when one part hurts...

The burden for Christian leaders in the US weighs heavy on my heart. No doubt you've heard about the whole Ted Haggard thing, and perhaps even the Dr. Dobson thing ... media has certainly had a field day with the "scandal," and those who have been waiting for a chance to pounce on Evangelical organizations like Focus on the Family are doing so with relish. Mix in the elections results and voila! -- a big brimming stew of nasty attitude ("out-with-the-old-stuffy-hypocrites") towards the values and people who founded & grounded America.

It hurt to see the giddy rush people get out of pointing and laughing at those whom sin has taken down, especially when the pointers are fellow brothers and sisters. Not that his sin is excusable, but what's the good of salivating over his shame?

It hurt that people would be so quick to forget (or worse, never realize) how hard Dr. Dobson and his team have fought for the survival of "The Family" in a country where this foundational block is becoming a rare commodity... instead of supporting his difficult decision, they are quick to judge & criticize his reasons for "bailing out on his so-called brother."

Such deep, deep hatred...my heart broke as I sat in Stauffer this morning reading all the dirt splashed across the headlines and hearing echoes of derisive laughter at our absurd beliefs in an outdated god.

How much more does all this hurt Him?

Continue to pray for the direction of our countries guys...I love N.America, but with the types of leaders taking over, leaders who don't recognize the value of values, it's not a place I'd want to raise the next generation. I see already the reality & consequences of moral depravation in the inner city school I tutor at here in Kingston. It really feels like God is turning His back on our country...? Or maybe we just don't care enough about falling away to take action, as much as we talk and worry about it...

***
I guess reading all those disturbing articles vexed me to the point of absentmindedness again... later this afternoon, this exchange occurs:


RELS 131S FALL-WINTER 2006-07
Dear Students,
We have been informed by Stauffer Library Reserve that a plastic case for one of the Long Search DVDs was returned to the Library today -- minus the DVD.
The missing DVD is: Taoism; Alternative lifestyles in California; Reflections on the Long Search.
If you recently borrowed this DVD would you check your player to see if the DVD might still be there?
Thank you for your assistance.
Wilma Fernetich
Continuing & Distance Studies
Faculty of Arts & Science
Queen's University

Oops...that would be me! I watched it in the library earlier today

and left it in the cd drive of one of the computers on the main floor.

I will go to the library shortly to retrieve & return it to the front desk

-- maybe you can let them know that? Thanks & sorry about the confusion!

Carmen

***

Then I received this email from my prof, which made me feel much better:

Hi, Lianne and Carmen--
I have a hazy recollection that you guys asked me about meeting in advance of your seminar on the sonnets - but I can't remember what happened then--did I promise to get back to you and forget? or worse yet did I stand you up? Please let me know.
Best, Mark Jones

(no, he didn't stand us up...the meeting is tomorrow!)