I've been working from home today, and I thought I'd go to the public library for a change of scene.  It's about a mile away from home and has free wifi.  I'm one of those environmentalist types, so I walked.

Its a warm, humid, sunny August day.  I've made this walk many times, but never on such a hot day.  I realized that there is only about 2 blocks of shade on the entire trip.  Now I'm sitting in the library, sweaty and smelling less fresh than I'd like, and I'm thinking of what we might do to make our urban areas more pedestrian friendly.

I am a long time member of a United Church of Christ congregation.

There are some here who are happy about Obama cutting ties with Trinity UCC, and I have to say that I am hurt by this development.

I've never been to Trinity UCC.  I think I've spent six hours of my life in Chicago, not counting time spent at the airport or Greyhound station.  I can't speak about any specific churches in the denomination, because we take a congregational approach and each congregation is independent, and local churches set their own theological policies.  However, there are a few things about the denomination as a whole that I would like to share.