Just surfing and rambling...

Instapundit essay...
Great post over at Insta-Pundit about the uniqueness of America and how the experience of the Civil War is a part of that.

Bruin fan defends USC sort of...
As a UCLA fan, it pains me to know the odds makers are giving us 22 points. It would be a terrific end to a dismal season to derail USC's National Title hopes. However, it would seem the BCS computers are doing a fine job all by themselves. Ohio State jumped to #2 in the BCS poll but USC is #2 in the "human" polls. Look, as a Bruin, I want to see USC lose but ON THE FIELD not because some computer programers say so. In the article, there is a side-bar with speculation on how Oklahoma could lose one of their next two games and still wind up in the BCS championship game.

McLachlan's Music...
Recently downloaded on my iPOD is Sarah McLachlan's "Fallen". I'm new to her music. The instrumentals are outstanding and her vocal quality terrific. Then there are these lyrics:

Heaven bent to take my hand
And lead me through the fire
Be the long awaited answer
to a long and painful fight

Truth be told I've tried my best
but somewhere along the way
I got caught up in all there was to offer
and the cost was so much more than I could bear

Though i've tried, I've fallen..
I have sunk so low
I have messed up
better I should know
So don't come round here
and tell me i told you so....

We all begin with good intent
Love was raw and young
We believed that we could change ourselves
The past could be undone

But we carry on our backs the burden
Time always reveals
The lonely light of morning
the wound that would not heal
it's the bitter taste of losing everything
that i have held so dear.

Though i've tried, I've fallen..
I have sunk so low
I have messed up
better I should know
So don't come round here
and tell me i told you so....

Heaven bent to take my hand
nowhere left to turn
I'm lost to those i thought were friends
to everyone i know
Oh they turned their heads embarassed
pretend that they don't see
but it's one missed step
you'll slip before you know it
and there doesn't seem a way to be redeemed

Though i've tried, I've fallen..
I have sunk so low
I have messed up
better I should know
So don't come round here
and tell me i told you so....

Muscians are the poets of our day and put into words the inexpressible feelings many of us feel.

As I listen to this song, it is a sad one but I find myself hearing an echo of the Christian faith,
Heaven bent to take my hand and lead me through the fire...
Heaven bent to take my hand nowhere left to turn...
and there doesn't seem a way to be redeemed...

Oh, Sarah, I wonder if you were thinking of the Cross? Jesus taking up the Cross was "heaven bent to take our hands." The Cross, the emblem of suffering and shame of Roman totalitarianism seems to be the furthest thing from what it IS: redemption and freedom for all of us who have fallen.