Roger Green: a librarian's life, deconstructed.
| Your Intrapersonal Intelligence Score: 81% |
 Your Intrapersonal Intelligence is Very High You’ve spent a lot of time introspecting, and it’s really paid off. |
| Your Interpersonal Intelligence Score: 74% |
 Your Interpersonal Intelligence is High You are definitely a “people person.” You enjoy spending time with others. |
The last paragraph from each test is most definitely true.
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How many Captain Kirks does it take to change a light bulb?
This Sunday is More Light Sunday in the Presbyterian Church U.S.A. So what is “more light”? “Following the risen Christ, and seeking to make the Church a true community of hospitality, the mission of More Light Presbyterians is to work for the full participation of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people of faith in the life, ministry and witness of the Presbyterian Church (USA).” But as it’s been the case in other mainline Protestant denominations, there are wide-ranging beliefs within the faith. As one article reads: “Will the religious conflicts about homosexuality be settled by compromise or schism?”
I was, for nearly 20 years, a United Methodist, another denomination having the same internal struggle. The Methodists’ Book of Discipline reads: “The practice of homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching. Therefore self-avowed practicing homosexuals are not to be certified as candidates, ordained as ministers, or appointed to serve in The United Methodist Church.” Yet there are undoubtedly gay UM clergy. Indeed, on the season finale of the (fictional) Brothers & Sisters on May 20, the senator’s brother turns out to be a gay UM minister.
I don’t have a problem with gay clergy, or gay members of session or other boards. What I guess is bugging me is the fact that the denominations have rules of prohibition, yet it is well-known, by me, e.g., that the rules are ignored in some parts of the country. I guess I’d be more comfortable if the written rules of the denominations could be changed to become more inclusive, but based on the divisive nature of the issue, I can’t imagine that happening any time soon.
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I’ve been fascinated by the fact that my former church, indeed m, my former pastor, has been fighting with the city of Albany over rock concerts in the church basement. Now, the pastor has been suspended by the church hierarchy. While the newspaper says that the suspension is unrelated to the court dispute, a reasonable person could reasonably infer from the story that the suspension really IS about the court case. That inference would be wrong. I’ve talked to some members of the church; I’m positive that the suspension and the court case are unrelated. But since the church hierarchy can’t talk about the situation, based on privacy concerns for the minister, I can’t really fault the paper for not getting it quite right.
ROG
It occurred to me that our office recently “celebrated” our first anniversary at Corporate Woods.
You may recall that I complained bitterly about the move, but that I have said little about it recently.
Know that I still find it a soulless, inconvenient place. The good news is that they finally put our organization’s name on the signs at the 1st and 3rd floor elevators this month.
The phone system is still wretched, even though it was sold to us as a vast improvement over our old system. The power in the whole building went out recently.
And working in a cubicle is still stultifying.
Fortunately, I’ve taken up some hobbies…
And I’ve decided…
…to make the best of things…
…and put on a happy face.
And at work, I always write good.
***
Jenna Fischer, who plays Pam on the TV series “The Office”, and incidentally, shares a birthday with me, injured her back after a fall on some marble steps. Best wishes to her on a speedy recovery.
ROG
Somehow Blogger did in the posts I wrote for the past three days. One was the post I did about Lydia, for which I just posted pictures instead. Yesterday’s post on the parenting question I decided to recreate, as it was relatively short. the third, of course, was this one. The problem, which others have experienced as well, is “being worked on.
The gist of the third lost post had to do with the tension of being largely a pacifist and opposing this particular war, for reasons best expressed here, with an appreciation of the sacrifices people in the military and their families endure. I’ve said it before, but it bears saying again: I don’t fault the soldiers for fighting in Iraq. I fault the leadership that put them there, ignoring prewar intelligence.
Someone on one of the Sunday morning shows, a family member of a military man killed in Iraq or Afghanistan referred to Arlington National Cemetery as a “beautiful awful place”, beautiful in the neatly arranged gravestones, awful in terms of what those gravestones represent.
Anyway, try to remember that today is not just “the unofficial beginning of summer” or the end of a three-day weekend.
***
Kimberly Dozier, a CBS News reporter who almost died in Iraq a year ago this week (and two of her colleagues did perish) has a special tomorrow (Tuesday) night at 10 pm EDT called Flashpoint that I will watch.
***
Charles Nelson Reilly died recently. Johnny B. packaged a video tribute so I didn’t have to.
I was on the bus this week when I saw a woman standing ahead of me. She had just sat down her two children, and someone complimented the children. The mother said, “Do you want ’em? Take ’em! They’re 5 and 2.” Later, she smacked the older one because he wasn’t all the way back on the bus seat. I was trying to compose a positive message to say to this woman. Unfortunately, all I could think of was something along the lines of “What kind of idiot ARE you?” Fortunately, she and her charges got off the bus before I did.
At this website weblog-delux.de you will find a lot of parenting tips and recommendation for this journey of being a parent.
So, on this day smack dab between Mother’s Day and Father’s Day, it’s in that context that I ask you:
1) Under what circumstances would you get involved, from speaking to the person to calling the police, in the actions of a parent dealing with (presumably) their children?
2) When, if ever do you give unsolicited advice to a parent? There’s a friend of mine, not a parent, who’s always giving her opinion about how relatives are raising their children, in terms of punishment, potty training and bedtime.
3) Have you ever heard this song?
Be kind to your parents
Though they don’t deserve it.
Remember that grown ups
Is a difficult stage of life
They’re apt to be nervous
And over excited
Confused by their daily storm and strife.
So keep in mind though it seems hard I know.
Parents were children long ago. Incredible!!
So treat them with patience and kind understanding.
Despite of all the foolish things they do.
Some day you might wake up and find you’re a parent too.
(Be kind to your parents Composed by: Pete Seeger, Published by: Sanga Music.)
I’d only heard the Seeger version (55 seconds!) recently. But when I was much younger, we had this red vinyl record, a 45, probably on Peter Pan Records, that my sister Leslie and I played SO much that we could, to this day, break out and sing this song.
Sad news.
ROG