An Update Buffet

This post will be a recap of an assortment of recent happenings:

Books:

I read John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men last weekend and really enjoyed it. I consider it to be more of a story than a book, just because of its brevity. I've never been so caught off guard by a book's final sentence in my life.

I started reading A Thousand Splendid Suns on Wednesday. It's the second book by Khaled Hosseini, the author of The Kite Runner - a book I

thoroughly enjoyed reading last year. I had intentions of reading ATSS while still in Michigan, but I never got around to it (my apologies to Rachel Moen). Hopefully I can have the book finished by the end of the weekend.

For church, I'm reading Calvin's Institutes of Christian Religion and Alexander Strauch's book, Biblical Eldership. These books will take a little longer to read than the fiction ones.

Piano Jazz and BJU:

On Wednesday night, my small group was canceled so I ended up hanging out with Alyssa and her friend, Seth, for a couple hours at a local piano jazz venue downtown. Seth went to Bob Jones University and we discovered that we have a few mutual friends from there. Small world.

Tiger's Apology:

You can watch the full apology here or read the transcript here.

I want to give Tiger credit for his public apology yesterday. He was thorough, accepted personal responsibility for his actions, spoke highly of his wife and children, and emphasized his priority of keeping many of the specific details between him and his wife. Here is part of the apology.

"The issue involved here was my repeated irresponsible behavior. I was unfaithful. I had affairs. I cheated. What I did is not acceptable, and I am the only person to blame.

I stopped living by the core values that I was taught to believe in. I knew my actions were wrong, but I convinced myself that normal rules didn't apply. I never thought about who I was hurting. Instead, I thought only about myself. I ran straight through the boundaries that a married couple should live by. I thought I could get away with whatever I wanted to. I felt that I had worked hard my entire life and deserved to enjoy all the temptations around me. I felt I was entitled. Thanks to money and fame, I didn't have to go far to find them.

I was wrong. I was foolish. I don't get to play by different rules. The same boundaries that apply to everyone apply to me. I brought this shame on myself. I hurt my wife, my kids, my mother, my wife's family, my friends, my foundation, and kids all around the world who admired me.

I've had a lot of time to think about what I've done. My failures have made me look at myself in a way I never wanted to before. It's now up to me to make amends, and that starts by never repeating the mistakes I've made. It's up to me to start living a life of integrity."

As far as apologies go from non-Christian people, I think Tiger apologized well. I was, however, disappointed that Tiger believes Buddhism to be a large part of the solution to the problem. This didn't surprise me, but it didn't give me a great deal of hope that Tiger will be successful in this life-change. I am pleased Tiger is taking steps to get his personal life in order. Few athletes would step away from the game in their prime in order to save their family. I give credit to Tiger for having his priorities in the right place.

Real Conversation Between Me and a Student at Work:

Me: So, what's up with you and [insert girl's name]?

Him: Nothin'. We're just friends.

Me: Oh ya? What do you think your girlfriend would think about that?

Him: I don't have a girlfriend.

Me: Who's that girl that's always all wrapped up in your arms after school? Would she say she's your girlfriend?

Him: (awkwardly) Yeah.

Me: One girl at a time, man. One girl at a time.