"Sometimes a sound byte is all that is necessary."
First, of course and obviously, my heart goes out to Japan. It's not just the loss of life, the fear of what might happen with the nuclear reactors, the fact that what was in an instant is not, the overwhelming power of nature, the mindset of the people to survive this thing together and overcome it, the fleeting nature of 'stuff' or the way the world has responded. Any of those components deserve a whole post (but CNN, etc is doing a great job of saying everything that can be said at least a thousand times between commercials).
Where this hits home is the knowledge that each of us, individually and corporately, is subject to a life changing event at any time. We need to live our lives as if one is coming tomorrow. We need to make each day count and respect each moment as the gift that tsunamis and earthquakes show us that it is. We need to make our words and works mean something, and live with respect for each other. Either life is important or it is not. I believe it is, and therefore is always. It is good to be reminded how precious life really is.
Second, kudos to my oldest group of clients from the computer days of my life. I still have a small group of agricultural businesses that I do computer work for, and have since 1983. This is the closest thing I have to a long term relationship. I spent Sunday afternoon (because that's the only time I had) with one of these clients, and thoroughly enjoyed the day. The extra money is good and the brain exercise of remembering things I knew 20 years ago and have long since forgotten is cool. Two or three times a year, it's really nice to be needed. And it's really an ego boost to know that there exists at least one thing that I know more about than anyone else on the planet.
Third, especially in light of the situation in Japan, I have a nephew out in the remote parts of Africa just now that I want to keep in mind. We haven't heard anything from him, which is not unexpected. IPhones don't work there. But, per my previous post about Zambia, I hope he is doing well and learning a lot.
Fourth, tomorrow my church is starting a new outreach to feed (and not preach at) the homeless people of Oklahoma City. There will be a truck full of food, and they're going to the camps to distribute it there. We're going to do this twice each month. It's a really good and necessary project. I want to be more of a part of it as time goes by. For now, I just want to acknowledge and appreciate the people organizing this thing. Why should a very small gay church be doing this when there are so many big churches with so much more money that could easily handle this? Who knows? But I'm proud of my church for taking this on.
Finally, thanks for reading my blog. My blog is more of a journal than anything. I'm not writing it to impress anyone or sell anything. I'm writing it as a self expression, and to document the building momentum in and around my life. But I am amazed and humbled that so many people from so many places are tripping over it and (according to the Stats page) are reading more than a few pages. It's always cool to get seven or 12 page hits in the same few minutes. It shows that someone took time to read through this thing a little, and I hope it is meaningful. (And I wish more people would comment.)
I guess that's it for now. I'll be more organized next time.