We were at AutoZone Park, worried only about the score of the Redbirds game against Tacoma in Game 3 of the PCL Final. My phone rang, and it was my brother. Our uncle, Bill, had gone into cardiac arrest, and the doctors were not giving any hope of getting him back.
Before we could get to the hospital, he was gone. While he had been an insulin-dependent diabetic since age 2, he was only 55. He had married just 14 months ago, and now, Teresa was a widow. And in my mother's family, just as happened in my father's family a few years ago, the baby had died first.
We gathered at Memorial Park last night for the visitation. Then, today, the funeral was held at Aldersgate UMC, where Bill and Teresa married in the summer of 2009. Finally, he was laid to rest at Memorial Park, just five feet from his parents, the people who had saved his life, and pointed him to the life he enjoys today.
Bill was just six years older than me. He was 11 years younger than his next sibling. He always seemed more a part of the generation with my brother, sister and me than that of my mother and other uncles. Bill only beat me into the family by two years. He was adopted by my grandparents when he was four. He had come to live with them at 2; at 4 he came in one night to my grandfather's room and asked if he could become a Fisher. The adoption process started the next day.
Bill was funny. He was brilliant. He was passionate about life. And given the work that my grandparents did in teaching their adopted son what it means to be chosen, he committed his life to ministry. He understood fully that just as he was chosen to be part of his family, so does God choose us all to be part of God's family. He needed to communicate that opportunity to other people. He did it in a variety of ministry settings, from running our Conference camp, to serving as pastor to the poor and elderly in our retirement homes, to the Singles ministry at our largest church, to all of his more traditional assignments as pastor of several churches in the West Ohio Conference, as well as here, at home, in West Tennessee and western Kentucky.
Please keep Teresa in your prayers, and my mom and uncles. And all the people whose lives Bill touched as pastor and bearer of God's good news.
Monday, September 20, 2010
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
New Rules for Hiking, Mountaineering and Protesting
OK now, boys and girls, please pay attention. Circumstances have now necessitated a new set of rules for those among us who continue to choose inappropriate neighborhoods for our hiking, inappropriate seasons for our mountain climbing, and want to be able to protest anywhere in the world like we were at home in the good ol' USA.
1. Sarah Shourd is, as of this writing, in Oman. She has been released by Iran. She was arrested for being in Iran. During a hike. By my rule, she's the last one. From now on, if you decide to hike in Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iraq, North Korea or any other such site on God's Green Earth, then we, the sane portion of the American people, will recognize that you have a bizarre need for attention, that you are willing to risk anything-including death-to get that attention, and we will allow you to pursue it. But don't expect anybody to come get you. No diplomats will waste their time and our money, no military excursion will be mounted at the risk of the lives of military personnel. You hike in Iran, your booty belongs to Iran, have a nice day.
Prior to your departure, backpack in hand, for the Persian Gulf, you might consider the Appalachian Trail, the Rocky Mountains, the Sierra Nevadas, or any other number of exquisite places within the bounds of the United States of America, where you will not be arrested by a totalitarian regime, regardless of what Sarah Palin and Glenn Beck say.
2. New rule #2. It is cold in the winter. On tall mountains, at great elevations, it is even colder in the winter. Do not plan your mountain climb in those months. Understand? Every year now, a certain number of geniuses choose to mount their expeditions at precisely the time that will be the most likely to leave them stranded and in peril for their lives. Some of them even include spouse and children in these lame-brained stunts. OK. I guess that's one of those rights to stupidity guaranteed by our great Constitution. But from now on, you're on your own. You go up there in January, you better get your butt back down. Because we will not endanger the life of any fine park ranger, rescue personnel, National Guard member, or full-time military personnel. You want back-up? Make your climb in August. Then, if there is a problem, there will not likely be an avalanche involved in your rescue. Otherwise, it's been nice knowing you. And, again, if you include your kids in one of these cockamamie schemes, they will be taken from you, as you are, by definition, unfit to be around children, and unable to make decisions about their care.
3. Kim Jong Il don't give a rat's booty about your rights. You want to protest, you better do it here. You can go to Lafayette Park and march your hiney off. You can make a sign and hold it on Wall Street. You can cry out your message from most any street corner in America. But North Korea and some of those other fine countries listed above, well, they don't want to hear it. And if you try to bully your way into their little piece of heaven, you're going to jail. For a very long and hard time. And now, by rule, you're on your own. We will no longer ask the (nearly) 86 year old former President Jimmy Carter to travel to the other side of the world to bail your stupid ass out of a mess of your own creation. Doesn't an 86 year old Nobel Prize winner have better things to do than apologize to a bunch of wingnuts to bail you out for being stupid? Don't want to be in a North Korean jail? Don't go to North Korea. Stand in front of our Capitol, make a great big sign, scream your head off about the injustices of their way of doing business. But stay the heck out of their territory. Because they will flush you and never remember having been in the bathroom.
These few rule changes will encourage a handful of our countrywomen and men to make more informed and much more intelligent decisions about their behavior in the world, and you're welcome! Glad to be able to help.
And check back in a couple of days for the new rules that will govern those who choose to interact inappropriately with wild animals. Got some changes coming there, too.
1. Sarah Shourd is, as of this writing, in Oman. She has been released by Iran. She was arrested for being in Iran. During a hike. By my rule, she's the last one. From now on, if you decide to hike in Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iraq, North Korea or any other such site on God's Green Earth, then we, the sane portion of the American people, will recognize that you have a bizarre need for attention, that you are willing to risk anything-including death-to get that attention, and we will allow you to pursue it. But don't expect anybody to come get you. No diplomats will waste their time and our money, no military excursion will be mounted at the risk of the lives of military personnel. You hike in Iran, your booty belongs to Iran, have a nice day.
Prior to your departure, backpack in hand, for the Persian Gulf, you might consider the Appalachian Trail, the Rocky Mountains, the Sierra Nevadas, or any other number of exquisite places within the bounds of the United States of America, where you will not be arrested by a totalitarian regime, regardless of what Sarah Palin and Glenn Beck say.
2. New rule #2. It is cold in the winter. On tall mountains, at great elevations, it is even colder in the winter. Do not plan your mountain climb in those months. Understand? Every year now, a certain number of geniuses choose to mount their expeditions at precisely the time that will be the most likely to leave them stranded and in peril for their lives. Some of them even include spouse and children in these lame-brained stunts. OK. I guess that's one of those rights to stupidity guaranteed by our great Constitution. But from now on, you're on your own. You go up there in January, you better get your butt back down. Because we will not endanger the life of any fine park ranger, rescue personnel, National Guard member, or full-time military personnel. You want back-up? Make your climb in August. Then, if there is a problem, there will not likely be an avalanche involved in your rescue. Otherwise, it's been nice knowing you. And, again, if you include your kids in one of these cockamamie schemes, they will be taken from you, as you are, by definition, unfit to be around children, and unable to make decisions about their care.
3. Kim Jong Il don't give a rat's booty about your rights. You want to protest, you better do it here. You can go to Lafayette Park and march your hiney off. You can make a sign and hold it on Wall Street. You can cry out your message from most any street corner in America. But North Korea and some of those other fine countries listed above, well, they don't want to hear it. And if you try to bully your way into their little piece of heaven, you're going to jail. For a very long and hard time. And now, by rule, you're on your own. We will no longer ask the (nearly) 86 year old former President Jimmy Carter to travel to the other side of the world to bail your stupid ass out of a mess of your own creation. Doesn't an 86 year old Nobel Prize winner have better things to do than apologize to a bunch of wingnuts to bail you out for being stupid? Don't want to be in a North Korean jail? Don't go to North Korea. Stand in front of our Capitol, make a great big sign, scream your head off about the injustices of their way of doing business. But stay the heck out of their territory. Because they will flush you and never remember having been in the bathroom.
These few rule changes will encourage a handful of our countrywomen and men to make more informed and much more intelligent decisions about their behavior in the world, and you're welcome! Glad to be able to help.
And check back in a couple of days for the new rules that will govern those who choose to interact inappropriately with wild animals. Got some changes coming there, too.
Wednesday, September 08, 2010
On the Burning of Qu'rans
So some nobody "pastor" of a nobody, nondenominational "church" in Florida with a total of a reported 50 adherents wants to "draw a line" and burn the holy book of Islam. Responses from your poor blogger:
1. Why is the press paying any attention to this buffoon? Regardless of the choices of my local tv stations, the robbery of a Dollar General store somewhere in Oklahoma is not news in Memphis, and neither is some goof who's clearly staging a stunt to garner attention that his efforts at "ministry" haven't been able to get him. Why not give the book burner's time to the homeless man who walks up and down Summer Ave. everyday, talking to someone the rest of us can't see? They are operating on pretty much the same plane.
2. Apparently "Pastor" Terry Jones (and he isn't the Monty Python genius, or any other sort, for that matter) is not conversant with the Christian scriptures he claims to defend. Either that, or he really wants someone out there to burn a bunch of Bibles. (See the whole "do unto others as you would have them do unto you" thing.)
3. I'm tired of living in a world of Jerry Springer's making. Only in Springer-World can a toothless Alabaman sharing a bedroom in his trailer with his wife, her sister, his sister and a goat be presented on stage as the equal of a psychologist. Well, there, and on the average network newscast. And, now, in presenting Jones as anyone with the intelligence, education, tradition or vision to speak for Christianity. Baseball broadcasters have the good sense to never put on tv those who are either drunk or crazy enough to run out on the field during a game. Because showing them would only encourage other drunks and nuts. News people should only be so bright.
4. I'm tired of this crap and I'm going to bed. To quote Keith Olbermann, "Good night and good luck."
1. Why is the press paying any attention to this buffoon? Regardless of the choices of my local tv stations, the robbery of a Dollar General store somewhere in Oklahoma is not news in Memphis, and neither is some goof who's clearly staging a stunt to garner attention that his efforts at "ministry" haven't been able to get him. Why not give the book burner's time to the homeless man who walks up and down Summer Ave. everyday, talking to someone the rest of us can't see? They are operating on pretty much the same plane.
2. Apparently "Pastor" Terry Jones (and he isn't the Monty Python genius, or any other sort, for that matter) is not conversant with the Christian scriptures he claims to defend. Either that, or he really wants someone out there to burn a bunch of Bibles. (See the whole "do unto others as you would have them do unto you" thing.)
3. I'm tired of living in a world of Jerry Springer's making. Only in Springer-World can a toothless Alabaman sharing a bedroom in his trailer with his wife, her sister, his sister and a goat be presented on stage as the equal of a psychologist. Well, there, and on the average network newscast. And, now, in presenting Jones as anyone with the intelligence, education, tradition or vision to speak for Christianity. Baseball broadcasters have the good sense to never put on tv those who are either drunk or crazy enough to run out on the field during a game. Because showing them would only encourage other drunks and nuts. News people should only be so bright.
4. I'm tired of this crap and I'm going to bed. To quote Keith Olbermann, "Good night and good luck."
Tuesday, September 07, 2010
He was a Mighty Man, Dead and Gone...
Most of the attention paid in these parts to any departed musician tends to focus on August 16, Whitehaven, and peculiar things like candlelight vigils. Please pardon a minority report.
On August 15th of last year, James Luther Dickinson died of complications following heart surgery. Jim was the Godfather, the soul, the heart of Memphis music. Judy Peiser dedicated this year's Memphis Music and Heritage Festival to Jim's memory. That's a start, in remembering this embodiment of what Memphis is all about, and why it matters.
Johnny Cash died on September 12, 2003. Johnny Cash was rock and roll, and Johnny was country. He was big and cool and strong, with a voice that sounded like the voice of God. Nobody, and I mean NOBODY, can ever take the place of Johnny Cash.
Warren Zevon died five days prior to Johnny Cash's death. Zevon was smart. He, too, brought an incredible cool to the table. Warren had a good time, even when he was dying. In his last television appearance, he encouraged David Letterman, and all the rest of us, to "enjoy every sandwich." Good advice, to this day.
This trio are way at the top of my list of musical heroes. I am eternally grateful for their work, that their recordings survive, and that their music guarantees Dickinson's chosen epitaph: "I'm just dead. I'm not gone."
Rest well, my friends!
On August 15th of last year, James Luther Dickinson died of complications following heart surgery. Jim was the Godfather, the soul, the heart of Memphis music. Judy Peiser dedicated this year's Memphis Music and Heritage Festival to Jim's memory. That's a start, in remembering this embodiment of what Memphis is all about, and why it matters.
Johnny Cash died on September 12, 2003. Johnny Cash was rock and roll, and Johnny was country. He was big and cool and strong, with a voice that sounded like the voice of God. Nobody, and I mean NOBODY, can ever take the place of Johnny Cash.
Warren Zevon died five days prior to Johnny Cash's death. Zevon was smart. He, too, brought an incredible cool to the table. Warren had a good time, even when he was dying. In his last television appearance, he encouraged David Letterman, and all the rest of us, to "enjoy every sandwich." Good advice, to this day.
This trio are way at the top of my list of musical heroes. I am eternally grateful for their work, that their recordings survive, and that their music guarantees Dickinson's chosen epitaph: "I'm just dead. I'm not gone."
Rest well, my friends!
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