Moving On…

Note to DM readers:

With my latest post, The Delinquent Miner seems to have found what he was looking for. While I don’t intend to close my little Mine, further writing here doesn’t seem appropriate at this time. I will leave it to posterity. Perhaps in the future I may re-open the Mine, if the yield will be profitable.

In the meantime, feel free to contact me at the DM email. Also, I will be making snarky comments and other postings at the DM Reader Page, which is my mini-blog, based in Google Reader. Check it out, and “follow” me, if you’re interested. Or, you can follow me on Twitter, @delinquentminer. You can also check out my athletic and other exploits at Running On Empty. All links are listed in my blogroll.

Thank you for your readership, and I think those that commented. I encourage you in your own prospecting.

The End of the Matter

Three thousand years ago (give or take), the wise Israelite King Solomon purportedly said this:

When all has been heard, this is the end of the matter: fear God, and keep his commandments; for this is the whole duty of man.

A thousand years later, Jesus of Nazareth purportedly gave this answer to the question, What commandment is the greatest?

The first is… you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart… soul… mind, and… strength. The second is this, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these.

Similarly, if not finally, Jesus made a similar statement to his followers:

By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.

The End of the Story?

(CAUTION! This post may contain spoilers of a movie you haven’t seen. If you don’t want to waste your $10, proceed with caution. You’ve been warned.)

While my eldest son was at summer camp, his mother and I took our remaining progeny to see Toy Story 3. We have been fans of the franchise since before we had children, so this was a natural activity. We always expect a great movie, and we were not disappointed.

What we did not expect was for the film to be as deeply moving and emotionally provocative as it was. This always happens to me at kids’ movies.

Happy Summer Solstice!

No, I didn’t make it to Stonehenge, but I celebrated the Solstice in my own way… a 5k run then a beer and a burger.

Summer solstice is always a bit bittersweet, since the days will begin inching shorter and shorter. But, being the good heliocentrist I am, I celebrate the cycles and rhythms of my life.

Besides, I got a beer and a burger!

Two seemingly unrelated things (which probably are related)

After my run, today, my brain was on overdrive. The strangest ideas coagulate in my head after some exercise. Usually it’s nothing of consequence, just the impact of adrenaline and oxygen on my brain cells. However, today was a bit different.

1) Fred Phelps and the Westboro Baptist Church represents the logical end to the concept of biblical inerrancy and a literal interpretation.

I don’t think I will go into any explanation over this. I’ll just let it stand on its own merit.

Gold in them thar hills…

I’ve been following what has turned out to be a promising vein in my struggle to hold on to the flakes of faith I have left. I have taken to panning a new stream which has turned up a nugget or two.

Here is one of the choicest nuggets. It is from S. Mark Heim in his book, Saved From Sacrifice. The context regards the [atheist] critique of the Gospels as condoning ritual human sacrifice:

We would not accuse the Gospels of victimization if we had not already been converted by them.

This is a pretty weighty bit. I will need to assay it further to determine its full value, or if it needs further milling and refining. Stay tuned…

Vessel Passage, “… to the fan from Washington, GA.”

I wrote about this pending event, here Well, on May 4, 2010 Ernie left us.

I don’t know why, but I wept over this. Ernie Harwell left an indelible mark on me, and I never met the man.

Twelve years ago, I was alone in the surgical waiting room of Crittenton Hospital, in Rochester, Michigan. My wife had just been through surgery for an ectopic pregnancy, and my first child was no more. All of the visits from our friends were completed, and the phone calls were made. I sat on a chair in front of the television. The Tigers were playing in Minnesota, and the only voice in my head was Ernie Harwell’s (he was doing TV at that time). His voice was the only voice of calm in my life at that point. Interestingly enough, his quiet, kind, and deliberate way drowned out everything else.

A little over a year later, I was in Colorado, taking a new job. I was alone again, having left my pregnant-again wife back in Michigan to close out our affairs. The baseball playoffs had started, and I was only able to catch the games on a static-y, old AM radio. The Red Sox and the Indians were in the ALDS, and there he was… Ernie Harwell calling the games. Alone and my head spinning, there again was that calm voice, drowning out all of the rest.

That ALDS and ALCS were the last games during which I had the pleasure of listening to Ernie.

Calm in the storm from a fellow traveler. For that I will always remember him and be thankful for his impact on me.

Hey, Race Fans!

Let’s see: Jay Cutler, Austin Freeman, Kris Freeman…

Charlie Kimball.

Remember that name, if you like open-wheel racing in the U.S. Kimball is an Indy Lights driver who is having a measure of success in this minor-league to the IRL. In a year or two, this kid could be racing in the Indianapolis 500.

Oh, didn’t I mention? He was diagnosed a type-1-diabetic two and a half years ago, as an adult.

Now if only the IRL could get a decent TV deal.

Occupational Hazards

Given the motif of this blog, it’s not surprising that I am taken in with the recent news of mining accidents in China and in West Virginia. Who can forget Sago or Crandall Canyon, or even Ludlow. Mining is dangerous business, and I feel a bit of a distant kinship to miners of all stripes. I think they’re crazy, and I feel a little bit crazy myself.

Vessel Passage

My reader(s) will recognize this name: Michael Spencer. He died yesterday evening after a battle with cancer. I didn’t know Michael personally, although I did correspond with him through email several times. I always found him to be honest and forthright, a rare find in the world of Christian church pastors. Perhaps it was his line of work which made the difference–school teacher/school chaplain–I don’t know. He was not a church pastor, but he did pulpit fill-in work on the side (for free if I remember correctly).