The Fun We'll Have

I was on the elliptical the other morning contemplating my struggle with parts of the Old Testament that I can't seem to reconcile from my puny human perspective. I'm not one to give up easily. I understand that we live in a much different time from when Moses penned much of the square peg that I'm trying to fit into the round hole. The part that is troubling to me is that we're taught in the church that God's word is the same then as it is now. Isaiah 40:8 says, "The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever." I want to believe that.

Returning to one of the verses that troubles me so much: Deuteronomy 22, verses 28-29. People are quick to discount the inhumanness of this by saying that God gave these instructions to Moses because of the world in which the people lived at the time. It would be better for the woman in this case to live with her rapist than to fend for herself in a society that looked down upon such victims. But what father would condem his daughter to a life with a rapist for 50 shekels or for any amount of money?

God demanded stoning for much lesser offenses. What I don't understand and will never, ever understand are God's instructions to Moses in this matter. Why didn't he instruct Moses to have the rapist stoned and in the next breath require the people as a community to provide for her? Were people so uncivilized then that they had no compassion for others? If God's word truly is timeless, I'm confused why he chose to instruct Moses as he did.

Enough about that for now.

Mitt Romney's running-mate choice, Paul Ryan, said a few days ago that he's run a sub-3-hour marathon, "I had a two hour and fifty-something" he told the person interviewing him. That's impressive because it takes a big commitment in the form of hours spent training to be abel to do that. It turned out he was lying. In reality, he couldn't even break 4 hours in the one marathon he's run. When called on it he said he was mistaken and that he should've rounded up and not down. Sorry but that's a ridiculous reply. The difference between a 2:50-something time and a 4+ hour marathon is huge.

Should it matter? Yeah, it should. I was in the same race with Paul Ryan that day. I haven't even thought about it much since running it but I can tell you what my running time was, give or take a couple minutes. I've run a 2:50-something myself. I could never imagine taking credit for something such as that without actually having done it.

It matters.

It matters because he's saying lots of things out on the campaign trail that are just as ridiculous. It matters because we have so many problems in our country and we need people working together, not tearing each other down with blatant lies in an effort to win votes.

We made it back out to the Great Minnesota Get-Together Friday afternoon. We hadn't intended to go again but we had nothing planned the rest of the day after our morning slot of glassblowing. But truth be told, I had an ulterior motive—I really wanted the dragonfly art I'd passed on last week.

It was a bit of a hassle getting to the fair because we decided to skip the shuttle bus in favor of having our car with us to transport our much larger than life dragonfly home. Traffic was gridlocked for blocks around the fair as all of the lots were full. We drove around until we came upon a woman with a sign advertising parking for $10. She led us to her driveway behind her house only a few blocks from the entrance to the fair. We happily paid her but then I commented to Tammy after she walked away, "what if this isn't really her driveway?" We both laughed—not to worry.

We went straight to the coliseum where the object of my desire was located. After a quick scan of all of the merchandise that was on display, it was apparent that there'd been a run on dragonfly art. I checked with the woman behind the counter and sure enough, they'd sold out early. But all hope is not lost. She gave me her card and suggested I contact her in a couple weeks after they make their way back to Texas and she'll mail me one. I was happy with the outcome.

We kicked around the fair for the next several hours. We talked about how in maybe ten years we'll bring our grandkids to the fair and the fun we'll have with them. We smiled a lot talking about that.