Sunday, June 8, 2008

Random Thoughts on the Weekend

I took Scout to her second agility class yesterday. There are only three in the class, which my husband says is a good teacher/student ratio. However, one of the three is an over-achieving Jack Russell Terrier, who can do the entire course in about 12 seconds. Scout has issues with the teeter, which scares her, and she doesn't really understand "weaving." It's been a year since her last class, so I suppose I should cut her a little slack. Also, yesterday, she really wanted to play with the other two dogs (and the trainer, I think) much more than she wanted to "study".

Last night we watched the movie, August Rush. Heavily sentimental, and I was surprised that the authors did not give credit to Oliver Twist for large chunks of the plot. However, the music is lovely, and there was one piece of dialogue that stopped me in my tracks:

Wizard (Robin Williams charcter, modelled on Fagin): What do you want to be in the world? I mean the whole world. What do you want to be? Close your eyes and think about that.

August (11 year old orphan who has run away, looking for his parents): FOUND.

Today our outdoor service was held indoors due to rain. We held our annual event to honor veterans between the services. The last three to be honored were World War II vets, but this year's honoree was a young man who had served in Iraq. The person who gave him the award noted that this is a different kind of war than that fought in World War II; no islands or cities to take; the enemy is not before you, but beside or even behind you. He also noted that that we are not hearing stories of heroism from Iraq, and speculated that this might be because the war is unpopular. That may be so, but I also suspect that we don't hear stories for the reason he first mentioned: because this is a different kind of war.

At our second service, we honored high school graduates with a special ceremony, one we designed shortly after I arrived here. We call all the graduates who are present to come forward with their parents. First we have the parents lay their hands on their children, and bless their children. Then we ask the parents to kneel, and have their children lay their hands on their heads, and say a blessing for them. I really love this action, where children bless their parents. And today the graduates who showed up were five young women who were all in the same confirmation small group. They have remained close friends, even though they are from different communities and go to different schools.

They say the weather here right now is "unsettled." We are in an "unsettled" weather system, which means we have been having thunderstorms and rain off and on for several days, with brief periods of sunshine interspersed. It's not awfully warm, but it's been very humid, and the grass is growing faster than weeds. (the weeds are growing pretty fast, too).

By the way, what do you think of my new blog design? I have been thinking about "typepad' lately, but it might be too hard for me.

19 comments:

zorra said...

Your recognition of the graduates sounds lovely. It was very casually done in our church this morning, and more than half of the new graduates didn't even show up, which saddened me.
I do like your new design. Nice shade of blue, too.

Diane M. Roth said...

Well, Zorra, it's different every year. Some years we have a lot of graduates, and other years not too many. A lot seems to depend on their work schedules, which is sad.

At my first (small) church, there were just a few graduates (sometimes only one) and they ALWAYS came. There was a much simpler ceremony, but the quilters gave each graduate a quilt as a present, and the graduate(s) were always prepared with a very nice thank you statement.

I REALLY loved that -- and I had so little to do with it.

Fran said...

You know I long to go to your church!It sounds like you had quite the services today and quite a lot going on.

Scout and agility training - with a Jack Russell. Don't get me started on Jack Russells... All I will say is (((Scout))).

I like the new look. You are brave to try typepad and wordpress. I find the other things just too hard!

Your blog header is great - I love it.

Diane M. Roth said...

Julie says that we can make tshirts and coffee mugs from our blog header designs. wouldn't that be cool?

Cecilia said...

Very nice design, very good graduation, and I love the quote from August Rush... perfect!

Pax, C.

LoieJ said...

Hi, I'm away from home but checking in with my regulars.

Just want to say that what I really like about blogger is that feature where one can follow comments by having them show up in emails. It is so much easier than just randomly checking back with a blog of interest.

Lindy said...

This post makes me love Scout even more... she wanted to play more than to study. What a great dog!

I like the new blog design. I'm impressed, actually. And I LOVE the Luther thing.

Found!... Isn't that what we all want.

I wonder if we are hearing fewer stories from Iraq because we are just not inviting violence into our lives so readily... even for a "good cause." I have some insanely radical and probably "unAmerican" ideas about that which I'll just keep to myself.

You had a busy weekend. I hope it was fun.

Rev SS said...

I like the blog too .. and Scout has his priorities straight IMHO

Mike Farley said...

I like the new design, Diane - very nice to read.

I like Blogger, too, come to that - TypePad and WordPress work well, but they're fiddly, and I don't like fiddly blogging. It's the words that count!

Blessings

Mike

Lori said...

The new look is beautiful! It's workin' for you.

And Scout has her priorities straight for sure!

Ruth Hull Chatlien said...

The graduation ceremony sounds very touching. I love the reverse blessing.

Unfortunately, I think it feels easier to honor veterans of a war that is over. There is a sense of completion to it. That's hard on the veterans of current conflicts though.

We're in an unsettled weather system too. Rain, tornadoes, thunder, lightning, sun, rain, etc.

I'm so new to blogging, I don't have much experience with the other platforms. One thing I have found, though, is that sometimes Word Press accounts get cranky and won't accept my comments.

I like the blue background and I really love your header. It's so symbolic.

Pastor Eric said...

I sent you an email about my Typepad experience. Once you learn you way around, Typepad really isn't that difficult. But I do like your new design here.

I too really like what you did with your graduates. I will have to remember that.

Diane M. Roth said...

I will send you a copy of what we do, but it has morphed over the years, and I would tweak some of the things we say a little. But the heart of it is the reverse blessing.

I actually like the quilt giving the best.

Funky Grampa said...

As a new blogger, I like typepad:
I can write in Word where I am comfortable.
I cut and paste into typepad.
I publish with a simple click.
Their help is splendid and also very personal and interactive with email
There are upgrade options available

Anonymous said...

Sounds like you had a busy Sunday. I especially like the way you honored the vets and the grads.

New design looks great.

Jennifer said...

What a packed pst!
I loved August Rush, for all the reasons you mentioned.
The commencement service sounds beautiful.
I like your pretty new blog page!

Hot Cup Lutheran said...

the navy really sets your personalized blogheader off in a way that just didn't happen when the header color was white...

mochajava growls at the thought of scout having to tolerate an ankle biting type dog...

Beth said...

Love your description of the service, particularly the graduation recognition.

I love the new blog look! I, too, tried typepad and wandered back to blogger relatively quickly.

Diane M. Roth said...

funky grampa? you have a blog? I sure would like to read it sometime...