Fit for a First Lady

Last night we had grits and waffles for dinner because it's Michelle Obama's favorite breakfast. My oldest son took quick objection (and ate the waffle quickly, too) to the idea of first ladies as a cultural institution. This lead us directly to the scenario of a female president.

What will happen when America really shows its open-mindedness and elects a brilliant, female statesperson as president? Posit that she has a husband, what will he be called? The first gentleman? Will people comment on his great outfit on inauguration day? What good-will causes will he advocate for? What rude political cartoons will arise because of his gender and his position?

This depresses me, but the meal was a hit.

Hot Cross Buns and the Grand Inquisitor

Thou didst not come down from the Cross when they shouted to Thee, mocking and reviling Thee, "Come down from the cross and we will believe that Thou art He." Thou didst not come down, for again Thou wouldst not enslave man by a miracle, and didst crave faith given freely, not based on miracle. Thou didst crave for free love . . .
--the Grand Inquisitor in The Brothers Karamazov

On Good Friday some children enjoyed these hot cross buns. The youngest child, about 18 months old, did what children often do: she licked and bit off the frosting, and left the rest. It is perhaps fitting that an innocent chose basically to take only the sweetness. The cross, Calvary, along with Gethsemane, represent infinite suffering and a sweetness of infinite love. Perhaps, too, when given choice we can become as this little child and partake as she did.