That probably doesn’t seem like big news to anyone other than the ones who conceived her.  It is an amazingly short journey from the womb to college.

I enjoyed these high school years the most of Clothgirl’s childhood even though we had a few moments of her wanting independence when we felt she still needed to demonstrate some dependence.  What’s new?  What now?

I guess the biggest question we face is what we are, and are not, willing to pay for regarding college.  I’ve seen a ton of college students over the years that wasted their parent’s money and their (the student’s) time at college.  If they had to foot the bill they would have done things much differently.

Neither Clothwoman nor I got a penny of support from our parents because they didn’t have a penny to give.  We have some pennies to give but are not sure how or where to give them.  At this point, we’re expecting Clothgirl to take responsibility for the actual educational costs and we’ll help with living expenses.  (For example, she will live at home her first year and some other perks we are negotiating.)

This may be a long way from figuring out if we should use cloth or disposable diapers, home school or public school for kindergarten, but it doesn't seem much different.

Welcome listeners of the Paul Coughlin radio program in Portland, OR. 

I look forward to being on the air in Portland today.  My sister lives in Vancouver and I have lots of friends who live in Portland and lots of experiences there:

I’ve run the Portland Marathon twice,

I've performed two weddings for people in Portland and have been to several conferences in Portland,

I've watched the Montana Grizzlies beat the Portland State Vikings in football last year (that was weird because there were probably 4-5000 Grizzlies fans and only about 3500 PSU fans there),

I really like eating at The Spaghetti Factory along the river in Portland and Beaches along the river in Vancouver,

My one and only car accident in my life was in Vancouver (in 1984 a truck didn’t see our tiny Toyota Tercel merging into congested rush hour traffic and he literally pushed our car into the car in front of us before I climbed up his truck and banged on his hood to stop),

And now I’ve been interviewed on a Portland radio station.  Dude, I should get in-state tuition.  

Anyway, I hope things went well on the radio today and that you enjoy your visit to my site.  It ain’t fancy but it gets the job done.

I’m the world’s worst when it comes to festivity and celebration – although I’m getting better thanks to a little help from my friends.

I will spend the first part of today trying to not think about work that I could be getting done with all of this “free” time on my hands.  Bad Clothman.

Next, I’ll spend a little more time feeling bad that I don’t have the holiday cheer that makes little kids nearly pee their pants in excitement or adults giggle like kids trying to not pee their pants.  Bad Clothman.

But then I’ll start getting into the groove and actually start enjoying the holiday music, the lights on the tree (Fa), the sharing of presents, the parade on TV, browsing sweets (Fa, la, la), working on a jig-saw puzzle, eating a large meal (Fa, la, la, la, la, la, la).  It will all get started with a reading in just a few minutes with the reading of the Christmas Story from Luke and end with a movie tonight.  In between Clothwoman and I will go for a run, and we’ll all play a board game (Fa, la, la, la, la; la, la, la – la – la).

GADGET-vs-CLOTHMAN

Let me give you a quick update regarding my wanting to wait to buy the George Foreman Lean Mean Grilling Machine after Christmas and Clothgirl wanting to get it before.

I guess the fact that it is setting under the tree right now all nicely wrapped tells you who won.  Clothgirl and Clothboy are both trying to get me to lighten up and apparently they are having some success.  And I must confess, I’m looking forward to seeing Clothwoman’s face when she opens up that present – she will love it and use it often.  Dang I’m getting so excited that I’m about to pee my pants…

…Guess it’s time to get Clothgirl and Clothboy up.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

An old friend passed away this week.  Dan Fogelberg died from advanced prostate cancer at 6:00am, Sunday, December 16th.

Actually, the closest I ever got to Dan was a few yards at a concert at William and Mary College in Williamsburg, Virginia back in 1978.  However, we spent countless hours together musically.  (Thank you Lucky Pierre for turning me on to Dan before Dan became famous – Dan and Lucky grew up only about 50 miles apart in Illinois.) 

Dan Fogelberg was a top recording artist back in the 70’s and early 80’s.  He was always more about the music than the fame.  Even the time I saw him in concert it was just him with his guitar, his piano and Tim Weisberg on flute – touring for the “Twin Brothers from Different Mothers” album.

If you’re not familiar with his music you owe it to yourself to spend some time with him.  To get started try some of his popular songs like:  Same Old Lang Syne, Run for the Roses, Leader of the Band, Power of Gold, Tell Me to My Face, There’s A Place in the World for a Gambler, Illinois and Longer.

You’ll probably shed a tear that his talent has left this earth – I did.  Yet, I thank God for the time that he did have here, the miracle of musical recordings and the hope that perhaps I’ll get to know him in person in the future.

I’m now “The Announcer Guy” at Clothboy’s home wrestling meets.  Being an Announcer Guy has always been another one of those vocational goals I’ve had in life.

I love to say, “Iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit’s Tiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiime.”  Or, “At 119 for the Frenchtown Bronc’s, Jason Hanson.  And for YOUR BIG SKY EAGLES, at 119, Coooooooooody Moooooooooooore!”

I also have set a goal to see the stands filled at our school like in the 80’s when Big Sky High School used to be one of the forces in Montana wrestling.

To do that, I’m working on a cool song list to play for the fans before and after the match.  Super hot music to bring the Eagles varsity wrestlers into the gym with.  Making sure we dim the lights and And even what I call, “Blood Music.”  That’s music I play whenever there is a timeout for a bloody nose.

Eventually, I hope to add some cool spectator games and who knows what.  I’ve never done this before so there’s a lot to learn.  I have already learned that every mistake I make is amplified for all to hear.  I almost got mauled when I accidentally called the Hamilton Bronc’s the Frenchtown Bronc’s (the two teams have a huge rivalry with one another).  Or every time I miss pronounce someone’s name.

Right now the stands are about half full, but they’re already getting into it.  They love the addition of music and having an excitable, if mistake prone, Announcer Guy.  Let’s see how this goes.

“Clothman, you’re watering down the gospel.”

“Why don’t you use the influence of your column to tell people the most important truths of the gospel – that Jesus died on the cross so that those who put their faith in him can go to heaven and not hell.”

“Our church is praying for you to come back to the truth Clothman and stop going down that slippery slop of liberalism.”

These are some of the comments I’ve gotten recently.  (By the way, I don’t want to sound negative, I have received much more positive feedback than negative.)  I know these folks mean well and I do appreciate them passing on their feelings.  Even more, I know that they are giving me their input from a sincere heart and with good intentions.  Thus, I strive to receive such feedback in this way.

The recent feedback comes from my treatment of traditional advent texts; namely, my discussion of the Magi and Mary.  However, I must say that I couldn’t disagree more with their appraisal of my gospel presentation.  

For years, I and others like myself (including those who are giving me the negative feedback), were in fact the ones who were watering down the gospel when we said the good news was primarily about getting to heaven.  The most important thing was to get souls saved.

However, in the process I completely mistreated the biblical text.  For example, in my column about Mary’s Song I talk about how off track this all-about-getting-to-heaven notion is.  This portion of scripture has little if anything to do about Mary being humble, as most preach it.  Furthermore, Mary nowhere sings anything about the fact that her son was going to save people from hell.  Nowhere!

Read Mary’s Song for yourself in Luke 2.  She’s talking about God reversing the current upside-down order of society.  To say Mary’s Song is about humility or saving people from hell is the true “watering down” the gospel; furthermore, it is completely distorting it and this biblical text.

The fact is (and I somehow missed it for years and years) the gospel is social, it is political, it is about God’s order in heaven becoming real on earth.  And, it is about getting to heaven and being saved from sin.  That is the “full gospel.”

If nothing else, by default our goal of reduction in abortions automatically gives aid and comfort to those who are still mercilessly killing millions of the innocent unborn and doing great harm to just as many women and many others in the process. Thus the "good goal" strategy we may adopt can become the enemy of the ultimate righteous goal, which is the preservation of unborn human lives and the prevention of great harm to women and many others across the board. Both reduction and relative elimination can certainly be pursued at the same time, and in fact they are.

Terry goes on to point out the great work that some, such as crisis pregnancy centers, are doing to in fact reduce abortions every day.  

Terry’s right, but I still believe there is a higher goal that we can strive for without sacrificing our core values of life and choice.  

What I didn’t say in my columns was a forthright statement that I am either pro-life or pro-choice.  That was intentional.  I think there’s something inherently wrong with such a statement.  I’m for life and I’m for freedom.  I don’t think the lines that we’ve drawn between the pro-life and pro-choice movements are as clear as we think they are.  I tried to point this out in my columns. 

I’ve watched this abortion battle go on and on for 30+ years with the constant polarized, partisan ranting from both sides.  I want to move to higher ground, where we can finally begin to resolve this issue.

I think if we begin a dialogue and team up where we can, both sides will get what they want.  I believe we can arrive at a place where both sides recognize that the pre-born are fully human.  And I believe both sides can agree that a woman deserves to be able to make choices about her body.  But we will never get there until we start walking in such a direction together – something we’re not doing and haven’t done…

There are some things that parents should find out only when they get to heaven.  The story in my latest adventure (Clothman On Abortion, Part 3) is one such thing.  Please God, don’t let my mother see it …actually mom has macular degeneration so the chances of her reading it are slim.

Perhaps the worst three days of my life were those thinking that I had gotten Mary (not her real name) pregnant.  Unless you’ve been in such a position I don’t know if you can really appreciate the fear, shock and confusion of it all.  And the crazy thing about it was that (for obvious reasons) I couldn’t for the life of me remember even having sex with Mary and thus loosing my virginity.

But my appreciation for those caught in the web of a crisis pregnancy has always been nurtured by this experience.  Pat answers and rigid solutions really blur when you’re living out a crisis pregnancy and not just speaking about the morality of it from an ideal point of view.

And what about my buddy who pulled this prank on me?  I have to say that I was so incredibly relieved that I didn’t kill him.  I was pissed that he let it drag on three days – although in fairness I didn’t tell him for nearly two days because I was so scared.  Still, I know he was just trying to be funny and it went sideways.  In retrospect, I have to say it will forever be the best practical joke ever played on me and I have tremendous admiration for that.

Why didn’t I recognize his handwriting?  Somehow his feminine side emerged and he really did make it look like a nervous girl’s handwriting.  He even had the cute little curls on the letters like girls do. Dang, he was good. 

Are we still friends?  Yes.  How can you not be after sharing so many bonding experiences like these?  In a way I was pregnant by him – that is a tie that binds.

Three years ago, Clothgirl, Clothboy and I went to a NASCAR race in Dover, Delaware.  We used air miles and my brother in New Jersey let us use his RV to go down to the races.  It was a hoot.

This weekend the whole Clothfamily will be going to the NASCAR Truck race (it is only 200 miles and I know that’s all Clothwoman and Clothgirl can handle) and Clothboy and I will be going to the NASCAR Nextel race.  Yeeeeee Ha!

Yes, I know we will be part of the world’s largest trailer park for a day but that’s the fun of it.  I can’t wait to have 43 cars with 850 horsepower come flying by at 200 miles per hour.  Yeeeeeee Ha!

While in Atlanta we will also visit some dear friends who are putting us put and offering the use of a vehicle.  We will take in some historical sites and perhaps do to Six Flags.

Another huge bonus is that we will have a reunion with several of the Katrina families the Clothteam helped out a couple of years ago.  I can’t wait to catch up with them and the pastor the church who we teamed up with there in Atlanta.  I'll give you a report when I return.

All in all a great time will be had …now if I can just get everything done before we leave town!

I have become unbelievably frustrated with the abortion debate in America.  Both sides sling mud at one another without realizing that they are both grabbing it (the mud) from the same stinking swamp of anger, hatred, bitterness and greed.

In thinking that they are superiorly correct (and often times that God is on their side), each side grabs a pile stinky pride and hate from the swamp and throws it at the “enemy” in the form of vicious rhetoric.  Both sides have descended into a battle to maintain a battle line that was formed three decades ago by people who have long since left the front lines.

I believe it is time to throw off the huge political machines of the pro-life/pro-choice movements.  Forget them both.  They are stuck in a 30 year old war without end or victor.  

Let’s embrace the politics of faith and cooperation.  We don’t have to agree on everything to work together on something.  In my column I gave just two ways both sides can move toward the other with the shared goal of reducing the number of abortions in America.  Pro-choicers, acknowledge that the baby is a person.  Pro-lifers, give up the notion of a constitutional amendment making abortion illegal.  

These steps together toward a common goal will never be accepted by the giant political machines, which is why I say forget ‘em.  Stop sending them your financial support.  Let them dry up and blow away like chafe. 

Plain Truth Magazine was kind enough to ask me to write a feature for them about global warming – then they published it as their cover story.  How cool.  I originally got connected with PTM when they reprinted the column which won 3^rd place in the national Amy Writing Awards.

I can’t post a copy of the global warming article on my website yet; however, I encourage you to go to Plain Truth Ministries and simply request to get on their mailing list for their magazine and their emails.  I have found their material to be quite helpful.  (I also had another column published in the same issue about Clothwoman and I having no curfew for Clothgirl and Clothboy.)

I’ve received a fair amount of response from both columns.  

Another interesting outlet that has developed for my writing is a column called “Back of the Bus.”  It is the last page of a magazine called Student Transportation News.  It is the nation’s largest trade publication for school bus companies.  It is based in CA. 

I originally got connected with them when they awarded me their top prize for original writing in for a local bus company newsletter (I didn’t even know I was entered in the contest).  Afterward they asked if I’d submit some material for their publication and now I'm a regular columnist.

My guess is they’re where I was for most all of my life – conflicted.  I never really felt I should be pro-war, but I had been so indoctrinated by the status quo that I assumed Christians and war were not conflicting interests even though my guts told me otherwise.

But Jesus was always a problem.  Clearly, he said some amazingly pacifist statements.  Certainly, he modeled the life of a pacifist.  Yes, he confronted evil, but in a non-violent manner.  Thinking of Jesus as a military leader is like casting Pee Wee Herman in Braveheart.  (Okay so that is a rotten analogy but this is a blog not a column.)

I’m convinced most Christians ignore Jesus being a pacifist because it messes things up too much.  Non-violent confrontation of evil just doesn’t compute.

But, that is not how we should approach Jesus even though I’m embarrassed to say that I did just that for nearly my whole life.  If we’re going to be pro-war than we had better to be able to take Jesus with us into battle – I mean all of Jesus, not just a Jesus that we constructed to fit our needs.

I have one more very interesting observation about Jesus, war and hell that I’ll make next time.

I don’t worry about holding to a denominational line or if people might think I’m a liberal or conservative.  My goal is to try to understand Jesus’ perspective on any given topic.

That said, I’ve really been stretched by my recent series on war.  War is one tough topic and I frankly I don’t know if I’m a liberal or conservative on war, or if I’ve really understood Jesus’ perspective.

I think Jesus would always find a better option than war, but I’m not sure what such options might be.  I also wrestle trying to see how Jesus would have reacted if someone was torturing his mother.  It’s not comprehend how the resurrected responds to evil, but what about Jesus while he was here on earth?  There’s no gospel story that preserves Jesus confronting a situation in which someone was being raped or beaten.  We do have the situation of Jesus himself being beaten and murdered and we all know how he responded to that – even though he clearly had a chance to prevent it with an even greater violence against his attackers.

I guess I just wanted to let you know that I’m still wrestling with the topic of war.  If I had to choose this day, I would say that we need to abandon war, even if it means violence being inflicted upon us and our loved ones.  This cycle of violence has got to take a different direction than it has since the beginning of time.  

Fire season is here. 

One of my favorite things to do in the mid-late Montana summer days is to drive crew bus for fire fighters.  I’ve been doing this for several years.  I love getting out in the woods as well as helping to defend and protect homes and timber from wildfire.  

This is far and away the driest and hottest summer in my 20 years in Montana.  It has been 90’s or 100’s every day for weeks – YUCK!  If I wanted Arizona weather I could just move there.  We’re just one big lightning storm away from a huge blow up.

My first trip out was just a quick one.  I brought a crew from Alaska out from down by Dillon and helped them de-mobilize.  They’ll be back in action in four days.

We figured this would be a tough day for all of them – the first Father Day without their husband and father.  I figured I could at least be a father presence with them that day and our kids love to hang out together.

Dustin loved to cook breakfast for his family so Clothgirl, Clothboy and I went out and did our best to cook a breakfast like Dustin would (Clothwoman had to work). 

Later that day we took Dustin’s cremains (he was cremated) and asked God to show us where we should bury or spread them.  After three or so hours of looking and praying all the Mitchells agreed on a spot that used to be a staging area for many of Dustin’s hunts, hikes and snowmobiling trips.  It is easy to find for the kids when they get older and may want to bring their kids back to that spot – and it meant a lot to Dustin.

Life often times doesn’t seem fair, yet God has a way of turning good out of bad.  A few months ago this first Father’s Day without Dustin seemed like it would be horrible.  Thanks to Becky, who is doing an amazing job at being a single parent, it was joyful.  Thanks to God it was beautiful.

Not long ago a movement arose in churches called Promise Keepers.  The idea was that men would become better Christians, husbands and fathers if they kept seven specific promises (rules).  Across America men began gathering in weekly small accountability groups where they asked each other how they were doing at keeping these promises.

I felt a bit guilty because I could never board the hugely popular Promise Keepers bandwagon even though nearly every pastor friend of mine quickly signed up the men of their church as fast as they could. 

It sounded so good, but something just wasn’t right.  I wasn’t sure what it was until I had a blunt conversation with my friend Hardwood.  He was deeply involved with Promise Keepers for a season but then quit.  I asked him why.

“I got tired of being the only one who wasn’t lying.  At the start all the guys were pretty honest with where they were in their walk with God.  But eventually most of the guys got tired of admitting their shortcomings week after week – so they started lying to save face.  I refused to that and after awhile the others started looking at me like I was a looser.  I know it was supposed to help us become more mature but it seems to me it only made matter worse.  That’s when I quit going.”

This is exactly what Paul was talking about; that where the laws and rules increase so does sin.  There were some good things that came out of Promise Keepers and I know the founders meant well, but over all I think it did more damage than good.  It basically gave men seven more ways to fail, in addition to all the ways they were already failing. 

Promise Keepers lasted a few years before it began to fade from existence – just like the countless other rule keeping systems and popular programs that churches have embraced over the years.  

New programs continue to appear on the radar screen but frankly I turned off my radar for these things several years ago.  Now, I no longer feel guilty when a hot new book or church program comes along and I just watch it pass by.

I’m with Paul when he said, “Christ has set us free to live a free life.