January 2012

Friends and family have contacted me recently to inquire how I am. I thought it better to write a public blog posting rather than repeat myself. If you read the Christmas letter that Cindy and I wrote, you can catch up with us for 2011, but a lot has happened in the last two months.

Personally, I am in great shape. I now weigh 195, down from about 210 when I arrived in OK. Primarily, this is because Cindy and I work out 6 days a week at Transformation Fitness and at home. At the former, I do a 60-minute cardio workout – running, spinning or a combo of elliptical, stair climber and recumbent bike. At home, we are currently using Les Mills Pump. We find the workouts challenging and rewarding. I can see greater definition in my major muscle groups. People confuse me with Arnold until I start to talk.

I enter almost everything I eat into fatsecret.com, which allows me to track my calories. Because of my HBP, I can track my sodium intake and, now that I am 55 (on March 23) and want to get down to 180 pounds, my protein/carb/fat (PCF) intake. My daily goal is 2,000 calories and a 50/30/20 PCF ratio. Recently, Cindy and I read numerous books about PCF, but did not buy any. There are many goofy ideas regarding lifestyles, exercise and food. We use the food lists on Beachbody, and purchase most of our meat, fish, fruits and vegetables at Whole Foods in OKC.

We also started drinking shakeology. Cindy knows more about it than I do. I drink it for my breakfast and vary a combination of blueberries, egg whites, almond butter (which we grind at WF), skim or almond milk, nonfat yogurt, orange or whatever else is here. I do not eat bananas as they contain too many carbs for a fruit.

I usually eat a salad for lunch. I never eat at my desk – and anyone who does must know how unhealthy this is. I eat salad with vinegar and oil. Lots of water means many short walking trips and allows me time to talk to fellow staff members on my way back to my desk.

Other than the one day a month (long weekend) when we are “out on the town,” we almost never eat out. We eat salmon or other fish or meat with a salad and some other vegetable. Therefore, as you can tell, we are healthy eaters. I still enjoy cocktails – single-blended scotch, manhattans or a martini. Maybe tequila. That is it. So, if you invite us for dinner, you know what you need in your bar. J We still know our wines, but do not drink as many bottles of Concannon (available almost everywhere) as we did. J J

Spiritually, we are fulfilled as members of Holy Trinity Lutheran Church Missouri Synod in Edmond, where we thoroughly enjoy the words of Pastor Barrie Henke or Pastor Jon Huss or Vicar Justin Smith. We attend weekly Bible class; call new members and report to the church office; and I am preparing for my colloquy (acceptance into ministry). We can upon the LCMS after a spiritual search that took us from the Catholic Church to a community church to the Episcopal Church. We belonged to one in CA, TX and OK. We also attended an LCMS Church in NM and Pismo Beach. A growing church follows a common lectionary, has regular communion and many other ‘Catholic’ similarities.

My work at World Neighbors takes me to many different churches – Catholic, Presbyterian, Methodist, UCC, and Universalist and so on. I have gotten to know at least a dozen pastors through personal visits. I love this part of my job the most.

Politically, I am deeply troubled by the direction Obama is taking our nation. Our economy shows no sign of improving. He has imposed upon us a debt that I am sure we will never repay within our lifetimes. Obamacare will force religious leaders who run Christian or Catholic hospitals, colleges or other agencies to offer free sterilization, abortion and contraceptives. This smacks of imposing one’s will upon another’s conscience. As you know, Catholics and many other religions see the aforementioned as sinful, and abortion as a mortal sin. His action forces Catholics to comply with a serious sinful action, i.e., abortion. It is government interfering with the free practice or religion. … For those who do not understand Catholicism’s view of these acts, the point is lost. They simply see the Catholic (or Christian) Church as an institution imposing its beliefs on others. They do not see Obama as imposing his will on Christians. ... I am sure he did not welcome the 500,000 peaceful protestors to the March for Life on the day of the SOTU address.

In the meantime, no voice of concern is raised while Christians are being (have been) slaughtered while attending Mass on Christmas by muslims around the world. It is as if Obama has no regard for the lives of Christians.

In addition to presiding over the worst economy since Herbert Hoover, Obama continues to stifle growth in the private job sector. Today, I watched House hearings on the State Department’s denial of the Keystone Pipeline. Even though the application process lasts on average of 3 months, and every federal agency had approved the application, the State Department needed more time (apparently, 3 years is not enough time to study this item). While America suffers from the highest unemployment rate in 50 years, Obama nixes a project that would create thousands of jobs for years to come.

There are other reasons I will urge others not to re-elect Obama – the selling of guns to Mexican drug lords who killed US federal agents, his interference with the Cambridge police department, his urging a private citizen to sue the Lutheran Church, the federal government suing Arizona and encouraging civil unrest in Wisconsin, Solyndra, the Chevy Volt (aka Edsel), federal bailouts, increasing the price of imported tires, his affinity for OWS and Corzine and so on.

If there is anything that unnerves me these days, it is the thought that the Obama regime could rule America for another four years, and that we will come out of this looking worse than Greece. I pray daily for our nation – that citizens act to replace one of the worst presidents ever to sit in the Oval Office.

Other than that, life is good. Thanks for asking.