"When a penny in the coffer rings..."

You have got to check this out.

I decided (after listening to all the hoo-hah about global warming) to try and figure out what my "carbon footprint" was. What could it hurt to determine my personal responsibility for the planet's slow drift into the grave? So I googled up some sites that might help me calculate my culpability and ended up at a place labeled www.conservation.org.

Once on the site, I was invited to join the Dixie Chicks and Pearl Jam in their fight to save the planet, and then was led through a series of questions about my housing situation, automobile usage, etc. Apparently, I am personally dumping 18.5 tons of bad carbon into the air every year. Mea culpa. Mea maxima culpa.

Here's the kicker. At the end, was a little "invitation" from the site's sponsors: I can send them money to offset my environmental debt. The good people at conservation.org assure me that a donation of $185 will eradicate the effects of the carbon that I produce each year. Such a deal!

But wait just a minute. That sounds vaguely familiar.

Of course! 490 years ago, Pope Leo wanted to build a new church in Rome. So he sent preacher/salesmen into the German territories with a deal for the peasants: give us money and we'll give you a plenary indulgence...the entire forgiveness of all your sins (or the sins of a loved one already suffering in purgatory). They even had a catchy slogan: "When a penny in the coffer rings, another soul to heaven springs."

Times change. Back in the early 16th century, people were terrified at the prospect of spending eternity in hell. Here in the 21st century, people are terrified at the prospect of being blamed for hell on earth. Isn't it interesting that the solution to the problem doesn't seem to have changed at all. Apparently, you can still buy forgiveness.

Yikes!

Finally...

At long last, we have snow on the ground. And it's cold...supposed to get down into the teens tonight.

I know it's not a popular idea, but I love this time of year and this kind of weather. I'm not sure why. Maybe I didn't get my share of snow angels and snowball fights as a kid, although I seem to remember enjoying plenty of those. Maybe it's because I've been blessed to have always had enough food and a warm place to live so that I haven't had to face the cold like some folks do. Or maybe my medication just needs adjusted again. Who knows?

For those of you living in (or fleeing to) warmer climates: you're missing out on a beautiful thing. I just wish my knees still worked so we could go skiing.

Resolution...

At the beginning of the year, I had privately resolved to do a better job of keeping up with my blog. Now that it's the 20th of the month, I finally got around to it...and have discovered that I don't have much to say.

Lord, what a mess. Commitment with no urgency. Energy for the task, but not the eloquence to pull it off. More and more each day, I come to appreciate what Luther is after when he labels human beings "simul justus et peccator." It's not just a theological statement; it is true, practical and insightful anthropology. We are divided creatures whose intentions and actions rarely correspond with one another. (And sometimes, that's a good thing.)

"Wretched man that I am! Who can rescue me from this body of death?" See Romans 7:25 for the answer to that one.