Timothy - Dog Year

Secret of Their Success

It's always amazing to hear real-life personal testimonies on how one came to accept Christ as Lord and Savior, and how Christ has changed and strengthened the individual since that point.  It's indeed something special when such open and honest sharing is given by football players from the #1 team in the country, the Ohio State Buckeyes, in the middle of their season.

On Monday, October 30, at 7 PM at St. John's Arena on the OSU campus in Columbus, Ohio, Coach Jim Tressel, various current and former star players, Brutus the school mascot, and marching band members will share, for free, what drives them along in life and what is always their top priority.  If you're in the area and are available that evening, it's definitely something worth checking out for yourself.

More details concerning "The Main Event" can be found at www.osufootballaia.com.

10/31 Update: Columbus Dispatch report on this year's "The Main Event."

Time

The ending of Daylight Savings Time is no boon to those who need an hour just to manually adjust all their clocks.

Cardinal Conclusion

I'll be honest - I don't care much for baseball.  It's a rare thing for someone from Taiwan to say, but the absence of a game clock and the low scores simply don't endear me to this sport.  Add to that the multimillion player salaries, the love of chewing tobacco, and certain players' strong "Bonding" to steroids, it's hard for me to respect baseball.  The St. Louis Cardinals' World Series win tonight,  their tenth title and first since the last dog year World Series in 1982 ( 1994 had no World series due to the players' strike) though, may help bring me back to having some interest in America's favorite pastime.

Interestingly, it was the Cardinals which temporarily got me into the sport in my youth.  Under Whitey Herzog, the 80s Cardinals were exciting to watch, constantly rotating players and going for extra bases.  Who could fail to be amazed by Ozzie Smith, the best shortstop ever, and Bruce Sutter's split-finger fastballs? (Incidentally, Bruce finally got into the Baseball Hall of Fame earlier this year, as the pioneer of this famed pitch).

This year, the Cardinals present a new generation of baseball heroes, most of them surprising.  There's Albert Pujols, perhaps the best player in Major League Baseball these few years.  Known for his consistent play and power on the field and his charity and faith off of it, he did more than any other player on the team to get the team to the World Series but didn't contribute too much offensively there.  Instead, it was players like series MVP David Eckstein at 5'7" and castoff pitcher Jeff Weaver who helped seal the victory.

The Detroit Tigers did not play well, with a total of 8 errors, including an incredible 5 by pitchers, but give credit to the Cardinals, for being the team with the worst regular season record ever (only 83 wins) to win the World Series.  Nobody expected such a team to get this far in the playoffs, much less win it all.  In tonight's game, the camera found an audience member holding up a sign saying "The experts are idiots."  Very well put.  And it's surprises such as this World Series that will help bring baseball back into the hearts of its former fans.

Epitaph

Vow, to avow
Void, to avoid

I aim but miss
She apes but hits
I serve but fall
She sins but laughs

Round, to around
Go, to ago

Comments all blocked
Phone calls all stopped
Emails all killed
My words all failed

Port, to transport
Pose, to transpose

Her heart's elsewhere
My heart's nowhere
Her mind's on him
My mind's on dim

Fix, to transfix
Form, to transform

Virginity
Virility
Cupidity
Stupidity

Turn, to return
Bound, to rebound

Happy couple
Muscles supple
Nothing subtle
No rebuttal

Make, to remake
Place, to replace

Joyful union
Boy meets my love
Kissing drowns out
My tomb's silence

Adulthood

Much of adult wisdom revolves around the realization that much of what is termed "adult" in this world is actually downright immature and harmful.

The Canman Can

There once was a hole
a very big hole
A pebble went through
and someone yelled "Goal!"

There came a young man
with a big round can
He stuck it so high
Girl yelled "do again!"

A good gent passed by
Kind, quiet, not shy
He offered his hand
She started to cry,

"Get out of the way!
D'you hear what I say?
You're yesterday's news
Hey, you really gay?"

Her close friends chimed in
Making quite a din
"You go, girl, tell him
Lust is not a sin."

So like a pet peeve
The gent took his leave
Never seen again
His new life to weave.

Now back to the can
The girl had a plan
"Come over, hottie,
To me,  ___ ___ _an!"

There once was a ho
a spoiled rich ho
A big can went through
and someone sighed, "Oh."

** Dedicated to a real-life Butthead and his new girlfriend

Pride

Pride, not ignorance, impedes progress and growth.

Good to Gold

Half a century.  That's how long my parents have been together now.

I simply can't fathom what that's like, to be with one person for so long.  Then again, they probably never thought about their marriage that way, either.  Sometimes it's too dangerous and meaningless to look too far ahead in life - better to take things one day at a time.  Who but God can guarantee what will happen tomorrow?

I envy them, because I doubt I'll experience this milestone myself.  Even if I get married by the end of this year (which I'll bet good money on that it won't happen), I'll have to hit 86 to see the golden anniversary.

They belong to another era and culture, to a time when romance and physical attraction weren't so strongly emphasized as keys to marital bliss, to a time when marriage and having a family were considered bliss by most people.  Not so these days, with people getting married later in life, having fewer kids (if any), and caring more for personal career than relational goals.  They had five kids over 13 years.  All graduated from college.  How did they do it...

When I look back, it's easy to remember the times when they had heated arguments.  Not so much in recent years, but disagreements still resurface periodically.  Part of the "mellowing down" comes from aging, and the long-term physical ailments that plague most everyone at their stage in life.  For the most part, my parents are holding up ok in their health despite their age.  Mainly, though, through all the difficult times raising the kids and bearing up each other, they've now gotten to know each other so well that fewer words need to be exchanged before they fully understand each other.

Whatever their imperfections as a couple or as parents, I love them.  For 36 years, they defined home for me.  When even my closest friends get too busy or judgmental, when successes turn into dull routines or failures, when days come where nothing goes right, and I want to say nothing and just close my eyes to the world - I know I can always go back to their house, sit down, take a deep breath, and hear,

"Dinner's ready."

Happy 50th, mom and dad.  Even if I end up single all my life, you've already given me a wonderful vision of marital bliss - yours.

Above the Crowd

A significant milestone - the US population reaches 300 million.  It's all theoretical, of course, as this mark is determined by estimated growth rates from the US Census Bureau.  And the US continues to trail both China and India by a large margin in the count.  Which is just as well, considering how illegal immigration and environmental concerns have already made this event something most would rather not celebrate.  When I heard this news item, however, I couldn't help thinking of an unforgettable sight from a few years ago.

I was out in Los Angeles with a good friend who even today still lives there.  It was probably the second or third time I've been to this West coast metropolis, famed for its Hollywood glam, hip-hop music, Rodeo drive shopping, Disneyland, beaches, the Getty museum, college cheerleaders in tight sweaters, sprawling suburbs (including some predominantly Chinese ones), congested freeways, smog, and of course, my favorite NBA team, the Lakers.  It's hard to not find something fun to do in LA.

One afternoon, before an evening Lakers game at Staples Center, my friend drove me around downtown.  Impressive highrises, museums, restaurants, and sport arenas all around.  Suddenly, he pulls into a gray, shabby street.  I felt like I was suddenly transported into another world.  Or rather, it was as if a voice suddenly shouted, "Welcome to the real world."  Here, in broad daylight, homeless people lined both sides of street, living in cardboard boxes and makeshift tents.  Debris and garbage mingling with shopping carts and sacks filled the intervening spaces.  Was I still in LA?  Yes, in the area called Skid Row, where around 10,000 homeless people live in less than one square-mile.  LA's total homeless number at 90,000.

Every year, roughly one in 100 people in the US experiences homelessness.  Without making any assumptions on the exact percentage, it's safe to say that many did not end up in their current situation through sheer laziness or drug abuse.  Certainly numerous churches, non-profit charity organizations, and social programs have been established to bring hope and relief to these people.  Yet the numbers are still staggering, and this is just the US picture.  Looking at international numbers, we see more than 8.4 million refugees and 6.6 million internally displaced people (IDPs).

It's easy to dismiss all these statistics even as a Christian.  Didn't Jesus say "the poor you will always have with you"? (Matthew 26:11)  Yes, but He also had asked the rich young man to "sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven" (Matthew 19:21).  All we have are God's blessings, and we are called to be wise stewards.  Nothing I have makes me a better person than anyone in Skid Row.  What right or motivation do I have to hoard anything?

I'm not pushing for any political or social agenda here.  I'm merely speaking for myself and the person I hope to be.  Giving and sharing of money, time, and energy have to be intentional and disciplined.  They have to develop into a pattern of life, so that the left hand does not know what the right hand is doing (Matthew 6:3).  That to me seems the best way to rise above a crowd of three hundred million, not to look down on the people around me, but to gain a clearer view of the place ahead where the eternal population of God's people dwell without fear of homelessness.

October

It's been 25 years since Irish superband U2 released on this day their second album, October.  Saleswise, it's been their least successful album.  Many found the songs too blatantly religious or musically banal.  The theft of their lyrics during the album's recording didn't help matters (these original lyrics were not recovered until 2004).  In spite of the general criticism and history of October, it's still my favorite U2 album (and I highly enjoy most of their other albums).

Several aspects distinguish October.  First, though other U2 albums contain some songs with Christian content, October is the only album that is unashamedly and overtly Christian.  This fact establishes a certain unity to all the songs, based on the joy and hope to be found in Christ.  Second, we see in this album the willingness of the band members in the early phase of their careers to experiment with different instruments and styles.  The Edge, the lead guitarist, plays piano on a few songs.  Uilleann pipes are featured on "Tomorrow."

In "Tomorrow," the music and lyrics begin slowly, full of gloom, fear, and uncertainty.  The song, after all, was written by Bono the lead singer as he remembered his mother's funeral.  Slowly, though, the tempo and volume increase, as does anticipation and hope.  Inner brokenness and turmoil progress to joy and excitement, as Bono redirects his gaze to the One Who has already conquered death, and his desire to see his mother again turns into full confidence of seeing the Lord in His second coming, the time when mother and son will indeed reunite.

Other notable Christian songs on the album include "October," a short yet profound comment on God's eternal nature versus this world's transience; "With a Shout (Jerusalem)," about the need to go back to Calvary; and finally, the best known and opening single on the album, "Gloria," one of the most awesome praise songs ever (complete with Latin lyrics in the chorus!):

A line from "Gloria" reads, "Oh Lord, loosen my lips."  God seems to have answered that prayer for Bono and the rest of U2 since October, through the numerous successive albums and opportunities around the world to speak on behalf of the poor, the hungry, the diseased, and the oppressed.  Deep down, though, the image of the band singing from a barge like pilgrims merely traveling through this world to the next may remain the truest picture of U2 yet.