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Dear Friends,

After many years, the Bosque Boys is back on the air. The story of our extended hiatus is a bit underwhelming and probably not quite post worthy. Having said that, TBB is back. Most important to me, a precious archive has been restored. I am gratified to read over the body of work that this blog represents. At the risk of sounding immodest, I think we often got some things right. What to expect going forward? Most people say a viable blog must issue new material daily. A great blog more often than that. I often failed in producing a quality piece (or any piece) every day, but the amount of time I spent on the effort was tremendous. I am in a different place now in my career and my personal life. I have no intention of trying to blog daily or break into the world of political commentary. From time to time, I will offer a few succinct thoughts and observations. For any of you who might find this blog again: welcome back. It is good to be with you once again.

A Waco Farmer]]> About the Blog http://bosqueboys.com/index.php?itemid=2342 Sat, 15 Sep 2012 17:51:46 +0000 http://bosqueboys.com/index.php?itemid=38
Last fall I helped bury a Ft. Sill Apache. He was 97 and had been born while the Apaches were held as prisoners of war. The tribe was released in 1913. It is thought that he was the last such in Oklahoma; there may be one other surviving Apache POW in New Mexico. He had been living with his daughter in Norman, OK, the last several years following the death of his wife. For years he was Headman of the Ft. Sill Band of the Apache Nation. I saw him in the hospital in Norman several times in the last week, though he was lucid only at my first visit when I took him communion. The past is not so very far away: I have had contact with a living link to the Indian Wars.The funeral was my first one for a Native American. The family did not have the customary wake the night before. As we were gathering in the church building for the funeral, I heard drumming and singing being done by a man sitting on the front row. The casket was open and people were going to the front to view the body before sitting down. When the singer stopped, I went over to him and introduced myself. He was a nephew of the deceased from New Mexico. We visited a bit--he was a practicing Roman Catholic who also practiced some of the traditional Apache religion. He said he had been singing a traditional ceremonial song for the occasion. He asked if that was OK. I told him it was fine, and to sing as he wished. (I trusted that as a practicing Catholic, he would use good judgment in his singing.) When the funeral started, I began with the usual sentences of Scripture, statement of purpose, and prayer. Then I asked for someone who could lead Ft. Sill Apache "Church Songs" (Christian hymns in the Apache language), two people led a couple of hymns that some in the congregation joined in. Then I read the obituary and invited others who wished to speak. (I have been told that at Native American wakes there is a lot of sharing of memories, and I knew that had not yet been done in a formal setting.) Probably five people came forward and spoke, both men and women, including the current Apache tribal chairman. One of the themes of the speakers was the need to preserve tribal memories and traditions. We then had two congregational hymns in English, requested by the family. I gave a short homily from Psalm 90, then that part of the service was over. The casket had remained open during the service and the congregation now filed past for a final viewing of the body and good-by. (I think the open casket more reflected Oklahoma practice than Apache.) The nephew from New Mexico then took out a small leather pouch and did some sort of a blessing involving pollen with the body and then each of the older family members, and a few of the younger. When the casket was closed a blanket was placed over it. Then the pallbearers carried the casket to the hearse.

At the cemetery the nephew who had sung earlier (and spoken of his uncle during the funeral) asked me if he could sing something appropriate. I said he could. After I called for the attention of the crowd I turned things over to him. He then explained that he was going to sing a traditional song of respect for a Headman, provided a translation, asked the current Headman to come over, then he and one or two others sang. Sometime in this period I was asked by a local Comanche whom I know, another nephew of the deceased on his mother's side, if he and a friend could sing a Comanche song. After the traditional song I had prayer, then turned it over him and he and a friend led two Comanche Church Songs. Many in the crowd joined in. (We have more Comanches than any other tribe, I think, in this immediate area.) Then I read some Scripture, led in the Apostles' Creed, and closed with prayer. The casket was lowered into a vault. Then the men of the family took turns with shovels burying the dead. Some of the oldest just did a ceremonial handful of dirt. When the burial was complete we returned to the church fellowship hall for dinner.

A mix, Christianity with some traditional practices. I have no objection to such mixing, we all do the same. In white funerals I have done we viewed an embalmed body--not exactly specified in Scripture, but capable of being "Christianized." The difficulty, for me, will be in recognizing what can, and what cannot, come into the church from traditional cultures. Not a unique situation, and I think I would rather be dealing with Native traditions than with practices coming into the church from MTV and Better Homes and Gardens.
]]> From the Heart http://bosqueboys.com/index.php?itemid=38 Tue, 6 Apr 2010 19:20:00 +0000 http://bosqueboys.com/index.php?itemid=2341
A recent study> strongly suggests that former NFL players have a much higher risk for dementia than the general male population because of more blows to the head.

So, once again I am thinking over my relationship to football. Can I in good conscience, as a Christian, be a fan of the sport? I here put one of my previous posts on instant replay.

I want to pose a question that many will regard as heretical, especially south of the Mason-Dixon line, and that may render me unable to return to Texas. Question: Can a Christian remain faithful and participate in or watch football?

I know that lots of players and coaches at all levels are outspoken Christians. I know that many football games in the south are opened with prayer regardless of the courts. But the question is not Do Christians participate in and watch football, but rather can we do this and be consistent in the Faith?

Raised in Missouri, I grew up a Chiefs fan and a University of Missouri fanatic. On Saturdays I lived and died with MU and on Sundays I rooted for Len Dawson and company as though the fate of the world hung in the balance (and hated the Raiders as if they were the forces of the antichrist). In elementary school we played football at recess (tackle if we could get away with it, touch if the teacher on duty was paying attention). I was not and am not particularly athletic, but enjoyed playing football when I got to Jr. High and on for a while.

So, what causes me to ask this question?

Injuries. Especially the life-long pain most veterans deal with. Rick Reilly reminded me of this fact in his essay for the Nov 13 Sports Illustrated. In the context of talking about Tiki Barber Reilly told story after story of seeing NFL former greats hobbling stiffly through life, enabled to go on only by pain pills--Butkus, Otto, Deirdorf, and others. Essay here, subscription required. The harsh truth is that playing pro football will damage your body such that you will live with pain and impaired ability for the rest of your life. Some research results here.

You are a Christian, and someone comes up to you and offers to entertain you for money by jumping from a one-story building to the ground, again and again and again. Do you pay him the money to watch him abuse his body? Or, do you decline, and tell him that his body is entrusted to him by God to be used wisely?

]]> Religion & Public Policy http://bosqueboys.com/index.php?itemid=2341 Mon, 12 Oct 2009 16:08:29 +0000 http://bosqueboys.com/index.php?itemid=2340 From the Denver Post.]]> America and the World http://bosqueboys.com/index.php?itemid=2340 Mon, 12 Oct 2009 15:55:48 +0000 http://bosqueboys.com/index.php?itemid=2339 Michael Totten interviews Eli Khoury. Link from Instapundit.]]> America and the World http://bosqueboys.com/index.php?itemid=2339 Mon, 12 Oct 2009 15:30:07 +0000 http://bosqueboys.com/index.php?itemid=2338
Woody Guthrie: Jesus Christ

The Devil Went Down to Jamaica with The Muppets

Shoulda Know Better

The Ultimate Lovecraft Tribute

Death Don't Have No Mercy

Jesus Christ Superstar: The Crucifixion

Jesus Christ Superstar: Hosanna

Godspell: Prepare Ye The Way of the Lord

Bob Dylan: Slow Train Coming

Blind Faith: Presence of the Lord (for you youngsters, the guy with the guitar is Eric Clapton)]]> General http://bosqueboys.com/index.php?itemid=2338 Fri, 9 Oct 2009 23:25:42 +0000 http://bosqueboys.com/index.php?itemid=2337
Details are here, including interactive maps. There is also a link to a PDF of the full report of 62 pages, which I have not yet gone over.

I wonder how many of the 1.57 billion are practicing Muslims? I wonder how many have taken, or are ready to take, the path of violent jihad? Even 1% would be a lot of folks.]]> America and the World http://bosqueboys.com/index.php?itemid=2337 Fri, 9 Oct 2009 15:04:38 +0000 http://bosqueboys.com/index.php?itemid=2336
I grew up Primitive Baptist: a people-group shaped by a capella congregational singing, long extemporaneous sermons, shared meals, and visitation of members between churches. Shaped by a world-view of an omnipotent God who saves sinners because He decides to save sinners, apart from any efforts on the part of the sinner. As I argued in my book, The Formation of the Primitive Baptist Movement, the "world" of the Primitive Baptists was much more self-evident in a traditional, agrarian, pre-capitalist market society. Today, the Primitive Baptist world has trouble regenerating itself in each generation.

The author of this essay grew up Covenanter, a small Scottish Presbyterian group also in danger of losing their "world" in this new and modern world. The essay is brilliant, and gives a reading to Washington Irving's The Legend of Sleepy Hollow that I would never have seen on my own.

Thanks, Tocq, for calling my attention to this gem.

One also can reflect on how this community called America is shaped by a "world," and whether we have lost or are losing that world in the 21st century.]]> American Christianity http://bosqueboys.com/index.php?itemid=2336 Thu, 8 Oct 2009 19:54:06 +0000 http://bosqueboys.com/index.php?itemid=2335
Politically, this seems part of the Obama administration efforts to curry favor in the Islamic world, even at the cost of an essential American freedom.

Pakistan Christian Post.

AP story.

Here is the page on the official U.N. site that links to the document: "Freedom of Opinion and Expression." Notice, however, that though this document is available in several languages, English is not one of them. If anyone out there can read French, Spanish, Arabic, or Chinese, feel free to provide a translation.



]]> America and the World http://bosqueboys.com/index.php?itemid=2335 Thu, 8 Oct 2009 12:52:37 +0000 http://bosqueboys.com/index.php?itemid=2334 Pew Forum study found that support for abortion among the American public has declined.

Polls conducted in 2009 have found fewer Americans expressing support for abortion than in previous years. In Pew Research Center polls in 2007 and 2008, supporters of legal abortion clearly outnumbered opponents; now Americans are evenly divided on the question, and there have been modest increases in the numbers who favor reducing abortions or making them harder to obtain. Less support for abortion is evident among most demographic and political groups.
. . .
No single reason for the shift in opinions is apparent, but the pattern of changes suggests that the election of a pro-choice Democrat for president may be a contributing factor.

Read the entire article, which includes graphs.]]> American History and Politics http://bosqueboys.com/index.php?itemid=2334 Tue, 6 Oct 2009 17:02:15 +0000