Come Fly With Me

More flying than usual this summer. Phx to New Orleans, Phx to Denver, Phx to Indianapolis. All round trips of course. I think the shoe bomber should have to pay for the indignity of the shoe removal. The amazing thing about flying is how far you can go. Four hours to Indianapolis would take four days of hard driving. I miss the food flights. We need to make this industry succeed in providing affordable travel, safe travel, competitive travel. I am so pround of Hawaiian Airlines for emerging from bankruptcy. I hope we continue to be able to visit those Islands cheaply in the future.

Cherish the Ladies Concert Report

Cherish The Ladies performed in Scottsdale tonight. Led by flutist/whistler Joanie Madden this group has been together 20 years, has over ten CDs, and plays some of the best Irish Traditional music you could wish to hear.

The Arts Center is closed this year so we were in a venue nearby that had about 400 seats, and mine were 15 ft from Joanie, eye level. We heard a number of her own creations, and enjoyed very talented step dancers throughout the evening. The Irish soloist sang mostly sad melodies with a hauntingly beautiful voice. The reels and jigs lifted up the crowd who claped and joined in on several choruses.

Joanie's boisterous humor and introductions, explanations, and teasing kept everyone laughing. The Scotch pianist spoke with such a heavy accent that Joanie teased her and she replied, they understand me Joanie, Im in Scotts.....dale. Funny.

There were a few boo boos which added to the authenticity, and she made the whistle truly sing. A beginner like myself can see the potential of this powerful and simple instrument. I could not tell the whistle maker, it was dark with polished silver joints and a long fipple. She played mostly high D and some G or F whistles.

Two and one half hours with a fifteen minute break, each artist had her moment to shine on a number of songs, the lovely guitarist Mary Coogan was celebrating her fiftieth birthday.

Laura and I completely enjoyed it, and were invited to come to Fibber McGees on Sunday to play along with the local irish trad lovers. I have been playing over a year and I am still pretty bad, but I am ready to start playing with others. If they get to your area you should go and enjoy this.

Going Uptown with a proper English Gentleman

Allen and Heidi live outside London. He works for the Indianapolis Ford Plant as an engineer helping resolve problems in the London Ford Plant. We played chauffeur in Daras Huge F 150 Truck. It was delightful beyond words. Allen has an insatiable interest in life and engages everyone in conversation to learn more. Heidi is the perfect complement of wisdom and practicality that eccentric and bookish men need. We loved comparing customs and political views and sensing the struggles and disintegration of English culture through their experiences. They love to travel, take walking vacations, and are as I write out in the west touring Vegas, Death Valley, and the Grand Canyon with the Amlungs. They feel like family now.

We spent two hours in Indys center city, which we shared with 50,000 FFA teens from all over the US. They were a polite group by in large and gave me hope for the future that farm kids and small town values still exist. We enjoyed a dog halloween event, and of course, I bragged about my relationship to the former govenor of the State, Thomas A Hendricks, whose statue bore a resemblance, at least in my kooky mind. As always you can click the photos for a larger view...so you can see the Devil's Dog.

Sweet Cousin Sherry

Back Row: Tom, Millie, Dara, Sarah
Bottom: Laura, Sherry




I remember my Uncle Tom and Aunt Millie as the coolest folks. Tom had stories of serving as a fire marshal at the Indy 500 and pulling men from crashed vehicles. Millie was my mom's youngest sister and Dad loved to tease and flirt with her.

Sherry stayed close and when she met Dara invited me to come from Jackson MS to Indianapolis for the wedding in 1981. I saw the pictures shortly after this shot was taken. The exact same Pulpit Robe was in my suitcase this time around. Over the years Sherry and Dara stopped by our ministry homes, while Dara spent 30 years in the same Ford plant, overseeing brake assemblies and steering columns for many. many vehicles. Sherry raised her twins, encourage Tim's talent in piano and Sarahs dancing and performing in the Band Precision Dance Squad.

The modest ranch home in Wanamaker saw the addition of two large family rooms so their house was the place for the teens to gather. Dara has the most fun loving and warm personality I have ever met, and that's not whistling dixie to affirm. They lived and worked and worshiped and played in the same community Sherry was born in. I have had the moving around kind of life and I have some real envy for their rootedness. The kids thrived in that atmosphere, Tim is a concert quality pianist who is working toward being a CPA, Sarah is an environmental engineer, who will join Adam in Norvolk Va, as he is an officer in the U.S. Navy stationed aboard the U.S.S. Winston Churchill. Even the one division in the family, the Indiana U. and Purdue rivalry has added to the spice that makes this such a wonderful family. Thank you Dara and Sherry for welcoming us back so warmly.

A Wonderful Weekend

My mother came from a family of seven brothers and sisters, and we were close when all the cousins were growing up in the 50s and 60s, Sherry's Mother is my Mothers youngest sister and the last of two surviving family members. When I officiated Sherry's Wedding in 1981 she married into Dara's family of nine. They have lived in Franklin Township all their lives so this wedding was all about family.

Everything was well planned, from my initial time meeting with Sarah and Adam, to the practice, the dinner in a local winery, the formal wedding, and a wonderful reception that was overflowing with joy and dancing. As a desert dweller the fall leaves and brisk weather were refreshing. I will post more about this weekend.

Sarah and Adam Oct. 25, 2008

Taking a few days off to fly to Indianapolis Indiana to officiate at the wedding of Sarah and Adam. Fifty years ago Sarah's mother Sherry and I played at the kids table while our parent's celebrated holidays with the family. Twenty five years ago I officiated at Sherry and Dara's Wedding. Its the circle of life, its generational blessing, its thrilling to be a part of a family.

People get ready......

To be a Christian today is to have been exposed to end time prophecy. My heritage, the same one that gave a fairly legalistic spin to the Sabbath, had a broad view of the return of Christ. It differed from premillenialism, and actually was named because of the belief that there is no future millennial period, that we are, in fact living in the time between Christ's coming and final return. There would be no observable signs before His return.

This view was challenged big time when Hal Lindsey published an immensely popular book in 1970 entitled "The Late Great Planet Earth" The premise, you know, was that the world would end in an Armageddon conflict within a generation from the taking of the Land by Israel in 1948, there would be a "catching away of believers" and then the Anti-Christ would appear. It was classic premillenial theology applied to the headlines of the cold war and the rise of Russia and China.

Since this is not a theology blog per say, just let me share that this topic created along with the political unrest, assassinations, and ugly war, a feeling that pervaded the youthful Christian world I had begun to inhabit. My teachers, however, seemed to take the whole thing quite casually and with explanations that were not so sensational but were quite helpful. I also realized that there was a bit of censorship going on when I tried to schedule the documentary that followed the book in our campus theater and was discouraged from showing it.

The first point I make is that this time I was firmly convinced my teachers were right and I refused to participate in the "pack your bags, the end is near" thinking.
I saw a lot of evangelism fueled by urgency, too many people giving up dreams because Christ was near, a lot of apprehension and unhealthy thinking, which saw bad news about international relations as good news because it agreed with Lindsey's teaching. As each date that Lindsey said "could very well be the year" my skepticism rose and I was thankful to be A-Millennial, whether I really understood it or not.