I Bet Jesus Loves Overalls

My damn tooth broke.

That has nothing to do with anything, just a snapshot of how life is going for Al Sterling these days. Finding work is difficult, so far it's just been a serious of almost and that close... for a while, I understood the Psalms in a whole new way. I truly felt a separation from God, like my prayers were unheard and God had turned away from me...

...then a few days ago I started to feel God again, I can't really explain it in any real way, best I can do is to say that I felt a comfort and confidence that I had no call to be having... then things got worse (Did my tooth just fall out? What the hell?!?!)

...I'm blogging while DJing an ice skating rink. I bet not many bloggers have done that... a kid just gave me $5 to play his song. I feel guilty, he's like 12. Of course, I took the money... also, never ask the DJ what the next song is. It's insulting...

...I feel like leaving Korea early was a mistake, and the problems we hit following that led to one bad choice after another... don't read too much into that... but my predicament right now feels a bit like the result of one shitty set up after another. Hindsight is always 20/20... all that, however, doesn't change the feeling that God and I are chatting again...

I wanna be a youth minister more than anything. That was, without hesitation, the happiest I've ever been... it wasn't the easiest time (mid-Korea wins that one), but it was a time when I knew I was doing what I was suppose to.

I'm Just Sayin.

-Al

Thoughts on the election

...it's hard to be a conservative.

I'm trying to keep it to myself. The entire damn planet is enjoying this wonderful moment of sunshine as Americans give themselves a huge pat on the back because they elected a black man. They finally got rid of Bush. They, in a single decisive vote, changed their destiny.

I'm just not so optimistic.

It's nothing against Obama. He seems like a really nice guy. He certainly is a great speaker. But as the euphoria of the moment wears off I'm afraid not much has changed in a way that will make a damn bit of difference. The American government is still overwhelmingly bloated with special interests, corruption, and a level of bureaucracy that is mind-boggling. A Democrat-run executive and legislative branch isn't going to change any of that. I'll go ahead and tell you why you don't want to read any more of this:

• I voted McCain.
• I think history will be a hell of a lot kinder to Bush than folks realize.
• I think people are dumb. Period.
• The only place a president has any real clout is in foreign policy. Our situation has rarely been so convoluted, so entrenched, or so downright scary. And Obama knows diddly about it. Imagine tossing the keys to the car to your 16 year old with the worst driving conditions possible. Sure, Biden is riding shotgun, and he certainly knows his stuff, but any parent will tell you that only one person has access to the pedals.

For the record, I'm a Libertarian. I'd have voted that way, but the militancy thing makes me a little nervous. Not that Barr was keeping Obama up at night...

...in the end, I support the president. I supported Bush through it all. Yes, the man made some mistakes, but not nearly as many as people seem to think.

Tell ya what I am wondering about. When Obama screws something up big time- and he will, not because he's a bad president but because he's human. That, and he's in a pretty much no-win situation- how will the world's memory be then? Their memory was pretty short when it came to Iraq...

That's it. Sorry if I rained on anyones parade. I doubt it though... if Obama was found with a dead body and a bloody knife people would only believe he's preparing to raise it from the dead. That fanatic adoration of Obama makes me even more nervous. The position of Messiah is already filled, and I worry about how they'll react when he's revealed as flesh and blood like the rest of us...