A reflection on Good Friday

From Joe Carter's post about notifying the next of kin when someone in the military dies:

Over two millennia ago, the greatest “casualty call” in history spread throughout a small Roman province in the Middle East. The news that the truest friend, the most beloved son, the gentlest teacher anyone had ever known had been crucified must have spread like wildfire through the land, sparking the most profound grief our universe has ever known. From this side of the calendar we can’t begin to comprehend the magnitude of loss that must have weighed on the hearts of Christ’s followers, family, and friends. We look backward on Good Friday, seeing it from the perspective of the glory that came on Sunday morning. But they saw only the darkness and pain, the loss of hope and bewilderment; they saw nothing but heartbreak.

Scrabble Baseball Team

A team of professional baseball players whose first and last names are acceptable Scrabble words (via The Washington Post).

Professors and Politics

Nami Schaefer Riley's views on professors and politics (from The Washington Post, April 3, 2011):

A significant portion of the professoriate sees engagement in politics as part of the job description. ... The academy has not become politicized because of a few radical professors. Rather, entire departments and university administrations see the goal of higher education as political.

The Art of the Spreadsheet

David Greusel's post on The Art of the Spreadsheet encourages us to take a broad view of creativity:

What we miss when we limit creativity to "the arts" are the innumerable ways that humans express their creative nature in all kinds of work: in spreadsheets, in repairing things, in devising helpful gadgets, in combining recipes, in shopping, in tax accountancy. There is no realm of human endeavour in which creativity does not come into play.

Patron saint of teachers

Thursday (April 7) was the feast of Saint Jean-Baptiste de La Salle, a French priest who founded the first Catholic schools and is the patron saint of teachers.

A memorable game

On April 9, 1994, we saw the Baltimore Orioles defeat the Texas Rangers at Camden Yards. Here is the box score.