Michael Weiner

All of baseball mourns the passing of Player's Association head Michael  Weiner. "You hear these clichés all the time," said Dodgers pitcher Chris Capuano. "People say, 'This person is one of a kind,' or, 'They're extraordinary.' But to meet someone with that kind of prodigious intellect and mind who also has a warm heart and is a normal, down-to-earth person and so kind -- there aren't a lot of those people out there."

Too Many Books

Two books that caught my eye this week. Historian Doris Kearns Goodwin wrote The Bully Pulpit, on the relationship between Teddy Roosevelt and William Howard Taft, and their joint relationship with the press. Reviewer Bill Keller writes:

If you find the grubby spectacle of today’s Washington cause for shame and despair — and, really, how could you not? — then I suggest you turn off the TV and board Doris Kearns Goodwin’s latest time machine. Let her transport you back to the turn of the 20th century, to a time when this country had politicians of stature and conscience, when the public believed that government could right great wrongs, when, before truncated attention spans, a 50,000-word exposé of corruption could sell out magazines and galvanize a reluctant Congress. The villains seemed bigger, too, or at least more brazen — industrial barons and political bosses who monopolized entire industries, strangled entire cities.

 And, in light of today’s strained relationship with Islam, a book on Thomas Jefferson’s Qur’an: Islam and the Founders. Reviewer Kirk Davis Swinehart writes that:

In “Thomas Jefferson’s Qur’an,” her fascinating if somewhat meandering new book, Denise A. Spellberg traces the partial origins of American religious toleration to a single day in 1765 when Jefferson, then studying law at the College of William and Mary, acquired an English translation of Islam’s sacred text. He never claimed that the Quran shaped his political orientation. Yet Spellberg, an associate professor of Middle Eastern studies at the University of Texas at Austin, makes a persuasive case for its centrality. To oversimplify: What began as an academic interest in Islamic law and religion yielded a fascination with Islamic culture, which disposed him to include Muslims in his expansive vision of American citizenship. 

In both books, it seems there are lessons that would do us well today. 

The Triumph and Tragedy of Israel

Thomas Friedman in today’s New York Times on a new book by Haaretz columnist Ari Shavit titled My Promised Land: The Triumph and Tragedy of Israel. The book, he writes, has a way of thinking about Israel:

“that to understand Israel today requires keeping several truths in tension in your head at the same time.

 “First, that Israel, at its best, is one of the most amazing political experiments in modern history, so much better than its critics will ever acknowledge. Second, Israel at its worst, is devouring Palestinian farms and homes in the West Bank in ways that are ugly, brutal, selfish and deceitful, so much worse than its supporters will ever admit. Third, Israel lives in a dangerous region — surrounded by people who hate it not only for what it does but for what it is, a successful Jewish state — but its actions matter, too. It can ameliorate or exacerbate Arab  

Strikes me as being right on the mark. 

Too Many Books

There are too many books being published that I would love to read, but just don’t have the time. So, I rely on reading book reviews a way of keeping in touch with what’s being written. My favorite part of the Sunday New York Times is the Book Review. I also keep an eye on the Washington Post and a few others. Here are my picks from this week’s books.

Marie Colvin was a journalist who covered armed conflict. Last year she was killed by a rocket attack in Syria. Two books, On the Front Line, a collection of her reporting, and Under The Wire, an account of her final weeks. The reviewer wrote that these books “pay homage to this formidable woman, who tested the limits of an extreme profession.” As Colvin once wrote: “Simply: there’s no way to cover war properly without risk. Covering a war means going into places torn by chaos, destruction, death and pain, and trying to bear witness to that.”

As one who has always been fascinated by the law, the careers of two prominent lawyers of our time caught my eye. Taking the Stand: My Life in the Law is an autobiography by Alan Dershowitz, whose resume of “legal issues and controversies … is breathtaking.” And appeals court judge Richard A. Posner offers his Reflections on Judging after a distinguished 30 year career. The reviewer notes that Posner is one of those judges who, while not on the Supreme Court, has earned “by dint of relentless merit … legal authority akin to that wielded by the Nine.”

Finally, The Brothers looks at the careers of Allen and John Foster Dulles, and concludes that  “Anyone wanting to know why the United States is hated across much of the world need look no farther than this book. “The Brothers” is a riveting chronicle of government-sanctioned murder, casual elimination of “inconvenient” regimes, relentless prioritization of American corporate interests and cynical arrogance on the part of two men who were once among the most powerful in the world.”

Signs of Peace

This is one of those days when, amid the continuing horrors of wars around the world, there are also signs of peace.

• In Colombia, the government and FARC guerrillas announced a "fundamental agreement" on a role for the rebels in politics. This has been one of the contentious issues in ongoing peace talks.

 • In Myanmar/Burma, the UN says that the first peace talks in decades between the government and armed ethnic minority grouups are a "significant move" toward ending a long civil war.

On the other hand, some peace efforts are running into difficulties.

• Secretary of  State John Kerry is in the Mideast, trying to rescue the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.

• The US and Russia failed to agree on a date for proposed peace talks on Syria.

We continue to pray for peace and pursue peace. 

The rule of love

My friend Pastor Ron Adams speaks the truth. I thank God for pastors with hearts like his.

Denominational guidelines exist regarding the conduct of pastors. Those guidelines include consequences for pastors who bless Jesus-followers whose partners are of the same sex. I don't expect that to change anytime soon.

But speaking as a pastor, if I am asked to choose between adhering to those guidelines and welcoming and blessing someone, anyone, seeking to follow Jesus, I will welcome and bless.

Chutzpah of the day

Reported this afternoon:

“Despite the Democrats’ refusal to work with the House to solve the problem, Republicans are working to protect the troops, prevent a shutdown and find solutions to the difficulties cause by Senate Democrats’ delays,” said [Sen. Mitch] McConnell spokesman Don Stewart.

Excuse me? How bout those who created the problem solving the problem.