Been there, done that

The older you get, the more scenery there is in life's rear view mirror, and should something unexpected pop up on the road ahead, you likely recognize it as similar to a place you've already been. I've experienced that this week.

There are a lot of things about which I have opinions and could write a column. For example:

(1.) In the battle for delegates to the Democratic Party convention, especially those from Florida and Michigan, the Clinton camp doesn't seem to understand you shouldn't expect to get a "do over." I have opinions about this, but I've seen crazy politics before and I can't really get excited over it.

(2.) Then, there is Barack Obama's resigning of his membership in the recently controversial Trinity United Church of Christ. I have an opinion about the sermons preached there by retired pastor Jeremiah Wright Jr., and Father Michael Pfleger. With friends like these, Obama doesn't need enemies. I could say this has been a great example of the importance of keeping the church out of politics and politics out of the church. But devote a whole column to it? This too shall pass.

(3.) Gas prices would be a good subject for a column, except that topic has been beaten for so long and by so many people there really isn't much more to be said. A friend told me about a supermarket offering a 10 cent per gallon discount if you use the store's credit card in paying for it. I usually pump about 12 gallons, which would mean a savings of $1.20. That won't buy me a dozen eggs at the same store.

(4.) Several friends have lost their jobs, a scary thought. But it's happened to them before and they've found new and better paying ones. Too bad it had to happen again, but there is a sense of dÈ©jà vu in this.

(5.) My aging back and knees hurt. Spinal stenosis in the back, they tell me. I had never heard of it before, and "now I are one." Now that I've come out of the closet on this one I've discovered half of my friends also have it. And knee replacements? I doubt that you can join AARP if you haven't had one. What's to get excited about?

(6.) Of course, I could always fall back on the Cubs and the World Series. It's been 100 years since they've won one, and 63 years since they've played in one. They just might make it this year. But I've seen the Cubs tease us and then drop us far too often to have much faith. And I was there as a spectator in 1945, the last year they were in the Series. Not too many people can make that claim.

My point in all of this is that I've lived long enough to have developed a faith in the future and in the God who I believe controls it. I hope I never lose a feeling of excitement about life, but I find it almost impossible to see either Utopia or Armageddon waiting around the corner. There is stability in that kind of orientation to life, and it plays well.

At least, it does in my world.