Author: Alan

A New Character

One of the blogs that I check out daily is "The Corner" at the National Reivew Online. It has multiple contributors, but I'll admit I've never been really good, even with books, about remembering who the authors are (assuming I even check with a shared blog like "The Corner").

However, this past week while away near Dallas, one entry caught my attention enough that I e-mailed myself a link to it. The writer was Charles C. W. Cooke, and this is how it started out:

I have found both anger and frustration in Zuccotti Park, but it did not prepare me for what I happened upon last night when the sun went down. Wandering among the protesters, away from the chain of malcontents which forms a permanent fence around the park, I met a new character, one whose role in the movement has hitherto been obfuscated by the shouting: his name is Sadness. Speak to those in the vanguard for more than a few seconds and the topic will inexorably veer sharply into moon-bat territory — 9/11 "truth," Jewish conspiracies, sorcery, fantasies of mass execution, a New World Order — but, in the beating heart of the commune, my interlocutors wanted instead to talk about loss.

This was less funny, and entirely devoid of the oddness which permeates the boundary. One woman had lost her son to a car accident, another her husband and house to divorce. A younger man was grieving for his brother, who had shot himself. Others had less dramatic tales, but there were many more stories of hurt and heartbreak and alienation than one would usually encounter. Most of these tragedies, by admission of their narrators, have very little to do with Wall Street; but the sudden grouping of people united by anger, upset, and frustration have provided a sort of homecoming for the bereaved that has proved irresistible.¹

Up to reading Cooke's words I'll admit that my main emotions about the "Occupy" protest were a combination of frustration and disdain. Frustration because they are getting a lot more attention than their often incoherent and impossible agendas warrant and because that ample media attention ignores (and avoids) the anarchist, socialist, and communist underpinnings of many of its organizers. Disdain because, let's be serious, randomly interviewing participants leads to some pretty idiotic quotes. I suppose I might instead find it humorous, but their foolishness is backed up with a willingness to break the law to enforce their will. A Wall Street Journal's survey found "virtually all (98%) say they would support civil disobedience to achieve their goals, and nearly one-third (31%) would support violence to advance their agenda."²

Continue reading “Occupy Sadness”

VISION

When I shared my VISION for the Antrim Church of Christ, I promised to speak on one letter of that acronym per month…and since I'll be heading to check out the Hartt School in Hartford with Mikey next Sunday, keeping my word means that today we are on the letter S.

Stepping back two letters first:

• V — Values — My vision for the Antrim Church of Christ is that we will only get our values from the Bible and that we will value heavenly things more than earthly ones.
• I — Integrity — My vision for the Antrim Church of Christ is that we will always have integrity.

Does anyone remember what the S stood for?

That's right…"seriousness"…

"My vision for the Antrim Church of Christ is that we will take our calling seriously."

Serious Consequences

It is amazing how limiting even 30 to 35 minutes for a sermon can be…and today's sermon is no exception. For instance, what is the best way to convince you all sitting before me that we, as a church, need to take our calling seriously?

Continue reading “What Kind of Friend Are You?”

Ten years ago today I was sitting in my office at Tickets.com in Fairfax, Virginia. I was on the phone with my boss, and she was doing my yearly review. As we were chatting, she mentioned she saw a report on TV that a plane crashed into one of the World Trade Center towers. She and I both assumed it was pilot error with a small plane…until…of course…a second aircraft hit the other tower. At that point, she couldn't continue.

And, of course, that wasn't the end of that day's havoc…a third airliner was used as a missile into the side of the Pentagon, and a fourth crashed into a field in Pennsylvania thanks to brave passengers who weren't going to allow their flight to be used to victimize anyone else.

• We all saw the images of the planes crashing into the sides of those buildings.
• We all saw the flames and smoke coming from the upper floors.
• We all saw people who decided it was better to jump then to be burned to death. I saw one article that said it was around 200. 200!
• We all saw the unimaginable collapse of both buildings…as if someone had carefully set explosive charges to bring them straight down.
• And we all knew that not only were many of the buildings' occupants killed by the impact of the airliners, the heat of the inferno, and the the massive weight of the structures' concrete and steel falling on top of them…but that that final result of the evil acts also killed firefighters, policeman, and other emergency personnel.

Over 400 hundred first responders who…like every other victim…started that day just like any other day…

Altogether between the four terrorist attacks almost 3,000 died, including the 19 hijackers.

Continue reading “Heaping Burning Coals on 9/11”