Peter Barber Gallagher-Sprigg explains the Prop 8 trial in two minutes…

Hat tip to Good As You, whose headline, “The monologue that reason8s in their heads at night,” is appropriately ingenious.

“A song about vaccines. What would old-timey folks think about vaccination? If they knew then what we know now, what would they choose to do?”

I think I’m getting better at editing looooong videos into shorter ones.  First, I’m learning to make shorter clips by not running the camera for more than 30 seconds — I’m always worried that I’ll miss something cute, cool, or weird. During post, I’m often loathe to cut my precious babies’ scenes, but I have been better about following the 5-second rule — or at least the 10-second rule…

This one is Anita going down the waterslide…

And this one is the ever-charming Isa meeting with success…

The National Day of Prayer was an annual day of prayer held on the first Thursday of May until April 15, 2010, when it was ruled unconstitutional by U.S. District Judge Barbara Crabb.

The law that formalized The National Day of Prayer was enacted in 1952, which means that it was probably intended to distinguish America from the godless commies — followed by the words “under God” being shoehorned into the Pledge of Allegiance in 1954, for the very same reason. (They might not seem very scary now, but commies were, like, the Al-Qaeda of the 1950s.)

As usual and expected, many Christians are up in arms over the whole National Day of Prayer being struck down, but other Christians are just gonna pray anyway because, well they want to pray and they have a right to do so regardless of the constitutionality (or the lack thereof) of the U.S. government proclaiming a day of prayer.

And they don’t need the government to proclaim a day of prayer in order to pray ’cause they do it all the time, not just one Thursday out of the year.

Besides, it’s churches that ought to be in the business of proclaiming days of prayer — national, international, intergalactic, etc — anyway, not a government that is of, by and for the people (a.k.a. our fellow sinners).

But all this talk of public praying and the like doesn’t really make me think of the Constitution so much as it makes me think of the Bible, specifically Matthew 6, in which Jesus instructed His followers on where, when and how to pray:

5 And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.

6 But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.

7 But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.

8 Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.

9 After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.

10 Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.

11 Give us this day our daily bread.

12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.

13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

Wise words that complaining Christians ought to contemplate, instead of looking to the government for support they should not need to keep their faith.

Meanwhile, I suspect that the Christians who’re praying anyway (and very likely more often than once a year) already know this ’cause those are the sort of Christians who have actually read the Bible.

BTW, President Obama has NOT cancelled the National Day of Prayer and still plans to recognize it — and even if he did cancel it that wouldn’t stop anyone from praying on May 6, or any other day.