I was listening to the radio yesterday and a talk show host named Johnny Wendell shared another interesting idea related to our current energy woes.  First he tossed out some figures, so let’s go over those and assume that they’re correct (’cause I’m not gonna take the time now).

He says that one-in-six Americans work in some way for the Government, either Federal, State, County, City, etc.  When we do the math, that’s roughly 22 million Americans.  Wendell’s idea is for all Government personnel who work in an office-type setting (so, this rules out critical jobs like police, fire, etc.) to be required to work from home one day per week.

Using my own calculations at this point, that would be roughly 17% of our population using roughly 20% less gas immediately!  By my math, that’s a reduction on average of 714,000 barrels of oil per day or about 3.4% (assuming 21 million barrels of oil per day consumed).  With oil today trading at $126 per barrel, we could save almost $90 million per day, to say nothing of the environmental benefits.

So that’s another interesting idea.  Again, it’s worth conversation.  Let’s get talking!!

Watching the news today, I saw an add from a guy named T. Boone Pickens saying that he had an idea about energy and the way we use energy in the U.S.  I couldn’t resist checking out his website, and I have to say that it’s a very interesting idea.  Click the image here to link to his site.  I’m not saying this is “THE Answer.”  I am saying that this is interesting and worth conversation.  So let’s get talking!

So I’m really excited…  I got a new guitar amp a few days ago and it flippin rocks!

I’ve spoken with several guitar players that I respect a great deal.  They all had many things to say, and two of them were consistent with everyone:

1. Go out and play some amps.
2. Tubes.

Tubes?  There are all kinds of jokes in here including what to do if the amp breaks (get it fixed!  Get it?  Fixed?  Get its tubes tied?  Nevermind…).  Seriously, the tubes are related to vacuum tubes!  I’m not makin’ this up!  The same kind of vacuum tubes that used to be inside computers when they took up a whole room at IBM.

Think about a rock guitar that uses a little bit of distortion.  That distortion is created by overdriving a tube (or tubes).  In the 80s, circuits were used to re-create that overdrive and amps were made in a “solid state” form.

Since then, many musicians have found more warmth and better tone (and overtone) in amps with tubes.  And after playing a solid-state amp next to a tube amp I can’t help but agree.  It’s awesome!

So what did I buy?  I bought a Peavey ValveKing 212 Combo.  It’s 100 watts, 7 tubes, and all rock.  Check out the links on the left side of the product page for a little taste…

Bring your sense of humor for this one!  This is from a website called “I’m Voting Republican” and is loaded with satirical humor…

You can visit their website by clicking here.

The church of which I am a part holds a conference each year where pastoral and lay (non-pastoral) leadership gather together to celebrate ministry and deal with various administrative issues as well as ordain new clergy.  This isn’t just one church, but representation for roughly 400 churches in Southern California plus several Pacific Island locations.  All of us are part of a larger world-wide Protestant denomination.

I’ve been a lay member at this conference for several years running, and since I hope to be ordained I hope to attend this conference for years to come.

A major discussion took place related to the recent State Supreme Court decision in California that struck down the ban on same-gender marriage, allowing that all persons regardless of sexual identity have the right to be married (see the court’s decision here).  Because the US constitution recognizes contracts between states and because the state of California has no residency requirement for wedding licenses, this became a big deal very quickly.

This can be a dramatically divisive issue, and persons of great faith and intelligence have long argued both sides of this issue.  I have long known where I see myself in relation to same-gender marriage, and even then there were two stories that were especially moving for me.

At one point, a clergy-woman who is confined to a wheelchair joined in the dialogue.  She shared that when she was younger she met a young man who was Catholic and was also confined to a wheelchair.  They began a relationship that they eventually came to experience as one of great value for them.  They decided that they wanted to get married!  However, when they approached her fiance’s Priest, he explained that they would be unable to get married.  He told them that marriage was for procreation only and that since they were both confined to wheelchairs and physically incapable of procreation (she affirmed this in her telling of the story; the Priest wasn’t making an assumption with this part), marriage was not an appropriate expression of their relationship.  They are a man and a woman, confined to wheelchairs through no fault of their own.  Needless to say, they were devastated.  Then they got married through a Protestant church!

A couple of days later, another clergy-woman told a story about her daughter.  It seems that her daughter is a lesbian and is experiencing a call to ministry and wishes to pursue her call.  Her mother told her that the Protestant denomination of which they are a part does not ordain gay or lesbian persons, nor do they offer or even allow same-gender marriage.  She suggested that her daughter consider ordination in another denomination.  Then she asked this question:  Even if we acknowledge that homosexuality is a sin (which she categorically denies) why is this one sin singled out as making one ineligible for ordination or marriage?

Finally, I would like to offer a faith perspective on homosexuality.  Many have heard or even read various biblical scriptures that appear clear on this issue.  Justin R. Cannon has put together an interpretation that seems very well thought out.  It can be read here.