Well; I suppose I've put this off long enough. What can I say? Let's try, 'Now you know why Amy and I are a bit unusual?', or, what about 'Can you imagine doing that three or four times a week for 3 years?'. I don't know whether to be apologetic or arrogant in my approach towards Sunday night so, knowing God's fabulous grace will cover my indiscretions, I'll say this: I'm glad you were able to share, through a brief period of conversation, what was for me an incredibly formative period of my life. I can honestly say that Phil pricked my brain as a student, caused me to critically examine that which I held to be 'true', and assured me that although it wasn't pleasant at times it was beneficial to the Kingdom. And I still hold that to be correct. You heard him say that it wasn't pleasurable to ask these questions of ourselves and it's true -- but the fact is that the journey isn't about us; it's about others. An analogy that may be useful is one Phil shared with us back in the fall of 1991: Sometimes you need to examine your faith in a way that's similar to taking out the planks in a rowboat; take them out one by one and replace one before you rip out another, otherwise you'll drown. Please, nobody drown on my watch and because we decided to have this conversation. Okay? Okay.

On to other things; I'm really starting to love you guys and everything you are and bring to our community. Sure, I knew Bill and Molly for quite some time and couldn't wait until I was with them again but that desire to commune, to share, and to grieve is now moving out to the others. It might be time for the a truth in disclosure moment -- Bill and Molly might've told you all before that we're (at least I'm) a bit weird and that's true; Amy and I are a bit different than the average bears and our desire to reach out and create community between believers causes us to act a bit 'strange' at times. Caveat emptor. I'm excited that some of us think we're about to enter a new phase or that something is just around the corner; I'm always hopeful that's the case. Unfortunately, sometimes it's really hard to deal with.

So, what's news? Amy's back at school and could use a shot in the arm. Tell her it's okay to be a liberal. Send her a note (iskray3@comcast.net) and tell her you'd love to mummify an apple with her. Not sure what I'm talking about? Check this out, down towards the bottom. You might ask Erin Bean if she's familiar with this one. On the 13th Amy and I will be headed to the IN State Fair and have tickets to see the Garrison Keillor, the modern master of storytelling on his Rhubarb Tour. I can't wait to see what it's like when all we've done before is listen. And, the State Fair is the first stop on the circuit!

Football is in the air. Can you smell that? No, not that (please stop feeding nachos to the dog), that. Ah, yes the smell of far too much money in professional sports. No, not that either. (Oh well, these guys wind up losing the ability to even walk after playing for 5 years so I won't start into that issue again, a la baseball.) No, I smell witty writing in the air. If you read anything about football this NFL season, read Gregg Easterbrook's Tuesday Morning Quarterback column on ESPN's Page2. Please note I'm dropping a huge caveat emptor on this dude's columns; although Gregg is a Senior Editor at the New Republic, a neo-liberal journal of politics and the arts, a contributing editor to the Atlantic Monthly, yet another left leaning political/contemporary issues magazine (boy I love these guys), a fellow at the Brookings Institution, a nonpartisan public policy think-tank, and an author of many books including 'Beside Still Waters' and 'The Here and Now: A Novel' he's still more than happy to include pictures of his favorite cheerleaders in his Page2 column, TMQ. That said, the man can flat out write and I love to read his stuff. It's the best fringe benefit of any NFL season. Did that article catch your fancy? See what he has to say about God and His influence on game day happenings. (I just wish he'd hadn't brought my Terps into the discussion. At least I'm not a Bills fan, though.) Plus, who else is going to single-handedly bring back the haiku to the forefront of modern poetic discourse? Let me engage in one and then I'm done:

Football's preseason
Is ripe with bobbled passes
Like fleas on a dog

See you all soon.

Ok, ok; I'll post tonight, but it'll be late.