Peace Out, Uncle Sam

I'm happy to report that as of this afternoon, my tax related responsibilities have officially concluded at work and I hope to make a quick return to the finer things in life. While tax season surely invokes a good share of frustration and pressure, it can also be a source of satisfaction (like when you figured out a complicated math problem in high school... or third grade). But I'm happy to bid those blasted 1041s and K-1s adieu for now.

1870

In honor of the 139th anniversary of the ratification of the 15th Amendment to the Constitution, I used Wordle to create this funky 15th Amendment word cloud.


You can enter any text or any web page (with an RSS feed) to create your own. Thanks for the idea, Dena!

Represent

Senator Judd Gregg (R-NH) for Commerce Secretary?

And you thought all New Hampshire had to offer was a broken man in the mountain.

And no sales tax.

Super Snacks

If you know Andrew and me, you know we are not sports fans. While I try to know enough to at least be conversant, I rarely follow a team (or a sport for that matter) much beyond the latest headlines and controversies. This indeed has its benefits. We watch less TV and our emotional well-being is never tied to a scoreboard. The downsides? Well, for starters, Andrew has earned the nickname "Sporty" and he recently confessed to me that he'd be interested in having a Cubs hat but is afraid that it might invite conversation about baseball. For Andrew, that's pretty much social suicide. I, however, being a woman, pretty much get off the hook. Fair or not, it's true.

In any case, what we can contribute to the wide world of sports is food. It has been an unofficial (and not quite consistent) tradition that Andrew makes guacamole for Super Bowl Sunday. I've been a faithful fan of his combination of avocados, cilantro, tomato, garlic, lime, jalapeno and onion (?) for quite some time. The only thing that has been left to modification over the years has been the quantity. One year we ended up with not just a bowl of guacamole, but a 9x13 pan of it!

Enjoy your traditions this weekend. And if anyone knows how to deflect questions about baseball stats and subtly turn to exchanging tips about sports snacks, let us know. Or if you've seen a cap with an avocado on it...

A Thousand Words

Check out the work of Pete Souza, the former Chicago Tribune national photographer who has now been named Obama's White House photographer. Souza's photos from Obama's first year as Illinois senator have been compiled into the book, The Rise of Barack Obama, which contains some truly telling images.


Obama in Moscow
(Tribune photo by Pete Souza / August 25, 2005)
Few recognized Barack Obama as he walked on a sidewalk in Moscow in 2005.


Kenya tradition
(Tribune photo by Pete Souza / August 26, 2006)
Sen. Barack Obama dances with one of the grandmothers who care for orphaned grandchildren at a CARE project that he partially funded in Siaya, Kenya.


Candidate's wife
(Tribune photo by Pete Souza / February 10, 2007)
Michelle Obama brushes off her husband's coat inside the Old State Capitol in Springfield in February just before he proceeded into the chilly winter air to announce his entrance into the presidential race.

Photos and captions taken from chicagotribune.com

Imagine All The People

"For they [those who question the scale of our ambitions] have forgotten what this country has already done; what free men and women can achieve when imagination is joined to common purpose, and necessity to courage."

This is my favorite part from Obama's inaugural speech. And not just because it celebrates the achievements of our country, but because of the calling it could become for the Church. What if the Church reawakened its Christian political imagination (not my words) and joined in its common purpose?

We have been reading the book, Jesus for President, with others from our church and it has been instrumental in provoking some good conversation, and I might even say, our imaginations. Do we have it all figured out? No way. But it's been a good place to start in rethinking how we live our lives, how the choices (small and large) we make reflect what we believe about the Christian life. Here is an excerpt of the book's description by Zondervan:

Jesus for President is a radical manifesto to awaken the Christian political imagination, reminding us that our ultimate hope lies not in partisan political options but in Jesus and the incarnation of the peculiar politic of the church as a people “set apart” from this world.

Probably the best part about the book is that it provides practical examples and real stories of how this is being lived out today, and reminders of how this has been lived out in the past (ie: Dr. King, Bonhoeffer, Romero). I find it important to acknowledge that while this book has most definitely been written in a certain context (ie: 2008 America), it emphasizes that this "new" movement is really part of a bigger, pre-existing and ongoing story, and is therefore not new at all. Rather, it is a reminder of what has occurred when imagination has been joined to common purpose, and a recall of Christians to that alternate way of life.

[For other reading on this topic, I strongly recommend The Myth of a Christian Nation by Greg Boyd.]

Remembering

In preparation for our small group meeting tonight, I had a chance to reread some of the speeches and writings of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. I wondered why I don't do that more often, but I'm glad I did today. These words are no less relevant 50+ years later, even on the heels of an historical inauguration.

True peace is not merely the absence of some negative force - tension, confusion, or war; it is the presence of some positive force - justice, good will and brotherhood.
Dr. King's address before the First Annual Institute on Non-Violence and Social Change, Montgomery, AL, December 1956

Any religion that professes to be concerned about the souls of men and is not concerned about the slums that damn them, the economic conditions that strangle them and the social conditions that cripple them is a spiritually moribund religion awaiting burial.
From an article appearing in the magazine Christian Century, 1960

I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro's great stumbling block in the stride toward freedom is not the White Citizens Counciler or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate who is more devoted to "order" than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says, "I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I can't agree with your methods of direct action"; who paternalistically feels that he can set the timetable for another man's freedom; who lives by the myth of time and who constantly advised the Negro to wait until a "more convenient season." Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will. Lukewarm acceptance is much more bewildering than outright rejection.
Letter from a Birmingham Jail, 1963