How incredible is this? My jaw dropped seeing so many things that she could do. We have more potential than this person by the sheer physical aspect. But she over-achieves most of us and leaves us in the dust. What is the key component of her living her life? I don’t have the same level of motivation and determination, but it’s a great reminder to not let my (your) circumstances hold me (you) down. And, I hope to work on this part about myself in the coming year.

I read an article on MSN titled ‘Faith-Based Politics: the Obama Way’. I was intrigued because the article talked about how Obama is a Christian and how he is the first prominent leader that is not a religious figure. But the article also mentioned that he may bring on a new evangelical “flair” to the administration. So, I read on.

But this is where the article got me. In one paragraph, it stated, “Where Bush has been a Christian imperialist, Obama will be a Christian pluralist. While his own conversion roots him firmly in the Christian faith, his intellectual skills and international experience allow him to understand that there are many paths to the truth.”

That did not sit well with me. Of course, Obama didn’t write this article, and so he may disagree with what was written, but if that is true, if he believes that there are many paths to the truth.. then God help us. If he believes that, he’s traveling in the wrong direction, and that will be especially dangerous because he will be the one leading this country. The writer of the article, who is an assistant professor of philospohy of religion spoke of this “non-hierarchical conception of faith”. But that doesn’t make any sense. Faith is the belief or confidence in something higher than us. So what would be the point of faith, if the object of our faith was not higher than us and didn’t have any more power than we do?

What do you think?

article link: http://www.theroot.com/id/48879?GT1=38002″

“Life isn’t like a box of chocolates. It’s more like a jar of jalapenos. What you do today might burn your butt tomorrow!”

Today, I found some very interesting tidbits about our presidential candidates and democratic vice presidential candidate, in the area of charitable giving. Sarah Palin’s tax return has not yet been released to the public.

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama’s tax return indicated that the most he has ever given personally to charitable causes was 5.8% – 6.1%.

Democratic vice presidential candidate Joe Bidens has been “amazingly tight-fisted” in his charitable giving.  Despite income ranging from $210,432 – $321,379 over the ten-year period, the Bidens have given 0.06% – 0.31% of their income. In 1999, the Bidens gave just $120 to charity. It blows my mind that a couple earning over $200,000 per year would give just $2 per week to charity.

Republican presidential candidate John McCain’s tax returns show that he gave 27.3% – 28.6% of his income to charity in 2006-2007.  During the same period, the Obamas’ tax returns show that they gave 5.8% – 6.1% of their income to charity.

I know this is not a deal-maker/breaker, but I think it speaks volumes about a person’s character. I believe that the amount of giving reveals the degree of self-centeredness of the individual. Do they really care about others or do they really just love themselves?

So where is your heart? “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Matthew 6:21