Where’s Doug? Recently Heard on Last.FM
I wrote this story for the 75th anniversary of The Upper Room devotional guide. Watching it makes me feel like I’m in a Windows 7 commercial : )
In addition to the video, the story appears in a tabloid that was distributed around the world. The tabloid included this picture:
There are scores of templates with this app for the Android phone. Just select a picture and the application does the rest.
There hasn’t been a puppy in our house for years, but for months we have had to leave a puppy pad out overnight because someone had been using this throw rug as a urinal.
I have suspected our Cocker, Bessie, as she’s getting on in years and the breed is known to have bladder control issues. Frank blames Joe, my dog, because Bessie is the princess and would never soil the floor. I have also accused our cat Ming, who I know has recently freaked out about the litter box (through that whole in the door), probably because he doesn’t like squeezing his fat ass through the kitty door.
But, to my surprise, the pad was dry last night and all day today. As many of you know, this is Sam’s first day away at college. Never has it occurred to me to think Sam was the responsible party. I will let the evidence speak for itself. You be the judge.
*The content of today’s commute cam does not reflect the sadness in the post’s title. That’s because I’m both sad and happy. So excited for my first-born son.
Go Sam! In the near words of Lady Gaga, “Love, love, love I love my Sam.” : )
The question about where the official United Methodist Church (of which I am a member) stands regarding relationships with those of the Muslim faith has come up recently.
In the United Methodist Church, only the General Conference, which meets every four years, can speak officially on behalf of the church. So when I went looking for information about what the church had to say about the issue of building a mosque near ground zero, I didn’t expect to find anything truly official. However, I was disappointed at what little information I found in a Google search. There should be statements from United Methodists all over the place.
The two articles I found linked here below. One speaks to the general relationship of good will held between United Methodists and Muslims, and the other speaks more specifically about the issue of a masque at ground zero.
Muslim leaders honor Methodists
United Methodists address mosque conflicts
The issue of Christian an Muslim relations isn’t one that only affects folks in New York. The local UM church where I attend, Belmont United Methodist Church, participated in faith walk supporting our Muslim neighbors who plan to build a mosque in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Just has been the case on the national scene, this local group has met both opposition and support for their plans to build.
I cannot speak for the United Methodist Church. But I can say for myself, as a American, that unless an existing zoning code prohibits the building of a religious meeting place, any religious group, from Christian to Muslim to Wiccan has the the right to build. It is called freedom of religion.
And I can speak for myself as a Christian. I pray that I am not held accountable for the atrocities that have been carried out in the name of the faith that I claim. Didn’t George W. Bush make similar statements, always careful to separate the actions of crazed fanatics from the faithful practitioners of the Muslim religion?
I see no connection between the Muslim faith and what happened on 9/11. It would be like saying there is a connection between the practice of my faith (Christian) and that of the violence carried out by Michael Bray in the name of Christianity. Or on a larger scale, the Inquisition, or the Crusades, or even the most bloody war fought on American soil, the Civil War, with both sides claiming God’s blessing.
I’d like to believe that the practice of the Christian faith has evolved the bloody violence perpetrated in its name, but evidence points to the fact that it has not. We still fear those who are different. We still want to persecute the very people whom God loves. We still have not learned from the mistakes of history.
May God have mercy on our souls.
