Son of Timatollah

The Huffington Post is something I usually scan once a day or so. It's not as completely devoid of meaning for me as the ranting "Bush bad, us good" lunacy at The Daily Kos, but there's something about it I just don't care for.

Every so often, however, something good pops up. Like the following, excerpted from this by Cenk Uygur:

A priest is on a boat that starts to sink. Everyone gets on a lifeboat and they invite the priest on the boat. He declines, "God will save me, I don't need a lifeboat." As the ship sinks further, another shipping vessel comes by and offers to rescue the priest. The priest again turns down the offer, "God will save me, I don't need your ship." Finally, as the situation becomes precarious, a helicopter is sent in to take the priest to safety. But again he refuses saying, "God will save me ..."

As the water is about to overtake him, the priest shouts out to God in anger, "My God, why have you forsaken me?" God replies, "I sent you a boat, a ship and a helicopter. What else did you want me to do?"

In a not complete disconnect, I heard this song by Dolly Parton and Brad Paisley the other day. They were going on about "getting to where you're going" when they could start to love without holding back, doing what's right, etc.

Why wait 'til you're dead for something that may or may happen according to beliefs handed down from those no longer with us? Or even if you believe that, why wait? Do it now! (And if you read the article on Mr. Paisley and Ms. Parton, it sounds like the true subject of the song didn't wait: Why should any of us?)