The Beginner Bibliophile

No one assigns this title on a whim. It must be earned. From such humble, innocent beginnings, visions and fantasies of a huge personal library are born. Who knew back then?

Spending billions to be a servant?

In my previous post, I honored the life of Uncle Bob Barr. His was a life given to serving. Today, I mourn the loss of that ethic in the public life in America. The lessons of history are not just ignored, but scorned. News services are now touting that the 2008 presidential election expenses will top a billion dollars. That's right. Billion with a "b". There is no way that anyone can convince me that a person, or group of people, are willing to spend that kind of other people's money to serve their constituents.

On the local level--in Corpus Christi, Texas--most candidates run for City Council, not to serve their community, but to reach their first stepping stone to higher office. I won't speak for anyone else, but the idea of getting down on all fours so that some political aspirant can use my back to climb to higher office is, well, an anathema.

There is another side to that coin, and that is American voter beliefs. And what are some of those current convictions?

1. There are no moral absolutes (convictions), just political opinions.

2. Government owes me. I am entitled to whatever anyone else has that I can't get or earn on my own.

3. Only lawyers, celebrity athletes, and retired military are qualified to run for public office.

4. If you can't explain your position of (name the issue) in 30 seconds of less, then I will not listen to you, nor vote for you.

5. If it is on TV then it must be true.

6. Being a citizen of the United States of America carries with that title no responsibility.

7. What Matt Damon, Pamela Sue Anderson, Lindsay Lohan, Susan Sarandon, and George Clooney have to say is actually relevant and authoritative?

8. Facts just muddy the waters.

9. Worried statements from distant elected officials (or officials who want to be elected) actually reduce the devastating force of hurricanes.

10. Having health insurance is fundamental to good health. (See #8)

11. If the government doesn't educate my child, he/she will be stupid. (See #8)

12. A college education will guarantee wisdom and success. (See # 8)

13. Although it does not advocate murdering those who disagree, but in fact promotes love for your neighbor, Christianity is a danger to society.

14. Abraham Lincoln found slavery to be abhorrent. (See #8)

15. Abortion is simply a woman's right to choose.

16. 40 million abortions has no connection with the insolvency of Social Security even though it needs current wage earners paying into the system.

17. The difference between abortion and murder is geography.

18. Murder, rape, prostitution, fraud, theft, adultery, and pedophilia are tolerated, if not accepted practices for elected officials who are Democrat liberals. A simple apology will wipe the slate clean.

19. Capital punishment does not deter violent crime. (They are right, but that's not the point for this level of punishment. The point is that the perpetrator does not repeat.)

20. Congress is full of lying, cheating, self-serving, power-mongers, but my guy/gal is not one of them.

Freedom prospers and prevails where the individual is self-governing. This is not an original thought. Our Founding Fathers believed and said this. With those self-controls in place, America did not need a professional ruling elite, as is practiced today. The citizen legislator was the norm, not the exception. This is part of what makes Sarah Palin's candidacy so compelling. She is "one of us". We need elected officials who lead by serving the people and defending the law. May God have mercy on us.

A Servant Goes Home:

This afternoon at 1:00 pm, God called his servant, Bob Barr, home. He had a lot of titles-son, Husband, Dad, Grandad, Teacher, Professor, Pastor, Chaplain and Jack-of-All-Trades. He was known by my wife as Uncle Bob. Shown here in this picture, taken in the summer of 1987, he flashed the smile that I knew, as he sat with the love of his life, but called Aunt Dolly by us.

Although Bob Barr had a lot of titles in his resume', he had one constant attitude that was threaded throughout his life. He was a servant. He served God by serving his family, the Church, his students, the hurting and suffering, and a friend in need. In the end, because of his debilitating illness, his dear wife served him during their final years together.

For those of us who knew him, Uncle Bob's final years were a painful twist. This vibrant, engaging, and gifted man, who always was doing for others, contracted a brain disease that rendered him helpless. In purely human terms it could be defined as a cruel irony, but to define Bob Barr's life in strictly human terms would be a cruel disservice to his memory and spiritual legacy. He was a servant of the Most High God. There is no greater calling than that.

There is another reason that one should not dismiss Bob Barr's final years in strictly human terms. That reason is named Dolly Barr. An accomplished person in her own right, Aunt Dolly exampled covenantal faithfulness and love in what were some times impossibly, miserable circumstances. We live in a throw-it-away culture, but thanks be to God, she did not throw away her love and committment to the man she promised to love. I honor her for that.

Bob Barr was not famous, but those who loved him didn't care. His was a life well-lived, because it was lived for God by the grace of God.

for to live is Christ, but to die is gain. . . . . . .

3-0

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Happy Birthday!!!

I have mixed emotions regarding Sarah Palin's candidacy for Vice-President. To say that my support for John McCain was lukewarm would be pure hyperbole. I was beginning to warm to him after his unhesitating and unequivocable response to Rick Warren's question about the moment that life begins. McCain's choice of Governor Palin for his running mate has given rise to here-to-fore absent enthusiasm for the republican's campaign for the Presidency.

I love the things that Sarah Palin espouses and lives, but here lies the hesitancy: I really feel sorry for her family, especially the younger children. If McCain and Palin win, the world for those children will be uprooted and moved to Washington DC. Those who plant their lives in the great Northwest can more readily appreciate this than me, that all the beauty and grandeur of the wild expanses of Alaska will be exchanged for the overdeveloped concrete jungle of our Nation's capital. The harsh climate of Alaska compells neighbor to watch out for neighbor. In Washington DC, the insatiable hunger for power and influence causes neighbor to turn against neighbor whenever it is politically and personally expedient.

The attention being showered on Sarah and Todd Palin's 17 year old daughter is outrageous. Washington liberals and their media syncophants are not offended by Bristol Palin's sin. (Let's call it what it is.) They are just hoping that the revelation of this child's pregnancy will tarnish her mother's reputation in the eyes of the conservative electorate.

Like her parents stated after the news was made public, Bristol Palin must now grow up more quickly as she assumes the role of wife and mother. This is 100% correct. But at least she will be able to do so in Alaska.