I admit that I watch American Idol from time to time. As a "music person" I am supposed to shun such commercialization of musical art. And I can be a snob about music just like the next music doctor, but I have to admit that I enjoy watching the show if only to hear somebody bomb. My vote is for Melinda by the way. As many of you know, the last week was about giving back. One striking segment dealt with death in Africa and how we in America do not have a clue how much death Africans live with on a daily basis. This African man said he had been to over 200 funerals in his lifetime. Most of the American and British celebrities they interviewed had been to only a handful at best.
Before I moved to Florida, I had been to my fair share of funerals. Having served as a singer/musician in churches I had been called on from time to time to sing in a funeral or at least attend several services. But I have probably been involved in more funerals since I moved than in my entire life before. I work at a moderately large United Methodist church that is predominantly an older group. This has been an interesting change for me to go from working with college students to the AARP set, but it has been a good change and not without its benefits. The people are wonderful and so very appreciative. If I ever needed to feel better about myself, I definitely do when I am around my parishioners. It does not hurt that I know "their songs" and sing them often.
Back to funerals: I find that most of them do not effect me anymore. Maybe they shouldn't. We celebrate these folks for their well-lived lives and their faith, so we know we will see them again. I just hope that I am not becoming immune to the pain of loss or that I am just getting so used to doing funerals that I am only going through the motions. Probably the fact that I am writing this means I am not, but I still have to ask the question. But I have had a lot of folks ask me to sing at their funerals, so I guess they have enjoyed what I do. I must say I have become quite the rage on the funeral and wedding set for my community.
Now, for a political statement: I read that Rudolph Giuliani is the front runner now for the Republican nomination for President in 2008. Giuliani? Really? Now, I am not as "liberal" as the next green guy, but it bothers me when evangelicals can get behind someone who hits so many of their caution buttons in a major way. You know, he has been married three times and so has his wife. And, besides that he is pro-choice and for gay rights and all those good things (GASP). Is this a "lesser of two evils" choice or what? Granted, I have nothing against Giuliani. I think he is a great American and did some wonderful things in New York, especially with regard to his leadership after September 11. But I do not think of him as a conservative, at least not in the Bush sense of that term.
I mean, I am much less conservative than I used to be, but conservatives used to stand for something, and it was usually . . . conservative. I just think it is funny that everybody gets all up in arms over John McCain, but at least we know what he thinks about all things Republican. I also read that Barack Obama has over 35,000 friends on MySpace. Hillary does not have nearly that many and McCain does not have even 3000. I wonder how many Al Gore has, especially since he invented the Internet. I think it will be interesting to see if Gore chooses to run. I think he might win (again) this time if he does run. I am resolved that our next President will be a Democrat and I hope the best one runs, uh, wins.
UPDATE & NDY GIG
12 years ago
2 comments:
I’ve never been more excited about a Presidential election than I am this one. In my life time, there have never been so many characters, and two of them could make history in Obama and Clinton.
But like you, I have to scratch my head at the Giuliani pick. It makes no sense. I mean, I know that everybody likes a hero, but talk about blind hero worship. As you said, the guy has multiple divorces, one of them coming via a news conference, he’s pro-choice, pro-gay, and was quickly on his way out of the mayors office in NY until September 11 happened and he came through in the clutch. The guy is about as far from being a Republican, and even farther from being a conservative, as you can possibly be. Yet it appears that 911 could win him the Republican nomination. Unbelievable.
On the other side you’ve got a black man whose name rhymes with Osama, and a woman. Awesome! I was just thinking this morning that if Hillary managed to win this thing, we could conceivably have two families in power over the course of twenty-eight years of U.S. Presidents. Wow!
Gore would definitely spice things up, but I’d like to go on record as saying that if Hillary weren’t a woman, she’d be a lock for the Democratic nomination. People hate strong women, men and women alike. In fact, they have a very nice name for strong women that you probably don’t want typed on your blog, so I’ll refrain. But you get the point. But if she were a man, she could act exactly as she acts and nobody would think a thing of it. I think she’s smart. In fact, I think she’s smarter than either of our last two presidents. And I, for one, would love to see it happen.
I think you are absolutely right about Hillary and our problem with strong women. That she is so intelligent scares most people. I for one would like to see it happen if for no other reason than to give fodder for more discussion. I am looking forward to this one playing out so much more than any election in recent history.
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