As I reflect upon the resounding (and expected) victory of Barack Obama in his bid for the Presidency, I am piggy-backing upon my thoughts from my last post. I commented that there was a high degree of emotionalism that drove Obama’s campaign both in political and popular circles. I want to undergird that statement with a couple of other thoughts on why I think Obama so resoundingly won.

First, I think Republican hubris played a huge role in the Democrat (and Obama’s) rise to power. Beginning in 2006 with losses in both the House and the Senate, the Republicans began their steady downward spiral to where they are today. They squandered their opportunity when they were in the same position that the Dems will be in after January. They, ironically, conducted themselves as traditional Democrats and increased the size of government, violating that and other core conservative values. They appeared to believe themselves untouchable. Sadly, they found out they weren’t.

George Bush, in his last four years in office, also squandered much (though hampered in the last two years with an oppositional House and Senate). He simply didn’t do much to further conservative thought and remained, in my mind, aloof as the figurehead of the Republican party. The public’s view of him as everything wrong with our country (not a fair estimate, but understandable) hurt any chance for a Republican to take office. (Ironically, we’ll see how the Dems spin the fact that they have control of both Houses and the Presidency but ALSO have such low approval ratings—even lower than Bush’s.)

Second, and most importantly, I believe the election of Barack Obama had much to do with the failure of the Church to effectively communicate its message to it’s own people. Yes, I didn’t say communicate its message to the World, but to its OWN people—both black and white. While I recently heard that polls indicate that the African-American vote helped Obama, it didn’t put him over the top. There wasn’t a significant increase, overall, in the number of black voters (with the increase coming from in younger voters). Rather, it was white independents and moderates who elected Barack Obama. Nevertheless, I find two points interesting.

First, the African-American community as a whole votes very traditionally on issues such as family and abortion. Ironically, they selected a candidate who is anything but traditional. Did the A-A community know Obama’s stances and voting history on these core moral issues? Or, was it more that they chose to overlook it—much like most of America—in favor of economy and the prize of having a black President? My own experience in urban education leads me to believe that they abdicated their role as salt and light to the World in favor of race. That’s a harsh statement, but, as I indicated, it holds true to what I hear consistently in my all-minority school.

As I indicated previously, polls show that moderates and independents won this election for Obama. Most of those were white. The present state of the mainline Protestant and Catholic churches also shows a clear willingness to PUT ASIDE mandates about life and the family in favor of progressive politics. After all, in their view, times change and the Word of God is a book written by men that must be revisited as society evolves.

I wonder what would happen if evangelical churches made their focus—over the next four years—one of educating their congregations about the core values of the Christian church. Because the Church has a different vocabulary—a different way of looking at the World—our account of life and meaning is vastly different. I have to agree with Robert Lewis Wilken:

Nothing is more needful today than the survival of Christian culture, because in recent generations this culture has become dangerously thin. At this moment in the Church’s history in this country (and in the West more generally) it is less urgent to convince the alternative culture in which we live of the truth of Christ than it is for the Church to tell itself its own story and to nurture its own life, the culture of the city of God, the Christian republic.

I can’t help but wonder what would happen in the 2010 and 2012 elections if the Church was grounded in this way.

We took a drive to Philadelphia to eat at a restaurant called Beau Monde. It’s a creperie meaning everything you order is stuffed into a crepe. It sounded interesting.

The lady at the door wasn’t kidding when she told us at 8:30 that we’d have a 30-45 minute wait. I suppose I shouldn’t have been surprised this being a city establishment and it being Saturday night. Needless to say, 45 minutes later we were sitting down with a menu in hand.

Before I get to the food, the atmosphere is, um, a tad loud. Aw, who am I kidding—we could barely hear the girl who was explaining what we should expect. We had to speak much louder than we normally do when out to eat. All in all the experience was disappointing. The food came very quickly. I ordered the smoked salmon with leeks. Although there wasn’t as much salmon in my crepe as I’d hoped, the dish was quite flavorful though more than a little salty. It filled me up. My wife order a chicken dish which she also enjoyed. Both of us would have enjoyed a starter salad, but at $6, a small bowl of mixed greens wasn’t what we had in mind.

Dessert was what you’d expect it to be, delicious. We shared a cherry compote with vanilla ice cream. At $11, it was a $1 more than my entree. It’s funny how I’m more forgiving for sweet things.

All in all, an evening out with two of our favorite friends is never dull and their presence made the trek to Beau Monde worthwhile. All of us felt the cost was a bit much considering what we got. I’d say try it out for yourselves keeping in mind it’s loud and rather dark. Oh, and you can expect to pay around $85 for four entrees, two desserts and one beer. So, if all of you drink—versus just one of us in our party—you’re going to spend a lot more.

All-in-all, I’d give it:

• 1 star for atmosphere
• 2 stars for value
• 3 stars for taste

I think the next time we get to Philadelphia will try out Buddakan.

Ok, so here’s the skinny. I met with my Super and it went well. I had to be honest and tell her I’m not sure what I can do about the situation. In reality, this isn’t going to stop – my family comes first. She totally understood that; she actually finished my statement for me regarding me taking care of the fam so that was cool.

She commented that the letter was a form letter and needed to be rewritten because it sounded entirely too severe. It was sent because a report was run at the end of the month.

What was reassuring was that she believed she knew me and what I was trying to do with the art program. She knew that I was there late and not running out when the last bell rang. She knew that I was committed and not there merely for a paycheck. She said this wasn’t going to affect my performance evaluations because she felt confident that she knew what I was about as a professional which is a good thing to hear.

In the end, she thanked me for my conscientiousness in setting up the appointment on time and meeting with her. So, overall, a good (and reassuring) meeting.

My wife and I just finished watching White Christmas. It’s a tradition of ours this time of the year. What a great movie! We also watched this brief retrospective with Rosemary Clooney. I have to admit that there was something sad about watching it. Maybe it was the fact that all of the main players have died, or perhaps it was the fact that Danny Kaye wanted to be closer to Bing Crosby but Crosby just wasn’t the type of man to allow many to get close to him.  Vera Ellen was just an incredible dancer.

I highly recommend the DVD which was also packaged with It’s a Wonderful Life. We haven’t watched It’s a Wonderful Life yet. I’ll let you know about the version that came in this package.

Of course, right after I commit to start posting more regularly, my kids get sick. Then my wife gets sick. Now, I’m sick. LOL!

Oh well. School has been interesting. I was asked to help out with a poster project to “celebrate” Safe Schools Week. Well, I thought it was a good idea but it has proven so much of a hassle. First off I wanted something more than the detritus the kids normally do for their posters (i.e., print stuff out on the Internet and slap it down on poster board with no thought). I decided to give a lesson on poster design that touched upon propaganda. I found websites featuring some WWII propaganda posters and the Armenian Genocide. Using these as a foundation, I also found information about poster design and we read an article detailing the key components of effective posters.

I felt confident that I gave my students a solid foundation. Unfortunately, what I hadn’t counted on was a) their laziness, b) their lack of experience thinking through problems such as this (despite being exposed to marketing messages everyday via magazines and TV), c) their inexperience doing relevant searches for photo resources, and d) their lack of experience working with projectors, cut paper, colored pencils and X-Acto knives.

In the end, I should have thought through the project more and just realized it was too early in the school year for me to introduce a project that pulled together so many advanced skills. At least it was advanced for my particular group of urban high schoolers. I know that many are getting something out of doing this project, but it has been draining because a two-week project has become a month-long project.

I guess the real lesson was for me!

Ok, school has been beastly and the kids have been passing sickness back and forth to each other and my wife, but I hope to be posting somewhat more regularly.

Halloween was a blast. Friends brought their two little boys over to walk around with us. Everyone looked great in their respective costumes. My kids did an awesome job listening to us as we navigated the neighborhood going from door to door, and we didn’t get home too late. My son was Buzz Lightyear this year and my daughter was a pumpkin.

Kids are awesome; what a blessing! I’m really excited about the holidays this year. Both of the kids are at that wonderful age where everything is magical and exciting. Of course, I’m not thrilled about what my daughter might do to the Christmas tree. LOL!

I have these thoughts at times.

I look at my kids–sometimes it’s just one, other times it’s both–and I feel the most profound sense of sorrow. They’re beautiful and I love them to death. But, I tell you, this aching loss wells up within me and I don’t know where it comes from.

And, I don’t know what to do with it.

God is truly amazing in how He orchestrates events. Although my wife and I had covenanted at the beginning of our marriage that when we had children she would stay at home (or I would if circumstances necessitated that). However, with being on unemployment for six months and then changing careers (and taking a $28k pay cut), we had come to realize that we needed to do something to help us pay off some debt and start saving again.

Compared to others we spoke to our debt was not bad at all. Nonetheless, we believed it wise and proactive to try to do something about it now instead of later when other things could make the situation more dire. In the end, though, we struggled with what steps to take.

If I had taken on a second job it would have crippled my ability to spend time with our children–a top priority for us both. Providentially, though, two opportunities came up for my wife as we prayed and considered what to do. Long-story-short, my wife ended up being offered both positions! In fact, it looks like she’ll be able to take both as well because the two positions won’t overlap; one will end and the other, which has a more simple schedule, would begin.

So what was the big deal about “Difficult Choices?” Well, for us, my wife taking a part-time teaching position during the middle of the day posed some problems regarding our kids’ handling such a drastic change in their schedule–particularly our sensitively-natured son. Most importantly, were we serving the Lord in the midst of our decision.

As we spoke though and wrote up a list of pros and cons we came to realize the things we thought might be deficits may turn out to be positives. You see, and here’s the moral of the story: we had allowed ourselves to forget that the Lord who provided these opportunities for us would also provide for our children during the nine months of the school year. Furthermore, we were blessed with family who would care for our children during the little over four hours they’d be out of the house. In the final analysis, it was the Lord who provided my wife with the talents as a special needs teacher. It was He who placed her in the right place at the right time to hear about these options. It was He would placed in our hearts the desire to not buy a big house. The list could go on. As we talked about it–and continue to reflect upon it– we realize now how much we neglect our relationship with our God because our focus is easily redirected to material things.

Of course, material well-being is important; God created us to live in time and within material space. He is, after all, the author of culture as he is the author of our existence. Though tempted we must fight our often sinful tendencies to worry about money and to be blind to how God has provided in the past and how He is providing today. I guess that is what makes living in the moment potentially so exciting: we get to experience God’s faithfulness in the midst of our too-often faithlessness.