Sunday, April 13, 2008

I'm back

Got back this afternoon from a quick weekend trip to Nashville, where I attended an amazing event: the taping of two DVDs by Christian singer David Phelps.

If you've never heard of David, take a minute and check out his web site. Listen to the clips. Pick up a CD or two. You'll find that David possesses a talent that can only be described as otherworldly, but he is as approachable and down-to-earth as your neighbor. His message is of the hope and peace that is found in the love of Jesus Christ -- and that's a message that needs to be heard in our world today.

I've followed David for more than 10 years now, and all I can say about this weekend is that it was unlike any event I've ever attended. I can't wait for November, when the DVDs will be available!

So I've been out of the political loop a bit over the last couple of days, but I'm sitting here watching the replay of CNN's Compassion Forum, which I missed earlier. They're at the halfway point right now, with Hillary Clinton just having wrapped up. My first impressions from her stint on the stage is that she had some good moments (her response when asked whether God wanted her to be president was particularly good), but overall she seemed as though she was choosing her words carefully. It's unclear whether she was trying to say the right thing or trying to avoid saying the wrong thing. But to me, much of it seemed forced.

Of course, I was particularly interested in Clinton's response when she was asked whether she believes life begins at conception. She responded that she believes "the potential for life begins at conception." The obvious follow-up question would be, "So when do you believe life begins?" But Campbell Brown asked the initial question; unfortunately, she can always been counted on to either ask a useless follow-up question when it isn't necessary or, as in this case, not ask the obvious ones when they are crucial. She was true to form, and that rendered the rest of Clinton's answer -- something about children in Romania who were abandoned after the government followed women around and made them bear as many children as they could? -- irrelevant.

We'll see how Barack Obama does.