"I wanna stay at the...

(photo from "Monkeys for Helping")

Deliciously blasphemous. hehehe

Penguins Party!

O.K., like much of the known universe, we went to see "Happy Feet" this weekend. What can I say? We needed to get out and have some fun... And it was. Funny, sweet, cool, corny, and - hey, Robin Williams is back at the top of his game. I love the understated message about different not being bad, just different.

I do wish we could have actually seen Savion Glover dancing... maybe during the end credits or something, but I guess that will have to wait for the DVD release as a special feature.

The only downside is the sledgehammer environmental message, more suited to "An Inconvenient Truth," it's a little heavyhanded for an animated flick. Otherwise, Party with the Penguins!

Tango Controversy

(Image of two male penguins from Wikipedia)


MSNBC online has this article about a "controversial" new children's book, And Tango Makes Three, about a pair of male penguins who hatch and raise an infant penguin. I admit I haven't yet read the book, which is based on a true event in New York City's Central Park Zoo. See update at the end.

The article relates the story of a woman whose 5 year old daughter brought the book home from school. She thought the book was charming, until a zookeeper in the book makes a comment that the penguins seem to be in love. At that point, she apparently stopped reading the story, and went on a search/crusade in the school district. The resolution proposed is to require parental permission to check it out! This is a book that is written for 4 to 8 year olds!

How many kindergarteners are going to be savvy enough to ask Mom or Dad if they can check out a book they can't even see? I've worked in school libraries -- kids choose books based on the pictures, the subject, or being part of a beloved series (e.g., Arthur, by Marc Brown). If this book isn't on the shelf, or in the bins some libraries use, it will never be checked out.

Male penguins have an important role in reproduction. They're responsible for keeping eggs warm until they hatch, as well as providing early parenting, as anyone who saw the hit documentary March of the Penguins knows. Why is it such a surprise that two male penguins might actually want to hatch an egg and parent the baby penguin? It seems to be hardwired into their nature. In fact, there's a new exhibit in a natural history museum in Norway, showing the scientific evidence for other cases of homosexuality and other sex/gender variations throughout the animal world. It sounds fascinating.

Update: I've read And Tango Makes Three, and I think it's an absolutely adorable book. The fact that it's a true story is great. The zookeeper does make the observation that Roy and Silo, the two male penguins, act as though they're in love, and decides to place a real egg in their nest. The explanation for why he did this is given at the end of the book - another couple had two eggs, and had never been able to manage raising more than one chick. The "extra" egg was placed in the males' nest in hopes that it would survive. Roy and Silo had been together for two years when Tango was hatched in 2000, and seem to have formed a life-long pair-bond.

Nature... stranger and more wonderful than I ever imagined...

A Post-Election Pastoral Prayer

(photo by the dh)

I was asked to be a pulpit guest this past Sunday, preaching to a congregation that had a large number of folks who'd worked hard to defeat a referendum on a constitutional amendment to ban civil unions and gay marriage. Well, the referendum was passed. Many in the congregation were grieving, are grieving. The only reasonable thing to do seemed to be to preach the sermon I'd written (on historical parallels between the civil rights movement and the movement for marriage equality - with oppression linked to interpretations of certain biblical texts), and acknowledging the pain and anger, but tempering it with hope. The reading I chose was from Vaclav Havel's "The Politics of Hope." The sermon led into this pastoral prayer:

"Please join me in a spirit of prayer or meditation. This is modeled after the style of guided meditation practiced in the Mindfulness Center, but it can be a prayer...

Breathing in, I am stunned by the pain of betrayal, the same blow felt by my brothers, sisters, companions, classmates...
I also feel anger as an ally, parent, child, and sibling…

Breathing out, I offer compassion, support, hugs, and bows of gratitude to all who worked and prayed and kept the faith.
--
Breathing in, I cry for the fear and pain that caused so many to say yes to injustice...

Breathing out, I am grateful for those who speak out, serve, and act with integrity and compassion.
--
Breathing in, I recall the words of Reinhold Niebuhr who said, “Nothing that is worth doing can be achieved in a lifetime; therefore, we must be saved by hope.”

Breathing out, I dig deep within, and look for inspiration without, to the ceaseless efforts of Aung San Suu Kyi, Nelson Mandela, Wangari Maathai, and Thich Nhat Hanh, and others like them.

Let us share a time of silence for our own thoughts, prayers or meditation…
--
Breathing in, we know that we’re not alone; that the beloved community holds us, supports us, sustains us. We know that the spirit of courage and devotion to truth is among us.

Breathing out, we can move forward with hope, always hope, doing what we can for today,
and for tomorrow.
--
Amen"

(The "--" indicate pauses.)