Prepare Ye

  This is my Pastor’s Ponderings article from our May 2017 newsletter. Don’t fear, because I am with you; don’t be afraid, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, I will surely help you;          I will hold you with my righteous strong hand. + Isaiah 41:10 This is not an easy article to write, nor will it be an easy one to read. I hope it leads to challenging and uncomfortable discussions, because the cost of silence it too great. I want to encourage you to think about, engage and discuss the topics of bullying and suicide. In particular, I’m encouraging you to watch the Netflix TV series, 13 Reasons Why , and/or read the book it was based on Thirteen Reasons Why . The series and the book tell the story of a young female high school student named Hannah who commits suicide, and leaves a series of tapes for the people who, in her mind, caused her to lose the sense of value for her life, and led her to commit s...

I loved the Chrysler commercial from yesterday's Super Bowl. Because it was a pep talk, get your butts out there and win this thing halftime, fire 'em up speech for Detroit, for Michigan and for those who've been suffering with the American auto industry. I watched the Super Bowl with a dozen of my closest friends in my apartment yesterday, and those who aren't from Michigan didn't get it. They don't understand the pain and rejection that Michigan feels from the rest of the country. Michigan was built by the Big Three, and while they haven't put out the best of products, they don't deserve to be the butt of jokes. That ad was a statement. A statement that things are different. It'll probably be laughed at, and be the butt of some late night comedians monologue. But it warmed my heart, and that of a lot of people who are tired of being ignored and made fun of because the industry of their state has had a long run of rough times. VO: I got a...

NBC hired Matt Millen as a "Football Expert" for their play-off coverage. Mr. Millen drove the Detroit Lions franchise from mediocrity into being a global laughingstock. Having Matt Millen commenting on championship football is worse than: * Oprah commenting on maintaining a steady weight. * Al Gore commenting on being care-free and relaxed. * Sarah Palin giving elocution lessons on words ending in "g." * Memphis coach John Calapari giving lessons in free throw shooting. * GW Bush teaching how to "be a uniter, not a divider." * Bernie Madoff lecturing on honest investment schemes. * Paris Hilton on making it on your own. * Dick Cheney talking about open government. WDIV in Detroit ran a crawl below Millen whenever he spoke on the telecast. God Bless 'em!

While we may not always be where we want to be, and we man not have all of the people with us whom we want, We give thanks and praise to our Creator for giving us all that we need. I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving Thanks to Crystal Cheats at YouTube & pinnacleproducts.webs.com

Why, oh why, is it that the most insightful political commentary this year is coming from people who are really comedians? I don't mean the funny by accident fools at Fixed Noise, or the over the top rants of Keith Doberman, but the people on TV who are supposed to be funny. Thank God SNL is back to rip both sides (Obama will get his share of slams) and the Daily Show & Colbert Report will be back on the air soon. Here are a few of my favs. Saturday Night Live 9/13/09 - Palin/Hillary Opening (Tina Fey/Amy Poehler) This may be one of the funniest openings on SNL. Amy Poehler deserves an Emmy nod just for this. Craig Ferguson-The Late Late Show 9/12/08 John Stewart-The Daily Show 9/5/08

This guy's walkin' down a street when he falls in a hole. The walls are so steep he can't get out. A doctor passes by and the guy shouts up, "Hey you! Can you help me out?" The doctor writes a prescription, throws it down in the hole, and moves on. Then a priest comes along and the guy shouts up, "Father, I'm down in this hole; can you help me out?" The priest writes out a prayer, throws it down in the hole and moves on. Then a friend walks by. "Hey, Joe, it's me. Can ya help me out?" And the friend jumps in the hole. Our guy says, "Are ya stupid? Now we're both down here." The friend says, "Yeah, but I've been down here before and I know the way out." - Leo McGarry to Josh Lyman, The West Wing "Noel" At my CPE site, we've had a lively discussion about how much sharing about ourselves we should do when visiting patients. Given my recent experiences, I find I'm empathizing with patients &...

CPE day one is done. Things went well. Saw this on The Daily Dish and thought I'd share it.

The new and long forgotten power ballad video for Robin Sparkle's has been rediscovered. Robin Sparkles - Sandcastles in the Sand I can't believe Robin & Barney hooked up. HIMYM

For those who have never watched the show (shame, SHAME!) here is a 3 minute catch-you-up video on "How I Met Your Mother." It joins with the promising "Big Bang Theory" and "Heroes" to form "Watch My GPA Plummet" Monday. Coming off the bench in case of turnovers are Monday Night Football, Dancing with the Stars and the Holy Rosary with Mother Angelica . I may need to get an extra VCR shipped out here just for Mondays. Mad Props to Michigan for making it safe for me to wear Michigan football apparel again. And a shout out to the Sparties for making the top 25. But my football weekend was spoiled on Sunday. I move to PA and STILL have to watch the Lions????? Damm you Matt Millen! DAMM YOU!!!! (I do like the Eagles throwback look -- Go Team Sweden!

Sorry for the lack of posts, but I've been up to my eyeballs in work. Another week, another 250 pages to read, 10 pages to write, 20 sentences in Greek to translate, 2 songs to learn and a new church to attend. Such is the life of a first year seminarian at the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg. But, here are some things to get off my mind to clear shelf space. Notre Dame should be preparing to fire Charlie Weiss. They fired Tyrone Willingham in his third year for going 6-5. Weiss will get NOWHERE near that. Did he not realize that his offensive line was going to be horrible and not recruit any HS All Americans or transfers? I really like my classes. I'm not so fond of all of the reading, but I enjoy what I'm reading. I especially enjoy the readings in Homiletics (Preaching) and Worship. Discovering more about the practices of the Church is enlightening. Being able to read (almost) the original writings of the New Testament in Greek shows a layer of complexity and...

I'm going to be moving to Gettysburg the next few days, so there won't be any positing for a few days. (Not anything earth shattering.) The next time I post, it shall be from my apartment. Before I go however, its time to empty the mental mailbag . I'm glad I didn't order the Big Brother feeds. I've been watching the shows and following the feeds and this year's housemates aren't that interesting. Maybe they're not interesting because there is a jerk/bully who's dominating the show. Dick (his real name) is a tyrant who seems to have a 3 year old's fit anytime someone has an opinion or does not follow his directives. I'll pay attention when I see someone has the spine to nominate and evict him. The Tigers (MY Tigers) are in a funk and can't seem to get out of their own way. But fortunately, the Tribe is right there blowing games along with them. I'd love to see them trade for a relief pitcher, but it doesn't look like it will happ...

I am an unabashed fan of reality TV. Among my favorite shows are Survivor and American Idol . But the obsession causing king or reality tv starts tonight, Big Brother . I have been very obsessed by this show ( and it's British cousin ) in past seasons, but I'm just not feeling the compulsion this year. Maybe it's because of my move to Gettysburg in less than a month, or maybe its the twist this year . In previous years, I bought the Real Player feeds , but I'm not this year. So far. But I will be monitoring a bunch of the sites that update what's going on .Plus, I needed a backup for all my links. POST SHOW THOUGHTS I'm disapointed. Way too many over the top characters. Joe is a Marcellas wannabe. Jen is supposed to be Chill-town trained, and thinks she is too good for everyone. Evil Dick is just creepy. I'm not getting the feeds, and may wind up watching the tape, not making sure I'm there live. But, if the feeders make it seem interesting, I may change...

American Idol was very good last night. Jordin singing "You'll Never Walk Alone" helped to lift me. I think she's the winner. Watch the 2 hour show tonight, they're promising some special guest stars.

He gone! Thank You! Now American Idol can be a singing contest. Edited 4/22/07