished college. 3. Mother went to college. 4. Mother finished college. 5. Have any relative who is an attorney, physician, or professor. 6. Were the same or higher class than your high school teachers. 7. Had more than 50 books in your childhood home. Encyclopedia Britanica put the total over 50. 8. Had more than 500 books in your childhood home. 9. Were read children’s books by a parent. 10. Had lessons of any kind before you turned 18. 11. Had more than two kinds of lesson

Beneath the Cowl

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I'm revealing my "secret identity" because I wanted, needed to share some of the wonderful things that people said about my dad. The funeral was yesterday, and over 125 people came, even though we had 6+ inches of snow. Between 250 and 300 people came Thursday for the visitation. We are so blessed to know how many people cared about him, and care about my mother and me. I had my moments of dealing with my grief, but when the bagpiper began to play "Amazing Grace," I came unglued. Here is a link to the comments on my father's obituary. His obituary is here . Some of the photos we had made into a video are below. Thanks for all of your thoughts and prayers. I'm not sure when I'm headed back to The LTS. I need to take care of my mom first.