kwiseman's blog

I was born in Slaton, Texas in June of 1962 in a little community hospital. Slaton is a small farming community outside of Lubbock, Texas – an area with lots of cotton farming, oil pump jacks, and cattle ranching in the surrounding area.

Music is something that has always fed me. Music just makes me happy. I remember singing with my parents as a kid, singing in church from an old hymn book, singing in my basement bedroom to music my parents hated, and singing lullabies with my son in a Russian orphanage when we went to adopt him. Music has been a part of my life from my earliest memories.

I am off for the summer and am lucky that I am part of a profession that gets a few months each year when we are not in classes. I like the extra time to write, read, do a few workshops and conferences, and prepare for fall classes. But I also love the time I get to play with my kid, go to a few movies, and relax a bit.

A few weeks ago we attended an emerging church in downtown Philadelphia. The music was amazingly fresh, the message was timely and relevant, the worship stations around the room were spiritually inviting, and the multi-generational audience was a blessing.

On this Memorial Day Weekend I am reminded of all of the veterans who paid the ultimate sacrifice for our country, for our freedom, and for me personally. And I honor them. But it is not a holiday that I find easy to deal with. It is a time when we remember those who chose or were forced to go to war – and who lost their lives, paid amazing sacrifices, and left loved ones behind.

I just got home from seeing a Real 3D© movie. It was a very different experience from the early days of 3D when you wore the silly blue and red paper glasses that dug into the top of your ears as you watched.

I have been surrounded lately by times of uncertainty … uncertainty in a variety of forms and on a number of levels. I am keenly aware of many of my students preparing and waiting for a call to a church, members of my family anxiously yearning to learn results about health issues/tests, friends in need of a job and anticipating hearing back from applications or interviews, and so many others.

I had my final seminary class of the semester this week and I got quite emotional. As a class we have gotten very close. We have talked about our joys and concerns, prayed together, and shared parts of our lives together over the course of the last four months.

I love baseball.  I don’t mean I lightly love it … I am a bona fide, died in the wool, Baseball Hall of Fame card carrying, countdown to Spring Training, love ‘em even when they are losing kind of fan.  From April to October my computer and cell phone help me check scores and standings on a daily basis for my team – the New York Yankees.  I watch as many games as I can.  I JUST LOVE BASEBALL!!&nbs