Quote: Gibbs and Bolger

Theologies given birth within modernity will not transfer to postmodern cultures.

- Eddie Gibbs and Ryan Bolger, Emerging Churches

Quote: Mike Yaconelli

Play is an expression of God's presence in the world; one clear sign of God's absence in society is the absence of playfulness and laughter.

Quote: Thomas Merton

To become attached to the "experience" of peace is to threaten the true and essential and vital union of our soul with God above sense and experience in the darkness of a pure and perfect love.

And so, although this sense of peace may be a sign that we are united to God, it is still only a sign -- an accident. The substance of the union may be had without any such sense, and sometimes when we have no feeling of peace or of God's presence He is more truly present to us than he has ever been before.

If we attach too much attention to these accidentals we will run the risk of losing what is essential, which is the perfect acceptance of God's will, whatever our feelings may happen to be.

But if I think the most important thing in life is a feeling of interior peace, I will be all the more disturbed when I notice that I do not have it. and since I cannot directly produce that feeling in myself whenever I want to, the disturbance will increase with the failure of my efforts. Finally I will lose my patienceby refusing to accept this situation that I cannot control and so I will let go of the one important reality, union with the will of God, without which true peace is impossible.

Thomas Merton, New Seeds of Contemplation

A New Project

I'm breaking my hiatus to start some occasional posts about a new project I am working on, or rather, with. It could seem different than earlier posts, but in a way it is not. I am working on a technology project now, the identity of which I would like to withhold for now. But it involves more than technology.

We are well past the point where brochureware will do. The kind of static web site that is still common with many religious organizations is almost worse than nothing. It's one real use, one hopes, is to lay some critical contact information out where Google might find it.

This problem is the result of what I think is a fundamental error: seeing the web page as merely another graphic document among many. This would mean, for most organizations, that a primary goal of web site creation is matching the graphic rules already created for all other documents. This results in design and markup that is concerned first with appearance and presentation, with tools designed first to control those aspects, no matter what chaos resulted in the underlying markup. You get the tyranny of the original designer, creating pages that are time consuming to maintain, which usually results in a site that is inconsistent and out of date. It also means that the typical "web designer" in many organizations has stronger skills in presentation than creating content.

The problem with that is that few people visit a web page because of cutting edge design, at least not more than once. Current, compelling, and accessible content, on the other hand, has always been effective. And effectiveness is just what we need these days, not better Flash driven landing pages.

Starting off, I want to lay out some basic ideas concerning:

• interfaces between organizations and their environments;
• the basic elements and constraints of web design;:
• the role that web standards can and cannot play;
• fundamental organization processes involved with web site maintenance;
• web patterns and microformats relevant to this case.

No great essays or tomes here -- others have better things to say about this, and where appropriate I will link to them. Just some speculation and working notes.

It's that time again -- for the 28th time

Tonight is our 28th anniversary, and to celebrate, sort of, here is a post that includes some of my feelings about being married. Consider it a golden oldie.

A Christmas Card

When the white stars talk together like sisters
And when the winter hills
Raise their grand semblance in the freezing night,
Somewhere one window
Bleeds like the brown eye of an open force.

Hills, stars,
White stars that stand above the eastern stable.

Look down and offer Him.
The dim adoring light of your belief.
Whose small Heart bleeds with infinite fire.

Shall not this Child
(When we shall hear the bells of His amazing voice)
Conquer the winter of our hateful century?

And when His Lady Mother leans upon the crib,
Lo, with what rapiers
Those two loves fence and flame their brillancy!

Here in this straw lie planned the fires
That will melt all our sufferings:
He is our Lamb, our holocaust!

And one by one the shepherds, with their snowy feet,
Stamp and shake out their hats upon the stable dirt,
And one by one kneel down to look upon their Life.

Thomas Merton, 1947

Merry Christmas.

Quote: Eugene Peterson

What other church is there besides institutional? There's nobody who doesn't have problems with the church, because there's sin in the church. But there's no other place to be a Christian except the church. There's sin in the local bank. There's sin in the grocery stores. I really don't understand this naïve criticism of the institution. I really don't get it.

Frederick von Hugel said the institution of the church is like the bark on the tree. There's no life in the bark. It's dead wood. But it protects the life of the tree within. And the tree grows and grows. If you take the bark off, it's prone to disease, dehydration, death.

So, yes, the church is dead but it protects something alive. And when you try to have a church without bark, it doesn't last long. It disappears, gets sick, and it's prone to all kinds of disease, heresy, and narcissism.

Be Prepared

The readings for the First Sunday of Advent (starting cycle A):

• Isaiah 2:1-5
• Psalm 122:1-2, 3-4a, 4b-5, 6-7, 8-9
• Romans 13:11-14
• Matthew 24:37-44

Back when I was both a bit younger and a bit lighter, I backpacked a bit in the Yosemite area. A mandatory stop was the Wilderness Center in Yosemite Village to get a wilderness permit and to check the weather and trail conditions boards. Right at the top of the weather board was this statement (and warning):

There is no such thing as bad weather, just weather you are not prepared for.

The weather has always been changeable in Yosemite. YOSAR (the local search and rescue folks) point out that on one October day they had to rescue climbers from El Capitan due to heat exhaustion. Two years later to the day, people were getting frostbite up on the big walls. It didn't matter how the day started, you had to be prepared for varied weather to keep from being hurt.

This Sunday is the beginning of the great cycle of the Church Year -- once again telling the story of God coming into the world in the person of Jesus Christ, of his dying and rising to redeem the world, and the spread of the Kingdom of God. This is also the story of God working in our own lives, and in the end, of the entire universe. But right here at the beginning, we need to heed the warning that almost anything can happen, so we need to prepare ourselves.

Most of us like change, as long as it is well behaved. We want things to change for the better, as long as we get to define what better is and the change meets our own expectations. Change is fine, as long as we can stay in firm control. To our dismay, we often find out that God has a different idea what change shoud be, and it does not include preserving our little illusions of control.

God's reign cannot become real in this world, unless we and this world change radically. There is nothing convenient or well behaved about that. In the Gospel lession Jesus reminds us of another story about God establishing control, the story of Noah and the flood:

Jesus said to his disciples:
“As it was in the days of Noah,
so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.
In those days before the flood,
they were eating and drinking,
marrying and giving in marriage,
up to the day that Noah entered the ark.
They did not know until the flood came and carried them all away.
So will it be also at the coming of the Son of Man.
Two men will be out in the field;
one will be taken, and one will be left.
Two women will be grinding at the mill;
one will be taken, and one will be left.
Therefore, stay awake!
For you do not know on which day your Lord will come.
Be sure of this: if the master of the house
had known the hour of night when the thief was coming,
he would have stayed awake
and not let his house be broken into.
So too, you also must be prepared,
for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.”

The story of Noah is not a tale of random disaster, it is the story of how being unprepared for God's action can become a disaster.

So, what do we need to do? Consider what you would do before backpacking into the Yosemite wilderness. Well before heading out, you would make sure you were in good enough shape to make the trip, from feet to head. Then you would collect maps and guides and study your route, to understand what you might face. Finally, you would pack for the trip, taking everything you need, but leaving behind anything else.

We, as Christians must do the same this Advent:

• Get your prayer life in shape. If you have a set prayer discipline, keep to it. If you do not, consider the Daily Office, or the Rosary, or some other systematic approach. It does not have to be long or complex, but it does need to be regular. It's a matter of basic spiritual fitness.
• Study God's Word prayerfully, especially the lectionary selections for this season -- they were chosen for a reason. Consider lectio divina as a habit worth establishing.
• Examine your life -- take a little quiet time and open up you life like a backpack, and rummage around to see what you are carrying along that you don't really need. This can range from formal spiritual direction, or a retreat, or simply looking at some of the junk accumulating around your house, and finding something you can live without. Simplify a bit.

Preparation is the theme for this season of Advent, and we will continue to see what we must prepare for as we move through these December weeks.

When bad things happen to God's people

Again a brief, and late, reflection on the lessons for the 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time:

• Malachi 3:19-20a
• Psalm 98:5-6, 7-8, 9
• 2 Thessalonians 3:7-12
• Luke 21:5-19

Next Sunday, the feast of Christ the King, will be the last Sunday of this year in the liturgical calendar. When we note that this passage is part of Jesus' last teachings in the Gospel of Luke before the Passion narrative, we can expect that this selection should be some kind of summation of what we have been hearing for months. It is, but not what we might want to hear.

Jesus warns that we will not think that things are going well at all, including warnings that could come from this, or any other morning's news:

"When you hear of wars and insurrections, do not be terrified; for such things must happen first, but it will not immediately be the end."

Then he said to them,

"Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be powerful earthquakes, famines, and plagues from place to place; and awesome sights and mighty signs will come from the sky.

"Before all this happens, however, they will seize and persecute you, they will hand you over to the synagogues and to prisons, and they will have you led before kings and governors because of my name."

The disciples feel just like we do -- they are frightened and uncertain. Just like us, they ask Jesus for some sign as to when this will happen, probably so they can get out of town first. Jesus does not oblige, and specifically warns us against those who will try to answer that question for us. He tells us that if things go right, things will be going very wrong indeed, at least from our point of view.

When things get strange and uncertain, our first impulse is to take control, often taking it back from God. Trying to live according to God's guidance is all well and good when things are all going well and good. We seem to think that storm clouds on the horizon show that God has failed us, and that we have to take charge again. In telling the disciples not to prepare testimony but to trust to God to give them the words, Jesus reminds us that in these times out hope is not in our own ability, or in God somehow magically rescuing us. Our hope is in what God will do through us, if we let Him.

It is when things really go wrong that we have the greatest ability to show just who we can be, and who God is by what he can do through us.

Quote: Alan Knox

There is a misconception that community is built around uniformity: people who believe alike, act alike, respond alike, desire alike, etc. However, uniformity will not create the type of community in which God calls us to live. This is evident in the constant exhortation for believers to bear with one another, forgive one another, have patience with one another, and consider others as more important than themselves. Thus, the authors of Scripture recognize that there would be relational frictions between believers. This relational frictions [USC professor Dallas] Willard describes above by the phrase "raw, skin to skin contact". The way that someone responds to relational frictions demonstrates whether or not they are living in a Spirit-enabled, Spirit-empowered community, or if they desire to live in a uniform community.

People normally and naturally respond to relational friction with anger, impatience, divisiveness, selfishness, defensiveness, pride, etc. These responses are manifestations of sin. This type of response may reduce relational friction, but it will not maintain community.

However, through the indwelling and enabling of the Holy Spirit, it is (super)-naturally possible to respond to relational friction with understanding, acceptance, patience, humility, forbearance, perseverance, and even joy. This type of response will not immediately reduce the relational friction, but it will maintain community. In fact, true community is only possible in the presence of relational friction and a Spirit-controlled response to that relational friction.

Quote: Leonard Sweet

Q: The concept that seems to be gaining traction within North American Christendom is a call for the church to become "missional." What does a missional church look like?

A: I believe the primary mode of the church today is "attractional" rather than "missional." The Bible says Jesus "sent them out" (Mark 6:7). A "missional" church is a GOOD Church, where GOOD means Get Out Of Doors. A GOOD church is not one where people are trying to "live in" the gospel so much as "live out" the gospel.

Just as the early church was shaped by mission, so must we be shaped by mission.

• An attractional church is focused on the word "come" ; a missional church is focused on the word "go."
• An attractional church tries to invite people in; a missional church tries to interact with people where they are.
• An attractional church is fixated on increased market share; a missional church is obsessed with increased world presence.

From Canadian Baptist

Fair warning

I'm not sure if I am happy about this or not.

Oh, and another warning. If you want to display a rating like this, I suggest you check the HTML code they provide before posting. Here is what I got:

    <a href="http://www.criticsrant.com/bb/reading_level.aspx">
        <img style="border: none;" 
            src="http://www.criticsrant.com/bb/readinglevel/img/postgrad.jpg" 
            alt="cash advance" />
    </a>
    <p>
        <small>
            Get a <a href="http://www.***************.com">Cash Advance</a>
        </small>
    </p>

Which would embed a link to a cash advance site (URL removed). Not nice at all, guys.

Quote: Dietrich Bonhoeffer

It is not necessary that we should discover new ideas in our meditation. It is sufficient if the word as we read and understand it penetrates and dwells within us. As Mary pondered in her heart the tidings that were told by the shepherds, as what we have casually heard follows us for a long time, sticks in our mind, occupies, disturbs of delights us, without our ability to do anything about it, so in meditation God's word seeks to enter in and remain with us. It strives to stir us to work and to operate in us so that we shall not get away from it the whole day long. Then it will do its work in us without our being aware of it.

We have no idea

The readings for the 32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time:

• 2nd Maccabees 7:1-2 9-14
• Psalm 17:1, 5-6, 8+15
• 2nd Thessalonians 2:16-3:5
• Luke 20:27-38

At the very end of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings is a passage that rings true to me. Gandalf and Frodo have left the Grey Havens on an elven ship to the Undying Lands:

And the ship went out into the High Sea and passed on into the West, until at last on a night of rain Frodo smelled a sweet fragance on the air and heard the sound of singing that came over the water. And then it seemed to him that as in his dream in the house of Bombadil, the grey rain-curtain turned all to silver glass and was rolled back, and he beheld white shores and beyond them a far green country under a swift sunrise.

I surmise that most of us have some idea of what we think the next world may be like, and this hits the closest for me

A set package of images and ideas has developed pop culture about the next life. They usually involve people in white robes with wings and harps, standing around on clouds. Then, of course, there is St. Peter and the gates. There have been all sorts of variations on this, Defending Your Life being one of my favorites. These often blend into simplistic ideas of judgement and reincarnation.

As a Catholic Christian, the depictions I have found most influential come from C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien. This was a recurring theme in Lewis' writings, breaking through in Narnia, Perelandra, and most specifically in The Great Divorce. Tolkien's most detailed takes were in the Silmarillion his depiction of the creation of the universe, and the Undying Lands, Aman.

I love these images, but one thing worries me. I do find Lewis' and Tolkien's ideas easier to accept than harps and fluffy clouds. When I think of those I have loved who are now dead, I have no problem believing that my own beloved dead are there. My problem is that I have not been able to see myself there -- it simply has not been real to me. Today's Gospel may explain why, and perhaps why I should not worry.

The Question

The Gospel lesson is sometimes referred to as "the Sadducee question". The Sadducee party were traditionalists often identified with the priestly Temple leadership, and held that only the written law (primarily the Torah) was binding, and rejected the tradition of oral law, precepts and interpretations passed down from one generation of teachers to another. Their interpretations of the law were often quite rigid and harsh, and were resented by many of the people, who generally preferred the teachings of the Pharisees. These two factions often argued, often about whether the dead are resurrected. Traditional Jewish belief only admitted the existence of Sheol, a shadowy place, and many in Israel felt that they would live on more in their children rather than in some next life.

The intent here is to trap or embarass Jesus with a trick question. The Torah requried that if a widow had no children, then the brother of her late husband must marry her (known as levirate marriage from a word for brother), to provide children to carry on the dead man's name and provide for the widow. And while Jewish law at that time could contemplate a man having more than one wife, a wife with more than one husband was impossible. If Jesus taught that the dead rise, his teaching would violate one law, or the other.

Jesus Responds

Now Jesus could simply denounce his questioners as hypocrites, as Sadducees only accepted levirate marriage under very unusual circumstances, and the practice was almost unheard of. But He chooses to first point out that the rules that they want to snare him with are rooted in our earthly experience and needs, and would not apply in a different situation, mooting their example. Then he turns the tables on them by placing them in a dilemma. The Torah itself refers to the "God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob" in present tense, and Israel's God is God of the living and not the dead. If the Sadducees want to reject resurrection, they will have to reject the Torah as well.

This response leads us away from a mistaken view of the resurrection -- that trying to project onto that life our understanding of this life will only lead to absurdity. I should not worry about not being able to visualize a situation that is entirely beyond my understanding. But then, why should I believe in a next life at all, something completely outside my knowledge or experience? Why should I believe in the Gospel at all?

I believe because I have learned to trust Jesus in my life. This trust was not a sudden thing, nor is it really complete. But I can try to believe in the big ressurection because I have seen it happen in smaller, more personal ways -- in healing and redemption in this world that transcend my limited understanding and ability. By seeing lives made new again, including my own, I can trust in something I cannot see or understand, because of someone I know. I can hope.

What ties them together

Some time back, I bookmarked an ariticle on GodSpy, Mother Teresa and Dorothy Day - Two Radical Women by Jerry Dauost.

Mother Teresa once invited Dorothy Day to speak to her novices on the occasion of Dorothy's visit to Calcutta in 1970. Eileen Eagan, who was traveling with Dorothy, tells of the novices' reaction to Dorothy:

". . . I saw their eyes widen as she recounted the many times she had chosen to go to jail. They understood going to prison for truth and liberation, as Gandhi had done; now they were hearing it in a specifically Christian context, that of the Works of Mercy, of visiting the prisoner by entering prison. When Dorothy had finished, Mother Teresa took the black cross with the Corpus of Christ, as worn by the Missionaries of Charity on their saris, and pinned it on Dorothy's left shoulder. I know of no other case in which Mother Teresa gave the crucifix of her congregation to a lay person."

Eagan continues: ". . . It was clear to me that a like vision animated the two women. Mother Teresa served the dying of a scourged city, seeing each one 'as Jesus in a distressing disguise.' Dorothy Day stated that Jesus linked salvation to 'how we act toward him in his disguise of commonplace, frail, ordinary humanity.'"

It's a good article, worth the read. One point made in the article is how for both women the life of radical charity was rooted deeply in prayer. This is something that those of us doing this work have to keep returning to. We spend so much of our time working directly with people in need, or working with others to train and organize. For some of us, this is the first time we have applied our talents to something that matters beyond a paycheck.

We all, of course, know that it is important to feed our own spiritual lives, and may even get around to doing something about it. But we seem to forget in any practical sense that prayer is not just something we do to help us do the important stuff. Our intimate life with Christ has to be the center of what and why we do what we do. We go into places where human pain and need are immediate, and demand an immediate response. But we forget at our peril that our first response, no matter how brief, is prayer. The only way we can be sure we are doing God's work, is to start with God, and do the work with Him.

Long ago, my first spiritual mentor said: "In any situation, no matter how dire, the first and best thing you can do is pray." Doing that, one travels the same path as these two friends of God.

Welcome back

Probably the last significant posts I made before going on hiatus were about Chaplain Teresa Darden Clapp of the Rockland County Jail in New York. She was suspended earlier this year for having distributed Jack Chick tracts that attacked Islam (not surprising if you are familiar with Chick's work). Over the summer arbitator Paul Bailey ruled that she should be suspended for 30 days without pay, which she had already done:

Bailey called for Clapp to be retrained and for the Rockland County jail where she works to set standards for distributing religious material.

Earlier this year, inmates complained Clapp was passing out anti-Islam booklets.

In the cartoon panel stories, a tract titled "Men of Peace?" said Islamic fundamentalists who commit terrorist acts are not "bad Muslims" but "very good Muslims" who act in accordance with their religion. Another tract, titled "Allah Has No Son," said Allah is not God, Muhammad was no prophet, and the Quran is not the word of God. Both stories end with people being convinced Islam is false. In one, a Muslim converts to Christianity.

In recent testimony before Bailey, Clapp said the materials were sometimes too voluminous for her to read before distributing them. She said she apologized and removed the cartoon panel booklets as soon as an inmate complained, and she acknowledged she had erred by bringing them in.

This both a good end to the incident, and a window into one part of detention chaplaincy. First, rarely do chaplains have enough time to get everything done, even all the really necessary stuff. Few facilities ever have the resources to hire and support enough chaplains. Also, in more and more cases you have a small group of (usually Evangelical) chaplains trying to supply pastoral care to prisoners with an ever widening array of beliefs and practices. Most chaplains work hard to be fair to all groups, and to support the religious freedom of all inmates. Sometimes just trying hard is not enough. At some time I will go on with what I think chaplains need in support from the rest of us. Until then, I'm glad that Ms. Clapp is back on the job, and wish her the best.

Up in a tree

Just some brief reflections this time on the readings for the 31st Sunday in Ordinary Time:

• Wisdom 11:22-12:2
• Psalm 145:1-2, 8-9, 10-11, 13b-14
• Second Thessalonians 1:11-2:2
• Luke 19:1-10

There is a lot to think about in this passage -- in particular Zacchaeus himself. This is, among other things, a redemption story. The assumption is generally that Zacchaeus, as a tax collector, must be dishonest and despised. The problem is that some who have researched the period dispute that, for a variety of reasons. Some commentors speculate whether Zacchaeus decision to change occurred during this passage, or some time before. It really can be hard to tell.

There is one thing that is sure -- once Jesus addressed him, he had a critical decision to make. He had to get down out of the tree.

He had climbed up in that tree, as it was the most practical and comfortable spot to look for Jesus. Up out of the crowd, he had a good view. Many of us are like that -- we are involved, somewhat, in the church and have found a comfortable spot to see what is going on.

But the time will come where Jesus calls us to stop being spectators. We have to go from our safe spot up in the tree to back down into the grumbling crowd.

Quote: Albert Nolan, O.P.

If we simply repeat the formulas of the past, our words may have the character of doctrine and dogma but they will not have the character of good news. We may be preaching perfectly orthodox doctrine but it is not the gospel for us today. We must take the idea of good news seriously. If our message does not take the form of good news, it is simply not the Christian gospel.

H/T to Preacher's Exchange

Let's see how this goes

Well, it has been some months, and I will stick my head up here for a while. I'm really not sure if this is a full return to blogging, or just an occasional adventure, but I have been getting the itch to write lately, and tonight I have the time to scratch.

The ground rules for this are simple: nothing direct or explicit about my work. That means nothing about specific facilities, persons, policies or situations -- there are better places for that if necessary, and authorization needed to put things there. But there are other things to think and write about, including some insights gained from detention ministry work in general. I'll stick to that.

On Hiatus

I have not posted here in a while, and it may be a long while before I post here again, if ever. It is not that I somehow have despaired of the blogosphere or something like that. It is simply that my own situation has changed, and there are certain restrictions that I now choose to work under. What it comes down to is that I have a new job -- in fact, a new profession -- and I am making changes as a result.

What happened? As of May 21, I am the new director of detention ministry for the Diocese of Fresno. I've held off discussing it for a while; at first it was because the process of filling that position was still in progress and therefore some confidentiality was involved. Since then, I have been waaaay too busy, and wanted to get a feel for the job. Now that things are public, I have made the decision to back off from blogging, for some specific reasons.

Before I explain further, a few notes on the job itself. The Diocese of Fresno is the community of Roman Catholics in eight California counties (Mariposa, Merced, Madera, Fresno, Tulare, Kings, Kern, and Inyo). We are a large diocese in area with some rapidly growing urban areas in Fresno, Bakersfield, and to my shock, Merced. There are many contrasts -- for example this area is best known as possibly the most productive agricultural area on earth, as well as being the home of the United Farm Workers. This area is generally more conservative politically, with more of an emphasis on church and family than other areas of California -- but that is a relative thing.

This area is also home to more prisons, jail, work or boot camps, and prisoners that any other Catholic diocese in North America, and perhaps the world. Depending on how you count them, there are about 65 different detention facilities in the 8 counties, holding about 80,000 inmates. This ranges from overnight lockups, juvenile boot camps, and privately run minimum security facilities to Corcoran State Prison which holds Charles Manson and Sirhan Sirhan (among many others) and the condemmned unit at Central California Women's Facility near Chowchilla.

Why here? The southern end of the San Joaquin Valley is one of the "sweet spots" for prison construction (along with the Susanville and "Inland Empire" areas) with the combination of large parcels of available land (a prison takes more than a square mile of land, in one piece) with and local governments eager for economic development. In some parts of California, people fight to keep prisons from being built. Out here, cities fight to get them. This state began a big push for new prisons in the 1980's, and the current situation is the result. There are more facilities on the way.

My job? I support the professional chaplains at the bigger facilities, and the parish teams of volunteers that handle other facilities, and work with the prison chaplains. This is where the real ministry is done -- my work is to make it possible for these servants of God to do what they are called to.

One thing that does not appear on the Office of Ministries web page, but is on my formal job description, is that work to see that detention ministry policy set by the bishop of Fresno is followed. I have had policy jobs before, and one reality is that some people find it hard to make a distinction between your opinions and the policies you support, especially when public statements are involved. And there are few things quite so subversively public as a blog. Also, the amount of confidential information involved is challenging. We need to protect people's privacy, whether in or outside of prison, and there are questions of personal security involved.

Of course, it does not help that I am very busy now. This hiatus is not something that the diocese asked for, I think it is the responsible thing to do, under the circumstances. I do have some thanks to post a bit later, and that will be it for a while.