Passions of the Soul

4th of July - another cause for thanksgiving

On this date in history, our nation's founders proclaimed our independence from the tyranny of a king.  It was the birth of a new nation, founded on principles of liberty for all.  While liberty for all took more time--and some voices continue to argue that it is not yet fully realized--we are still blessed to live in a land that is free--as one of my favorite bumper stickers says:  "The land of the free because of the brave."

I read over at The Reluctant Optimist that General Patraeus, in Iraq, has sworn in the largest reenlistment group in American military history.  More than 1,200 members of the army, navy, air force and marines, representing all 50 states, raised their right hands and swore to protect us all against all enemies.  I should say, swore to continue protecting us all.

I was moved to tears, when I read that.  There they are, right in a war zone, and they said, as with one voice, "Yes, I'll keep fighting this fight, no matter what it costs me!"

If our nation's founders could have been there, I think they would have been very proud and very gratified.

How many ways can I say it?

I sit here, eating my breakfast as I type, while people are starving to death.  I've been on the attack--at times, only half-heartedly--against my creeping weight gain and winning only very slowly, so I have a hard time understanding what that must be like.  I can't even put myself in the place of a parent who is unable to feed his (or her) children, because I have no children of my own.  None for whom I've ever been responsible to feed and clothe.

I keep asking anyone who happens along and reads my blog to contribute to Compassion's Global Food Crisis Fund.  But what, you may ask, is Compassion doing with the money?  Please go to Compassion's blog for some information that may help to make dollar-sense of the need.

Then, if you haven't, yet, and are at all able to do so, please click on the link to the Fund to contribute whatever you can.  No matter how little it seems to you, it will mean food for a child and her or his family.  See how much you can do and how relatively little it would take from you.  Can you give $13 to feed a child for a month?  Or $78 to feed a family of six for the same period? Please give whatever you can.

Letter from a former sponsored child

The following excerpt is taken from a letter written by Ruzamba Niyomwungeli, a 24-year-old graduate of Compassion's Child-Sponsorship Program.  Written in Kinyarwanda, it was tranlated in English at the Compassion Rwanda country office.

I cried in my neighborhood, but no one listened to me.  I called to my neighbors because of hunger, but there was no boon coming to me.  I was sick in my bed, but no one could render a service.  But not far from God's hands, a sponsor, a parent, came to me from the far country that is beyond the sea where my eyes could not imagine a thought  What a blessing and love.  God I am too special in your eyes.  Thank you God.

You can read the entire letter here.  Then, if you would like to sponsor a child, you may click on the widget, in the left sidebar, or go here.

The problem isn't going away; it's getting worse.

Compassion continues to appeal for more funds for the Global Food Crisis Fund, for very good reasons.  From a letter just received from Wess Stafford, President and CEO of Compassion.  While the global staff continues to try to get a handle on what, exactly, is needed, the reports they get from the field look bleaker and bleaker.  Some examples:

- Thousands of children registered in Compassion-assisted projects "in at least six countries are in immediate need of relief.
- Every Compassion-assisted child in Haiti is affected.
- "Rice, a staple at every meal, has doubled in price.  For many of the 11,000 children we help [in Bangladesh], the only meal they receive each day comes from the Compassion-assisted church."
- Compassion predicts "this crisis will spread to each country where we work and has the potential to affect millions of children and families."  This is not sensationalism.  After all, every country where Compassion works is a developing nation; that means many of the people live in abject poverty.
-"In Haiti, a gift of $13 can feed a child for about one month."  Multiply that out to however much money you can contribute to the Global Food Crisis Fund.

Please remember:  The opposite of poverty is not wealth; it is enough.  Most of us have more than enough, even if we don't think we do--and I lived in a "notch group" for a few years.  The issue is what we spend our money on.  Can we do without a couple of Starbucks double lattes a month?  Buy one DVD fewer?  Rent fewer movies?

I know we're all feeling the pinch, and I know most of us are tightening our own belts.  Every division, every department at Compassion's Global Ministry Center in Colorado Springs is tightening budgets even further in order to free up as much money as possible for this gigantic need.  Compassion International is a ministry you can trust.  (Check 'em out with Charity Navigator or other charity watchdog organizations.)  In fact, you can't make a better investment, anywhere, than to sponsor a child or to contribute financially to Compassion.

Testing...

Typepad has been messing with its Compose page, for a while, and it isn't such an improvement.  My husband let them know how he felt about it, and they sent him a link to a further change that they're still testing.  So, I'm checking it out.

I will note for the record that I have asked several times for them to add emoticons, and they continue to tell me that's a "Great idea!  We'll keep it in mind for future changes."  They continue not to add emoticons.  And we pay them for their hosting services!  Most people I know have blogs that they don't have to pay for; they've all got problems, from time to time, but at least, they have emoticons.  I'm stuck with :o(, :o), ;o) or :^).

Vacation

I've been waiting to get some pic's on my computer, so I could include them with my post about our trip, last week.  But that's taking too long, so if you want a hint, look for the Orcas 2006 PhotoAlbum.  That's where we were, again, and we took a whole bunch of pictures.

While we were gone, temperatures around home zoomed above 110 degrees.  While we were at Orcas, daytime highs ranged generally in the low-, maybe the mid-50's.  Bruce had to wear his wool cap, some of the time, while he sat out on our balcony.  I no longer have a wool cap, so I actually stayed indoors, a lot.  But we had a couple of days that were just beautiful, even when cold, so with the sun out, I joined Bruce more.  We left there early in the morning, and between the temp's there and in Seattle, and on the ferry ride from the island, we had to dress warmly.  Then we stepped out of the airport terminal at home...right into 111 degrees.  Oh, please, take us back!

It was so nice to have left all the responsibilities at home.  No dogs or cat to feed or walk, no Hoagy to have to take outside, whether he wants to go or not, no phones to ring, no impediments to taking naps, whenever we felt like it.  Add to the lack of responsibility the incredible dining at the Inn at Ship Bay (check out the menu, in Dining; in addition to the printed menu, owner/chef Geddes offers several special meals, each evening).  Four nights (they were closed the first two nights we were there) of truly first-rate food and service, with a great view of Ship Bay.  Four nights of irresponsible consumption of yummy desserts.  Only four nights of that . . . and three pounds added to my weight, by the time I got home!!

Anyway, we love going there, and we enjoy staying at Cascade Harbor Inn.  It's a kind of rustic place, not luxurious, but comfortable, and I defy anyone to improve on the views!  Every room has a water view, and I cannot imagine a bad view in the lot.  Manager Ronda and her staff are pleasant and welcoming--and of course, like family, because we've been there every year for six years (that adds up to seven visits).

I'll add the photo album soon, I hope--preferably before we go away again, next week, for a few days.  But no promises!

Global Food Crisis - Revisited

Compassion International has set aside this Wednesday, June 25, as a day of prayer and fasting on behalf of our Compassion-assisted children, as well as all others whose poverty level leaves no margin for the dramatic rise in prices of basics like rice, beans and wheat.  Anyone who (a) shares a concern for the "least of these" of our world and a concern about this global crisis, and (b) believes in prayer is welcome to join.  Just click here to join the several thousand who have already signed up to participate.  And if you are moved to do so, why not also contribute to the Global Food Crisis Fund?  Both prayer and financial help are badly needed!

Goin' away

I will be leaving town on Sunday morning (obscenely early!) and will be gone all week.  No laptop, no access, no cellphone service, even, where we'll be staying.  Give me a few days after we get back to do any posting, please!  And have a great week.

Prince Caspian

If you have never read C.S. Lewis's The Chronicles of Narnia, then what Disney has done with Prince Caspian is unlikely to bother you.  You might even enjoy it, although the film version is a truly poor substitute for the book.

Ever since we saw Disney's The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, I have looked forward to the next film in the series.  My husband Bruce, who had read the reviews, was not really interested in going to see this one.  But I, who had not read the reviews, couldn't wait, so I finally prevailed on him to take me yesterday.  We left, roughly half-way through.

To say the movie is based on the book by C.S. Lewis is a little misleading; I would say it is very loosely based on the book.  That means that, yes, the characters are there, and yes, they did actually weave little bits of Lewis's story into their own.  The scriptwriters left out so much, which is to be expected, given that you can't really do great justice to a book, in a film version.  But they've also rewritten so much and added so much action and dialogue that never appeared in the book.  And their attempts at clever, witty dialogue, lacking Lewis's brilliant story-telling, were downright pathetic.  Some warranted an insipid half-smile and nothing more; most evoked no response.  Hollywood's attempt at putting this story on film is as uninspired as it gets.

If you enjoy a good story, read the book.  If you want a half-baked attempt at putting a classic book on film, go see the movie.  But Hollywood will have to do better with future efforts in this series, if they want our money.

UPDATE 6/22/08:  As we were vacationing, last week, I thought back several times to this movie.  I think I figured out why I believe Ben Barnes was miscast in the title role.

I keep replaying the scene leading up to the Pevensies' first encounter with Prince Caspian.  They don't yet know who he is, nor does he know who they are.  He and his small band of faithful (or not so faithful) followers are taking on some of the Telmarines.  Both in that encounter and in the initial encounter between him and the Pevensies, he displays an arrogance and cockiness that do not befit this prince, and I don't remember picking up such attitudes in my numerous readings of Lewis's great story.  Barnes' face is well-suited to the sneering expression that continues to dance before my mental eyes, but not to the "I may be a prince, but I'm just a kid" portrait of Caspian written by Lewis.  Such scenes were conceived, written and directed, it seems, by people who either had never read Lewis's story, or are insensitive to the heart and spirit of it. 

A week that, in part, shouldn't have been

I tend to define a week as Sunday through Saturday, probably because most calendars are set up that way.  This week got off to a very bad start, in our community.  A 20-something guy with  an assault rifle, or two, lots of ammunition and (I think) additional firearms led local police and deputy sheriffs on a chase that pretty well spanned our city.  He started off the morning shooting at a couple of different houses, and when officers spotted him, the chase was on.  Periodically he fired at them; first, he shot an officer in the shoulder, but the officer kept chasing him.  Fortunately, the injury was not life-threatening.  The third officer (I think both of these were deputies, but I'm using officer as a generic term) was shot at, but the bullet left only a grazing wound.  He was treated and released.

The second officer was not so fortunate.  Tucson Police Officer Erik Hite had retired as a first sergeant in the USAF, two or three years ago (my timing could be off), and promptly applied to the local police academy.  His former commanding office in the Air Force, other friends in the military, and fellow officers in Tucson, have all had nothing but praise for him as a person and an officer.

Officer Hite was, in effect, ambushed, on Sunday morning:  He was chasing the "suspect" on a two-lane road, when the perpetrator made a sudden left turn onto a side street and fired at Officer Hite, striking him in the head.  He actually hit the squad car six or seven times, but the one that counted took Officer Hite's life.  Left behind are his wife, nearly one-year-old daughter, and a son who is also in the military.

I never met Officer Hite, but I grieve, when someone who has taken on the job of serving and protecting us all is killed in the line of doing just that.  I also grieve when I hear that more of our troops have died in a war zone.  Either way, they have died in service to us all; their lives were not wasted.

Nothing else about this week seems quite as important as the way it began--and, for Erik Hite, ended.  The next time you see a police office/deputy sheriff, firefighter or member of the military, say, "Thank you!" and mean it.  You'll make their day.

The road to usefulness

I just read a daily devotional item from Dr. Chuck Swindoll.  His closing paragraph linked our usefulness to God with the depth of our hurt and used this quote:  "It's doubtful that God can bless a man greatly until He has hurt him deeply."

I can't help being reminded of Wess Stafford, President and CEO of Compassion International.  The hurt he described in his book went so deep that most of his childhood friends, who experienced the same kinds of abuses as he did, went on to live tragic lives.  You can hear Wess talk about how he came to forgive his abusers and turned his hurt into a life of greater usefulness than most of us will ever achieve.

(Hint:  It's the antidote to victimhood.)

More on the Global Food Crisis

This is a link to the Compassion Blog.  It's written by Dr. Wess Stafford, the president and CEO of Compassion, about the Global Food Crisis.

Then, if you and your family have enough, please urgently consider contributing to Compassion's Global Food Crisis Fund.  You can never find another organization that will handle your gifts with more integrity; Compassion's integrity is absolute:  Your money will always be used for the purpose you designate, and Compassion is a 501(c)(3) organization meaning your gift is tax-deductible.

Please.  People are dying for want of food or money with which to buy it.  We feel the pinch of the rising prices; they feel it in the extreme, in their stomachs.  Some of Compassion's children feel something that must be akin to "survival guilt," as they eat one meal each time they are at their Compassion-assisted student center, or project.  They know everyone else in their family is not even getting that much.  Please help!

Remembering those I never knew

Memorial Day was always on May 30 (or was it the 31st?), when I was young, but it was changed, when more 3-day weekends were wanted.  So today is Memorial Day.

I don't think I've ever known anyone, personally, who was killed in a war.  I've known some who came home, damaged in body and/or soul.  At least two of my uncles served in WWII; one of them was at Normandy.  I never heard either of them talk about that war, and I've learned in recent years that that is pretty common.

Yesterday, at the end of our church service, we were asked to watch a video in honor of our troops, past and present, and those who never came home--alive, that is.  The video was simple:  A soldier in silhouette played "Taps."  Actually, I don't know if any other visuals were included, as I immediate closed my eyes, both to pray for our troops and their families, and to restrain the tears that start so quickly, when my attention turns to our brave men and women.

I soon became aware that the gentleman behind me was crying, also, and I wondered which of his family and/or friends had been taken in our present war, or any past.  After we were dismissed, I turned around.  The couple behind me were considerably younger than I, and it occurred to me that he might actually have served, "over there," and watched some of his buddies die.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus.

It's never enough!

I've been conversing, by e-mail, with a new Compassion friend, Kees (pron. "case") about helping to find sponsors for more children.  We've agreed that, no matter how many sponsorships we help to bring about, it's never enough.

While millions of children are still hungry, foraging in garbage dumps for food, drinking filthy water and getting sick from largely preventable illnesses, it isn't enough.  It's never enough, when so many people are so very hungry, many of them starving to death, that some of the children served by Compassion feel guilty for eating the meal they receive at the project, because they know their families are hungry.  It's never enough, when many Haitians eat cookies made of dirt, vegetable oil and salt, in order to "fool" their stomachs into thinking they're not hungry.  It's never enough, when that is so common that those who can afford to buy the bags of soil, make the cookies not only to eat and to feed their own children, but to sell to others!  And it certainly isn't enough, when the cost of the bag of soil rises so much that fewer and fewer people can afford to buy . . . DIRT!

If I were to find (pick a number) 75 sponsors every year, by my own efforts, that wouldn't be enough--and I'm not even close to that.  There is no number that would be enough!!

Maybe you can't afford to make a $32/month commitment to sponsor a child.  Could you contribute to the Global Food Crisis Fund?  I won't ask if you did, because it's none of my business.  Increasing the awareness of the needs, however, is my business.

 

A different kind of tsunami

Please read about "The Silent Tsunami" Compassion's blog.  How much more would people in developing countries have, if the US government encouraged our farmers to produce all the crops they could, for food, rather than either paying farmers to limit their crops (I don't know if that's still done) or earmarking large quantities of some crops for use in creating bio-fuels.  So much of the world is starving, and we're using food crops to burn in our vehicles?

Have you followed that first link, above?  Did you read the post?  Did you notice this sentence:  Our children are feeling guilty for eating one meal a day.  Will you dare to let you heart be broken?

How many ways can you spend $32 in a month's time?  Could you give up a few little things, eat out one time fewer, to help one child in Bangladesh or Haiti?

Compassion International is not a new organization, having begun 55 years ago after the Korean War.  This organization is run with absolute integrity and works to develop a child in all areas of his or her life.  Your money is always used for its stated purpose.  CI is highly rated by several charity watchdog groups.  I've been to several student centers in one of the countries where we serve, and I can tell you that Compassion is helping to break the cycle of poverty for many, many children.

And yet, the current food crisis is taking a toll on even the children we serve.  If you cannot or don't wish to sponsor a child, but would like to do something to help, go to CI's website and look toward the bottom of your screen.  There you will see an invitation to donate to the Global food crisis fund.  Any amount will be welcome, any amount is needed, and it will be used as stated.  Thank you, and God bless you.

What's in a name?

According to this website, a total of 35 people in the U.S.A. share my first and last name combination.  Middle initials are not taken into account.  However, not to quibble over the URL of the website, there remains only one of me.  So there! thbbbppt!

Okay, I quibbled.  Sue me.

Global Day of Prayer

Until about four months ago, I had never heard of the Global Day of Prayer.  Yes, we have the National Day of Prayer, which occurred 10 days ago (May 1), but the GDOP began more recently.

I'm still a little fuzzy on the details, but I know it began in Africa in 2000, spread to all 56 nations in Africa, and in 2004, an invitation went out to the rest of the world to partner together in prayer.  You can read the full history, as I intend to do, today.  The whole idea is based on one of my favorite verses of scripture, in 2 Chronicles 7:14:

If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and seek my ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

We need to do this in this country, for this country and for ourselves.  I need to do this, for the country and for myself.  And for the world.

Did you know that Christians in Africa pray for America?  They see our materialism, our consumerism, our arrogant self-reliance, the way our society is systematically shutting God out; they see our stressed-out lives, that we don't know peace within our borders or ourselves, and they pray for us.  Thank God.  Somebody needs to pray for us!  We need to pray for us!

You can learn more about the GDOP here, and here, and read the prayer which is being prayed for the world today, May 10, 2008, in any of 39 languages.  And elsewhere on the GDOP site, you can read about the 90 Days of Blessing which will start tomorrow.

Many Christians in Tucson have been building toward this day, probably since the GDOP last year, and began 10 days of prayer on May 1 (the NDP).  The Tucson event will be held tonight, in one of the city parks; I understand that about 3,000 people participated last year.  I cannot be there tonight, because our Compassion Sunday begins, tonight, at my church, and I need to be there.  But two of the advocates on our southern Arizona team will host a Compassion table at the event, which is really exciting for us, too!

So if you're a praying person, there is much to pray for, today.  Our world, our country, and we ourselves are broken, and we need to turn to the Great Healer, our God, our Lord.

Expelled

I've now seen Ben Stein's film, Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed, and I cannot recommend it strongly enough.  It is a documentary and does not showcase the famous Ben Stein sardonic humor.  It is serious, both in tone and in import.  See it.

A challenge for you!

On Compassion's blog is a post about listening.  Read it, and then consider this challenge:

For one week (not less than one day!), listen to yourself, your spouse/significant other/family, listen to people around you wherever you are, wherever you go.  Listen for conversations, questions, statements, comments--anything that you would not hear among people who live in real poverty.

I read the post on Compassion's blog and immediately thought about some of the conversations at our house having to do with vacations.  Vacations give us a break from work and, depending on how we plan them, a chance to catch up on some rest, time to just sit and reflect, time to go deeper into God's Word, to watch in leisure as boats and sea planes go in and out of a bay...as we plan to do in June.  Vacations give us a chance to have some fun, whatever that means to an individual:  rock-climbing, surfing, deep-sea diving, kayaking, fishing, skiing...fill in the blanks for yourself.

But the poor never get a break from their poverty.  Even the children who are registered in a Compassion-assisted student center continue to live in their poverty. Yes, they receive a good meal, every day that they are at the center, as well as education assistance; health care, and nutrition assistance, as needed; a safe place to play and develop social skills; a life skill, which will enable them to provide for themselves and their families; many opportunities to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ and to learn the Word of God; and so much more.  Most of those who are sponsored will exchange letters, periodically, with their sponsors and receive small (to us) birthday and Christmas gifts.  But they go home to a very small structure, often very shaky, which typically houses far more people than can reasonably be accommodated.

The opposite of poverty is not wealth; the opposite of poverty is enough.  Anything more than that is more than we need, and we have a responsibility to share.  So take the challenge, thank God for all that you have and remember that, as we say at my church, "We are blessed to be a blessing."

Sugar

I have just made a momentous commitment to myself:  I'm going off all empty-calorie, sugary snacks.  I seem to go from one to another; for a while, I'll pig out every day on one favorite, until I take myself by the scruff* of the neck and make myself stop.  Before long, I'm onto a different favorite.

I Googled the question, "how does sugar affect arthritis" and looked over several pages of links, hoping for something fairly scholarly, as opposed to Cousin Ginny's "research" and personal experience...whoever Cousin Ginny might be.  In six or seven pages of links, I didn't find anything that looked directly applicable and reasonably reliable, but I did peruse one document that purported to tell all the ways sugar--especially the stuff that isn't a natural part of foods, like fructose--is harmful to our bodies.  Some of it I already knew; who hasn't heard that sugar will rot your teeth?  Some I hadn't heard, and I don't know if any of it was based in junk science, but it was convincing enough that I just threw out almost half a canister of my latest and greatest snack.

You might notice that I haven't identified any of my favorite sugar "fixes."  I would really hate for someone with a similar problem to read this post, with snacks named, and say, "Oooh, that sounds good!" and then go to the store and start pigging out on them.  I don't need that guilt.  Got enough of my own!

Who knows?  Maybe I'll lose weight more easily, too.

*Does anyone know what this is??