Reading

"If you ever get down about American culture, you might like to remember that there are still more public libraries in this country than there are Starbucks." (David McCullough, this morning at the National Book Festival in Washington, D.C., aired on CSPAN.)

That is a comforting thought. Reading, widely, is a bulwark of American democracy. The only people who can keep democracy are those who read.

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

Starbucks

This photo, shared by Charlie Lehardy, cracks me up.

I don't know what makes some Christians think that it's Starbucks' job to share Christ with the world. It's ours as Christians.

And I'm sure that in places where Christians actually are persecuted, like Saudi Arabia and other Middle Eastern nations, China, and parts of Africa, our fellow believers shake their heads at silliness like this coming from American Christians.

What Do Paul McCartney and My Son Have in Common?

They both work for Starbucks. Macca's first release on Starbucks' Hear Music label, Memory Almost Full, is set to be released on June 5. Go here, click on News and then on the first release regarding Memory Almost Full for details. (By the way, here is Phil's MySpace blog.)