Another death in Iraq, another funeral here

Just after Thanksgiving last year I posted about how the post-holiday scene in San Antonio and the nearby small town of Falls City had been darkened by shadows of tragic deaths and funerals. The small-town funeral involved an Army sergeant killed in Iraq. You may also remember, dear reader, my first-of-this-year posting about a wounded soldier visited here by a seminary friend of mine and others from his Fort Worth church.

Well, the war "over there" has hit closer to home for me now. A woman of my Westside church, Flora Patiño, had three sons: David, Ernest and Hector. I'd only met the youngest, Hector, once or twice. He was "the adventuresome one" of the trio of sons, and was a civilian supply contractor in Iraq. Hector was slain by so-called "friendly fire". The details of the incident are sketchy and contradictory, and an investigation is in progress. So I don't wish to share much about the incident, save to report that it was at a checkpoint guarded by Australian military armed with machine guns. But even ONE so-called "friendly fire" death is one too many in any combat situation. (We should be shooting the other guys, NOT our own!) And in THIS war there seem to have been a strangely high number of "friendly fire" deaths.

Hector was an Eagle Scout, husband and father, a military veteran who loved his country, and was building a fair-size "dream home" for his extended Patiño family, on picturesque Canyon Lake due north of here in the Hill Country. Emphasis on the "was". Now who Hector was -- good, bad and outstanding -- is history. Thanks to "friendly fire". Thanks to a war which more and more SEEMS to be turning into quicksand for the good ol' U.S. of A.

Please don't get me wrong. I stand behind our President and Commander-in-Chief. I keep in mind the good news that our biased and ultra-liberal press doesn't report from Iraq. Such as schools and clinics our forces are building for grateful Iraqis. Such as the fact that most folk are heartily glad that the dictator was overthrown and now has been executed for his heinous crimes against his own people. Nevertheless, one cannot argue against the reality that SOMETHING needs to change in our operations "over there". If for no other reason than to eliminate the atrocity of "friendly fire".

Back to Hector Patiño. There was a prayer service for him last evening at the funeral home. I didn't get to attend, due to prior commitment. But I heard it was a good prayer service, complete with an endearing slide show of Hector's life.

His funeral took place this morning, at Mexican Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). Our Pastor, Sister Liz Sanchez, gave a fine message about the risen Savior Jesus as our hope, for this life as well as the life beyond the grave. Before her sermon, Elder Robert Santana sang a beautiful rendition of "El Pescador de Hombres" ("The Fisher of Men" in English) -- probably my favorite song en español. Afterward a quartet of Hector's cousins sang "Amazing grace" and invited all present to sing along. Following the burial at San Fernando Cemetery Number Three out toward the former Kelly AFB, there was a luncheon back at the church.

The occasion that caused Hector's death may be tragic, but at least we who love Jesus have our crucified and risen Savior's Spirit to comfort us who mourn. Not only comfort thru our faith in Him, but also thru our loving fellowship with one another. Blessed be the Body of Christ on Earth. And "rest in peace" to one who died as part of the war effort "over there". Que descansa en paz, Hector.

Weather outside frightful

This "Spud" from Idaho grew up where it gets COLD for the winter, and it snows occasionally. (Cynically, I've told folk that in Boise it snows twice a year, the day AFTER Christmas and Mothers Day!)

BUT the weather we're suffering this very week here in San Antonio is FRIGHTFUL. Indeed, lots of songs about winter have been playing in my head the past couple of days. I'm referring to songs which are often broadcast during December on the radio, or heard over Muzak systems in mall stores. It's as tho' these were Christmas songs -- but the holiday is NEVER mentioned, nor is gift-giving, so THESE SONGS could be sung or broadcast in January or February without a problem! "Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow" comes to mind almost as frequently as "Walking in a winter wonderland."

Winter weather where I was raised was VERY different from weather in states of the south central or southeastern USA. In Idaho, once it got cold for the winter (by December) it STAYED cold. The occasional snowfall was powder snow, not all that good for making snowballs or snowmen, but gr-r-r-reat for sledding or skiing. And fairly safe to drive on, except for the very rare "black ice" under a subsequent snow covering.

Upon moving to Fort Worth, when the winter of 1976-77 commenced, I began to hear forecasts for something called an "ice storm". What's THAT, I'd wonder. I found out in a hurry. It wasn't pleasant. It was nothing like the powder snows in which I'd grown up! When I'd drive back and forth between FW and Dallas I'd see plenty of vehicles of all types off in the roadside ditch.

Well, San Antonio had enjoyed rather mild winters since my 2002 arrival for my sojourn here. Until this past Martin Luther King, Jr., holiday, that is. This city boasts the best attended MLK parade in the country, and leaders had planned on over 100,000 marchers in this, King's REAL birthday as well as Monday federal holiday. However, Monday's very cold rainfall kept the number well under a fourth of that!

Then Tuesday and Wednesday the rain became an actual ice storm. So students remained out and schools closed an additional two days, and in the Hill Country three. Overpasses and Hill Country stretches of roadways got closed due to the icy conditions, and a busload of Greyhound travellers got stranded in Kerrville. Iron fences and tree and shrub limbs received an ice coat of close to half an inch. Oh, the poor rhododendrons outside my window!

I got cabin fever, and ventured out on errands. I made certain to return to my efficiency unit before nite-fall. This morning I entered a conveniece store to buy a cup of hot chocolate. (What I'd have given for Mexican hot cocoa, champurrado!) Convenience stores here are almost all managed/owned by Indians. So I quipped to the manager, "Well with this type weather, I reckon that you wish you were back in India."

To my surprise, he answered, "No." Then he explained that he valued the life and freedom he knows here in the good ol' U.S. of A!

Consider THAT something to warm one's red-blooded all-American heart on a frigid winter day!

Fifth Anniversary

Exactly five years ago (plus one week) a man arrived in San Antonio by Greyhound. The origin of his bus journey had been Tennessee, where he had literally lost everything. He lost his job, and couldn't find another, even a menial job. His unemployment was soon to run out. He totaled his car in the same intersection where a couple years earlier he'd totaled another. His dear cat died (of old age and overweight). His family was even dearer to him -- but because he didn't express this, let alone act on it as a model father and husband, he had lost them, too.

And so, five years ago he arrived in the Alamo City. In effect the bus he rode in on was a long grey hearse wearing a grey dog and bearing at least one dead man.

San Antonio, however, is named after the patron saint of lost items. Here, in St. Anthony's city this man found healing and new raison d'etre. He found fairly decent and inexpensive lodging, a decent job, and a church "family". When in February the city celebrated its Western and cattle connection with the annual Rodeo he found enjoyment again. As the South Texas landscape blossomed with spring wildflowers, proclaiming the return of life after the drear winter, he too returned to life abundant.

Such is the story of yours truly during the past five years, sojourning in San Antonio. That Year of Our Lord 2002 was a major turning point of life, up from the abyss (if not the grave). Indeed, I've written a poem about that year. It was my first effort to write something bilingual. Actually, it's a code-switching poem. "Code-switching" is what many fluent speakers of Spanish and English do here: in mid-sentence they will switch from the one language to the other, and a few sentences later in mid-sentence switch back to the first language. It's fascinating to listen to this during a conversation. Truly, my poem might be better heard (or read aloud to oneself), because I code-switch in mid-word at one point!

My poem's title is "Dos Mil Dos: el año of arriving in San Antonio" (the English is lined under the Spanish, like a sub-title). I've written other poems these past five years; some express my response to this or that aspect of this city. Some are in English, some in Spanish, but I think that so far "Dos Mil Dos: el año. . ." is the only code-switching poem I've written. Eventually, I may publish a book of poetry, to include these poems as well as ones I wrote while living in Devine or in Clarksville, Tennessee. I'm also writing a novel, set in San Antonio during the Christmas holiday season and culminating in La Gran Posada.

Look for them on you favorite bookstore's shelf -- just not real soon!

Museums, again! Hooray!

Back in the fall of '06 -- 27 October to be exact --I posted about certain museums here in San Antonio. I knew that I was only covering the largest and best-known of the many here, and had intended to return to the subject and deal with some of the remainder of museums in the Alamo City. After all, museums are among my favorite places to go, along with libraries and churches and parks. Yours truly IS a history-lover, you know. (Surely, dear reader, you'd already guessed!)

And last nite I indulged by spending a night at the museum by going to the movies. I went to see "A Night at the Museum" at the Northwest 14, beside the IH Ten-Loop 410 interchange. I got to go because I had won a ticket to Santikos Theaters movies, and Northwest 14 is one of the easiest Santikos theatres to get to and from by VÍA bus, as a VÍA route goes right past the backside of the building.

"A Night at the Museum" as a film wasn't much to write home about. It was the standard plot of a rather slacker of a dad (played by Ben Stiller) who seeks to inspire his young son to love and admire him. But it was SET IN A MUSEUM because the dad takes a job there as a night guard. The Museum of Natural History in the Big Apple. I realized rather quickly that this movie museum was actually a combination of two real-life institutions of NYC, The American Museum of Natural History, west across the street from Central Park, and The Metropolitan Museum of Art, along the eastern edge of said park. I had actually visited "The Met", and had been thrilled by its huge collection of Ancient Egyptian items!

Therefore, despite the movie museum's name, there was a lot of HUMAN history as well as natural, inside the walls. AND every animal or human display within comes alive after dark! Thus we get to see the life-size equestrian statue of Teddy Roosevelt move around and interact with the dad and later also with the boy. T.R.is played by Robin Williams -- who does the outdoor-oriented President terrific! (Other famous actors in "A Night at the Museum" are Dick Van Dyke and Mickey Rooney, who play old night guards.)

I think my favorite character in the film is the Egyptian Pharaoh Akh-men-ra. (As far as I know there never WAS a king by such a name reigning on the banks of the Nile, and indeed I think the script spells the name Ahk-men-ra, which isn't a likely spelling.) He is a mummy who comes alive and after shedding the mummy wrappings helps the guard and his son to retrieve a stolen tablet, which had belonged to the Pharaoh, which caused the exhibit pieces to come to life each nite while it hung on a wall above the Pharaoh's coffin -- and which had been stolen by ex-guards of the museum. NOW the story gets really interesting! Present me with anything that is of Ancient Egypt, and you've got me in the palm of your hand, if not wrapped around your little finger like a mummy wrapping! (Ha, ha, I couldn't resist this one.)

Anyway, back to museums here in S.A. There are several smaller and less well-known museums to attract the tourist-visitor or the longtime resident. One that I have a coupon for free admission to is the Air Museum at Stinson Field on Roosevelt in the southern part of the city. It re-opened recently after refurbishing, so whenever I get to it, I imagine it will be an enjoyable museum experience. After all, after my junior year in high school I learned to fly the Cessna 150 two-seat airplane, and I've loved air flight ever since!

There is also the Texas Pioneers, Trail Drivers and Rangers Museum. This small museum with the big name sits next to the Witte Museum on Broadway. The building is called Pioneer Hall, I think. The displays aren't as tidy as those of the Witte, but I still enjoy visiting it. Especially interesting are the numerous photographs of Texas Rangers, either at work or posing.

Also along the lines of law enforcers, one may visit the Texas Hiway Patrol Museum. This very small, storefront museum is on South Alamo Street at St. Mary's. I've ridden by it many times on the bus, and even walked by a couple of times; however, it's not been open at those times. Apparently it has brief open times, or is by appointment only.

Then there are the "house museums." Best-known of these is surely the Spanish Governors Palace on Plaza de Armas or Military Plaza, across from City Hall. Originally this was la comandancia or residence of the commander of el Presidio de San Antonio de Béjar/Béxar, the military fort that protected the Spanish missions in the area from Apache attack. In the later stages of Spain's endeavors to occupy and develop Tejas, San Antonio replaced Los Adaes and its fort (located inside what is now the State of Louisiana) as capital of the province. The Spanish Governor usually also served as commander of the fort here. Hence, the current name for la comandancia. This structure which served much less noble purposes after San Antonio became a city of the USA -- to include being a tavern! -- was an early project of the ladies of the new San Antonio Conservation Society of the early 20th Century. It is completely restored, and refurbished as it would hae been in the 18th Century.

Close by la Comandancia/Spanish Gov. Palace is Casa Navarro. Located at Nueva and Larredo streets next to the S.A. Police headquarters, this is the restored home of Texas and tejano hero José Antonio Navarro. It's really a small complex, consisting of a one-story residence with porch space, a two-story office (Navarro was a lawyer and rancher), a kitchen and a now-enclosed yard or courtyard with ancient encinos (live oaks). The SACS is also responsible for saving Casa Navarro from destruction, in the mid-Twentieth Century.

Another well-known house museum is the Steves Homestead. It was one of the first mansions built in San Antonio's first upscale suburb, the King William neighborhood. LIke most of the families who built and then lived in King william in the late 19th century, the Steves family was Deutsch; indeed, the suburb was named in honor of Kaiser Wilhelm I, architect of German unification. The name was anglicized due to anti-German sentiment arising from the two World Wars. The Steves family was influential in the culture and commerce of San Antonio, into the early 20th Century. Even tho' they no longer live in the mansion, they continue to be prominent in the Alamo City. indeed, a very recent Fiesta had a Queen, a King Antonio and a Fiesta Commissioner who were all Steves; should have called THAT Fiesta "the Steves Family Fiesta" or even "The Steves Family Reunion." Now the mansion is run by the San Antonio Conservation Society, which holds its regular meetings in the River House (formerly an enclosed swimming pool on the river bank) behind the mansion on the property.

Scattered all over town are various museums of a very small size - "pocket museums", if you will - associated with major or historic institutions of the city. For example, Fort Sam Houston Army post has at least two such museums that I know of. San Fernando Cathedral, the oldest active cathedral building in these United States, has a museum-like display area in its gift shop next door to the ancient, hallowed sanctuary. A similar museum or display area is inside the visitors Center at Mission San José. Indeed, the other missions in the National Park also have museum areas which interpret various aspects of mission life as they display artifacts from the mission era.

Out northeast of the International Airport, on Wetmore Road is the Texas Transportation Museum. Neither have I visited this one, yet. But I understand it's a fine one to visit, including for children. It's supposed to contain artifacts relating to the history of trains in Texas, which will grab the interest of yours truly who's "been workin' on the railroad" at Fiesta Texas!

It's appropriate that San Antonio has the first and last museums which I listed. You see, dear reader, this city sat on El Camino Real, the King's Hiway which connected the viceregal seat of government with the missions and settlements in far eastern Tejas. (I delight that Texas shares two distinctive geographical features with the Holy Land of the Bible: a road called the King's Hiway and an upland called the Hill Country!) The Alamo City was the point of destination of many Anglos from the USA who traveled what they called the "Old San Antonio Road". (Nowadays a portion of this is officially labelled the OSR.) In the late 19th Century San Antonio served as the gathering point toward the south end, for feeders for the old Chisholm Trail, up which thousands of longhorns were driven to railheads in Kansas. Just a few years later on this city became a major rail-shipping point itself, served by several railroads. Even today the lonesome whistle of the train still sounds thru'out the streets and neighborhoods here.

From the ground to the air: here is where military air flight began. The first military airplanes used the parade field of Fort Sam Houston as the landing field. And of course, since military flight coalesced into the US Air Force, San Antonio remains a major center of the airborne military.

So, there is my run-down of museums in the Alamo City. I hope you'll get to enjoy a few of them some time in the future. When you visit this city that's well worth visiting!

Back to the Park - Fiesta Texas

Early each calendar year, Six Flags Fiesta Texas holds a "Rehire Event" to sign up veteran employees for the new park season and thus get an idea of how many new employees the park needs to hire. The previous two years the "Rehire Event" was held at University Bowl on IH Ten near De Zavala Road.

Part of the draw of the "Rehire Event" being there at a bowling alley was the free game of bowling. I enjoy bowling; indeed, my wife and I were on the Battalion bowling team at Fort Hood (1981-83). Because I was the 62d Engineers (Combat)(Heavy) chaplain, our team was called the "Holy Terrors"! So, when I found out that this year's "Rehire Event" for Fiesta Texas wouldn't be there, I immediately began missing the bowling.

However, the event was at the park itself, mainly in Sangerfest Halle in Spassburg, the German theme area. The weather was terribly cold , windy and wet, but even tho' it was the opposite of South Texas summer, I was very glad to be back in Fiesta Texas. They served us breakfast, catered buffet-style -- odd since the Sangerfest Halle food court was right there to use! And the catered coffee tasted terrible: it vied with Starbucks coffee for bitterness and Army mess hall coffee for strength. As in "put some hair on your chest, it will!"

But en'uf complaining! I was back in Fiesta Texas! It was so good to see my old buddies from the train again! The old vets like Rick, Don and Ross. The "new" older guys like Sam ("San Antonio Sam" as he would introduce himself when he was Conductor - S.A. Sam is the name of the main narrator-character in the laser-light musical show at the park). And the younger folk of the train crew, too, like Audie.

After the food got low & the signing-up was done, there was another treat. We got to enjoy a free viewing of ""Superman Returns" in Zaragoza Theatre in Los Festivales, the Mexican theme area at the park entrance. I had already seen the film in the summer of '06 during its initial run in theaters, using a Santikos ticket I had won. But hey! it was free, and the movie was rather good. I certainly enjoyed Kevin Spacey's portrayal of long-time Man-of-Steel nemesis Lex Luthor. Spacey seemingly achieved just the right touch of unspeakable evil masked by unremarkable facial expression and great taste in dress-up clothes. Between the two viewings of the film I had read an analytical review of it, asserting that among all the Justice League, etc., comic superheroes, Superman is the most clearly a Christ-figure.

Yeah, laugh, dear reader. I laughed too, when I read that opening assertion. But the author made very good supporting points. Starting with: here was someone from beyond Earth sent by his father to heroically rescue frail humanity from evil and destruction. And that the hero and his father on Planet Krypton had names that end in -El. This I already had noted, since I knew that many Hebrew names end with -El, signifying the one true God.

Therefore, as I watched this time I kept a lookout for other allusions to Christ. At one point, during his suffering Superman's body lay out cruciform, arms stretched atraight out to the sides! How could anyone miss that? Later, folk tho't the Man of Steel dead, but he came back to life (and complete strength), revived by the love given by Lois Lane and her little boy. Admitted, with the REAL true-life ultimate Hero, Jesus the Nazarene, it was His Daddy's love that returned the suffering Savior to life, on the third day. But, as with ANY artistic Christ-figure (I think, e.g., of Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings) the likeness to our dear Savior can only be pressed so far, and NOT to complete identity!

So much for my review of a movie I watched for the second time for free, thanks to the "Rehire Event" for Fiesta Texas AT Fiesta Texas.

AND NOW I can hardly wait to be back at Der Pilger Bahnhof or Whistle Stop 39, hollering as I open the gate, "All aboard!" Or interspersing the Conductor's touring spiel with banter and questions for the train's passengers.

Fiesta Texas is about having FUN! Yippee! ! !

Seventh day of the seventh year

Yesterday, which was the first Sunday of the new Year of Our Lord, was the seventh day of this seventh year of the Twenty-first Century (also the Thrid Milennium). So it was 01-07-2007.

My daily m.o. upon rising from sleep is to have my devotions and prayers, or "quiet time". For this I use "The Upper Room"; this year I am also reading the Spanish version of this Methodist-published (Nashville) devotional periodical. It's called El Aposento Alto.

And lo and behold! for this seventh day of the seventh year the scripture reading for the day's devotion in "The Upper Room" was Psalm 77! Since I attribute significance to certain numbers, as I confessed in a previous blog-post, I do not see this as mere coincidence!

Psalm 77 is a plea to God from one in trouble (here the composer is not David but rather Asaph), wondering if the Almighty will come to the rescue. But even as he questions, he remembers. He remembers God's mighty acts of rescue of the past. The song wraps with images of water: a rainy thunderstorm, and the sea, and God's unseen footsteps in the seabed. Lest the reader miss that this last alludes to the parting of the Red Sea for the escaping Israeli slaves, Asaph concludes by affirmation that God led Israel by means of Moses and Aaron.

So, even tho' there is the darkness of current trouble in Psalm 77, there is the much brighter remembrance of God's past works, to include the defining moment in history for His chosen people Israel. And the clear implication that God WILL be there to help. To which I would add: "in His time!" Thus the psalm is great for meditating at the change of years, as we say good-bye to the old one and commence the promising new year.

A backward look at '06

Today is the sixth day of the new year. So I'd like to take today to glance backward at the sixth year of the century (or milennium).

What a year it was for me! When '06 began I had rather low expectations, at least in terms of A.D. 2005. THAT year had seemingly been a very good year for yours truly. And I know that I had done certain things to make the year ending in "5" such a good and memorable one. (I tend to give significance to specific numbers, such as 5, or 11 or 15.)

Nevertheless, in a lot of ways the just-ended year surpassed its predecessor. This occurred with less deliberate action on my part! And some of my conscious choices resulted in unexpected benefits!

For example, I chose to change summer jobs at Fiesta Texas. This I did primarily to avoid five straight hours in the hot Texas summer sun, with my hypertension problem. And I'd really wanted a totally indoor job, specifically in the Hospitality Office. Instead I ended up working on a ride. And what a "ride" I got while working on that ride! Had I known how FUN it was to work as Conductor and Depot Agent on the Fiesta Texas Railroad, I'd have started out working on the railroad when I first got hired by the theme park! If you've been following my blog postings since at least June, you know that I posted several reports or comments (or both) about my summer job.

Far more important in the eternal scheme of things was my participation on the teams for both a Walk to Emmaus and a Kairos Weekend. Again, I didn't start out to do TWO in one year -- indeed in one season. But since I got to do neither a Walk nor a Weekend in '05, it sort of stands to reason that I should indeed do both. I kept telling myself that I was CRAZY to do such. And then BOTH experiences turned into such memorable blessings!

Let me not forget my friendships with two fellows I met in '06. Upstairs for over half the year lived Dennis from Detroit, a quiet neighbor (I never heard him leaving his apartment even tho' previous occupants sounded noisy on the outside stair) about my age. AND sharing my birthday, 14 March! The other friendship was with Bobby, who was a veteran on the train crew at Fiesta Texas. I met him the day I began training on the ride (as Conductor and Depot Agent), and immediately liked him. He always had a broad smile. Alas! both Dennis and Bobby have moved away, the former back to Motown and the latter to Pennsylvania, I think, to be near his ailing parents.

Like icing on the cake was the successful quest of the Alamo Heights High School Mules football team for the state championship in 4-A Division I! Early in the 2006 h.s. football season I had commented on high school football as being the "National Religion" of the Lone Star State. I asserted that I did not get as passionate about the sport (or any sport) as many men and even not a few Texas women get. Nevertheless, I DO enjoy the gridiron contests at the high school varsity level! So I was just as delighted as any native Texan that AHHS took the championship!

Epiphany - Today's holiday

This day is the sixth day of the New Year. 6 January is always a holiday or holy day on the Christian or church calendar. It's called Epiphany, and in some countries or cultures Epiphany rather than Christmas is when gifts are exchanged. This keeps the emphasis of 25 December on the coming of God to Earth and humanity in the baby born of the virgin, Mary, in Bethlehem. (Remember, as I have affirmed previously, Jesus the Nazarene was most likely born at some other time of year, since shepherds would have had their flock in the barns not the fields during December -- but I still celebrate Christmas on 25 December, to remember that He DID come at SOME specific time!)

Epiphany is connected with the young Jesus, just like Christmas. You see dear reader, Epiphany remembers the visit of the Magi or Wise Men to see the young Messiah.

The traditional nativity scene -- called a creche in French and nacimiento in Spanish -- gets it all wrong. Check out the report of the evangelist Matthew in the second chapter of the first Gospel. They followed a star whose appearing had alerted them to Messiah's birth, and if we grant that the luminary (which moved in very un-starlike ways) commenced to appear with Jesus' birth, it would have taken the Magi months to travel from their homeland far to the east. Logic tells us that Mary and Joseph would have moved away from the unsanitary and uncomfortable area of the manger -- whether it was in a cave, a barn or the courtyard of a caravanserai (the "inn" of that place and time; Matthew's "no room" may simply have meant no four walls with roof) -- into a regular house ASAP. And indeed, the Gospel tells us plainly that the Magi came into "the house" where mother and child were! Please notice also that Matthew does not tell us the number of Magi in the party -- not three or any other quantity. The "three" apparently derived by assumption from the number of materials mentioned as gifts. But the number of gifts could have been as low as two -- the containers for the incense and myrrh being of gold.

Therefore, it's good that traditionally the Christian community, or at least that portion of us who observe a liturgical calendar, commemorate the Wise Men's visit almost two weeks after commemorating the Savior's birth! Because it's clear that this visit was SOME significant time after the birth and the shepherds' visit. Indeed, I agree with those who propose that the Magi's homage came upon Jesus' first birthday. This might explain why the evil King Herod had all Bethlehem males murdered up to two years old. He being as evil as he was doubtless hiked the age upward some just for "good measure" or insurance!

The Magi, altho' not "kings" in their land and culture, were influential advisors for those who were in power, including kings. Therefore it is appropriate to sharply contrast Herod's response to the coming of Messiah and their own response, which was a long journey to render homage! May we all choose the response of these Wise Men, and bow our knees to Jesus the Christ, and offer Him whatever we have and are!

Out with Old ('06) in with NEW (A.D. 2007)

How appropriate that this blog-posting which I had meant to compose yesterday the Third, gets delayed 'til the Fourth day of the Seventh year of the Third millennium! Seems that I'm sort of the "late" Mr. Graham!

You see, back in the Second millennium, i.e. the late 1900s, in writing checks I often forgot the new year's number while dating checks and would write the previous year's. One year my dating error continued 'til March! Thank God, I don't seem to have had that problem (in writing checks, at least) since the present millennium dawned on 1 January A.D. 2001. BTW, most of the populace has the mistaken notion that 31 December A.D. 1999 was the final day of the Twentieth Century and the Second millennium. However, such cannot be, as any historian or mathematician knows. There was NO Year Zero! Western history goes from the end of One B.C. (Before Christ) directly to the start of One A.D. (Anno Domini, "in the Year of Our Lord"). So the First Century A.D. ended with the Year 100, and the Second Century commenced with 101. And so on, down to our present time.

BUT NOW, concerning my celebration of the most-recent change of years. For the fifth time I observed New Year's Eve night and the midnite start of New Year's Day, not by going to the very well-publicized fiesta that San Antonio throws on South Alamo Street at HemisFair Park and La Villita. I will confess that I did stop by there late in the afternoon on my way to my NYE destination, just to observe the setting-up for the S.A. party. My heart was touched when I strolled near the Arneson River Theatre (at the Riverwalk and La Villita), because the sound system set up for the later live entertainment was broadcasting a very nostalgic song, "Mayberry". Actually I'm not sure that is the correct title, and I don't know the recording artist. But I do know that it's featured in one of the country music shows, the more contemporary show, out at Fiesta Texas theme park. Such a timely song to play on NYE, and think back on the vanishing good of the past, while singing, "I miss Mayberry, sittin' on the porch drinking ice cold cherry - cokes. . . strummin' my six-string. . . watchin' the clouds roll by, bye-bye. . . ."

Shortly afterward I continued on by VÍA bus to that NYE destination, Ashley Road Baptist Church on the South Side of the city past Stinson Field (the city's first commercial airport). When we lived in Devine (A.D. 1992-94), I discovered that this church had a New Year's Watch Nite service, featuring a Southern Gospel family singing group from Tennessee, The Telestials, and several local gospel groups. The four plus hours of live gospel singing is broken by an adjournment to the church fellowship hall for a late supper, to include of course black-eye peas and cornbread, chili and tamales. Then The Telestials do an encore sing, which endsjustt before midnite. At that point we pray out the old year and pray in the New Year of Our Lord. I cannot imagine a better way to celebrate the change of calendar than this. It certainly has the advantages of being indoors and out of whatever cold or wet there may be, and that of NO hangover upon awakening on New Year's Day!

Music being such an integral part of me, isn't natural that this type of activity to "ring out the old and ring in the new" be so cherished by yours truly? Indeed, my first significant activity (other than daily tasks) in A.D. 2007 involved music. You see, the blood center I patronize was offering a New Year's Day special, so I contributed platelets. The platelet donation process takes about two hours, so they let you watch the movie of your choice while donating. I took along a DVD of my favorite movie of all time. Guess which movie? That's right: "The Sound of Music"!

At the ARBC Watch Nite a constantly included local group is the father-son duet Frank 'N' Joe. They celebrated their fortieth anniversary of singing ministry back in July of '06 (see my posting about the anniversary). Now Frank 'N' Joe seem to have a calling to sing at several Watch-Nite services in the area, so after singing a few songs (including a bilingual gospel rendition -- their apellido/family name IS Ramirez) they move out the door to their next venue. This year I attempted to get them to hang around for at least one more song, by hollering "Encore!" But in vain. Sort of. Brother Anthony Shipp, Pastor of ARBC, assured the congregation that "Brother Glen Alan will get his 'encore' in February." On the second Saturday of that month they'll be the featured singers for the monthly second Saturday singing at ARBC.

I can hardly wait!

And Happy New Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Seven, dear reader!

Visitors from Cowtown!

"Happy New Year!" to you, dear reader!

The Year of Our Lord 2006 ended nicely for me -- see comments (additions) I made to my two Christmas traditions postings. But the nicest year-end happening was a visit to San Antonio from a friend of mine from my Fort Worth years: Rob Scofield.

Back in Fort Worth (late 1970s) Rob and I and our wives were part of a married couple Bible study at our seminary, Brite Divinity School. We took turns hosting the Friday-evening gathering, and fellow seminarians, observing this movable meeting and not knowing what we were about, gave us the nickname of "Spooks"! So we call one another that, and even had a "Spooks Reunion" during the Disciples of Christ General Assembly that was held in San Antonio in the early 1980s.

Rob is now serving as Pastor of a church in Fort Worth (after being at a church in Kentucky), Hillside-Memorial Christian Church which sits on the South Freeway (IH 35W heading toward Waco). A young member of the church, Josh Resch, was injured in a bomb explosion in Iraq, and was in Brook Army Hospital here. Rob and several church members had come down to S.A. to visit the valiant, hospitalized soldier. They stayed in my church, Alamo Heights Christian, which has facilities for such overnight usage and often hosts groups. And surprise, surprise! Josh got released on the last Friday of the year!

Still, they wanted to see some of the Alamo City -- but now with their soldier-boy. (I do NOT say this in any less than full admiration and respect for PFC Resch' service and sacrifice to our country! Indeed, when I first met the soldier-boy at AHCC, I respectfully saluted him!) So after having breakfast with them in a café across the street from the church, I guided them to downtown and a good parking spot. Parking spots were at a premium downtown, due to the Alamo Bowl going on Saturday afternoon, but we still found good spots for all their vehicles.

Rob and I strolled westward thru downtown from The Alamo, spending quite some time just sitting in the Hyatt Regency on The Riverwalk, simply talking. Then we resumed our hike toward El Mercado (the Mexican Marketplace). As we strolled we continued talking, and I would occasionally drop some tidbit of info on some building or historical spot we'd be passing. (I'm certain that the square mile of San Antonio that includes The Alamo, Riverwalk, Main Plaza and the Spanish Governors Palace has GOT to HAVE THE MOST historical markers of any square mile in these Untied States! I'd put it up against even any square mile of DC!)

At El Mercado Rob and I had a snack, while enjoying a live musical show, in mostly Spanish with some English. Such shows, which often feature children of all ages, are common on almost any given weekend of the year in El Mercado, at the very least in the "food court" area of the so-called "farmers market" building on the west side of the complex. Rob noticed how much I was enjoying the Mexican music and culture, and commented how I looked like I felt "at home" in S.A., or some similar observation. True this!

We two then walked back, by a different route, to where the cars were parked. I gave each driver instructions for how to exit downtown S.A. onto IH 37 to go home. Either by IH 35 thru Austin and Waco or by US 281 thru the Texas Hill Country. I've gone both ways between the "Alamo City" and "Cowtown". You know, I wouldn't have minded riding with them, to go back and see Fort Worth again -- "Where the West begins"! After all, Cowtown was my intro to the Lone Star State!

My Family

Recently it came to my attention, that I seldom mention my family in this blogsite. One reason for this omission, among others it being the most important, is that my blog IS about San Antonio (and south-central Texas), and none of my blood relatives live closer than Georgetown and Cedar Park, north of Austin. I live in San Antonio by myself, solo.

However, that's no reason to not include anything about my family. So here is the scoop on the Grahams.

My mother and father, Thelma (nee Sansom) and Frank, still live in Boise, where for the most part I was raised. They divorced the year after I moved to Texas the first time. Both of them are well into retirement; in fact, my last visit to Idaho was for my dad's retirement party in A.D. 1994.

I'm the oldest of three children. My sister Debbie now lives in Berkeley, CA, where she's studying for the Episcopal ministry in one of their seminaries on the Bay. She's a year and a half younger than me, but while we were children, folk often considered us to be twins! Our "baby" brother, Patrick, is an EMS medic in Pocatello, Idaho. He served one tour of duty in the US Army, and now is about to re-enlist. He is married to LaRae, who by a previous marriage had a couple of children, including Zane. Zane just returned to the States from a tour of duty in Iraq, with the Army.

That's my family of origin. As for my immediate family, I married Ellen on 19 August A.D. 1978. I had met her at TCU in Fort Worth, during my first sojourn in the Lone Star State. She was born and raised in Tampa, Florida, and had received a Bachelor's degree from Vanderbilt University. Her mother's family are Tennesseans, so our marriage was at the family church, Martha's Chapel UMC, in rural southern Montgomery County, near Clarksville. Ellen had just received her Master's in psychology from TCU when we wed. In the late '90s she added a PhD from TSU in Nashville; she was the first to receive a PhD in psychology from that institution. Doctor Ellen Graham's birthday is 22 October.

After I commenced my tour of duty in the US Army, we had a son, David Dwight, born on 14 November A.D. 1981 in Darnell Hospital on Ft. Hood Army post in central Texas. David is the only native Texan in the family. The Lord blessed him with two great talents: drawing (he had an earlier career goal of being a professional cartoonist) and acting or drama. Currently David tours with the Christian drama ministry the Covenant Players. He's engaged to marry another CP trouper next summer. She is Allison, from Nebraska.

Ellen and I lost another child, Rebecca Ruth, to stillbirth in 1984. Then our youngest, Sarah Elizabeth, was added to the family, on 30 June A.D. 1986, at Baptist Hospital in Nashville. Sarah began studies at Austin Peay State University in Clarksville, but is currently working full-time at Convergys, an outsourcing company (phone work) for which I worked about a year when it first opened its branch in C'ville.

I confess that I was far from a model father or husband. This would sum up a significant portion of why the other three are still in C'ville (David currently being on Christmas break from CP) while I'm sojourning here in S.A. Ellen and I separated a couple other times in the late '90s; this one goes back to the end of 2001. I was in a 7-month unemployment crisis when it began, and came to S.A. in search of work after all possibilities in C'ville seemed to be exhausted.

As for the family located closest to me, they would be Uncle Chuck, my dad's oldest brother, and Aunt Alice (a native Texan), who after he retired from the Army a Major General spent a few years in the Atlanta, Georgia, area before moving to Georgetown. This move not only put them in Aunt Alice's home state but also close to their eldest, my cousin Susan, who lives with her husband and children in Cedar Park. My guess (without consulting a road map) is that both towns are about the same distance from here, altho' Georgetown has the advantage of being right on IH 35 north of Austin.

So there's the scoop on my family.

S.A. Xmas traditions - Part Two

Whoops! When I posted about distinctive Christmas traditions to be found in San Antonio, I forgot several! So, here are some more, for this day after Christmas. "Xmas", BTW, is simply an abbreviation for the name of the holiday. Some folk think it's part of the effort to take Christ out of Christmas. But the "X" is actually the Greek letter chi, and thus the first letter in the title "Christos" or Christ ("the Anointed One" in English, and ha-masshiah in Hebrew). In fact, if you have ever noticed in historic Christian art something that looks like a capital "X" and a capital "P" together, THAT is the "chi-rho" monogram, representing the first two letters in the Greek word.

Also, it may seem like the first item on my previous list was a Christmas tradition that's universal, that is, lights and lighted decorations. True, but I was calling attention to Christmas lights of a fashion one will not find elsewhere. What other city (at least in these United States) has a Riverwalk like San Antonio's, or a Tower of the Americas with red, white and green lights shining in a ring at its top? So, my first item herein will also be something found universally -- but I experience it with the flavor of the Alamo City!

Cantatas and caroling. Singing is a VERY important part of the Advent-Christmas scene for me. After all, I greatly enjoy singing -- that's why I'm in the church choir. We at Alamo Heights Christian Church (Disciples) have a choir cantata every year, before Christmas. Since the Fourth Sunday of Advent this year was also Christmas Eve, we sang the cantata on Sunday the 17th. Janis Erwin, our director, actually tailored a printed cantata, to conform with what we had in the way of voices and other talent. So, on one song we had handbells, and on another a flute for instrumental accompaniment. We had one solo, by Kathy Huth, singing "Mary, Did You Know", a profound song about the meaning of the birth of the Messiah, composed by Mark Lowry.

Later that day (the 17th) I went to nearby St. Andrew UMC to join in an old-fashioned caroling. It started just after four in the afternoon, so the sun was still up and it was warm -- not the slightest chance of snow! That, however, didn't take away the enjoyment, as several folk of all ages climbed up on a pickup-drawn flatbed trailer and sat on the rows of hay bales. The pickup pulled us slowly around the neighborhood, as we sang many of the traditional favorite Christmas carols. And we made sure to sing the one that fits SO WELL in San Antonio: "Feliz Navidad"! Afterward, there was a brief "old-fashioned" Christmas program in the church's fellowship hall, of music, singing and scripture readings, and then refreshments.

All-Christmas Music on the airwaves. Yeah, this is another one that's not exactly unique to San Antonio. But still, it IS Texas-flavored, if you know what I mean -- and if you don't, it's ANOTHER reason for a visit to the Lone Star State! FM 101.9, generally airing soft rock music, dedicates the entire month of December to "all-Christmas music" and I seldom listen other times of the year, but LOTS during December! And another popular station I listen to, KKYX-AM 680, will also occasionally air Christmas songs. Usually of country music stars, but sometimes of other pop artists.

This year I seem to be paying more attention to Christmas ballads, recitations or other songs that tell a story about Christmas. For example, the late Grandpa Jones of Grand Ole Opry radio and Hee-Haw television fame has a recitation about one Conrad (or Konrad), an old cobbler with no family left living, who gets a message from the Lord that He will visit his lonely cobbler shop and home on Christmas Day. Conrad does get visitors -- first some friends with whom he shares the good news of the impending visit, and then three individuals, a beggar who needs shoes, an elderly woman who needs to sit down and rest from collecting firewood, and a little girl who's lost. Conrad graciously helps each one, and then notices that the day has gone, without a visit from the Lord. But when he prays in complaint, the Lord responds that His shadow had crossed Conrad's threshold three times -- for He was the beggar, the widow and the child! Get out the kleenex! And get it out on another I heard at least twice on 101.9 -- about a little boy who wants to buy shoes for his mother on Christmas Eve. The shoes are just her size and style, but please hurry and sell him them, because his mom's been ill a long while and is about to die. And the boy wants his mother to look beautiful "when she meets Jesus tonite". Let's hear it for Christmas songs! And for radio stations that air them!

Los Pastores. Like la Gran Posada, this is a very old Christmas tradition of Spanish origin. It's an example of the "morality plays" that entertained and taught average folk during the Middle Ages. In Spanish it's called una pastorela, or a play about shepherds. With singing, dialogue and dramatic action it tells an imaginative accounting of the shepherds and their journey to Bethlehem to see the Christ Child, of whom the angel had told. On the way various demons seek to impede their pilgrimage. Finally, the Archangel Michael goes into battle with the chief devil himself, Luzbel (Lucifer), and defeats him, so that the shepherds can pay their homage to the Christ Child. Thru the dialogue and the action, various moral points are taught, such as perseverance.

The best-known presentation of Los Pastores is done between Christmas and Epiphany (6 Jaunuary) at Mission San José, where it's performed by the Guadalupe Players, under the sponsorship of the San Antonio Conservation Society. But the Guadalupe Players also perform la pastorela in churches and at private residences that have requested it in fulfillment of a vow. I've seen Los Pastores performed at the mission several times over my years in Texas, and a couple of years ago I was invited to a home on the Westside to watch it there. I once read an analysis of la pastorela, that stated in detail that there were differences in the play when it was performed at a private home, at a church and at the mission. The script is the same, but the setting gives a distinct "feel" at each locale.

The enactment at the mission is oriented to tourists or new and curious residents of the city, of course, and so the emphasis is less on religious devotion or on doing a spiritual act, and more on performance itself. It's supposed to give viewers a taste of something that took place at the old Spanish missions in their heyday (the 1700s), something that the Franciscan missionaries taught the indigenous converts (of the Coahuiltecan tribe) in order to emphasize Christian teachings and make the new faith more real to them. However, 1) the script that is used is less than a century old, and was dictated to Father Carmelo Tranchese by a man who had experienced it in Zacatecas or some other part of north-central Mexico. And 2) the masks and robes or capes worn by the shepherds and the demons MAY resemble ones worn back in the 1700s, but under those costume parts the actors wear jeans and other contemporary garb, as does the audience, who sit close by, under a large tent roof, well-lit by electric lights; a professor from UTSA narrates and comments, using a microphone with loudspeakers. In other words, the realism of what MAY have taken place in the mission's heyday is quickly lost!

Nevertheless, Los Pastores, wherever in San Antonio one may see it performed, is a Christmas tradition that you, dear reader, ought to experience at least once. Yes, Christmas in this city shares many elements with all the rest of the country (and other northern countries) -- but it also presents elements that are distinctive, either due to the unique nature of our city or to its origins as a Spanish-frontier city and its continued proximity to the border with our southern neighbor, Mexico. And, as I've pointed out, much of the distinctiveness of Christmas observations here promotes the REAL REASON for the season: that we celebrate and remember that God gave us the very best gift He had to give, His very own Son, Jesus! CHRISTmas is about Christ!

San Antonio Christmas Traditions

Since I've affirmed, time and time again, that San Antonio is a community who likes to party, you should not be surprised, dear reader, that we also get into the festivities of Advent and Christmas. Especially when one considers that the dominant faith in this city is Catholicism and the majority ethnic group is chicano or Mexican-American, and another prominent ethnic group is der Deutsche or Germans.

Here are some of the significant and distinctive, unique traditions of the end of the year, here in S.A.:

The lights. San Antonio is famous for El Paseo del Río or Riverwalk, and the way it's decorated from Thanksgiving thru end of year. At first, seeing the lights of the Riverwalk trees only from street level, I didn't think much of them. However, once I actually went down onto the Riverwalk, walked under the trees and got a fresh perspective, I became more enthusiastic. Especially when at times the riverside sidewalk's edge is lined with luminarias, paper bags weighted down with sand and each containing a burning votive candle. (This custom came out of Mexico.) Also well-publicized is the lighting of the University of the Incarnate Word. On that campus all the trees are strung with colored lights, and some of the buildings' rooflines have white lights. Beautiful! And folk talk about going out to the northeast suburban city of Windcrest to view home Christmas decorations. I did see Windcrest several Christmases ago, but I fear that nowadays it's probably overdone. I prefer to ride the bus(es) thru the Westside and the neighborhood west-northwest of St. Mary's University, and see those decorations, especially front-lawn Nativity scenes.

Other light-style decorations here include the ring of lights atop the observation deck of the Tower of the Americas, and the flood-lit upper levels of the classic Tower Life Building. Both of these shine in the traditional Christmas colors of red, white and green.

Champurrado and tamales. Tamales are an ancient tradition de los mexicanos y chicanos para la Navidad. I've known about these corn-husk-wrapped food delicacies for years -- and hadn't liked them. But upon my arrival in San Antonio and my voicing my dislike to Hispanic friends, it was suggested that I really ought to try chicken tamales. And yes, chicken tamales ARE deliciosos! But a couple of Advents ago I got introduced to something even more delightful: champurrado. This is a Mexican hot chocolate drink, which includes spices (of course) and a little corn meal, which gives some sips of it a gritty texture. I can see why some of my chicano friends say you have to develop a taste for champurrado, but well, I developed the taste at first sipping! Alas! the drink is very hard to find, since apparently it is a homemade item.

Nacimientos. These are Nativity scenes (or creches) set up inside Mexican-American homes. They are more elaborate than the typical creche in an Anglo-American household. Of course, one has to be invited into the home to see un nacimiento, so it's good to have lots of chicano friends! The fact that el nacimiento is so prominent in the home serves as visual evidence that for Hispanics the birth of Jesus remains "THE REASON for the Season". Even tho' I firmly believe that Jesus was born at some other time of the year (most likely October or April) -- those Bethlehem shepherds would have had their flock in barns and NOT in the fields during a Palestinian December -- I do like to celebrate Christmas on 25 December. And I will remind anyone and everyone that the first syllable of "Christmas" is CHRIST!

La Gran Posada. This is my FAVORITE Christmas tradition of all traditions. Note that I say "Christmas" and not just "Navidad", so herein I'm affirming that THIS is my FAVORITE tradition regardless of cultural origin. I've participated in la Gran Posada three years in a row, and delighted in it every time! The crowd of several hundred gathers at dusk in Milam Park. This park, on the north side of el Mercado (the Mexican Market), was the first cemetery of San Antonio. Thus we are in a place of darkness and death. A young woman and man are chosen to represent Mary and Joseph, and the "Mary" rides on the back of a donkey built on a cart, while "Joseph" stands beside her. They make their way thru the streets of downtown San Antonio, like Mary and Joseph seeking lodging (posada) in old Bethlehem. The crowd walks with them, singing villancicos (Spanish carols). Some of these villancicos are just the Spanish versions of carols English-speaking Americans sing all the time. Others are unique to the Iberian-American cultural celebration of Navidad. My favorite is "Campana Sobre Campana" or Carol of the Bells (of Bethlehem). At various points the traveling group will be met by a small group at the door of a prominent landmark building (e.g., the Spanish Governors Palace or the Bexar County Courthouse). The "Posada" carol is sung: the travelers (afuera or outside) sing the verses of Joseph, requesting posada (lodging), and the group at the door (adentro or inside) singing the refusal of the innkeeper. Finally, we arrive at San Fernando Cathedral. There the entire "Posada" carol is sung; it ends with the adentro people (the supposed innkeeper) finally welcoming Mary and Joseph to come inside. Lights suddenly blaze out all over the Cathedral and Main Plaza -- because we have arrived at the place of light and life and faith! We sing a few more villancicos in both English and Spanish, and then there are piñatas for the kids and tamales and champurrado for everyone!

So, dear reader, I wish you: ¡Feliz Navidad y un próspero Año Nuevo! "Happy Christmas and a prosperous New Year!"

AHHS Mules! '06 State Champs! ! !

"State Champs!" Oo-oo-ooh, that tastes sweet on the tongue when you say it. And I was saying it lots all day Sunday -- and still saying it today. The Alamo Heights Mules are the 2006 Texas State Champions in 4A-Division I high school football!

The championship game between the Mules and the Bulldawgs of Copperas Cove was everything I prayed it would be. E.g., there were no injuries. However, I forgot to pray that it NOT go into overtime -- and it didn't exceed regulation time. BUT it WAS one lo-o-ong game Kickoff happened at 6:20 PM Saturday and the final play came about 9:50 -- three and a half long hours later!

My companions to attend the game were Howard, a friend from Emmaus (Walk #1005) and AHHS '74 alumnus, his dad who was a member of the AHISD Board years ago, and Jimmy, '74 classmate and longtime friend of Howard's. Howard's elderly dad is very hard of hearing and walks distances with difficulty (he has both cane and walker). So it was arranged to drop off him, Jimmy and me beside the Alamodome, and Howard then go park the car. A 'dome staffer met us with a wheelchair for the elder Mr. Haring, and took us to seating for handicapped near a 25-yard-line (but high up and near an exit tunnel to concourse level). By cellphone commo between Jimmy and Howard, the later was easily able to locate our position in that crowd of over 16,000.

The Mules stormed to a 17-0 lead by first quarter's end. But the Copperas Cove Bulldawgs retaliated with two scores before Heights kicked another field goal just before the half, to lead 17-14. The halftime show, like pre-game, was colorful and entertaining. During the AH portion, the dance team, the Spurs (NO connection with our local NBA team!) performed costumed as Santa's elfs or helpers. The Cove marching band was HUGE -- but then, CCHS had been a 5-A behemoth last year!

In the third quarter Alamo Heights surged to a 33-14 lead. And they continually dominated the field. Final stats showed the Mules leading in such areas as first downs, 26-14, and total yards, 518-247.

However, the Bulldawgs refused to roll over and die. Well, I had prayed that BOTH teams play their best, and the CC Bulldawgs HAD been state-ranked in 5-A football in '04 or '05. So our opponents from up north beside fort Hood Army post fought back, with two scores, to narrow hometown Heights' lead to 33-28.

So here we were in the final quarter, getting nervous! Cove seemed to be on its way in for a go-ahead td. But they hiked the ball way past the Bulldawg quarterback, positioned in shotgun formation. Mules defenders swarmed over the fumble! And then with about 5 minutes to go, I commented to my partners that altho' Heights' offense shone with substantial passing, NOW was time to grind out the clock with runs and short passes. Coach Byrd must have read my mind (or me, his?) because grind out the clock AHHS did! With half a minute left, star qb Giovanni vizza ran the ball into the end zone for the coup de grace against Cove.

Final 4-A Division I championship score: Alamo Heights 40, Copperas Cove 28.

And the celebration began! Team, coaches & cheerleaders swarmed into a huge cluster on the Alamodome field. At one point on the big screens, I could see the trophy being lifted high by a Mule. At another point I spotted AHHS Principal Dr. Linda Foster in that crowd.

We foursome up in the stands had to await an Alamodome staffer with the wheelchair, to escort the elder Mr. Haring out following the game. But that was all right. Jimmy and Howard were occupied with greeting and hugging classmates of '74 and other alumni. And I was simply reveling in the feel of "State Champs!" Once the wheelchair arrived we exited the 'dome and three of us waited on the curb while Howard went to get the car and fight the departing traffic jam to come back and pick us up. But we had fun talking with folk, from both sides of the game. I was quick to compliment CCHS fans for the good game the Bulldawgs had played. Once we returned the elder Mr. Haring to his home, Howard, Jimmy and I drove past the school and down Broadway, where several fans were celebrating on the sidewalks while the continuous stream of cars returning from the game slowly drove past, sometimes honking in victory. And we celebrated with drinks and nachos at Good Time Charlie's!

My alma mater Borah High School (Boise, Idaho) was mythical state champs all three of my years there. And I loved it and was proud! BUT THIS is different -- there's NO "mythical" about this Texas championship. The AHHS Mules are the REAL DEAL!

And what a year '06 has been for the Mules football team! Opening game was a loss to 5-A Georgetown, then the Mules won a close one over another 5-A school, Clark. And then they handily defeated two other 5-A schools and wrapped up the season by trouncing every opponent in District 28-AAAA -- including archrival Boerne and nemesis Kerrville. Finally, there was the playoff run, beginning with a blanking of San Antonio's Fox Tech (winner of 27-AAAA) 46-0 in Alamo Stadium, Tech's home field. The Mules marched on for two strong wins in the Alamodome, and that trip to Round Rock north of Austin, and their stunning 42-14 upset of Lamar Consolidated, a Houston-area school that was not only undefeated but had not trailed in an '06 game!

AND NOW, with Copperas Cove the final victim, Alamo Heights High School is Texas State Champions in AAAA football! State Champs! ! !

AHHS Mules - Go! Win State!

When I was in high school in Boise, Borah Class of '72, the Borah Lions football team lost only one game (my senior year, to our archrivals), and was mythical state champions all three years, plus the previous year when I was still a ninth-grader in junior high. And the football team even went over to Honolulu and beat Hawaii's best high school team. But let's not ignore that word "mythical". Idaho didn't have a formal playoff system, to determine a bona fide state champ.

BUT NOW the Alamo Heights H.S. Mules are about to play in their first ever state championship game! This evening the Mules will play in the Alamodome downtown, against the Copperas Cove H.S. Bulldawgs. Copperas Cove is one of the "bedroom communities" beside Fort Hood Army post in central Texas, about a two hour plus ride due north of San Antonio. Sadly, while I was stationed at the post, Cove was the only local military town I even began to like, and I attended a couple of the high school's football games, and rooted for them. So I keep thinking, "if only Heights was playing ANYONE but Copperas Cove!"

Friday nite there was a community pep rally in the AH football stadium. At Borah we had some terrific pep assemblies during and after our 36-game win streak. But AHHS's pep rally last nite was AWESOME!

The entire west (home, pressbox) side of the stadium was filled with students, parents and other supporters. We all were treated to rousing speeches by local entertainment personalities, an alumnus from a '70s football team, and Coach Byrd. Also treating us with an appearance was the Spurs' Coyote, who led the crownd in the cheer "Win. . . State!" Then, after performances by the dance team or cheerleaders, two screens went up, the lights went out, and we saw hi-lites of the playoff run of the Mules. Behind the screens, visible in the gap between them, was a stairstep of the names of the four teams so far defeated, topped by Copperas Cove. Those names became lit up, and we heard the recording of the song "And Another One Bites the Dust". Each time the singer sang the title phrase, a red "X" appeared thru the name of one of the schools, in the order they were defeated, and finally a red "W" thru Copperas Cove! Then the team, cheerleaders and a couple other groups were called to go over thru the dark stadium to an opposite corner, where in Homecoming-bonfire fashion a hollow outline of the State of Texas came ablaze!

How exciting! And may the championship game be that exciting, too!

Saturday morning's newspaper, in covering the pep rally (on the front page, no less!), commenced by mention of the mantra "We Is The Key!" Until the playoffs (or perhaps late during the season) I had not paid much attention to this slogan, considering it just a tauntingly deliberate grammatical error for whatever or whomever. But then I realized that 1) it specifically referenced the football team, and 2) the pronoun -- first person plural -- was the true subject, as tho' it were a noun! That is, "we" forms the subject as opposed to "I" or any other pronoun. Put another way, it reads, "Putting all of US together as ONE is the secret to success". What a "mantra of unity", as the article reflected! And of course, as the article went on, this unified teamwork by the Mules had led the alumni to their own mantra: "How about those Mules?"

Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe

Today is one of the "big three" national holidays in Mexico, holidays which set our neighbor to the south apart, and during which Mexican citizens AND Mexican-Americans or chicanos celebrate lo mexicano. The other two holidays are Diez y seis or 16 September -Independence Day, and Cinco de mayo or 5 May. This blogsite has covered both holidays.

TODAY is right up there with them -- if not above them! Unlike the other two, this one is a holy day -- a spiritual remembrance and not simply historical. Today is the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe -- Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe. On this date only a few years after Cortez conquered the Aztec Empire and converted its city Tenochtitlán into México, a humble native convert who had been given the Christian name of Juan Diego had his third encounter with Mary the mother of our Lord. She told him to pick some roses that were miraculously in bloom on the hill Tepeyac north of Mexico City and take them to the first Bishop of Mexico, Fray Juan de Zumárraga. Juan Diego wrapped the out-of-season blossoms in his humble native cloak or tilma. When he opened it to present the roses, there on his cloak was the very image of the woman who had appeared to him! It is said that Fray Zumárraga and all others present fell on their knees at the sight of the miracle of the roses and the image. The Bishop at once obeyed the order sent from Our Lady by Juan Diego, and had a church built on Tepeyac Hill.

That's the short relation of the story of why Mexicans and many Catholics thru'out the New World consider and cherish Our Lady of Guadalupe as the patroness of Mexico and all the New World. Now dear reader, I'm not one for stories of apparitions of Mary; I'm honestly skeptical about most of them.

But not this one. For one, she appeared to a mature man rather than to an impressionable young girl or girls. A skeptical bishop was converted to belief that the Mother of Christ had appeared to this man, a native convert. The cloth on which the image appeared, composed of material that normally decays after a couple decades is STILL whole -- centuries later! AND the cloth image of Our Lady even survived a bomb blast by atheist Mexicans during the troubles of the Mexican Revolution of the early 20th Century!

For such reasons and others, I accept that the mother of Jesus DID appear to Juan Diego. I suppose that the strongest reason for accepting that Our Lady of Guadalupe is real, is that conversion of the just-conquered natives (who were depressed at the conquest and destruction of their ancient culture) proceeded rapidly onc word of the vision got out. After all, she had appeared to an indigenous man rather than to a Spaniard, and she appeared looking much like an indigenous woman. That latter doesn't bother me at all, because I know that a typical First Century Palestinian Jew such as Mary of Nazareth would resemble more a typical, swarthy native American woman than appear like a western European -- Mary was DEFINITELY NOT a blue-eyed blonde! Neither was Jesus!

Indeed, I find the image of Guadalupe rather attractive, and very much in line with the woman described in the book of Revelation, who was opposed by the evil dragon. And so, I have had a copy of the famous picture and I like to attend Mass on 12 December. I don't give Mary the homage and acclaim that devout Catholics do, but I appreciate their calling my attention to her as a model Christian. Read her story some time, in Luke 1 and 2 -- especially her wonderful and inspiring (also inspired!) song, the "Magnificat"!

AHHS Mules - to State Champs Game!

After I returned from Dilley and the Kairos Instructional Reunion Saturday, I simply stayed put in my efficiency. I could hardly wait 'til 7 PM, when the football Mules from Alamo Heights High would start playing a semifinal playoff game against Lamar Consolidated HS of the Houston area.

Please know, dear reader, that when San Antonio lost one of its two daily newspapers in the early 1990s, it lost the better one, The Light. And earlier in the week the Express-News gave another evidence that it is the lesser of the (former) two papers. In the Sports section their "Fearless Forecasters" picked Lamar Consolidated to beat Alamo Heights -- every one of the forecasters! I was furious, livid! Setting aside that I already am a confirmed fan of the teams from the high school at which I sub-teach, I prayed for the Mules to win -- just to spite those "foolish forecasters" and their utter lack of faith in the local team!

And spite the nay-sayers the Mules did! Alamo Heights led 21-0 at halftime. Later I learned that this was the first time Lamar Consolidated had even been behind in a game, and they didn't know how to handle being behind! The Lamar Mustangs attempted a comeback early in the second half, closing the AHHS lead to 21-14. But on its ensuing possession, the Mule team took the pigskin in for another td. Later Alamo Heights' talented football boys added another td, and another. Final score Lamar 14, Alamo Heights 42.

Put THAT in your pipes & smoke it, you E-N "Fearless Forecasters!"

AND NOW it's on to the STATE CHAMPIONSHIP in 4-A Division I! The AHHS Mules have NEVER competed in a state championship football game. May they win this one, Saturday in the Alamodome, by overcoming the Copperas Cove Bulldogs!

Fall-out from #1 at Briscoe

In my two most recent postings I shared some of the marvelous Kairos Weekend #1 in the Dolph Briscoe Prison Unit near Dilley. But if you've been reading my blogsite all along, you know there is much, much more to Kairos Prison Ministry than just the three-day weekend retreats. (In the same way, there's much, much more to the Emmaus or Cursillo renewal movement than just the "Walk to" retreat!)

As I've mentioned, Kairos actually commenced in Briscoe with the weekly "Prayer & Share" meetings -- but they allowed us to conduct these only on first and third Thursday evenings. Well, this past Thursday was, of course the first Thursday in December -- as well as being the first one following that awesome Weekend! And what a Prayer & Share it was!

Generally Paul and Chuck and I ride to Dilley together for the first Thursday P & S, but THIS time we had a fourth man in Paul's car. He was Ed Palow, my motel roommate for Briscoe #1, a fellow table family clergy (he St. Mark & me St. Luke), and fellow Disciples of Christ clergy. It was de-e-e-lightful to have Ed along, too! Especially when he got a call on his cellphone from Buzz, a member of his church, San Antonio Christian, who had served with me on the Team for Walk #1327. He handed me the phone at one point to I could chat with Buzz for a few minutes.

P & S is held in the Chapel, at Briscoe as at Torres. We had a full house! But first, Ed wasn't on the primary entry list for P & S, and so almost didn't get in. However, "the Major" who had been involved with Briscoe #1 was still about the prison, so Ed DID get clearance. This made us seven volunteers going in for P & S. Seven: the Biblical number of perfected completion!

The music team was already in the Chapel practicing to lead singing to open the P & S meeting. So there stood Eduardo "Banana Man", who had sat at my left at St. Luke Table Family. Hugs all around! Soon I was also greeting Alex, our St. Luke Family Steward and Isreal who "is real" in his faith, and so on.

When I took los hispanohablantes apart for the small group prayer time, we totaled twelve (including me) and I delighted in pointing out that this was the number of the original Apostles (who are often called simply "The Twelve" as a result). AND that one of the teachings of the Kairos Weekend is that we are ALL apostles -- ones SENT to spread the good news message about the God who loves us and His Son who died to show that love! Then I shared with them that I wanted to sing una canción navideña with them, and led the singing of Noche de Paz (Silent Night). I noticed that the sharing tonite was more from the heart than it had been in some months; thanks to the Weekend experience in which at least half of them had participated.

Then came Saturday! The Kairos manual calls for an "Instructional Reunion" to be conducted the Saturday following a Weekend, to show the inmates who were candidates how a monthly Reunion goes, and how to do Prayer & Share. While Paul & I had been on the road for the Thursday P & S we arranged for Paul to pick me up very early on Saturday, to get us to Dilley & the Briscoe Unit by 8:15 (it's and hour and a half drive from S.A.) But when a vehicle pulled up to pick me up, it was Tom's tall white pickup truck! Thomas Becker was Lay Director for Briscoe #1 and would also conduct today's Instructional Reunion. Tom is rather young to be such a leader for an Emmaus or Kairos event (lay directors are often retirees). But let me tell you, dear reader, Thomas or Tom has a great maturity & leadership skills -- way beyond his age! God is using young Tom, for His glory and the blessings of others! So, Tom, Paul & I had a delightful drive down Interstate Hiway 35 to Dilley.

We had just over 20 volunteers assembled at the gate of Briscoe to go in and do the Reunion. Dozens & dozens of cookies were left over from Weekend #1, and we supplied sandwiches, chips & beverages, so we didn't want for food, any more than we had on the Weekend itself. And when we got to the gym door and the guard opened it, there were the brothers in white inside, in two lines, clapping & cheering. Just as we had clapped & cheered each time they had come to the gym for a session of the Weekend! Wow!

The heat was malfunctioning in the gym, so it was cold. But our hearts were warm as we listened to & discussed five short Talks, prayed together (usually in pairs or threesomes) and sang. The Spirit of the Lord kept us warm! It was a very good event!

I chose to call this "fall-out from #1. . ." because in inmate slang a prisoner will sometimes mention that "I fell out at (a certain city)" and by this indicate where he was arrested or "fell out" of being a free citizen of society. Hopefully, participation in Kairos will help these fellows to "fall out" of the chains of past habits and attitudes (which got them incarcerated) and into the freedom Christ offers by His truth revealed in Scripture. His is a freedom NOT bound or limited by the fences and bars of any prison! To God be the glory!

St. Luke Table Family

At some point Wednesday or Thursday, during the final Kairos team formation and preparations in Dilley's American Legion Hall, our director, Tom, insisted that HE did NOT choose who was on the team nor what ourr assignments were. It was the Holy Spirit! And I firmly believe the same to be true for the membership of each of the Table Families. God knew EXACTLY which three volunteers and which six Candidates and which one Steward would make the best mix to compose, not just a set of ten individual around a table, but rather a FAMILY of brothers in Christ who really opened up to and loved one another.

And what a family we were at St. Luke! The other two volunteers were our leader Dale Vickers and assistant Dale Miller. It was the latter's first Kairos, but he clearly related well to the inmates and they to him. Dale, Dale and Glen (Alan). . . Hmm-mm! Now don't you try to tell ME that THIS first-name match of us three -- in Celtic tongues Glen means "valley" or "dale" -- was mere coincidence or just Tom's random selection. No siree! This was a "God thing"!

Our Steward was Alex(ander) Alonso, a rather tall Hispanic with a ready smile and a true servant's heart, who had been transferred only a month or so ago to Briscoe, from the unit where he'd been a Candidate on a Kairos Weekend. To my right was Isreal, a Hispanic, and to my left another Hispanic, Eduardo, who is very active in chapel and the music program at Briscoe. To his left was C.J, a mulatto with a cheerful smile and sunshiny personality -- despite missing his lower left leg. Across from me sat Homero and Jeremy; the latter had the look of a "skinhead" but a gentle spirit. And next to Isreal -- he DOES spell his name that way, he's not the country but he "is real" in his faith -- sat Jimmy, an Afro-American who missed out on a little of the Weekend because his wife had come from Dallas for visitation and couldn't have postponed it, because her next opportunity will be next year.

Eduardo was ravenous for the salads at the lunches and dinners; he also craved the plentiful bananas. So we took to calling him "Banana Man"! He was also an Army veteran, who had been stationed in Germany (where he had picked up some Deutsch) and also at Fort Hood as a tank mechanic with the Second Armored Division -- at about the same time I was a Chaplain for the 62d Engineer battalion across the post! Small world!

There is an exercise the entire Team for a weekend does on Thursday before the inside team leaves for the prison. It's the Prayer Circle. One almost has to be there and do it understand the dynamics and the awe of a Prayer Circle! We sit in a circle of chairs, count off, and then half stand up and take positions behind the chairs that still have occupants. By an orderly system, we move around the entire circle of chairs, until each Team member has been prayed over by all the others and has prayed over all the others. The standing member bends down by the sitter's ear and softly prays thanksgiving for that person and affirmation and blessing on them. Then the standing one moves to the next sitter and prays. And so on. . . .

Folks, this Prayer Circle exercise is powerful! POWERFUL! We really ought to do it in our local congregations, Emmaus/Cursillo groups and other fellowships and ministries. I'm fully convinced that if we did prayer circles universally, that old evil adversary of ours wouldn't stand a chance!

I've confessed to being an emotive sort, so you can guess my head leaks frequently during the team's Prayer Circle. There were further tears falling on Saturday, when St. Luke Table Family went apart, into a corner of the dining area, to offer up prayers. Some of these brothers in white had deep remorse for broken relationships (especially for broken relationships with their sons), or other burdens. We were all -- volunteers and inmates -- limp, wet rags by the time we concluded our prayer time.

But the best was yet to come! Somehow I forgot, until we did it Sunday morning, that there is a second Prayer Circle exercise! In this one, each Table Family does the circle, and the other groups (e.g. kitchen-dining crew, music team) also form circles. Because these are multiple small prayer circles it takes much less time than did the first Prayer Circle involving only the Team (and one huge circle). It was not one whit less moving a time, dear reader. Most of us teared up again. A couple of St. Luke Family members didn't just put their hands on the shoulders of the one they were praying for, they slipped their arm around the sitter and gave him sort of a hug from the backside.

And if I could I'd form one huge bear-hug, embracing the entire Table Family at once! I love these brothers in Christ! May God be with and richly bless each and every one -- volunteers, candidates, steward -- of the St. Luke Table Family!

Kairos Briscoe #1 - WOW ! ! !

Dear reader, for almost a week I've been unavailable to post on this blog, or even check my e-mail. You see, I was in prison. And I wouldn't have wanted to be anywhere else!

Do you remember my earlier postings about my clergy service on the Team for Men's Walk to Emmaus #1327? And how I made mention of my participation in Kairos Prison Ministry? (See, e.g., 18 September post about "San Anto - Always something to do".) Well, Kairos is a version of Emmaus (or Cursillo or other 3-day renewal retreat with "4th-Day" follow-up), tailored to the prison environment, for Candidates from among the inmates.

In September of A.D. 2002 I had attended the Closing Ceremony for Kairos Weekend #8 (the 3-day retreat) in the Torres Prison Unit outside Hondo (west of San Antonio). When I heard the joyful praise singing of the brothers in white (Texas inmates wear all white) who had already been on a Weekend, and then the powerful, moving testimonies of the candidates as to what that Weekend had done for them, I was "hooked"! I could not get on a team fast en'uf, so that I could witness this three-day transformation first-hand!

Service on Kairos #9 and #11 and attendance at various "4th-Day" follow-up Kairos activities had been such a blessing. I came to dearly love both my brothers in white (Monty and Kelly with whom I served as "chapel crew" during #9 are particularly close to my heart) and my fellow volunteers. When the TDCJ permitted Kairos to enter the Dolph Briscoe Unit outside Dilley (between S. A. and Laredo), I got involved at once. Kairos Prayer & Share began in July of A.D. 2005 on first and third Thursdays. (P & S is supposed to be a weekly small group prayer exercise, but for whatever reason Briscoe only allows twice monthly).

As soon as I learned that the dates had been set for the first Kairos weekend for Briscoe, I signed up for the Team. Then I began to pray. After returning from Walk #1327, I prayed all the more fervently: that ABBA, Daddy God, pour out His gracious Spirit so powerfully that we volunteers individually would become vessels and together a unified vessel for His amazing grace to reach the 42 Candidates. And that He make this THE BEST first Kairos weekend retreat ever, anywhere!

And ABBA heard and answered our prayers! True, we actually ended up with 41 Candidates (a Steward's name erroneously got on the Candidate list). And NO Chaplain working in Briscoe (he'd resigned in October). BUT laying aside such little difficulties -- this was the first Kairos in the unit. . . Briscoe #1 was AWESOME!

Here are just a few ingredients of the "proof in the pudding". All elements of agapé were outstanding: the hundreds of dozens of homemade cookies (EVERY inmate in Briscoe received at least one dozen, in a ziplock bag delivered to his cell), the colorful and uplifting placemats made by children to grace the meals (lunch and dinner) served during the retreat, fliers and posters sent by Cursillo-style groups (to include Kairos communities within other prisons) to express the unconditional love (agapé in Greek) of ABBA God. We even had a flier written in beautiful Portuguese da uma comunidade do Cursilho no Brasil (from a Cursillo community in Brazil)!

And then there was the Prayer Chain! Each paper link on the chain is signed by someone who agreed to pray for the half hour indicated on the link, for the Kairos weekend experience and for God's blessing on the candidates. When the first portion of the Prayer Chain was drawn from a bag on Friday, it was quite long (tho' it was only for the first two days) and contained dozens of links signed by men in white who are the Kairos community inside the Torres Unit! You see, each link's volunteer also writes his or her city or country on the link. That's right, "or country"! Now, I was used to Kairos weekends getting prayer and agapé support from Canada and even Great Britain. But THIS, the very first one in the Dolph Briscoe Unit, had links from INDIA, too! Praise God, and Lord bless those Indian Christians, who had completely filled someone's prayer chain packet!

There'd been some concern, on this Briscoe #1, about matters which are of no concern on later weekends (#2 and subsequent). For example, how would the men in grey (officers, guards) respond to a Kairos weekend actually going on in their prison? Well, whatever reluctance or indifference there might have been on Thursday vanished by the setting sun on Friday; attending officers were actually singing Kairos praise songs and vying to be escorts! How about Stewards? There are usually at least 20 of these weekend retreat veterans serving on any given Weekend. By end of October we were aware of only a half dozen inmates in Briscoe who had experienced the Weekend elsewhere and could thus serve as stewards. However, someone ferreted out a few more, so we had a dozen, including that one who'd been mistakenly listed as a Candidate! Praise the Lord, bless these servants in white!

No one dropped out after Thursday evening's opening get-acquainted session! Ricky Passmore, who saw the first Kairos weekend in Torres as a candidate (yes, he WAS a criminal BUT NOW Ricky pastors a church, volunteers in Emmaus and Kairos, and wears cowboy clothes as clean and sharp as George Strait's), gave both a Talk and a meditation. I'm certain that the Candidates and the Stewards related very well and listened closely to this honest ex-offender. Ricky's meditation on Sunday was a verbatim script, like all the meditations (I recited "I chose You" and later "Who Is This Jesus?"). But after reading his, Ricky felt led to set it aside and just speak from the heart on "Sending Us Forth". Much of what he said was exhortation, like what I'd heard the chaplain give during Closing on Torres #9 and #11. Thus we actually didn't want for a chaplain. Nevertheless, there was a frequent expression by the inmates of an aching desire for a chaplain to come to Briscoe. They sometimes talked like sheep without a shepherd.

Early in Team formation concern was expressed that we would have few visitors come to Closing Ceremony for Briscoe #1. I'd sent an e-invitation with TDCJ application attached to Arlie Lammers, my roommate on #9 and #11 and likewise a Disciples of Christ clergy. BTW, my roommate on Briscoe #1 was also Disciples clergy, Ed Palow. Saturday I asked our liaison for Closing applications how many we'd received, to be cleared by TDCJ; he said about 125 and I almost hit the ceiling for joy! He added that Arlie and his wife were among them. And there they sat, on the front row at Closing, and further back others I recognized. One that greatly surprised (and delighted) me was Eunice Van Hoosen, we served together as clergy on Walk #1327.

So. . . it was a gr-r-r-reat Closing to a fantastic and blessed first ever Kairos Weekend at the Dolph Briscoe Unit outside Dilley! THANKS BE TO GOD! And TO GOD BE THE GLORY! ! !