Morning Breaks on Arlington - a poem by Orrin Hatch

Morning breaks on Arlington
Warmed by rays of golden sun
And all who pause in homage there
Feel a soft hush in the air

Those who love their liberty
Bow the head and bend the knee
And from their hearts they breathe a silent prayer
"Thank God for those who rest in honor there"

The lush green grass at Arlington
Shimmers in the morning sun
As pure white crosses seem to glow
Sentinels in perfect rows

Everyone who lives and breathes
Wonders at the sight of these
Who gave to us a gift beyond compare
"Thank God for those who rest in honor there."

Home of the eternal flame
Of humble heroes without name
Whose graves are guarded day and night
Keeping memory burning bright

Those who gave so much for us
Bravely said, "In God We Trust"
Now they are safe in His eternal care
"Thank God for those who rest in honor there"

Our nation's flag now takes the breeze
Waving over all of these
And heaven smiles upon each silent one
As morning softly breaks on Arlington

---

May we take all take a few moments to remember those who have died in the service of our country, this Memorial day and always.

Their sacrifice has preserved our freedom.

Disappointment (an original composition)

I woke up this morning
And realized that
The world had not, in fact
Come to an end

The Sun rose again
Even though it had set
The night before, and took
My hopes and dreams with it

I still don't quite know
How it all came to this
Not sure if anyone
Ever will

But with every ending
Good or bad
Comes the hope
Of a new beginning

The Sun cannot rise
Unless it first sets
The victory is more sweet
After tasting defeat

But the fat lady's singing
Is still ringing in my ears

It's the same singing every year

And it's giving me a headache

History and the NBA

The Phoenix Suns franchise does not yet have an NBA Championship to its name. For some reason, fans of other NBA franchises that do have past championships feel it necessary to bring up this fact in debates about the current NBA season--usually when they have no valid argument as to why they think the Suns will not win the 2007 NBA Championship.

How does a past championship from 10, 5 or even 2 years ago make a team more likely to be the 2007 champs? It doesn't make any sense.

I follow the Suns in the news, and often converse online with other NBA fans. During the Suns' recent series against the Los Angeles Lakers, I encountered many Lakers fans in an online message board. When confronted with the fact that the Suns were clearly superior and would win the series, many of them resorted to touting how many championships the Lakers franchise had accumulated over the years, making a point to say the Suns have yet to hoist the Larry O'Brien trophy.

How is that supposed to make the Lakers better than the Suns in 2007? The composition of teams in the NBA is never the same from year to year. The Lakers team that won the championship in 2002 was a completely different team than it is today (Kobe misses Shaq, now). Likewise, the Suns are not the same team they were last year, or the year before. It is absurd to imply that any team is more likely to beat another because of the amount of past championships their franchise has won.

Were the Seattle Supersonics more likely to win the championship this year than the Suns because they won the title in 1979? What about the defending champions, the Miami Heat? They were swept in the first round of the playoffs! What about the team they played in the 2006 finals, the Dallas Mavericks?

The Mavericks are a prime example of how, in the playoffs, anything can happen. The mighty Dallas Mavericks, who accumulated 67 wins during the regular season and had a front-runner MVP candidate in Dirk Nowitzki, were defeated in the first round by the 8th seeded Golden State Warriors, who had to go on a 9-1 run just to make it into the playoffs for the first time in 13 years! It was the biggest upset in NBA history. And for me, it was extremely gratifying to watch a one-legged Baron Davis will his scrappy team to an improbable (but obviously not impossible) victory over the Mavs.

The Suns proved in last year's Lakers series, that as long as there is one game left to play, there is ALWAYS a chance, past championships or not.

I expect the series between the Phoenix Suns and the San Antonio Spurs to be hard fought. And I predict the Phoenix Suns will emerge victorious in 6 games. The Spurs have past championships to tout, but they are irrelevant.

This is 2007. And the Suns will prove that they are the future of NBA basketball.

That's What I Thought

THE aphorism, "As a man thinketh in his heart so is he," not only embraces the whole of a man's being, but is so comprehensive as to reach out to every condition and circumstance of his life. A man is literally what he thinks, his character being the complete sum of all his thoughts.

As the plant springs from, and could not be without, the seed, so every act of a man springs from the hidden seeds of thought, and could not have appeared without them. This applies equally to those acts called "spontaneous" and "unpremeditated" as to those, which are deliberately executed. -- James Allen, As A Man Thinketh

As A Man Thinketh is one of my most favorite books. Just about every paragraph could stand on its own as an inspirational or through-provoking quote. It explains, in detail, the power of thought.

I do believe that what we allow into our minds via what we see, read, or listen to can have an affect on our thoughts (positive or negative), and affect our actions accordingly.

Today, I deleted my MySpace account because I felt I was being exposed to things that had the potential to negatively affect my thoughts. To me, the concept of MySpace is a great idea. How it has been applied is the thing with which I take issue. There appears to be an inordinate amount of crude, vulgar, suggestive, vile, and otherwise filthy content on MySpace. I think I was able to avoid most of it, but it still seemed to seep in at times.

If I continue to allow that kind of filth into my soul, I don't think much good will come of it.

Even many of the advertisements had content of the aforementioned varieties. I came to the realization that this kind of material is not what I want to see every day, and while it was great to be able to keep in touch with friends (recent and long lost), I just couldn't justify using it any longer.

I have a beautiful 4 month old boy, and I realized that I would never permit him to use MySpace. If it's not good enough for him, then it's not good enough for me.

I can continue to keep in touch with my friends via good ol' E-Mail, and thus avoid the possibility of seeing, reading, or hearing something I'd much rather not.