A Cactus Does A Bouquet Make

It took me awhile to compose a message to go with the flowers we'd planned to send to Laurie Switzer. The 40 Days of Purpose study on the purpose of 'Fellowship' has hasten the will. Pleased with my short and marginally creative note, I showed it to Irene. With her tacit approval I went to the nearest florist.

The Brothers floral shop on Coffee Road does not deliver flowers on weekends. Not wanting to seek out other florists and holding out high hopes one of them would deliver flowers on this Saturday, my on the spot plan B was to go home and order the flowers via the Internet.

“Why order the flowers through the Internet? We could get her a cactus.” Irene gave me a matter-of-fact look after my less than triumphant return.

Inclined my head, our almost out-of-sight and out-of-mind cacti outside the house loomed in mind. “How would a cactus translate into a bouquet?”

“I don’t see why not. A cactus is still a bouquet.” She retorted.

I humphed and reminded her of the message: “The Son shines for trees and flowers for all the world to enjoy. A bouquet of His workmanship for your love and fellowship.”

"We are talking flowers here." I held her gaze.

"Cacti have blooms too." She looked resolute.

Then I pounced on her with the patented challenge in times of literary discord, “Look up bouquet in your Funk and Wagnalls.” (We have no literary references by these authors in our library, by the way)

Pity. She cleverly parried the dare, while not admitting to anything. “I will take care of the flowers for Laurie.” She folded the draft message and put it away.

The better part of valour is discretion. I knew then I'd better leave well enough alone.

Riverside City

I have a colleague who is from the Phillippenes. She has a very friendly disposition and works well with all of us. Whenever the opportunity presents itself, I would teach her some American colloquialism and idoms.

This morning we encountered some technical problems with one of her programs. So I went to see her and prefaced our discussion with the opening, "There is trouble in River City." I proceeded to explain what that phrase meant. While I was still in her office, she decided to test her newly acquired idomatic expression.

She called another colleague about the computer problems and started off by saying, "Pete, there is trouble in Riverside City."

Our agency will switch over to a new generation of law enforcement programs on 31 October. This is a light-hearted notation marking the last frentic working day before the change over. Our friend and colleague will be on-hand that day to oversee the transition.

Last Red Kettles at Target Modesto, CA

Standing next to the ubiquitous red kettle, Bruno was heartily ringing the hand bell when the next two volunteers arrived at 2 pm to assume the next two-hour shift. The kettle at the entrance to the McHenry Avenue Target Store was almost filled to the brim with bills and coins when the new shift began.

For the next two hours, Irene and I greeted many young and old faces. The kettle was filled to capacity by the time the next shift from our church arrived. We found a discarded clothe hanger to push in the new donations. We advised the new couple to do the same before we went on our way.

In today's Modesto Bee, we learned the Target Corporation has banned all manners of solicitation on its store premises. Henceforth, The Salvation Army kettle fund drives at the two Target stores in Modesto this year will only be a memory of Christmases past.

The Salvation Army was founded on the squalid streets of 19th-century London. The founder, William Booth, prescribed an enduring Christian principle which guides the organization to this day. The motto is "Soup, Soap, and Salvation." The Salvation Army Report 2004.

For those who took part in the red kettle fund drives last Christmas season in Modesto, it was a special day. Especially for the Target Stores' red kettle crew. Indeed, for Irene and I, that eventful day was Saturday, 13 December, 2003.

The Mother-of-all Questions and Stem Cell Research

Dellann asked this morning about my opinion on the bioethics of stem cell research. (Go to this NIH link for Stem Cell Basics.)

This question has to do with the meaning of life. In fact, any questions on the meaning of life really comes down to this mother-of-all questions through the ages. Is man a contingent-being? If God created man, then the latter is a contingent-being. Man could not come into being by himself unless some other divine Being, God, made him. I am one who subscribes to the school that God created man. He breathed life and spirit into him. In terms of cosmological significance, man is made only lower than God Himself (Psalm 8:5).

In this respect, God made each individual in his mother's womb before he was born and set apart for a special work (Jeremiah 1:5) . We are His workmanship created in Jesus Christ for good works (Ephesians 2:10). Therefore, each human embryo (via in vitro or in vivo fertilization) is precious to God, and He has a purpose for that person's life. No other human should temper (clone) and manipulate (research) on the being (embryo) of another promised life.

On the politics of stem cell research, I disagree with the Kerry's presidential campaign promises. If elected president, John Kerry will expand embryonic stem cell research with more federal tax dollars, and to nullify the Bush administration's bioethical concerns. Kerry has pledged to the electorates, under his new adminstration, the lame shall leap with joy, and the blind shall see. If that should be the case, the farmers in the heartland had better tie down the pigs.

My lunch hour is about over. We'll follow this thread another time.

The Election Pollsters - American Oracle of Delphi

Nine days to go for the U.S. general election. This year's presidential race is a horse race between incumbent President George W. Bush (R) and the democratic challgenger Sen. John Kerry (D). Internet savvy political partisians are keeping tabs on their candidate's polling scorecards, religiously from dawn to dusk. Each nuance and abberation of the polls are assimilated, dissected, and divined many times each day.

The omphalos where the polling oracles gathered is Real Clear Politics. Methodologies and interpretations of conflicting oracles (polls) are not uncommon at this cyber-shrine. In ancient Greece, the Delphi oracle was always happy to give another prophecy if more gold were provided. I wonder if the pollsters are not behaving as such.

Back to a Past War - A Relevant Discourse on the Iraqi War

"Love must be regarded as the final flower and fruit of justice. When it is substituted for justice it degenerates into sentimentality and may become the accomplice of tyranny. Looking at the tragic contemporary scene within this frame of reference, we feel that American Christianity is all too prone to disavow its responsibilities for the preservation of our civilization against the perils of totalitarian aggression. We are well aware of the sins of all the nations, including our own, which have contributed to the chaos of our era. We know to what degree totalitarianism represents false answers to our own unsolved problems — political, economic, spiritual. Yet we believe the task of defending the rich inheritance of our civilization to be an imperative one, however much we might desire that our social system were more worthy of defense. We believe that the possibility of correcting its faults and extending its gains may be annulled for centuries if this external peril is not resolutely faced." - Reinhold Niebuhr (1872-1971), February 10, 1941, on World War II.

For a biographical look on the works of this American Christian theologian, you might want to visit Reinhold Niebuhr Biography.

Joining the Blogosphere

Today I begin my web journaling. This journey could very well be one of discovery with vast possibilities to unpathed waters and undreamed shores.

I chose Kipling's L'Envoi (to the seven seas) as the title for this blog because it appropriately carries the message God has placed timeline to the creation extant. Who and what we are will accompany us to one of the two destinies awaits us in the other side of eternity.

L'en`voi´ (län`vwä´)
n.
1.
One or more detached verses at the end of a literary composition, serving to convey the moral, or to address the poem to a particular person; - orig. employed in old French poetry.
2.
A conclusion; a result.