Walker Percy

"If you do not learn to read, that is, read with pleasure, that is make the breakthrough into the delight of reading-you are going to miss out." And I don't mean that you are going to miss out on books being bookish. No, I mean that, no matter what you go into- law, medicine, computer science, housewifing, house-husbanding, engineering, whatever- you are going to miss out, you are not going to be first-class unless you've made the breakthrough. You are going to miss out, not only on your profession, but on the great treasure of your heritage, which is nothing less than Western civilization.
-Walker Percy. Signposts in a Strange Land. (356)

The Health Care Debate

Unlike many others, I am not going to comment on the ruling in the Health Care case except to make one observation. It appears the Chief Justice was the most conservative of all. He correctly perceived that it is not the purview of the Court to overturn bad legislation only that which is unconstitutional. The Health Care Bill is a tax (just try to campaign on that) and is constitutional. If you don't like the law, vote out those who voted for it.

N. T. Wright

The second thing that Christians have done is to say, with those neo-Anabaptists, that the church must simply put its own house in order, keep its own nose clean, and live as a beacon of light, but without actually engaging the world. It must construct a parallel society in which the kingdom values of Jesus are lived out for all to see.
-  N. T. Wright. How God Became King. (165)

Rule of Law

Once again we find the Congress of the United States divided by party on an issue. Of course, its not the critical issue of the debt. Rather, it is whether to cite the attorney general for contempt in failing to produce documents related to the investigation of the failed program known as "Fast and Furious." To listen to the speaker, Mr. Boehner, it is a constitutional crisis. On the other side, Ms. Pelosi calls it "frivolous." Which is it?
It is a constitutional crisis, but it is one of a greater magnitude than the gentleman from Ohio or the lady from California can comprehend. We no longer respect the rule of law. The tyranny of the majority prevails. It no longer matters to have the law on your side. Politics is now a numbers game pure and simple.
Those people imprisoned in the Beltway mentality do not understand this is the source of frustration the rest of us feel. For most Americans it is at the level of uneasiness, occasionally boiling over in anger. Most of the country knows something smells but they can not yet put it into words due to this concept being ignored in the education they received. If someone speaks out, explaining the problem and defining rule of law, he could lead a revolution.

Texas Rangers June 21 2012

Thank God for interleague play! If you're the Texas Rangers, it's good for what ails you. Win two out of three against San Francisco, sweep the Astros, sweep the Padres. Holland and Feliz are progressing in their rehab and Roy Oswalt starts Friday against Colorado. The amazing thing is that the Rangers appear to have cooled off in the last month and the Angels always seem to be winning, yet Texas still has a five game lead on the Halos.

Bell's Palsy- A Brief Note

In reading a guidebook regarding Bell's Palsy, I came across an article with a great and descriptive tittle: "Can't Whistle, Can't Spit." How true!

Bell's Palsy- Perspective

It has been three and a half weeks since I was first told I had Bell's Palsy. I am blessed in many ways. My recovery has been rapid and noticeable. Today I smiled fully. I can't whistle yet but I am getting closer. Many Bell's Palsy sufferers do not have such a rapid recovery. It can take years. And then there are those friends whose health reports are much worse. One has just been diagnosed with colon cancer that has reached the lymph nodes, another has acute leukemia, and a third just had a pacemaker installed. Blessed indeed.

Dostoyevsky

From a letter to Nikolai Ozmidov (1878):

Now assume that there is no God, or immortality of the soul. Now tell me, why should I live righteously and do good deeds, if I am to die entirely on earth?...And if that is so, why shouldn't I (as long as I can rely on my cleverness and agility to avoid being caught by the law) cut another man's throat, rob and steal?

-Quoted by Alister McGrath. The Passionate Intellect. (158-159)

Bell's Palsy-Overcoming Fears

My biggest fear through all of this has been losing the ability to speak clearly. I make my living from my voice, teaching US History. If my students could not understand me, I would be relegated to teaching online classes which are all work and no fun. Not only that, but I believe God gave me a gift with my voice. I use that gift, when called upon to read the lessons from the Bible in church. I had two opportunities this weekend past to do that and had no problems. Today, I lectured for two hours and for the first  time did not feel any discomfort speaking or as if I had "fluffed" a word.

Texas Rangers June 14 2012

Have things finally turned around? The hitting seems to be coming back, although mostly at the bottom of the order. But what has really been astounding is the pitching: with Neftali Feliz, Derek Holland, and Alexei Ogando all on the 15 Day Disabled List, and Roy Oswalt pitching himself back into shape at Frisco, all the starters have done is throw three shutouts in the last five games, allowing only one run in the fourth game and losing the fifth. Did I just jinx it?

Bell's Palsy- Continued Improvement

For the last two days I have been able to shut my left eye completely. I no longer have a problem rinsing and spitting when I brush my teeth. A friend who had not seen me in a week remarked on the noticeable improvement.

Bell's Palsy- Progress

Since I last wrote several days ago, there has been some marked improvement. Some movement has returned to the left side of my face. My smile is straightening out. The wrinkles are beginning to return to the left side of my forehead. Most important, though, is my speech. I am "fluffing" fewer words than before. Yesterday, in a two-hour lecture, I only noticed it once. Last night, when it has been more prevalent, I did not notice it at all.

C. S. Lewis

I have come to the conclusion that if you cannot translate your own thoughts into uneducated language, then your thoughts are confused. Power to translate is the test of having really understood your own meaning.
-quoted in Alister McGrath. The Passionate Intellect. (41)

Philip Rieff

What men lose when they become as free as gods is precisely that sense of being chosen, which encourages them in their gratitude, to take their subsequent choices seriously. Put in another way, this means: Freedom does not exist without responsibility.
-Philip Rieff. The Triumph of the Therapeutic. (79)

Bell's Palsy- Surprises

Two surprises actually.
I was dreading teaching summer school, two hours lecture a day five days a week, with my speech problem. But (at least after two days) it seems to be working like therapy. I am more comfortable talking and my face looks better after the workout.
The second surprise is the support I am getting. It is a strange way to find out who the people are who really care, those that are rooting for me, praying for me.

Bell's Palsy

Today I was diagnosed with Bell's Palsy.
No surprise really, we've suspected it for about ten days now. The relief is that it was not a stroke or a tumor.
What is Bell's Palsy? Basically, it is thought to be a viral affection affecting one of the facial nerves. The left side of my face is affected. I cannot close my left eye completely. The wrinkles are gone from the left side of my forehead. My mouth is crooked. I cannot whistle. I fluff some words when I speak, although people assure me it is not noticeable.
I lectured today for two hours and sometimes it seemed like I was slurring every other word. I notice now, four hours later, that the left side of my jaw is really sore but my pronunciation appears to be a lot better.

Texas Rangers June 5 2012

Two questions: Can anybody on this team pitch? Can anybody on this team hit? Last night they were nearly no hit in a game where Oakland (yes, Oakland) scored eight runs in the first inning. A good team is going to get blown out once in a while over 162 games. But lately, if I didn't know any better, I'd swear I'd pulled a Rip van Winkle and it was the Cowboys scores I was seeing,

Change the Course of History

In light of the post on the overuse of the word "tragic," this is in the same vein.
So often the phrase is used "x changed the course of history." Is this really true? More importantly, is it really possible? When an individual changes direction, or course, that person still has an idea of where he is going. But in history, do we know where we are going? Do we know the result? A person or an event can affect history, they can have an impact on it, but can they change the direction? Only if we know what that direction would be without the actor. Put another way, a river runs in a certain direction. A natural phenomena (such as an earthquake) or a man-made phenomena ( a dam) will change the course of the river. Another example is the Dallas White Rock Marathon. Organizers have changed its course several times in recent years. You can't change the course of history without a time machine.