Our Personal Web Site

The Winter 2009 edition of the Southwestern News was dedicated entirely to adoption. Toward the back of the issue you may have noticed the article "As Miraculous as Childbirth" telling the story of how God placed our children into our family.

The major source of the written article was the material published on our personal web site. I can't recall whether I've ever mentioned it here before. It provides some information about us, some information about adoption in general, and several movies and photo albums. You'll find us at www.BartAndTracy.com.

Enjoy, and God bless!

The Tragic Irony of President Obama

A blight now exists on a proud moment for the United States of America. In this land our own Constitution once refused to acknowledge our black citizens as people worthy of equal protection under the law. Now, in an awe-inspiring moment, one who would not universally have been acknowledged as a person in 1792 now sits in the Oval Office as the leader of our nation. Of this, our nation can be proud.

Nevertheless, the blight on this accomplishment is revealed in President Obama's statement yesterday. Just two days into his term, President Obama has demonstrated his willingness to free one oppressed group from their oppression by shoving another oppressed group into an even worse fate. He who two centuries ago would have been relegated to slavery by those who denied his personhood will now willingly (even eagerly?) deny personhood to millions of other human beings and condemn them not to slavery but to extermination.

This is indeed a high price to pay for victory. Shame on him. Shame on us all.

Interesting News from Dallas

Click here to read the story of The Covenant School's high school girls' basketball team defeating Dallas Academy in a conference game last week by the score of 100–0. After a public outcry, Covenant has asked to forfeit the game and has issued an apology for winning by so much.

Two developments in this story make me care about it:

1. The Covenant School has issued a statement (click on their link above) apologizing for their victory, and in doing so they have made the statement that the skunking "clearly does not reflect a Christ-like and honorable approach to competition." I'm just wondering, can anyone give me the chapter and verse where Jesus tells us the maximum margin by which one can appropriately win a basketball game? I'm playing forty-two with some folks from the church tomorrow night, and I would like to study up on those Christian scriptures dealing with recreational competition so I can be careful about the way that I play.

   And along with the relevant passages of scripture, can someone articulate for me what the actual ethics are here that are derived from these rules? What, precisely, WOULD Jesus do? Would He base His actions entirely on how the other team might feel? The SMU Mustangs looked pretty despondent when they lost by a mere three points scored by Marshall via a 75-foot "Hail Mary" shot at the buzzer. Would Jesus lose every game on purpose? If not, why not?

   What would Jesus do? I'll opine that Jesus would question why we take recreational games so seriously in a world simply chock full to the brim of life-and-death problems. Perhaps we ought to refrain from cheapening what Jesus actually did do and say, which we inevitably do by putting our words into His mouth about things that matter to us much more than they do to Him.

2. Mark Cuban has reportedly invited the skunked Dallas Academy team to watch a Mavericks game in his suite. I'm wondering, rather than inviting them to the American Airlines Center to watch, say, Golden State, wouldn't it be more fitting for Cuban to take the girls from Dallas Academy on the road to watch the Mavericks take what is coming to them from the Orlando Magic? ;-)

Finding My Voice Again

A friend recently asked on Facebook whether "Barebones" was the name of a seventeenth-century Baptist preacher or a description of the recent content on this blog. The simple fact is that, although the family and I are doing pretty well and fall well within the tolerances that define "normal" reactions to this sort of thing, I've just had very little heart for blogging since the accident. I'm preaching; I'm ministering to people; I'm giving leadership to the church—I'm heading into a service right this very minute. But after being spent on those things, there just isn't enough passion left over to blog for right now. I've interacted in a couple of comment conversations, but that's been all that I've had the heart to muster lately.

Important opportunities stand before us as Southern Baptists. I've nowhere nearly run out of things to say. I'm just not quite back to doing this blogging business.

So, more barebones on Barebones for a while, at least.