Stuff I See

It is raining to beat the band here in the Ozarks. I sincerely hope there is a band that deserves a good beating. Rush comes to mind. Anyway, as for the rain, the weather guessers are suggesting we will get upwards of 7 to 9 inches over a couple of days. There is water standing, or spilling, everywhere.

I know that vengence is the Lord's. However, I cannot help but feel just a wee bit of glee reading this story. Some of those infamous Nigerian scammers are getting their comeuppance, and in kind, which is especially satisfying.

Will someone explain to me how a woman who was married to Paul McCartney for, what, about 17 minutes, deserves 49 million bucks? Please, I'm not mitigating the mess they've made, the broken marriage or the responsiblility of the father to support his child. But something seems way out of whack with this decision.

Everyone is all abuzz concerning Obama's speech today. From what I can tell, he is standing by his pastor and blaming racism for the problem and suggests the answer is more government. Hmm - this is the agent of change? His speech has been hailed in some quarters and panned in others. A portion:

For the men and women of Reverend Wright’s
generation, the memories of humiliation and doubt and fear have not gone away; nor has the anger and the bitterness of those years. That anger may not get expressed in public, in front of white co-workers or white friends. But it does find voice in the barbershop or around the kitchen table. . . .And occasionally it finds voice in the church on Sunday morning, in the pulpit and in the pews.

I am hopeful there are days when Rev. Wright preaches Bible and gives voice to the gospel in church. But this business of anger and bitterness being voiced in the pulpit is tragic. Anger and bitterness are not emotions which are exclusively the domain of any particular people group. We all are tempted to be angry and bitter at times and it is sin to be renounced. It is what the gospel would save us from. Any of us.