I’ve obviously been away from the blog for a few days. I’ve kind of been in a bunkered down mode since the plane crash. I been reflecting on some of the larger issues in life, and haven’t felt like writing much on current events.
On Tuesday I attended the memorial service in Dalton, GA. The nearly three-hour long service included life sketches, photographs, music, memories, and some preaching. I thought Jeremy Arnall’s was the most effective in conveying a sense of who his brother was. Undoubtedly it was extremely difficult to talk of his twin brother on that stage, but Jeremy was very composed.
One of the most moving moments of the service was when Dave Cress’s eight-year-old daughter played a hymn on the piano. She, likewise, held up very well. I, on the other hand, found the thing to be very difficult to watch.
On the flip side, I did get to visit with a few former Cohutta Springs Camp co-workers who I hadn’t seen in several years. It’s regrettable that it took this event to bring us together. But their companionship made the evening a little easier to take.

A Knoxville-bound plane crashed north of Chattanooga yesterday, killing the pilot and four regional administrators of the Seventh-day Adventist church. The group was en route to a ministerial meeting at the Knoxville First Seventh-day Adventist Church.
More coverage on the crash here, here, and here. (UPDATE: WATE TV news video available here.)
I personally knew one of the crash victims, Elder David Cress. He was a really great person. I’ll have some reflections on him soon.
My prayers go out to all of the families affected by this tragedy.

Microsoft has introduced a new weblog service called MSN Spaces. Presumably, it’s easy to use, but only offers limited customization.
Since these new “spaces” have comments, I wonder if this move will egg on the comment spammers (if that’s possible).

Perhaps I’m leading a trend:

Census Bureau figures for 2003 show one-third of men and nearly one-quarter of women between 30 and 34 have never married, nearly four times the rates in 1970.
. . .
Data from the Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey released this week show the age at which someone typically marries for the first time increased from 20.8 for women and 23.2 for men in 1970 to 25.3 and 27.1, respectively, last year.
In 1970, about 6 percent of women 30 to 34 had never married; the figure was nearly 23 percent in 2003. The rate for never-married men in the same age group increased from about 9 percent to 33.1 percent.

On the other hand, there’s this:

Census figures also show fewer Americans at older ages who never have been married. In 1970, 8 percent of people 65 and older never had married; now it’s 4 percent.

There are several trends at work here, and your results may vary. I’m a little intrigued when I hear about people getting married in their teens or early twenties; seems like many people’s lives don’t settle down until they are in their mid-twenties. But perhaps that’s just me.

I’m watching the evening news to see Tom say good bye. I rarely watch NBC news, but want to see if he strips down or does something crazy as he leaves the set.
I understand the attachment viewers gain toward the major news personalities, but I’m not sure I get the big brouhaha about how this may change network news. For the most part, these guys just read what other people provide, right?
Anyway, the program lead with almost breathless report about how Pentagon sources are claiming that the offensive on Fallujah may be a “turning point” in the war against the insurgency.
Oh brother.
How many times have we heard that one before? Let me count the ways.
–Fall of Baghdad
–Killing Saddam’s son’s
–Capture of Saddam
–Transfer of “sovereignty”
And I’m sure we’ll be turning the corner again whenever they have elections.
Anyway, best wishes to Brokaw. Brian Williams will do just fine as his replacement.