Odd things creep into my head at the wierdest times. I realize they shouldn't, but somedays I just let my mind wander and see where it takes me, especially after shows like today, where in the course of doing a three hour radio show we got to talk about old people burning to death on a bus, and the reflooding of New Orleans. All of this and two cups of coffee before noon, and people say I have a fun job. I won't lie, when radio goes well, it goes very well and you can leave the studio feeling like you actually did some entertaining stuff for three hours. On days like today though, you just want to go home and take a bath and wash it off. Face it, people turn on their tvs and radios more often when tragedy strikes, so in some ways I benefit when the worst of things happen. It's the one part of the job I have never been quite comfortable with, but it is a fact of life.
Thankfully we spent a good portion of the show talking about a guest we had on yesterday, a guest that troubled me and I couldn't put my finger on it. He was a gay minister of the Lutheran variety who left the church and was advocating that all gays should leave the church, because they are not wanted there anyway. Mind you, a well spoken guy, and he made a very convincing argument, but something struck me as not quite right, like I was missing something. I chose to unpack this argument while fetching some pizza for lunch today downtown at a little hole-in-the-wall place called La Gondola. It is your garden variety pizza shop, but I hadn't been there for years, and since I had more than ample time until I had to be back to work, it was a nice place to get away from today's earlier events.
As I was eating (mushroom and pepperoni, with a crust that was crisp and just thick enough to hold up the toppings without being bulky, now I remember why I liked it so much) it struck me why I was troubled by this man. It wasn't that I am agnostic, his position wasn't affecting me in any way. It had to do with the quitting, opting for a position of authority until it got to be too tough, then just basically picking up his ball and going home. I really got lost in a myriad of what might have been. What if some of the great figures in history fell victim to this way of thinking. I can see Dr King now giving the "I Don't Have a Dream Speech." In many ways, the minister was nothing more than a Gen X-er run amok, needing only the baggy clothes, Mountain Dew and piercing or two to complete the "Woe is Me" ensemble from the Spiegel catalog collection. I hope I don't ever live in a time where his is the prevailing wisdom. When the Katrinas and the Ritas of the world befall us, I would hope we would be defined not by the tragedy, but by our response. The problem is, the minister's response defines him too.
Thankfully we spent a good portion of the show talking about a guest we had on yesterday, a guest that troubled me and I couldn't put my finger on it. He was a gay minister of the Lutheran variety who left the church and was advocating that all gays should leave the church, because they are not wanted there anyway. Mind you, a well spoken guy, and he made a very convincing argument, but something struck me as not quite right, like I was missing something. I chose to unpack this argument while fetching some pizza for lunch today downtown at a little hole-in-the-wall place called La Gondola. It is your garden variety pizza shop, but I hadn't been there for years, and since I had more than ample time until I had to be back to work, it was a nice place to get away from today's earlier events.
As I was eating (mushroom and pepperoni, with a crust that was crisp and just thick enough to hold up the toppings without being bulky, now I remember why I liked it so much) it struck me why I was troubled by this man. It wasn't that I am agnostic, his position wasn't affecting me in any way. It had to do with the quitting, opting for a position of authority until it got to be too tough, then just basically picking up his ball and going home. I really got lost in a myriad of what might have been. What if some of the great figures in history fell victim to this way of thinking. I can see Dr King now giving the "I Don't Have a Dream Speech." In many ways, the minister was nothing more than a Gen X-er run amok, needing only the baggy clothes, Mountain Dew and piercing or two to complete the "Woe is Me" ensemble from the Spiegel catalog collection. I hope I don't ever live in a time where his is the prevailing wisdom. When the Katrinas and the Ritas of the world befall us, I would hope we would be defined not by the tragedy, but by our response. The problem is, the minister's response defines him too.
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