Save Darfur, (as well as Uganda, New Orleans, the environment, Iran, and North Korea, and go ahead and get out of Iraq. Oh, and end poverty.)

My fear is that thousands of Africans will die today because of a U.S. administration that has too much on it's plate, and a progressive opposition with the exact same problem.

Case in point: Tomorrow is Invisible Children's Global Night Commute, intended to bring national attention to the atrocities being commited in Uganda. I think this is a wonderful idea and I plan on being there, (if just for a bit-- a scheduling anamoly has me working early on Sunday morning.) The Invisible Children guys were on Oprah the other day, sandwiched in between other stories of importance to Africa. This SHOULD have been a monumental moment in getting the U.S. public educated, in that it would have been timed perfectly with the weekend news cycles, putting it in prominent position on the Monday morning outlets.

The problem? On Sunday millions of people will be rallying on the U.S. Capitol and other places across the country to try to get the U.S. and U.N. to do something about the genocide going on in the Darfur region of Sudan. Because this is something that has been simmering in the public consciousness longer, and because it has celebrity power behind it, Monday morning's headlines will read "Save Darfur Efforts Draw Millions," pushing the Global Night Commute to the back pages.

This is unfortunate, but I guess it's just how it goes in a complicated world. As for me, today I'm calling my two Senators , my congressman to urge them to put pressure on the administration to step up the efforts. I'll also be calling Chet Edwards opponent in the fall's election, Van Taylor, to find out what his position is. I encourage you to do the same.

But take a little advice from a former congressional staffer: There are ways to express outrage without being a dickhead. If you cannot do that, your calls will be in vain. The people who answer the phones in these offices have very difficult jobs-- the last thing they need is to hear some amateur policy wonk who thinks they know more than anyone else demean them by being patronizing.

Two more random things about this:

-- I caught the Katie Couric interview with George Clooney and his dad this morning, and I enjoyed it. I am a little pissed off that the NBC execs didn't let Ann Curry do the interview. Curry has lobbied the powers that be to let her have more resources to bring more attention to humanatarian crises around the world, and she's done a great job.

-- Buried underneath the Clooney news and the march this weekend was the Executive Order passed by the President yesterday imposing sanctions on any person, country, or entity that aids the Janjaweed or the Sudanese government. I don't believe in the "liberal media" argument, but I am disappointed that this didn't receive more attention.

savedarfur.org

(I've got a busy weekend, so I wanted to get this up today.)

A Couple of Quotes...

People don't seem to be blogging much these days. I guess the ebb and flow of reality has ebbed, or is it flowed, to where life happens more away from a computer than in front of it. I think that's probably a good thing.

I've spent a lot of time with the Lake kids this week. As physically draining as it is, there is nowhere in the world I'd rather be than with them.

Those kids are hilarious. I thought I'd share a couple of funny stories.

Yesterday we were sitting on the trampoline, resting. Actually, I was resting, they were pretending to rest. I can jump nonstop for about ten minutes and tell them I need a break. They agree it's time to rest, sit down with me, and no joke, literally ten seconds later "Alright, let's jump now!" Well on one particular occasion they decided we'd all sit and talk, like three little miniature cast-of-friends around a coffee cup. I turned the conversation around to how cute they all are. Me: "Y'all sure are cute!" Avery: "I think Jude is the cutest, but, actually," ('actually' is Avery's favorite word right now')"Sutton's pretty cute too." Me: "You're cute as well. Do you think I'm cute?" Avery: "No, you're not cute." Me: "Am I handsome?" Avery (with 100% honesty, but also trying to make me feel good): "No, you're not cute OR handsome. But you ARE funny!"

Gee, Avery, thanks.

The other incident happened on Tuesday night. I had just given the boys a bath. We were in their room and I was trying to chase them down to get them dressed, but they wanted to just run around naked (like I do when no one is home.)* Avery walked by and yelled "Oh my goodness! There are penises all over the place! I don't want to be looking at so many penises!" Jude, trying to help her out, put his pull-up on and yelled into Avery's room, trying to communicate that his penis is no longer showing, points to his crotch and yells "Look Avery, I don't have a penis anymore! Ha, ha!!"

With kids there is no need to make up comedy bits. They just serve them to you on a silver platter.

____________________
*I really don't do this, so try to get the picture out of your head.

Mr. Humility...

Homeboy Nathan Jennings, my friend and Tennis/Racquetball partner, received the Golden Apple Award from the local CBS affiliate and didn't tell anyone. In fact, I just realized the show was airing as we were playing tennis yesterday. Sly devil thought he'd slip this one past everyone, but oh, no Mr. Jennings, it's on my blog now. Our world must know.

Check it out HERE. You can watch the clip from the list on the right hand side. Just click on "This Weeks Golden Apple Winner."

The Last Best Day (For the Time Being)...

If you are in the Greater Waco vicinity right now (9:30 p.m. Tuesday April 25, 2006,) you should be aware of this: I am proclaiming it a crime to not go outside and enjoy the weather. If you didn't go out after the storm and observe that which was frightening in our midst turn into that which is beautiful when seen from a distance, and lift your arms at least a little to feel the cool air on your skin, I will make a citizen's arrest on your unappreciative ass. Walk to the nearest ditch and revel in the flowing water, chasing the all-to-brief spring, or running from the long summer. Either way the water is between here and there and it deserves your attention. The fee for a season pass of bitching about the hot Texas weather is paid for by a little joy expressed in these rare moments.

Avery Lake started her day, on the way to pre-school by informing her grandmother "I bet my daddy is having a FUN day today with all those clouds in the sky. He's probably jumping from one to the other like they're trampolines!"

I came over and spent the evening with the kids. Avery ended the day at the open door, just after the storm, telling me night-night before she went to bed and I went home. I gave her a big hug, told her I loved her, because you can never say that enough to a kid. She took the deepest breath in the universe, and paused. I waited in anticipation for what she would say. After what seemed like an eternity, another deep breath. And then, "It SURE does smell good outside!"

I think little Ms. Drama Queen is on to something.

A Semi-Private Conversation...

In reading Woltorstorf last fall I knew I was being informed about things that I would only later develop a deeper understanding of. (In case you don't remember, he wrote a collection of ruminations on grief after his son passed away. It's called Lament For a Son and was the best book on grief I read.) Such was, and is, the case with his thoughts that grief brings people together but it also, because everyone experiences it in different ways, alienates those same people who are together.

I am experiencing this to be true and the possible culprit in the general funk I found myself in today. I know what I am feeling and thinking about Kyle and his life and death. I also know how those feelings affect me and what they do to my general mood. But what I don't know are the myriad of ways that you have thought about Kyle today and what those thoughts do to you. You could share and I could share and we may even cry a bit and laugh some and talk about what it means to us , to be living in a world without Kyle, but in the end, for all of us, it is still a deeply personal experience.

These are difficult waters to wade through-- living in the tension between what this all means to us, and what it means to you, and what it means to me. To make it through we all must have a sense of trust in each other. But trust in what? I must trust that you will see the sacredness of this grief-experience going on within me, and that you will tread cautiously and handle with care. And in turn I must earn your trust by treating your grief-experience with the same amount of caution and care.

I shared this with some the other night, but now everyone should know: Although the tears become less frequent and dissilusion has turned into vision, albeit cloudy, in many ways the easy part is over and the hard part has begun. The adrenaline has faded and all we have left is what we choose to give each other. Let's give each other our trust and our continued presence.

Hello, My Name is Craig and...and....

I need your help. I shared this confession with my dinner friends last night, but my situation has become more serious in the hours since. There's something I've been doing for the past few days that has brought an ecstatic pleasure to my life, but every time I finish doing it I feel great shame. No matter how hard I try, I just can't stop. When I finish I tell myself this will be the last time, for real this time, but I keep returning to it daily. I'm so embarrassed sharing this with you but I feel the only way for me to experience true healing and wholeness in this area of my life is to cast the net of accountability as far and wide as I can get it. So here goes.

I've been spending my free time watching the Spring Praise-a-Thon on TBN.

It's gotten out of hand. I'm becoming endeared to Jan Crouch and her purple hair. I am no longer ignorant about people such as Donnie McClurkin and Karen Wheaton. I'm considering purchasing a CD of The Crabb Family (I know, unfortunate name, but don't test the Lord by making fun of it-- these kids are ANOINTED!) I've even been tempted on a couple of occasions to send my seed gift of $7 so I can have it sown back into my life sevenfold.

Men and women of God, pray for me. Go before the thrown of grace and intercede on my behalf for me to be DELIVERED!! from this bondage I am in. I'm believing it, will you believe it for me as well? Soon I will return to the Food Network and MSNBC, I just know God will bring me back, but I need your help. I need your prayers. Do it today, people. Time is passing.

To help save the environment, and my wallet, I'm trying to drive less. No more coming home for lunch and a quick blog-check. Which is kind of difficult because a lot of times I'm doing my job and wondering to myself, "I wonder if I've received any cool email or complimentary comments on my blog while I've been away?" It has really exposed how narcissistic I am.

But I'm getting some good reading done at work during lunch. Right now I'm in the middle of Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory: A Journey Into the Evangelical Subculture in America. It has been very enjoyable. The author, Randall Balmer, spent several years visiting and documenting a myriad of different aspects of evangelical subculture. There's some fascinating stuff in there. One of the chapters I read today followed the journey of a Pentecostal (Assemblies of God) preacher in Valdosta, Ga. who became very dissatified with the absence of liturgy and ritual in his congregation. So he began offering communion every week and introducting aspects of the Book of Common Prayer. He was kicked out of his church but began a journey in which he and about 200 of his parishioners from the church he was in, began a church and was confirmed into the Episcopal Faith. Very good stuff. (Here's his church.)

I'm kind of tired but I feel the need to write.

I'm off tomorrow. Weather permitting, (I.E., Lord willing and the creek don't rise,) Jude and Sutton are going to take me swimming. I'll spend the rest of the day resting and hanging out with people.

Hope things are well in your worlds.