Looking for jobs

I'm sometimes puzzled by job applicants. I know I've talked more than once about how irritating it is to get a phone call when our ad says, "No phone calls, please." But there are other things. The ad says, "Apply in person" and some don't seem to realize that means you do everything yourself. When someone else picks up the application that's not following the directions to apply in person. When I say, "I'd like you to fill out the application over there." that's not an invitation to take the application home.

I'm looking for someone who can follow directions. If you make a phone call or have someone else pick up the application, then I wonder if you can follow directions. If you ask, "Can I take this home?" after I've said 'fill it out here" then I wonder if you know how to pay attention to customers. And when I receive an application that has been folded in half or quarters or with something scratched out I wonder how careful you are.

I begin to wonder whether people really want a job when they're rude to my desk clerks, are dressed in a sloppy fashion (or worse) and more. There are many ways to lose a chance at a job. And I'm sure I've not seen all of them yet.

J. Robert Oppenheimer

"There are children playing in the street who could solve some of my top problems in physics, because they have modes of sensory perception that I lost long ago."

J. Robert Oppenheimer

Martin Luther King, Jr.

Martin Luther King day has come and gone for another year. But I hope the message he brought has not disappeared. For if what we have is just a holiday, then we've missed the point. And if all the phrases that we've come to remember such as "I have a dream" and "injustice for one is injustice for all" become quotes that we recite, then the work of King is in vain. The dream of justice should still live in our hearts and be expressed as we walk with those who suffer and hold hands with those who are oppressed. The message of King is not for one day out of the year, but for every day in the year.

Grey's Anatomy and the 'f' word.

While I'm still only thinking better late than never. I am still appreciative of the apology from Isaiah T. Washington. The word he used is just not acceptable to use about another person at least not in polite company.

John W. Gardner

"The hallmark of our age is the tension between aspirations and sluggish institutions."

John W. Gardner

A debate

Is the problem religion or fundamentalism? Sam Harris and Andrew Sullivan debate. Details at beliefnet.com.

Another not so ex-gay?

Wayne Besen has an article about the recent re-release of a video by the American Family Association and Americans for Truth that is full of what comes out of the hind end of cattle who have pr0vided the main ingredient for Rocky Mountain Oysters. The problem with the video is that one of the main characters presenting themselves as ex-gay was having sex with people of the same gender while telling the world that he had conquered his same-sex desires. The AFA and Americans for Truth surely know this, but they're still promoting a video that has a distinct lack of truthfulness.

Albert Einstein

It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has exceeded our humanity."

Albert Einstein

What Intelligent Design isn't doing.

Here's a link to a great article about why Intelligent Design isn't being treated as science. It's not hard to understand. ID proponents don't produce research, don't produce ideas that can be tested and spends most of their time talking about a controversy that just isn't there. So ID just isn't science.

Darwin's writings

There's a site that's been around awhile, but I want to mention it. Pretty much everything that Darwin wrote is there. The Complete Works of Darwin - I go and glance through the writings every once in awhile as it displays some of the best of what is science. Looking for facts, asking how those facts can be put together into an idea, coming up with a way to test that idea to see whether one can figure out what facts one hasn't seen yet and testing those ideas until they are clear enough to become a theory.

Pet peeves

I heard someone refer to herself as a girly-girl and give that as a reason for not being able to do something fairly simple mechanically - change the flush handle on a toilet - today. That's one of my pet peeves. In my extended family there's a lot of women. My mother was one of nine, I have thirty-plus cousins. I can't tell you the numbers of women, but will say that it's a lot. They vary from the always dressed well to the cowgirl. But I think every single one of them would disdain to use the girly-girl excuse for not doing something.

All of us have our different strengths and skills. Certainly mechanical stuff is not something that I have as one of mine. Yet there are many tasks that we can do even as we don't like them. Simple repairs whether to clothing or toilets are among them. My mother sent her sons out into the world able to iron, clean, cook, sew. If she'd had girls they'd have known how to change a tire, do simple plumbing and similar things.

Being able to do those things has nothing to do with being feminine. My mother certainly showed me that. My mother could go up and clean the gutters of leaves, then come back with her jeans still looking perfectly creased. She was one of those women where the wrinkles fell from her clothes and they looked perfect the moment they were on her. (That's really irritating for those of us who don't have that sort of magic.) Yet one of the anniversary gifts that she loved was a set of tools. That gift from my father meant that they each had their own set that they could use and keep arranged just the way they wanted. My mother was feminine, but strong and certainly never used her gender as an excuse for not getting things done.

So saying something like, "I'm a girly girl and just can't fix the problem." just plain irritates me.

lack of posts

I've been running around away from my computer the last few days and will be away for some of the week. So posts will be more scattered than usual

A dream

from the Onion - a dream

Luciano de Crescenzo

"We are each of us angels with only one wing, and we can only fly by embracing one another."

~ Luciano de Crescenzo ~

Magicians and spoon bending

Here's the thing, there are more than a couple of rewards/awards out there for demonstrated ability in so-called psychic happenings. The credible ones come from professional magicians working with scientists. No psychic has demonstrated ability under test conditions supervised by professional magicians such as Houdini or James Randi. Psychics just don't work. One more example is at A Blog around the Clock where there are links to one more problem and some of those who are against fraud.

Evolution

Evolution and Evolutionary theory. Both are. And a good explanation of why and where people can go wrong in understanding both is at Mixing Memory. I wish I could do something like that. But since I do more theology than science even as science is my first love I'd fail at writing, though I can understand.

Mean Mode and Median

I've always enjoyed statistics even as I remember the Twain dictum about 'lies, damned lies and statistics'. Over at Good Math, Bad Math there's an article about the different ways of using statistics. It's not that one is more useful than the other, it's a matter of choosing the proper tool for what you want to accomplish.

Poisons

I remember a while back I was talking to someone who said 'alcohol is a poison.' And when I asked why he said, 'because it can kill you if you drink enough.' And here's another example of something that can kill you if taken in large enough quantities from Orac. Too much water can kill you. And as Orac said - it's a truly senseless way to die. Just because something can kill you doesn't make it a poison - neither water nor alcohol should be classified as such - but stupidity as in doing anything to excess can kill you. Or as someone once said - common sense is very uncommon.

George Santayana

"Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it."

George Santayana

Paul Sponheim

Ambiguity is the epistemological corollary of the ontological reality of freedom.

Paul Sponheim

Right into the round file

I hire people regularly. I hope not to fire people. So when I hire people I look for whether they can follow directions. I certainly don't believe that I'm always right, but I do want people who can do things my way. My classified ad says a couple of things like 'professional and friendly'. It gives our address but not our phone number and right after the address says, 'No Phone Calls, please.'

I received a call today from someone who asked "Which side of the highway are you on"' and I gave directions, then concluded with 'and how else can I help you?' The reply was "I saw your ad in the paper and wanted to get directions so I could fill out an application." I asked, "Did you see the note about 'No phone calls'?" And heard, "Yes, but I wanted to make sure I found you."

I don't want my phone tied up with applicants when I'm working with customers. I do want to know that applicants can find us by themselves. I do want people who can follow directions. Can you guess where the application is going?

Boy Scouts

One of my friends just asked for suggestions about a prayer for an Eagle Scout ceremony. And it borugh up momnets of angst. I was a boy scout, my brothers were boy scouts, my dad was a boy scout and scout master, and I've been a counselor and chaperone on boy scout trips. But it seems I'm no longer welcome. Once I figured out my sexual orientation I was no longer fit to be one of them. A place that nurtured me and helped me grow has declared that I'm just not one of them. While I've been turned away from the door I still support much of what they do in helping young boys turn into men. But my support is no longer welcome and so I will not be at any boy scout events or funding any boy scout activities until such time as they come to a better understanding of sexual orientation. Boy scouts were at the forefront of the civil rights issues around color of skin, I just wish and pray that they could be so around the issue of equal right whatever one's sexual orientation.

Kenyan proverb

"Treat the world well. . . . It was not given to you by your parents. . . . It was lent to you by your children."

--Kenyan proverb

Equality

When I look at why the west, as in Northern America and Western Europe, has a better standard of living the difference that matters, in my opinion, is the way we treat wome and minorities. The attempts we continue to make to provide equal opportunity and to give a hand up to those who have not had equal opportunities is what gives us the little extra that keeps improving our standard of living. I didn't look up the quote, but I remember Martin Luther King saying something along the lines of 'where there is injustice for one there is injustice for all'.

There's also the idea from women's liberation that if women are oppressed, then men are held back from being all tha they can be. Freedom, justice, equality are not just nice ideas that we follow when they're easy, they are beacons that we can hold up to the world. The problem that we've been having in Iraq is that we are not holding the beacon we are trying to get by as close to the line as possible. The whole idea that we would discuss water-boarding as less than torture is repugnant to the ideals upon which this nation was founded.

That we've not always lived up to our ideals is unfortunate and very human. That doesn't make the ideals less important or the attempt unsuccessful. We are not at the end of the road, but we have begun the journey. And every step we take towards the goal, even if we slip and slide back a little, is movement that continues the journey which we began what seems so long ago.

Those cute little folds

There's actually a purpose to those cute little triangles into which the facial tissues and toilet paper are folded. On the toilet paper studies make it clear that less is used when it comes over the roll than under. At home I'd do it according to preference since it's not a big difference. But for a hotel it makes a difference and I can quickly see that the toilet paper is round the right way if I've got that cute little fold. And for the facial tissues, there I want my housekeepers to replace the box if it's almost empty and the fold shows that they've at least been by the box.

The purpose isn't all that obvious sometimes, but I suspect there are a number of other things out there where even if it isn't obvious a purpose is being served.

Percy Bysshe Shelly

"Hope, until hope creates from its own wreck the thing it contemplates."


Percy Bysshe Shelly

It's not that you're handicapped.

I had someone apologize to me today saying, "You'll have to forgive me, I'm handicapped." Unfortunately I didn't blame the problems on the physical handicaps displayed. It was on the fact that they weren't using a perfectly good brain. When you call a motel to make a reservation having the credit card by the phone is a reasonable idea. When you call a motel to make a reservation having a pen and paper by the phone is a perfectly reasonable idea. Blaming your being handicapped for the fact that you're yelling at someone to bring you the credit card and don't have pen or paper at the phone perpetuates the myth that different abilities mean one person or another is less. And since I've known people who are mentally challenged who can manage their credit better than I can and make sure to have pen and paper and credit card at hand when they start to order over the phone.... I just don't accept the excuse, 'but I'm handicapped.'

Certainly their are limitations. And I certainly will work to accommodate the actual limitations that someone has. But, for all those who have worked for equal treatment, I expect each and every person to work with their limitations and their gifts rather than using one or the other as an excuse.

Beth Gotcheon

"Patchwork, the art of making whole cloth from bits and pieces of scraps and clothes that had been worn and mended and cut down for the children and then cut down again, was far from being the leisure-time fancy work that much needlework, including some quiltmaking, has become. Instead, it was a craft born of the harshest necessity, a symbol of a life of hardship in which money was scarce, material goods were scarcer, and all one had to give was labor and time. Patchwork is really the blues of the American woman."

Beth Gotcheon, "The Perfect Patchwork Primer"

And you just noticed

Last night I had a guest check in after looking at our rooms. That's fine. I think that one of our selling points is when I have a guest look at our pillow-top mattresses, our re-tiled bathrooms, our cleanliness and more. Then a few minutes later they called down for a wake-up call. And after a half-hour, they wanted the names of the delivery places. A little later they asked how the internet worked. But then, after about two hours, they wanted to check out and get a refund since they didn't like the room.

I do want to acomodate my guests, but I really expect them to notice that they don't like the room sometime before they finished eating. Maybe when I show them the room before they decide to take it?

Then a complaint came through the national service that I didn't give them a refund. So I've sent them a letter that says I'm looking into their problems with the motel and will take what I feel is appropriate action. And that action is to keep the letter on file for a year so that I have evidence for our national line that I responded to the complaint.

No, I don't give refunds when I have had a guest in a room for over two hours just because they didn't like the room. I just can't work my brain around to accomodating a guest that much.

Yes - gay marriage does threaten some marriages

Here's the thing. Gay marriage is not a threat to marriage, per se. But it is a threat to some marriages. Those people who are in mixed marriages - one hetero, the other homo - will have their marriages threatened, especially when one of the partners has been living in silence about their orientation. So the religious right - that's so often wrong - do have it almost right. But not in a way that they can say.

The religious right and similar bigots are so set on having reality their way - instead of accepting reality for what it is - that they can't make their best argument for why their marriages are threatened by marriages between two people of the same gender.

Marriages like those of my parents - where both people have a mutual sexual attraction (and are attracted to each other for many other reasons) - are not going to be troubled by the marriages of other people. But marriages that were to get married in order to be respectable, in order to do the right thing, in order to hide desires that one didn't want to admit are going to be in trouble. And rightly so. If one or the other partner doesn't go into the marriage in honesty, then the honesty of other marriages will be threatening.

Anna Freud

Anna Freud on Children and WWII"

The war acquires comparatively little significance for children so long as it only threatens their lives, disturbs their material comfort or cuts their food rations. It becomes enormously significant the moment it breaks up family life and uproots the first emotional attachments of the child within the family group. London children, therefore, were on the whole much less upset by bombing than by evacuation to the country as a protection against it."

Minority report

I've always thought that abstinence education ignores the reality of sexual activity. It seems I'm right. I'm part of a minority that has not had premarital sex. But somewhere around 90 - 95% of the population has had premarital sex according to a recent survey. It's perfectly true that one doesn't catch sexually transmitted diseases if one is abstinent - though some sexual practices that don't actually involve penetration can transmit diseases - but irrelevant since whatever the scare tactics used people just plain end up having sex with each other.

It's just got to be the illness. Right?

Thanks to Box Turtle Bulletin for pointing out that more that one organization thinks that Shalikashvili must be sick since he's changed his mind. It can't be that the evidence from his experience and the experience of other armed forces is such that he's made a reasoned decision. Nope it's his health. Both the American Family Association and Focus on the Family agree. That both organizations consistently misstate and misuse scientific research and have been called on it - that's beside the point. That all major health organizations disagree with them - that's irrelevant. Homosexuality just isn't what Focus on the Family and the American Family Association proclaim. Homosexuality is a normal variation of sexual relationships in species that have male and female genders.

Martin Luther King Jr.

"In the end, we will not remember the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends. \


Martin Luther King Jr.

Closure

Closure is good. We need to put things in the past where they belong and move on. But... sometimes people want something else when they say they want closure. I think that's what is happening with an employee of mine who has called and wants to talk to me or take me out to dinner because she wants closure. The fact is that this person came in one day and quit without notice. Since it was on a holiday I ended up working double shifts for about a week between not being able to put an ad in the paper immediately and getting through the process. I'm not sure what closure the employee needs or wants. It sound more to me like my approval is desired.

And that approval is not going to happen. Certainly I can forgive and am working on forgiving this person for putting me in some untenable hours, but if closure means I'm supposed to forget or approve, then it's just not going to happen. And I have a sneaking hunch that is what meant by 'closure' in this case.

Thomas Jefferson

"When you reach the end of your rope, tie a knot in it and hang on."

Thomas Jefferson

Discovery Institute - against some religions?

Thoughts from Kansas has an analysis of what Discovery Institute and Intelligent Design proposes as contrasted with some longstanding ideas in christianity. Comparing what Augustine says in the Literal Meaning of Genesis with writings from the Discovery Institute ... makes the case that for all the purported talk of Intelligent Design looking to prove that a being designed this world and the creatures here there is much that goes against long-standing religious beliefs - especially long-standing christian belief.

And what is the truth?

Hiring seems like a never ending task some days. I spent yesterday working on training a new hire and planned to do more of the same today. But she didn't come in. She called and said she had another job in 'no-name town'. Except that I had worked with her and she had told me I live in 'no-name town' but am moving down here to go to school. I broke up with my boyfriend and my kids are living down here so I'm looking for a job in this town since I don't have anything left in 'no-name town'.

And another thing. I had scheduled her to start on a particular day, but that day she was snowed in. And she asked for another chance. And I gave her another chance to start work, since she was moving down the mountain and wouldn't be snowed in again and there had been a snowstorm, so.... I gave her a second start date.

Maybe she didn't like the job, maybe she didn't like me as a boss. And I'm glad I didn't spend anymore time training her. Yet I wonder, if she was moving why was she looking for a job in 'no-name town' and if she wasn't why look for work here?

Saint-Exupery

"Life has taught us that love does not consist in gazing at each other but in looking outward together in the same direction."

-Saint-Exupery

A gene for Parkinson's.

I recently found a note on Genetics and Health about a gene for Parkinson's. I wish I could say I was enthused about the continuing discoveries. And I am in part, but not completely. My dad had Parkinson's. Mostly I'm pleased, but I'm going to also start watching out for more of the other suspected triggers. My suspicion is that all the gene means is the same thing as my predisposition towards cholesterol problems.

In my dad's family all of the men (and some of the women) have had heart attacks. in my dad his heart attack came after several years of high cholesterol. And in his case the cholesterol levels were affected by his diet. Unfortunately it is also clear that diet affects my cholesterol. And it's probably mostly due to some of the genetic factors that influence how my body deals with cholesterol.

Heredity and environment interact together. There are things I can do about my risk for heart attack as in not smoking, moderate drinking, not being overweight. But there are two factors that I can't change - family history and gender - and so if I don't watch all the other risk factors I'm starting the path to a family tradition that I would really like to break - every male in the last three generations has had a heart attack before they were fifty-five years old - more and more as I get closer to the magic number.

Heart disease is clearly affected by family history and what one does. With Parkinson's the evidence is not so clear. But hearing that at least part of the problem has been identified gives me hope. I'm not entirely thrilled by there being a genetic component to Parkinson's as it gives me one more reason to fear, but I also want to know. So I think it's more in the "I'm grateful" category than the "Whoops" column.

Maya Angelou

History, despite its wrenching pain, cannot be unlived. But if faced with courage, need not be lived again.

Maya Angelou, "On the Pulse of Morning"

Firing part two

I think I was right to be more cynical than hopeful in yesterday's article about firing or possibly firing someone.

That person was late today. About an hour late.

And when I said I was disappointed I heard - my car broke down and it's icy and I couldn't get out until daylight and I called a cab buy none would come and .... - but while that was going on I was thinking - I'm sympathetic but I need you here on time and how does this help me feel like you're going to be dependable tomorrow.

And then I mentioned that the employee needed to leave when scheduled I heard - I might have to get another job. With my child ill I need more money coming in. And I won't be able to afford to fix my car without more money. - and while they were all true and I want to be sympathetic I hired this person as a part-time worker at a particular salary.

And I'm tired of listening to problems of why the work can't be accomplished. I certainly hope I'm reasonable when it comes to problems, but I can't hear the same thing day in and day out without wondering if the problem isn't the person rather than the indicated problem.

I've had experience with on-going problems. My father died a slowly with both Parkinson's and heart disease. The combination caused him to go on partial disability before retiring. After my mother's death he ended eating out since he had never really learned to cook. And I remember hearing him say once that, "I had enough medicine to shovel the snow off my car or sit thorugh church, but not to do both so I stayed home." But while the problems were daily, the excuses weren't. And the problems were not used to excuse not following through on what he said he'd do.

I've also given support whre I think I can. We've been going through a series of snowstorms and I've called this employee and others to say that they shouldn't come in because the weather's too bad. But today wasn't one of those days. The skys aare clear, there's a little bit of wind, the roads have had a couple of days to clear from snow. Getting to work on time just shouldn't have been a problem.

In the end it comes down to whether the problems are lived with and through or used as just one more reason. I suspect I've done the latter myself when I always intend to do the former. Yet the real quesion isn't whether or not one or the toher happens in a particular instnace, but waht is the continuing pattern. And that is why I probably shouldn't use the word cynical.

In this case I'm not cynical about people, but I've experienced the continued behavior of a particular person. And I've experieinced enough to say there's going to be another problem and another problem and one of the par's of being a manager that I don't like is going to come into play And I suspect I'll end up firing this person.

And I do sorrow.

Ben Franklin

"Resistance to tyrants is obedience to God."

Ben Franklin

A nation of Christians

Dispatches from the Culture Wars steered me to this article from an evangelical that makes the same point that many on the left have made. That is that while this is a nation of Christians it is not and was not founded as a Christian nation. While I don't agree with all of it, there's certainly enough to be helpful and make me thing about those things with which I disagree.

"Just" Discrimination

Paul Varnell at Independent Gay Forum has a good article on why just or supposedly just discrimination isn't. It's about how some say they're in favor of equal treatment until it gets to one or another hot button issues. It's the flip side to saying that little phrase I'm against giving 'special rights' and then turning around and defining any right one doesn't think should be given as a so-called special right. What's special about wanting to marry someone - a consenting adult - whom you love? i can't answer that question, since I've been unable to really figure out any other argument than "I think it's immoral - no matter what anyone else says - and I'm against it."

Assumptions

I've been going through some of my past posts today and noticing spelling errors. I have a sometimes unfortunate presumption that I'm good at spelling. But that's not entirely true. It's not just being good at spelling that gets the words correct, it is also my typing ability and whether or not I proof the text.

What's that phrase about 'assumptions are the mother of all...'?

I suspect the same problem happens in other areas of my life, and in the life of every human. Yet I still see people who assume that if there's a problem it is someone else's fault. Yes, that may be true, but not always.

And there's the opposite problem of assuming every problem is one's own fault.

As a manager I know I'd rather work with an employee who thinks it's there fault than one who never believes it is their fault. But somehow my real preference is for someone who can take criticism, but also lets me know when I've been wrong in my perceptions.

So I guess what it comes down to is that we're all human. We make mistakes, we get things right. The biggest problem is not the mistakes but how we react. Do we assume that the problem is the other person or that the problem us? Going one way or the other on the answer, rather than looking at each situation, is the problem. For without a correct look at whether the fault is in ourself or in the other there's no way that the problem is going to be solved.

Tikkun editorial, M. Lerner (sp?)

"Over and above the real powerlessness that exists which is a function of economic and political realities which the left seeks to change, most people have internalized a set of feelings and ideas about themselves and others that leads them to feel even more powerless than objective conditions actually require." [he calls this "surplus powerlessness"]
- from Tikkun editorial, M. Lerner (sp?)

And this is Christian?

It's a guilty pleasure. I watch reality TV shows. And I was watching one called "Next". In the captions describing one person there was addicted to Christianity, part of Christian Rock Band, had sex in public place. I may not have the exact saying, but the sex and Christian are correct. And this was a dating show.

For some reason I found this somewhat contradictory. An unmarried man claiming sex in a public place and quite clearly unmarried or without a lifetime commitment and claiming to be Christian. It just doesn't make sense.

Certainly I recognize that many people who are Christian have premarital sex or have had sexually promiscuous lives that may continue after they've realized that God came to save the world. But putting those two things together on a public show just baffles me. And I do think that telling the truth about that is better than not., but...

I then go on to wondering why some seem so adamant about homosexual sexuality and don't realize that heterosexuals are doing the same things. Heterosexuals have the option of marrying someone with whom they have a sexual attraction and so if anyone should be called promiscuous for having sex outside of marriage it is those who are heterosexuals. But homosexuals get told that they can't marry and then are blamed for having promiscuous sex. If you don't provide a remedy - for Paul the remedy for burning with sexual desires is marriage - then don't blame someone for what you see as a problem.

Yep, heterosexuals and homosexuals are promiscuous. And some heterosexual and some homosexuals make life-long chaste and faithful commitments to another person. The problem arises with the deeds rather than the gender of the partners.

Donna Schaper

"Democracy at its best is a collective choice of restraints."

-Donna Schaper

The pool

The pool and spa at the motel have reminded me over the past few weeks why I used to have a pool in my dream house and that pool has disappeared from my dreams, but has gone into my nightmares.

We may have had three major snow storms in as many weeks. And that means lots of moisture, but it's not in the air. The air is dry. The water evaporates from the pool and the spa. And I've been filling them about every other day. Usually it seems like about once a week.

And the pump for the pool heater has been making a funny noise - a high pitched squeal, while the spa temperature has seemed to fluctuate at every moment. So after trying a couple of things I figured that the thermostat must be going out on the spa heater, while the bearings were going out on the pool pump.

So I called the pool guy to come and take a look.

The problem. The water was too low. The pool pump was squealing from air that came in when the pool level gets too low. The spa heater was kicking off when the pressure changed due to the water being too low.

So I spent money on a repair that didn't happen. And am now putting water in the pool and spa every night.

Just one of the many reasons that the pool has gone from a dream to a nightmare.

Firing

One of the other parts of my job that's not so great is firing. At this point I have an employee - fairly new - whose asked for a raise. The problem is she's not good enough for a raise and not bad enough to fire. And I don't think she's going to realize it.

Actually I was ready to fire her a couple of weeks ago. But one of the owners wanted to wait until later. The help she gave was enough to get by. But I keep hearing under the breath comments about how difficult this, that and the other thing is. And while they're not directed at me I can hear them and, more importantly, so can anyone passing by.

But one of the other problems is that I'm scheduling her tasks to finish about noon and she finishes two to three hours later. Yes, that is a way to increase your paycheck for an hourly worker, but that's not the way to keep your job and it's not a way to get the raise for which you've asked the owner and the manager.

And so tomorrow I'm going to ask for two things. One is that I not hear any complaints about how difficult the work is. The second is that she finish by noon. We'll see what happens.

I'm more cynical than hopeful.

Hiring

I love the training after hiring. I love helping people learn new things. But hiring and waiting to see if people work out, that's not such a pleasure.

I have a new hire who went home sick earlier this week. That's fine. She was sick. But...

Today, before she's scheduled to come in I get a call.

"I won't be coming in today. My husband got called into work."

"Will you be able to come in for part of the shift?"

"I don't know. I don't have child-care and don't know when he'll be back."

and later

"Well, I'm not sure I can continue to work. My husband is the breadwinner of the family and my job has to come after his job."

"Do you know whether you'll be able to come into work tomorrow?"

"I'm not sure."

and a still later...

"Well, my husbands job has to come first so I'll return the work shirt on Monday."

I sigh. I always thought both jobs were important and that you made the decision to support both jobs together. Evidently I'm wrong. Evidently the one person rules the other. And evidently it takes more than one phone call to get the message to me that someone is quitting rather than not able to work for the one day.

And so I may Love training , but the events around it are another matter entirely.

Why Cobb County lost

“Evolutionary biology certainly hasn’t explained everything that perplexes biologists, but intelligent design hasn’t yet tried to explain anything at all.”

–Daniel C. Dennett, Philosopher

Dover and Cobb lost their cases about Intelligent Design for one very simple reason. And that is there is no credible scientific alternative to evolutionary theory. It's not that some of the witnesses didn't appear. It's not that the lawyers for I.D. or stickers did a poor job. It is that science is self-correcting and looks at the facts while I.D. attempts (as was clearly shown during the Dover trial) to masquerade a religious ideology as science.

P.S. I tried to put this as a comment under the comment category in my Cobb post of yesterday, but didn't succeed, so just did a separate entry. I think it was my computer connection rather than the service.

quotes on evolution

“Evolutionary biology certainly hasn’t explained everything that perplexes biologists, but intelligent design hasn’t yet tried to explain anything at all.” –Daniel C. Dennett, Philosopher“

Natural selection is not some desperate last resort of a theory. It is an idea whose plausibility and power hits you between the eyes with a stunning force, once you understand it in all its elegant simplicity.” –Richard Dawkins, Evolutionary Biologist

“An evolutionary understanding of the human condition, far from being incompatible with a moral sense, can explain why we have one.” –Steven Pinker, Psychologist

Not only is ID markedly inferior to Darwinism at explaining and understanding nature but in many ways it does not even fulfill the requirements of a scientific theory. –Jerry A. Coyne, evolutionary biologist

The geneticist Theodosius Dobzhansky famously declared, “Nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of evolution.” One might add that nothing in biology makes sense in the light of intelligent design. –Jerry A. Coyne, evolutionary biologist

Evolutionary biology certainly hasn’t explained everything that perplexes biologists, but intelligent design hasn’t yet tried to explain anything at all. —Daniel C. Dennett, philosopher and cognitive scientist

A denial of evolution–however motivated–is a denial of evidence, a retreat from reason to ignorance. —Tim D. White, paleontologist

Natural selection is not some desperate last resort of a theory. It is an idea whose plausibility and power hits you between the eyes with a stunning force, once you understand it in all its elegant simplicity. —Richard Dawkins, evolutionary biologist

The supernatural explanation fails to explain because it ducks the responsibility to explain itself.—Richard Dawkins, evolutionary biologist

Nothing indicates that people who believe that life arose by chance also believe that morality is haphazard. —Scott Atran, anthropologist and psychologist

An evolutionary understanding of the human condition, far from being incompatible with a moral sense, can explain why we have one. —Steven Pinker, a cognitive scientist

To state that a given organ is so improbable that it requires design is just ill founded. The argument uses standard probability, which does not apply to the evolution of the biosphere. —Stuart A. Kauffman, theoretical biologist

We don’t have an intelligent designer (ID), we have a bungling consistent evolver (BCE). Or maybe an adaptive changer (AC). In fact, what we have in the most economical interpretation is, of course, evolution. —Lisa Randall, physicist

What counts as a controversy must be delineated with care, as we want students to distinguish between scientific challenges and sociopolitical ones. —Marc D. Hauser, evolutionary psychologist

Incredulity doesn’t count as an alternative position or critique. —Marc D. Hauser, evolutionary psychologist

Rather than removing meaning from life, an evolutionary perspective can and should fill us with a sense of wonder at the rich sequence of natural systems that gave us birth and continues to sustain us. —Scott D. Sampson, paleontologist

Moves

One of the problems I run into at the motel is that while I have fifty rooms and don't always sell out, I also have a limited number of rooms of any type. I have five rooms that have two beds and are smoking. And right now I have a lot of construction workers coming in. They smoke and want a smoking room. And I have someone who has been renewing his stay in his smoking room for the last five nights a day at a time.

But the reservations were made before the one person was doing this renewal each day. And so today I had to tell him that he couldn't have the same room. What we do is honor the first booking. And we don't overbook.

I could say the reason we don't overbook is guest satisfaction. That's a major part of it. I do like to keep my guests happy. But another little factor is the policy of our chain. That policy is that if we have overbooked, then we have to find a comparable room and pay for that room until we can put them in the room type they booked at our own motel. When I started we only paid for the first night at a comparable motel, now it is until we get them that room or their reservation is finished.

So I was grateful today that I could move that person from a smoking with two beds to a smoking with one bed.

I often write about theproblems with guests and staff, but more often than not the problems are easily solved and the guests are willing to work with me so that we can both be satisfied. The guests that I usually mention are a reason for me to get out of this business. But guests that will help me accomodate their desires and my desires are why I stay in this business.

Suspicious phrases

"Doesn't it seem reasonable that..." or "Isn't it likely that..." or similar phrases seem to raise the hackles at the back of my neck. They sound so reasonable. They sound like all they're asking for is a hearing. And what they do is avoid asking the question of 'What is actually happening?" And the important part is not what is likely or what may be, but what is.

Those statements, as reasonable as they sound, are meant to avoid looking for the truth. And that's why I'm always a little suspicious when I hear them.

Audre Lorde

"And I dream of our coming together
encircled driven
not only by love
but by lust for a working tomorrow
the flights of this journey
mapless uncertain
and necessary as water"

-Audre Lorde

Rebecca West

"I myself have never been able to find out precisely what feminism is: I only know that people call me a feminist whenever I express sentiments that differentiate me from a doormat."

-Rebecca West (1913)

Cobb County settles

In another of those ridiculous anti-science moves Cobb county put stickers touting evolution as theory not fact and more. They settled out of court and removed the stickers. Lots of good money was spent for nothing. Evolutionary theory certainly doesn't answer all the questions, but it's the best answer that we've got. And, unlike idiocies such as creationism and Intelligent Design, science changes to fit the facts. Here's a link to some of the trial documents - fascinating reading.

Evolution as religion?

Another lawsuit, but not in the USA, about Intelligent Design and the theory of evolution. Evidently evolutionary theory is antithetical to religious beliefs and so this person shouldn't have to be taught evolutionary theory in their science class.

Sense about science

Sense about Science is a website devoted to promoting actual science and exposing the celebrity endorsements of nonsense as science. I saw the mention first at Pure Pedantry. Check it out.

Audre Lorde

"Difference is that raw and powerful connection from which our personal power is forged."

-Audre Lorde

Change of mind - you must be mad!

Pam's House Blend points to an article about Shalikashvili's change of mind on the Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy in the military. Elaine Donnelly says, according to the article that " it is "really sad" to see someone like the general being used by the homosexual propaganda machine as "the latest tool of a public relations campaign." And this is happening because, dear readers, Shalikashvili has had a stroke and is struggling with his health.

It can't be because he's continued to look at the evidence, no, no, no, it's his health.

Now health can be a reason for people going into dementia and changing statements and attitudes, but there's a simpler reason. They just have plain looked at the evidence. And that this article from Shalikashvili was published in the New York Times seems to me to indicate that at least a few people thought he was in his right mind and not bothered by the stroke or ill-health that Donelly suggests.

In my denomination it took about 100 years from the time we first had a woman ordained, until that ordination became approved. Women still struggle to find acceptance. But as with all ideas that promote equality the battle is being won. The same, with hopefully less of a time scale, is happening with gays and lesbians in the military and our society. I pray that the Elain Donelly's of this world will have more and more military figures to impugn with stories of ill health. Since there are other military forces that seem to find no problem with gay men and lesbians, I suspect she'll be put in the position of having to find more and more odd little reasons for a change of mind - that is odd, little reasons that have nothing to do with learning, examining the evidence and common sense.

Kathleen Norris

"Perhaps my most important breakthrough with regard to belief came when I learned to be as consciously skeptical and questioning of my disbelief and my doubts as I was of my burgeoning faith."

-Kathleen Norris

counterstrikes at non-science

One of the classic books against Intelligent Design, useful for when you don't want to wade through all of the mutitudinous variations of excuses, is now in paperback. Hat tip to Pharyngulia for helping to get the word out. It's called Index to Creationist Claims and available at many places. A related website is at talkorigins.

I have a somewhat rabid rejection of something that purports to be science and is actually bad religon, but this book helps put some of that in context.

Gibran

When at last the earth shall claim my limbs, then shall I truly dance.

Gibran

by Thomas Brodie

I found a book on the Elijah-Elisha cycle that I like. Back in seminary my professors tended to concentrate on the socio-economic side of the story, but this book looks at it from a literary standpoint. The book is called, The Crucial Bridge: The Elijah-Elisha Narrative As an Interpretive Synthesis of Genesis-Kings and a Literary Model of the Gospels - a mouthful - and concentrates on the literary forms interelate and play against and for each other. It is, I believe, acessible to those at an upper high school or college level and work using in a church class for those interested in serious study of scripture.

Snow removal

One of the things I missed, when I lived in the Bay Area of California, was the snow. I even missed shoveling it the first few times of winter. But... I don't think I ever missed the fortieth time shoveling in March after thirty snows. Or, as happened in the last month or so, three major snowstorms with over a foot of snow each. And some of it I could handle, but each time I've had at least a three foot drift across one of the walks at work. And those are a pain.

I'll have to admit that this last snow was one of the prettiest. But that pretty didn't last too long once I had to shovel

Gay lifestyle

Someone will please have to tell me what is the "gay lifestyle"? I'm sure that I've seen many. There are as many and as few gay lifestyles as there are heterosexual lifestyles. And while some of those lifestyles are not in tune with Christianity the problems with those lifestyles are not determined by the gender of the people, but by their actions.

While some who claim the name of Christian don't approve of gay men or lesbian affirming their sexual orientation not all Christians do so. And I find it quite easy to affirm my lifestyle and my Christianity. I intend to be chaste as a single and, when I find the right partner, faithful in marriage. And while I intend to wait to marry until my denomination declares that I can do so, that may change if I find the right man.

So if you're asking me whether or not I have trouble reconciling being a Christian and the gay lifestyle, I have to say that I can't answer. At least not until you can tell me which gay lifestyle it is that you have in mind. I may consider that lifestyle Christian or not. But not until I know what is meant.

The Koran and what it means

Well, the idiocy begins over swearing on the Koran - from the National Review

Jefferson's Koran [James S. Robbins]
The Bashaw of Tripoli’s justification for war on American trading ships in the Mediterranean two hundred years ago, according to Thomas Jefferson, was that “it was founded on the Laws of the Prophet, that it was written in their Koran, that all nations who should not have acknowledged their authority were sinners, that it was their right and duty to make war upon them wherever they could be found, and to make slaves of all they could take as prisoners.” By all means let Keith Ellison swear in using Jefferson's Koran, maybe afterwards he can look up the passages that discuss smiting the infidels at the neck and make great slaughter among them. Probably underlined.

Why am I not surprised. This editorial seems to have no idea that the documents from Jefferson around this incident are about not being a Christian nation. In one translation (as the two languages have some differences) the Treaty of Tripoli says:

"As the Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion; as it has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion, or tranquillity, of Mussulmen; and, as the said States never entered into any war, or act of hostility against any Mahometan nation, it is declared by the parties, that no pretext arising from religious opinions, shall ever produce an interruption of the harmony existing between the two countries."

This puts a damper on the idea that Christianity as the only or primary religion of the USA was what is envisioned by our founding fathers.

Henry Kissinger

"Ninety percent of the politicians give the other ten percent a bad reputation."

Henry Kissinger

Laurence J. Peter

"Psychiatry enables us to correct our faults by confessing our parents' shortcomings."

Laurence J. Peter

Dynamics in pastoring

I was back into reading Dynamics in Pastoring by Jacob Firet today. It is one of the books to which I continually return and then retire after a few pages. It is more a matter of mining the nuggets I can use from the dense matter surrounding them, than a lack of interest. And then I come to a paragraph like:

If we now speak of agogy in general, it implies that we believe we can arrive at a general concept. However, it is not so general that it embraces both pedagogy and demagogy; it embraces pedagogy and "andragogy." The fact that "pedagogy" has been treated as though it were composed of pais and agogia is..."

and I get stuck. The terms are well-defined when introduced, but I have to go back and figure out if I really understand them. And the result is worth my time and effort. But I run out of energy.

Yet I keep coming back, because it keeps giving me what I need to remember as I go about being a pastor for the church. Even when I disagree with Firet, I still find this work encouraging in my work.

From "Taxi":

"The great thing about television is that if something important happens anywhere in the world, day or night, you can always change the channel."

From "Taxi":

The Children are Free

The Children are Free: Reexamining the Biblical Evidence on Same-sex Relationships by Rev. Jeff Miner and John Tyler Connoley is a simple examination of the scriptural passages used to bludgeon gay men and lesbians as well as some scriptures in support of same-gender partnerships. By simple I don't mean simplistic, I do mean that they have gone through much of the scholarship and present that in a form that is easy for the non-biblical scholar.

It would be a gift for the sincere Chrsitian struggling with the misuse of the Bible against those with differing sexual identites and orientation.

Winston Churchill

"Men occasionally stumble over the truth, but most of them pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing ever happened."

Winston Churchill

Travelling to Olympia

I generally have tried to go through every Gay and Lesbian film that Netflix has. But in this case that plan was a mistake. With a slow setup to insipid music, tepid writing, montage sequences for no discernable purpose except to fill time, and jejune acting the only redeeming interest was the gratuitous sex. The whole crew would be better off doing porn - oh, wait... I nearly fell asleep during the explicit sex - well... maybe something other than film.

Madeleine L'Engle

If you're going to care about the fall of the sparrow you can't pick and choose who's going to be the sparrow.

Madeleine L'Engle in _The Arm of the Starfish_

Scrutiny

One of the things I've noticed recently is the way both Inteliigent Design proponents and ex-gay proponents scrutinize the literature. They both claim science, but when reading their literature they use different standards for their supporters and their opponents. Those who support them never have any problems, but those who oppose them have a multitude of problems. Whether it is the lack of a specimen in evolutionary or an admitted flaw in the study homosexuality, it is immediately pointed out whether it supports their position - that is if it is by someone who doesn't support their position. The flaws in Intelligent Design or Reparative Therapy are never mentioned except as a note that the flaws that have been pointed out aren't really flaws.

If either were real science the proponents of the ideas would be pointing out the lacks and flaws and where they need further study. But.... that just doesn't happen. Intelligent Design and Reparative Therapy supporters are wedded to the idea that they like rather than the idea of finding the truth.

G. K. Chesterton

The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult; and left untried.
G. K. Chesterton in _What's Wrong with theWorld_

The vote in Massachusetts

While I am somewhat dismayed that the movement to repeal the ability for all to marry in Massachusetts, basically I say bring on the vote. Every vote brings more gay men and lesbians, more of differing gender and sexual orientations out of the closet. The road to equality has not been smooth for any who lift themselves out of opression, to think that gay men and lesbians, bisexual and transexuals will have anything less than the same amount of work is illusory. Yet with every vote and setback and step forward there is progress. More people know a gay man or lesbain than when I was growing up.

I've seen the signs of change in my family. Homophobic comments weren't rare as I grew up. Yet at a recent family reunion one of my cousins was the one in trouble when she asked (and she knew that I was gay) me, "Is anyone going to carry on your father's name?" All I answered was the truth, "Well, since I've come closer to marrying a woman than either of my brothers... and I'm gay... No, I don't think it's likely."

Twenty years ago the aunts and uncles who supported me would have been on my back and trying to change me. They're not where they need to be, but I'm not where I think I need to be. Yet there have been many steps forward.

I suspect this vote in Massachusetts will turn out very different than those who have brought forth the referendum expect. I certainly hope so. Either way it is a step forward to have the subject discussed in public rather than in whispers in the background and slurs where everyone can hear.

Jones and Yarhouse on Homosexuality

Stanton L. Jones and Mark A Yarhouse's book Homosexuality: The Use of Scientific Research in the Church's Moral Debate will fail to convince anyone that is not already of the same opinion as the authors. With all good intentions the scientific evidence reviewed is such that supports their own view and lacking in that which is contradictory.

Attacks on Kinsey's research are nothing new, but the continued flaws of those attacks should be pointed out. Treating Kinsey as if he were attempting to look more at prevalence than variance is one way in which the authors attempt to discredit the research. Mentioning that his original background was in entomology rather than human sexuality is another. The problem is that these are not flaws in Kinsey's research, rather they are a scientist focusing on one aspect and presuming that more research will be done on other aspects.

The attack on Kinsey's research for going after a variety of sources becomes more glaring when the sources Yarhouse and Jones approve of have such limitations in number. The authors, themselves, make many of the mistakes for which they criticize others. This book is neither balanced nor fair. It ignores the main thrust of scientific research - for example, I could not find one reference to the Journal of Homosexuality - in favor of side groups that have been discredited - such as members of NARTH.

The book looks good with a multitude of footnotes, but fails to provide such normal resources such as a bibliography, list of sources cited and more. It's an attempt to look profound and achieves banality.

Cheryl Forbes

[Somehow] we never see God in failure, but only success--a strange attitude for people who have the cross as the center of their faith.

Cheryl Forbes in _The Religion of Power_

My Big Fat Supernatural Wedding

P. N. Elrod edits a collection of short stories y some well-known and less-well-known writers. Several are set in the respective supernatural universes of the authors, some I don't recognize the universe. What happens at a wedding or romance when not all the parties are human is the question. And the answer is entertainment.

John Boykin

Time is life--nothing more, nothing less. The way you spend your hours and your days is the way you spend your life.

John Boykin

Good enough

There's been some little brouhaha over Ellison taking his oath on the Koran. Well, he is still doing that. And it's going to be on Jefferson's Koran. That's the same Jefferson that has a residence in Goode's district and who's often known as one of the founding fathers of the U.S.A. I wonder how much more we will continue to hear.

Abraham Lincoln

Men are not flattered by being shown that there has been a difference of purpose between the Almighty and them.

Abraham Lincoln in his Second InauguralAddress

Good News, Bad News

This was one of those days at the motel.

My trash hasn't been picked up regularly and I was sure it was because of the snowstorm but wanted to check.

So I tried the first number - busy signal..... busy signal..... busy signal.

And then I found the bills and a second number..... answering machine.

And they called back.... when I was out.

And I called back.... and they were out.

And they called back... and the streets plowed a drift so the gate can't be opened so I have to shovel what I already shoveled before they can get to the dumpster.

So I'm shoveling snow and hoping that it won't be plowed when they come to clear the streets.

And Then

I'm also dealing with a cranky ice machine.

It's not making ice.

It is making ice.

The ice is in solid blocks and not breaking up the augur.

I clean out all the ice and break up the big blocks.

And fill the ice machine with some of the ice I just cleaned out.

And the ice maker stops working.

And I get the machine to make ice.

And halfway through getting the machine filled with ice it stops.

And I don't notice.

And then I do notice and fix the ice machine.

And I call our repair person - who is no longer in business.

And I call the people who made the machine.

And the nearest person they have is 500 miles away.

And they're out of town when I call.

But they call back and give me the number of someone 10 miles away who is certified by the manufacturer.

And they're out of town on vacation for two weeks.

But I do have their number and can keep babying the ice machine.... or so I hope.

John V. Taylor

I have not heard recently of committee business adjourned because those present were still awaiting the arrival of the Spirit of God. I have known projects abandoned for lack of funds, but not for lack of the gifts of the Spirit. Provided the human resources are adequate we take the spiritual for granted.

John V. Taylor in _The Go-Between God_

Spontaneous and induced

Someone in response to one of my earlier posts commented that, "When a doctor does late term abotions it is NOT I repeat NOT a normal process!" and that is correct. It is equally correct to say that a late term abortion - induced or spontaneous - is not natural. The problem is not whether it is a medical procedure but how long the pregnancy has continued. Medical procedures during late-term pregnancy are always difficult and abnbormal. They are not thereby wrong. Yes, ethical questions should be raised. But flip answers should not forbid all such procedures. The women I know who have considered inducing abortion in the third trimester have all wrestled with a variety of questions and the decision should, I believe, be left to those women and their doctors rather than some rule set by those who are not personally involved.

Goode again not so good

Rep. Virgil Goode had an editorial in today's (Jan. 2, 2007) USA Today where he defended his letter about the Rep.-elect Ellison being sworn in on the Koran. Again he doesn't get it. Religious freedom is about letting people make their own choice as to religion and swearing on the holy book that represents their faith. For all his seeming punditry of mentioning 'we were attacked by extremists who acted in the name of the Islamic religion' he doesn't get that Christianist and Islamist extremists are the problem, not the religion. It is religious extremism in the name of Christ that bombed a federal building in Oklahoma. It is religious extremism in the name of Christ that has bombed health clinics where abortions may be performed. It is religious extremism and not the religion that's the problem. And Goode just doesn't get it.

Things I've changed

Working with food has caused me to change the ways I do things. I used to cough and sneeze into my hand. That's the way my mother taught me. Cover your mouth when you sneeze - does that sound familiar?

But when working with food - that's the wrong thing to do. Your hands are then covered with germs and you have to wash them. So you sneeze into your elbow and cough into the floor.

And then there's other things. I used to just use a dish-cloth to wipe the table and only made sure to get all of the surface. But since working in the food industry I learned to - keep the same leading edge. We move our hand around so that the same edge is leading no matter what direction the cloth is going. The last thing to touch the survface is the cleanest part of the cloth.

These things all make sense once you figure out how to do them. But .... it seems really difficult for some of my employees to learn.

I've heard, more than once, 'but I do it this way at home' and 'my mother taught me this' and 'why do I have to go to all that trouble' and... I could continue with the excuses. But what I need is for us to find the best way to take care of the food and to do it that way. It's not what your momma taught you or what is polite or what is quickest. The question is what is the safest and cleanest way of doing things.

So we wash our hands in a different sink than where we do the dishes.

We cover our coughs with the inside of the elbow and when our hands aren't free cough towards the florr.

We do many things that aren't the same way we learned at home, but we keep on trying to do them better. Or at least that's what I keep telling new employees. And the employee's that last learn to do it my way and that I'm open to suggestions, but you better talk with me before you change things. And we keep the place clean, tidy, healthy and welcoming.

Helen Keller

When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened forus.

Helen Keller in _The Faith of HelenKeller_

Smoking or not

We have smoking rooms in my motel. They're all guest rooms, but for some reason people don't always recognize that the only places to smoke in this motel are the guest rooms. I found people smoking in the pool area the other day. They were dropping the ashes into the window well. And they said, "but there's no sign saying 'no smoking.'" The lack of an ashtray didn't seem sufficient. For some reason that didn't seem a reasonable response, but I could just have been thinking about how to clean the ashes out of the window sill or, more specifically the grooves where the window runs as it opens.

Then there was another person who I saw smoking on the stairs. She was sitting on the stairs. And I told her this was a no-smoking area. She said, "I just lit it before going outside." That didn't seem all that plausible. And it was not in the winter so it wasn't too cold outside. And sitting on the stairs just doesn't eseem necessary in order to light a cigarette. And there are some benches outside on which to sit if you need to do so to light a cigarette.

And I just don't get it sometimes.

Smoke, don't smoke - that's a personal decision. Most of the reason I've never tried to smoke tobacco or pot is that I can't stand the smell of either. But smoking either is a person's personal decision. It is important to me that you also respect me when you do so. Smoke in a smoking permitted area. I don't want to smell it. I'm not going to argue that it's bad for me as I think the studies about second-hand smoke are somewhat lacking in substance, but I will argue that I shouldn't have to put up with the smell or the cleaning that are associated with smoking unless I want to visit an area where smoking is allowed.

Smoke, don't smoke, but don't let your smoking pose a problem for others.

Paul Smith

Renewing the Church is like remodeling your house: it takes longer than you hoped, costs more than you planned, and makes a bigger mess than you ever thought possible.

Paul Smith in _Is It OK to Call God Mother?_

Strong mother and weak father

It is a mystery to me why so many ex-gay sites seem to think that gay men all have overbearing mothers and weak fathers. I suppose if it is twisted more than a little one could say that about my parents - it would be wrong. My mother was a strong woman who raised three sons and my father was a strong man who was involved with his children. In many ways my father looked more like a peacemaker than my mother. My mother was, in some ways, more involved with the church on the state and national levels, while my father was involved more with the local congregation. Yet they were both involved in many ways in the lives of their children. From my dad taking on the leadership for a Boy Scout troop - in part so their would be a troop for his sons to my mother teaching all of her sons how to cook, sew, iron and do laundry - so that they wouldn't be as helpless as her husband when they were living on their own. To both being at almost every event from school to music recitals to scouting to graduations and more; they were involved, supportive parents. They were partners in life and in the raising of their children.

And so on this day, the birthday of my father, I give thanks for both of them.

And I especially give thanks for the love my father had for my mother. Because of the evidence of that love I did not settle for marriage to a woman, even though I came close, since I just could not see the love between myself and the wonderful women who wanted to marry me. I just couldn't marry anyone without what my parents' had and so spared more than one woman the heartache of finding that the man she married was gay. And so I continue to give thanks for the love of those women and remain grateful for the care they have shown me.

Dorothy Sayers

The Church is uncommonly vocal about the subject of bedrooms and so singularly silent on the subject of boardrooms!

Dorothy Sayers

And abortion is forbidden in Scripture?

A recent comment on one of my posts reminded me of a passage from Nubers 5:11-31 about what to do if a man thinks his wife is unfaithful -

"if a spirit of jealousy comes on him, and he is jealous of his wife who
has defiled herselff; or if a spirit of jealousy comes on him, and he is jealous
of his wife, though she has not defiled herself;"
Numbers 5:14

- goes on to say something about if the woman has been unfaithful then her womb will discharge and her organs drop. (Numbers 5:28) This sure sounds like an induced abortion to me. And I use 'induced' with all due deliberation.

What many on the pro-life side forget is that abortion is a natural process. There are many more spontaneous abortions than people notice. My mother was unfortunate enough to have several spontaneous abortions late in the birth process. Yet those were a part of the natural world. To just say abortions are wrong is to ignore the several like and unlike scriptures taht speak to abortion and the many necessary choices where it is not between good and bad, but the best we can do right now in this situation.

Jurgen Moltmann

America is a success-oriented society only when viewed from the outside. Behind this exterior is anxiety and fear--the fear that one won't make it; the fear that we are nothing and have to make something out of ourselves. The gospel tells people that they are something.

Jurgen Moltmann

Slow

Today has been a slow day for posting. Not because of anything I did last night - I'm not really the go out party and get drunk sort of person, but because of what I didn't have to do. I wasn't covering extra shifts - though I was available to be called - so I wasn't sitting at the desk writing posts. instead I got to sleep. Ever since I had someone quit on the 23rd (after the classified were closed) I've been working two or two 1/2 shifts each day. And in the moments after the work was done I was writing. But today I didn't have to stay awake in case a customer came as the people at work could call me and wake me up and so I slept. Such a simple pleasure, but I was grateful.