finally has figured out there aren'tI couldn't resist posting this one Story of the Day.
enough quiet little British films around
to protect her from the real world
From StoryPeople.
finally has figured out there aren'tI couldn't resist posting this one Story of the Day.
enough quiet little British films around
to protect her from the real world
Lori and Jeff Wilfahrt, Andrew’s parents, have the milquetoast looks of middle-age Midwesterners: gray hair, rimmed glasses, apple-pie ordinary. Yet make no mistake: These lifelong Minnesotans might be the most powerful force to join the same-sex marriage movement.Lori and Jeff look like giants next to the likes of Michele Bachmann and Tim Pawlenty.
In a state that has produced GOP presidential hopefuls Michele Bachmann and Tim Pawlenty -- who have made careers fighting gay marriage -- these parents of an American hero present a major challenge to the establishment.
They'll take their battle to the Supreme Court, if that's what it takes. To the Wilfahrts, denying gays the right to marry is discrimination against a group to which their son belonged.
A lover of literature, Jeff always brings a collection of William Wordsworth. He flips the pages to "Expostulation and Reply." He sits on the marble stone commemorating his son and reads aloud. Lori sits on the ground nearby.
He gets to the last verse and chokes up:
"Then ask not wherefore, here, alone,Jeff stands quickly, touching the grey stone with his hand, as if reaching out to his beloved son from beyond the grave. He trembles and cries. "I can never get through the last paragraph," he says. "What the hell's wrong with me?"
Conversing as I may,
I sit upon this old grey stone,
And dream my time away."
Lori stands, too. The two stare at the headstone. Tears still streaming down his face, Jeff says, "It's just the shits." He whispers again, "It's just the shits."
They want people to know their son wasn't a "gay soldier." He was a great soldier who happened to be gay. Above all, he was a citizen.
A remarkable man, his epitaph reads.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.Lofty words, indeed. Have the promises of the Founding Fathers been fulfilled? Some yes, but not all. We have a way to go. And there's a game of brinkmanship being played out in Congress which could lead to grave consequences for us, the citizens, and for the future of our country.
Our nation confronts a challenge this Fourth of July that we face but rarely: We are at odds over the meaning of our history and why, to quote our Declaration of Independence, “governments are instituted.”Read it all.
Only divisions this deep can explain why we are taking risks with our country’s future that we’re usually wise enough to avoid. Arguments over how much government should tax and spend are the very stuff of democracy’s give-and-take. Now, the debate is shadowed by worries that if a willful faction does not get what it wants, it might bring the nation to default.
This is, well, crazy. It makes sense only if politicians believe — or have convinced themselves — that they are fighting over matters of principle so profound that any means to defeat their opponents is defensible.
An ExxonMobil pipeline running under the Yellowstone River in south central Montana ruptured late Friday, spilling crude oil into the river and forcing evacuations.Yes, again ...and again, and again and again.
The pipeline burst about 10 miles east of Billings, coating parts of the Yellowstone River that run past Laurel — a town of about 6,500 people downstream from the rupture — with shiny patches of oil. Precisely how much oil leaked into the river was still unclear. But throughout the day Saturday, cleanup crews in Laurel worked to lessen the impact of the spill, laying down absorbent sheets along the banks of the river to mop up some of the escaped oil, and measuring fumes to determine the health threat.
beloved GiantsThank you, cher David. You made me cry, but that's okay. I've been teary throughout the day anyway.
as corny as it may sound,
sitting here, having given heart-felt thanks for the life, ministry, and brave articulate example of our Kirstin
i'm very mindful of what an extraordinary circle of grace and faithful lives we've all been a part of in accompanying our treasured friend
our loose, loving interconnectedness via the internet, which has been a source of grace/love/prayers/strength and support to so many over the years, and the incredible network which grew to surround our Kirstin-
'by their fruits' Scripture tells us- and i can't help but feel that what the Holy Spirit works/worked through this blessed interconnectedness says something of how/where our Church is called to grow.
so this morning, i'm deeply, profoundly grateful for each one of you - remembered by name, with gratitude and love
I am sending out one great Montreal hug- a group hug, in dear Kirstin's honour as we hold the memory of her, her life and example close to our hearts
and strive to live Life even more intentionally, more......... unconditionally present in our slow waltz with Ruach, all to G-d's greater glory.
(((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((Group hug))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))
thank-you my beloved Giants
love always-always Love
David@Montreal
Kirstin died a few minutes before 8 p.m. After a day of many of us singing to her, she is now singing with the angels. Rest in peace, my little one.And the angels sang thee to thy rest, dear Kirstin.
And this will be the psalm at my memorial:Also from Kirstin's blog: The Indigo Girls - "The Wood Song"
The Rev. Virginia Going, “Today”
Let me live today.
Let me be open to the miracle of this day.
Let me breathe the best of today.
Let me not miss the heart of today.
Let me find the gift of today,
hidden like a jewel in rubble of care, duty, and detail.
Let me pause to hear
the steady beat of the heart of God—
hoping, aching, sorrowing, expectant, patient,
despairing heart of God.
Listen, listen.
Do you hear it?
Ever so faint but steady, steady,
rhythmic organ, strong muscle,
thumping, beating, pumping, sustaining, encompassing,
wildly dancing heart of God.
Let me live this day, aware, open, listening, breathing, alive.