Just a few thoughts...

Today is Good Friday, but really it is the Friday we acknowledge as the day Christ was crucified. As a faithful believer, the idea that Christ was crucified is a stunning reality of the Christian faith. A man was killed for being the son of God and then subsequently arose demonstrating the ultimate salvation. What a magnificent gift He gave to us in the form of his son who lived, died, and was resurrected.

But even for those who are not believers and cannot seem to grasp the events of Christendom, it should be abhorrent to imagine anyone being crucified. For men to cause another man to suffer deliberately is among the most barbaric of actions and completely antithetical to the concept of love of humanity or refinement of culture.

We drove to Abilene to look at a computer, get some dinner, and take care of a couple of things. Nice little trip but I missed a performance of the Requiem by John Rutter. I have played it twice and sung it once. Very nice music. Rutter is an idiomatic composer for voices who has branched into children's music, folk music, and instrumental music. Will his music stand the test of time? Not sure, probably not, but for now is great stuff. Very singable, catchy, well-crafted but at times a little predictable and simplistic. Still...as I have mentioned before who am I to criticize a composer of Rutter's stature and fame?

Moths are irritating us. They seem to multiply fast and have no purpose. They flit around bumping into things and then die. We get rid of them but more show up. What is the deal with the moths this year? Has the dry weather contributed to their invasion of our lives? Down with moths. I'm sure they have some purpose but I cannot figure it out. Knowing me, this will bother me until I do some research as to the ecological reason for the moth's existence.

Going to finish another book today I suspect. It is Bound for the Promised Land by Richard Marius. What a great writer. Engaging stories, rich human insights, beautiful descriptions of the land, accurate portrayal of fear, and sentences that flow like liquid gold through the pages. This book is a journey book, the people travel across the country in a couple of wagons to head to California. This is the fourth novel of his I have read. He also wrote a wonderful biography of Martin Luther and another one of Thomas More. After I finish this one, I am likely going to head back to TR for another biography. My collection of TR books is impressive and I have plenty to read!

Considering running a 5k. But am wondering if I am up to that. I can do a couple of miles but am huffing and puffing quite a bit by the end. I probably am going faster than I am ready to do. Don't really like running but with my hurting shoulder, I need to do something to stay in shape. Still, I do like the outdoors and running is a liberating and naturally intoxicating endeavor.

Might go see Water for Elephants today. Enjoyed the book and will probably enjoy the movie. All about the circus. More than that, it serves as a reminder that occasionally we need to clean up the mess in order to make things smoother for others and ourselves. Also the book has an altruistic message to look out for the weak. Hopefully the movie will bring some of these things out. We'll see.