the intersection of life and grace

It’s Opening Day. Ask anyone, I’ve been eagerly awaiting the return of baseball since the final out of the 2007 World Series.  I’ve been waiting for new stories, new accomplishments to overcome the sad memories of the ’07 season-ending collapse of my beloved Mets.

As I write, the Mets are winning again the Marlins.  My favorite player, David Wright has had a good day, including a 3-run double in the 6th.  SP Johan Santana has finished a solid 7 innings of work and the bullpen has it’s first opportunity to do it’s job.  If the bullpen gets these 6 outs, this will be the clubs 30th Opening Day win in their 47 years.  Of course, there are no guarantees in this game, and these are the self-same Marlins as played spoiler to the Mets last gasp in the ’07 fall. But, I’m not looking back there! Today, it’s all new.  My hobby is back, and it will take me into spring, through summer, to fall, with ups and downs, rivalries and sleepers, and maybe even some moments of baseball brilliance.

I will return to regular blogging tomorrow.  I took some time away from some “extra” things during Holy Week, and then got sick, and then got behind on everything.  So, I’m getting caught up, and I’ll get back in the swing of things on the morrow.

In the meantime, check out this quirky musing by a certain Mr. Crowder regarding the historic roots of the “rock, paper, scissors” way of making choices.  Muy enjoyable!

For Tom:

Sorry, I just couldn’t resist! It’s better than saying “meow” every other word!

Of 40 jurors called, 2 were excused, 23 were chosen, I among them.  I had to abstain from voting on the case in which I was married to a witness (ha!), but now I’m serving the people of Albany County each Wednesday through April 30.  Like I said below, I’m not opposed to serving, and it’s never convenient, but it is important.  So I serve.   And that’s all I can say about that because Grand Jury proceedings are secret – my Wednesdays have become a black hole.

However, much happened outside the jury room today.  While we were working, Eliot Spitzer resigned as Governor of New York, effective Monday, again with all the arrogance he could manage for one whose hypocrisy, infidelity and immorality has been broadcast around the world for 48 hours.  Pray for David Patterson who will become our Governor, and those whose jobs will be changed substantively, or lost because they were Spitzer appointees.  Pray for New York and New Yorkers as we seek to move on from the scandal.

Also, there was some sort of “white powder in a letter” incident (it turned out to be baking soda) in the courthouse, between where I was and the Capitol.  That created some excitement as well.

I am convinced that God has a sense of humor.  The latest example of the Divine comedy is related to my being called to be in the grand jury pool for Albany County.  I report tomorrow morning for the first time, as per the notice I received about a month ago. The comedy becomes apparent when one learns that my husband was summoned to testify before the very same grand jury… tomorrow morning.  Yeah, so, I think I probably won’t be selected for the jury.  You can’t convince me that God didn’t already know that this would happen.  It just makes me wonder one thing – to what end?  I hope that’s more apparent to any of you than it will be to me as I go through the exercise of getting up very early and going down to the Justice Center for however long it takes to be dismissed.

We had a great time getting away from the NY political mess and into the Times Union Arena for the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Tournament final. The seats that we were given were mid-court in the second row just behind the ESPN2 guys calling the game.

It was fun to be in the midst of tournament tension, sights and sounds. It was a very close game during the first half, but 9 3-point shots made by Siena helped them pull away from Rider and win a spot in the NCAA Tournament. The Saints are one of 3 local teams likely to be dancin’… UAlbany’s Danes could be there, and the Saint Rose Golden Knights have already earned a spot in the Div II tourney. It’s fun to see local teams do well. (you can see the photos full sized by clicking on them, they’re not great quality, but it gives an idea of the atmosphere)

What a horrible disgrace.

Mr. Spitzer apologizes for a “private matter” (< click for audio), has reportedly stepped down though not using the word resigned.

“Good afternoon.

“For the past nine years, eight years as attorney general, and one as governor, I have tried to uphold a vision of progressive politics that would rebuild New York and create opportunity for all. We sought to bring real change to New York and that will continue.

“Today I want to briefly address a private matter. I have acted in a way that violates my obligations to my family and violates my, or any, sense of right and wrong. I apologize first and most importantly to my family. I apologize to the public, whom I promised better.

“I do not believe that politics in the long run is about individuals. It is about ideas, the public good, and doing what is best for the state of New York. But I have disappointed and failed to live up to the standard I expected of myself. I must now dedicate some time to regain the trust of my family.

“I will not be taking questions. Thank you very much. I will report back to you in short order. Thank you very much.”

EDIT: Now being reported that he is attempting to find a way not to resign. They’re now talking about the process of resignation of a governor. Also, quoting a high placed source, are saying now that his resignation will be presented to the state at 7:15 this evening. At that point, the Lt. Governor (President of the NY Senate) David Patterson would be sworn in as Governor.

I’m praying for his family – wife and children. He has been indicted on federal charges related to a DC prostitution ring of which he was a client. The indictment document is reportedly a month old, and was unsealed today. EDIT: he’s not named in the complaint, but the NYT reported he was caught on a wiretap arranging to meet a prostitute. AP also reporting the federal wiretap aspect.

Hypocrisy of the highest order, an embarrassment to yourself, your wife and children, your faith, AND THE PEOPLE OF YOUR STATE!

I am guilty of blog neglect! I’m sorry, really. I think about blogging more than I actually have time to write out what I’m thinking!

The past week or so has been filled with events for/with family and friends, on and offline community happenings, getting adjusted and organized in my inherited role of editor at YMX, and even a little bit of spring training baseball. Filled being the operative term. A few thoughts about some of the above:

Tim’s participation in the Empire State Wind Orchestra at the ESYO New Music for a New Generation festival this past weekend was amazing. There were 9 world premier performances of 9 commissioned works with 9 composers in attendance to speak about their music. If you listened to a recording you would have no way of telling that every musician was between the age of 12 and 18. They worked so hard, and performed so beautifully. An added bonus was having friends join us, and seeing another student we know through church perform with the Empire State Youth Orchestra, which will do a performance tour in Europe in the months to come. The only downside to the entire experience was the 5 hours in the extraordinarily narrow, barely padded, straight wooden seats in the acoustically-pristine Troy Savings Bank Music Hall.

Events for family also include Cathie’s upcoming 16th birthday, and the planning of a party for her, along with supporting her as she works as a key member of the New York State Prayer Breakfast planning team. Not to mention that only a few weeks later Tim will graduate from CBA with plenty of school-related hoopla in addition to another ESYWO performance and the CBA Wind Band Spring Concert. Oh, yes, and he’ll need a party too! I get the feeling that once it’s April, I’ll not take another breather until June!

As I mentioned some time ago, I was selected for the jury pool for grand jury. I have to report on Wednesday to see if I’ll be serving. While I certainly don’t mind doing my civic duty, to be chosen for this particular jury means serving every Wednesday for 2 months. Selfishly, I’m hoping not to be chosen so that we can go on the vacation we planned to visit friends on the kids spring break (oh yeah, that’s in April too!).  I refuse to try to wrangle my way out of it, so if my honest answers to whatever comes up aren’t sufficient to disqualify me… sigh.

A short time ago Tom called with 2 bits of news.  The first made me happy as Tim, Cathie and I will get to go to the MAAC Championship game tonight thanks to a co-worker of Tom’s giving us their spare tickets.  The second, is that our governor, who ran on a platform made entirely of ethics and reform, is at this very hour admitting his personal involvement in a high-priced prostitution ring.   Is that really what you meant by reforming NY politics, Mr. Spitzer?  And to think, I thought you might be for real.

In January I wrote a bit about Cathie finding a cause she was passionate about while at the Excel Conference. A facebook group, a few planning meetings, numerous emails, phone calls and instant message exchanges later, she’s still passionate and has taken on a good deal of responsibility for organizing a Prayer Breakfast for May 7, 2008. This group of students is planning to gather 300 or more students, along with inviting New York’s elected leadership, in the New York State Convention Center. They are organizing music, pursuing a nationally known speaker, planning a few speeches of their own, and more. There are a few adults involved for advice, but largely the ideas and responsibility is the group of students.

One of the ways I could help was by working with one of the students on creating a website to help get the word out. It’s not quite complete, but coming along, and it’s looking good! Take a look at the new Center for Student Rights site, and if you’re in touch with New York students (high school, college), youth ministers, campus ministries, please forward it and help spread the word. Add it to your RSS reader to keep an eye on what these too-young-to-vote (but in possession of thoughtful opinions!) students are up to. It’s pretty cool.

Remember Dixie Riddle Cups?  My mom could get me to drink anything (even the dreaded serving of milk) from a Dixie Riddle Cup!  I have no idea why I remember lots of the riddles if I try (I don’t even have to try hard), but there is one that I remember on this day every single year.

Q: What day of the year is a command to go forward?
A: March 4th!

Get it?   If not, say the month and date out loud……… I knew you would get it!

So, what better to do on Go Forward Day than to get organized with an eye toward keeping up with it going forward?  I thought it was a brilliant way to celebrate something I already planned (and needed) to do!

So here’s what got done:

• a significant amount of mail, junk, misc paper-like substances were sorted into piles named “follow-up”, “shred”, “recycle” or “file”
• shred pile is shreded and bagged
• recycle pile is bagged
• follow-up initiated with various medical providers and the insurance co. – all but one resolved as of 5 pm with 2 checks coming and none outgoing at this point.
• file is the only pile remaining to attend to, but it’s a very small amount in comparison to where we began.

There is more to do, but much progress was made and I feel like Go Forward Day was well-marked around here!