Random! (Or maybe not) Thoughts at 10,000 hits…

Random! (Or maybe not) Thoughts at 10,000 hits…

As of this morning on my way to work, I finally achieved 10,000 hits (views) on my blog. I say “finally” because the last three blog articles were about exceptionally cool people and I thought that they would each get way more hits. That’s the nature of this thing, though. You never know what’s going to “take off” and what’s not.

The top 10 posts basically fall into three categories – People and Politics, Memories, Funerals and Religion, and Music. Of the hits, Treyvon Martin (here misspelled as “Travon”) and racism have by far the greatest number – about 1300.  For a single article, “Ellen Degeneres as Leader and Peacemaker” has the most hits, just above the most popular Treyvon article.  

Next up is articles on people who have passed and the people they left behind – Holly Hassett and Rick Fowler, Daniel and Lynda Kuhn, and Jerry Curtiss, Char Corbett and Sioux Curtiss

Two articles for pastors: “A Theology of Ordination” and “In Praise of the Local Church Pastor” are in the Top 10, followed by a review of Beebs and Her Money Makers’ first album and an article on the Top 100 Albums of All Time”

What does this mean? If I had to guess, I’d say that racism is a vital issue and we are trying to understand each other; that religion and politics still have a lot to say to each other; that we try to make meaning of our lives and the lives of others; that grieving is a huge part of our lives; and that we get through it all with good music, of which my sister’s band is one example.

It also says that good people leave behind a legacy to their friends/they have a lot of people who care about them. Holly was a very caring person, Daniel apparently was a good man who touched a whole bunch of lives in Upstate New York (where there aren’t a lot of people, by the way), and Jerry Curtiss’ way of living the Christian spiritual life made a huge difference with its ripple effects.  

If my readers are any indication, people have the capability of deep emotions, deep thoughts, and deep spirituality and they use them.  Pastors out there seem to remain a focus of those things – the people we go to when we want to deal with those things. In short, the church and pastors still fill a need in people’s lives and in the wider society.

Lastly, to misquote Spiderman comics, “With great passion comes great music”. My pastor friends, my non-pastor friends, the wider world, all seem to really enjoy music. I remain astounded at Beebs’ talent, ear for talent in others, and just great music. She and her band are amazing.

So, what else is there to say? Here it is, in no particular order, or –as my daughter would say, “Random!”

Many thanks to Cathi Chapin-Bishop and Liz Solomon Wright for helping me figure out how to blog in the first place and for being my friends. It’s been incredibly fun, most of the time. Mama Around the House is a great blog, as is Bad Quaker Bible Study. Joe Roberts – thanks for quoting me recently. You know so many things and you have such a different knowledge base that I continue to be impressed.

If Sean Murphy ran for office, I’d vote for him. We don’t always or often see eye-to-eye, but we’re both interested in the truth, have little tolerance for extreme propaganda on our side or the others’, and want people to have better lives.

Rob Mcarthy is a quiet, but supportive presence in my writings.

Bob Cunningham has a good heart and I’m glad to see it back.

Derek and Dawn Cunningham have the healthiest marriage I have ever seen.

Probably the coolest moment in the blog came in “real life” when Patti told me that her mother was proud of her, when she hadn’t heard that before. That made my day.

South Church in New Britain, its members and its recent pastoral staff – George, Jane, Emily and my wife Michelle – are the best around, though Mass Conference, Connecticut Conference, and Rhode Island Conference in the UCC have some pretty cool people as well. Hi to Bob Kyte and Charlie Hartmann, who (with Peter Wells) make up the triumvirate of great pastors I have known.  Deering Conference Center was the best place to grow up spiritually and emotionally.

White people can understand Black folk, don’t let anyone fool you. Why they don’t is anybody’s guess. We should figure that out soon and do something about it. Thanks to Gerry Claytor for noticing.

Despite what the statistics say, the New York Mets are still the best team in baseball. 

Maybe the recent doping scandals will allow us to see sports heroes as people and sports as a game again.

The battle for hearts-and-minds over homosexuality has been largely won. Let’s get it in writing, then start caring about the poor, the hungry, the abused, women and minorities. I want the ERA to be ratified and the Voting Rights Act fixed, Citizen’s United overturned, and people to get what they need. Mostly, I want us to take each other seriously, as God’s children — love made manifest in the world. I think if we can do that part, the rest of it will follow.

Nukes are still dumb. The plant in Japan is still leaking, just like I (and many others) knew it would.

The polar ice caps are melting. It doesn’t look good.

Obama gets 3 ½ stars out of 5 for his presidency so far. George W. Bush gets a negative 3 for his.

Special thanks to Rev. Leigh McCaffrey for being there with my mother and my family in Florida. They all still love you and mention you often.

Carroll Cyr gave me all kinds of good excuses to work on my faith with this blog. Thanks to her.

The church needs Jesus’ model to hold us accountable. We probably won’t get it right, but we and the outside world at least knw where to look.

Liberal Christianity is making a comeback, as it should. So is caring, as it should. Might there be a connection there?

At the same time, where did all the racism and sexism come from? Some woman in Britain got death and rape threats on Twitter for asking to see another woman to be on the currency there. Huh?

I believe that decency and consideration will make a comeback in Texas and North Carolina and Texas and Minnesota and Florida. People can’t hate each other that long without the system collapsing. Having said that, it can’t happen fast enough.

Love makes the world a better place – pretty much always.

Ron Bottitta is that rarest of things – a working actor. The rest of his life’s not bad, either.

David Ratz is a man of faith. Lisa Gustaffson is a woman of faith. Rick Fowler is the best chaplain I know.

We can make the world a better place. We just can.

Peace,

 

John