I must go. Enjoy!

Dear Readers,

I started this blog over one year ago to try to spotlight some of the peacemaking, acts of love, charity, and positivity that often go unnoticed - with a religious twist. It has since evolved to also include random thoughts or cool things I've read. Unfortunately, the time has come for me to focus on other work.

My friend Adam-Who-I-Still-Think-Should-Become-A-Rabbi joined this blog a couple of months ago and posted a few times. That led to our new adventure, Worship, Gotham!

I am leaving Children of God, in part, to focus on our work on Worship, Gotham! (and, as you can see by the lack of posts, we've got some serious work to do).

But, I am also looking forward to my own writing. Earlier this year my wife and I went to dinner with our friend Mary. She asked us if there was anything we wanted to accomplish before we turned 30. I've never put an age-goal for accomplishments or activities but it did get me thinking. I want to write a book!

I will use the handful of minutes that it took me to blog here to write (books?) instead. I don't know yet the format that this writing will take. There's a children's book I wrote that I once submitted to a publisher and was rejected - perhaps I should go back, rework it, and forward it to other publishers. Maybe I'll write the great Latino American novel I've always wanted to write.

Whatever the case, you can rest assured that in all that I do, in all that I write, there will be hope, there will be love, and there will be God.

I highly recommend the following blogs in the meantime (I check these daily):
Between the 'Burgh and the City - an old NYU friend, Paul Snatchko, blogs about faith, politics, and more.
The Deacon's Bench - Deacon Greg Kandra ponders the world with great insight.
Vision-Mission-Passion - Dr. Barry Kolb, Wendy's uncle and LCMS pastor in Texarkana, writes about church life and sports.
Magdalene's Egg - an ELCA pastor talks sex, religion, and politics.
The American Muslim - Robert Salaam writes about religion, politics, and social issues from the American Muslim perspective.

Do you see a trend?

So, with a heavy heart and excitement for the future, I take leave.

Enjoy,

Christian Alberto Ledesma

Profane Bird in the Freezer

I borrowed this from Wendy's Uncle Barry, a pastor in Texarkana:

A young man named John received a parrot as a gift. The parrot had a bad attitude and an even worse vocabulary. Every word out of the bird's mouth was rude, obnoxious and laced with profanity.

John tried and tried to change the bird's attitude by consistently saying only polite words, playing soft music and anything else he could think of to "clean up" the bird's vocabulary.

Finally, John was fed up and he yelled at the parrot. The parrot yelled back. John shook the parrot and the parrot got angrier and even ruder.

John, in desperation, threw up his hand, grabbed the bird and put him in the freezer. For a few minutes the parrot squawked and kicked and screamed. Then suddenly there was total quiet. Not a peep was heard for over a minute.

Fearing that he'd hurt the parrot, John quickly open the door to the freezer, the parrot calmly stepped out onto John's outstretched arms and said, "I believe I may have offended you with my rude language and actions. I'm sincerely remorseful for my inappropriate transgressions and I fully intend to do everything I can to correct my rude and unforgivable behavior."

John was stunned at the change in the bird's attitude. As he was about to ask the parrot what had made such a dramatic change in his behavior, the bird continued, "May I ask what the turkey did?"

A Story about Character

Wendy's Uncle Barry is a Pastor in Texarkana. He writes a blog called Vission-Mission-Passion that I read often. Today's post has an article from the Associated Press that is pretty amazing. Basically, a Western Oregon University softball player hits a homerun, her first ever. But, she hurts her knee and can't continue past first. Her teammates can't help her because it's against the rules. That's when members from the other team, Central Washington University, get up and carry her around the bases. Read about it below:

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - With two runners on base and a strike against her, Sara Tucholsky of Western Oregon University uncorked her best swing and did something she had never done, in high school or college. Her first home run cleared the center-field fence. But it appeared to be the shortest of dreams come true when she missed first base, started back to tag it and collapsed with a knee injury.

She crawled back to first but could do no more. The first-base coach said she would be called out if her teammates tried to help her. Or, the umpire said, a pinch runner could be called in, and the homer would count as a single.

Then, members of the Central Washington University softball team stunned spectators by carrying Tucholsky around the bases Saturday so the three-run homer would count - an act that contributed to their own elimination from the playoffs.

Central Washington first baseman Mallory Holtman, the career home run leader in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference, asked the umpire if she and her teammates could help Tucholsky.

The umpire said there was no rule against it.

So Holtman and shortstop Liz Wallace put their arms under Tucholsky's legs, and she put her arms over their shoulders. The three headed around the base paths, stopping to let Tucholsky touch each base with her good leg.

"The only thing I remember is that Mallory asked me which leg was the one that hurt," Tucholsky said. "I told her it was my right leg and she said, 'OK, we're going to drop you down gently and you need to touch it with your left leg,' and I said 'OK, thank you very much."'

"She said, 'You deserve it, you hit it over the fence,' and we all kind of just laughed."

"We started laughing when we touched second base," Holtman said. "I said, 'I wonder what this must look like to other people."'

"We didn't know that she was a senior or that this was her first home run," Wallace said Wednesday. "That makes the story more touching than it was. We just wanted to help her."

Holtman said she and Wallace weren't thinking about the playoff spot, and didn't consider the gesture something others wouldn't do.

As for Tucholsky, the 5-foot-2 right fielder was focused on her pain.

"I really didn't say too much. I was trying to breathe," she told The Associated Press in a telephone interview Wednesday.

"I didn't realize what was going on until I had time to sit down and let the pain relax a little bit," she said. "Then I realized the extent of what I actually did."

"I hope I would do the same for her in the same situation," Tucholsky added.