Then Came the Day I Climbed Out of These Safe Limbs

Thank God for irony and thank God for Stephen Colbert.

Highway Run Into the Midnight Sun

What does charisma look like? How do you know when someone or something has that certain something that keeps everyone's attention, even in a crowd? I don't think that it is something that you can necessarily quantify, but it's like former Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart once said about obscenity, "It's hard to define, but I know it when I see it."

Coldplay, or more specifically, Chris Martin has "it." Just as Kurt Cobain, Bono, and other leading rock frontmen have the seemingly natural ability to hold our attention no matter what they are doing, Martin and Coldplay held the audience at the American Airlines Center last night rapt for their entire set.

It is often hard to avoid comparing concerts that I have attended, but this one ranks somewhere near the top. Ever since I heard "Yellow" on the radio during my junior year of high school, I have known that I was listening to music that would stand the test of time. I won't be surprised if one day I walk into my teenager's room while he or she is studying while "Swallowed in the Sea" plays in the background.
That's what music is really about isn't it? A soundtrack to our lives that allows us to connect moments and memories into some sort of understandable whole. Just hearing a certain song or band takes my mind back to a trip, an event, or a person. That is why music is so much more than sounds produced by instruments or voices. It's an irreplaceable part of the fabric of human memory.

Light Up, Light Up As If You Have a Choice

Congratulations to Dan Carlson for correctly naming "Run" by Snow Patrol as the Friday Song of the Day.

If some people think Abilene is desolate, read this article about our pals a few miles to the west and you might not feel so bad. This, my friends is the stereotypical Texas: oil wells, scrub brush, and sheriffs driving around with AK-47s in their gun racks.

I'll Be Right Beside You Dear

Well, if the people ask for it, I will give the people what they need.

After Isiah announced the Penny Hardaway and Trevor Ariza for Stevie Franchise gem, the faithful readers of the Sports Guy wrote in expressing their exasperation. I'm going to tell you already, some of these people care about basketball wayyyyyy too much, but some of them are very funny.

I think my favorite email comes from the reader in Dallas who suggests that there be "a reality show involving Robert Downey, Jr., Tom Sizemore, Kate Moss, and Gary Busey, among others, just to prove that no matter how many drugs you consume, you are probably still going to be a better NBA GM than Isiah Thomas. In no other industry are you allowed to fail beyond comprehension so many times (CBA, Raptors, Pacers, Knicks....and counting) and still be employed nonetheless, in a position of authority."

Let's just say that if I made a deal as SA President to trade Sing Song and Freshman Follies as major ACU events in exchange for showcase concerts by superstars such as Diamond Rio and Barbara Mandrell, I would not top the trail of mishaps that is the post-playing career of Isiah Thomas.

Today, the SG himself weighed in on the madness with one of his most creative and bizarre columns yet. Bill, in the 1 in a million chance that you actually read this blog, I want you to know that if you are killed by Isiah for writing this column, before his murder trial he will find some way to trade away Alan Dershowitz and Kenneth Starr as his defense lawyers for a guy who just graduated from the West Greenbow, Alabama Night School of Law and insist that he was making "a good deal on a rising prospect."

The NBA. It's fannnnnnnnnnnnnnnnntastic!!!!!

Just a Taste...

Thanks to the hard work of Chad Hutchins you can enjoy THIS.

I guess the real feature you should check out is the GSP for OIF section, but I'm not going to lie, the videos are pretty darn enjoyable.

Don't say I never did anything for you.

With Love We Will Survive

Congratulations again to Teresa for naming "Hallelujah" by Leonard Cohen, et al. as the Wednesday Song of the Day.

On some days, it would be enough to comment on the Port controversy or the Steve Francis trade, but this is not one of those days.

Some days, I have thoughts and feelings inside of me that are impossible to put into words. In my mind, they are so good and so deep that if I were somehow able to verbalize them, I would be cheapening them in some unforgivable way.

Out of the myriad of metaphors that we have created for life, my favorites are those that point to life as a journey. As I continue to learn and grow, the true joy of life is not found in accomplishing goals or checking tasks of a personal to-do list, but in the lessons that are learned along the way. As I move closer to God, I am continually reminded of how far I have to go before I become who I want to be.

I Know This Room, I've Walked This Floor

Congratulations to Teresa for correctly naming "Crush" by Gavin DeGraw as the Monday Song of the Day.

Now that all of the Sing Song hubbub has died down it is time to turn to what is next in life. That seems to be how life is sometimes. After finishing something that consumes your time, you enjoy it for a little while before turning to what's next. There will always be something new to turn to, something new to cause growth, and something new to learn. That's why so much of life is about attitude.

With each new day I have the opportunity to decide how I will live that day. Not to decide everything that will happen to me, but to decide how I will react to what comes my way. It's often frustrating when I wake up in the morning deciding that I want to learn more of what it means to love those around me and it seems that some of the people I run into are bent on making that the hardest lesson I have ever learned.

In those moments I remember that I have so much to learn and so far to go, but I am not discouraged because I know that the truly important lessons in life are not learned in a day. Otherwise, they would not mean as much and they would not be lessons that change how I see the world. My prayer for tomorrow is that I will be open to what God has to teach me and what he has to show me. I'm so far from where I want to be, but I'm headed in the right direction.

My Dear, I Went for the Steal

Congratulations to Ms. Heather Norman and Andrew "The Long Arm of the Sing Song Law" Tuegel for correctly naming "This Year's Love" by David Gray as the Sunday Song of the Day.

He may have a great showing in the slalom later in the Games, but so far Bode Miller has been the largest let-down of the 2006 Olympics. Not since Reebok's doomed "Dan and Dan" promos for the 1992 Barcelona Olympics has a hype-fest fall as far off the mark as Nike's "Join Bode" campaign.

It might be a catch-22 for athletes who only capture our attention every four years, but large-scale Olympic advertising campaigns focused on individual athletes always have a strange way of falling far short of the mark. Perhaps the relentless press coverage of Miller before these games set the bar so high that anything less than 5 golds would be seen as a disappointment, but thus far the potential golden boy of the Turin Olympics has gained the most notoriety for his shortcomings rather than his superhuman exploits.

Singing Ain't This Life so Sweet

For your viewing pleasure, I present a photo essay featuring the highlights of Sing Song 2006.

The Scott family unites.

Shelbs and I.

The Wizard, Joseph, and yours truly.

The man, the myth, the legend. Trevor McWilliams.

Courtney and I. Notice Malinda trying with all of her might to disrupt the picture.

Sarah and I. I've always owed her a great debt of gratitude for pinning my cuffs back when we were ice-cream men.

Just look at the intensity on Coleman's face

The Little Brother and I.

Miss Lyndsay Reed and I.


The Norm and I.


Miss Valerie Hanneken and I.


Jon and I were allowed into the Freshman 50. A great honor indeed.

Joey said I look like one of the Gallagher brothers from Oasis in this picture. I'm just surprised that anyone can take their eyes off of Danny's amazing fu-manchu.


All hell breaking loose.

Welcome to the Summit. Notice the expression of Casey Bingham in the lower center portion of the picture. Priceless.

The Legacy from left to right: Jeff McCain(Victory #5), David Gilly (Victory #4 and #3), Eric Hise (Victory #2), and Jay Duty (Victory #1)
The Drive for Five is complete.

I Can’t Remember All the Times I Tried to Tell Myself to Hold On to These Moments as They Pass

It's hard sometimes, isn't it? You know that you are in a moment that you need to savor, but it seems contradictory to consciously slow down and savor or catalogue that moment when all you want is to live in the moment.

That's how this semester has been for me so far. I know that I am nearing the end of a significant part of my life and I need to be conscious of what is going on all around me, but sometimes I want to channel that energy in a different direction. Instead of always worrying about memories or legacy sometimes I just want to feel now.

I think that there is a middle ground. That is where I want to stand for the rest of my life. Knowing that I need to remember how my experiences have shaped and formed me, but not worrying about that so much that I cannot appreciate today for simply being today.

If You Try the Best You Can, The Best You Can Is Good Enough

Congratulations to Mr. Jeffrey McCain for correctly naming "Josephine" by The Wallflowers as the Wednesday Song of the Day.

If I'm posting pictures like this, Sing Song must be very close indeed. Orthodontist J. Mike Rowan of Tyler is receiving a $.25 royalty deposit for every positive dental comment made about this picture.

I'm just going to warn you, this next picture could turn out to be a picture that is used by blackmail in the coming years.

Although, it could turn out that the mustache becomes a socially acceptable form of facial hair in the coming years and I could be part of the vanguard who brings it back to prominence.

The madness begins in earnest tonight in Moody Coliseum. It should be a fun ride from here until Saturday night. "We are princes....One Day Kings!"

When You Wake I Will Drive You Into Town

Have you ever had one of those movies that every one of your friends has seen before you? And as the weeks drag on after the movie premieres or is released on DVD, people are constantly talking about said movie? It doesn't help that my current "that movie" was also nominated for an Oscar for Best Picture.

To answer your query, the movie I am speaking of is Crash. About a week ago, Erin Dimas and I were talking about movies and she asked me if I had seen Crash. When I told her that I had not, she told me that she would let me borrow her copy. Since she she brought it up to the SA Office, it has been sitting here on the corner of my desk up until this very moment. I'm pretty sure that it not really even a movie anymore. It has now become something of a conversation piece. It is my way of becoming all things to all people.

You see, when you have not seen a movie that everyone else has seen, it is somehow always the subject of conversation. People walk into my office, look at my desk, and immediately begin asking me about the movie. I walk into my apartment and my roommate and his girlfriend are talking about the movie. "Justin, have you seen Crash?" I answer with a simple no, but how do I tell them that this has become an oddly enjoyable game. I wonder how much the movie will be built up in my mind before I just take the DVD out of the box and use it to kill someone much like Oddjob in the James Bond series.

At this point, there is no way the movie could possibly live up to the comparisons that have been made by the myriad of people that have come into my office and offered their best impressions of Ebert and Roeper. I mean, even the cover of the DVD has a review from David Denby of The New Yorker stating that it is "easily the strongest American film since Mystic River." I loved Mystic River. This movie could be Citizen Kane and I would be disappointed.

My parents did this one time to some of our friends with the movie A Christmas Story. This is back before the current days where the film is whored out by Ted Turner for 24-hours each Christmas, where it was still a bit of a cult classic. My parents constantly told this couple about how funny the movie was and I'm pretty sure that my Dad enjoys it because he did a lot of the same things as Ralphie when he was growing up in Indiana. I'm not even sure how many times I have heard my Mom quote the lines about Ralphie's position as an aficionado of soap, but it's somewhere in the 1000's.

Anyhow...these people came over to watch the movie one night during the holiday season and were utterly disappointed. They looked at my parents during the movie like I look at some of my friends who tell jokes that have a "you had to be there" requirement, but the difference was they were there. My parents were apopoleptic. How could anyone not love that movie Justin? That movie is great!

I'm not saying that it is fate, but I can see myself heading the same direction as our friends with Crash. Sometimes you just know too much for your own good.

And Coffee that Somehow Leaks Out of Your Cup

I have not linked to many articles lately, mainly because I have felt compelled to provide my own thoughts on life and the prospect of commenting on what other people have written seemed strangely unappealing at the time. Anyhow...

Today's Washington Post featured a great article about the man, the myth, and the legend known as Lloyd Dobler. For those of you who do not recognize the name, this column will provide a crash course in the man who has ruined love for every American man alive.
I'm really not bitter about things, but I have to agree with Hank Stuever (who expects to get a girl with a name like that?) and Chuck Klosterman when they say that Dobler and people like Chris Martin of Coldplay have created the concept known as "fake love." Well, maybe they did not create "fake love". That was probably Shakespeare when he penned "Romeo and Juliet" or Solomon when he wrote "Song of Songs".

Whatever the case, these sappy, romantic softies sing lines about "bleeding themselves dry" for the woman they love and comparing women to the rising sun. Basically, they have set the bar so high that no real man who operates without a screenwriter can succeed. Girls everywhere expect us to stand under their balconies composing spontaneous sonnets or outside of their windows holding up our collective boombox to the world as it blares "In Your Eyes."

Ladies, give all of us a break from now on. We're not Lloyd Dobler and we're not Chris Martin. We're not Romeo and we're not Solomon. I do make great romantic mix CD's though....

So Toss Away Stuff You Don't Need in the End, but Keep What's Important and Know Who's Your Friend

Congrats to Ashley Mize for correctly naming "Pot Kettle Black" by Wilco as the Sunday Song of the Day.

"Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake in the day to find that all was vanity; but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men for they may act their dream with open eyes and make it possible."

T.E. Lawrence

I have this dream sometimes. In this dream, I am running. I'm not really sure if I'm running away from something or if I'm running towards something, but I know that I feel free. In this dream, my calves never ache, my lungs are full of life-giving air, and I can go forever. Well, at least until I wake up....

The landscapes change from time to time. Sometimes I'm running along the beach Chariots of Fire style and other times I am running along the very spine of the mountains like Mel Gibson in Braveheart. It doesn't really seem to matter where I am running, because it's not really about what's going on the outside, but what I feel in my heart and what my head tells me. That's really what life is about isn't it? Knowing that if you are at peace with yourself and God, the whole world can be going crazy but you still know who you are. It's hard to be a philosopher right now though because I'm still running...

The more I think about it, I'm running towards something. The reason that I reach this conclusion is because I feel no fear as I run. Nothing is pursuing me. Not the tangible wolves and sirens of this world. Not the intangible fear and doubt that sometimes seems so pervasive in this world. Like I said before, the overwhelming sense is one of freedom.

I'm not worried about how fast I'm going or if anyone is going to pass me, because right now it's not about anyone else or any conception of time. It's about the simple joy of movement. The thankfulness that comes from knowing that I have a gift that could be taken from me any moment, but the lessons that I have learned from this gift will stick with me for much longer.

I'm not looking for any interpretations of this dream from anyone, because I don't really want to understand it.

I have this dream sometimes. In this dream, I am running....

I'm Tied In a Knot, but I'm Not Gonna Get Caught

Congratulations to Ms. Heather Norman for correctly answering "Transatlanticism" by Death Cab for Cutie as the Saturday Song of the Day.

A re-telling of this weekend's events in question and answer format:

1. Did we have a toga party at the 'Burgh on Friday night as we waited until we went on at Moody Weekend at 2:30 in the morning? Yes.


2. Did it ever get out of hand like those crazy toga parties I saw on the movie Animal House? No.



3. Then why did members of a fraternity/social club have an impromptu toga party if it was not crazy? Well, let's just say that a little limbo and therapy ball jousting goes a long way.
   

I love college.

I Thought It Less Like a Lake and More Like a Moat.

Congratulations to Ms. Ashley Mize for naming "Swallowed in the Sea" by Coldplay as the Friday Song of the Day.

I've heard many times that we should maximize our strengths and minimize our weaknesses, but there are some things that I am just plain terrible at doing. One of those things happens to be making Sing Song costumes. When I am putting it together, I just want to make sure that it is going to stay on me during the show and not stand out too much, but I'm not worried about winning any awards.

It is easy for me to slip by doing just enough to get by when I am doing things that I am not passionate about, but what kind of attitude is that? I think everyone should devote their lives to doing things that we are passionate about, but as is the case in an imperfect world, we often find ourselves doing things that do not capture our heart and mind. Should we simply allow what looks like justified apathy to allow us to do things half-heartedly or is there something else out there?

I believe there is. I believe that nothing is ordinary or meaningless in the kingdom of God. Each seemingly meaningless task or chore is an opportunity to learn a lesson or to connect with someone who is in our life for a brief period of time. This focus is part of my journey towards learning to savor each and every moment of the life that I have been given.

Be blessed in everything you do today, especially when you do not expect it.

Ah, What Good is it to Live With Nothing Left to Give, Forget but Not Forgive, Not Loving All You See

Congratulations to Ms. Heidi Hipp for correctly naming "Someone Else's Arms" by Mae as the Thursday Song of the Day.

In our quest to full capture the essence of the original "Tale of the Frog" Sing Song Act from 1975, the men of Gamma Sigma Phi are all growing mustaches to replicate that facial trend of the mid-1970's.

I couldn't handle looking like a child-molester during the weeks leading up to the shows, so I have decided to grow the beard as a cover-up so that I can shave into the mustachio right before the Friday/Saturday extravaganza.

This picture is mainly for my parents, but I hope the rest of you enjoy it as well.


"All our warts are gone today, webbed feet can't stand in our way, ACU girls can't stay away!"

It Seems We're Better Off Breaking Hearts

Congratulations to Mr. Jeffrey McCain for correctly naming "Suspension" by Mae as the Tuesday Song of the Day.

How bizarre is it that sometimes the smallest things can put us in a bad mood? Well, maybe it's not so out of the ordinary because that is how things seem to happen to me all the time. Regrettably, I seem to allow the things out there in the world that really should upset me (war, genocide, racism, injustice, etc.) to pass through my mind, but not really change my mood, but something as ultimately meaningless as Sing Song can turn me into a grouch.

For a time I try to tell myself that it is okay to get frustrated about Sing Song because it is simply another avenue where people's character and true inner-motivations are given an opportunity to come to the forefront, but how absurd does that sound when I reflect on it?

I recently began reading Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller and I have been struck time and again by the simple yet powerful truth that he speaks throughout the book. This passage in particular really convicted me on the absolutely moronic way that I have been acting lately, even if that action is only noticeable in my own mind:

"I am learning to believe better things. I am learning to believe that other people exist, that fashion is not truth, and the gospel is the most powerful force in the universe. I am learning not to be passionate about empty things, but to cultivate passion for justice, grace, truth, and communicate the idea that Jesus like people and even loves them."

As I read that passage this morning, I decided to make a change. As I walked toward my Ethics class I knew that I had to tell someone about this decision. One of the greatest blessings that I have this semester is to sit by Jake Wardell in my Ancient Greek Civ. class and to sit by Luke Reeves in my Ethics class. I knew that I had to talk to Luke.

As he sat down, he was probably unaware that I reached such a momentous decision, but I told him about the book and then I told him that I had a mission for the day. Now, I didn't give him a full operational plan, but I did tell him what I intended to do, if only because I thought that he would serve as some form of accountability.

I told him that today I wanted to learn more of what it means to love people. You may be reading this and say to yourself, "What? I thought you were going to say something incredibly deep or momentous", but I think that is terribly momentous. That is what we are to be about in this world isn't it? With the work of God, we are to go about repairing a broken world and one of the most powerful ways to do that is by loving people.

It might seem like an overly simplistic goal, but I think that it could be one of the most challenging goals of my life and I only decided that I want to focus on today. That's not to say that I don't want to love people tomorrow, but too often my constant vision of the future prohibits me from seeing what I need to today.

So, there it is. It's not anything that you haven't heard before, but in some way it is subversive and revolutionary. Maybe the Blues Brothers had it right when they told everyone that they were on a mission from God.

Say Anything But Say What You Mean

Patty V and I were talking last night about how the world is filled with people who spend their lives just waiting until retirement. Stuck in jobs that they hate, working without purpose and motivation, and looking for the next paycheck, they look forward to the day they will be set free.

I'm not talking about the millions of people who are forced to work multiple backbreaking jobs in order to provide for their families, but instead those people who are just waiting to build up their IRA's so that they can live the "good life" for a while. I do not mean to assert that it is not good to take a break once in a while to relax. That is a healthy thing to do and without it most people would go insane. Instead, I am talking about never retiring in the sense that we never step outside the vocation of making an impact on other people.

In 45-50 years, I hope that I have lived a life full of love and purpose, but I don't want that to be the point where I step away from the world to play on the links for the rest of my life. Patrick said that he doesn't want to walk up to the pearly gates to tell Peter that the only thing he had been doing towards the end of his life was drawing on his IRA.

One day when they lay me in the ground, I want them to say that even up to my last day I was blessing people because I had been blessed by God. Instead of deciding that it would be best for me to walk away from the world for awhile because I have "earned" it, I hope that I will remember that each day is a blessing and I would be foolish to take it for granted. Eternity is going to be plenty of time to catch up on our rest.

I've Got a Feeling It's Not the Safest Place to Start

Thought it does seem terribly unoriginal, I guess I am obligated in some sort of American secular-holiday tradition to give some sort of commentary on the Super Bowl.

• All in all, one of the more unengaging Super Bowls that I can remember. The only one that I probably cared about less than this one was that terrible Giants-Ravens game from 2000. Looking back, I'm actually pretty sure that game never happened.
  
• Also, has the MVP of the Super Bowl ever had less impressive stats that Hines Ward only having 5 catches, 123 yards, an 18-yard run, and 1 TD catch?
  
• The commercial that the viewers at the 'Burgh enjoyed the most was the Emerald Nuts spot. If you don't remember this one, it's probably because it was so bizarre that it only made sense if you wanted it to. With that said, I'll probably have Eagle-Eyed Machete Enthusiasts Recognize A Little Druid Networking Under the Stairs for awhile. That, I guess is what makes a commercial a success.
  

I Feel My Luck Could Change

Maybe it's the same experience that some people have when they are trying to pick out shoes or clothes, but when I am in a bookstore, I constantly look from shelf to shelf and everything looks good. Well, maybe except the discount self-help section, but I digress.

Tonight, Lance, Jake and I were discussing the difference between the people who are big fans of Seinfeld and those who love Friends. It is not as if there is some sort of statute mandating that fandom of either one of the shows be a mutually exclusive endeavor but you do not find many people who cross that boundary. Those of you out there who know me are familar with the disturbing ability that I have for fitting bizarre Seinfeld quotes and references into everyday conversation, but Lance and Jake said that they fall firmly into the Friends camp. I'm not sure if there really is a great divide between the two shows but it's starting to look that way.

It's funny how on some days, I want to write about these incredibly deep things that have broad and sweeping cultural significance. Those are the days when I really want my words to a source of inspiration to those who read what I have to say, but those days don't happen all the time. Sometimes, all I can think to write about are those little stories that make up our lives and that is probably a healthy thing to do. Even though it might not be the kind of subject matter that will place me in the running for the Pulitzer, it has some odd way of connecting with the people who mean the most to me.

Who am I to get in the way of that?

You Say You’ll Give Me Eyes in A Moon of Blindness, A River In a Time of Dryness

Note: The following is the text of the speech that Bono gave yesterday morning at the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington, D.C. I realize that it is a pretty long speech, but I choose to include it in it's entirety because I don't want you to miss reading it because you didn't click on the link.

If you're wondering what I'm doing here, at a prayer breakfast, well, so am I. I'm certainly not here as a man of the cloth, unless that cloth is leather. It's certainly not because I'm a rock star. Which leaves one possible explanation: I'm here because I've got a messianic complex.

Yes, it's true. And for anyone who knows me, it's hardly a revelation.

Well, I'm the first to admit that there's something unnatural...something unseemly...about rock stars mounting the pulpit and preaching at presidents, and then disappearing to their villas in the south of France. Talk about a fish out of water. It was weird enough when Jesse Helms showed up at a U2 concert...but this is really weird, isn't it?

You know, one of the things I love about this country is its separation of church and state. Although I have to say: in inviting me here, both church and state have been separated from something else completely: their mind.

Mr. President, are you sure about this?

It's very humbling and I will try to keep my homily brief. But be warned - I'm Irish.
I'd like to talk about the laws of man, here in this city where those laws are written. And I'd like to talk about higher laws. It would be great to assume that the one serves the other; that the laws of man serve these higher laws...but of course, they don't always. And I presume that, in a sense, is why you're here.

I presume the reason for this gathering is that all of us here - Muslims, Jews, Christians - all are searching our souls for how to better serve our family, our community, our nation, our God.
I know I am. Searching, I mean. And that, I suppose, is what led me here, too.

Yes, it's odd, having a rock star here - but maybe it's odder for me than for you. You see, I avoided religious people most of my life. Maybe it had something to do with having a father who was Protestant and a mother who was Catholic in a country where the line between the two was, quite literally, a battle line. Where the line between church and state was...well, a little blurry, and hard to see.

I remember how my mother would bring us to chapel on Sundays... and my father used to wait outside. One of the things that I picked up from my father and my mother was the sense that religion often gets in the way of God.

For me, at least, it got in the way. Seeing what religious people, in the name of God, did to my native land...and in this country, seeing God's second-hand car salesmen on the cable TV channels, offering indulgences for cash...in fact, all over the world, seeing the self-righteousness roll down like a mighty stream from certain corners of the religious establishment...
I must confess, I changed the channel. I wanted my MTV.

Even though I was a believer.

Perhaps because I was a believer.

I was cynical...not about God, but about God's politics. (There you are, Jim.)
Then, in 1997, a couple of eccentric, septuagenarian British Christians went and ruined my shtick - my reproachfulness. They did it by describing the millennium, the year 2000, as a Jubilee year, as an opportunity to cancel the chronic debts of the world's poorest people. They had the audacity to renew the Lord's call - and were joined by Pope John Paul II, who, from an Irish half-Catholic's point of view, may have had a more direct line to the Almighty.

'Jubilee' - why 'Jubilee'?

What was this year of Jubilee, this year of our Lord's favor?

I'd always read the scriptures, even the obscure stuff. There it was in Leviticus (25:35)...
'If your brother becomes poor,' the scriptures say, 'and cannot maintain himself...you shall maintain him.... You shall not lend him your money at interest, not give him your food for profit.'
It is such an important idea, Jubilee, that Jesus begins his ministry with this. Jesus is a young man, he's met with the rabbis, impressed everyone, people are talking. The elders say, he's a clever guy, this Jesus, but he hasn't done much...yet. He hasn't spoken in public before...
When he does, is first words are from Isaiah: 'The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,' he says, 'because He has anointed me to preach good news to the poor.' And Jesus proclaims the year of the Lord's favour, the year of Jubilee (Luke 4:18).

What he was really talking about was an era of grace - and we're still in it.
So fast-forward 2,000 years. That same thought, grace, was made incarnate - in a movement of all kinds of people. It wasn't a bless-me club... it wasn't a holy huddle. These religious guys were willing to get out in the streets, get their boots dirty, wave the placards, follow their convictions with actions...making it really hard for people like me to keep their distance. It was amazing. I almost started to like these church people.

But then my cynicism got another helping hand.

It was what Colin Powell, a five-star general, called the greatest W.M.D. of them all: a tiny little virus called AIDS. And the religious community, in large part, missed it. The ones that didn't miss it could only see it as divine retribution for bad behaviour. Even on children...even [though the] fastest growing group of HIV infections were married, faithful women.

Aha, there they go again! I thought to myself judgmentalism is back!

But in truth, I was wrong again. The church was slow but the church got busy on this the leprosy of our age.

Love was on the move.

Mercy was on the move.

God was on the move.

Moving people of all kinds to work with others they had never met, never would have cared to meet...conservative church groups hanging out with spokesmen for the gay community, all singing off the same hymn sheet on AIDS...soccer moms and quarterbacks...hip-hop stars and country stars. This is what happens when God gets on the move: crazy stuff happens!

Popes were seen wearing sunglasses!

Jesse Helms was seen with a ghetto blaster!

Crazy stuff. Evidence of the spirit.

It was breathtaking. Literally. It stopped the world in its tracks.

When churches started demonstrating on debt, governments listened - and acted. When churches starting organising, petitioning, and even - that most unholy of acts today, God forbid, lobbying...on AIDS and global health, governments listened - and acted.

I'm here today in all humility to say: you changed minds; you changed policy; you changed the world.

Look, whatever thoughts you have about God, who He is or if He exists, most will agree that if there is a God, He has a special place for the poor. In fact, the poor are where God lives.

Check Judaism. Check Islam. Check pretty much anyone.

I mean, God may well be with us in our mansions on the hill. I hope so. He may well be with us as in all manner of controversial stuff. Maybe, maybe not. But the one thing we can all agree, all faiths and ideologies, is that God is with the vulnerable and poor.

God is in the slums, in the cardboard boxes where the poor play house. God is in the silence of a mother who has infected her child with a virus that will end both their lives. God is in the cries heard under the rubble of war. God is in the debris of wasted opportunity and lives, and God is with us if we are with them. "If you remove the yoke from your midst, the pointing of the finger and speaking wickedness, and if you give yourself to the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then your light will rise in darkness and your gloom with become like midday and the Lord will continually guide you and satisfy your desire in scorched places."

It's not a coincidence that in the scriptures, poverty is mentioned more than 2,100 times. It's not an accident. That's a lot of air time, 2,100 mentions. (You know, the only time Christ is judgmental is on the subject of the poor.) 'As you have done it unto the least of these my brethren, you have done it unto me' (Matthew 25:40). As I say, good news to the poor.

Here's some good news for the president. After 9/11 we were told America would have no time for the world's poor. America would be taken up with its own problems of safety. And it's true these are dangerous times, but America has not drawn the blinds and double-locked the doors.
In fact, you have doubled aid to Africa. You have tripled funding for global health. Mr. President, your emergency plan for AIDS relief and support for the Global Fund - you and Congress - have put 700,000 people onto life-saving anti-retroviral drugs and provided 8 million bed nets to protect children from malaria.

Outstanding human achievements. Counterintuitive. Historic. Be very, very proud.
But here's the bad news. From charity to justice, the good news is yet to come. There is much more to do. There's a gigantic chasm between the scale of the emergency and the scale of the response.

And finally, it's not about charity after all, is it? It's about justice.

Let me repeat that: It's not about charity, it's about justice.

And that's too bad.

Because you're good at charity. Americans, like the Irish, are good at it. We like to give, and we give a lot, even those who can't afford it.

But justice is a higher standard. Africa makes a fool of our idea of justice; it makes a farce of our idea of equality. It mocks our pieties, it doubts our concern, it questions our commitment.

Sixty-five hundred Africans are still dying every day of a preventable, treatable disease, for lack of drugs we can buy at any drug store. This is not about charity, this is about justice and equality.

Because there's no way we can look at what's happening in Africa and, if we're honest, conclude that deep down, we really accept that Africans are equal to us. Anywhere else in the world, we wouldn't accept it. Look at what happened in South East Asia with the tsunami. 150,000 lives lost to that misnomer of all misnomers, "mother nature." In Africa, 150,000 lives are lost every month. A tsunami every month. And it's a completely avoidable catastrophe.

It's annoying but justice and equality are mates. Aren't they? Justice always wants to hang out with equality. And equality is a real pain.

You know, think of those Jewish sheep-herders going to meet the Pharaoh, mud on their shoes, and the Pharaoh says, "Equal?" A preposterous idea: rich and poor are equal? And they say, "Yeah, 'equal,' that's what it says here in this book. We're all made in the image of God."
And eventually the Pharaoh says, "OK, I can accept that. I can accept the Jews - but not the blacks."

"Not the women. Not the gays. Not the Irish. No way, man."

So on we go with our journey of equality.

On we go in the pursuit of justice.
We hear that call in the ONE Campaign, a growing movement of more than 2 million Americans...Left and Right together... united in the belief that where you live should no longer determine whether you live.

We hear that call even more powerfully today, as we mourn the loss of Coretta Scott King - mother of a movement for equality, one that changed the world but is only just getting started. These issues are as alive as they ever were; they just change shape and cross the seas.

Preventing the poorest of the poor from selling their products while we sing the virtues of the free market...that's a justice issue. Holding children to ransom for the debts of their grandparents...that's a justice issue. Withholding life-saving medicines out of deference to the Office of Patents...that's a justice issue.

And while the law is what we say it is, God is not silent on the subject.

That's why I say there's the law of the land. And then there is a higher standard. There's the law of the land, and we can hire experts to write them so they benefit us, so the laws say it's OK to protect our agriculture but it's not OK for African farmers to do the same, to earn a living?
As the laws of man are written, that's what they say.

God will not accept that.

Mine won't, at least. Will yours?
[ pause]

I close this morning on...very...thin...ice.

This is a dangerous idea I've put on the table: my God vs. your God, their God vs. our God...vs. no God. It is very easy, in these times, to see religion as a force for division rather than unity.
And this is a town - Washington - that knows something of division.

But the reason I am here, and the reason I keep coming back to Washington, is because this is a town that is proving it can come together on behalf of what the scriptures call the least of these.
This is not a Republican idea. It is not a Democratic idea. It is not even, with all due respect, an American idea. Nor it is unique to any one faith.

'Do to others as you would have them do to you' (Luke 6:30). Jesus says that.

'Righteousness is this: that one should...give away wealth out of love for him to the near of kin and the orphans and the needy and the wayfarer and the beggars and for the emancipation of the captives.' The Koran says that (2.177).

Thus sayeth the Lord: 'Bring the homeless poor into the house, when you see the naked, cover him, then your light will break out like the dawn and your recovery will speedily spring fourth, then your Lord will be your rear guard.' The Jewish scripture says that. Isaiah 58 again.
That is a powerful incentive: 'The Lord will watch your back.' Sounds like a good deal to me, right now.

A number of years ago, I met a wise man who changed my life. In countless ways, large and small, I was always seeking the Lord's blessing. I was saying, you know, I have a new song, look after it�. I have a family, please look after them�. I have this crazy idea...
And this wise man said: stop.

He said, stop asking God to bless what you're doing.

Get involved in what God is doing - because it's already blessed.

Well, God, as I said, is with the poor. That, I believe, is what God is doing.

And that is what he's calling us to do.

I was amazed when I first got to this country and I learned how much some churchgoers tithe. Up to 10% of the family budget. Well, how does that compare with the federal budget, the budget for the entire American family? How much of that goes to the poorest people in the world? Less than 1%.

Mr. President, Congress, people of faith, people of America:
I want to suggest to you today that you see the flow of effective foreign assistance as tithing.... Which, to be truly meaningful, will mean an additional 1% of the federal budget tithed to the poor.

What is 1%?

1% is not merely a number on a balance sheet.

1% is the girl in Africa who gets to go to school, thanks to you. 1% is the AIDS patient who gets her medicine, thanks to you. 1% is the African entrepreneur who can start a small family business thanks to you. 1% is not redecorating presidential palaces or money flowing down a rat hole. This 1% is digging waterholes to provide clean water.

1% is a new partnership with Africa, not paternalism toward Africa, where increased assistance flows toward improved governance and initiatives with proven track records and away from boondoggles and white elephants of every description.

America gives less than 1% now. We're asking for an extra 1% to change the world. to transform millions of lives - but not just that and I say this to the military men now - to transform the way that they see us.

1% is national security, enlightened economic self-interest, and a better, safer world rolled into one. Sounds to me that in this town of deals and compromises, 1% is the best bargain around.
These goals - clean water for all; school for every child; medicine for the afflicted, an end to extreme and senseless poverty - these are not just any goals; they are the Millennium Development goals, which this country supports. And they are more than that. They are the Beatitudes for a globalised world.

Now, I'm very lucky. I don't have to sit on any budget committees. And I certainly don't have to sit where you do, Mr. President. I don't have to make the tough choices.

But I can tell you this: To give 1% more is right. It's smart. And it's blessed.

There is a continent - Africa - being consumed by flames.

I truly believe that when the history books are written, our age will be remembered for three things: the war on terror, the digital revolution, and what we did - or did not to - to put the fire out in Africa.

History, like God, is watching what we do.

You Got to Cry Without Weeping, Talk Without Speaking

Quick Hits on Groundhog Day

• I've decided that Sing Song is such an odd venture that it really is difficult to try to explain it to people outside of the ACU realm. "So....you're telling me that this is a show where college people dress up in costumes and.......sing acapella, but the lower halves of their bodies don't move and.............they move their arms in a manner that is vaguely reminiscent of those bizarre cheerleading competitions and.........everyone sings to the tune of real songs, but makes up different lyrics............and people pay to come to this, right? Wait, you're telling me that this thing is the biggest-money making event of the year for this town?
  
  
• With all that said, I love Sing Song, but trying to look at it from an outsider's perspective does make things pretty funny.

We Got to Do Something About Where We're Going

Just a quick post tonight...

Due to my current reading of Collapse, President Bush's statement last night that we are "addicted to oil", stands as an acknowledgement that we might be heading down a slippery slope. Many of the failed societies that Diamond profiles in the book were guilty of the same sin: a dangerous overreliance on a particular natural resource, whether that resource was water, valuable topsoil, trees, edible grasslands, or in the case of the modern world, Texas Tea.

It was no surprise to hear the President advocating the continued push towards other methods of fueling, but this call towards innovation is strangely ironic in the same month as ExxonMobil's announcement of the highest quarterly profits for any corporation in the history of the United States. How do you convince some of the most-powerful corporations in the world, in one of the most lucrative industries in the world, to change their ways?


This is one of the daunting tasks in front of us. If oil companies continue to amass gargantuan profits, it will be very difficult to convince them to either adopt new and innovative methods of fueling or to save some of the oil for those who are to come.

I'm not sure what the answers are to this difficult question, but I have a strong premonition that those answers will have a large effect on the rest of the 21st Century.