Got in last night (or actually this morning) at 2:30, after watching the Phillies play the Nationals, and then driving home from DC. A thoroughly enjoyable experience of spending time with my son, Nathan, and of a Phillies victory! (They started Adam Eaton who has the worst earned run average of any starter in the league. He's being paid $8 million this season, in the first year of a three-year, $24 million contract, to be the worst starter in the league. But the Phillies' pitching is so atrocious that they have to keep running him out there. (Plus they're paying him all that money.) Last night Eaton got into the sixth inning, but only once did he retire the side in order. The rest of the time he was surrendering up hits and walks and giving up a run here and there and barely getting out of jams without major damage. When he walked the first batter he faced in the sixth, "Uncle" Charlie Manual, the Phils' manager, had seen enough. He immediately walked to the mound and yanked him. By that point, Eaton had given up three runs, the Phillies were up 6-3, and for the rest of the game the bullpen pitchers came in and threw strikes and got outs! What a joyous surprise! An entirely atypical performance by the Phillies bullpen.

Some Philadelphia sportswriters have taken to calling Charlie Manual "Uncle Charlie." He's 63, white haired and overweight (they shouldn't make men like that wear baseball uniforms!), and has been a player, coach or manager since he could walk. He's from Buena Vista, VA, and he talks like it too. He was mercilessly derided his first two years in Philadelphia (much of it was because of his accent and anti-southerner bigotry), and at the beginning of this year. But this year the Phillies have suffered devastating injuries, especially to pitchers, and Uncle Charlie still has them right behind the Mets, who are just barely leading the National League East. Now Philadelphians are talking about how Uncle Charlie should be Manager of the Year! Baseball's a funny, fascinating game.

Last night was the third-to-last game at old RFK Stadium in DC. Next year the Nationals will be in their brand new, $600 million ballpark. I'll be sorry to see RFK Stadium go. It's a dark, dingy dump, but even the cheap seats are close to the field because the upper decks are pitched so steeply. It's a great place to watch a game. I've seen two games there since the Nationals became the DC franchise, and I'm glad I've gotten to spend time in the ballpark. It was built in 1962, and I well remember riding past it on the Washington-Baltimore Parkway as a boy, on our trips between Delaware and South Carolina two or three time a year to visit family. I remember thinking, "Wow! That's where the Senators play!" The Senators were an awful, awful team -- but they held a fascination for me because they played in the American League, and that was exotic. I had only been to games in Philadelphia, which was (an is) in the National League. It wasn't until I was in seminary, in Chicago, that I went to an American League game. Since I lived on the south side, I had to be a White Sox fan and I was at old Comisky Park 50 times, I'll bet, during the three years I was in Chicago. (I spent every afternoon (in those days) at Wrigley Field when the Phillies were in town against the Cubs, to see National League games.) The leagues were so different back then. The National League emphasized pitching and speed and bunts and manufacturing runs; there was only the occasional dominating home run hitter. The American League style of play was to get a couple of guys on and look for a three-run homer. Now, of course, they both play the same style of game: long ball. Much of that is because all of the new ballparks (with the exception of San Diego and Detroit) are band boxes. And inter-league play and inter-league trading means that the two leagues aren't so distinct from each other. It's taken something away from the game.

The only difficult and unpleasant thing about last night was getting out of the parking garage at the Springfield-Franconia metro stop! (We drove that far and rode the train to the ballpark.) We'd done that before, but the parking garage machines are different now. The signs at the parking garage warned us to put enough money on our "Smart Cards" to pay for parking when we were ready to leave, so I added the extra $3.75 when I bought my metro ticket at the machine in the station. (There's no one there to take money.) But when I got to the exit booth in the parking garage (where, again, there was no one to take money), there was a place to scan a Smart Card -- but that is obviously something different from a metro ticket, because there was no place to insert what I was holding in my hand. And traffic was backing up. I had no idea what to do. Nathan thought more quickly than me. He noticed a credit card swipe, and handed me his card. So the gate raised to let us out of the garage. I said, "This is like being in a totally different culture! I'm going to be glad to get back to where it is still Virginia."

Anybody want a DC metro card with $3.75 of value? It's sitting on my dresser!

Participants in the prayer study groups have been practicing silence and solitude, because the author of the book we're using asserts that that is the basis of all the prayer practices that will follow. Both groups have had "check in" sessions, and many of us report that we're having a hard time with silence. Indeed, all of us find it even harder to get to a point of interior silence.

That's not really surprising, because we're so accustomed to being productive and busy, and that's noisy inside our minds. On my bike ride this morning, I saw a young mother on the sidewalk along Jamestown Road who was jogging (dressed in proper jogging attire) -- and while she was running, she was pushing her baby in a carriage with her left hand -- and while she was running and pushing her baby in a carriage with her left hand, she was talking into a cell phone that she held in her right hand! If a cartoonist drew that scene, it would be a caricature of super-productivity.

We're real good at that kind of productivity. We're real good at doing a number of things at once. But that makes for a lot of noise in our minds! And so, we're not good at interior silence. It takes discipline. As I heard one teacher of prayer say: "The first requirement is to decide to spend a certain amount of time in prayer each day, and to keep your fanny in the chair for that amount of time!" Then there might be a chance to find calm and quiet.

Three Saturdays ago I rode my bicycle 100 kilometers. Two Saturdays ago, again, I rode 100 kilometers. This past Saturday, I rode 100 miles, completing the Surry Century! (A "century" is a 100 mile ride.)

A year ago, I was unable to complete the Surry ride. It was one of the signs that there was something seriously wrong with me.

Indeed, these days, I am very conscious of "a year ago."

A year ago, I had been to my primary care doctor, who had ordered a chest x-ray, which had come back showing some sort of masses on my lungs. A year ago tomorrow was my first appointment with a pulmonologist, to find out what was going on. A year ago this weekend, Patty and I drove down to Seabrook Island, South Carolina for what turned out to be my last visit with my father. While I was there, I developed a fever. We got back home on Saturday, but the next morning I was too sick to do church. (Council President James Wiers well remembers getting the phone call from me at 6:30 AM, asking if he would read the sermon I had prepared.) That next week, I went in for a C-T Scan of my lungs (9/25), and then endured a broncoscopy (9/29) that led my pulmonologist to think the problem was sarcoidosis. On October 4 he started me on prednizone to fight the sarcoidosis -- which, within days, made me feel worse. (The problem, of course, would turn out to be histoplasmosis, a fungal infection that grows wildly when fed steroids.) On October 26, I was admitted into the Williamsburg hospital, and on the 27th I was on a ventilator and being transferred to Norfolk General.

I look forward to the next six weeks being lots different from those six weeks a year ago!!

I was conscious of "a year ago" on the Surry Century ride two days ago, rejoicing as I was able to pedal strongly past places in the road where I had had to stop to gasp for breath the previous year. As I've begun convening the fall book study and Affirmation of Baptism classes I've been conscious of "a year ago." Last year I was only able to convene one session of each before I became too sick to continue. (Last night, one "AOB" parent, Mary Williams said, "We're not going to do that again this fall, are we?")

Yesterday was a very long day: as usual for a Sunday morning, I woke at 5:00 AM to do final preparations for that day's worship, then, when worship was over and I had talked with the last person who wanted to talk with me (at about 1:00 PM), I wolfed down a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and left the church with my vestments to drive to Pastor Fred Guy's installation service at Trinity Lutheran Church in Newport News (about 40 minutes away). After the service, I grabbed a cup of coffee at the reception (since I had taken my medicine I couldn't eat anything!) and got back in the car to get back to the church in time to eat dinner with the College students. Then was the first "AOB" session, and I got home at about 8:30 PM. This week will be full: Pre-school chapel is beginning, sermon prep, getting ready for this coming Sunday's Affirmation of Baptism session, leading sessions of the evening and afternoon prayer studies, an interview with a candidate for the open Director of Music position, a Stephen Ministers meeting, trying to fit a few visits in, and the routine things that just pop up each week. I'm looking forward to Friday night: my son, Nathan, and I will drive up to DC to see the Phillies play, so I'll get back home sometime in the early hours of Saturday morning.

In other words, I've woken up this morning with energy, and I look forward to what's coming up this week! Sure, I'm still taking that awful medicine twice a day. And my infectious disease doctor has no idea how long he'll keep me on it. I've simply learned to live with the feeling of queasiness in my stomach that's a side effect of the medicine. But I've been given bonus time, of restored health. My thankfulness to God is very deep.

As I write, there at eleven gold finches feasting on the Black-eyed Susan seed pods, and three morning doves enjoying the bird bath!! What a gift from God! The garden belongs to the birds! I'll eat my lunch inside, because if I go out onto the porch, I'll scare the birds away!

Caring for the earth is an act of discipleship. I am so pleased that there has arisen energy for this in our congregation! The "earthkeepers" group has educated us to the ecological advantages of the new technology of fluorescent light bulbs, and now they're raising our consciousness about our use of water.

How radical are you, in caring for the earth? I've thought of these acts we could take. (Warning: The list starts off with behaviors that are very easy to practice, but the last items are extremely challenging and even life-changing!)

1. Sit outside for one-half hour each day, listening to nature, and giving thanks to God for creation. (This is a foundational act of discipleship, I think. The great damage of living in climate-controlled interior spaces is that nature becomes something unpleasant to be avoided -- and so we do not care whether we care for the earth or not!)

2. Carry cloth bags in your car, to use when buying groceries and products at the drug store or the hardware store.

3. Use a re-usable bottle for water, gotten from the tap, rather than buying bottled water.

4. When you're running water in the bathroom or the kitchen, waiting for it to become hot, catch that water in a container, and use it to water plants and flowers.

5. When taking clothes out of the washing machine, before putting them in the dryer, shake them out first. That saves the drying time it would take to "unscrunch" the articles of clothing and towels.

6. Drive the speed limit! (Our vehicles' fuel efficiency drops dramatically when we drive faster than 60-65 mph.)

7. As soon as you see a red light ahead, take your foot off the accelerator and let the car coast.

8. When you buy your next car, insist on a minimum of 30 mpg city and 40 mpg highway.

9. If the high temperature for the day is only to be in the mid-80s, keep the air conditioner turned off.

10. When your round trip commute or trip running errands is six miles or less, ride a bicycle.

11. Live within five miles of where you work, or within five miles of a bus stop or carpool meeting place that will take you to work.

12. Buy a house that is smaller than you can afford, to reduce the energy you use day-to-day.

Twelve is a good, round number, so I'll stop there. I'll bet you could think of many other items to add to the list!

Each morning I love to find the story in that day's New York Times that will be worth the price of the subscription. Sometimes the story is in the paper's news coverage. More often, it's a feature story.

Today, it comes from the sports section, a story about a race horse named Maimonides. The horse is named after one of the greatest Jewish philosophers and theologians in history. Maimonides lived more than 800 years ago. He was the chief rabbi of Cairo and was also the physician to the sultan of Egypt -- which means that he served both Jews and Muslims. The writer of the article quotes Rabbi Israel Rubin: Maimonides "blended religious study and intellect with worldly manners to heal the sick and guide the healthy. He was respected and honored by both Jews and Arabs. This is especially relevant now in our life and times."

Rabbi Rubin teaches at the Maimonides Hebrew Day School in Albany, NY, and there are pictures accompanying the article of him and some of his students, visiting the colt. They are all wearing yarmulkes on their heads.

Here's what makes the story especially interesting: the horse Maimonides is owned and was named by a Muslim! His name is Ahmed Zayat, an Egyptian now living in New Jersey. He was born and raised in a suburb of Cairo.

What tantalizing prospects there are for world peace, when people of different religious traditions appreciate the riches of each other's traditions!

Here's a web site to check out: www.libforall.org. It's a global network of moderate and progressive interpretations of Islam.

Islam does not have a single authoritative voice, such as a Pope, or even the head of a denomination. Instead, local imams work independently, competing for influence. There are countless moderate imams across the world who are not covered in the news media, and so many equate Islam with extremism. (It would be the same as if people equated Christianity with Pat Robertson. Actually, many do! What a shame.)

Pray that the moderate voices in Islam will gain in influence, so that God can lead the children of Abraham towards peace.

Health update: I had my most recent appointment with Dr. Flenner (Infectious Disease)a week ago Thursday, and he called two days ago with my latest lab results. My kidney function continues to be good (that's the most dangerous side effect of the anti-fungal drug I'm taking), and the level of histoplasmosis in my system has decreased over the past four months from 7.1 to 5.2. So, the good news is the continued progress in fighting this stuff. But it's amazing to me that the histoplasmosis is still in my system, after nine months of taking anti-fungal medication! The fungus had just taken over my lungs by the time they diagnosed what was going on. In fact, Dr. Flenner shook me up when he said, "You were so sick with this that there is no data I can use to determine how long you should continue taking the medication. I'm inclined to be very conservative and to keep you on it indefinitely." I agreed very quickly!

I still have periods of coughing -- which makes people around me very anxious! Most probably, there is scar tissue in my lungs. So, perhaps, I will never entirely lose the cough. On the other hand, today I rode my bicycle a metric century (100 kilometers; 62 miles). So I think I'm doing OK!!

Yesterday, in the mail, I received a bill for diagnostic testing that was done at the Williamsburg hospital on September 19, 2006! The bill lists the original charge, and what insurance paid -- on August 13, 2007, and so now they're billing me for the balance. Isn't that ridiculous: to think of this taking 11 months to make its way through the labyrinth of Sentara and Aetna bureaucracy??

The bureaucracy of health insurance is a pain in the neck. The only thing worse in not having health insurance. This past Tuesday, census numbers released showed that 47 million people lacked health insurance last year, up from 44.8 million in 2005! If that is true, it is a deepening national disgrace. (There is controversy over the accuracy of the figures.) But even if the number of Americans without health insurance is smaller than that, it impacts our society severely.

According to yesterday's newspaper, the American Cancer Society will "devote its entire $15 million advertising budget this year not to smoking cessation or colorectal screening but to the consequences of inadequate health coverage." The reason is that cancer deaths have not decreased in recent years as they had been. That's because the only effective prevention is early detection, and those without health insurance don't pay out of pocket to undergo colonoscopies or annual physicals with PSA blood tests or mammograms or any of the many tests that reveal cancer at its earliest stages. John R. Seffrin, the chief executive of the cancer society said, "I believe, if we don't fix the health care system, that lack of access will be a bigger cancer killer than tobacco."

I am glad that voters are insisting that both Republican and Democratic presidential candidates talk about how they will approach the crisis in health insurance.