The Grinch 2010

The Grinch
Well, so two years ago my wife encouraged me to to memorize "The Grinch" and perform it for my family. I did. This year, our ward planned a play for the Christmas party and my mother was involved . . . I got a phone call from the director. Here's the result:
Part I

Part II

Part III

Private Property

Some thoughts on private property . . . specifically, why is this feature of our society deemed to be so critical to the perpetuation of freedom?
-stewardship
-connection to the earth
-division of and distribution of power
-impress natural law principles of ownership and connection to earth
Came across this interesting insight into poverty and private property:http://townhall.com/columnists/JohnStossel/2010/12/08/why_do_the_poor_stay_poor/page/full/

The Lawyer

William L. Prosser has aptly written:

Your lawyer in practice spends a considerable part of his life
doing distasteful things for disagreeable people who must be satisfied,
against an impossible time limit and with hourly interruptions,
from other disagreeable people who want to derail the train; and for
his blood, sweat, and tears he receives in the end a few unkind
words to the effect that it might have been done better, and a protest
at the size of his fee. There is no lawyer who has not at some
time in his life rebelled inwardly against all this, and wished that
God had assigned him to the peaceful existence of a digger of ditches
or a master plumber. Your professor is most often a young man who
rebelled early, and while in that state of rebellion was unexpectedly
offered a means of escape with a little more pay. We are all of us
fugitives from that battlefield, and there is in us a weakness of character,
a kind of cowardice, which those of us who are least honest
with ourselves prefer to regard as a fine distaste for the wretched
bickerings of a sordid commercial life.
Prosser, William L., Lighthouse No Good, 1 J. Legal Educ. 257 (1948)

This sums up feelings which I often experience. It is difficult to return to the battlefield day after day. By the way, I really enjoy digging ditches.

A Call to Die

I have long been contemplating the purpose of my personal professional existence and found some insight in these words, which I came across in a reading of Christ and the Code: the Dilemma of the Christian Attorney, in Clark Memorandum, Fall 1990, Joseph Allegretti:

As Dietrich Bonhoeffer reminded us: When Christ calls us, he bids us come and die. He calls us to die to our illusions of power and importance, to the idolatrous demands of our culture, and to the vain promises and false security offered by our social roles and professional rules.

This helps me to take steps to clear my thoughts of questions of the relative importance of what I do. Hopefully then I can take steps to fill my thoughts with questions of the relative Christianity of what I do.

YICHETOSOCTOMY

Our family has a fun little pastime relating to texting. We sometimes write each other random combinations of letters that end up spelling words. Recently, my sister Beth sent me a novel creation in a text: the word yichetosoctomy. I'll be taking input as to the proper definition of the word. Google does not return anything . . .

Ode to Joseph

Our brother, our friend
The heavens are quiet now
Your countenance graces us no more

Our brother, our friend
What is man that Thou art mindful of him?
Vestiges of divine power reside in us,
Yet some souls more luminous
Solicit our respect, even adulation.

Our brother, our friend
You – our Lightning from heaven
We waited for you like fuel
Then we too would flame

We loved you, for you loved us first
We knew your spirit; it swelled wide,
Wide as eternity for the whole human family –
Let them now know and love

Our brother, our friend
Yours was communion with Father and Son
You our advocate, our fearless prophet
Constant commander, constant friend

Let me stand by you
I’m small, but can hold a sword
As in days of old and days to come
We overcome by faith

Our brother, our friend
Let us round up our shoulders
And be true men – like you
My brother, my friend – faithful to the end

Defenestration