(a) Whoever knowingly and willfully deposits for conveyance in the mail or for a delivery from any post office or by any letter carrier any letter, paper, writing, print, missive, or document containing any threat to take the life of, to kidnap, or to inflict bodily harm upon the President of the United States, the President-elect, the Vice President or other officer next in the order of succession to the office of President of the United States, or the Vice President-elect, or knowingly and willfully otherwise makes any such threat against the President, President-elect, Vice President or other officer next in the order of succession to the office of President, or Vice President-elect, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than five years, or both.

Romantic stories come in all flavors these days. The ordinary guy/girl who wins the heart of the extraordinary woman/man (Notting Hill or Pretty in Pink), the quirky couple who meet, can't stand each other until they finally find they love each other (When Harry met Sally or You've got Mail), the best friends who can't see their love for each other until moments before the credits run (Some Kind of Wonderful or Pursuit of Happiness), the boy wins the girl after fighting for her (Karate Kid II or Tuff Turf) and even the the world is determined to keep us apart, but we will be together no matter what anyone says story (Say Anything). Even going farther back in Hollywood's history these themes are played out ad naseum, and apparently that's a good thing, because the popularity of the overall genre never seems to fade. But in a special category is the soul mate/destined to be together movie. Being a rather cynical person, I am not normally mystic or romantic by nature, so I personally don't quite know what to do with the concept of the soulmate, that incredibly perfect person that Eharmony.com swears they can find for you. It is not to demean my marriage in any way that I say this, it is just if I am to believe Hollywood, there should have been some magical explosion, a flash of color, a moment of stunned amazement or something more tangible then a sense of attraction. I recently discovered my local library has an ever growing DVD collection, and I have been bringing home many odd movies just to see what they are all about, movies I wouldn't have wanted to spend money on. Yes...I am that cheap.

I have watched several movies lately with destiny and soulmates as the main theme, it makes me pause to consider. Is there such a thing as that person, who with the first view or the merest touch of their hand brings a tangible shock of recognition? So I went back and looked at a couple of off the wall varieties of this theme, as well as a couple of faithful standards.

This is an essay I wrote last year, that I decided to update and repost. And spell correct, but that's another story

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I am a Harry Potter fan. While I won't take the time to fully articulate why I like them so much, it is a basic fact that I, who missed the first 3 books completely, have become a complete fan. I have read all 5 books, repeatedly. This may not seem a tough feat, until you account for my children, with whom I have to compete for the novels. I have seen the movies and participated in many discussions, some polite and some heated, about the issues, events and concepts in the Harry Potter books. And of course I have been treated to the endless stream of articles proclaiming this or that truth about the books.

And through all of that, I have always had the nagging feeling that something is missing.

Some before me have pointed out a theological void in the books. There is no mention of churches, deities or religion, that is true. JK Rowling has very carefully kept modern theology out of her world. The only real inclusion is Christmas, but that is kept fairly secular. But honestly, in a way, the fact that Rowling prefers to keep her world somewhat secular does not bother me. There is certainly no doubt she has a clear perception of good and evil. If anything, the absence of religion at least helps us avoid the arguments of whether Harry is Protestant or Catholic.

No, I felt something else was missing, particularly in the School of Wizardry itself.

Art.

Two conversations recently juxtaposed to make me recall something from long ago. The first involved a question raised about angels. See, a friend of mine knows someone who claims to see and talk to them on a regular basis. He was wondering what we thought of that idea. The second was when my 18 year old son told me he was four wheeling earlier this week with some drunk friends and they rolled a truck. Fortunately he wasn't hurt, he landed on his head. So while considering the stupidity of my son, it occurred to me that many people would say "oh he must have had a guardian angel watching over him". I think maybe he did, but I am reasonably sure that the angel is also calling him a dumb ass, like I did. But in fairness, I have been just as stupid in my life, and the accident reminded me of one I was in when I was 17... There I was.... My best friend Steve and I went for a drive one day. We had borrowed a van from Bob Binford, our Young Life leader. It was as I recall a Ford 1/2 or 3/4 ton van, configured for construction use, with a large rack on top for hauling lumber. We were on a mission to procure some gravel from a large mound of it that we had noticed up a windy road in Los Gatos. So we drove up the road, parked and loaded more then a few buckets into the back of the van. We jumped in to head home and discovered a dead battery. We flagged down a passing motorist, but their cables would not work. It was then I discovered that side post terminals are a real pain in the rear. We walked a few miles to a friend (a teacher actually) of Steve's and they drove us back to the van where they too failed to jump start it. It was now dusk and we were unsure what to do. I was in favor if coming back the next day, but Steve's teacher had the bright idea to roll start the van. I protested...."Its an Automatic" I pointed out. He insisted that if we could get it up to 25 or 30 mph it work. (once upon a time, it actually was possible, but that was only on older cars....but I digress) Steve voted to go along with the roll start plan. So now the stage is set. We have: A large van with inoperative power steering and power brakes A young driver Its night time The battery is dead so the headlights are ineffective Its a downhill grade on a somewhat windy road The van has a cargo of several hundred pounds of gravel Scared yet? I was. So we piled in, they pushed us off, and away we went on Mr Toad's wild ride. Our goal was a long straightaway near the bottom of the hill where we would build enough speed to try the roll start but there were several sharp turns between it and us. The first couple turns as we gained speed were ok, but each progressive turn we were moving faster and it was getting harder to slow us down and turn. We had one final turn remaining until we reached the straightaway, a fairly sharp right turn. As we turned it, Steve lost control, and we crossed over the center line, sliding to the far edge. We couldn't see anything beyond that, it was too dark There was a loud BANG and we were back on the straightaway heading downhill very fast. Steve tried the roll start. It didn't work. Big shock there. Somehow I think I resisted the urge to say I told you so. We parked at the bottom in a dirt lot and took stock of the damage. We were unhurt, but the van was not. The lumber rack on the roof was bent, as was the bumper, and there was a dent to the rear quarter panel. We didn't find out from what until the next day. Steve's friends arrived and drove us home. The next morning Steven got his jumper cables (heavy duty side post compatible), and I drove us back up to the van. Of course it started up immediately. I think we scared it. I drove us up the hill to see what had happened. We found that the road where we lost control bordered a pasture/orchard, which slopped a long way down hill. Had we left the road, we would have rolled at least a dozen times easy, if not more. So why didn't we? Here is how we reconstructed it. Along the road's edge was a large tree. As we approached the edge, the weight of the gravel forced the van to fishtail. The rear end of the van impacted dead on to the tree, and the impact bounced us back on to the road. The roof rack took most of the impact as we were leaning from the turn, so the damage to the van was minimal. The tree was not too good looking, the impact cracked a 10 inch thick branch. So had the van left the road a little sooner or later, we would have been toast. As it was, we were just stupid....and very lucky So when people accuse kids of being stupid, I say "yup!" And when people ask if Guardian Angels exist, I also say "yup!" Mine apparently is a tree. Karl

The death of John Paul II and Terri Schiavo has a lot of people buzzing. Bill O'Reilly said "Schiavo then the Pope, back to back, there is a message here. It's no accident!" And my favorite local radio show put the question to the listeners: Is this a sign? A message? And the answer was overwhelmingly yes. So of course, I got to thinking. Yes, dangerous and all that. But seriously, is there a connection? A divine message? So I looked at the similarities and the overall situation and I admit it is kind of interesting. The Pope was a champion of the right to life movement. He (the Vatican) openly condemned the Terri Schiavo decision, calling it a "death sentence executed through a cruel method". They further noted "The circumstances of the death of Ms. Terri Schiavo have rightly disturbed consciences," Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls said in the first statement from the Holy See on the case. "An existence was interrupted. A death was arbitrarily hastened because nourishing a person can never be considered employing exceptional means." Concerning the Pope, the Vatican said " Pope John Paul II was informed of Schiavo's death, Martino said. The cardinal likened the pope's frail health, including resorting to a feeding tube, to Schiavo's case. The "comparison is easy," Martino said. "Everybody will do all the best to keep him alive, to feed him the way it can be done."" So even the Vatican has noted the comparison. Terri's feeding tube was removed, and near the same time, the Pope had one installed. Michael Schiavo (Claiming Terri's wish) fought to allow death, the Pope's caretakes fought to save his life. Yes, he was lucid while she was presumed vegetative, but he was also suffering Parkinsons and other ailments, and others in similar situations might have chosen not to take on tubes and resuscitation, so even his fighting for life was as apparent as the people fighting for him. But really the details aside, the biggest pause for me is the focal point of both of their lives. The Pope fought for the right to life. Terri was the focal point and is considered a victory of the right to die. That for me is the important similarity, or at least the sign that I see in this. In the passing of these two people, the culture of death has both gained a victory and a precedent; and it has lost a very serious opponent. So, does this then signal an impending defeat to the right to life? Does it signal a broadening foothold in the culture of death? I don't think so, at least I don't think its a conclusive prophecy. I think the message or sign is that the battle is here, it is real and it depends on everyone to be involved. John Paul II left us lessons in the value of all life, in fighting for life, in living itself, and in dying with dignity and serenity. He lived his life as a constant example of the unwavering fight of these principles. That humbles me. The Terry Schiavo case taught us lessons about doubt, hatred and love depending on the side you took, but mostly it taught me about secondary motivations that cause the principle to become more important the focal point. The principle of allowing her to die was more important then the possibility she could continue living and even show some chance of recovery. Her actual existence was less important then insuring her rights....And that scares me. Take what you will from their deaths, or take nothing, as you wish. The message for me is clear though. There is a war being fought around us daily. And as Paul says...."...Though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world....." Maybe its time to get serious and get involved.