Living Will

Last night, my kids and I were sitting in the living room and I said to them, 'I never want to live in a vegetative state, dependent on some machine and fluids from a bottle. If that ever happens, just pull the plug.'

They got up, unplugged the Computer, and threw out my wine.

They’re such asses ...


From not the usual suspect, but from


Ta-Dah!




Padre Mickey!

Grandpère loves this one.

Daily Meditation - Richard Rohr

I would like to reclaim an ancient, evolving and very Franciscan metaphor to rightly name the nature of the universe, and to direct our future thinking: the image of “the Great Chain of Being.” It was a metaphor not of hierarchy but of connection, thus the word “chain.” The essential and unbreakable links in the great chain include

the Divine Creator,
the angels, saints, and ancestors,
the humans,
the animals,
the world of plants, trees, and vegetation,
the waters upon the earth,
the earth itself with its minerals and metals.

Each, in themselves, and in their union together, they proclaim the glory of God (Psalm 104) and the inherent dignity of all things. This image became the basis for calling anything and everything sacred.

Adapted from Hope Against Darkness (p. 135)

From Richard's Daily Meditations.

Story Of The Day - Gap

The only thing that separates me from
the animals is a lot of words, so when
I'm not talking much, the gap closes
really quick.


From StoryPeople.

"No Man's Land"

And the wars continue, and the dying continues on, and on, and on.

Well, the suffering, the sorrow, the glory, the shame
The killing, the dying, it was all done in vain,
For Willie McBride, it all happened again,
And again, and again, and again, and again.

Story Of The Day

not sure if she's ready for the whole
world, but not sure if she can take
another minute cooped up in that cage
either. leaving the door open so if she
has to come back she can do it with a
minimum of anxiety


From StoryPeople.

Don't Give Up Hope For The Public Option

According to a New York Times poll:

By a margin of 52 percent to 27 percent, Americans believe President Obama has better ideas about overhauling health care than Republicans do, according to a national poll conducted by The New York Times and CBS News. And nearly two-thirds of the country supports creation of a government-run insurance plan, or public option. Read the full story.

Folks are waking up to the fact that having health insurance will, very likely, be mandatory, and a good many will want an alternative to fattening the profits of the health insurance companies who treat many of their sick clients so badly. The Congress will have hell to pay if they do not provide a public option that will serve anyone who wants in and not just the poor and unemployed.

Watch Sen. Ron Wyden on Countdown with Lawrence O'Donnell.

John Mortimer - R. I. P.

From the New York Times:

Edited Sept. 27, 2009: The death of John Mortimer is is not recent news. I did not notice the date on the NYT article, which was January 17, 2009. Sorry about the misinformation.

Still, may he rest in peace.

Thanks to Carol Horton in the comments for the correction. Lapin had it right, too.

"Why No Anglican Covenant: Part 2"

Lionel Deimel, following upon his previous essays No Anglican Covenant and Why No Anglican Covenant: Part 1, gives us his third word on the Covenant. Links for the two earlier posts are at his blog.

In his opening paragraph, Lionel says:

There is much to be said about what is in the Ridley Cambridge Draft proposed as an Anglican covenant. Too little attention has been paid to what is not in the draft, however. In this essay, I want to discuss an important provision that is missing.

Further along Lionel notes a curious silence about about a certain matter:

It is curious that “orthodox” elements of the Communion continue to advocate the three moratoria while conspicuously ignoring ongoing (and expanding) incursions. It is also curious that the proposed covenant, while requiring churches to do and to believe all manner of things, is silent on the matter of not messing in the affairs of sister Communion churches. Perhaps that is because the purpose of the covenant is to mess in the affairs of other churches.

Lionel's final paragraph is worth the price of admission, so I'm not giving it away. The cost is a simple click over to his site to read the essay. You won't be sorry.

"Words For God"

Ann Fontaine has a lovely essay at the Daily Episcoplian, a meditation on verses from Psalm 116.

Good-bye, Boots - From Sue

Well the time finally came to say goodbye to Boots. I arrived home this afternoon to take him to the vet and he couldn't stand up and his feet and legs were cold. He was one strong critter and withstood more than his share of adversity. From being turned out into the outdoors by his previous owner to arriving in Elli Beck's back yard, then living the winter in her garage, all the while prowling the neighborhood getting into fights and most likely making babies. Then he moved on to being quarantined for Rabies for 6 months and thankfully Becks had a garage he could live in, to coming to live with Bill and I in 1995. The vet figured he was about 3 then, and he lived the life of Reilly in my house and if you have the good fortune of being my pet....well just ask Graham, he'll tell you.

Boots then moved on to having cancer in his mouth and skin at the same time, right around the time I had some surgery or another, who knows what. So we were running I-95 North for him to appointments and surgery at Penn, then running south I-95 for me to Christiana Care. All in all there were three surgeries. Then finally it was diabetes and shots 2 times a day. He was a trooper, and a great bed partner. If he wasn't gently snoring, it was purring and in the middle of the night it would sound like the Mormon Tabernacle choir.

He went peacefully. Mom (Sue) is a mess and she'll miss him terribly.

From Sue.

Ah, there's just too much death lately, but onward we must go on. Pray for all those who loved Boots, who gave him a good life, and who will miss him so.

He will join Babs and all our other animal friends who have passed on in the playing fields of the Lord.