today is the day

Vanderbilt isn't the most politically active campus in the country - not even close. This despite the fact that Ross Perot and a number of big players in DC have been known to send their kids/grandkids to school here (Ben Quayle was in my law school class). But I was impressed on the ride in when I cut across the lawn in front of the library and came across this bit of sidewalk chalk graffiti. Well done, 'Dores. Way to represent for change. Yes we can.

Prof. Balmer

This morning, after the drive in (it was 48 degrees and raining hard), I had the chance to attend the Cole Lecture at VDS and to hear (and to meet) a scholar of American religious history who has been influencing me since I first encountered his book Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory as a college sophomore in the Fall of 1994. If you, like me, grew up in the South and/or in the Evangelical subculture, you have to read Randall Balmer. Just stop whatever it is you are doing at this moment, and click here to order this classic and brilliant book.

These days he writes as a "jilted lover" who acknowledges being nurtured as a child and sustained as an adult by an evangelical faith that, as Denise Richards might say, is complicated. Although I would not say along with Balmer that I am still sustained by an evangelical faith, I do find myself largely in agreement with just about every word that came out of his mouth this morning and most everything I have read in his recent book, Thy Kingdom Come: An Evangelical's Lament, about which he was speaking this morning and wherein he notes that right-wing zealots have distorted the gospel of Jesus, defaulted on the legacy of nineteenth-century evangelical activism, and failed to appreciate the genius of the First Amendment. He continues:

"[Preachers of the Religious Right] appear not to have read the same New Testament that I open before me every morning at the kitchen counter. . . . They have led their sheep astray from the gospel of Jesus Christ to the false gospel of neoconservative ideology and into the maw of the Republican Party. . . . I challenge my fellow believers to reclaim their birthright as evangelical Christians and examine the scriptures for themselves--absent the funhouse mirror distortions of the Religious Right. For those equal to the task, I suggest a form of shock therapy: juxtapose the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7), arguably the highest expression of Christian ethics, with the platform of the Republican Party. Would Jesus, who summoned his followers to be "peacemakers" and invited them to love their enemies, jump at the opportunity to deploy military forces, especially at the cost of so many civilian lives? How do we reconcile reckless consumerism and tax cuts for the affluent with Jesus' warnings against storing up "treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal"? Is the denial of equal rights to anyone--women or Muslims or immigrants or gays--consistent with the example of the man who healed lepers and paralytics and who spent much of his time with the cultural outcasts of his day? I suspect that when Jesus asked us to love our enemies, he probably didn't mean that we should torture or kill them. I doubt that the man who expressed concern for the tiniest sparrow would approve the systematic despoiling of the environment in the interest of corporate profits. Jesus calls his followers to a higher standard."

This is good stuff that gets to the heart of my own existential conflict with the religious experiences and worldview of my adolescence and young adulthood. Again, if you aren't familiar with Balmer, he's very much worth getting to know.

friends don't let friends talk fat

next biker in chief

rednecks and las paletas

So the ride home's contemplation of Buddhist philosophies was blissfully interrupted when cutting across Belmont's campus I found this sweet special interest/swing voters bumper sticker apparently left behind after the festivities of this past Tuesday night's so-called "Town Hall Debate." I love myself some clever political bumper sticker, and I couldn't resist immediately peeling off the adhesive and applying it to the bumper of the bike trailer. What a find. One of the top 10 all-time road finds on the daily ride.


And still riding high off the euphoria of the bumper sticker find, we stopped-off at Las Paletas - the gourmet Mexican-style yummiest-popsicles-ever-place that serves up frozen sticks of heaven in flavors like chocolate wasabi, hibiscus, espresso, rice, avocado, and cantaloupe - for a celebratory afternoon snack. According to Ivy, it was lip-smacking good. As for Eden, he was simply mesmerized by something flying across the sky, as usual.

freedom and fear

So on the bike ride in this morning I found myself still thinking about something that was said yesterday in this Christian-Buddhist Dialogue class I'm auditing down at the Div.

"Freedom is not being afraid of any thing that passes through your mind."

The idea is something like this: as we cling to stuff "out there" - as we grasp for a world that is anything other than just what it is - we experience suffering (often manifesting as fear).

The point, you ask? It is this (I think): the clinging and the grasping are what create the fear and result in the suffering. It is not the thing "out there" that keeps any of us from freedom and love. It is, rather, the stickiness of our own mind that constricts our view and prevents our breath-by-breath experience of compassion, wisdom, and interconnectedness. Thus, liberation and lightness are possible to the extent we can take charge of our minds and empty ourselves of expectations, desires, and conditions for how we wish the world to be and, instead, embrace this moment just as it is, pregnant with possibility, potentiality, and power.

A thought for my bike ride home: "the world is as the mind is."

powerful

not even a handshake with "that one"? classy

mission accomplished

So I biked back over to Belmont around noon and guess who I bumped into . . .



Me and Chucky T. And yes, Shelli, Chuck Todd does talk Thai. Actually, he says to me, "Suit pants on the bike. Nice."



Me and the Congressman . . .



Mrs. Greenspan about to go live in the Hardball chair . . .



Jews for Obama et al.

i love this country

(click to make large)

On the bike ride in this morning we have some good news and some bad news. First for the bad: 1. We did not see Chuck Todd. 2. We were caught in a torrential downpour, and I was drenched. Completely and utterly soaked to the bone. The kids, as you can see above, rode in their usual carefree style. (Although I think it does get a little stuffy in there.) But for the good news: We saw a Johnston & Murphy "Shoes of the Presidents" exhibit under a tent. Wow. What an exhibit. What a piece of Americana history. The shoes of the Presidents. I love this country.

And what's more, Ivy had the nerve to ask the exhibit guy "who are you voting for?" Seriously. She asked. To which he replied: "same guy as your dad." (The bike has a bumper sticker, of course.)

I love this country.

53 years in the making

It was 1955, in the Gator Bowl, the last time that a final score had Vanderbilt ahead of Auburn. Last night was one for the ages, as Vanderbilt improved on its story-book season to a record of 5 wins, 0 losses. The last time Vandy was 5-0 was 1943 . . . Tommy Dorsey was on the radio, FDR was in the White House, and the world was at war.

And what about the creativity of those Vandy kids. No, I'm not talking about the magic of back-up quarterback Mackenzi Adams who came off the bench to keep the dream alive. I'm referring to clever signage. I couldn't see it from where I was sitting, but when I got home and saw the highlights on ESPN, one student was holding a sign that said, "The Geeks Shall Inherit the Turf." I like that one.

But even better was a sign seen during the raucus pre-game festivities broadcast on ESPN's culturally iconic Saturday morning football show - GameDay. This sign read, "You guys are blocking the way to the library." That one is classic.

Although, more accurately, on Friday afternoon the GameDay set was actually blocking the route I take to cut across campus. But no matter. It was an epic weekend for Vandyball. Can anyone say "SEC Championship"?

a Palo Alto day

I lived in Palo Alto one summer, and I swear, every single day was just like today. Crisp morning. Brilliant blue sky. Bright sun. No humidity. Slight breeze. Mid-70s. Seriously, this was every single day in Palo Alto. Here in Nashville, this is our reality on about 10 or 15 days out of the year - maybe 20. But today is one of them. I snapped the pic above while cruising across campus - which is buzzing - an hour ago.

Why is the campus all abuzz? Because tomorrow ESPN rolls into the Commons for a live broadcast of their GameDay program - highlighting the fact that at 5pm on Saturday the number #19 and undefeated 'Dores will be taking on the #13 Auburn Tigers in a sold-out Vanderbilt Football Stadium. Yes, it's official. Vanderbilt has become where college football lives.

Bono says a fraction of the $700b could eradicate global poverty & disease, but he's still gonna punch the air

an early draft of the McPalin obit . . .

This afternoon I received an email from this guy - Peter Wehner, a senior fellow at the Ethics & Public Policy center and a former speech writer for W - who today wrote an early draft of the McCain-Palin Campaign obituary that you can read here. Essentially, Wehner concludes that the only way McCain can win is if Obama "badly slips up in the last five weeks" or if McCain gets "an assist from outside events." Wow. You gotta give it to 'em. This guy is keeping it real. Talk about your "no spin zone." If you read the essay carefully, you can almost hear the tone of resignation in this guy's voice. He seems to be conceding the election - and this guy is a GOP election insider - as he notes with particular sadness the enormity of Palin's public display of incompetence and the disastrous/disturbing decisions made last week by McCain and his "America First" campaign directors.

It's one thing to read this analysis on HuffPo and Daily Kos, but when the GOP insiders start writing this stuff, it echoes a little louder.

Hey Barack, thanks for running a campaign that has many of us actually excited, even inspired, about the possibilities of a more perfect Union. Thanks for not putting us in the position that we must sit around for the next 5 weeks and hope for a McCain implosion. Thanks for giving us something positive to hope for . . . to vote for . . . to argue for. You know, it was Mother Teresa who, it is reported, was once asked if she would come out and join a march against war. She said, "No. I will not march against war, but if you have a march for peace, I will be there." We'll be there on Nov. 4, voting for change and for possibility. (yes we can)

must see TV

On the bike ride to lunch I passed this billboard.

Now, my friends (as the Senator from Arizona would say) this is must see TV. Danny Bonaduce v. Todd Bridges? This event will make television history. Oct. 18, 7pm on Nashville's own Country Music Television (which begs the question, why is Tiffany wrestling but not Wynonna?).

more Belmont buzz

This nice guy raised a good question on the bike ride in this morning (not as good as Ivy's below, but still one worth thinking about). Why not let Nader and Barr get into the mix? Perhaps one of these "fringe candidates" will show up tonight in Oxford. I hear there may be an empty lectern.

the Earthman

So, on the bike ride in this morning, Ivy asks, "Daddy, why did the Earthman make it so windy today?" To which I replied, "Good question. " We rode in windy silence for a little while, and then I asked, "What about the Earthwoman? What does she do?" To which Ivy replied matter-of-factly, "She makes it rain." "Oh, right," said I. Then I had to ask, "Do they have any children?" "Of course, Dad. Harriet and Amanda." "Right, thanks Ivy."

(About the obvious safety violation . . . Most days they do wear those helmets they are holding. I swear they do.)

Belmont is buzzing . . .

The bike ride in takes us right through the heart of Belmont University, site of the 2nd 1st Presidential Debate. It appeared to be buzzing this afternoon with local news guys "reporting live." I guess only time (and polls) will tell whether McCain shows up on 10/7. I hope he does because I really want a picture with Chuck Todd.

potential, or Josh the acorn

On Monday's ride home, we stopped on the Peabody side of campus and had what Ivy referred to as an Easter egg hunt. Although the "eggs" were actually nuts, it didn't really matter. The squirrels kids had fun, and as we continued the ride toward home, I recalled hearing or reading this little gem:

Hidden deep inside each acorn lies the potential for a thousand forests.

Whoa. Pretty big thought, isn't it? And then I started thinking about how much greater and infinite is the potential that lies inside each one of us. I mean, if one acorn can produce 1000 forests, how much more is one person capable of creating? But then I started getting a little freaked out, because I'm about to turn 34, and, let's be honest, I haven't exactly set the world on fire (yet). Maybe I could and certainly I should be accomplishing so much more, right? After all, that guy who started Facebook? He's 24. The Google guys? They just turned 35, and they had no doubt started on their world-changing contributions while still in their 20s.

This sorta warped comparative analysis could go on and on and on and on, and would wind up resulting in me spending a few hundred (thousand) dollars working with a therapist. But I don't think this acorn analogy has to be a stressful idea. What a bummer if this thought only resulted in more anxiety or guilt or fear. Who needs more negative vibes?

So, refusing to give up on this acorn thing and promising myself that I would be more gentle with myself (as Austin Powers might put it), I began to reconsider the potential of an acorn, and the fact that an acorn just "is." I mean, it's a pretty laid-back approach that the acorn takes to its forest creating activities. Seriously, it just is. An acorn. And with time and care and good soil and plenty of water (and no kids running around collecting it as if it contained a bunch of jelly beans or maybe even a shiny quarter), the processes of the universe might produce a tree. Perhaps a forest.

Keeping it real, let's admit that the future for this little acorn is uncertain. Luck will be required, and timing will be everything. But the potential is there. And meanwhile, all it has to be is what it was meant to be. An acorn.

And perhaps that is all any of us need to be. Today, with care and gentleness, I am contemplating my potential and resting in this idea that all I have to be is Josh. Josh the acorn.

doppelgänger

On the bike ride home today I saw this concert poster for ol' Bright Eyes, and I immediately thought to myself, "Oberst looks a lot like someone I've seen about 500 times . . . now who could it be? . . . Oh yeah, the creepy brother in Wedding Crashers - Todd Cleary." A little weird, isn't it?

chimes

Song of the wind

chimes relying on the wind (gentle or ferocious) invisible force, yet visible presence animating the branches, the leaves, the grass dancing to the music.

Yes in the movement of the chimes

the invisible is given a primal, tonal voice. Yet the music once created is never repeated.

Patterns of sound are fleeting, changing.

Impermanent. Reliant. Connected.

kids say the scariest darn things

On the bike ride in yesterday morning Ivy and Eden were munching on some cookies (breakfast of champions), and I hear Ivy say, "Dad, I want to eat some of Eden's cookies, but that will make me fat. And I don't want to be fat."

Folks, she is 4 years old.

If you are in the Nashville area, come out a week from tonight for the "Fashion for EveryBODY" event supporting the Eating Disorders Coalition of TN or bid online at the silent auction.

it's all about the Jacksons

So, I'm on the bike ride in a couple of days ago, and what do I find? A slightly folded twenty lying on the pavement up next to the curb.

It was particularly sweet b/c I had just realized that I had left home without my wallet - and I actually needed a little cash for lunch and postage on a package I needed to mail.

And then, about a quarter of a mile down the road, I found two dimes. That's what I'm talkin' about. $20.20, baby.

I have heard it said that we live in a universe of abundance, and finding $20.20 first thing in the morning is pretty good proof. According to Shelli, it's also a pretty coincidental, omen-like message suggesting I go on a vision quest or something. You know 20/20 vision and all that.

So, I'll be keeping my eyes and my ears and my mind open for more discoveries on my morning bike ride in . . . and, on this blog, I'll be sharing what I find.