Wonderings of a Wanderer

I swore I wouldn’t do this. Last winter I was swearing that I was done with taking interest in elections, or actually believing that my vote counted. This year, once again, I am in the thick of all things electoral. I still listen to just as much talk radio, read just as much news as I did last election season, and I am following things rather closely. However, my views on the whole process still haven’t changed much, and I still might not vote.

I still think that the next president has already been decided (yes, I know that I believe everything has already been decided), and I still think that the voice of the people will not be heard again. The powers that be have already decided which candidates will actually get some exposure to deliver their points of view. Huckabee, Hillary, Romney, and Obama are the only people getting any coverage. It’s not a fair race. Never has been, and never will be. It’s just a big game, where the American people are fooled into thinking that they actually have a say in what happens. We are told who to vote for, though the popular vote is nothing more than a placebo.

Most of the pre-election talk is spent Monday morning quarterbacking about how they would have handled certain situations differently than how the current administration has handled it. Hindsight is always 20/20, and it is all quite childish. There is little to no difference between the two parties, anyway. How has life for most people changed much since ol’ W took over office? Abortion is still legal. War still goes on. The rich get richer, and everything is still made in China. Taxes are still high, and so is the cost of medical care. Pollution is still out of control, yet Air Force One still flies. AIDS is running rampant, and our neighbors to the south of us still have to go to deadly extremes to be able to come mow our grass and clean our houses. The government still wastes billions of our dollars every year, and we still have to spend hours and hours every year making sure that we give them enough money, which by the way, is worthless. Who would have ever thought a paper economy wouldn’t work? Didn’t see that one coming. So if nothing changes anyway, why even invest time in the whole thing?

If I do end up voting, I am still not sure who I will vote for, though I am very interested in one particular candidate, who seems to be different than anyone who I’ve seen run for office during my lifetime. I’ve always said that the kind of person who does what it takes to be president is the kind of person I don’t want to vote for. This guy, so far, seems to be the exception. We’ll see what happens. It looks like there are a lot of other people who feel the same as me, so maybe, just maybe, this guy will at least get the nomination. If not, there is still a chance that he will be written in.

Cynicism is a lack of hope. That’s why I am cynical.

You may remember our conversation about Mitt Romney that turned into a conversation about health care. I bailed on the conversation after 12 comments, mainly because I’ve got no interest in circular conversations, and that one was definitely going nowhere. Either way, I found this on CNN.com today, and thought I would share it with you:

ATLANTA, Georgia (AP) — Uninsured cancer patients are nearly twice as likely to die within five years as those with private coverage, according to the first national study of its kind and one that sheds light on troubling health care obstacles.

People without health insurance are less likely to get recommended cancer screening tests, the study also found, confirming earlier research. And when these patients’ condition is finally diagnosed, their cancer is likely to have spread.

The research by scientists with the American Cancer Society offers important context for the national discussion about health care reform, experts say — even though the uninsured are believed to account for just a fraction of U.S. cancer deaths. An Associated Press analysis suggests it is around 4 percent.

Those dealing with cancer and inadequate insurance weren’t surprised by the findings.

READ MORE…

Here are a few more pictures from our afternoon at Shelby Park, here in East Nashville.

Photography by Steven Bush

I’ve been trying to be like Christ for years, and resting in who he is for just a few months. Christ, and his teachings have been a regular part of my life for years, though like many people, I’ve often ignored him. At best, my life is centered in him, and at worst, I knew that he was still there. It seems to odd to me, though, that I’ve never read the entire Bible.

Daniel did a post last week about trying to read the Bible through in one year, and I think I will do the same. His post both challenged me and embarrassed me. How strange is it that I’ve read more pages about Alaska than I have from the one book that my whole world view is based on? I doubt I am alone in this situation, as those that have read the Bible all the way through often carry that fact like a medal around their neck, and I have only met a few of those people.

Although to most people, reading the entire Bible may seem like a huge accomplishment, to me it seems more weird to me to have claimed to follow a religion of which I’ve never even read the entire book that the religion is based on. It is the very word God, and I’ve only used it as a reference book. This book has caused some men to kill, and some men to die so that I could have it. It has taken hundreds of years to produce the Bible that I carry, and for some reason I have not read the whole book. It contains the answers to the questions that keep me up until 3:00 a.m. and yet, I take it for granted. It makes no sense.

So all that to say, Lord willing, I am going to read the Bible through in 2008, and would love to know what approach those of you who have read it through would recommend.

Tonight was the second time that Ruth and I have seen Andrew Peterson’s Christmas show, and what a night it was. It was at the Ryman Auditorium, the world’s best venue, and had an incredible cast of musicians. At one point during the show, I counted 18 different people on stage.

The show began as usual, with everyone doing one or two of their own songs. For those of you familiar with how things work in Nashville, it was a “in-the-round” of sorts. Andrew always invites his most talented friends to play with him and tonight that list included Steve Hindalong, Pierce Pettis, Ron Block (from Alison Krauss + Union Station), and the legendary David Wilcox among many others. My favorite moment of the night came before Ron Block did his in-the-round song. He introduced the song by reminding us that we all need to quit trying to be like Jesus. Instead we need to rest in who he is in us. Don’t know why, but I guess I needed to hear that, and I need to learn to stop throwing stones at those who aren’t trying to be like Jesus. Maybe those people understand grace better than I do, but that’s a different post. Bebo Norman did a Jackson Browne song, The Rebel Jesus, which I’ve never heard before, and though I am not a Bebo fan, the song was tremendous. The musical highlight of the night for me, came during Labor of Love. Wow, the words of that song mean a lot more to me now than they ever have before. Click the link and read the lyrics. It was all I could do to hold back the emotions during that song. In fact, truth be told, I was fighting back tears during a good portion of the show. I’ve seen everyone from Bob Dylan and Paul Simon to Tom Petty and Eric Clapton, and nothing really compares to the Andrew Peterson Christmas show for me. The music, the words, everything…I needed to be reminded of how much beauty there is in a world that I usually only see as broken and fallen.

On top of all that, we ran into most of our friends at the show. I even ran into everyone’s favorite blogger, Brody, and finally had the chance to meet his wife. It was really great to see them, and everyone else. It was our first night without Brennan and Aunt Elizabeth and Uncle-to-be Dan did a great job taking care of the ol’ chap. I can’t wait until next year’s show.

Ruth and I have been trying to find a newer car on Craigslist for a couple of weeks, now. Our ’96 Altima has been on its last leg, and I figured that maybe we would sell it to fund another $3,000 car until we can afford to live like no one else. Just kidding. We will always live on the wrong side of that phrase, and Lord willing, we will always drive cheap cars.

We were in a small fender bender last week (it wasn’t our fault, and no one was hurt), and when I spoke with the other driver’s insurance agent, I informed him that we would be opting for the cash settlement instead of the repairs. I figured that we were getting rid of it anyway, and could use a couple hundred extra bucks to go towards something else. The representative came out today to look at the Altima, took one look at it and informed me that it may be totaled. I guess he wasn’t real impressed with the lack of a clear coat, and missing wheel covers and like me, figured it would total out at a few hundred dollars. Turns out that we were just under totaling it, and got a check for $1,250! That’s more than I thought the car was worth to start with, and we can probably still sell it for $1,000! Funny thing is that a lot of the reason it would be so expensive to repair is because the hood would need repainting, and since the rest of the car is faded substantially, the body shop would need to mix up a special faded color to match the rest of the car. If we would have had a nicer paint job, we would have gotten less money!

Losers – 1
People that can afford to drive nice cars – 0

After that, I went over to help a friend of ours pack his moving truck, and he sold me their ’93 Town and Country Minivan for $500. It’s got almost 200k on it, but is still in good condition. He just didn’t want to deal with trying to move it to North Carolina. It feels kinda funny being a two car family now. It feels pretty unnecessary, but I doubt that either of the cars will remain in service for too long. Oh, well…We will enjoy the luxury while we have it. And I forgot to mention that the van has wood panel siding. Nothing screams “family man” quite like wood panels.

My friend, Aaron, turned me on to Tom Yarbrough a few months ago. I went to see Aaron play with him at the 12th South Taproom, and have since seen him 3 times. At first, I thought he was just a really good songwriter, but I finally broke down and bought his album this past weekend. I can’t stop listening to it! Tom has managed to make the record that I have been trying to make for years (only he actually writes amazing songs). It’s one of those records that you can listen to all the way through, and over and over. He is a songwriter’s songwriter. I’ve had writers block for several months, and Tom’s record has been the inspiration that I’ve been looking for to crank out the 4 half finished songs that I’ve been sitting on.

Check him out in a town near you, or better yet, buy his record. I promise you won’t be disappointed. At the very least, go and listen to his tunes. Oh yeah, if you do happen to catch a show, he always has a stellar group of musicians with him.

Many of you may already know that Bush has been offering his photography expertise in order to raise money for August. For Christmas this year, he has decided to offer his services to all of us out there wanting to do cheesy Christmas photos for our families. I gotta admit, his pictures have a way of taking quite a bit of cheese out of the whole process. Here is a sampling of what he and Maris did for us on Saturday.

Or at least I don’t heart his politics.

Mike Huckabee appears to be the front-runner for the Republican nomination. He also used to be a Southern Baptist minister. I heard him on the Sean Hannity show today (yes, I am ashamed. I listened to Sean Hannity. It was either that or Dave Ramsey. I am addicted to talk radio, no matter what political side it is). The subject of whether or not he would be tough enough on crime to be president came up, and I heard him say, no less than three times,

“I’ve carried out more executions than any other governor in the history of the state.” (he is the former governor of Arkansas)

Wow, Huck, you must be proud of yourself. Congratulations. Way to be a light on a hill. Keep spreading the good news. No wonder you don’t want to have a talk about theology. I wouldn’t want to either. It’s probably for the best that he doesn’t. It seems that he is pretty popular right now, and I would hate for his followers to listen to things like this,

“Interestingly enough, if there was ever an occasion for someone to have argued against the death penalty, I think Jesus could have done so on the cross and said, ‘This is an unjust punishment and I deserve clemency.’ “,

and maybe be influenced by it. I guess the political realm is better for him than being a pastor. It’s pastors with views like him that make me glad that the Church doesn’t practice church discipline as it should. If so, a lot of influential people in my life would be declared heretics and would be kicked out of the church.

Sad times…