Author: John Schultz

Tractor Standoff Continues
This might sound silly particularly with war pending, but Constitution Avenue is shutdown between 15th and 23rd streets in downtown DC. That means it’s a traffic nightmare downtown. And this is going on 24 hours!
I’m waiting for the guy to either fall asleep or get temporarily crazy from the lack of sleep.
Shortly before dozing off in the seat of his John Deere tractor, Dwight Ware Watson is quoted as saying, “Watermelon daiper panorama! Winston Churchill melted around the crock pot! Drivers wanted!”

This Saturday is a Special Day
March 15th: International Eat an Animal for PETA Day
I think I need to take an animal out of my freezer tonight before I go to bed… or perhaps take my wife to a rib place… or make a big meatloaf with a hard boiled egg inside…

Some musical recommendations
O Nata Lux by Morten Lauridsen. There’s a wonderful Robert Shaw recording of this. I assure you this piece is sung in heaven.
Alina by Arvo Part – as close to new age as you can get without being crap. Very relaxing combo of piano and strings. Comes in a cool light blue box.
That’s all for now.

Two things from the Washington Post
Would you like a little glimpse of the mind of Fidel Castro and Saddam Hussien? Saddam’s Tough to Persuade. Cuba Tried
Also – how’s this for a summit of neighboring nations?
“Shut up, you minion, you agent, you monkey.” and
“You are a liar and your grave awaits you.”

When Lent doesn’t make sense
At some point in your life – you’ve been there. Lent came early. The nights are still long, it’s cold and gray, and it wasn’t so long ago that Jesus was a little baby in the manger. “I’m not ready for Lent” – the sacrifice, the difficult scripture, the fasting – it just seems so grim. This has happened to me before because when I’ve had particularly difficult times getting the choir ready for Christmas and I’m just over the hump of learning all that music. Or work is hard and I drag myself home at night only to be too exasted to cook dinner. Lately, I’ve haven’t found much peace in the prayer, fasting and almsgiving. I haven’t found much peace period. It sounds a bit dark, but I feel as though God is taking me through a difficult time and I need to learn to be somewhat unhappy, uncomfortable, unsure and empty.
In that respect, I wasn’t quite ready for Lent but was thrust directly into it. Still, I’ve been given the grace of being able to see the light, some light, at the end of the tunnel. So I can’t characterize what I’m feeling as depression. It’s more a realization that I have so far to go and that much of what I’ve been doing in my life is not journeying directly toward God but rather wandering. And this year, even though the journey is difficult, the path is true.