This past week a well known Iowa high school football coach was shot and killed by a former player. What I found interesting was a quote in the local paper which said, "God always has a reason," as if God was somehow at fault. Nobody seems to suggest that perhaps guns are too readily available. Nobody seems to suggest that the young man who was arrested and who had a history of substance abuse and mental illness either did not or could not receive treatment for his addictions. Nobody suggested that it is entirely too easy for people with mental illness to get access to a gun. I don't want this to be seen as defending the young man's shooting of the coach because it is indefensible. What I wonder about is why people feel the need to suggest that God is somehow to blame since "God always has a reason." For what reason would God want this coach killed?
What I would suggest is that if people want to make sense of this tragedy they look at our societies obsession with guns, or they look at why people with mental illnesses or addiction issues can't get help outside of being arrested and getting involved in the criminal justice system. And more than likely any help obtained through the justice system is limited.
On the other side of this, in today's Gazette there was an article titled "Pastor invites churchgoers to bring guns to celebration." According to the article more than 200 people attended the service at a church in Kentucky to celebrate their second amendment rights. Another article said that New Jersey passed a law limiting a person to one gun purchase a month. So, is it any wonder gun deaths continue to increase in our country. In the meantime we can speculate about what reasons God might have for this tragedy and celebrate our second amendment rights all at the same time.
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Friday, June 26, 2009
4th and 5th grade camp
Back from a week at Crooked Creek Christian Camp where I was the "camp pastor" for the 4th and 5th grade camp. In spite of the heat, the bugs, and the storms the kids had a good time and seemed to enjoy themselves. Thought I would share a couple of happenings which I found interesting.
The theme for the week had to do with "reaching the promised land" so I told some stories from the Exodus. One morning I said something about reading other stories from the Old Testament
One young boy who seemed to take my little talks rather seriously, came to me that afternoon and said he had read the story of Noah and the ark. I asked what he thought and he said it was interesting and wondered what it would have been like to be on the ark. Then he added, "I read the part where Noah planted a vineyard, and then he got drunk, and then it got sort of gross cause it said he was naked." He started to ask a question, but I discovered this age group is easily distracted and he ran off to participate in the next activity. Frankly there are a lot of stories in the Bible which people find embarassing, though I guess it is helpful for moralistic Republicans who have "fallen into sin" to compare themselves to King David.
There was one young African-American boy at the camp which I imagine would be hard and so it was probably no surprise that he was homesick much of the week. He stuck it out and as the week went on he seemed to be enjoying himself. For the last evening meal of the week, the camp had a "mystery meal" where the counselors served the campers. The kids sat with their cabin mates and were supposed to have dressed up a bit. For most of the boys this meant clipping a tie onto their sweaty t-shirts. What I found interesting is that as I walked into the room, a table of boys invited me to sit at their table "so I could sit and eat with the President." I asked who was the President and they all pointed to the head of the table where the lone black young man was sitting with a big smile. I asked the rest of the boys, all white, who they were. They announced in unison, "we're his bodyguards." They decided I was someone important from some other country who was visiting for the evening. As we ate I wondered if something like this would have happened a year ago.
It just so happened I have been reading Barack Obama's book, Dreams of my Father, where he spends a lot of time talking about finding his place in society. It is an interesting book. As I read it I realized it is nice to have a President who can write so well and who has spent a lot of time thinking and reflecting about who he is, about society, and the problems much of US society faces. It will be interesting to see how former President Bush's book compares and to realize he will have at least one other person actually doing the writing.
I don't know what the boys in the camp thought about their place in society or matters of race. During the week they were more concerned about swimming times, which cabin would get to go first to lunch, and if their cabin would "win" even if there wasn't a competition at the moment. Perhaps that is a good sign for the future.
The theme for the week had to do with "reaching the promised land" so I told some stories from the Exodus. One morning I said something about reading other stories from the Old Testament
One young boy who seemed to take my little talks rather seriously, came to me that afternoon and said he had read the story of Noah and the ark. I asked what he thought and he said it was interesting and wondered what it would have been like to be on the ark. Then he added, "I read the part where Noah planted a vineyard, and then he got drunk, and then it got sort of gross cause it said he was naked." He started to ask a question, but I discovered this age group is easily distracted and he ran off to participate in the next activity. Frankly there are a lot of stories in the Bible which people find embarassing, though I guess it is helpful for moralistic Republicans who have "fallen into sin" to compare themselves to King David.
There was one young African-American boy at the camp which I imagine would be hard and so it was probably no surprise that he was homesick much of the week. He stuck it out and as the week went on he seemed to be enjoying himself. For the last evening meal of the week, the camp had a "mystery meal" where the counselors served the campers. The kids sat with their cabin mates and were supposed to have dressed up a bit. For most of the boys this meant clipping a tie onto their sweaty t-shirts. What I found interesting is that as I walked into the room, a table of boys invited me to sit at their table "so I could sit and eat with the President." I asked who was the President and they all pointed to the head of the table where the lone black young man was sitting with a big smile. I asked the rest of the boys, all white, who they were. They announced in unison, "we're his bodyguards." They decided I was someone important from some other country who was visiting for the evening. As we ate I wondered if something like this would have happened a year ago.
It just so happened I have been reading Barack Obama's book, Dreams of my Father, where he spends a lot of time talking about finding his place in society. It is an interesting book. As I read it I realized it is nice to have a President who can write so well and who has spent a lot of time thinking and reflecting about who he is, about society, and the problems much of US society faces. It will be interesting to see how former President Bush's book compares and to realize he will have at least one other person actually doing the writing.
I don't know what the boys in the camp thought about their place in society or matters of race. During the week they were more concerned about swimming times, which cabin would get to go first to lunch, and if their cabin would "win" even if there wasn't a competition at the moment. Perhaps that is a good sign for the future.
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
catching up
Nearly two months since I've sat down and added anything to this. Soccer season, the son's graduation from college, the end of the school year along with graduation are the primary culprits. The season ended with a 13-3 record and a loss in the substate game to the team which went on to win the championship. Graduation went well. I did foil a prank which was both sort of fun, but also frustrating since it made extra work for me. Plus I had warned some of the soccer players to not do anything stupid but the yahoo's chose to ignore that advice.
Yesterday I rode the train from Chicago to Mt. Pleasant. Though we were about an hour late I found it to be a rather pleasant way to travel. The seats were comfortable, there was plenty of leg room, and with the gentle rocking of the train it was easy to fall asleep. There is some talk of opening a line from Chicago to Des Moines with a stop in Iowa City. Rather than to continue to add lanes to Interstate 80, it would seem to make sense to improve the rail line so people could travel with out their cars. With gas prices on the rise again it makes even more sense.
If anybody from afar misses Wellman I discovered you can go to Google Maps, type in Wellman, Iowa, then if you click on "street scene" you can "drive through town" on highway 22. You can also take a look at houses along the way meaning you can see portions of our back yard. When I did this I realized how depressing Wellman probably looks to people who are driving through for the first time.
Yesterday I rode the train from Chicago to Mt. Pleasant. Though we were about an hour late I found it to be a rather pleasant way to travel. The seats were comfortable, there was plenty of leg room, and with the gentle rocking of the train it was easy to fall asleep. There is some talk of opening a line from Chicago to Des Moines with a stop in Iowa City. Rather than to continue to add lanes to Interstate 80, it would seem to make sense to improve the rail line so people could travel with out their cars. With gas prices on the rise again it makes even more sense.
If anybody from afar misses Wellman I discovered you can go to Google Maps, type in Wellman, Iowa, then if you click on "street scene" you can "drive through town" on highway 22. You can also take a look at houses along the way meaning you can see portions of our back yard. When I did this I realized how depressing Wellman probably looks to people who are driving through for the first time.
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