Easter at Jeff Street

Easter Collage
Originally uploaded by paynehollow.

We have unique traditions at my church - probably none more less-than-standard than our Easter Day Service.

See more photos at the
Jeff Street blog.

City Sunset

City Sunset
Originally uploaded by paynehollow.

An Easter Reflection

"Behold, I am sending you like sheep in the midst of wolves; so be shrewd as serpents and simple as doves.

But beware of people, for they will hand you over to courts and scourge you in their synagogues, and you will be led before governors and kings for my sake as a witness before them..." -Jesus

Cunning and wisdom without innocence and purity
Can leave us with

Profit-taking without re-investment
Industry without responsibility
Income without sustenance
Exploitation
Pollution
Devastation
Destitution
And a mighty poor world where
Might makes right, but not righteous
And "The Ends justify the Means" is a moral certainty

Where The powerful, cruel and ruthless inherit a broken world
Until such time as they’re overthrown by those
More powerful, cruel and ruthless.
A race to the very bottom.
Hell on earth.

On the other hand, innocence and purity without cunning and wisdom
Can leave us with…

Pretty much the same results,
As the cruel and cunning will make the rules and
Set the standards and
Stomp the innocent in the mud as they do so.

But Jesus told us to be
Wise and cunning as serpents and pure and innocent as doves,
Which can leave us with

Thy kingdom come,
Thy will be done
On earth -
On earth!
As it is in heaven

Cherry Blossom

Cherry Blossom
Originally uploaded by paynehollow.

A Timely Message from my friend, Michael...

"...If you lessen your anger at the structures of power, you lower your love for the victims of power." William Sloan Coffin

I agree with this so very much. There are those Christian peacemakers who believe that nonviolence entails never getting angry. I think that’s a load of *&^%#@! and always have.

Jesus clearly got angry on several occasions. Paul tells us “in your anger, sin not.” And before anyone quotes Matt 5:21-26 at me, I remind you that Greek verb tense is a continual action so that a better translation would be, “[I]f you hold on to anger with your brother [or sister], you will be liable to judgment.” Nursing anger and resentment can lead to sin. That was God’s message to Cain—not that his anger was already sinful, but that it was an opportunity for sin, crouching like a lion, to have him. Cain failed to listen and murdered his brother, Abel. The sad story of the world continues on from there. The purpose of Matt. 5:21-26 is not to present a legalistic standard to which none can attain, refraining from all anger, but to present us with a working mechanism to keep this from becoming an opportunity for our own crouching lions—we go to the brother or sister and we talk—even interrupting worship to do so...

See Michael Westmoreland-White's full essay at the Jeff Street blog.

Ghost Girl

Ghost Girl
Originally uploaded by paynehollow.

Time to support our president!

Stepping out of character, I’d like to pause for a moment of support for our president. Back in 2003, he was in denial about the possibility of someone in his Whitehouse leaking information about Valerie Plame. If it did happen, he’d be outraged, he indicated, and there would be consequences – implying that people would be fired and possibly indicted.

I fully support our president in following through on that pledge. Here, courtesy of CNN, is a timeline of events:

January 28, 2003

With a U.S. invasion of Iraq looming, President Bush tells the nation in his State of the Union speech that, "The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa."

July 6

Nearly three months after the fall of Baghdad, former U.S. Ambassador Joseph Wilson writes in The New York Times that he investigated the Niger uranium report for the CIA in 2002 and found it "highly doubtful" such a transaction could have occurred.

July 8

Bush approved the release of the information about Joseph Wilson’s wife, Valerie Plame, 10 days before the White House said the information was declassified.

July 14

Syndicated columnist and CNN "Crossfire" co-host Robert Novak writes that Wilson's wife, Valerie Plame, is a CIA operative and suggested sending him to Niger. Novak cites "two senior administration officials" for the report.

July 18

McClellan told reporters "this information was just, as of today, officially declassified."

September 26

At the CIA's request, the Justice Department launches a criminal probe into the leak of Plame's identity. A 1982 law makes knowingly disclosing the identity of a covert agent a felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison.

September 30

Bush says he welcomes the investigation and is outraged that someone would leak information. Bush tells reporters, "I don't know of anybody in my administration who leaked classified information. If somebody did leak classified information, I'd like to know it, and we'll take appropriate action."

October 28, 2005

Fitzgerald announces that he has indicted Libby on five counts: One of obstruction of justice, and two each of perjury and making false statements. Libby immediately resigns.

April 6, 2006

Documents released this week by prosecutors in a CIA leak case contained an assertion by I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, the vice president's former chief of staff, that Bush approved the release of information from a classified national intelligence estimate in 2003.

Mr. Bush, by all means, hold those guilty accountable. Fire them. Send them to jail. Live up to your word.

Everyone behind me in supporting the president in this matter of national security?

Humanitree

Mosaic Tree
Originally uploaded by paynehollow.

Not the poem you might think it is...

One night I had a wondrous dream,
One set of footprints there was seen,
The footprints of my precious Lord,
But mine were not along the shore.

But then some strange prints appeared,
And I asked the Lord, "What have we here?"
Those prints are large and round and neat,
"But Lord, they are too big for feet."

"My child," He said in somber tones,
"For miles I carried you along.
I challenged you to walk in faith,
But you refused and made me wait."

"You disobeyed, you would not grow,
The walk of faith, you would not know,
So I got tired, I got fed up,
And there I dropped you on your butt."

"Because in life, there comes a time,
When one must fight, and one must climb,
When one must rise and take a stand,
Or leave their butt prints in the sand."

-- author unknown

Blue Flower

Blue Flower
Originally uploaded by paynehollow.

Help me out, you botanists, out there. What do we have here (beyond, "a blue flower")?

One Down, 500-ish To Go

Rep. Tom DeLay, the former House Republican leader whose tactics earned him the nickname "The Hammer," said Tuesday he will resign from Congress and drop out of his re-election race to protect his congressional seat from a Democratic victory.

"I refuse to allow liberal Democrats an opportunity to steal this seat with a negative personal campaign," says DeLay." [Oh really! He's quitting because of liberals and not for his own crimes and misdemeanors?!]

======

Well, it's good to hear that he's owning up to his own crimes and shortcomings. Still, he's leaving and that's a fine thing.

I'm figuring with the current number of Representatives currently fixed at 435, add 100 Senators to that and a certain executive branch - I figure if we can just get another 500 or so (I'll allow that there are a handful of good representatives out there - Go Kooch!) to step down, be removed or plain voted out, we'll be sitting pretty.

Let the wave begin!

Happy Sunday!

Walnut Gargoyles
Originally uploaded by paynehollow.

The Gargoyles atop Louisville's Walnut Street Baptist stand ready to welcome you to their meeting house.