Thursday, January 21, 2010
tefillim is...
I made a small online contribution to the United Methodist Committee On Relief, checking the tiny UMC church around the corner for congregational credit (it wasn't required). That adds a little joke, because when the office over there receives notification, probably by automated e mail, someone will be really puzzled.
Seriously, UMCOR, a first rate relief organization, lost two great souls in the Hotel Montana collapse, & other Methodists on established Haitian medical missions were killed or injured. I was raised Methodist & have my problems with the denomination, but they are experienced, competent, & courageous in disaster situations, they honor John Wesley's vision of Christian service.
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Harrison Ford really is a difficult talk show interview. Audiences accept it & Letterman hangs in there with good humor because Ford knows how awkward he is, but he's game, & he gets three segments & always fires off a few zingers. I've always liked "Witness," where the grim, taciturn character he plays in so many movies is forced to rely on the close-knit, pacifist (but he learns, pretty tough) Amish, & features a very unusual & sexy love story.
"If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be." Thomas Jefferson
Seriously, UMCOR, a first rate relief organization, lost two great souls in the Hotel Montana collapse, & other Methodists on established Haitian medical missions were killed or injured. I was raised Methodist & have my problems with the denomination, but they are experienced, competent, & courageous in disaster situations, they honor John Wesley's vision of Christian service.
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Jet diverts to Philly over teen passenger's prayerI've resided near the Orthodox Jewish Educational Center in the Elmora section of Elizabeth since 2004 & I've never seen tefillim. I do see lots of kids from their high schools in Dunkin' Donuts, but aside from the yarmulkes, modest dresses, & tendency to hold the door open for you, they're indistinguishable from public school teenagers & just as noisy.
PHILADELPHIA – A Jewish teenager trying to pray on a New York-to-Kentucky flight caused a scare Thursday when he pulled out a set of small boxes containing holy scrolls, leading the captain to divert the flight to Philadelphia, where the commuter plane was greeted by police, bomb-sniffing dogs and federal agents.
The 17-year-old on US Airways Express Flight 3079 was using tefillin, a set of small boxes containing biblical passages that are attached to leather straps, Philadelphia police Lt. Frank Vanore said.
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Harrison Ford really is a difficult talk show interview. Audiences accept it & Letterman hangs in there with good humor because Ford knows how awkward he is, but he's game, & he gets three segments & always fires off a few zingers. I've always liked "Witness," where the grim, taciturn character he plays in so many movies is forced to rely on the close-knit, pacifist (but he learns, pretty tough) Amish, & features a very unusual & sexy love story.
