I woke up this morning...

Not to sound like a blues singer, but I woke up this morning with the vestiges of my cold causing me far more grief than they really should (I am an impatient Kraut, so ven tings are supposed to get better, zey must get better now or somevun ist going to haf some explaining to do!). Anyway, I had a little sniffle and that made me think "not another day!" But it went away (notch another one up for the martini cure - last evening, sick and tired of slow but steady progress, I drank a martini and ate a rich meal. Sure enough, symptoms faded to near nothingness).

But, not content with a 99% cure, I signed on to the Internet to check email and found that I could have started my day by being found, shivering, dirty, long-haired and afraid in a hole in Iraq, and it dawned on me: any of us who are not Saddam Hussein should be very happy. If he thought that losing the war was bad, wait till he gets a taste of a public trial, which will be tremendously humiliating for him. And just when he thinks that is bad, if he does not repent, just wait for the Last Judgement.

So, since I did not get aroused by many heavily armed soldiers from a dirty hole, with long hair, and facing at least public humiliation and most probably eternal damnation (if you were the confessor, what sort of penance would you give the guy?), I really can't complain.

Instead it was a beautiful fall day (depends on the block, some of the Bay Area is still in fall foliage, other parts have begrudgingly accepted winter. We are in the autumnal sector), mass was beautiful, and Amalia behaved perfectly. I was on head usher duty and did not have to deal with any madmen (the biggest drawback to the job in an urban church is fending off the madmen. If it were just a matter of shooing them away, it would be simple, but seeing as how some of these poor fellows need the church the most, one must always try to get them to first just sit down and not disturb anyone. The second biggest drawback is fending off the ones who think that I must have a direct line to the archbishop (I am passing out programs after all!), and can DO SOMETHING about the outrage that Fr. Such and Such commited at mass last Wednesday).

But we had none of that today. Indeed the only person who was tempted to holler at His Excellency was me, and it is over a trivial matter that really should be discussed first with the offending party, who is really a kind and caring priest. So, it was a very good day, topped off by the smell of braising sauerkraut and pork spareribs.

But we still have the issue of this poor bastard in the brig. Tyrant, monster, genocide, etc. The score is pretty bad. However, if we are to take the Gospel at all seriously we have to look at Saddam and see the Face of Christ.

You see, I read all the CL stuff, and accept that intellectually. But to actually do it. Let's face it, it is tricky enough to accept the guy who stole the parking space from us this morning on Grant Avenue as our brother, how do we take this leap with a man who gasses women and children? Who kills his own family members?

Always something to pray about, I guess.