Random Ramblings #29: Romney vs. Santorum, Pastor Chuck Smith, The War Horse, And a Brave Mom

Every Friday we’ll take a break from topical posts and will post some random personal thoughts. 

—

A Cuppa Joe – Random Ramblings from a Fellow Struggler

Just a few thoughts this first week of January 2012:

– Pastor Chuck Smith of Calvary Chapel announced last Sunday that he has lung cancer and is currently under advisement from doctors as to prognosis and treatment planning. Forty one years ago a beautiful high school classmate of mine invited me to the then-burgeoning Calvary Chapel of 1971 when I was 16, wildly promiscuous and drug abusing. That’s when Chuck’s words first impacted me, leading me to salvation then growth, and the impact has never stopped. I jog listening to his verse by verse teaching on my i-Pod, still feeling like a kid when ‘Papa Chuck’s’ voice comes on, and my family and I daily benefit from the foundation Renee and I acquired under him. The Body of Christ is larger, stronger and richer for this man, so please join the millions who are surely praying for him with respect and deep gratitude.

– If you haven’t yet seen The War Horse take some time out for it this weekend. It’s breathtakingly beautiful, the kind of cinematic story-telling you hope to see but rarely do when going to a show, and you leave the theater feeling flat-out terrific. (The scene between an English and German soldier momentarily working together at a WWI battle site is by itself worth the ticket price.) Time allowing, I’ll be giving it another look tomorrow night.

– So now it’s Romney vs. Santorum, rather than Romney vs. Gingrich? The latest (as in last night) polling says so. I’m guessing come November, Romney’s the one who’ll be on the ballot, but I wouldn’t count Gingrich out just yet, either. And to my dismay, I’m also nowhere near counting out a second term for Obama, approval ratings notwithstanding. Things can shift and morph at lightning speed during an election year, and say what you like about him, the man’s an extraordinary campaigner. I think once the gloves are off between the sitting President and the Republican nominee, we’ll see an exhausting nose to nose battle. Sure would like to be wrong about this, though.

– This isn’t funny, and yet —? An Oklahoma mother shot one of two men who were barging into her home on New Year’s Eve, one of them armed with a knife. Her 3-month old son was with her in the house, so is it any surprise she used force? The surprise, though, is the 911 conversation Sarah McKinley had shortly before the shooting when, 12-gauge shotgun in hand, she asked the operator for help, then had the etiquette-mindedness to ask permission – twice, mind you – to shoot the intruder. It’s a horrible story, and I’m also horrible to find any humor in it, yet I can’t help but grin at the thought of getting clearance from 911 before pulling the trigger. I’m more of an “ask forgiveness rather than permission” guy myself, but to each his own. Sarah, you’re quite a lady.

Hope all our weekends are far less eventful. God bless.