There is a little old lady at my church who is neither little, nor old, despite her diminutive size and 80 plus years of age. She still tap dances. She still runs an annual show to raise funds for veterans and she sells poppies on both Memorial Day and Veteran's Day. She is also a great supporter of my step-mom's school, helping out with a program there called The Graham Cracker Fairy. But beyond all that, this church saint is also a master at strong-arming people into doing the Lord's work.
Case in point.
This weekend, my step-mom received a call from this saint. She had been in a darling boutique where they sold children's clothing and was so enamored of the wonderful outfits that she asked the owner if she had any clothes they were giving away - for the children at my step-mom's school. She had arranged for one or two bags of clothes to be picked up on Sunday and all my step-mom had to do was show up and pick them up.
Now school gets out this week, so my step-mom was a bit hesitant, but our dear church saint wouldn't take no for an answer. So my step-mom made arrangements to pick up the clothes.
On Sunday, she shows up at the little boutique and finds a half dozen people standing outside waiting for her to arrive. They are each carrying two or three bags full of children's clothes. My step-mom is shocked. She was expecting a couple of bags at most. She gets out of the car and asks the first person where she can find the church lady. The guy gives her a blank look, "Who?" "The woman who gave you the clothes?" "Oh... she's over in the parking lot."
So my step-mom goes over to the parking lot and discovers that this little old lady has figured out a way to block all of the cars in the parking lot from leaving. She has then asked each driver to help her carry the clothes over to my step-mom's car before being allowed to drive away. Six perfect strangers help my step-mom load more than a dozen bags of children's clothes into her car - just so they'll be allowed to drive away.
I'd like to say that this is one-time only behavior, but I'm afraid not. If this wonderful saint of our church asked a mountain if it could please help her by moving ten feet to the right, the mountain would get up and move ten feet to the right and would feel good about doing it. Some saints are just like that.
Monday, May 23, 2011
Monday, May 02, 2011
And deliver us from evil...
I am of two opinions about the death of Osama Bin Laden. My first opinion is very much along the same lines as the one expressed by Andy Lie over at A Mile From The Beach. This is no time to gloat. We killed Osama and we should be humbled at his death and not boastful. My second opinion, however, is a little more in keeping with what we're seeing on the news. I think both of my opinions are justified - one by faith and the other by unfortunate reality.
My second opinion was earned through that toughest of schools - life experience - and it speaks to what is probably the most human and base interests inside me. I am a pacifist at heart. I believe that some of the most profound words ever spoken were those of the poet and prophet Rodney King, "Can't we all get along?!" But during my time in the Navy and particularly during my years in Naval Intelligence I learned that the unfortunate answer to that question is, "No. Not yet."
You see, there are bad people out there. Evil really does exist. And these people will not accept any other fate than their own destruction. I don't hate them. I pity them. But at the same time, I accept their demise and rejoice when it happens. Why? Because we will never have peace on this world while evil of that sort is allowed to continue. It must be stamped out, hard, and quickly in every case for peace to reign.
After 9/11 I waited for the other shoe to drop. I knew that a man like Osama Bin Laden would not stop until he had achieved his goal of as many American deaths as possible. And so I waited for bad things to happen - more 9/11 attacks, more USS Cole's, more embassy bombings, and maybe worse things - dirty bombs, back pack Nukes, biological or chemical attacks. Bin Laden's only restraints, it seemed, were money and access to weapons of mass destruction.
Truth be told, I was terrified of what a mad man like Osama was capable of doing and that was why I was so terribly upset with "W" and his stupid attack on Iraq. Saddam was a putz. It was like Batman decided to go after a jaywalker while the Joker was running loose in Gotham. The guy we really needed to run to ground was Osama. We needed to stomp on him and end his threat sooner, not later - which was a lesson I think we learned in the aftermath of the Mission: Accomplished speech. We might have toppled Saddam, but the real threat was still Al Qaeda and Bin Laden.
And so, in the end, we have finally killed Bin Laden and while I know that the threat isn't completely gone, it has lost a lot of its heart. Killing Bin Laden will not end the War on Terror, but the War on Terror could not end while he was still alive. I will rejoice in the man's death because I can breath a little easier now. There is a little less evil in the world - there is one less threat to my survival and to the survival of the human race.
So while I sat at home last night visibly upset at all the posturing and shouts of USA USA, deep down inside of me I could distinctly hear myself saying in a low voice, "WE GOT THAT C***S***ER! Thank God!" And those are my two opinions on this matter.
My second opinion was earned through that toughest of schools - life experience - and it speaks to what is probably the most human and base interests inside me. I am a pacifist at heart. I believe that some of the most profound words ever spoken were those of the poet and prophet Rodney King, "Can't we all get along?!" But during my time in the Navy and particularly during my years in Naval Intelligence I learned that the unfortunate answer to that question is, "No. Not yet."
You see, there are bad people out there. Evil really does exist. And these people will not accept any other fate than their own destruction. I don't hate them. I pity them. But at the same time, I accept their demise and rejoice when it happens. Why? Because we will never have peace on this world while evil of that sort is allowed to continue. It must be stamped out, hard, and quickly in every case for peace to reign.
After 9/11 I waited for the other shoe to drop. I knew that a man like Osama Bin Laden would not stop until he had achieved his goal of as many American deaths as possible. And so I waited for bad things to happen - more 9/11 attacks, more USS Cole's, more embassy bombings, and maybe worse things - dirty bombs, back pack Nukes, biological or chemical attacks. Bin Laden's only restraints, it seemed, were money and access to weapons of mass destruction.
Truth be told, I was terrified of what a mad man like Osama was capable of doing and that was why I was so terribly upset with "W" and his stupid attack on Iraq. Saddam was a putz. It was like Batman decided to go after a jaywalker while the Joker was running loose in Gotham. The guy we really needed to run to ground was Osama. We needed to stomp on him and end his threat sooner, not later - which was a lesson I think we learned in the aftermath of the Mission: Accomplished speech. We might have toppled Saddam, but the real threat was still Al Qaeda and Bin Laden.
And so, in the end, we have finally killed Bin Laden and while I know that the threat isn't completely gone, it has lost a lot of its heart. Killing Bin Laden will not end the War on Terror, but the War on Terror could not end while he was still alive. I will rejoice in the man's death because I can breath a little easier now. There is a little less evil in the world - there is one less threat to my survival and to the survival of the human race.
So while I sat at home last night visibly upset at all the posturing and shouts of USA USA, deep down inside of me I could distinctly hear myself saying in a low voice, "WE GOT THAT C***S***ER! Thank God!" And those are my two opinions on this matter.
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