Everett Jenkins 2018

The following email was originally posted on August 30, 2018 As I previously mentioned, after my post on June 25 regarding Michael Jackson and the videos including the one from the concert at Wembley Stadium in 1988, I received a very nice email from one of my classmates regarding his own encounter with Michael at that very same Wembley Stadium concert.   My classmate has graciously consented to allow me to share his email and so I have done so below.  Reading Gregory's email made me a bit envious and caused me to wonder what other notable encounters with the famous others may have had.  If any of you have had such encounters, please feel free to share.  Some of us are consigned to live vicariously through the lives of others, so please do share any encounters with the immortals that you feel comfortable in sharing and allow us mere mortals to live.  Peace, Everett "Skip" Jenkins Class of 1975 P.S. My health is fine.  There are maintenance issues, as mi

The following email was originally posted on August 29, 2018 With all that is going on in the world, it may seem strange to note the birthday of a music icon who passed away almost a decade ago.  However, strange as it may seem, I do pause to remember Michael Jackson's birthday since he would have turned 60 years old today.  Somehow that number just does not seem to fit the man who seemed to be the eternal Peter Pan.  But time does march on, whether we want it to or not. In response to the email I sent in June, one of my classmates kindly wrote back and informed me that he was actually at the 1988 concert at Wembley Stadium in England that is depicted in the second video.  It was a most notable concert because not only was my classmate there but apparently so too were Princess Diana and Prince Charles.  It must have been a magical memory... one that seems to be too few in this life and this world. On this day, I invite you to once again partake of the videos sent with my

The following email was originally posted on August 27, 2018 Once upon a time, we, as a class, pondered the notion of having a lasting discussion on civility.  Sadly, the discussion did not last and we have continued onward into the age that we are in now.   The age we are in now is an age where there is less light.  Darkness seems to be prevalent and our most esteemed political and religious institutions seem to be mired in a maelstrom of divisiveness and despair.  And so it seems only right to note the passing of John McCain, a man who I disagreed with politically but who I admired for his principled stances and for his commitment to civility.  He was a light ... a beacon of civility ,,, whose passing has made this a much darker world but whose life story perhaps still provides a guide as to how we can make it through the storm to reach safe shores.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_McCain Peace, Everett "Skip" Jenkins Class of 1975 P.S. My fav

The following email was originally posted on August 26, 2018 Arrived home a few hours ago from a week long vacation in Kauai. Hawaii.  As most of you know, for the past week, the Hawaiian Islands have been threatened by Hurricane Lane, a hurricane that, for a time, reached Category 5 status.  On Kauai, there was great foreboding.  After all, it was only in April of this year that Hanalei recorded over 50 inches of rain in a 24 hour period of time. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2018/04/27/small-town-hawaii-may-have-just-had-rainiest-day-u-s-history/557654002/ The island has still not recovered from April's biblical flood but, nevertheless, Lane posed the potential of not only adding more water but also winds that would have been reminiscent of Hurricane Iniki https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Iniki Hurricane Iniki virtually destroyed Kauai. Given Lane's potential such destruction was feared to be imminent again.  But, on Wednesday, my you

The following email was originally posted on August 16, 2018 By now, most have heard about the passing of Aretha Franklin, the woman called by many the "Queen of Soul".  https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/16/obituaries/aretha-franklin-dead.html By now, most have also heard the accolades about how Aretha Franklin was a legendary R&B -- Soul -- singer who was the first woman inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aretha_Franklin However, for many of us, what made Aretha Franklin the "Queen of Soul" was not just the way she sang in concert halls but rather the way she sang in church.  When she sang in church, it would often send a shiver down one's spine and by the sheer force of her voice a spirit would move within.  It was the spirit rousing way that she sang that made Aretha the Queen of Soul not just in popular music but in gospel as well.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3UJxD2za1Y Rest in Grac

The following email was originally posted on August 16, 2018 Michael, The internet can be a wonderful tool ... and educational as well.  Taking up your challenge, this is what I found just this morning about the decanonization of saints https://abcnews.go.com/International/saint-saint-kind-demoted/story?id=23477573 and this article shows how, in the 21st century, the canonization process has indeed changed http://theconversation.com/who-becomes-a-saint-in-the-catholic-church-and-is-that-changing-81011 And so, Michael, it does appear to beg the question as to whether, over time, certain saints may be decanonized because the process for their selection may have been flawed. Any thoughts? Peace, Everett "Skip" Jenkins Class of 1975 P.S. Also, please note that from a Protestant perspective, the notion of saints has become broader to where all who call themselves "Christian" may be considered to be a saint https://www.livingluth