Unavailable Until

That's what I call this doodle from a recent meeting. I think the block on the right was inspired by a friend's Facebook Live home studio set. But the whole thing isn't meant to be a picture of anything, really. It's just a doodle.

Buy me a book

Scratch Pad Self-Portrait

In case you can't tell, I'm wearing a ballcap and a mask. A doodle done while talking on the telephone.

Buy me a book

Brothers Reunited

I like this.

Two brothers see each other for the first time in more than two decades as they arrive in Anchorage, Alaska to care for their mother – and the reaction is priceless. https://t.co/BMEPvunfAh pic.twitter.com/HxScShOOSa

— ABC News (@ABC) July 29, 2019

Learning a New Word: Otiose

I learned--or maybe, just noticed for the first time--a new word while studying the gospel text for this coming Sunday. The word, otiose, appears in I. Howard Marshall's commentary of the gospel of Luke. According to the Oxford Living Dictionaries, the word means, "Serving no practical purpose or result." It also meant, archaically, "indolent or idle."

Marshall's use of the word comes in a refutation of Rudolf Bultmann's assertion that the appearance of both Simeon and Anna at the temple on the day of Jesus' dedication was implausible. Bultmann said that for the two them to show up at virtually the same time was contrived, a literary doublet meant to hammer a theological point home. Marshall disagrees and, noting that Anna's particular words aren't quoted, says, "her rather otiose role is more likely to be an indication of historicity." In other words, Simeon's words were cited and Anna's weren't. A contrived doublet would have them both spouting verbose proclamations. The fact that Luke doesn't quote Anna's specific words, only that she affirmed Jesus' identity and began telling others about Him, affirms that events that day in the temple happened exactly as Luke reported them.

The point Marshall makes is a good one. Twentieth-century scholars like Bultmann took as their project "demythologizing" the New Testament, believing, like Thomas Jefferson before them, that anything that they couldn't rationally explain or didn't come under the category of "normal" human experience, couldn't possibly be true and must be "made up." This kind of thinking is what causes people to dismiss such essential New Testament teachings as the Trinity, the virgin birth, the deity of Christ, Jesus' miracles, and His resurrection. In other words, it leads to a tamed, irrelevant, impotent, and meaningless version of Christian faith.

Influenced by such thinking, one of my seminary professors, for example, made light of the New Testament's teaching about the Holy Spirit, the third Person of the Godhead. "There must be a Holy Spirit," he would say dismissively. "Otherwise, how does the next tissue pop up in the Kleenex box?" To speak of the Holy Spirit, he said, was to speak of nothing more than team spirit, the good feelings that infect a group of people when they're joined together in something like the Church.

That, of course, is no Christianity at all and I am thankful for faithful Christian teachers, people filled with the power of God's Holy Spirit, who trusted in Jesus in the way that Luke 2:22-40, this coming Sunday's gospel lesson, tells us that Simeon and Anna believed. They trusted God even when He did something out of the ordinary that they couldn't explain.

To fail to take the Bible's witness to the saving power of Jesus Christ seriously is to render Christian faith otiose. And my experience with Christ these past forty-two years tells me that the Christian witness is anything but that. I believe in Christ and I also believe that Simeon and Anna declared Him the Messiah that day in the Jerusalem temple two-thousand years ago.

[I'm the pastor of Living Water Lutheran Church in Centerville, Ohio.]

The Psychopath Capital of America?

Ryan Murphy, a Southern Methodist University economist, recently set out to determine which state, (including Washington, D.C. as a fifty-first locale) is the "psychopath capital of America."

His study used what is called "the big five" major personality traits as evidenced in people's actions.

According to Dictionary.com, a psychopath is "a person with a psychopathic personality, which manifests as amoral and antisocial behavior, lack of ability to love or establish meaningful personal relationships, extreme egocentricity, failure to learn from experience, etc."

Murphy's study says that Washington, D.C. is America's most psychopathic place. One of the big reasons for this, per an article from Politico, is that the denser a population (denser as in more people per square mile, not denser as in thick-headed), the more psychopaths there tend to be. It's a simple matter of demographic odds.

But, Politico also points out that wherever there are more people deemed "successful," inevitably there will also be a higher number of people with psychopathic tendencies...you know, the kind of person who would walk all over their grandmother to get what they want.

D.C. must have a lot of grandmother-stompers, because Murphy's study says that it has twice the psychopathic rating as the next two states on the list, Connecticut, and California, combined.

Before any of us who live in flyover country start bragging about how nice we are, it should be pointed out that there's a tie for fifth in psychopathy between two states, New York and Wyoming.

The five least psychopathic states, according to Murphy, are West Virginia, Vermont, Tennessee, North Carolina and New Mexico.

I don't know if I buy all of this, although as a pastor through the years, I've observed that different communities have different prevailing personality traits and worldviews. Whether that bears a relationship to psychopathy, I wouldn't know.

But, speaking for myself, I like Washington, D.C., Connecticut, and California. And I love New York. Some of the friendliest and kindest people I've ever known were from these states. I've never been to Wyoming and spent little time in New Jersey, which also made the top five. But I'm sure that there are nice people there too.

But the Murphy study will give some people the fodder they need to criticize places and people they don't like.

By the way, Ohio is ranked the country's 21st. most psychopathic state, while Michigan comes in at 26th. Maybe Murphy's study is onto something. (Only a joke.)

To see, Murphy's paper, go here.

[I'm the pastor of Living Water Lutheran Church in Centerville, Ohio. I am a sinner saved by grace. I'm trying not to be a psychopath.]

Spring-Ahead Monday: National Napping Day

I'm a big fan of Daylight Savings Time. I like having more daylight in the evenings.

But, of course, when we spring ahead, especially after a busy weekend, the first Monday after under DST can be tough. That's why this is National Napping Day. If you weren't able to observe the day, try it another time this week.

I liked this graphic from the US Department of Defense. It makes me wonder: Are there any metrics showing the number of bad decisions made on the spring-ahead Monday? This would be interesting to know.

I know that worship attendance, generally, is impacted by spring-ahead Sunday. (Although our congregation's attendance, especially at the second service, was very good.) But I wonder if there are other ways springing ahead may affect congregations, as well as weekend activities like sporting events and so on.

And what about accidents: traffic accidents, accidents in the home? How do the numbers of these events on the first Monday after going to DST stack up to most Mondays?

One thing suggested by this graphic: Congress should never make the decision to declare war on spring-ahead Monday unless all of the members have gotten their 75-minute naps.

Piano Moving

A friend wrote today about helping with a move, but deciding with others involved to call in professionals to move a piano. It reminded me of this short by my favorite film comedians, Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy. The Music Box won an Oscar and still makes me laugh out loud.



My friend also reminded me of my own piano-moving story.

Back when I was young and stupid (as opposed to older and stupider), we had a cleaning day at our church on Harris Avenue in Columbus. Someone told a group of us that the pastor wanted a piano moved from the balcony down to the front of the sanctuary. The stairwell had a landing and a turn. But we did as we'd been asked.

A little while later, the pastor was in the sanctuary and asked, "Why is this piano here?" It turned out his words had been misinterpreted.

So, we moved the piano back up the stairs to the balcony.

This turned out not to be my favorite day.

I think my friend and his fellow movers made the right call in bringing in professionals.

Leave a comment already

I haven't had a counter showing me the number of page views of my blog from its beginning. But since that became a standard feature for blogger.com sites, it's been interesting to see the countries from which readers view it.

Below are two graphs. The first shows where recent hits have come from. The second shows the countries from which readers have logged on since the counter started.

The counter shows me nothing about who the readers are. You can remain anonymous.

But I'm curious about who stops here. So, when you read a post here, consider leaving a comment. I'd love to read what you have to say.

Politics aside...

...I feel sorry for young Barron Trump, being dragged in a tux to a New Year's Eve party with a bunch of old people. (At his age, anyone over twenty-five falls into the "old people" category.)

For the Nobel Prize, I nominate...

The person who invented tabs for Ziploc bags is a genius. Is there a Nobel Prize for innovation in the realm of food storage containers?

Random Thoughts

When we trust in the God we meet in Jesus Christ, no experience in life will be wasted.

Every adversity or heartache we endure or help others to endure will soften our hearts with compassion and fortify our characters with courage.

In these ways, God will help us to learn to rely more on Him and be more reliable friends to others. Clay in the potter's hand, our lives will give glory to God and encouragement from Him to those who need it.

I haven't yet learned this way of life. But I'm asking God to help me do so.

TCM's Annual Memoriam for those who passed away in 2017

Among those who meant something  especially to me: Richard Anderson, who played a proud and clueless Army captain on the Zorro the TV show; Mary Tyler Moore, everyone's favorite girl next door in The Dick Van Dyke Show and The Mary Tyler Moore Show, but became an  ice queen out of touch with her grief in Ordinary People; and many others too many to name. Just watch..




[I'm the pastor of Living Water Lutheran Church in Centerville, Ohio.]

Remembering this tonight, for some reason

Back on December 19, 2006, my dad and I went to the Ohio State House, where I provided the opening prayer for that day's session of the Ohio House of Representatives. I was invited to provide the prayer by Representative Joe Uecker, who beat me and three other candidates when we ran for the House two years earlier.

It was an honor for Joe to ask me to provide the prayer and it was meaningful for me for two big reasons.

One is that I formerly worked for the House. I supervised the 85 college-age pages there. I got a birds-eye view of the legislative process and was impressed.

It was fun to be back in the chamber, which I had visited many times as a boy. Back then, I walked around the State House, soaking up the history and imagining one day that I would serve as an elected official.

That never happened, of course. God put another call on my life and I've come to regret having run for office while serving as a pastor. But the Ohio State House is my favorite of all the state capitol buildings I've been to through the years.

The other reason this visit was so meaningful is that my Dad was with me. Dad had never been to the State House before, although he's a lifelong Ohioan and became a full-time resident of Columbus in 1954. But it was, as always, just great being with Dad. After the session, my dear friend Tom joined us for lunch.

It was a nice day.

[I'm the pastor of Living Water Lutheran Church in Centerville, Ohio.]

This will appeal to the MacGyver on every gift list

I'm no MacGyver, but it even appeals to me.



[I'm the pastor of Living Water Lutheran Church in Centerville, Ohio.]

Did Dusty Baker Deserve to Get Fired...Again?

Dusty Baker was fired as manager of the Washington Nationals two days ago. It was Baker's fourth managerial position, the tenures of which span 22 years. The Chicago Cubs, San Francisco Giants, and the Cincinnati Reds all fired him too.

Baseball Hall of Fame writer Hal McCoy of the Dayton Daily News, thinks that Baker is, once again, getting the shaft.

I'm inclined to agree with him.

The rap on Baker used to be that he wore out young pitchers' arms, something that could hardly be said of him in Washington, where he and the Nationals franchise seemed to baby Stephen Strasburg.

I'm neither a Baker defender nor detractor. But he has had a lot of success in 22 years. He has a lifetime .532 win percentage.

On the face of it, that might not seem overwhelming, but he's gone to four franchises that were in rebuilding mode and on each stop, he achieved success.

By way of comparison, Sparky Anderson, who won at Cincinnati and Detroit and is covered in glory, had a .545 lifetime win percentage, not that much higher than Baker's. Joe Torre, one-time Yankees manager (who also managed the Mets, Braves, and Cardinals) was .538.

The difference between Baker and those managers is that he hasn't won a World Series. Very few managers or players ever do, of course. But that seems beside the point to Washington's ownership or, according to McCoy, many other owners these days.

The Nationals organization, formerly the Montreal Expos, has been a largely hapless franchise through the years. Baker managed them to two consecutive appearances in the post-season after 97- and 95-win regular season campaigns. But ownership obviously decided that their talent-rich roster should have been in or won this year's World Series.

According to USA Today, Baker stayed in Washington nine days before heading to his off-season home in California. He waited so that he could sign a new contract with the Nats. That didn't happen, but when he left DC, he still seemed certain that he would be re-signed. After he left town, he was notified that his services would no longer be needed.

It's a cliche to say it, yet I think it's true: It's a lot easier to fire a manager than it is to get rid of players. Baker seems to be a casualty of that fact.

On the other hand, I may not have any idea what I'm talking about.

[Blogger Mark Daniels is pastor of Living Water Lutheran Church in Centerville, Ohio.]

This made me laugh...

...although the circumstances giving rise to it aren't really funny.

Bracket busted. (h/t @blk_tray) pic.twitter.com/NOnqFC4OXg

— Don Van Natta Jr. (@DVNJr) September 28, 2017

A funny prayer request

I was out and about on Tuesday, wearing my clerical collar, when a guy spied me from across the parking lot. "Hey!" he hollered. "Pray for the Buckeyes!" I told him it might be better just to tell the receivers to get open for J.T. Barrett's passes.

[Blogger Mark Daniels is pastor of Living Water Lutheran Church in Centerville, Ohio.]

My Dad, the Romantic

I spoke on the phone with my dad on Monday night. He mentioned that he was watching 'You've Got Mail,' which is one of my favorite movies. As we were talking, dad said things like, "Oh, here's the scene where the elevator gets stuck." And we would talk about the scene.

A bit later, after I'd did an online order for film for dad to use during his upcoming honor flight, he said, "Here's the part where she's got a cold and he comes to visit her at her apartment." "Yeah," I said, "and she's baffled because she can't imagine how he can be a nice guy." "Right."

We talked about how 'You've Got Mail' was a kind of remake of 'Shop Around the Corner,' the 1940 film with Jimmy Stewart and Margaret Sullavan. Dad said, "That one's not as good as this one. It was good for its time. But I like this one better."*

I said something about how much I enjoyed the music and dad said, "Oh, yeah, it's good, really good." That wowed me a bit because it features music by the late Harry Nilsson, who's always been one of my favorites and more of my generation.

We talked some more and, as I prepared to sign off, I apologized for interrupting the movie. "That's OK, Bub," he said, "I practically know it by heart." I thought: I do too.

I had no idea my dad loved that movie as much as I do. In the grand scheme of things, it's just a little surprise, but a nice one. Here I thought I was the only man in the world who liked what some might call chick flicks, romances. My dad does too...he's a romantic, like me. My old man, he's OK.

*One point of disagreement I have with my dad is about the relative merits of the two films. I love them both and couldn't choose which one I like more.

[Blogger Mark Daniels is pastor of Living Water Lutheran Church in Centerville, Ohio.]

No vanity here...

Posted this earlier today on Facebook:

[Blogger Mark Daniels is pastor of Living Water Lutheran Church in Centerville, Ohio.]

John McCain's Speech

I had just returned from making runs this afternoon when I saw the Senate vote on proceeding to debate an as-yet undisclosed health care bill, followed by Senator John McCain's first speech since being diagnosed with brain cancer.

It was, maybe, the best speech McCain has ever given, full of amity mixed with criticisms of his fellow Republicans and Democrats alike and a call to the kind of civil and sometimes incremental governance that the Framers of the Constitution had in mind.

McCain has received criticism from some members of both parties today. Some Democrats felt that his vote to proceed on debate was a vote against the kind of health care coverage he enjoys as senator. A few Republicans didn't like his criticisms of the two most recent health care bills to be produced by Senator Mitch McConnell and the Republican leadership.

But, after listening to McCain's eloquent speech today, I was moved. I saw it as a ringing call to renew American democracy, something which I'd think people of both parties and of no party can get behind.

If you haven't seen the speech, watch it here and decide what you think.