One Degree of Separation from the Pope

I just found out that a friend of mine, Greg Gresko, was chosen to sing the Gospel and be head deacon at the new Pope's inaugeration this Sunday. How cool is that?! Greg's a monk at the Benedictine Abbey here in Richmond, and is currently studying to be a priest in Rome. You can read a little about it
here (you may have to register first to read it though).

Cost of War

Well, I just added the "Cost of the War in Iraq" counter. Click on the link below it, and you can check out various aspects of the cost. For example, you can see how much it is costing your state, or, more profoundly I think, what else that amount of money could be used for. For example, at the time I am writing this, the amount we have spent on the war could have fully funded global anti-hunger efforts for 6 whole years. And considering that every day about 29 THOUSAND children die from starvation...well, you can do the math. So, when anyone in government tells you that they would love to help with those types of issues, but the money just isn't there...well, I think we can see that money isn't an issue if they really want to do something about it.

Jr. High Retreat.

This past weekend we had a Jr. High retreat out at beautiful Camp Hanover. It was a Presbytery-wide Jr. High retreat, which meant there were a hundred or so middle schoolers there. We couldn't have asked for better weather. We had six kids go, which was good, especially considering we usually only have four or five at youth group! The retreat was put on by the Presbytery of the James Youth Council, meaning it was planned and implemented by high school students, and they did a great job. The theme was American Idol. So, as you can imagine, we talked about idols in our life, but then it kind of morphed into the idea that God calls all of us, through Christ, to walk with Him, no matter what. My favorite statement of the weekend was in the worship service Sunday morning. At the point in the service where we were to greet others in the name of Christ, we were told to tell them "God loves you...and there's nothing you can do about it!" I like that. It's so important for all of us to hear and be reminded of, but I think it's especially important for middle schoolers to hear. Sometimes I think we (Christians) get so preoccupied with the little things (or even the big things) that we, and others, do wrong that we forget that God loves all of us the world over, and indeed, there is nothing we can do about it.

Sad news.

Last night at my volleyball league we found out some sad news. A guy that played on one of the teams in the league drowned in a canoeing accident this past saturday. I only knew him through volleyball, but had played in the league and occassional pick-up games with him. It really makes you think. My prayers go out to his friends and family. May God be their comfort. And Arthur, may you rest in peace, and may the love of Christ be all of your reality now (and may we meet in heaven for another round of volleyball). I didn't know you well at all, but you will be missed.

Softball...the day after

We won both games last night! 6-5 and 15-7. Awesome. A great way to start the season. It was wet, it was muddy, and it was fun.

Softball!

"Yessss" (with thanks to Napoleon Dynamite).

Church softball season is here at last. The first game for Three Chopt Pres. is tonight. Man, I love this game. And Fairfield's season starts this coming Monday night. That's right kids, I'm playing on two, count 'em, two teams. "Sweet" (again, thanks Napoleon). Why? Because my wife told me I could. Fairfield is where we go to church and where I work, so of course I have to play on their team. And Three Chopt is where I have played for the past 12 seasons (this is lucky number 13), so I can't give that up. Thankfully they are in two different leagues on two different nights, so no conflicts. The only tough part is winter volleyball still has a couple more weeks in the season, so that makes for a few weeks busy with sports (and many sore muscles...).

Speaking of sports: SMOLTZ, WHAT HAPPENED?!?!?!?!