Women Soldiers?

Today's Bible story in chapel was the beginning of Numbers, where God told Moses to take a census of the Israelites.  Who was to be counted?  Not everyone.  Only the males over age 20. 

Why?  They would be the soldiers, the army.

Pastor asked the kids, "But why only the males?" 

After a few answers that were partly true, but not quite to the point, Pastor led them to the key point.  "It's about Jesus, folks."

Men protect and guard women.  The husband lays down his life for his bride.  Real men sacrifice for their families instead of thinking first of themselves.  This is what Jesus did for His bride the Church.  And pointing to this truth about Jesus, God instructed that the Israelite army would be the men.

Concord and Peace

"Give to all nations concord and peace" (from the Litany).

Christians over in Babylon (aka, Iraq) could obtain "peace" by submitting to the demands of ISIS.  They could have "peace" by renouncing Jesus and converting to the [ahem] peaceful religion of Islam ... whose adherents are currently robbing, torturing, and murdering those who won't convert or flee.  (This NBC story has no gory pictures obvious on the site, and doesn't contain all the stomach-turning details of many other news reports.  Fair warning: I didn't check the videos, to know what awful things might be contained there.)

Jesus said, "Peace I leave with you.  My peace I give to you.  Not as the world gives do I give to you.  Let not your heart be troubled.  Neither let it be afraid." 

Nope.  His peace isn't the kind of peace we usually want.  Peace and calm.  No conflict.  No pain.  No suffering.  That's the peace we long for: "Can't we all just get along?"

Thank God when we are permitted that kind of peace.  But Jesus' peace can be way different: "not as the world gives."

And then we pray the Litany.  "Give to all nations concord and peace."  Lord, we'd sure like the happy and comfortable kind of peace where everybody is polite and helpful and non-confrontational.  But if that's not Your will in every time and every place, we beg You to give to all nations the peace that Jesus provides in the forgiveness of sins and oneness with Him.

Poll-Worker Training

Okay, so maybe I'm just kinda sorta, a-little-bit maybe, intimidated.

I went to training this afternoon for those of us who work the elections.  Voter-ID was shot down by a Madison judge.  So today we talked about what proves identity, what we can and cannot ask for, as well as what proves residency.  [Mind ... spinning....]  Since the poll-workers in our group really seemed to care about the integrity of an election (that is, everybody having his vote counted, and only one vote counted per person) there were lots of questions.  "Wait!  You don't mean to say ...."???   Same-day voter-registration is fraught with problems!

We know that turnout will be exceptionally high for next month's election.  At the end of the training session, one of the poll-workers asked just how high a turnout the clerks anticipate.  They said "high 90s."  HIGH NINETIES?!  They told us that our county had the highest turnout rate in the country for the last presidential election.  It sounds like it could be a very long day.

Write-ins?  Do you know how much longer that makes a poll-worker's day?  We have to be there a minimum of 15 hours as-is.  Every write-in ballot makes the day longer, as we have to record them by hand. 

One of the poll-workers reported that she had received phone calls at home, asking if she usually voted absentee or in person, and what time she would be voting.  She was horrified.  Why would anybody want that information unless they were scheming to submit absentee ballots in the name of other voters, bumping their votes? 

They told us that there would be "observers."  I don't know if one side or both will be there to observe.  But some of the poll-workers are aware that at least one campaign is training observers to be there to watch closely.  We were taught what observers can and cannot do.  We were warned that out-of-state "observers" will sometimes cause conflict, suggesting voting irregularities because different states do have different laws.  (For instance, one time I was registering voters, and I had a 17-yr-old come to vote.  He wasn't trying to scam anybody or hide his age.  The state they'd recently moved from allowed 17-yr-olds to vote in the primary if they'd be 18 by election day.  He and his brother and his dad initially thought I was disenfranchising the teenager.  Nope.  Wisconsin law doesn't allow that.)

Military votes can come in via online or email ballots.  That will be interesting.

I think I better make a crockpot of substantial soup to take with me that day. And hearty bread.  And beverages.  And cookies.  

What a chance to say HI to all the neighbors!

Bed-Sharing

Milwaukee is on a campaign to stamp out bed-sharing. Several babies have died when sleeping in bed with Mom, Grandma, or Mom's boyfriend. The city officials want to convince people that they ought never ever ever ever ever sleep with a baby. Some people are talking about passing laws to make it illegal, charging parents with murder if a baby should die in the parents' bed.

Now, I don't think a baby should be sleeping with Grandma or Mom's boyfriend. I even wonder a little about Baby sleeping with Daddy alone. Under no circumstances should a drunk or high mom be sleeping with her baby. But those scenarios are quite different from a sober breastfeeding mom sleeping with her baby.

Cassie tipped me off to a news report on bed-sharing. And the findings certainly ring true. Although alcohol has been implicated in many of the recent deaths, although there have been a disproportionate amount of deaths in the poverty-stricken areas of the city, there is only ONE 100%-consistent factor in these deaths. The babies were formula-fed. None of the babies were sleeping with a nursing mother.

That's critical.

And it's why bed-sharing must not be made illegal.

This is less disjointed than it will first appear.

Claire (all of a whoppin' age 5 at the time) told her mommy a couple of months ago that, one day, she just pretended she was outgoing instead of shy, and then she was able to talk to some people she didn't know very well and be nicely friendly.

Due to some pain, I have barely jogged at all in the last 5-6 weeks. One morning I just had to get out and get some exercise and be forced into some really deep breathing. About a half-mile around the corner was a big tent in a neighbor's yard, and lots of flags, and decorated tables, and porta-potties, and a cool blow-up Moonwalk toy. The sign said, "Welcome Home, Sean!" It was obviously for a soldier returned home, and the celebration would be commencing later in the day.

In looking for employment, frequently my son and son-in-law have not made it to the top of the list. Veterans and minorities take priority over guys like my fellas. Sometimes that bothered me.

But that day, as I jogged beyond Sean's home, I thought about what he'd done. (Just to be clear, I don't know him. I don't know his parents. I don't know where he fought. But he was a soldier.) I thought about Rueben over there too, almost ready to come home after his long stint of duty, and then recalled yet again. I thought about Melody's sons. And there's Alex and Lynn and JJ's brother and so many others.

Our country was attacked on our own soil seven years ago. It hasn't happened since. We don't live in a war zone. That lovely Saturday I was out jogging in shorts. I wasn't wearing a burkha. I wasn't being shot at. I wasn't even passing by armed soldiers who kept the enemy at bay. I knew there would be food for lunch; enemy soldiers weren't raiding my pantry and my garden. I knew my church building was still standing, whole and undefiled, with the pastor free to preach the next day.

Soldiers give us that freedom.

They sacrifice their comfortable bedrooms, their time with family, their good home-cooked meals, the joys of their local communities. They sacrifice those things to give us the freedom to go to a movie, or hold down a job, or teach our children the catechism, or go jogging on a pretty Saturday morning.

If it weren't for the soldiers who protect us, it's very likely that many of our jobs would become non-existent. Maybe it's not so bad after all to allow that the ones who protected our homes and our jobs and our farms and our businesses --and our lives-- be the ones who are first-hired at those farms and businesses.

For those of you with kids, remember how great it was/is when a stranger came up to you in a restaurant and complimented you on your children's behavior? That message sticks with you for a long time. Even decades. That compliment is a quiet little voice in the back of your mind, encouraging you to go on and continue doing the right thing, disciplining those children, when you'd rather be lazy. And it reminds you how wonderfully the rest of the world sees this child of yours whom you know to be not quiiiite perfect.

I figured Sean or his parents should hear the "thank you" to him that was rattling around in my mind.

I remembered Claire's wise discovery. Just pretend you're not shy. So I stopped and spoke briefly with the family while they were prepping for all the company that would descend upon them later to celebrate Sean's homecoming.

When they're surrounded by the media telling them their son's sacrifice was worthless, I hope they remember my "thank you" just like Gary and I remember the stranger at the truck stop who purchased stuff animals for our wee kids and who thanked us for the job we were doing raising this brood. I hope there were lots of other people who have said thank-you to Sean and his family.

And thank you to Rueben and Annetta and Ralph.
And thank you to Matthew and Ethan and Jay and Melody and John.
And thank you to Liesl for giving up Lynn for those months.
And thank you the Hammonds.
And thank you to all those others, too many to list.



This You-Tube video has been flying all over the blogosphere. You've probably seen it. But if not, check out this soldier's message.
And why is it that Lee Greenwood always makes me cry?...

Ungreen Environmentalists

My husband tells me that a bill was passed recently which will outlaw plastic shopping bags. (I don't remember if it's Wisconsin or national.) Stores will have to return to paper bags. Now, personally, I always ask for paper instead of plastic. But the plastic that I get from Target or Walmart (or from the grocery store for carrying a bloody piece of roast) is used to make my garbage bags. But in the name of protecting the environment, we're going to get rid of those. Nevertheless, people will still be lining their kitchen trash bins with plastic. But now we'll have to BUY it instead of reusing our shopping bags. And THIS is what's considered environmentally friendly???

Whatever happened to "Reduce, REUSE, Recycle"?

And on a totally different tack, whatever happened to the government letting businesses run their businesses instead of the socialistic thing about the government micromanaging them? Ah, but that's a whole 'nother topic.

And then there's all the environmental problems caused by the new-fangled lightbulbs that are being foisted upon us with the soon-to-be-outlawed incandescent bulbs. But, hey, those new lightbulbs are "green" no matter what damage they do to the environment or people's health, because the experts on global warming have assured us that the new lightbulbs are good.

Suing God

I guess this post is going to reveal how out-of-the-loop I am on current events. The kids and I got behind on our current events newspaper and were reading the mid-October issue this evening. One of the stories was about a Nebraska state senator bringing a lawsuit against God, accusing Him of terrorist activity. The stupidity and ludicrousness of the lawsuit is almost funny -- except when you think about what's going to happen to this poor sinner when he dies. The thing I found most blasphemous in the reports is the plaintiff's statement that God "has manifested neither compassion nor remorse."


I merit not Thy favor, Lord,
Sin now upon me lieth.
Beneath my burden, self-abhorred,
To Thee my spirit crieth.
In all my grief this comforts me,
That Thou on sinners graciously,
Lord Jesus, hast compassion. (TLH 312)

Ethanol

We hear a lot about ethanol usage recently. They're even planning to build an ethanol plant in our tiny little township.

Yesterday I mentioned that there are two gas stations available in the nearby city that sell real gas. In other words, ethanol-free. My dad asked why I'd want the non-ethanol gas. I said because you get worse mileage with ethanol-laced gas. He asked why I didn't want to support the farmers.

Well, how many reasons do I want to take space for?

For one thing, there's the study released from Stanford University last week. Environment Science and Technology Online reported that E-85 (the high-ethanol gas) actually creates more pollution and ozone, and thus will be more damaging to health than gasoline made from oil. The scientist even projected how many hundreds of people would die annually because of the switch to higher use of ethanol.

Ethanol costs more to the consumer because you need more of it to get somewhere.

Ethanol uses so much fuel in being produced (such as the tractors necessary to do the farming) that the savings in gasoline are consumed in the production of alternative fuel.

And then there's the cost of corn. Sure, high corn prices puts money in the pocket of the farmers who grow corn. But what about the farmers who are buying feed-corn for their hogs and cows and laying hens? They're hurting already, and it's going to get worse.

And then there are the direct food prices. Germans are upset over rising beer prices and there were riots in Mexico over skyrocketing tortilla prices.

Being less dependent on foreign oil is something America needs to work on. But we don't need ethanol. We have oil. We just haven't been willing to put in more pipelines from Alaska or pump more oil out of the Gulf.

As for the choice between ethanol and gasoline, I'm planning to keep buying my real gas as long as possible. It's all for the sake of environmental cleanliness, of course.

Guns in the Home

Last summer there was a robbery in our nearby big-city. The robber broke into the victim's home through the roof and came crashing down through the ceiling in the middle of the night. The homeowner is relatively well-known in the community -- a physician and daddy of three. When the scuzball wouldn't leave even after the doctor had yelled at him several times, and while the wife was phoning 911, finally the doctor pulled out his gun and shot the intruder. Within just a few days, the DA announced he wouldn't be pressing charges against the doctor because he obviously shot in self-defense.

Now, more than a year later, the scuzball is suing the doctor. Not only that, but the robber who is now in jail managed to file suit in Milwaukee County, knowing that he'd stand a much better chance of winning there than in the community where he committed the crime. The doctor is asking that the civil suit be tried in the county where the shooting took place, and that it be a jury trial. I would love to be on that jury!

Today's paper quotes the jailbird's wife: "he had no right to shoot my husband." Really now? And your husband had the right to be in the victim's hallway, near his sleeping children, in the middle of the night, after crashing through the ceiling? Massad Ayoob writes in Backwoods Home Magz, teaching gun-owners the difference between self-defense and excessive force. And this was definitely not excessive force. (And even if it were excessive according to legal definitions, which it wasn't, it still wasn't excessive according to common sense and decent morals!)

I think my 14-yr-old had an excellent observation. "So if the robber couldn't get the doctor's money by stealing it in the middle of the night, now he's found a different way to get the man's money." Exactly.