I am thinking about how incongruous the American way of life is.

Santa Claus and the Nativity.
Easter and the Easter bunny.
Halloween and princess costumes.
Thanksgiving and football.
Expressways with traffic lights.
Free public education that charges for books.
January 'white' sales.
Hot dogs made of tofu.
'Scrap' booking that costs an 'arm and a leg.'

Perhaps you have your own personal favorite incongruous list. I would like to read it.

And that's what I think about it.

It is peaceful right here, at the table.

I can hear a TV in another room, a radio in the shower, my husband responsible for both but here at the table it is peaceful.

Read the news: The nosecone of North Korea's rocket has been spotted from space. It could reach Alaska if launched in that direction. There is flooding in the Dakotas, storms racing through the south after wreaking havoc in Missouri, but here at the table there is peace.

I have a 20-page paper due in a month to the seminary, a list of items still needed to complete preparations for leaving for Haiti, college kids who are on my heart...but here at the table there is peace.

Peace in the midst of chaos and uncertainty. Peace in the midst of concern and busyness. There really is a peace that overcomes or transcends all. It is found right here at the table.

And that's what I think about it.

Nothing like a week of seminary classes to dispel any romantic ideas about ivy towers and lofty discussions. There are no ivy-covered towers in Lincoln, Illinois. However, there were lofty discussions this week; unfortunately I was an observer not a participant.

I caught maybe 60% of what was being discussed about culture, one area I thought I might, if not excel, at least have a moderate understanding which would allow me some entrance into discussion on a graduate level.

I read each of the four texts at least three times each, one five times just trying to grasp what the author was saying (See 2/8/09 blog and photo sitting with my 8-pound dictionary on my lap).

Two fourteen hour days and two 8-hour days have exhausted me.

I am clueless about what the subject for my final paper for this class will be.

I am wondering if I'm really cut out for this.

I am wondering where my rocking chair and front porch are that society tells me I should have been sitting in and on several years ago.

Ah, but there is a bright side. For a week I have been able to listen and absorb some great dialog between two gifted professors. I have made new friends who are so honest and transparent and yes, bright. And I have been staying in a hotel that was built right next to a Russell Stover candy outlet.

Life is looking a little brighter. Chocolate will do that to a person.

And that's what I think about it.

Had breakfast with a fun group this morning. Talk centered on a trip to the Dominican Republic, paying taxes and being audited, a disgusting description of a child with a cyst in her eye (and how her dad 'popped' it and then had to take the child to the hospital for surgery), cleaning a friend's house before they return for the summer and why IHOP charges nearly $4 for a bagel and an extra .90 for cream cheese.

Then had a brunch with another group a couple of hours later at Cracker Barrel. Our talk centered on the best medicine to take to prevent malaria and also medicines to prevent bone loss. We talked about the year we had spent together every Wednesday morning in study of the Psalms of Assents.

One of the group had just gotten a bonus from her employer and so treated us all.

Another had written a story for children, as the group had encouraged her to do, and she brought it for us to read. This was her first written story although she had been creating this in her mind for a decade. She risked a lot showing it to us and waiting for our comments. We didn't comment much. We were all too teary-eyed at this beautiful tale of the dance mothers and children do throughout life.

Tonight I get to meet with a third group of nice people as we celebrate the arrival of Josiah from Siberia with a shower for him and his parents.

All in all a very relational day. Tomorrow I will try not to see one person. Today held enough people for a week. All in all though a very good day.

And that's what I think about it.

So AIG is not using the federal bailout monies the way the government thinks is prudent.

Hello!

No really!

HELLO!

I refer you to my blog of Wednesday, February 18.

I won't repeat myself but please let me just repeat one word...outrageous.

And that's what I think about it.

Face book is lame!

Those were the exact words of a friend's friend after face book changed their home page and put a limit on the size of a message.

I agree...except, I don't understand most of what goes on in this cyberworld anyway. I can not always find conversation threads.

Example: Some one writes to me, "I agree with everything you said." But of course I can not remember what I said so I go searching in order to take pride in getting anyone to agree with me since it so rarely happens.

I check my home page. I check the writer's home page. I check all my friends' sites without success.

Where is the original, agreed with, post?

It's all lame.

And that's what I think about it.

There are many ways to fill up space.

Let us say, for example, that you have a paper due which is to be two pages in length.

Yet you have only a page and a half worth of viable information.

What to do?

You can get on the computer's thesaurus and find replacement words with additional letters.
You can increase the font size.
You can decrease the margin size.
You can reiterate the question.
You can decrease the size of the paper.
You could write a note to the professor on the bottom of the second page thanking him/her for the opportunity to think about the subject.
You could just do more reading and thinking thus amassing more viable information and write a full second page from the results of your study.

And that's what I'm thinking about.

How do you know what the best path is to follow? Open doors? Desire? Encouragement?

I ask because in the past two weeks some very important causes have come across my path and I am trying to decide which ones, if any, I should pursue. Everyone has the same amount of time I keep reminding myself. And then I add, you can only do what you can do....as if that makes any sense when you look at it closely.

Last week I sat at a meeting to learn about domestic violence in this county. I remembered that I had served on a county-wise task force to reduce violence in the county we lived in before our move here and now wonder if I should throw some energy toward this group.

I think my work as a court-appointed special advocate (CASA) is very important but I just closed my case and have not been assigned another. The good news on this front is that a new group of CASA volunteers has just finished training and perhaps I won't be needed there for a while after they all get their cases. The bad news is that the methamphetamine problem in this county is rising which means the children removed from homes and in need of protection will also increase in number.

I have a trip planned to Haiti in a few weeks. That is a definite and I have a week at the seminary the week before Haiti. Perhaps that is what is making me somewhat anxious (see previous blog on flying).

Thanks for listening. I know we all face the same dilemma and our value systems help dictate where we put our energy and how we use our time. My life will be clear as I am still and listen.

And that's what I think about it.

Read a good book; fiction which I do not generally read.

Healing Stones by Stephen Arterburn and Nancy Rue is a compelling contemporary and very believable story about love, betrayal and forgiveness.

Choices have consequences.

And that's what I think about it.

Nothing is more mindless.

Sticking labels on thousands of fliers.

Sometimes mindless is good. So good. So very good.

And welcome.

Jim and I helped celebrate a friend's birthday by joining her and her family for lunch. They had selected a local rib place. My friend is on a low-carbohydrate diet, but she was ready to splurge for her birthday. Ribs it would be.

Imagine our consternation when after being seated with drinks and appetizers we were told they were out of ribs.

What?

Does Arby's run out of beef? Does Outback Steak House run out of steak? Does Dairy Queen run out of soft serve? Does IHOP run out of pancakes?

They were out of prime rib also (I mention that because it was going to be my lunch choice). But they had chicken. Not exactly what she was hoping for, especially since she has to wait a whole year to break her Atkins again and because you really can eat some chicken on Atkins. But the company was good and the service but don't get me started on the dime-sized cake that was included free with her meal.

That's what I'm thinking about.