Thought-Provoking,,,

My friend Katie just posted a fine --guest-written-- essay in her blog - check it out:

An Elegant Sufficiency, Pt. 1

On Independence Day...

Who Are The Brave?

Who are the brave?
Those who go to war?
Who are the brave?
Those who fight no more?
Those who gave their lives
protecting freedom's shore.
Who are the brave?
Those who serve in war.

Who are the brave?
Those who live with pain?
Who are the brave?
Those whose lives are plain?
Those with healthy bodies,
Those protecting the unsure.
Who are the brave?
Those who serve the poor.

Who are the brave?
Those whose speech is free?
Who are the brave?
Those loving liberty?
All those with heart and mind,
Protecting all they find.
Who are the brave?
Those who serve mankind.
These are the brave.

J. Paul Williams

©1992 Studio 224
All Rights Assigned To and Controlled By Alfred Publishing Co.
All Rights Reserved. Used By Permission.

Saturday Afternoon With The Family....

I spent an enjoyable afternoon with the family today at the ol' homeplace in Festus. Here are some pictures:

Dad dressed up the house for Independence Day!

Granddad trying to get Lydia interested in photography, as he is!

Gram loves her some Lydia!

Lydia, one week shy of 18 months old!

coming home, this awesome cloud formation appeared..I see a hand...do you?

A Choir Geek's Indulgence...

Okay, I admit it. I'm a choir geek. I got hooked on choral singing in high school. My choir director Mr. Nall helped me discover that I really liked singing and was better than average at it. I sang in choirs throughout my 5(!) years of college and in a community choir after college. I've had wonderfully rich and memorable singing experiences at the annual state music educator's convention held at Tan-Tar-A Resort near the Lake Of The Ozarks and even did two in-state tours while in college.

Today my inner choir geek was mightily indulged. The local barbershop chorus Ambassadors of Harmony and the world-renowned Mormon Tabernacle Choir both performed in St. Louis on the same day! I took in the AOH's matinee performance and the MTC's evening concert.

This time of year is always international competition season for AOH and they appeared ready to take on all comers. They performed many old favorites and the two numbers they've prepared for competition. AOH's show must really be seen (and heard) to be believed. Costumes, choreography, sight gags, I could go on... Their special guests this year were Vocal FX, a male barbershop chorus from New Zealand who will be competing along with AOH. The group is all young males but directed by a female and they were fantastic. They performed 4 traditional barbershop numbers and should do well in competition. The audience was treated to a tasty dose of New Zealand culture, as the group also performed 3 numbers in the native Maori dialect and 4 members dressed in traditional Maori warrior garb (i.e. nothing but skirts made of dried (something which I can't remember!)). It was fascinating.

The evening Mormon Tabernacle Choir concert was immensely satisfying, as I expected it would be. Their 175 recordings and appearances all over the world testify to their legacy. The only real bummer was that they had to perform in cavernous Scottrade Center, normally a hockey arena. True, it was probably the only venue in the area large enough to hold them but I'd have preferred a more intimate venue. They'd not been to St. Louis since 1958 and who knows when they'll be back, so I am glad I attended. The concert was a muscal smorgasbord of classical masterworks and traditional American folk music and hymns.

Oh, and did I mention that The Man Himself John Ashcroft guest-conducted the encore? He did. Ashcroft--the former U.S. Attorney General, senator and governor of Missouri--led the choir and orchestra through a rousing "This Land Is Your Land," to the delight of the audience.

It was an interesting end to a great night of singing.

Headliner!!...

The Cardinals had a bit of trouble scoring runs against the Giants' starting pitcher Matt Cain last evening. The headline for the game story in today's paper summed it up thusly:

"Cards bats are unable against Cain"

: )

Memorializing Memorial Day 2009...

I've decided that I'm decidedly in favor of Monday holidays. Let's recap...

- I checked out the annual Gypsy Caravan event up at UMSL. It's a Memorial Day tradition in St. Louis, a benefit for the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra. I'd never been before, so just to satisfy my curiosity, I drove up there. It was basically a giant flea market. You pay $5 to get in and shop around to your heart's content. I found a couple of people selling old carpenters' tools and other shop items; my dad might have found something he liked. Unfortunately, a torrential rainstorm descended and I got caught without raincoat or umbrella. I tried to wait it out but eventually gave up and walked back to my car, soaked almost to the skin.

- came home to eat lunch and watch the ballgame between the Cardinals and Brewers. It was a classic pitchers' duel between the Cardinals' ace Carpenter and the Brewers' young hurler Gallardo. The game went to extra innings tied 0-0, with the Brew Crew finally breaking through in their half of the 10th to win 1-0. Truly disappointing for the Birds.

- packed up Chili-dog and headed to Festus for dinner with the parents. We dined on pork steaks and all the trimmings, with oatmeal cookies, and strawberries à la mode for dessert. We watched old war movies on television after dinner. My bro and sis-in-law sent pictures of Lydia enjoying herself at the Lake of the Ozarks with her mama's family. She enjoyed being out on the water but wasn't thrilled about not being able to go wherever she wanted! : ) Such is life at 16 months old. I'm sitting for her Thursday night...

Kids vs. Cookies...

My church is fortunate to have a video-savvy guy on its worship staff to produce videos such as this one, which we used in today's services.



We used it as part of our stewardship series, "The Buck Stops Here: The Heart Of The Matter."