Soul and Spirit

Southwest Airlines Pilot Holds Plane

The pilot responded with, “They can’t go anywhere without me and I wasn’t going anywhere without you. Now relax. We’ll get you there. And again, I’m so sorry.”

I’m speechless. Twelve minutes many not sound like a lot to you or me, but every second counts when you’re an airline. Southwest can turn an entire plane around in about 20 minutes, so 12 minutes is half an eternity.

I shared Nancy’s story with Southwest, and a representative said the airline was “proud” of the way the pilot had held the flight. Again, most airlines would punish an employee who holds up the line for any reason.

This a trip that was saved amid tragic circumstances by a compassionate pilot and an airline that supported his decision to hold a flight.

Source: Southwest Airlines pilot holds plane for murder victim’s family

I have a much, much smaller Southwest-favor to report: They gave me heart-topped straws (or toothpicks or coffee-stirrers or whatever they were!) to “plant” at our son’s wedding.

Fly on, Southwest!

(And thanks again.)

Persecution 2011

Start praying: 2011 is ramping up to be a year of heavy persecution.

Many are hoping that the first 12 days are not an omen for what the rest of 2011 will look like for believers, especially in the Middle East. Many Christian leaders, however, may find it difficult to remain optimistic.

[…]

Already, Christian and secular news sources alike have reported a rise in the persecution of Christians worldwide. The arrests of 70 converted Christians in Iran, the assassination of anti-blasphemy law governor in Pakistan, and the bombing of a church in Egypt is a lot for just 12 days. And just yesterday, six Coptic Christians were shot by Muslim extremists on a train in Egypt, killing one and wounding the other five.

Read it all

Whose Is Jerusalem?

I have a bias.

Is it wrong to be biased?

Well, here’s part of the story referenced in the title:

The demolition of an east Jerusalem hotel to make way for Jewish homes in a predominantly Palestinian neighborhood is sparking concerns from Europe to Egypt, which suggests a new intifada could break out as a result.

The Shepherd Hotel project will bring only 20 Jewish homes to Sheikh Jarrah, but it is at the forefront of a broader, intensely controversial Jewish campaign to establish a foothold in Arab neighborhoods circling the heart of Jerusalem.

Proponents see the efforts as a way to secure Jews’ rightful claims to the city as their “undivided and eternal capital.” Opponents, including much of the international community, say such efforts will preclude the possibility of creating a Palestinian state with a capital in east Jerusalem, thus rendering the two-state solution null and void.

“If current trends are not stopped as a matter of urgency, the prospect of east Jerusalem as the future capital of a Palestinian state becomes increasingly unlikely and unworkable,” wrote 25 consuls-general from European Union member states in Jerusalem in a new confidential report obtained by the Independent. “This, in turn, seriously endangers the chances of a sustainable peace on the basis of two states, with Jerusalem as their future capital.”

[…]

After the 1967 war and its annexation of east Jerusalem, Israel took possession of the hotel under its absentee property laws, which apply to buildings whose owners are absent or considered members of an enemy state.

Source: Shrewd development deal likely to preclude possibility of creating Palestinian state

Regarding Jerusalem and the “West Bank” (How much more time must pass before it becomes the “East Bank”?!) and the 1967 war, surely there’s a parallel to this not-so-long-ago perspective in American domestic politics:

“Elections have consequences.”

“I won.”

But I don’t expect anything I say to make a difference, so I’ll just not say more.

I’ll just quote somebody else, “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem.”

Don’t Just Sit There!

Got a screen? Just say no! (Apparently)

According to the study conducted by a group of international researchers, anyone who devotes more than four hours daily on screen-based entertainment such as TV, video games or surfing the web, ups their risk of heart attack and stroke by 113 percent and the risk of death by any cause by nearly 50 percent compared to those who spend less than two hours daily in screen play — and this is regardless of whether or not they also work out.

[…]

“Assuming that leisure-time screen time is a representative indicator of overall sitting, our results lend support to the idea that prolonged sitting is linked to an increased risk for cardiovascular disease and premature mortality,” notes the report’s lead author, Emmanuel Stamatakis of the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health at University College in London. “Doing some exercise every day may not compensate for the damage done during very long periods of screen time.”

[…]

Stamatakis adds that since modern life has moved to the sluggish end of the activity continuum we need to find ways to make moving and standing the default states and sitting the exception.

Even though a formal workout program didn’t appear to offer protection from the ill effects in this study, Stamatakis still cautions that avoiding sitting is not enough to make up for lack of exercise; we should all still aim for a minimum of 30 minutes of physical activity daily.

Source: Too Much TV, Screen Time May Mean Earlier Death

But what if there’s no screen involved (such as just sitting there at a sewing machine)?

I suppose the results are the same.

I guess I’m doomed.

Passport ‘Wisdom’

Children are no longer born to mothers and fathers.

They’re born to parents; specifically, Parent One and Parent Two.

At least so says the US Department of State. And a very sorry state that is indeed.

And it will get sorrier, is my forecast. At some point, they will “get real” and make room for Parent Three.

But never mind the forecast. Here’s shades-of-Dr-Zeuss the story:

The words “mother” and “father” will be removed from U.S. passport applications and replaced with gender neutral terminology, the State Department says.

“The words in the old form were ‘mother’ and ‘father,’” said Brenda Sprague, deputy assistant Secretary of State for Passport Services. “They are now ‘parent one’ and ‘parent two.’”

A statement on the State Department website noted: “These improvements are being made to provide a gender neutral description of a child’s parents and in recognition of different types of families.” The statement didn’t note if it was for child applications only.

The State Department said the new passport applications, not yet available to the public, will be available online soon.

Sprague said the decision to remove the traditional parenting names was not an act of political correctness.

“We find that with changes in medical science and reproductive technology that we are confronting situations now that we would not have anticipated 10 or 15 years ago,” she said.

[…]

The new gender-neutral passport application will be rolled out in February.

“Improvements”? Then we measure by different standards.

“Not an act of political correctness”? Oh. OK. Right.

“Changes in…reproductive technology”? Eh? Two men can now reproduce together? As can two women? 😯

America’s downward slide accelerates. And the condition isn’t unique to the United States.

Shed My Beliefs?

Yesterday I read this in a story about the trial of the Woodburn bombers:

When they entered deliberations for the death penalty, jurors knew they had to shed any personal or religious beliefs about possible redemption and follow the judge’s instructions and the legal process that requires answering four questions affirmatively to deliver the death penalty, including the future danger of a defendant.

And there is a secondary reason why I could not serve on a jury.

I do not want “to shed any personal or religious beliefs” — not about possible redemption, not about right and wrong, not about justice, not about returning good for evil.

Above all, love God!