Remembering Ruth Bell Graham

Ruth Graham, Billy's wife, passed away yesterday. An excerpt from this article gives us a peek into her life:

When the novelist Jan Karon visited the Grahams in their home, she came away with this memory of Ruth:

"Here was this tiny, fragile, yet powerful woman coming toward me in her hallway in black tights, ballet slippers, and the most beautiful white blouse I think I have ever seen. I was swept off my feet by this woman. She had this enormous energy that preceded her down the hallway…And she was so naughty. She just teased [Billy] mercilessly…I thought they were the cutest, sexiest couple I had ever seen."

We don't see many examples of couples who made it through that many decades of marriage with all the lamps still blazing. Leave it to Ruth Bell Graham to show us, brilliantly, how it is done.

Please join with me in praying for Billy and the rest of their family.

"A happy marriage is the union of two good forgivers."
-Ruth Bell Graham-

Fred Dalton Thompson

6/15 Update: In response to Dr James Dobson's assertation that Fred Thompson is not a Christian, blogger Mark Elrod has issued
The “I Saw Fred Thompson at a Church of Christ” Challenge.
This lame video gets me to wondering what Fred really believes. According to this article Fred has never:

• run a corporation or a city,
• been nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize,
• seen combat,
• been married to a former president,
• paid for a $400 haircut or
• cheated on his wife.

I looked around wondering where Fred is on the issues. According to this site Fred seems to be your quintesential pro-war conservative republican. Which leads me to ask:

Isn't John McCain already running for president?

Other than the above 'never list', can somebody enunciate the difference between candidates Thompson and McCain?

A Person of Substance

Jason and I have been having a conversation over at his Antioch Road blogsite about what constitutes a person of substance. I googled around a bit and found a few articles that speak about being a person of substance. This article talks about Rosa Parks being a person of substance. This article says:

Substance is hard, gritty stuff, gained only by much life. You don't come by it easily--a man or woman of substance must labor hard and long to gain the substance of selfhood, and never truly finishes. Substance is internal--the core of knowledge beneath a statement, the belief system that determines an action, the real person behind an external personality.

This article asks these questions:

How substantial is your presence? To what extent do you feel yourself to be here? Do your words ever carry weight? Do you think for yourself, or do you blithely accept others’ views as truth? Are you responsible? Are you kind?

What quailities would you include when you think of a person of substance? Do you have anyone in mind?

Abraham Lincoln Quote

Hat tip to Missy who got this one:

"You can fool some of the people all of the time,
and all of the people some of the time,
but you can not fool all of the people all of the time."
- Abraham Lincoln -

Feel free to submit an answer even if you don't know ... could be fun seeing the guesses. I'll announce the winner in a few days.

A Whale of a Whale

According to this story a 50-ton bowhead whale caught off the Alaskan coast last month had a weapon fragment embedded in its neck that showed it survived a similar hunt — more than a century ago. The whale's age is estimated to be between 115 and 130 years old.

Oceans 13

A few excerpts from Christianity Today's movie review:

Ocean's Thirteen is—to use a highly technical term—cool. The suits are sleek, the dialogue snappy, the tone wry, the jazz hip. Even Las Vegas—bastion of neon kitsch that it is—looks opulently graceful. The Ocean movies (2001's Ocean's Eleven and 2004's Ocean's Twelve) have never been hard to look at, but director Steven Soderbergh's third run at the heist formula seems to be a case of practice making perfect. Every color-saturated frame of Ocean's Thirteen entertains as intended. The waters in this ocean aren't deep, but they sure do sparkle on the surface.

Ocean's Thirteen follows the same basic formula as the first two films, unfolding a series of convoluted schemes, cons, hi-tech hi-jinks, double-identities and plot twists as the boys outsmart rivals and increasingly-sophisticated security systems. There are few genuine surprises; the audience, having been through this twice already, knows that not everyone is who they appear to be and that Danny and his comrades are up to any challenge. Still, it's fun to watch the gang solve a new set of problems, and if this film is inferior to the others in providing the unexpected, it is superior in clarity. (Most of the time, I actually understood what was going on.)

Ocean's Thirteen also has a moral edge (or at least the sensation of one) over its predecessors. The men are motivated not by greed but by a desire for justice (okay, vengeance, but Bank is such a baddie it feels just). They are less interested in personal spoils than in spoiling Bank's ill-gotten gains.

If there's a weakness with Ocean's Thirteen, it's that the hip-ness that makes it strong also keeps it very even and relaxed. It's amusing more than hilarious, intriguing more than suspenseful, stylish more than exciting. It doesn't so much climax as conclude. But it celebrates collaboration, ingenuity and loyalty in some immensely satisfying ways. And that's pretty cool.

I will probably see it ... sooner or later :)

Churchbucks: Are Cupholders Needed in Pews?

About 10 years ago I began to notice a new trend in churches - coffee brewed in the lobby and people bringing coffee into the auditorium ... I have done this on occasion but no longer do it. Coffee in church sets a different environment. I am not sure that I like it ... but I am not sure that I don't.

The religious side of me wants to judge people who do it - I mean I don't do it anymore ... although I have recently drank coffee in Sunday School. My merciful side (just call me Easy Bob) says why not ... what is wrong with it? Personally I find it hard to focus on the Lord when I am worrying about spilling my coffee. Maybe churches just need cup holders :)

Munich | ★★★

Ann and I viewed this movie last night and my expectations were pretty high. Munich is based on George Jonas' book titled Vengeance and came to me with very high ratings - it was nominated for an Oscar.

Sadly, I found the movie to be a violent one glorifying revenge and using gratuitous sexual imagery. I also thought that the movie went way too long and painted a strange picture of Israel's quest for vengeance.

The one redeeming scene in the movie was when one of the assasins came to his senses and realized that this mission was not what being a Jew was all about. Unfortunately he blew himself up and we were left just feeling sorry for him.

On a scale of 10 I give this movie ★★★

Bono

This post from Matt got me thinking about Bono. I have to admit that I am fairly ignorant of the man, his music and his causes - although I am probably most familiar with his causes. He seems to have almost a cult following, especially in bloggerville. So, I thought I'd ask a few questions of you all to get a better idea of why you all admire him so much. Do you think that:

1. he is someone who leads a life of sacrifice?
2. people feel admiration for him based on something other than his notoriety and his advocacy for causes he believes in?
3. he is someone that inspires those that know him best?
4. he really has influence with world leaders?
5. he would be a good friend?
6. people like him just because he is cool?
7. it is not nice to ask questions about Bono?

I am looking forward to hearing from you all - those who are Pro-Bono and those that are not :)

Elevator and Parking Garage Rules

Hat tip to Therese for this article on The Ten Commandments of Elevator Manners. Here are a few commandments worth mentioning:

Thou shalt not pass gas.

Thou shalt not press button for wrong floor without acting appropriately ashamed as elevator stops and doors open then shut without anyone leaving.

Thou shall hold the door for others running to catch the carriage. A plague on those who watch idly by as they slide shut in someone’s face.

However, thou shalt not hold the door indefinitely and delay travel for other passengers.

Thou shall wait for empty carriage if thou is sick.

Thou shalt not carry on personal conversations, be they person-to-person or via cellular phone. Thine elevator is not thine phone booth.

I love rules like these because they give us a peek into the inane and humorous side of "living by the rules". These rules reminded me of my parking garage rules:

For years I had thought of myself, in a Christian sense, as a ‘Charismatic’ – both in theology and in practice. I considered myself to be this ‘free’ person. I distained legalism and specifically the word ‘religious’ because I identified myself as a ‘Spirit-filled’ person … someone who was led by the Holy Spirit certainly could not be legalistic.

It was like yesterday, I was entering the parking garage at work … I became aware of the fact that I had ‘parking garage rules’ … I had a logic scheme by which I chose a parking spot … I was crushed by the idea that ‘possibly’ … ‘maybe’ … I wasn’t led by the Spirit in this part of my life … in hindsight it is pretty amusing but it was just the beginning of my awakening.

Pretty funny how God can get our attention. It is always good to remember that the Law kills but the Spirit gives life!

Pray for the Smith Family

USA Today and other national news outlets have been carrying the story of the abduction and slaying of Kelsey Smith. In this picture Kelsey's dad Greg is reading a statement as his wife Missy (Kelsey's mom) listens.

This one hit home for us as we used to attend church with Greg, Missy and their family. I have been sad about this all week. Please pray for this beautiful Christian family ... I am praying that God will bring beauty out of the ashes of this tragedy.

Pirates 3

Scott posted this review of Pirates of the Caribbean: At Worlds End. Here are a few of his thoughts in no particular order:

This is a long move. Though it didn't feel long to me, it could have certainly gone under the knife just a bit.

I could have spent the whole movie watching Chow Yun-Fat as a pirate, kung-fu or no kung-fu.

There were some incredibly over the top moments that I've heard a little complaint about (parachute, monkey canon, much fighting in the rigging) and I honestly don't get that. The first movie had zombies WALKING UNDER WATER. I think the over the top stuff worked well all things considered.

And if I have to tell you to stay until after the credits roll then you didn't pay attention to the first two movies.

We curently have Pirates 2 on the DVR - if we like it we might give this one a shot based on Scott's review.

Hybrids

6/8 Update from this article: A decade after the first Prius went on sale, Toyota's global sales of hybrid vehicles have hit a landmark 1 million, underlining the Japanese automaker's lead in "green" technology that has changed the face of the auto industry.

Toyota Motor Corp.'s cumulative sales of gas-and-electric-powered vehicles totaled 1.047 million as of the end of May. Of those, nearly 345,000 hybrids were sold in Japan, while 702,000 were sold abroad, the company said in a statement Thursday.

---

Matt hates hybrids.

Anyone have any real experience with one?


Heather comments at Matt's place and says:

I HAVE a hybrid. It's a beautiful 2003 Honda Civic, and I've been averaging 50 mpg around town in the summer, 45 in the winter. I LOVE my car. It's quiet, efficient, and I can easily get 600 miles on 12 gallons.

True, hybrids still use fuel, but not as much, and isn't that what our goal is? reducing our dependence in this intermediate stage while we find a better solution?

I just don't have the cash to spend now so that I can save later.

Knocked Up

If you are pondering attendance at this movie this weekend you might want to check out Julie's review. She ends the review by saying "I took multiple showers to cleanse myself after this one."