From just a snippet on the news this morning, I heard that a crowd of Christians calling themselves "Friends of Israel" cheered as bombs fell on Beirut. Not sure where they were, but it made me feel so ashamed.

Eternal God,

in whose perfect kingdom

no sword is drawn
but the sword of righteousness,

no strength known but the strength of love:

So mightily spread abroad your Spirit,

That all peoples may be gathered

under the banner of the Prince of peace,

as children of one Father;

to whom be dominion and glory,now and for ever.
Amen.

Deepak Chopra had an interesting article on the Episcopal Church today in the San Francisco Chronicle entitled, "Who Owns Christianity?" While Chopra is criticized by many as a fraud and hypocrite (he decries materialism, but lives in a $2.5 million mansion and drives a Jaguar), he has some wise observations in today's column. I strongly identified with this paragraph.

Those of us who haven't been swept up in worldwide fundamentalism, which has corrupted Islam, Hinduism and Judaism as well [as Christianity], have been caught in a double bind. We can't join any sect that preaches intolerance, yet we can't fight it, either, because by definition fighting is a form of intolerance. To escape this double bind, moderates have stayed silent and stayed home. But that tactic failed. As healthy as it is to nourish your own devotion and faith, it's disastrous to allow extremists to take over the church, because the statehouse, the board of education, the Congress, and eventually the presidency are next.

On his July 10th blog, "The World Isn't Ending. Now What?" he makes suggestions that made me feel a lot better than when I blogged on the same subject last week.

As someone who enjoys learning new things, I've decided my computer is one of the best investments I ever made. If I live to be a hundred, I'll never master it. Heck, I'm in first grade again when it comes to knowing my computer's capability. It's a humbling experience. I can't even go through the basic lessons in the Word Processor without learning something. If I am ever able to put together a Power Point presentation, I will feel I've accomplished something. By then it will probably be obsolete.

I've started cleaning house for company. I wish I had someway to play this music all over the house while I clean, even though, what I'm listening to now is better to sleep by than work by.

For some reason, Blogger is not picking up the spaces I type in to separate paragraphs. Maybe I can edit them in later.