Santa Baby

For Songbird, who has never seen one. This is a statuette from Catholic Supply:






At this site, you can get the "whole" Kneeling Santa collection. I understand there's a cross-stitch pattern available.

The bah humbug Friday Five

The RevGalBlogPals ring asks five questions of its members every Friday. This one is leaning toward crabby christmastide, but since I haven't been writing very religiously ("Bad blogger, bad!") I thought I'd throw my coal into the stocking.

Please tell us your least favorite/most annoying seasonal....

1) dessert/cookie/family food
The miscellaneous yet ubiquitous 2nd rate candy: waxy chocolate, candy canes, stale ribbons. And, every plate of cookies or cakes that is very kindly given but enough for 12 people, unless I see it first. Especially the shortbread/spritz cookies that are made with nonbutter and no finesse.
Oh, golly, and rum/bourbon balls. What a waste of cocoa and spirits.

2) beverage (seasonal beer, eggnog w/ way too much egg and not enough nog, etc...)

Hate eggnog. And don't tell me that if I just had yours I'd change my mind. It's like diner hollandaise, which I loved as a kid but can't even think about now.

3) tradition (church, family, other)
We've pretty much blown apart the traditions in our house and made them the way we want them. So I'll have to say consumerism.

4) decoration
Blown up anything on lawns. The image of Santa praying at Jesus' manger. Cutesy statuettes. Over-the-top electrics.

5) gift (received or given)
I've done some poor gift giving myself, just totally guessing wrong. Worst I've received? Any one I wasn't expecting from a giver expecting reciprocation. Or the childhood ones with long and strong strings.

BONUS: SONG/CD that makes you want to tell the elves where to stick it.
Aaah, but there are so many to choose from. The whole Nutcracker. Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer. Christmas songs sung sexily, generally. All I Want For Xmas Is My 2 Front Teeth. And, truly, by 12/26, any background soft strings or Muzak version of anything.

Bad blogger! Bad!

Black Friday

In honor of Black Friday, here is something from the Advent Conspiracy website.
Thank you, Jeanne.

Resist

by Jeanne McKinley

About a year ago I woke up to a strange hum. I was disoriented by it at first, didn't even know what the sound was, so I got up, looked out the window and saw a steady line of cars driving down the hill.
What in the world?
Are they evacuating the neighborhood and nobody told us?
I looked at the clock, it was 4:45am, then it hit me -- it was the day after Thanksgiving.
Black Friday.
I remember being blown away by the fact that my entire neighborhood was on their way to be the first ones out for the store buster prices, free socks or scarves or whatever other item the store would be dangling to bring us in, and then I had a moment of panic,
"Oh no, I'm going to miss it!"
I was missing the sales that would help me save money on Christmas presents!!
And then I remembered...
I had done that before, joined in the throng, jumped in the fray of craziness at 5am, I thought I had been missing something by not being a part of the American ritual of day after Thanksgiving sales. I realized, as I was standing in a line that wrapped around to the middle of the store that I had fallen for it, the idea that I needed to buy these socks at a great discount and that my family would be really excited about these fleece coats that were the "hottest thing" -- though I wasn't saving money because I had grabbed about 7 other things not on my list, but that I just Had to have.

I've been thinking about resistance today, the idea that this is my chance, as the holiday shopping season heats up, to resist. It's not easy. Resistance is a word that you feel, as I choose to not buy fun looking, sparkly junk that will put a momentary gleam in my children's eyes or make my house look pretty, I can feel that at times. As I choose to create things that will be meaningful and relational but will take effort and my time and frustration when it's not looking like I wanted it to, I feel that.

Here's something else -- I admit it -- maybe it's a girl thing but I love to shop. I love to spend money and buy things and I love to buy other people things and there's more -- I love to find the Perfect gift for someone, the thing they will absolutely LOVE. I love that feeling of "AH HA!" this is IT, and I'm going to be awarded the giver of the year award because I found THE present that will bring the most joy and happiness to that person, the gift that shows I know them best and have found the thing that resonates with them perfectly. The gift that they'll tell their friends about, "Jeanne got me that!"

Not pretty is it?

I can justify that feeling with the fact that I want to show my loved ones how much I love them by finding that perfect present but there's something I'm getting out of it as well, strokes, appreciation, people pleased with me.

No, not real pretty.

These are some things that God is redeeming in my heart this year as I refocus and rethink Jesus' birthday. The way I'm going to buy gifts and the way I'm going to give gifts. To give of myself as Christ gave to me. To hold my friends' and family's faces in my hands, look deep into their eyes and tell them how much I love them. And most of all to worship Christ in a beautiful, uncluttered way and to be free to love Him with all of me.

It's different, it's transformational and it feels really good.

Friday when I wake up to the hum of traffic, I'm going to roll over, pull the blankets tighter and cuddle with my hubby and I'm going to resist.

Resistance doesn't sound so bad after all does it?

Snoring companions

I


I've been asked to update puppy pics. So here is Tanq at his puppy kindergarten "graduation".







And one of our wonderfully patient cat, Jamba.
Yes, he's under the bed.

What gets in the way

I subscribe to this blog, which means that every time I log into my email account online, I am treated to a reminder of how long it's been since that slacker writer of Even You posted. Today it said "over three weeks."

How is that possible? How could three weeks have gone by without my doing something that matters to me, especially when my Outlook calendar has "Blog" as an appointment every day at 7, and my online email clearly states my dereliction? How is it that, even for the important things in our lives, stuff gets in the way?

I set my cell phone alarm for noon and five p.m. to remind me of midday and vespers prayers. Around the same time I created that system of remembering, I stopped doing my morning and bedtime fixed-hour prayers, and learned how to quickly disarm the alarm. How does that happen?

I'd like to blame it on newdog/work/holidays/congregation/husband/anythingotherthansloth, but that would be a lie. What gets in the way is my recent resistance to prioritizing what I claim is most important. The reality: scan your calendar and your Quicken, and you will know what your true priorities are.

Jesus said, ""store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." It seems that just now my treasure is not what I want it to be. So perhaps the first step (besides admitting my sin/sloth/distraction) is to assess my treasure and align my heart (and my daily schedule) to it.

Here I am, dogsnoring/workwaiting/holidayslooming/congregationpausing/husbandworking, writing. It's about time.

It's about God.

The Friday Five (courtesy of RevGalBlogPals)

As mentioned here before, RevGalBlogPals asks five questions every week of its blogging constituency. This week it's about food. Food (along with music) is what I adore, have some instrumental gifts for, and precious little creativity or persistence in. (How's that for dangling participles?) So how could I not play?

1. If you were a food, what would you be? Something creamy, but with texture, bite, and a whisper of sweetness. Ginger ice cream. Or pumpkin risotto with aged asiago, toasted pumpkin seeds, and crisp fried sage (with a tiny bit of cayenne in there). Or, going back to the ginger theme, a 3-variety ginger cookie with white pepper.
2. One memorable meal. I had too many, apparently, and Blogger nipped them out. Let's just say there have been many, many.
3. What is your favorite comfort food from childhood? Macaroni and cheese. Guacamole. Really.
   
4. When going to a church potluck, what one recipe from your kitchen is sure to be a hit? Fritatta.
5. What's the strangest thing you ever willingly ate? I don't eat meat, so that lets a lot of the truly unfamiliar stuff out. But on that theme: Beautifully grilled fresh salmon, prepared by dear friends who didn't equate salmon with meat and whose love outweighed my morals.
   

Bonus question: What’s your favorite drink to order when looking forward to a great meal?
How much money can I spend? What's the meal? Drink depends on the meal. Generally? Sparkling. Or a Manhattan. Ideally? A white from the hands of wine artist Didier Dagueneau.

More stony bits

1) Need a new profile picture with current four-leggeds (rather than our dear departed saintly Mo).
2) "Christmas Unplugged"

Gravel

My mind gets all gravelly when I'm on retreat. There are lots of concrete bits that stir around, but they're surrounded by a blur of ripples. More on that below.

There are two retreatants here at Mercy Center (in a building that can hold 250 easily for conferences and has 90 bedrooms). Or at least there were: the other one's room looked pretty cleaned up this morning. Which means that, aside from staff and the Sisters of Mercy (not the band. ripple.) it's me, pretty much. So at breakfast this morning, the cook had made 4 small omelets and laid them out, along with maybe 4 cups of oatmeal, 4 yogurts, etc. You get the picture. I had one omelet and a piece of toast with peanut butter, in a room with umpteen 6-to-8 person tables, and a lot of icons on one wall (which I enjoy very much). So external silence is easy this time. Internal silence, less so. (ripple.)

For this morning's meditation I went to the chapel, where others from the communities inside and out were already meditating. I've been alone in the meditation room (which has meant I could do sun salutations between sessions), so it was pleasant to be in a room with others, sitting in the presence of the Lord.

I've been keeping the hours, too, which is a heck of a lot easier here than at home.

The other thing I've been doing is reading: my usual devotional (My Utmost for His Highest), and Shane Claiborne's The Irresistible Revolution. I'm on a headlong search for a December book for my Christian Spirituality book group, and my focus is on returning Christ to Christmas by thinking Simple. (We're doing Advent Conspiracy in our church. (gravel)) So many people are torn by Christmas: sad or exhausted or lovingthetraditionsbutoverwhelmed or having to rev up to consider the nativity on 24 December. The commercialism is really getting to me, both because of the increasing gap between the rich (including me) and the poor (including most of the world, and a lot of our country); and because it's so hard for folks to even see Christ through the tinsel and batteries. Even Christian bookstores and websites are all over selling. Which shouldn't surprise me but does. (gravel, gravel).

If you have a book idea, post it in comments, okay?

So here's more gravel, in no order:
1) There is simply no reason that one (okay, I) cannot live with this sensibility in the "real" world.
2) I need a timer for the hours and the discipline to obey it.
3) I'd really love to have early morning meditation and communion with others. ("Contemplation and Communion") Maybe offer it on campus? 1-2x/week?
4) 1st and 3rd Wed. evenings?
5) We (okay, I) can't keep living with all the waste and excess. (Poor wonderful husband.)(Wait, that may be a ripple.)
6) Contemplation has to become community action. And vice versa.

And rippling: why do I immediately move away from Jesus into "the next thing"?

Emerging Women

Over on the Emerging Women blog is some writing by Jemila Kwon. She calls it "Creed: The Gospel According to Mark." I wouldn't say it's either a creed, per se, or a meticulous rendering of the substance of that gospel: if you haven't read Mark, please do! That said, I liked it very much, especially the part that reads:

Abandon all but Love of God and Neighbor
Spread the good news that God is acting again!
God is here
God is now
The time is now to spread the good news

Before God’s kingdom is consummated in full
Before our generation passes away
Let the good news go out that God is acting again and his will is to forgive, heal, free the oppressed, make all things clean, serve the least, raise the dead to life and call all who have ears to a new way of life.

What is the new way of life?

The way of loving God and having faith
The way of loving neighbor and loving stranger
The way of standing for life, even to death
The way of believing God, and following God’s beloved son, God’s anointed one.

This fall, we're reading McLaren's Secret Message of Jesus, and I'm preaching a series based in it. I am so grateful that we (me, McLaren, our church community, Jemila Kwon, whomever fits) are not alone in thinking about what a different lens might mean to both the way we live and the effect we have on the world. More about that soon.

Thankfulness list

The RevGalBlogPals Friday Five this week is a list of five things ("people, places, graces, miracles...") for which one is thankful. Hard to keep it to five today, but here goes:

1) Disposable income. I was able to treat soon-to-be-married Music Minister and some of her girlfriends to high tea yesterday, which gave me great pleasure (and her a few moments of peace and frivolity).

2) Companion animals. Tanq on the lap, snoring. Jamba on the laptop case, which is on top of the portfolio, which is on top of numerous unread magazines, on top of diversity training materials for my other gig, on my desk, in the sun.

3) The wonderful husband. A gift from God, undeserved and unearned. And Heather, Laveille, Jeff, John and distant ballast of all friend kinds.

4) My church community. After nearly five years you continue to amaze and inspire me.

5) God's rescue from the sucking muck. Him lying on his belly on dry land, reaching an arm into the ooze just to pull me to safety. Over and over again. And the many, many packages in which that grace appears. Including all of the above.

Gleamings

A few weeks ago, we had our church annual celebration of ministries. It has morphed over the last few years from voting and volunteer-wrangling to remembrance of God-filled moments, sharing new ideas and opportunities, and testimony. And lunch. Did I mention lunch?

This year, our facilities manager (who is also our evangelism geek) wanted to do an exercise to help people talk about their faith. Our folks tend to feel that talking about their faith is somehow wrong, and definitely difficult: wrong because proselytizing; difficult because unreflected upon. So he set up three questions for each person to write a sentence answer and then share their answers with one other person. The questions were: "How has your relationship with Christ changed over the last 5 years?" "How have God and Jesus impacted your life?" and "Why do you attend and are active in this church?" His idea was that by answering those three questions they would have the base for a conversation about their faith.

Toward the end he asked people to share anything they wanted to. The first person to speak was a first time visitor, a very young man, who spoke enthusiastically about being invited to stay to lunch, and about his own journey. A few others spoke as well. (I wish I could explain how amazing that is all by itself -- it's so new.)

Then our evangelist geek collected all the cards people had written on, and made lists of what they'd said. I just read them this morning.

In this line of work, like many other vocations that are people-focused, it can be very hard to count successes. We're not a "turn-or-burn" church, and we don't believe that profession under duress or ecstasy is the primary marker of faith. Though we have a membership roster, on a daily basis it's irrelevant. But the temptation to quantify is deep: we want some way of knowing how we're doing.

Mostly, how we're doing is determined by what we see happening in people's lives. Highly unquantifiable. Often unmarkable.

So reading people's answers to the questions was heartening. The light of Christ was gleaming in nearly every word. Of course, the people who were there and answered were the most likely to be gleaming, but the shine was no less real, no less a qualifiable "Amen", if not a quantifiable count.

revgalblogpals Friday Five

RevGalBlogPals are invited to muse and dream over five questions each Friday. Here are the ones for today:

1. Are you a hoarder or a minimalist?
Mostly a minimalist. I like to collect art, napkins, and bowls, but that's about it. We have a lot of stuff now, and one of my secret fantasies is to send my wonderful husband away for a week and rent a dumpster.

2. Name one important object ( could be an heirloom) that you will never part with.
I don't think I have any, but my wedding ring would be among the last to go.

3. What is the oldest item in your closet? Does it still fit???
This year I got rid of a dress I've had since high school -- red chiffon spaghetti strap -- that I'd converted to a cocktail dress at some point. It fit, but it was time to go. Oldest now? Probably one of my hats.

4.Yard sales- love 'em or hate 'em ?
Oh God kill me now. Hate them. One set of people emptying their garage into other people's garages and dickering over pennies to do it. Ugh.

5. Name a recycling habit you really want to get into.
We're pretty good about recycling, but I know we waste water waiting for it to warm up. I'd like to start catching it and using it, or getting instant water heaters.
My car is 1995 or 6 and has nearly 200k miles, but gets >32 mpg. The next one will need to do better than that. I should start recycling my own energy on the bike path that connects our house to campus.
And, I'd like to see our church's buildings outfitted with solar. We have crazy roof space, and we're in the Santa Clara valley (CA). There's got to be a way! Oh, and recycle gray water! So many possibilities!!

Sunrise

The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.

John 1:5

Grace (over the long haul)

I used to not like Anne Lamott. One of us was too whiny. But we've both matured and fallen in love with Jesus, so I'm reading Grace (Eventually): Thoughts on Faith just now, between the required stuff and Harry Potter #6. At this point in our lives I read myself in her. Or into her, which may be what all excellent writers achieve in their readers. I've never fought alcohol or drugs, but have raised great armies against binge eating and bulimia since I was a child. Read into that whatever you like. When Lamott writes about body image and soul holes and Safeway's apple fritters, I feel her pain. The two sides of my battle are health, strength, and slimness, vs. disappearing into the safety of fat or simply not being seen, and avoiding the piercing bodily attention of the worst of men. The battle has been pretty quiet for a while, and this year I've been consciously eating healthfully and intentionally, the way normal people do. I've lost some weight, and look and feel better. Or did, for a while.

A couple of months ago, right after our puppy arrived, my wonderful husband went on a men's weekend with guys from his men's group. They were going out of town, so he was hitching a ride with another guy. That guy came to pick him up, and came into our kitchen where puppy and I were sitting.

I had met this guy once before, when they met at our house. Maybe one other time at a big event. I'm not sure I'd recognize him on the street today. The first time we met, he was a little overexuberant with the hug and kiss; I chalked it up to personal style.

So he came in. My husband went up to get his stuff, and I took puppy to a tree outside our kitchen to pee and the guy follows me out. He makes friendly conversation about the puppy, and then comes to where I am and leans in close.

If you've ever had a new puppy, you know that the rituals of housebreaking are rigorous and precise. You want the puppy to learn to pee in one spot, outside, every time you take him there. So as this guy leans in, I am impaled on a cypress tree. Suddenly he starts massaging my shoulders, firmly, as he leans in to speak to me.

One of the things you may not know about me is that my boundaries are pretty high. I have layers of armor that serve me well, and though I've worked hard to make it more permeable, there's still quite a bit there naturally. (When I was younger and less healthy, people would cross the street in order not to walk past me, the dark heat was so intense. I kid you not.) No one casually touches me; it just doesn't happen.

This guy, this stranger, slimed right through the holes in the armor and handled me. I thought: I've got to keep puppy safe. I felt: waves of revulsion and bile course through me. I acted: by stepping away as far as I could without disturbing the peeing ritual. Words sticking in my throat. Husband came out, guy looked friendly, and off they went.

Me? I spent the evening in front of the tv with puppy and cat, staving off both nausea and shame. A month later I told my husband, and he confronted the guy, and wound up leaving the small group they shared.

So it's two months later. I think I've mentioned before here that this was a hard summer -- not busy, but a lot of emotional stuff in our church community. I've been tired, and kicking myself for being tired. Yesterday I spent an hour on the phone with a clear borderline personality, and then another 15 minutes standing on line next to a chatty old man who kept touching my arm (and talking about how he could sure use a wife like me). And the waves came over me, and the shame.

In her essay "The Last Story of Spring", Lamott tells how her dog goes missing in the woods on a mountain near a crevass, and the fear and grief that overcomes her. A friend happens along, and wants to help. Lamott writes, "My enchanted woods had turned into the dark forests of fairy tales. But looking at Amanda out of the corners of my eyes, I remembered what happens in fairy tales: The helper always appears in a form that doesn't look very helpful, yet that's who's going to get you out of the woods."

Sometimes I realize later that I've been in the woods and hadn't seen the darkness fall.

Husband comes home from work yesterday, and I tell him I just want to have a quiet evening and be close. No sooner does he put his arm around me than I start weeping, my body shuddering. It doesn't stop all night. I put words to the stuff I can, and watch Frasier during the rest. Husband is attentive, gentle, quiet, and protective. By the end of the evening, I'm cried out, and safe from my own wars.

"Telling helped a little. It felt as if maybe the worst was over. 'But why didn't my faith protect me?' I asked one friend. 'It did... You found your way out of danger -- and disgust -- through humility, and even confession -- to the love of safe people. Now you are safe again" Lamott writes in "The Muddling Glory of God".

Sometimes grace is simply the truth, leaking out in all its pain and sorrow and grief, then flowing to someone who can catch it up for you.

Sometimes Jesus is the blanket that someone gently covers you with in love.

May your truth and blankets come.

Slug

Each morning, my computer calendar shows these activities before 8 a.m.: prayer & blog.

Each morning, my life shows these activities before 8 a.m.: get up twice to take puppy out, take puppy downstairs, make coffee, separate puppy and cat, feed puppy and cat, clean up after puppy and cat, glance at news to make sure we're not the only survivors of nuclear holocaust, greet husband, wash dishes, remove puppy from chewing on cookbooks, drink coffee, meditate on devotional, not fall asleep while doing morning prayers.

Sometimes email manages to get in there. And I often manage extended prayer after 8, when the husband is gone, the puppy is sleeping in his crate and the cat is bored with taunting him.

Blogging? Not so much. Meditation? Walking? (both of which were on my not-computerized calendar) Hah! I feel like a slug. Slug 4 Jesus.

Housebreaking puppy is a longterm investment of energy; I get that. But there's been a lot going on in my spiritual life and in our community, and I haven't really had time to reflect on it, or to see God reflecting in it.

Squishy invertibrate herbivore, leaving a trail.

The order of things must change: someone's been pouring salt on my relationship with the Holy One.

New Book Group

I am so excited! Starting October, I'll be facilitating an ongoing Christian spirituality book group at Barnes & Noble. 2nd/4th Wednesdays, 6 p.m., if you're local. I choose the books; they sell them and advertise. Which means I'll have to read more (such a shame!). As my wonderful husband put it, this is right up my alley -- I can use all those degrees and years teaching for Good.

I also have a lead on a cafe that would like to host a book study (or Bible study -- not sure yet which) on Monday evenings. Will call on that one today. Either way would be good, since God will be the One doing most of the work!

Oh, the first book will be The Secret Message of Jesus. It is an extraordinarily accessible look at the kingdom vision of Jesus -- you don't have to be a disciple to get it. I'm thinking about Velvet Elvis or something like that next -- suggestions, anyone?

Carried by the Spirit

God is so very good, and when we try to listen, God tries to guide us.

After the vandalism, we decided to do a little good in the neighborhood -- clean our sign, but then go out into the streets and ask if anyone needed any little chores done. About 15 people showed up (out of maybe 75 in Worship, usually) and did just that. But they weren't alone: 2 newspapers and 3 tv stations were there too. They were followed through the neighborhood (which was a little disruptive to the task) as they went on their mission of love. (I wasn't there -- was facilitating a meeting in San Francisco.)

Neighbors were shocked by the vandalism, concerned for their own safety, and deeply supportive of us. In fact, the vast majority of feedback and media we've received has been positive. People are generally horrified that anyone desecrates a church, period. Most have responded to folks choosing to do good in response to evil with pleasure and gratitude. Our local Councilman, Evan Low, has been both encouraging and helpful, asking a whole lot of his contacts (and local residents!) to donate to repairing the sign. We got a call from the Anti-Defamation League and an Art Institute teacher offered his class if we needed any design work done. That's just a taste of the love we've gotten back.

It hasn't been all positive, of course. I received one email asking for our justification of welcoming everyone, including lgbt people, which I responded to in good faith. I (and everyone else with an email link on our website) received one email from an anonymous person (who, based on his/her address, works here) simply listing the standard "clobber" Scriptures with an unkind note. Fortunately, no-one has yet said, "Yay! Desecration!"

But all that, though gratifying, isn't the point. Here's the point: the Holy Spirit inspired our folks to do as Jesus taught -- to love our enemies, and return good for evil. Any day we do what Jesus taught us to do is a good day for me.

Above the fray and fatigue, the Spirit has been carrying me this week. God is so very good.

Responding to hate

Last Saturday night, the main sign on our church campus was defaced. The perpetrators left a clear message by spray painting "Fags to Hell, God Rules". They also painted out the rainbow fish that proclaim that our church community is welcoming to all, including lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people.

Hate is always distressing and painful. It creates fear, and builds walls. Hate is Evil itself, which is always working to generate the same hatred in us. That is its purpose.

As Jesus-followers, we know the truth: God is love. God loves and cares for each and every one of us as if we were God's only child, God calls us to be people of love, not people of hate. That is our purpose.

Jesus taught us, "Do not repay anyone evil for evil ... Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good." So yesterday, when the church gathered after Worship to figure out how to respond, we decided to share some love in the community.

Tonight participants will bring cleaning and gardening supplies to campus. While we clean up our sign, we will go out into our neighborhood and offer to clean and garden for our neighbors. And then, prayer, celebration, and pizza in the twilight!

We hoisted a rainbow flag yesterday below the US flag on our flagpole. And we're adding a new sign to our main one: "God loves you. We do too". We will also be providing window signs with that same message to anyone who wants them.

I don’t know how many people will participate with this short notice. But whether it’s 1 or 100, we see this act of hate against us and lgbt people as a God-given opportunity to show our community the love we've found in Christ.

Emergent in picture form

It's hard to talk about why 1st century and 21st century are similar times for faith and our concept of knowledge without using words like "postmodern". As a result, those who are trying to talk about and live a new/old kind of faith take a beating. And, since most of them/us are younger (20s/30s), they're/we're a prime target for farts young and old.

So pictures are good, esp. when they draw on cultural icons, like the motivational posters. Check these out, at Emerging Grace.

Roving

Karl Rove cannot leave quickly enough for me. I understand that he's leaving his post to spend times with his family (after spending umpteen years with George) and to write his memoirs. Perhaps publishers can entice the rest of the Gang of Bush with book deals, since family hasn't worked so far as motivation. Theirs, or yours, or mine.

(Note: the opinions expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of my church community. But they might.)