Hello for Ketchikan, Alaska.  It is July 4, 2008 and I have just stood on the streets of this little town in Alaska composed of about six thousand and watched an old-fashioned, soul-stirring, makes me proud to be an American fourth of July parade.  The people in this little town are locked in by water, both that which surrounds them and on this day that which is falling from the sky.  It is now about sixty degrees at most and most of the six thousand are here for the parade.  It was a wonderful sight to see and a wonderful event to experience.  While watching the parade I stood with a man who wanted to talk politics:  Obama or McCain, Republican or Democrat??  What is it like in Georgia?  Who is going to win the election?  My response to the man who wanted to talk was this, “do you know what is really great about this whole thing?  You and I are having this conversation without looking over our shoulders to wonder who is hearing and what they are doing about it.  We can carry on this conversation with candor that includes differing perspectives and still celebrate who we are as Americans.  That is what is really great about this whole thing and what is really great about this whole day.” 

We are spending the day here helping out a church in an outreach effort and then tomorrow we will move on to Hollis.  So have a great week and we will return to TULIP soon.