Skip to main content

A White Post-Christmas

I just came back from my brother's renewal of vows. He lives in Wisconsin, and this particular week, they experienced colder-than-average temperatures. I could tell because my hands began to go numb as I attempted to tie down a trailer after last night's reception. As a result, I appreciated the fact that the temperature in Stockton was in the mid-sixties when I came back.

It was, however, good to take part in this, a dream of my brother and sister-in-law, after at least two years without seeing them. I saw the incredible support of their friends, who helped set up the day before, took part on the day of the event, and stayed late to help clean up. Aware of how tired everyone was late last night, one of Chris's friends even lent Chris his truck to take the last of the decorations home, a favor that allowed the family to return home before two o'clock in the morning last night.

Here are some of the highlights:

1. Hearing on a plane what sounded like a baby's first words: "Go Packers;"
2. Learning I was the best man on the way to my brother's house from the airport;
3. Finding I would not have to give a speech after learning I was the best man on the way to my brother's house from the airport;
4. Seeing a plastic gnome, apparently unclaimed by any owner and alone in the snow, its back turned on the world as we entered a major freeway;
5. Watching the snow cover a largely barren four-lane freeway through Milwaukee after two o'clock in the morning as we drove home;
6. Walking off-stage during the ceremony after I was prompted to get a microphone;
7. Walking back on-stage during the ceremony after failing to get a microphone, which someone else had already procured for the pastor;
8. Being hoisted up on top of a wall that doesn't quite reach the ceiling to get inside a locked room, only to remember that I'm afraid of heights;
9. Almost missing a flight home after the first of two flights was delayed, and-- walking briskly through the airport-- getting picked up by a porter and racing at breakneck speed (not really);
10. Watching the Rocky Mountains pass underway as I traveled back home.

On the last point, these mountains stretched for mile after interminable mile. At one point, their shape made them seem like a huge piece of uncrumpled paper, white and uneven. It was like God had written down some idea on God-sized paper, crumpled it up in disgust, thrown it down, then realized the idea was valuable after all as he stretched it back out on the landscape. It's odd to think I was over half-way across the country just hours ago.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Heroes

Although we have several examples of heroes in our day, one of the best known is of a woman named Agnes Gonxhe Bojaxhiu (“Gonja Bojaju”), who devoted her life to sustaining the “poor, sick, orphaned, and dying.” Her venue was Calcutta, India, where she served as a teacher until she began to take notice of the poverty there. Seeking to do something about it, she began an organization that consisted of just thirteen members at its inception. Called the “Missionaries of Charity,” the organization would eventually burgeon into well over 5,000 members worldwide, running approximately 600 missions, schools and shelters in 120 countries; and caring for the orphaned, blind, aged, disabled, and poor. As her personal work expanded, she traveled to countries like Lebanon, where she rescued 37 children from a hospital by pressing for peace between Israel and Palestine; to Ethiopia, where she traveled to help the hungry; to Chernobyl, Russia, to assist victims of the nuclear meltdown there; and to ...
2 comments
Read more

The Nice Guy Fallacy

I read part of a poem recently by one of my favorite poets. It reads: I envy not in any moods The captive void of noble rage The linnet born within the cage That never knew the summer woods. I envy not the beast that takes His license in the field of time Unfetter'd by the sense of crime To whom a conscience never wakes. Nor what may call itself as bles't The heart that never plighted troth But stagnates in the weeds of sloth Nor any want-begotten rest. I hold it true, whate'er befall I feel it, when I sorrow most 'Tis better to have loved and lost Than never to have loved at all. At base, Tennyson contrasted a life of risk, and consequent pain, with one of security. He sides conclusively with the life of risk, and says he fails to envy those who have faced no hardship. I agree with him; and, for good or ill, his words are just as relevant today as they were in the nineteenth century. Like then, there are those today who choose to live their lives with as little risk as...
2 comments
Read more

Comparative Medical Care

One thing I'd like to understand is why there is such a difference between medical costs here and those in Haiti. At the time the book Mountains Beyond Mountains was written, in 2003, it often cost $15,000 to $20,000 annually to treat a patient with tuberculosis, while it cost one one-hundredth of that-- $150 to $200-- to treat a patient for the disease in Haiti. Even if the figures aren't completely accurate, the sheer difference would still be there. Indeed, the United States pays more per capita for medical care than any other country on Earth. My first guess for why the disparity exists is that there is a market willing and able to pay more for medical treatment, so suppliers see the demand and respond with higher prices. According to at least one doctor (go to http://scienceblogs.com/denialism/2009/05/what_is_the_cause_of_excess_co.php), part of the reason is administrative prices here. People here have a higher standard of living, and so the cost of care is shifted to ...
2 comments
Read more