HAPPY 144, WEST VIRGINIA!

We interupt this week's theological digressions to wish a happy 144th birthday to El Cabrero's beloved state of West Virginia.

To celebrate, here's an excerpt from a poem by a fallen friend, the late Appalachian radical Don West, who died in Kanawha County in 1992:

There was a yesterday of hurt and hope
and solidarity
when a virgin Union's inspiration
stirred mountain men and women
to heroic feats.
Born on Cabin Creek,
"Solidarity Forever"
went on to stir lowly hearts
in all parts of the land.

And there may be a tomorrow
On Cabin Creek
a clean tomorrow,
child of hope and hurt and solidarity.

May it be so.

LINCOLN AND THE PEACOCKS. Since WV was signed into statehood by Abraham Lincoln, allow me to suggest taking a look at this recent New Yorker article which looks over the recent spate of Lincoln literature. My favorite scene described therein is about Lincoln and Secretary of War Stanton untangling peacocks at the Soldier's Home, where the president sometimes stayed. (Blocks of wood were tied to the peacock's feet to keep them from flying away.)

The theology jag resumes tomorrow...

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED