Rex Forrest Johnson. An Afternoon with Cody. Sioux Falls, SD: Pine Hills Press, 2006.

Rating: 2 out of 5

“I am sandwiched between a seventy something woman and an even older looking man with a headset on listening to some very loud music. I can feel the vibrations of the tune as I stood next to the old geezer. Imagine what it is doing to his brain! Can we say, ‘mush brain?’ He is just bobbing his head up and down, back and forth, having a good old time…. He is oblivious to what is gong on until I tap him on the shoulder and point to my seat between them. I sat down between them and thought to myself that if this trip is 1400 miles, it is going to feel like 2800. The old man started tapping on both of his knees with open hands as if he was playing drums. The old woman and I looked at each other and smiled. I could not resist. I had to know to whom he was listening to. I tapped him on the shoulder and asked, ‘Who are you listening to?’ He responded with a shout ‘Def Leppard.’ I thought to myself, ‘Who in the world is Def Leppard?’ I just nodded my head and smiled. I thought, okay dude, whatever.”

In Rex Forrest Johnson’s new Christian novella An Afternoon with Cody, the narrator and central character Walter Withers grows to learn and appreciate the strange old man with the headphones. Yet this reviewer’s journey into the book’s fictional future made the 112 pages seem more like 224 or so.

The book’s theme is primarily evangelistic, using the changed life of 72-year-old title character Cody Brill to testify the loving power of Christ to a New York sportswriter 50 years his junior. Woven inside the tale of their summertime encounter at the Sioux Falls airport is Cody’s retelling of his life story, primarily his days as a martial-arts competitor and the conflict to be overcome with his family life.

Easily the most compelling and most interesting substance of An Afternoon with Cody is the background of the aged, eccentric character. Whatever genuine emotional and spiritual gravity is to be found in the story lies therein. It’s what kept the pages turning. I would have loved to see this part of the story developed more.

Elements of the title character appear to have been inspired by the author’s own life, a longtime martial-arts instructor, husband and father who recently moved from Pennsylvania to Dell Rapids, South Dakota. Following the production of two “Christ centered screenplays,” An Afternoon with Cody is Johnson’s first novel.

Unfortunately, the book as a whole falls well short in the chronological setting. While the book is advertised as being set in the year 2020, there is very little painted in the text to convey a sense of what makes the near future at all different from 2006.

I was left wanting more, so much more of a sense of what had changed with the times. In Johnson’s future, terrorism is commonplace but seemingly trivial. America appears to be ethnically and culturally monochrome. Virtually no new technologies are introduced to spur the imagination. Instead the reader is left to believe the scarcely realistic notion that America’s secular scientific community has foisted Intelligent Design on all public school students to distract their attention from the Creator. One is left to wonder whether the author has studied the basic contours of the origins debate at all.

Johnson’s vision of a society driven deeper into moral deterioriation almost seems trite by today’s standards. While it is good that the author is conscious of a family audience and steers clear from the gratuitous, it seems there would be a way to convey deeper symptoms of alienation and depravity than the assertion that by 2020 God’s name has been removed from U.S. currency. Even so, how did American evangelicals allow their elite institutions to strip God from the public square?

The author suggests that the surviving churches in American cities circa 2020 are mere remnants of a dried-up formalism. While the gospel is a remedy for cold hearts, Cody goes too far to dumb down the Trinity to “the three amigos.” Likewise, Withers’ appellation of “Buddy Jesus” demonstrates a too shallow conception of the Savior’s majesty. But shallow theology only follows naturally from an apparently shallow conversion experience.

Before making an unexpected layover in Sioux Falls, the young sportswriter has walked through life with no serious understanding of religious or spiritual ideas and no familiarity with biblical language, truths, or stories. Yet despite no serious trauma or crisis, one mere afternoon’s conversation with the unusual sage appears destined to drastically reorient his faith, reshape his life, and develop a love for Def Leppard.

The text also is littered with technical mistakes that detract from the flow of the story. As exemplified in the passage above, an abundance of typographical errors, inconsistent verb tenses, and dangling prepositions – along with the claim that King David’s story is located in the book of Acts – belie the acknowledgment that the novella had at least five different proofreaders.

After another round of careful editing, An Afternoon with Cody could better be condensed into a gospel tract booklet or expanded into a full-length novel with a richer setting and deeper character development. Otherwise the best this reviewer could say is: “Okay dude, whatever.”

Ben DeGrow, M.A., Husband, Father, Church Leader, Student of Scripture

Thanks to Stacy Harp at Active Christian Media for the opportunity to read and comment on this book. No remuneration was paid for this review.

Recently, Colorado Speaker Andrew Romanoff announced his intention to convene a task force to look at the recommendations for transforming the education system made by The New Commission on the Skills of the American Workforce and propose a plan for Colorado.

One other eminent source for ideas may be the New York Times editorial board, which today has advocated for the abolition of union-protected teacher seniority rights that often keep the most effective instructors from the neediest schools and students (H/T Edspresso):

Talented novices, with no seniority rights to protect them, often quit the field after being shunted from one place to another. Others give up on the urban school systems where the bumping process is most prevalent and high-tail it to the suburbs. Meanwhile, back in the city, schools are still cobbling together their staffs after the school year has begun. The revolving door turns, instructional time is lost and children suffer.

It’s another small step in the right direction for the Gray Lady, which just a month ago highlighted the success of the KIPP charter school program.

The New York Times is not writing here about an idea without significance to the Centennial State. We do know a similar “teacher gap” exists in Colorado and has an effect on many of our poorer urban schools, as identified by a recent study from the Alliance for Quality Teaching. While enacting and implementing such school personnel reforms in Colorado would be very challenging both politically and practically, it would be a clear sign of seriousness about getting the most out of our state’s education system.

Look for more ideas on Speaker Romanoff’s proposed education task force in the next several days.

John 1:14 (NASB) And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.

Wrote Charles Wesley:

Christ, by highest heav’n adored, Christ the everlasting Lord,
Late in time behold Him come, offspring of the Virgin’s womb.
Veiled in flesh the Godhead see, hail th’Incarnate Deity -
Pleased as man with men to dwell, Jesus our Emmanuel.
Hark the herald, angels sing
Glory to the newborn King!

Merry Christmas to all!

As usual, Cal Thomas puts things into perspective:

For a messiah figure to succeed, he must be matched to the real, not perceived, needs of his disciples. Are those needs economic and political, or are they moral and spiritual? If the former, by all means, vote for the best “deliverer.” If the latter, I can only give you what the angel Gabriel told Joseph about that Messiah: “He will save his people from their sins.”

That’s a real need no political messiah can meet. But the authentic Messiah can.

Kudos to the Rocky Mountain News for reporting this holiday heartwarmer. In your thoughts and prayers and actions, remember the troops at Christmastime.

The Mighty Blizzard of ’06 came and went, wreaking havoc on the eastern half of Colorado. Official tallies say Arvada got 22 inches, but the Virtus ranch netted 24.5 inches. And it stopped just in time for winter to officially arrive. All right, then.

For those of us who have yet to invest in a gas-powered snow blower, there was plenty of opportunity for regrets today. But the arms are a bit stronger for doing this sort of work:

Before

After

My friends, this storm didn’t kill us (no reported fatalities that I’ve heard of), but many Coloradans have been made stronger from it.Tomorrow it’s an attempted return to “normalcy” – or the best semblance of it that can be made with a rear-wheel drive vehicle.

El Presidente has more pics from his blizzard vantagepoint.

Update, 5:45 PM: Well, the 18 inch estimate I made a little less than 7 hours ago was definitely a lowball. We’re at 15 inches and counting here in Arvada. It looks like some other parts of the Denver metro area are getting hit even worse. With the snow set to continue until noon tomorrow, there’s no telling what the final total will be. But worse than the raw snowfall totals are the high winds, the white-outs and blizzard-like conditions. Pray for safety for those still on the roads.

To get an idea of the effect of the winds in creating heavy snow drifts around here today, I’ve posted this picture I took about an hour ago. Stay warm!

Jared has posted more pics from his location on the other side of Denver. For the official coverage, check out these:

Denver Post

850 KOA

9News

Colorado is being covered in a blinding blanket of fresh, powdery snow today. Right now, best guesses indicate that this area will be hit with 18 inches of snow through tomorrow at noon.

The weather conditions helped me determine that today would be a fine day to work from home and maybe take a few vacation hours along the way – and sit down this evening to some classic Christmas cinema.

Three random thoughts:

1. December / Christmastime blizzards are a lot more palatable than their March counterparts. Break out the Irving Berlin / Bing Crosby.

2. It isn’t often you can say that local TV meteorologists underpredicted a major winter storm.

3. Wouldn’t it just be easier to list all the school and business openings?

How often do the first day of Judaism’s Festival of Lights and the anniversary of the 19th century’s most influential composer’s birth coincide? Not very often I suspect.

Some medley ideas for the occasion: Hava Nagila and Missa Solemnis? The Eroica and The Temple? How about a kletzmer rendition of the “Moonlight Sonata”?
Enjoy!

A Denver Post story today has fueled the fires of speculation: could Dick Wadhams, the political genius who felled Tom Daschle, be coming home to Colorado to take the chairmanship of the state’s Republican Party? Well, Wadhams is indeed returning to Colorado, but he is not ready to show his hand quite yet. Jason Bane thinks the job would be beneath Wadhams – but he can’t be happy about this news. His colleague Cara Degette is more open about the terror being struck in her fellow Democrats’ hearts.

Right now, I’d have to admit that giving Wadhams the reins of the state party sounds like wishful thinking – even with Republican legislative leaders like Andy McElhany and Mike May making a lot of noise about the possibility. And unless Wadhams has some visionary ideas about how to revive the clout and importance of the state party in the McCain-Feingold era of campaign finance, Bane just might be right: his talents probably could be put to better use. (Making the chairmanship a paid position, as Dan Haley says some party insiders are talking about, would be a necessary – but not a sufficient – change.)

As Degette’s questions suggested, it seems probable that Wadhams is gearing up to manage an important 2008 U.S. Senate campaign here: but I believe Allard is not going to run for a third term (it seems apparent, however, that he has not yet decided himself), and Owens won’t be the one to run, either. Perhaps Bob Schaffer?

Having Wadhams back in Colorado at this juncture – regardless of what capacity he may be preparing to work in – is a nice palliative to revive the spirits of the Republican faithful in this state. Yet achieving electoral success and returning to power are going to require a lot more than just relying on the savvy of a leading political genius. For now, though, it’s at least nice to know a few of Colorado’s Democrat operatives will be having some sleepless nights in the near future.

Over at Thinking Right, Jim had the privilege of interviewing an American military man on duty in Iraq. Even though the situation over there is tense and difficult right now, we can’t take our eyes off the big picture. We need to encourage our leaders to follow the path to victory, and we need to encourage our troops. Besides the ideas shared in the interview, you should also make your voice heard at Let’s Say Thanks (H/T Jared).

Here’s a great idea: a blog dedicated to a new charter high school in northwest Jefferson County, outside Denver. Learn about the challenges and complications of working to bring a new public school option to life, and maybe find some inspiration for another charter school or charter school-to-be.

Inquiring minds want to know: How does Governor-elect Bill Ritter plan to pay for his socialized health insurance mandate? Inquiring minds include many respected members of his own Democrat Party:

Sen. Bob Hagedorn, D-Aurora, called Ritter’s proposal a “budget buster” and Rep. Bernie Buescher, D-Grand Junction, head of the Joint Budget Committee, said it could work, “but only if you don’t do the math.” Hagedorn said it would cost an estimated $240 million a year just to cover the 120,000 children in Colorado who don’t have insurance. “It’s a budget buster, but we have to decide on our priorities.

That’s not doing anything but funding those 120,000 kids and getting them enrolled,” Hagedorn said.

He said providing health care to all uninsured Coloradans could cost an estimated $1.8 billion a year, more than half of the proposed budget next year for the Department of Health Care Policy and Financing, which also is responsible for providing mental health programs, the Old Age Pension Health and Medical Fund, the Children’s Basic Health Plan, the Colorado Indigent Care Program and home care providers.

Buescher said Democrats, who control the House and Senate, can help Ritter keep his promise to provide health care, but only if the state can get waivers from the federal government to shift money from other mandated programs and provide vaccinations and preventive care that would eventually trickle down in cost savings.

Good intentions simply are not the same thing as good policy. While Ritter – among the first ostensibly “pro-life” candidates to support government funding of Planned Parenthood – may want to do good for the people of Colorado by his lights, he also has to remember whose support he needs to get re-elected in 2010.

In the real world of scarce resources and competing goods, though, politicians (especially those who support big government programs) have a hard time keeping most of the promises they make. In Colorado’s current state, this “redoubtable” blogger takes comfort in this truth.

This post generated with support from Evil Genius Rove Enterprises, a subsidiary of The Vast Right Wing Conspiracyâ„¢ - driving “Progressives” paranoid for 50 years and counting ….

That question, as raised in today’s Wall Street Journal by Stephen Moore, highlights the prime importance of a major First Amendment case on the U.S. Supreme Court’s upcoming docket: Washington v Washington Education Association, & Davenport et al v Washington Education Association.

Moore writes:

At issue is whether workers have the right to effectively declare themselves conscientious objectors to the unions’ multimillion-dollar political war games. “All we are saying is that no one has the right to take our money and spend it on causes we don’t believe in,” insists Cindy Omlin, a recently retired speech teacher in Spokane. “If you want my money, ask for it, like private charities, political candidates and businesses do.” Ms. Omlin was one of 250 teachers who successfully sued the WEA in 2002 to get half their dues refunded after a Washington superior court found the union guilty of “intentional violations” of the paycheck protection law.

Why should any organization be able to take funds from someone without their consent to spend on political action? As Thomas Jefferson once famously said, “To compel a man to furnish contributions of money for the propagation of opinions which he disbelieves and abhors, is sinful and tyrannical.”

In one of the breathless judicial acts of stretching truth and logic, the Washington Supreme Court ruled earlier in 2006 that a 1992 state law requiring unions to get teacher approval before spending their money on campaigns proved too great of a burden for the union’s rights of free speech. Forget individual rights.

In Colorado, teachers union bosses sued the Secretary of State to deprive their members of the right to be asked first before their dues money could be transferred to committees that finance political campaigns. A very likely favorable ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court, overturning the Washington Supreme Court, could have favorable ramifications in our state as well.

I not only covered this case in an earlier post here but also in a Sept. 30 column for the Rocky Mountain News.

Given time, even the New York Times will come around. If you haven’t read Paul Tough’s article on the success of KIPP charter schools in overcoming the minority achievement gap in the November 26 edition, go read it now (registration required). Then check out Whitney Tilson’s School Reform blog and a column by Alan Bonsteel in today’s Orange County Register. Writes Bonsteel:

The Times specifically praised the KIPP schools as being nonunion and therefore outside normal public school work rules, thus allowing them to hire top-notch, dedicated teachers willing to put in the very long hours needed to bring to grade level these kids who most need a hand up. The attitude of the KIPP schools from the outset has been to provide not just what schools for the well-to-do would offer their children, but even more still to compensate for the lower educational levels from which their disadvantaged children mostly start.

As amazing as this turnaround by the Times was, more earthshaking was its condemnation of the status quo, in which it observed that “[t]he evidence is now overwhelming that if you take an average low-income child and put him into an average American public school, he will almost certainly come out poorly educated.”

While the ranks of the status quo defenders dwindle (at least outside of union officials and educrats), a few of them lurk around my blog – which is perfectly fine: I’d just like to see them make a cogent and semi-convincing argument.