Monthly Archives: December 2013

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Looking back on an incredible journey

The world, or at least about a fourth of it — the Christians among the world’s people — is getting ready to celebrate the birth of a baby who would come to symbolize salvation, grace and victory over death.

My own thoughts at Christmas every year since, oh, 2009, have turned to an amazing journey I was honored to take through the Holy Land. I was given the honor in May-June 2009 of accompanying four young people on a Rotary International Group Study Exchange trip through virtually all of Israel. Fernando, Aida, Shirley and Katt have become four of my closest friends and I cherish them more than they know.

We spent four weeks there traveling from Nahariya to Eilat, to Tel Aviv, Sderot and Ashkelon, to Nazareth and Caesarea, the Dead Sea and Masada. It was an amazing time. Then, after the exchange had concluded, I spent another week with my wife who had flown over to join me as a tourist. We spent the bulk of our time in Jerusalem, visiting holy sites.

But I think of that journey now every year at Christmas time and remember the things we saw along the way.

* Nazareth and the Church of the Annunciation, where the angel told Mary she would give birth to the Son of God.

* Bethlehem, where my wife and I visited the Church of the Nativity and the Shepherds Field.

* The Temple Mount, where Jesus preached.

* The Mount of Olives overlooking Jerusalem and Via do lo Rosa where Jesus walked.

Easter, of course, marks the end of Jesus’s life on Earth and the resurrection we celebrate.

This day, though, is to remember his birth.

I’ve believed my entire life in all that is holy about this holiday. However, being able to see those places up close and to walk the paths trod by Jesus himself makes it special beyond all measure.

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Christmas is time to suspend barbs

Let’s agree to suspend the barbs until after Christmas.

However, allow me this brief observation — sans criticism — regarding the ethnicity of Jesus Christ and Santa Claus.

The issue surfaced when Fox News talking head Megyn Kelly posited the notion that both Santa Claus and Jesus were white. My first thought: Who cares? My second thought: Why is Kelly even going there?

I have no answer to Thought No. 1. I frankly don’t care about Santa’s ethnicity, other than to remind Kelly and others who do care that the jolly old man — don’t let your kids read this — is a fictional character based vaguely on an actual man. Santa Claus is whatever we want him to be in our household. That’s the beauty of Santa. As Francis Pharcellus Church wrote in that wonderful editorial to Virginia O’Hanlon in the late 19th century, he exists in our hearts.

The stuff about Jesus, though, is a bit more substantial. Anthropologists looking for clues to Jesus’s appearance generally have concluded he was a dark-skinned man who looked very much the way men do in the Middle East. Having spent some time in Israel — five weeks in May-June 2009 — I can say without a doubt that the vast majority of Palestinians and others of Arabic descent have roughly the same look.

Israelis who descended from European immigrants are another matter. Some are blue-eyed blondes, some have dark hair and eyes, others have features in the middle.

And why did Kelly venture this notion — from which she retreated a little — that Santa Claus and Jesus are white men?

One word: ratings.

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Lane closures may block Gov. Christie’s ambition

This story cracks me up and it will make me howl if the worst of it turns out to be true.

Democrats are seeking ways to derail Republican New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s possible presidential ambitions by making hay out of a lane closure on the famed George Washington Bridge. The word is that Christie ordered the lanes closed at peak traffic time ostensibly to perform a traffic study. It’s been alleged, though, that he did it to get back at the Democratic mayor of Fort Lee, N.J., who had refused to endorse Christie’s bid for re-election.

What’s more, no one can determine whether a traffic study ever took place.

http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/193821-dems-seek-to-puncture-christie-with-bridge-controversy

The closures caused tremendous traffic chaos in and around Fort Lee. A couple of Christie appointees to the New York and New Jersey Port Authority have quit. U.S. Senate committee chairs — Democrats, by the way — are looking into the matter as a possible abuse of power.

Democrats’ aim, apparently, to blow a hole in Christie’s reputation as a no-nonsense, straight-talking, bipartisan governor who’s above this kind of alleged political back-stabbing.

Many Democrats apparently don’t believe Christie actually ordered the lane closures, nor do they believe they’ll find evidence of any direct involvement from the governor.

Christie has gotten his back up over media questions about the incident … which of course is no surprise. He’s been known to bristle at constituents’ questions as well.

Perhaps the most amazing aspect of this story is that the 2016 presidential campaign is still two years away but the silly season already has begun.

Just wait until the candidates on both parties start filing their papers to run.

Hold on. This could get really wild.

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Sen. Inhofe learns his foes are human, too

It turns out that Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., has learned something about his Senate colleagues, particularly those with whom he has been fighting for many years over politics and policy.

They’re human beings, family men and women, individuals with big hearts that are full of compassion and love.

Inhofe sat down with David Gregory on “Meet the Press” and revealed something that on the surface doesn’t seem like much of a story. Then again, maybe it is, given the climate in Washington, D.C.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/12/22/jim-inhofe-democrats_n_4489794.html?ncid=txtlnkushpmg00000037

Inhofe’s son, Perry, was killed recently in a plane crash. The senator and his family have been grief-stricken over their loss. Inhofe revealed to Gregory that senators from the other side, Democrats, reached out to him in ways that seemed to surprise him.

I’m not sure why it would surprise the senator. They all have families as well. They’re human beings, with human feelings and emotions.

Inhofe said, “I probably shouldn’t say this, but I seem to have gotten more — well at least as many, maybe more — communications from some of my Democrat friends.”

I do not know how to process that remark. Inhofe isn’t suggesting Democrats are more compassionate than Republicans. However, for him to single out his Democratic colleagues in that manner strikes me as, well, just a tad unusual.

Inhofe spoke of his battles with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev. “Harry and I … disagree on all this stuff, this political stuff. But we were both married the same year, in 1959. And we’ve both had some illnesses. So yeah, I would say that when something like this happens, you get closer together. The differences are still there. … But your attitude changes,” said Inhofe.

As the Huffington Post reported, “In the wake of his personal tragedy, Inhofe said, ‘all of a sudden the old barriers that were there — the old differences, those things that keep us apart — just disappear. It’s not just a recognition that I know how much more important this is, but they do, too. And they look out. And they realize that you’ve lost someone. And that brings us closer together.'”

The Huffington Post describes Inhofe as one of the Senate’s more partisan members. It calls him an “archconservative” who has battled tooth and nail with Democrats continually over the years.

I watched the interview this morning. I saw a man in great pain talking about his feelings in the wake of his son’s death. I also think I saw a glimmer of gratitude for the love that flowed his way from across the aisle.

These kinds of stories remind us that we’re all imbued with the same essence. It’s called humanity.

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Trying to understand human behavior

I’ll admit readily to a lot of things that surpass my understanding.

A tale I heard today just might take the cake.

I purchased this fancy new cell phone a few weeks ago. It’s been giving me fits. The battery wouldn’t hold a charge; I took it in twice. The second time I visited the AT&T store up the street from my home, the young man replaced it with a new device, identical to the one I had.

Then the second phone began locking up on me. I would run a function on the phone and the touch screen would become non-responsive. I took the phone in twice more to seek some advice and counsel. I got it and went about my business.

Today it did it again. This time, though, I couldn’t get it unstuck.

I went back to the AT&T store. I was a bit steamed, but not overly so. The young man greeted me at the door with “Hi there, how are you doing?” “Not very well,” I snapped. I then explained to him what was happening with my phone and he directed me to a colleague who he described as “expert on Windows phones.”

“Oh, you mean, Kevin?” I said. I became acquainted with the expert during a previous visit.

But as I told the young man who greeted me about my troubles, I apologized for being so snarky and rude.

His response? “Oh, don’t worry about it. You’re just fine.”

Here is where I got a lesson in human behavior that totally baffles me.

“I’ve been slapped, kicked, called every dirty name there is, even been spit on — at least five times” by angry customers, the young man said.

“Spit on? You mean in the face?” I asked, incredulously. “Yep, right in the face,” he said.

He then told me about an individual who shoved him into a wall because he couldn’t acquire a certain device he was seeking. “Was this at Christmas time?” I asked, only half-joking. “Yes it was,” he said.

Well, Kevin came over eventually, talked me through my problem and then helped me phone the manufacturer’s warranty office. I got a live person after just two electronic prompts. I told the young lady of my problem — and they’re shipping me a new phone, which I’ll get in a day or two.

And to think I thought I was being rude. I’m not sure I even know the meaning of the word after what I heard this afternoon.

Bless all those retail sales staffers who endure that kind of abuse.

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Duck Dynasty guy’s remarks: All Obama’s fault

I lied.

I said I wouldn’t say any more about Phil Robertson, the Duck Dynasty dude who got suspended for his views on homosexuality, blacks and other issues that have nothing to do with his reality A&E TV show.

Then we hear from Mike Huckabee, the Fox News Channel commentator, Baptist preacher, former Arkansas governor, former presidential candidate and possible future candidate for president.

He did what I kind of figured would happen. He somehow linked Robertson’s remarks to President Obama and inferring, if only obliquely, that Barack Obama is somehow caught in the middle of this media maelstrom.

http://thinkprogress.org/home/2013/12/22/3098711/mike-huckabee-drags-obama-duck-dynasty-controversey/

Here’s part of what Huckabee said today on Fox News Sunday:

“I think it has come to a point in our culture where political correctness has made it so if you want to take a point of view, it is traditional. It holds to steadfast old fashioned biblical principles, that you’re supposed to just shut up and keep that to yourself. There is a new level of bullying on the part of these militant activist groups, who if anyone says something that holds to the same position that Barack Obama held in 2008 when he was at the Saddleback Church with John McCain made it clear very clear that he opposed same sex marriage, and he said he did so because he was a Christian and because of his biblical views.”

Huckabee didn’t say Obama should be blamed for anything Robertson said. It’s just curious that he would introduce the president into an argument that has inflamed folks on both sides, as if Barack Obama needs any more bad press.

There. I sort of kept my vow of silence henceforth on Robertson’s remarks. I just thought it a bit strange for one leading Republican to tie this controversy to a president who’s spending some quality Christmas vacation time with his family.

There’s no escape, Mr. President.

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Re-thinking single-member districts

I am reconsidering my long-standing opposition to single-member districts to determine who represents Amarillo municipal government.

I’ve long held that the Amarillo City Council was served best by having all its members elected at-large. Each of its five members — including the mayor — represents the entire city. They’re all elected from the same citywide voter pool. Call one or all of them if you have a problem. Someone will tend to your concern.

Well, on Saturday I crossed paths with someone who’s been involved for years in the single-member-district campaign in Amarillo. Janie Rivas formerly served on the Amarillo school board. Her husband, J.E. Sauseda, is a lawyer who’s been at the forefront of the effort to change the city’s voting plan.

Janie and I visited for a few minutes, got reacquainted and ventured a notion to her about this whole idea of electing folks from single-member districts. Why not, I reckoned, split the difference? Sauseda and others keep arguing for a governing council with all members elected from districts. Elect the mayor at-large, of course, but expand the council by two seats and divide the city into six districts.

My idea is to expand the council to six council members, with two of them elected at-large and four elected from single-member districts. Many cities in Texas elect their councils from those kinds of voting plans. Beaumont, where I lived for nearly 11 years before moving to Amarillo, is one of them. The system works well.

Amarillo’s population is about to surpass 200,000 residents. Its demographic profile is changing dramatically, with significant increases in Latino residents. The city still has many neighborhoods with disparate socio-economic levels. Plus, there exists this nagging perception among residents that the city pays too much attention to high-end neighborhoods’ needs at the expense of those who live across town.

Another option might be to adopt a cumulative voting plan approved years ago by the Amarillo Independent School District. AISD started that plan to settle a lawsuit that had been filed by the League of United Latin American Citizens protesting AISD’s at-large voting plan. If AISD has three seats being contested, you can cast all three votes for a single candidate. That system has worked well for AISD.

I’m thinking that the time has arrived for Amarillo City Hall to revisit the idea of how we elect our city council members.

Think also of this: Electing council members from single-member districts gives the mayor more actual standing than he currently has in Amarillo, given that he would perhaps be the only council member elected at-large. Or … the mayor would be one of, say, three individuals elected at-large, while the other four come from these districts.

Amarillo is growing up right before our eyes. Is it time for the city to keep pace with that growth by reforming its electoral system? I believe it is.

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County clerk shows honor and resigns

Roosevelt County (N.M.) Clerk Donna Carpenter has just quit her job and given new meaning to the term “honor.”

http://www.pntonline.com/2013/12/20/roosevelt-county-clerk-resigns/

Carpenter resigned her post because she disagrees with the New Mexico Supreme Court’s decision that effectively legalizes same-sex marriage in that state.

Carpenter said she believes more strongly in God’s law than in man’s law. Thus, she quit a job she’d held for only about a year after being elected in 2012.

Why the honor in her quitting?

It’s a matter of principle. She decided she no longer could serve as county clerk if the state’s highest court was going to make her issue marriage licenses against her deeply held religious beliefs.

I cannot quibble with her decision.

I’m not going to enter the discussion over whether I endorse “marriage equality.” I’m still grappling with that in my own heart and head. Donna Carpenter’s decision to resign, though, is a deeply principled one for which she should be applauded.

She could have stayed on, swallowed hard and said, in effect, that while she disagrees with the ruling, she took an oath to follow the laws of the state. Or, she could have kept her job and refused to endorse the ruling issued by the New Mexico court; the result of that would have been a costly and probably futile court battle that would have cost her constituents a boatload of money.

She didn’t. She said she couldn’t follow the law and would surrender the office to someone who could follow it.

Donna Carpenter made an honorable decision.

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Amarillo is snow-wise on the road

I am happy to report that I live in a city where drivers actually do know how to drive in the snow and ice.

Amarillo, Texas is the place.

It snowed today. Not a lot, but it snowed for most of the afternoon. Not sure when it’ll stop. I think I heard a forecast that called for 3 to 4 inches.

Here’s what I saw on my way home from work this evening: Cars streaming down three busy streets very slowly and carefully. That was a good thing to see.

Amarillo gets usually a total winter snow accumulation of about a foot every winter. Last winter, we got nearly twice that amount in one heap. It paralyzed the city, which is really saying something. It takes a great deal of snow to close school systems here. Last winter, they closed for three or four days before enough snow melted to make the streets passable.

This evening was not an unusual event. I call attention to it only because I hear so many stories — constantly, it seems — about folks in cities where residents do not know how to handle the snow. I’ve lived in a couple of them, actually: Portland, Ore., where I was born and where I grew up, and Beaumont, Texas, where snow and ice are quite rare, but not totally out of the question.

Portland gets snow most winters. However, for some reason Portlanders seem to get caught on hilly streets with cars skidding out of control. Beaumont? That’s another story altogether. I remember just one winter during our nearly 11 years there when snow fell and ice coated the streets. You would have thought the world had just come to an end.

We moved to Amarillo in early 1995 and we’ve seen our fair share of severe winters. We’ve had some mild winters as well, but the long-timers around here remember the old days when blizzards would blind everyone. Highways would close. Livestock would freeze to death.

Through it all, they managed to get through in their vehicles.

It’s still true. Yes, I know some folks have seen madness on the streets during snow storms on the High Plains. I’ve seen it, too.

Still, I’m glad my normally five-minute drive home from work tonight took me 30 minutes to complete. Go slow and be very careful out there.