The Rest of the Story

Here's what the "notes with such obvious clues stuck to one’s windshield" is about.

We ate in Hershey Hotel's "Circular Dining Room" for breakfast Monday morning. If you haven't heard about that, it's an incredible breakfast buffet. Well staffed, an amazing variety of breafast foods including a person who does omlets and eggs to order.

After breakfast we went back to our room, packed up and headed out to the car. It had snowed Sunday night - not much and rather wet, but nice. We got to our car and began to clear off the windows when we noticed the car was wrapped with celophane and TP. Clearing off the windshield revealed yellow sticky notes - 7 of them i think. Some said happy birthday but a couple of them left clues as to who had been the culprits. The funniest one, though, was, "Sorry these notes are so short. We're being followed by security." They probably were!

After doing some shopping, we came home to discover more celophane and TP "blocking" the front door to our house. What made it even funnier was that Jonathan had friends over for a while Sunday night. When they had left, they were very careful not to disturb the "artwork."

It was all very delightful.

Welcome to 50!

My beautiful wife, Wendy, did something wonderful for my 50^th birthday. She didn’t give me a surprise birthday party. (She did that on my 40^th and, after walking into the room and being shouted at to have a “Happy Birthday” by 100 people, I immediately turned and walked out.) What she gave me was what actually the only thing I really wanted – the thing I want most of the time, anymore. She gave me herself. We didn’t go far away and we didn’t go for a long time.

It was supposed to be a surprise, but when the Discover bill came a week ago I happened to notice a charge for a fairly large amount. I still didn’t know what it was for and didn’t even ask. But Wendy was surprised when I showed her the bill and that it was a good bit higher than she had expected. There were some unusually large items on their, most of which were accounted for (that she forgot about). Then I pointed out this particular one that was charged to Hershey Corporation, but didn’t know what it was for. That’s when she told me, it was the “surprise” for my birthday. Sunday evening, after our afternoon activities were finished (actually, we were able to duck out a little early), she took me to the Hershey Hotel – just 20 minutes from home. We stayed there overnight and did virtually nothing the whole evening except just BE with each other. It was absolutely marvelous. We went down to Wendy’s (fast food joint) and got our dinner – the hotel restaurants were way expensive – went back to our room and ate there. Then we watched TV – a program she watches sometimes but one I’ve never seen. I think it’s called Extreme Makeover: House Edition or something like that – the first “reality show” I’ve watched more than a few minutes of. This is a great show – completely remaking the homes of people who are really in some desperate need of it. Anyway, it was a wonderful program.

But while the show was on we got a phone call. I picked up the phone and the voice said that he was standing outside our door with a gift from a person who wished to remain anonymous. Both Wendy and I were in the bath robes the hotel provides (really thick, luxurious ones) and this hotel employee was standing there with a very nicely decorated tray of a dozen chocolate covered strawberries. After he set them down and left we feasted on them! Ohh… were they good.

By the way, let me suggest that if you ever want to do something completely anonymously, don’t leave notes with such obvious clues stuck to one’s windshield. Thanks, you guys!

We had a wonderful time. As lovely as were the evening strawberry treat and the decorated car the next morning, the best part was just getting to be with my best friend who is the most tangible evidence of the grace of God in my life and who happens to be my first and only wife whom I love with all my heart.

Who Does What To Whom

In the book Memory and Identity: Conversations Between Millenniums, Pope John Paul draws a comparison between abortion and the Holocaust. According to Fox News: “After noting that a legally elected parliament allowed Hitler's rise to power in Germany, which led to the Holocaust, the pope says: ‘We have to question the legal regulations that have been decided in the parliaments of present-day democracies. The most direct association which comes to mind is the abortion laws ... Parliaments which create and promulgate such laws must be aware that they are transgressing their powers and remain in open conflict with the law of God and the law of nature.’”

Fox News reports that Paul Spiegel (head of Germany's Central Council of Jews), among others, believes this is an unacceptable comparison. “…such statements show that the Roman Catholic Church has not understood or does not want to understand that there is a tremendous difference between factory-like genocide and what women do to their bodies."

The major fallacy in Spiegel’s argument is his assumption that abortion is what women do to their bodies. Abortion isn’t about what women do to their bodies. Abortion is about what’s being done to the persons growing inside their bodies. Furthermore, to imply that abortion is no more “factory-like” than a person’s decision to lose weight is to deny the reality of the entire abortion industry – at least in the United States. When an abortion doctor’s calendar is filled with dozens of abortions in the course of a week, that sounds pretty “factory-like” to me… albeit a factory of destruction.

The pope has it right. Any government or government agency that provides for the wanton destruction of innocent and helpless lives has crossed the line. They have arrogantly placed themselves in direct opposition to the laws of God and the laws of nature. May God have mercy on the U.S.

Love Is Sacrifice

Most people don’t understand this. Far too many think love has to do with how you feel. Been to any weddings lately? As part of the exchange of vows (if they even do that much), many of them express a commitment to each other “for as long as our love shall last.” That's commitment?

Having just come off of another Valentine’s Day (I should have written this yesterday) I would hope that the expressions of love from yesterday are more than “sweets for the sweet” and are more meaningful than the box is deep. Alas, I’m afraid the very concept of “love” has been relegated to how we feel about an athletic team – as long as they win - as in, “I used to love the Eagles.”

I’m afraid it’s even affected the Church. We love to love those who love us. Beyond that… well… Good luck. The problem here is that Christians are even told that they not only know what love is but they know love… not just academically but experientially: We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. (1 John 3:16 NAS) It’s not just that Christians know about love, Christians understand the experience of love because of what Jesus Christ has done. Christians, of all people, are supposed to be all about love!

St. John the Beloved (the follower of Jesus whom I just quoted) would go around to the various churches to visit them. When he would be asked, “John, do you have a word from the Lord for us,” he would always give the same answer, “My little children, love one another.” Tradition tells us that some got rather tired of hearing the same thing from John all the time. Someone finally asked him, “John, don’t you have anything else to say to us?”

John's reply? “When you’ve learned that lesson, we’ll move on to the next one.”

So when are we going to learn this lesson? Perhaps more pointedly... When am I going to learn this lesson?

Just accept it

I like to listen to talk radio... except for the aggravation it causes me. It's a lot like reading editorials in the newspaper.

I listened to a bit of the talk last night on my way home from a Superbowl party. (We left early so i have no idea who won, at this point.) The guest was saying that "you guys" (whoever that is) just need to accept the fact of homosexuals, homosexual relationships and practices, and homosexual "marriages." The host was astute enough to ask the question "why" if there are some who, because of moral and religious convictions believe that homosexual practices and lifestyles are wrong. The guest answered (not exactly his words - but close enough), "Because it just is. You have to get over it."

Okay, using that logic we should also "just accept" murder and robbery. We should throw out laws about prostitution and gambling. There should be no speed limits on any of our roads. It's okay if our kids cheat in school. Spousal abuse and child molestation "just are" so we shouldn't complain about them. Terrorism should just be accepted - forget national security and national defense.

And never mind the doctor. Disease "just is" so accept it and get over it. Krone's disease, cancer, Hodgkins disease... quit whining about these things and just accept them. Get over it. It just is.

And life would be what... better?