Fr. Robert Sirico of the Acton Institute echoes what my father always taught me in his recent essay "Economic prosperity and morality go hand in hand." There's something so satisfying about common sense.

Surely, in this case, the economic and cultural concerns intersect. In daily life, the separation between economy and morality is all but impossible to maintain. Paying your bills is good personal finance and good business. But it is also reflects the moral obligation to keep one's promises.

To treat one's employees fairly or to put in a good day's work show prudent economic management and are the right way to treat others. In a market economy, there are rewards for those who keep promises and work honestly and diligently. Investors who consider the broad picture and think long term do better than those who do not.

Sports Illustrated columnist Tim Layden is spot on with his pick of Pat Tillman for Sportsman of the Year.

It's not whether you win or lose, it's how you live your life.

In another news flash, we find that Mom's home cooking can be hazardous to your health. I used to feel guilty for depending on Domino's Pizza or Chinese carry-out on those nights (most of them, these days) when I don't feel like cooking. It seems that I've been doing myself and my loved ones a favor unawares. (Save the thanks for later, Kemosabe.) My house has been safer than most, apparently, from overloads of nitrogen dioxide, formaldehyde and any number of other bad actors through my reluctance to fire up the oven unless unusually incentivized.

Who knew?

Do you suppose there are as-yet-unknown health benefits from having allowed the weeds unfettered access to my garden?

The latest Band-Aid charity project is a recording called "Do They Know It's Christmas?", referring to the deprived population of Africa who have neither snow nor Santa to help them duplicate the West's advanced appreciation of the holiday. Reuters gets it right, noting that African Christianity and therefore the celebration of true Christmas is light years ahead of much of the Western world, notably Europe.

"Africa has some of the world's fastest growing parishes -- partly because the spiritual world offers some hope to the millions of Africans whose plight moves donors in the West. Countless churches have sprung up across the continent and Africans are even exporting missionaries to the West who might ask if Europeans 'know it's Christmas?'"

Mind you, the group, which includes such pop notables as Paul McCartney and other people who I concede are famous but of whom I have never heard, has a worthy goal in mind.

"Much of the money raised by the new single will go to Sudan's volatile Darfur region, where tens of thousands have died since March alone from disease and malnutrition -- and where most of the victims and needy are Muslim who would not be celebrating Christmas in any case. "

I don't plan to buy the recording - pop Christmas songs never make it into my holiday music rotation - but I will be happy to pray for the Africans of Sudan. Please join me.

Toronto Star columnist Thomas Walkom states that Pres. Bush is fair game for arrest and prosecution under Canada's War Crimes Act.

The Wall Street Journal suggests that Vice-President Cheney might want to have a regime-change strategy in place in case his boss needs a helping hand next time he's north of the border. I don't know. The Canadians I know are pretty sensible and tend to be prudent and generous. I'm confident that Mr. Walkom doesn't express the will of the majority of the Canadian people. But just in case, maybe we want to make clear the amount it would cost to reimburse their 50 percent share of what it costs the U.S. to defend North America's borders. All in all, mutual good will might be worth preserving.

Oh, that was rude. I take it back.

How about this. If you give back Pres. Bush, we'll send you Michael Moore. We'll even fund a big bash at the Toronto Film Festival. We'll throw in Barbra Streisand, too.

This is strange, but it's such a wonderful commentary on society and whatever else you think it comments on that I thought it was worth bringing to your attention. I have no position regarding veracity or authenticity, but I have a very clear position on how amusing our culture is.

I first learned about this from a Miami Herald article about a woman who has 10-year-old (mold-free) grilled cheese sandwich that she believes shows the face of the Virgin Mary. An excerpt:

Diana Duyser's mystical grilled cheese sandwich is for sale -- again.The massive online auction house eBay admitted Tuesday it made a judgment error in taking down Duyser's sale item: half of a 10-year-old grilled cheese sandwich that she says has an image of the Virgin Mary on it. "

When the item was pulled, it was taken down for a reason that, in retrospect, was a mistake,'' eBay spokesman Hani Durzy said. "We're human over here.''

An e-mail Duyser received from eBay said the sandwich broke eBay's policy, which "does not allow listings that are intended as jokes.''But Duyser, a work-at-home jewelry designer who has bought and sold items on eBay for two years, said the grilled cheese is anything but a joke.

Okay, whatever you say. Since I'm a curious human being, I checked on eBay to see if I could find it. I did a search for "grilled cheese mary" and got 251 hits including:

• Virgin Mary grilled cheese Miami newspaper article (soon to be a collectible, they claim)
• Virgin Mary grilled cheese sandwich replica
• Virgin Mary grilled cheese shirt (slogan reads "If you grill it, she will come.")
• Virgin Larry's recipe for Holy Mary grilled cheese
• Proof the Virgin Mary loves grilled cheese sandwiches
• Tote bag to carry Virgin Mary grilled cheese sandwiches

and not last and maybe not least

• David Letterman in Grilled Cheese Not Virgin Mary

I can't quite articulate my thoughts or feelings concerning what this says about our society, values, creativity or technology. I'm gobsmacked.

For those of you who are interested, here's the link to the original item. The highest verified bid at the time of this writing is $69,107.69.

All funny and thought-provoking items aside, here's a brief update for those of you who check this space as a substitute for actually hearing directly from me about much. My apologies.

I'm finishing up a two-week turn in St. Louis and will be taking most of Thanksgiving week off. In December, I have a couple of several-day trips scheduled, but nothing excessive. That's a good thing, because I haven't given Christmas preparation much of a thought. (This may not be a bad thing to some of you, but Mama-Teresa considered Thanksgiving the point at which the cards should be already addressed and the shopping all over but for the last-minute details. This is a tough act which I've never been much good at following. Then again, her approach to Christmas decorations was sometimes disparaged by us as being too faithful to the Early Pizzeria style of decor. I have never followed that act, either.)

However, the important parts of the holidays are in place -- and those are the parts that have to do with the people. My family will gather at my brother's in Grand Rapids for the traditional Thanksgiving Day feast. Christmas has taken a little more careful choreographing, but it looks like the kids and I will go to a church service or two early in the evening on Christmas Eve and have our family celebration together that night. (Our traditional meal is beef fondue, which creates its own fun all by itself.) The next day, all offspring are hopping in a car to go see the Canadian relatives for Christmas dinner and festivities. I will be on a flight to Boston to do the same at a friend's family home there.

Okay, now, what did I say I'd bring to Thanksgiving dinner . . . ?

Here's every kids dream.

Here's Tom McMahon's take on "the last election map you'll ever need."

And TSO's list of the Top Ten Signs You're Too Into Politics.

And, because I am in love with the sound of my own voice, here's TSO again blogging part of our e-mail exchange on the virtues/vices of Digital Video Recorder technology.

And, finally, I confess a weakness for gender-based humor. Dave Barry, the King of the Snicker, takes on the bias many have against the particular skills most frequently demonstrated by the male sex in his column "In Defense of the Man's Eye View." For instance, "1. If it was an emergency, could you open a beer bottle with your teeth?" As one who usually roots for the underdog in battles of political correctness, I appreciate Mr. Barry's efforts.

I do leadership development for a living. I see firsthand the difference it can make when a leader is truly authentic and well-grounded in his or her values.

Perhaps that's one reason I find this story so powerful. Read on.

* * * * * * * * * *

Bruce Vincent is the Executive Director of Provider Pals, a nation-wide urban/rural youth exchange program based in Montana. He was the recipient of a Preserve America Presidential Award, presented to him by the president in the White House. This is his account of an extraordinary moment between him and President Bush that occurred at the end of the presentation. [Ed. note: This is not an urban legend. It has been verified by Mr. Vincent as an accurate account of his encounter with President Bush in May, 2004.]

Stepping into the Oval Office, each of us [the awardees] was introduced to the President and Mrs. Bush. We shook hands, received our awards with photo op and participated in informal conversation. He and the First Lady were asked about the impact of the Presidency on their marriage and, with an arm casually wrapped around Laura, he said that he thought the place may be hard on weak marriages but that it had the ability to make strong marriages even stronger and that he was blessed with a strong one. He noted that it would be a mistake to come to the Oval Office and entertain a mission to "find yourself." He said that with all of the pressures and responsibilities that go with the job, you'd best know who you are when you put your nameplate on the desk in the Oval Office. He said he knows who he is and now America has had four years to learn about who he is.

When we departed the I said to him, "Mr. President, I know you to be a man of strong faith and have a favor to ask you." As he shook my hand he looked me in the eye and said, "Just name it." I told him that my step-Mom was at that moment in a hospital in Kalispell, Montana, having a tumor removed from her skull and it would mean a great deal to me if he would consider adding her to his prayers that day. He grabbed me by the arm and took me back toward his desk as he said, "So that's it. I could tell that something is weighing heavy on your heart today. I could see it in your eyes. This explains it." From the top drawer of his desk he retrieved a pen and a note card with his seal on it and asked, "How do you spell her name?" He then jotted a note to her while discussing the importance of family and the strength of prayer. When he handed me the card, he asked about the surgery and the prognosis. I told him we were hoping that it is not a recurrence of an earlier cancer and that if it is they can get it all with this surgery. He said, "If it's okay with you, we'll take care of the prayer right now. Would you pray with me?" I told him yes and he turned to the staff that remained in the office and hand motioned the folks to step back or leave. He said, "Bruce and I would like some private time for a prayer."

As they left he turned back to me and took my hands in his. I was prepared to do a traditional prayer stance -- standing with each other with heads bowed. Instead, he reached for my head with his right hand and pulling gently forward, he placed my head on his shoulder. With his left arm on my mid-back, he pulled me to him in a prayerful embrace. He started to pray softly. I started to cry. He continued his prayer for Loretta and for God's perfect will to be done. I cried some more. My body shook a bit as I cried and he just held tighter. He closed by asking God's blessing on
Loretta and the family during the coming months. I stepped away from our embrace, wiped my eyes, swiped at the tears I'd left on his shoulder, and looked into the eyes of our President. I thanked him as best I could and told him that me and my family would continue praying for he and his.

As I write this account down and reflect upon what it means, I have to tell you that all I really know is that his simple act left me humbled and believing. I so hoped that the man I thought him to be was the man that he is. I know that our nation needs a man such as this in the Oval Office. George W. Bush is the real deal. I've read Internet stories about the President praying with troops in hospitals and other such uplifting accounts. Each time I read them I hope them to be true and not an Internet perpetuated myth. This one, I know to be true. I was there. He is real. He has a pile of incredible stuff on his plate each day - and yet he is tuned in so well to the here and now that he 'sensed' something heavy on my heart. He took time out of his life to care, to share, and to seek God's blessing for my family in a simple man-to-man, father-to-father, son-to-son, husband-to-husband, Christian-to-Christian prayerful embrace. He's not what I had hoped he would be. He is, in fact, so very, very much more.

(Hat tip to Dan Lanuti for passing this along.)

Actually, that's not the title of this post. I just thought it sounded too good to let it go to waste.

The proper title of this entry is:

Ten Classic Truths that Little Children have Learned

1. No matter how hard you try, you can't baptize cats.
2. When your Mom is mad at your Dad, don't let her brush your hair.
3. If your sister hits you, don't hit her back. They always catch the second person.
4. Never ask your 3-year-old brother to hold a tomato.
5. You can't trust dogs to keep an eye on your food.
6. Don't sneeze when someone is cutting your hair.
7. Never hold a Dust Buster and a cat at the same time.
8. You can't hide a piece of broccoli in a glass of milk.
9. Don't wear polka-dot underwear under white shorts.
10. The best place to be when you're sad is Grandpa's lap.

Thanks to Tom McMahon.