the pattyo

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***I’m NOT a good photographer!

I simply don’t have the eye for it. Or the patience, I suppose. So the few pictures I took of Kelsey’s room really didn’t turn out at all. Even the one of her building that I’m posting below isn’t great, but at least it give you an idea of the front of her apartment. The second window from the left, on the first floor, is her bedroom window.

The following picture is looking down one of the streets at the complex. (Her apartment was to my right so it isn’t included in the picture.)

So at least these are better than nothing, but I’m hoping Kelsey will use her photography skills (and better camera) to post more pictures sometime.
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***GOD, um, I mean Your Neighbor, is Watching You …
if you attend church anyway. (That’s not a lot of readers here I know, I’m sorry to say. Oh … but maybe some of you are a part of a group talked about below? If so, come on over to my church and you can sit next to me!)

Here ya go:

Sightings 9/16/04

Eye for an Eye
– James L. Evans

The election season is upon us.  The red, white, and blue streamers are out.  The “vote for” whomever signs are up.  There are songs of partisan loyalty in the air.  The news networks are firing up their huge electronic maps of red and blue states, which will show that we are as divided as we have ever been.  Many predict that the 2004 campaign will be the most bitter and divisive in over 200 hundred years.

Fortunately, the effect of the campaign may not be all bad.  Among the faithful is a stirring the likes of which we have never seen.  It seems the political season may actually increase church attendance.  Let me explain.

In Kansas, a group known as the Mainstream Coalition is outraged by churches who openly endorse candidates for office.  According to published IRS guidelines, organizations granted tax-free status under federal law “may not participate at all in campaign activity for or against political candidates.”  In an effort to force these churches to comply with the law, the Mainstream Coalition is enlisting volunteers who will regularly attend conservative churches during the campaign.  These undercover visitors will witness and record instances of church services being used for politicking.

The news of monitoring church services has stirred some concern in the local faith community.  According to a news story in The Kansas City Star (July 31, 2004), a group of pastors reacted strongly to the Mainstream Coalition’s plan to monitor church services for potentially improper political activity.  “We are alarmed at such scare tactics,” said Ad Hoc Pastors for Biblical Values in a written statement.  “These are the methods of coercive rulers.  There is no place for this type of intimidation by ‘secret police’ in our land.”

The Mainstream Coalition responded with a warning that churches need to keep partisan politics away from the pulpit.  A spokesperson for the group said, “If they’re not doing anything wrong, they shouldn’t be worried about anything.  Our goal is not to intimidate anyone.  Our goal, which I think we’ve achieved to some degree, is to raise public awareness about this issue.”

Meanwhile, in Fredericksburg, Virginia, a conservative group calling themselves the Big Brother Church Watch is sending volunteers throughout Virginia to sit in liberal church pews and take notes.  This group wants to make sure everyone is playing by the same rules.  If conservative churches are at risk of losing their tax exempt status by engaging in partisan politics, then liberal churches should be equally at risk if they endorse candidates.  Peggy Birchfield, spokeswoman for the Brothers, said, “You tend to hear more about the conservatives, but no one is checking the liberal churches.”  In particular, the Brothers are keeping an eye on Metropolitan Community churches, Unitarian Universalist fellowships, and African Methodist Episcopal churches.

It’s hard to estimate, at this point, just how much these clandestine worshipers will add to church attendance during the campaign season.  Reports from both groups seem to indicate that the monitors will be going out two by two.  But from small seeds come mighty weeds.  Monitoring pairs could easily become monitoring teams.  We could witness the rise of monitoring communities.  What begins as a tiny mission effort of a faithful few could eventually become a mass movement — they may even establish their own college.

Liturgies will most surely be altered: Monitor your neighbor as you would have your neighbor monitor you.  And if things really go well, church monitoring may eventually replace football as America’s most brutal religious activity.  World without end.

James L. Evans is pastor of Auburn First Baptist Church in Auburn, Alabama.

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Sightings comes from the Martin Marty Center at the University of Chicago Divinity School.

Attribution
Columns may be quoted or republished in full, with attribution to the author of the column, Sightings, and the Martin Marty Center at the University of Chicago Divinity School.

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***And now I’m home, safe and as sound as I ever am.

Which isn’t saying much!

***They Do Treat You Right Here
at the Irvine Marriott. I went to check out personally, since the toilet wasn’t working. They gave me the room … for free!

***Waking Early

I’m not sure if it’s that I’m nervous about my oboe (I did have the opera running through me head when I woke) or if it was just the chaotic day, but I woke at 4:15 or so. Finally gave up sleeping at around 5. I’m now having a Danish and coffee at the Starbucks, and I should be on my way home in about 10 minutes.

Home. It’s a good place to be.
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***New Room Woes

So the new room … well … the toilet won’t flush!

What a funny day.

***In A New Room

I couldn’t bear the musty smell, so I’ve been put in a new room. Nice of them to do this for me so quickly, and when I’m getting such a deal on the room! At first the cigarette smell in the new room was bad, but with the fan it’s much better. I think this hotel is in need of a bit of repair … this carpet is falling apart, as was the one in the former room. I don’t remember this from just last June. Weird. Maybe I just got the best rooms before, or maybe I wasn’t looking since the carpets were dry?!

***AW GEE …

Barry just hit his 700th. And I couldn’t watch it!

I am glad, though, that I paid the extra to have online access so I could read about it right away! And I’m glad he did it at home!

***We’re Here!

Well … I’m at the Irvine Marriott and Kelsey is now at a concert somewhere in Santa Ana. She and I arrived (after a few wrong turns!) at her new place around 1:00. It’s very nice … no scratches on furniture or walls, everything brand-spanking new! We met her apartment mates who seem very quiet, very nice, and very into keeping things spotless; they washed her new dishes and glassware, and it looked like they mopped the floor after she moved in while we went out to Target to get a few things. She had the wrong sheet size and comforter … I hadn’t realized she’d have a bigger bed, and of course there were a few other things to be picked up.

When we arrived Mel met us at the apartment (poor guy had been waiting for us for a while, I think) and he and her housemates helped her move in.

After the move-in I took Kelsey and Mel out to dinner (Chinese food) and then we did a very small amount of grocery shopping. Then I dropped them off, hugged my sweet girl, and off I went.

So now I’m here and all is just fine … well, except I can’t watch the Giants game and my carpet here seems a wee bit damp. I wonder if they just cleaned it or something. Hmm. I guess it’s not anything I need to complain about; I’m only going to be sleeping, waking very early, and heading home.

I took only a few pictures. Somehow we were just too busy. I’m hoping Kelsey will take more and post them at her site sometime. The pictures I do have will be up here later … unfortunately I forgot the necessary equipment to download the small number of pictures I did take.

***Oboe Woes (sigh)

Last night was frightening. During the first act my oboe began acting up. First it was one note, but then another stopped working well. Yikes! There I was, at the final dress rehearsal, and I only have the one oboe (many of my pals have a backup instrument). Pam Hakl handed me her oboe and started working on mine. She managed to get it working after a good amount of time. Boy do I owe her!!

And boy will I be happy when I can finally get a new instrument. But it won’t be this year.
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***Tomorrow
I take Kelsey back to UCI. I can’t wait to see her new (and I mean NEW!) place! We’ll probably have a nice dinner together and I am guessing I’ll leave Saturday morning without even getting to see her; she goes to a concert tomorrow after our dinner and I’m betting she’ll want to sleep in. But we’ll see. Maybe I’ll pop in and bang on her window. ;-)

I DO have to leave for home fairly early, because I certainly can’t be late for opening night of opera!

Still … if I were late maybe they’d fire me and I wouldn’t have to worry about reeds any more. (YES, I’m having horrible reed troubles these days.)

But no, that wouldn’t be a good thing. I do love my job. I just hate my reeds.

***Today
will be spent … guess?! … working on reeds.

My one Thursday student cancelled, so at least I have a lot of time to work on the miserable little things today.

**Scotland it is!

We’ve said yes. I will save money. I know Jameson will love the trip. I know it’s a great thing for him college-wise as well. I know it’s something he’ll never forget.

So I’m just going to have to be very careful about money for this year. It can be done.

Kelsey may even end up going to Greece at about the same time Jameson is gone if she ends up doing a summer program. (UCI has a junior year abroad program which would be good for both her Classics study and art.) Our kids will, I’m sure, be better traveled than Dan and I in a few short years! But that’s okay. I think that’s usually how it goes with children and parents.

***Giants

… hey, they aren’t out of the picture yet! They are only 3 1/2 games behind the Dodgers, and they are in first place (just barely) in the Wild Card race. They can do it!
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The Question
Henri J.M. Nouwen

Our lives as we live them seem like lives that anticipate questions that never will be asked. It seems as if we are getting ourselves ready for the question “How much did you earn during your lifetime?” or “How many friends did you make?” or “How much progress did you make in your career?” or “How much influence did you have on people?” or “How many conversions did you make?”

Were any of these to be the question Christ will ask when he comes again in glory, many of us could approach the judgment day with great confidence. But nobody is going to hear any of these questions. The question we all are going to face is the question we are least prepared for. It is: “What have you done for the least of mine?” As long as there are strangers; hungry, naked, and sick people; prisoners, refugees, and slaves; people who are handicapped physically, mentally, or emotionally; people without work, a home, or a piece of land, there will be that haunting question from the throne of judgment: “What have you done for the least of mine?”

Just something to think about. These words certainly cause me to ponder.
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***I’m Funny This Way

Last night when the opera rehearsal was completed I told Pam (the second oboist), “I’m going to skip exercising tomorrow.” Our rehearsal went until 11:00. I left the hall at 11:15 or so. Needless to say I was exhausted.

BUT …

Somehow giving myself permission to skip AVAC meant that I wanted to go this morning.

Go figure.

If I had told myself last night that I HAD to go, I’m betting you I wouldn’t have gone today.

So is that weird or what?

But anyway, I did exercise, and I know I’m better off for it. Especially since I just ate a freshly baked banana-chocolate chip muffin!

AVAC is an interesting place. There are a few of the “beautiful people” there, but not many. There are a whole lot of people who are older than I am there. They look to be in their 70s and 80s. There’s one woman on oxygen. There’s a man who can’t walk on his own. There’s a couple of people that appear to have had strokes. Not that it’s full of people with disabililities, mind you, but I do like the fact that it is a place for everyone The club I went to when I was younger (for women only) was clearly for the “I look fabulous in spandex” crowd. At AVAC I wear my old t-shirts and some loose fitting pants. I never wear makeup. (But when DO I wear makeup? Maybe once or twice a year!?)

And I sweat a lot.

No one seems to care.

***Still Pondering
that trip to Scotland that Jameson is dying to go on. I can save. I know I can. I know I buy more than I need to with my fun money. I know I could stack up my pennies faster than you might know.

Maybe … just maybe.

(It IS, after all, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.)

***Church

The church I attend is losing members. Quickly. They aren’t leaving for other churches … they are leaving for cheaper places to live. The pastor talked about it yesterday, and about how it’s not about one big thing, but more like some little things. But I wonder.

Isn’t it more about what God has in mind for the church?

I’m a big believer in God being in charge (even though I like to pretend I am!). I’m a believer in a personal God who has a hand in each of our lives as well as the big picture.

So if the church is shrinking … does that mean God actually planned this?

Just thinking out loud.
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***Oh Well

Jameson was hoping, I know, to win the raffle that the performing arts department was holding. If he won he would have been able to go to Scotland to perform at the Fringe Festival next summer. But it didn’t happen.

The trip sounds great. If we had enough money I’d have him go, but this is not a good year for us, so never mind.

There are things I wish I could give my children, but we simply can’t manage it. I shoulda gone into a “real” career I suppose.

Such is life. (And I can’t imagine doing something else, to be honest!)

(I would have loved to have gone with Jameson to Scotland too … they are doing the musical “Seussical” and the oboe part sounds like such fun. Woulda been a treat!)

***Opera
is going well, although we are sitting under the stage and we can’t hear the singers. I do hope they figure this out, but I don’t think the Powerful People are concerned with the lowly woodwinds. This is the musician’s life.

I went to purchase tickets for Dan and Jameson (Kelsey and Brandon are coming to an open dress rehearsal) and there was only one area that had two seats together. Of course it was the most expensive seating, but at least I got them in. (Doesn’t it seem as if the opera could give the performers a bit of a price break? They don’t.)

***I was sorry
to miss seeing Timothy, Margaret and the family again. My schedule simply didn’t allow for it. Busy times.
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***I Love Power

Well … okay, I don’t exactly love it, but I sure do appreciate it!

Oh, I’m talking electricity here. Betcha didn’t know that.

But our power went out at close to 5:00 this evening. There went all internet access. There went light for Kelsey to crochet by. There went the fan over the stove. There went the fans attempting to cool us off from this very hot weather. There went any idea of pulling out some ice from the freezer so I could cool off with ice water.

We went too … out to sushi. Somehow the thought of cooking in this heat with no fan and no electricity just didn’t appeal to us. Sushi did.

Turns out that a large area was without power for a good amount of time; Kelsey and I drove to a store and streetlights and stoplights were out.

It’s now 9:30, and the power came back on only a little while ago.

Yay!

***Opera Tomorrow

Double Yay!
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