Friday July 31st

I have been thinking of achievements and perfection these last days. I was researching what it actually meant to pitch a perfect game. In the history of Baseball, in over 130 years, only 18 men in have pitched a perfect game. The first perfect game was pitched on June 12^th 1880 and believe it or not the second was pitched 5 days later on June 17^th 1880. Randy “The Big Unit” Johnson, of the Arizona Diamondbacks, pitched the last perfect game in 2004. I remember watching Tom Browning pitch his perfect game in 1988 for my Cincinnati Reds. Mark Buehrle’s accomplishment on July 23^rd of this year is to be counted as amazing in today’s MLB. Today, pitchers are specialized; most rarely pitch over 100 pitches and rarely work for more than 6, maybe 7 innings. Well done Mark and thank you for reminding us that perfection is still achievable in many forms, you glimpsed and held in your hand for a moment, what the rest of us strive for and dream of one day experiencing ourselves.

What is perfection to you? Ask yourself that question and remember your answers. I know that I see some things as absolutely perfect. I see perfection in nature. The Chambered Nautilus is natures example of the The Golden Ratio: Nature's Formula for Perfection and I see such beautiful perfection in the wonders of our universe, courtesy of NASA’s Hubble Telescope. I know that, as humans, we will never truly achieve perfection but I love the fact that we strive for it in so many ways.

A quote from Buckminster Fuller has also come to mind.

"When I am working an a problem I never think about beauty. I only think about how to solve the problem. But when I have finished, if the solution is not beautiful, I know it is wrong."

A very old high school friend of mine that I recently found again on FaceBook posted this picture today and it got me to thinking.

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

These words, spoken aloud today, more than ever, their meaning resounds to the very core or who we are as a nation, and as a people. These words are the First Amendment to the US Constitution, which is our Bill of Rights. These words are plastered at the entrance of the Newseum in Washington DC and these words can never be spoken loudly enough nor can they ever be made big enough. For 8 years, we as a country, were forced relinquish our freedoms one after another. We can never let our fears make us less than our founding fathers knew we could dare to be. We are not bullies, we are the country that the world turns to for help and we always answered the call. We need to remember that we are a nation that is founded on the freedoms for all people. We are not perfect, we make mistakes and we can move past them and learn from them if we choose to.