Religion?

It’s Friday once again and with an almost-full moon I can see pretty far out into the orchard. I’m looking for whatever made a loud and startling noise a few seconds ago. It sounded almost like the gate closing, but I remember closing it myself late last night and it’s not windy? Could it have been a wandering cat jumping over it? Boo makes a similar noise when she leaps the fence at that spot. Or was it one of the horses from next door? They sometimes get into a war and begin kicking whatever is nearby.

Moving on…The news is filled with stories of the killing of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in Iraq. This administration needs to make something large of the event, though from what I’ve read al-Zarqawi and bin-Laden were rivals, not compatriots. This makes Rumsfeld’s odd statement that his death was “a stunning shock” to al Qaeda not surprising at all.

Zarqawi was certainly evil and there is little doubt that he is guilty of crimes against humanity. And I found it interesting to hear that one of the people who knew him stated that Zarqawi’s “religion” had been learned by rote. That he had no intellectual grasp of it…

That made me think of a church we once attended where scripture memorization was paramount in importance. And even ordinary conversations with church members were quickly loaded down with scriptural references…but very few from the New Testament? Of course…that’s where Jesus said those tough things, like, “Love one another” and “do unto others…”

Well, the dawn is here. The sky is dark silver and blue and I have a cat sitting in the window. She’s paying close attention to the sounds of the early birds; the ones getting the worms and celebrating. And now I have to get ready for a walk in the park. This means a frustrating trip into Chico, past and through all of the road construction. And after that walk; a quiet time with newspaper and coffee before we head to Susanville for a long Saturday morning walk at altitude. Since Anchorage is at sea level, this kind of practice is going to help all the more during the upcoming marathon.