Word of God. The Bible is considered by many to be the word of God -- yet it contains many words of men. The Psalms is a book of praise and songs which, at times set forth clearly divine words and at others the full range of human emotions. Psalm 137 is one of those Psalms, especially verses 8-9:

O Babylon, you will be destroyed.
Happy is the one who pays you back
for what you have done to us.
Happy is the one who takes your babies
and smashes them against the rocks!

I know exactly how this writer felt -- watching the 911 documentary on CBS last Wednesday after the President's speech, especially hearing the bodies of the jumpers smashing on the roof. These verses percolated up from my gut. . .

Yet, as Christians, we have a duty to love and pray for our enemies. So how does that square? Our natural instincts will still be there -- to deny they exist would be wrong -- dash those babies. Yet to leave it there would be wrong. Therefore, we must affirmatively follow Christ's command to love and pray for our enemies.

The ultimate form of love is to transform our enemies -- which the love of God is able to do. This does not mean that our society -- our state -- must yield to evil -- to capitulate or appease it. No, the State does have a proper role of wielding the sword against those who do evil so "that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness"

Hotchpot. I was up late last night, still working on getting things ready for school. We've started already and I have all the broad parameters laid out, but I've got to get all the nitty-gritty stuff ready for my daughter, whom I'm homeschooling in 8th grade. But I can't blame the school stuff for being up so late -- it was the game between the A's and the Angels. What a great game. Yes, my A's lost, but it was still a wonderful game. I don't have ESPN, nor did I listen to it on radio or on the internet -- while I was working on Geometry, I had the ESPN gamecast scrolling across my screen -- each ball and strike, every line-up change, all of it was there and it was a wonderfully exciting game. The Angels' Scott Spiezio, who has been a real killer in this series (which the Angels took 3-1), had a walk-off single in the ninth.

Those of you who stop by regularly have heard me beating the drum for Third World Christianity -- please see this interview with Philip Jenkins in the Atlantic Unbound -- his article in the current Atlantic is sitting on my nightstand and should be on-line within the month.

For once, I actually agree with something that John Dean writes about in this article on federalism and the Seventeenth Amendment.

The noted horse-racing enthusiast and former GOP presidential contender, Pat Robertson endorses the Democratic tax hike in Virginia.

Here is a link to the sermon preached by +George Carey, the Archbishop of Canterbury, on 9-11 at Trinity Wall Street in NYC. In this sermon, he pointedly challenged the efforts to protect against further terrorism:

at such times we may be tempted to seek to over-ride others, to lash out in revenge or frustration. That urge may be especially strong when we believe we have not only right but also might on our side. When we have not only the motive but also the means. But surely the test of true greatness for peoples and nations must be that
they are motivated by what should be done not by what could be done?

And here is a link to Rod Dreher's reaction.

And, since I've come around to my own beloved church, here is an essay by +Carey's son regarding, among others, +Bennison: Bishops Behaving Badly.

Let's conclude on a somewhat upbeat note, read An Unlikely Hero.

One More. I knew I'd forget something -- here's an editorial in the WaPo blasting the Leahy Lynch mob for the hit on Priscilla Owen.

Johnny U. Yesterday afternoon, I took my daughter to her second-ever softball practice. My four year-old son tagged along and we brought his Wilson Leather Football (Peewee edition) to toss around. We went out into "the field of dreams" (so-called because it's the area where all four softball fields meet -- a homerun from any field would have to go about 330 feet to hit the center) and tossed the ball around. He didn't like it when I did short underhanded tosses to him -- he was too afraid of the ball. So I sent him long and then threw the ball over his head and let him chase it. He loved this game. At one point, I uncorked a throw that covered about 40 yards (actually getting close to one of the diamonds) in a nice tight spiral (you can do that with a peewee ball) and I yelled "Just like Johnny Unitas!"

Of course, my son didn't know who Johnny U was -- he was first named Player of the Year in 1959, the year I was born. For those in my generation, he was the standard. He was the Quarterback by whom all others were measured. Sure we had Sonny Jurgensen and Bart Starr, but none of them came close to Johnny U.

And now he's gone.

First Ted, now Johnny. . .
the best there ever was.
----

I love this story:

"A guy broke through the line, hit him, pushed his head in the ground. He called the same play, let the guy come through and broke his nose with the football. I said, "That's my hero,' " says Bubba Smith about Johnny Unitas on ESPN Classic's SportsCentury series.

In Memory. Never Forget.

Continuing Crisis. An update on the Bennison attempt at defrocking from London. In addition to having +Carey's support, it's my understanding that Moyer+ also has +R.Williams support.

Also, I acknowledge that I haven't been blithering much lately -- probably won't be until next week, either. School is keeping me busy.