Charlie Wear’s Notes

Each day, in many ways, we live within the proximity of destruction. This was brought home for me Friday night when a head-on collision involving a  Metrolink commuter train and a Union Pacific freight train took the lives of over 15 people and injured over 100 persons.

Wednesday morning I boarded a Metrolink train from San Bernardino to Los Angeles for a court appearance I had that morning. I enjoyed the commute (about 1.5 hours each way) and was able to relax and work. Friday I had a court appearance in Van Nuys and opted to drive. I was on the road over 3.5 hours round trip.

Don’t get me wrong, I am not trying to say that riding trains is dangerous. We all know that driving cars is more dangerous. In fact, we do things every day (many of them involving some sort of transportation) where we take our lives in our own hands. It was only a few weeks ago that well-known pastor and evangelist, Greg Laurie’s son died in an auto accident while commuting on a nearby freeway.

There is no doubt that some will die as a result of Hurricane Ike and we know that American sons and daughter serving in our military are in danger every day.

All of this information simply inspires me to make the most out of my life. Living each day with a desire to be a blessing to others, to be an authentic follower of Jesus. Tonight I pray for the families of those who have lost their lives on those Los Angeles trains and in the Texas storm.

Look, here’s the deal, sometimes I have a hard time sleeping. I think it’s a condition mostly related to gastro-intestinal problems from being overweight, but that’s neither here nor there. Anyway, occasionally I find myself watching the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson.

Ferguson is a recently naturalized citizen of the United States. He has made a reputation for his opening monologues, which are not only funny but confessional. Tonight he talked about voting. Boy, everything he said was great common sense. He talked about the duty of American citizens to vote, and the fact that less than 2/3 of registered voters exercise their right. And that’s 2/3 of the registered voters. The demographic group that votes the least is young adults 18-24, figures, huh, those slackers?

He said something like, "This is an important election, we are at war, young men and women are dying. People are losing their homes. Gasoline prices are high. Vote." It was an impressive explanation, funny and clearly sincere. Frankly, I think political discussions are divisive. So are discussions about theology and religion. I don’t want to argue politics or Calvinism v. Arminianism. I don’t really feel the need to convince you of how you should vote the way I will. I like the privacy of voting and Ferguson made the point, "you don’t have to tell anyone how you vote."

If you aren’t familiar with Ferguson here is the video of his monologue.

"One’s baptism is one’s ordination into ministry and one’s commissioning as a missionary." — Leonard Sweet

It’s become clear that running for public office is the most intrusive, privacy-robbing process in public life today. It’s worse than being the star of a hit situation comedy. It’s worse than being picked to be a contestant on Big Brother. At least on Big Brother it is your choice about whether or not you reveal every public and private sin of you and your family from birth to the present.

In today’s age of "gotcha" political reporting, you had better make your confessions early and often. Apparently John McCain was required to mention the following "terrible" aspects of Sarah Palin’s life when he introduced her on Friday: "And now before I bring my new running mate out I have to mention the following important things about her life, her husband was arrested for drunk driving at age 22, she was once cited for fishing without a license, her teenage daughter is pregnant, no, she didn’t fake her last pregnancy in order to cover up a previous pregnancy of her teenage daughter, and even though she is being investigated for an ethics violation by the State Legislature, there was no wrongdoing on her part."

Of course, on the flip side, Sen. Obama should have recapped Joe Biden’s embarrassing withdrawal from the 1988 presidential race for plagiarism and mentioned that he had given Joe a lesson on how to credit his sources whether they be John Kennedy or Martin Luther King, Jr.

Eventually the only people who can run for public office will be celebrities who have been subjected to tabloid speculation and inquiry their entire public life. We don’t need the national media, we need the National Enquirer to vet our political candidates. All I can say is, I like Sarah Palin a lot more today than I did on Friday. She chose to step up and run for office knowing that all of this baloney was coming, along with the accusations that she is incompetent and stupid. She seems like a real person who is living a real life. What better kind of person could we have in higher office?