Famous Margarets

Below is a partial list of all the famous "Margaret"s in history. It is, by the way, an ancient name derived from Greek, meaning "pearl." Those of us "pearls" sometimes wish we had been named something else, especially when we were young. It's hard to imagine a little girl being called Margaret, even harder being that little girl. But age helps, and even though the name still has a growling, Teutonic sort of sound, I have grown to appreciate it -- even love it.

So here is the list of famous Margarets (obviously not in alpha order):

Margaret Mead
Margaret Mitchell
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Atwood
Margaret Sanger
Margaret Geller
Margaret Truman
Margaret Corbin
Margaret Fuller
Margaret Spellings
Margaret Geller
Margaret Chase Smith
Margaret George
Princess Margaret
Margaret Carlson
Margaret Walker Alexander
Margaret Knight - "Queen of the Paper Bags"

Who Steals Car Keys??

We are members of our local YMCA and stop in most afternoons after work to do our half-hour, and I have a scantag on my car key ring that I use to get in. I always have to change into my workout clothes in the ladies restroom (not the most conducive place for changing clothes but the only viable option here), and ordinarily the first thing I do is to drop the keys I'm still holding into my gym bag. Today I placed them on the toilet tissue dispenser instead.
After our thirty minutes, as my husband and I were placing our gear in the back seat, I dug into my bag to retrieve my keys. No keys. No problem, or so I thought. I went back inside, fully expecting them to be at the front desk. They were not there. I checked the bathroom, the exercise room where I placed my bag while I exercised, and then dumped my bag on the back seat. No keys. Apparently whoever found my keys in the bathroom thought they had scored a big one and decided to keep them.
Who does that! If I had not been with my husband, I would have been so stranded. I cannot imagine an adult NOT turning in car keys, and I can't imagine why a child would want them. This one has me stumped.

In Sunday's Houston Chronicle there was an article of the front page about the irratic oil prices and what on earth could be causing them. (For some reason, no one seems to direct their gazes at the oil people who are making billions of dollars and could just simply NOT raise the prices as much as they do for the suppliers, who in turn raise them for the local dealers. If I've got this process wrong, someone out there please correct me.)

Anyway, the article went on to imply that the runaway price of a barrel of oil can be traced in part of energy futures speculators. That may very well be true. But then the article goes on to point a hypocritical finger at the Texas Teacher Retirement Fund. Because the retirement fund began investing in energy futures several years ago, albeit to the tune of $40 million, it is now the teacher retirement system to blame for the rising gasoline prices! Please!

Teachers have been blamed for almost any ill of society that one could think of -- from teen pregnancy to high taxes. Now it seems that we are responsible, or our retirement money at least, for the horrendous gasoline prices. What will we have to take the blame for next?? Global warming???

God's Unfailing Love

Reading this morning in Psalm 46, the words come vibrantly alive in light of the events of the past few weeks. Natural disasters stun every part of creation; nothing is spared. And nothing makes us human beings feel less in control or empowered. Tsunamis do not bow to king or commoner; hurricanes and typhoons ask no government's permission; earthquakes never send evacuation plans to the people in their paths. We are at the mercy of the non-predictable.

So, the words of this psalm are reassuring: "we will not fear though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though the waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging." Why will we not fear? Because "God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble."

If we trust God and run to him for refuge, does that mean we will escape the typhoon or the earthquake? Of course, not. Creation's good rain and pleasant days fall on the good and the evil; so do the storms and disasters. The difference is this one word: fear. We will not "fear". We may be hurt; we may suffer loss; we may have grief, but we will not fear. His unfailing love surrounds us no matter the wrath of nature or man.

God's Unfailing Love