Back to the Future II

I thought I was going to write something nice about last night's Boston Pops Christmas concert (it was my first of the season) and I will later, but torture has taken over my mind. CNN is my homepage and there is always a poll of some sort. I know it is not scientific in any way because it appears you can vote as often as you like. But yesterday's caught my attention. Apparently 55% of the respondents think waterboarding/torture is o.k. under some circumstances. Why I should be shocked, I don't know, but I am. I am very, very sad that fear has taken over. The BIG LIE has won out and we as a people apparently now believe it is o.k. (See
What Would Machiavelli Do? The Big Lie Lives On by Thom Hartmann http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0826-02.htm ) Waterboarding is torture. Torture is cruel and does not lead to truthful responses. In case you are pragmatist and aren't against torture because it is harmful to your own humanity, you should be against it because it places our own troops in danger.

Watch this story to see waterboarding...

http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/12/11/agent.tapes/index.html

I pray we choose a President who will stop this madness.

Slow down, you move too fast...

We have come to the second Sunday of Advent which means two more to Christmas. A friend from church gave me a wonderful Advent Calendar. It is titled "Slowdown. Quiet. It's Advent!" It is reminding me that in the midst of all the rush, rush to try (yes, try) to take at least a moment each day to think about what is of true importance in life.

What have I thought about today? When I was little I loved a Golden Book that I remember as being titled "I Like Bugs" (it's in my favorites list). Every couple of pages began with "I like..." The list included bugs, dogs, cars, and more, but ended up with "I like people." That is how I think all of us start out. Loving people or all kinds. That is how I still feel. It isn't stuff or things that have brought me the most happiness. It is people. Everyone from Mr. and Mrs. McGlaughlin who ran the hardware store in my town and who I remember from probably the age of 3 and Louie the butcher in the little grocery who gave me slices of bologna whenever my mother was at the meat counter to my newest singing friends. Maybe I should start a people blog. (How may blogs can one person have?) It would be a constant reminder of what is important in life.

The Silly Season has begun...

How did it get to be December already? We just had our Gingerbread Village for Habitat for Humanity at All Saints' Church. The hall was filled with every kind of gingerbread house one could imagine, including Fenway Park! Our town newspaper editor was wonderful and ran photos of our run-away Gingerbread Man for several weeks before the event. This year the theme was "A train runs through it..." There were electric trains running through the village in the center of the hall where the replica gingerbread buildings were set up. The librarians made the Adams Library and it looked just like the real thing. There were several church replicas, a school house, and the community college. Next year the theme will be Hansel & Gretel (or maybe fairy tales in general) to go along with the production of the opera Hansel & Gretel which will be the same weekend.

This week starts my grueling rehearsal schedule for two productions of Amahl and the Night Visitors, the Boston Pops Christmas concerts, and coming in to the home stretch of Verdi's Requiem. I love, love, love singing, but this may be a bit much. It is a relief though from the woes of the world and the Presidential campaign.

St. Nicholas Day is coming up, which marks my 32nd wedding anniversary. I can't believe a life-time has gone by so quickly.