Food and Fellowship and Movie

Today around noon we gathered at Chopsticks, a Chinese restaurant, for lunch. Attendees included Randy, Dawn, Marilyn, Jan, myself, Barbara, Audrey, and Molly. It was good to see Randy and Dawn after a long absence. I gave the treasurer materials to Randy.

This evening we saw a movie, The Monuments Men. I enjoyed the movie. This was the first time in quite a while the we went to the theater for a movie.

My remarks before the Tulsa City Council

This evening I would like to recognize two men who are regarded as heroes of humankind. Just last week we celebrated the 205th anniversary of their birth. They were both born on the same day: February 12. One was an American; the other was British.

The American to whom I refer is Abraham Lincoln. From humble beginnings, he rose to become the 16th president of the United States. He was also our commander in chief during that great trauma: the American Civil War. Because of his diligence in securing passage of the 13th Amendment to the U. S. Constitution, he is also known as the Great Emancipator.

Also born on February 12, in England, was Charles Darwin. It was Darwin who first gave us an understanding of our biological origins. For years people had speculated about the concept of evolution for it was not a new idea. But it was Darwin who amassed the data during his five-year long voyage on the Beagle to South America which provided the evidence for his thesis of biological evolution.

First published in 1859, The Origin of Species sold out on its first day. Regarded as a threat by the clergy of his day, the idea of evolution through natural selection has prevailed unto this day. It was an idea whose time had come, as the idea had been independently derived by a contemporary of Darwin’s, Alfred Russell Wallace. By giving us an understanding of how we came to be, Darwin can also be thought of as a Great Emancipator.

Humanist Delivers City Council Invocation

Yesterday we attended a concert at the Mansion on Peoria. The Mansion is owned and operated by the Tulsa Historical Society. We heard six ensembles performing string music. The program was comprised of music by Haydn, Beethoven, Ravel, and Mendelssohn.

That evening I went to the Tulsa City Council chambers where I delivered the Humanist Invocation on behalf of the Humanist Association of Tulsa. I will post the text of my invocation later.

We attend a forum on Climate Change

Tonight we attended a forum on cimate change at All Souls Unitarian Church. The panel was made up of Marvin Lavenhar, senior minister at All Souls, a minister from a church located in north Tulsa, and a professor from Oral Roberts University. Tonight's topic was "The ethics of climate change." There are three more presentations in the series. The next one will be "Global climate change and the implications for Oklahoma." The third program will be on the topic of "The effects of climate change." "Mitigating climate change" is the final program in the "Dialog on Climate Change" series.

At the next forum the speaker will be the state climatologist Gary McManus. Dr. Bert Fisher will speak at the third forum. Former governor David Walters will speak at the final forum.

Warm weather returns

Finally, after several days of below freezing temps, it has warmed up some. The last two times I spoke at Restoration, the weather was pretty bad. It was so bad that, were I not the speaker, I would not have gone.

Today was the day of the February HAT meeting. If you want to read about what happened there, go to www.tulsaha.blogspot.com.

We recently bought a new storm door to replace our older door. It was installed last Thursday.

Tomorrow is Sunday. I need to wrap this up and practice piano some.

About Fox News

"A 2012 poll found that people who listened to no news were better informed than those who listened to Fox news. --The Week, February 7, 2014

Recent happenings

We made a trip to Springfield last week to be of help to my parents and my sister. We make frequent trips to Springfield.

Last Sunday was Humanist Sunday at Restoration. It was another bad weather day. The snow started coming down heavily around 9:20 that morning. Marilyn called to see if plans for church had been changed. I told her church was still on as far as I knew. I told her I was going to go since I was the speaker that morning. I said she should use her judgment regarding traffic conditions and the weather.

Next Gail called to see if anything had changed. I told her I was going to try to get to church, but I advised her to stay home.

It was slippery getting to church, but I made it there driving very slowly. Attendance was down, naturally. I was about ten minutes late getting there. Mary R. and Larry H. were already there. On Humanist Sunday, Larry leads the R.E. hour. We read and talked about recent columns from "The Ethicist."

Altogether that morning there were five at church: myself, Larry H., Mary R., Edna (the pianist), and Rev. Debra. I was the speaker that morning, and my talk was titled "Darwin's Gift." In liue of the duet, I played a solo: "Can't Help Falling In Love."

On Monday morning, Gail had to drive her husband to the optomitrist. He anticipated his eyes would be dialated. We postponed our practice to some future time.

Today I went to the fitness center. It was time to pay our dues for 2014. I did that and then walked three and a half miles around the basketball court.