YES!!!!

I'm sitting on top of the world. Why? Because I JAMMED on my CIS265 Midterm Exam, scoring all 600 points possible plus the 50 extra credit point for going the extra mile? No, rather because I smite my enemies all, from dawn til dusk. I played some of my best chess of the year last night. Pity my poor victims. One guy had 2 queens on the board against little old me, and he still could not stave off mate. I'm telling you, winning is not enough to get me this excited. It's the quality of the victories. Sacrifices galore, long range strategic planning, tactical virtuosity, superlative defensive countermeasures... it's just so sweeeeeeet!! In my last 15 games, I am 13-2. Phenomenal. I have to publish some of these games.

Another good thing that has me feeling good is my rendtion of the Beatles' Eleanor Rigby. I have loved that melody ever since I first laid ear upon it. Lots of people appreciate it, judging from the wide range of people who have done covers of it. Well, I was listening to some Stanley Jordan the other day, and thought to myself, surely I can figure out the melody and sequence it on my keyboard. In less than 10 minutes I had it, and threw together some drums underneath the piano, some drums that I am very fond of. I experimented with hip more techno/hiphop drums, where the snare is just... you know. But that didn't seem right for this song, so I went through my drum kits and found something similar to how drums sounded in the late 70's. The final stroke was to get out the bass and just fiddle around until I found a groove I liked. Mine were not too good, so I went and played Ray Charles' cover of the song and thought his bass guy did a fabulous job, so I just kinda bit his (imitation is the most sincere form of flattery). I love that way it sounds. I then played around with chords, and came up with a structure I liked. I am going to write some new lyrics to that baby. "All that you've accomplished, you realize it was in vain" Oh my. I might add some strings and brass, and definitely I am giving myself guitar and piano solos. There are few joys like music. And chess.

America the Blessed?

Why is it that every July preachers want tie together God and America. I sat through the standard "America is great because God has blessed her" spiel this past Sunday and could not stop my agile mind from racing. Did God bless America from the beginning? Is America blessed now? Does God love Americans more than the rest of the world? Was it God's will that the Indian be exterminated like the Philistines and the Africans enslaved like the children of Ham? What kind of God would look at America and say, "Yes, I'm very pleased with you!" I'm just full of amazement at what people are willing to believe.

But don't get me wrong, I am not someone who hates America. You know how these conservative lackeys claim that liberals hate America? Well, I am not a liberal, and I am not an America-hater. But I am not going to pretend not to see what I see, and I'm not going to gloss over aspects that I don't like. I have served my country in uniform with much sacrifice and hard work. Not many demonstrate their love like that. Their love is just good feelings -warm fuzzies they get over seeing themselves living better than about 80% of the rest of the globe. Who wouldn't get off on that? But is it love? Maybe its the love a guy has for a girl in the beginning of the relationship. She can do no wrong, she is perfect in all her ways. Contrast that with people who have been together a while. The guy love the lady more than ever but is aware of every fault and foible. Some he can deal with, others he prays that she would change. But some would tell you that any dissatisfaction or critiquing is evidence of hatred, not love. Riiight.

America has been good to me. I live in a nice house, have two nice cars, have fairly good health, access to education, and a goodly amount of personal freedom. But what does God have to do with that? If I lived in a hut somewhere in the Andes, would I be any less loved by God? If I lived in some shack in Africa and I didn't have enough to eat, am I any less His child? What if I am homeless right here in the good ol' US of A? Why do people make the leap in thought that if you are doing well (or even just 'alright'), then and only then are you blessed. My Bible says that "He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous." So preachers everywhere, stop trying to argue that we are blessed because we are American citizens. Or more accurately, that we are more blessed than the rest. We aren't. Our position of global dominance isn't due to America's streling righteousness either, any more than the Roman Empires was. You cannot honestly make such statements, they are patently false. God works in mysterious ways. He had Daniel serving in a pagan kingdom, but I doubt Brother Dan walked around talked about how blessed he was to be a Babylonian, how much God must love these idolworshipping heathens to give them so much power. Yet some here do the exact thing. America is NOT a Christian nation. It never was. It has always contained professing Christians, but that is a different argument entirely. This is as anti-Yahweh a nation as any the Jews ever encountered (think of Egypt, Babylon, Rome). That is my beef, in a nutshelf, that I keep hearing preacher trying to make it seem like God is sporting Uncle Sam's blazer and top hat up in heaven.