Do you believe in magic?

Seems like you have two choices: To believe in prayer or not to believe. We just don't know whether it makes any difference. But the anecdotal reports are favorable.

Now there's a specific person to think on. Whether we toss globes of pink light his direction or simply visualize his brain with no swelling, I would like to ask for the help of family and friends and perhaps something greater. My brother-in-law got socked in the noggin by a softball at his weekly game earlier tonight and has a skull fracture. He's himself, joking around, but the gravity of the situation had clearly begun weighing on him just before we saw him off on the ambulance to the other hospital tonight; while we were there the doctor showed the pictures of his fractured exterior sinus bone and significantly dented sinus bone underneath (it's a lucky thing there are two bones and not just one in that spot) where a ball hit hard by a bat landed. "Skull" and "fracture" are not words you want to hear. You want to come across them in mystery novels or someone else's blog. My bro-in-law is being watched over by the docs for tonight and tomorrow; I don't know what this next 24 hours will bring but I hope it's all good.

And I wonder whether a whole lotta prayer's gonna be goin' on this weekend: the family are gathering for the wedding -- the evangelical Christian branch. (In my inner comedy routine, I've been laying it on thick, talking about where I'm from, how I grew up, and how I am now, what I choose. Who I am, making no apologies. I've been gearing up for this for a while -- maybe this would make a good screenplay and I can do it in fiction instead of doing a real stand-up act, which I think I'd suck at.)

All that said, when you read this, think some good thoughts for a guy who's just one of us. It just might make a difference in the rest of his life.