Buckley

As I consider the presidential campaign of 2008, the passing of William F. Buckley has lent some perspective. McCain has experience, Obama has charisma, Hillary has...well, Obama has charisma. There is no guarantee that any of these three will ever have any substantial impact on history. Buckley, however, created a movement that has endured for decades and will likely live beyond him. WFB was an intellectual, an incredible thinker who could present the concepts of conservatism in ways that made us wish we could think, write and talk like him. He founded the magazine, National Review, and was an author, TV host and social commentator.

I have spent my adult life following the legacy of Ronald Reagan and William F. Buckley. I can't say that I am particularly impressed with those who are purporting to follow in their footsteps but I will say this: William F. Buckley, love him or hate him, was the real deal, a legend as a thinker, writer, and social phenomenon. RIP, WFB.

The passing of a friend

I awoke this morning to discover that, not unexpectedly, my friend Marla had passed from this world into the next. She was diagnosed with Stage 4 Metastatic breast cancer in 2004. The cancer has been in her liver and had recently spread very aggressively. Marla and I went to high school together, ran track together, and did small town life together. While we were friends in high school, her sickness brought us back together these past several months, along with several other old friends. (Tragic, isn't it, that it is often disease and death that reunites old friends and family?)

Marla was beautiful, in health and in sickness. She loved Jesus with great passion. She adored her family and was an anchor for her friends. She leaves behind her husband Patrick, three children--Katie, Brodie and Lilly, as well as her mother, brother and sisters and innumerable friends. Please pray for her family, especially Patrick and the children, as they move into this season of grief.

Thanks.

Starting again as if for the first time

I had to create a new blogspot account as the old one went weird on me a while back and we needed the account for our next class. Don't know for sure what I'll be writing but here we go again. Restless as a virtue will replace my old "Restless in a Steady World." Let's see how it goes.