Sunday Morning Thoughts

Many, many years ago there was a comic strip set in a small western town somewhere around the turn of the century.  I can't remember the strip's title or the character's names.  I do remember there was one character who was sort of different.  He wore a side gun when almost no one else in the strip did.  I suppose he was sort of the gunman, the slightly disreputable guy in a relatively peaceful town.  I remember one Sunday's strip particularly.

Added:  It's wonderful what is available through Google.  The strip's name was Rick O'Shay, and the gunman's name was Hipshot Percussion.  I loved that comic strip, along with others that are no longer around.  IMHO, today's strips aren't nearly as good as some of the old ones, either in their art or the story, with very few exceptions.

In this particular strip, Hipshot was on his horse riding in the hills above the town, the sky was a sunrise red, the mountains and hillsides were in glory, everyone else in in church in the valley below.  He looked around at the vista and said that though he didn't go to church, this was as close to being religious as he could get, appreciating the beauty all around him.

In the very first sentence of this, new blog I said that "Even if I were not a true believer, and I'm pretty sure that I am not in many ways ...".  Today, I'm sitting at the keyboard rather than a pew.  I've read the paper, including the comics which don't seem to speak to me as often as in the past.  I'd rather be sitting here thinking about what to write, what is a believer, politics, and the sun flooding the room through my skylight.

Let me change the subject, just slightly.  Marrianna is on the phone downstairs with John, a very good friend.  He called because he had some news that he just had to share.  His daughter lives in northern California and is expecting his first grandchild in April.  John and his current wife can't afford to go.  This morning he received a phone call telling him that several friends of both he and his daughter had pooled their airline miles and got him and his wife tickets to come to California in April to be at the birth of their first grandchild.  John was almost in tears.

I think that small anecdote of people's goodness and generosity blends nicely with where I hoped to go.  John and I aren't believers in a god restricted by Christianity, Judaism, or other 'ism.  I wouldn't even attempt to say what John believes, and I still struggle to say explicitly what I believe.  It's always easier to say what I do not believe.

Today, however, I am not going to go either way, writing about what I do or do not believe.  John's story is sufficient.  People don't have to be religious to be inspiring.  If I had been in a pew this morning, I'd have missed this "good news".  Having John share it with us is as fine a gift as I can imagine.