The Friday Five--Who I Admire

This week the Friday Five is about five people we admire. I don’t think about this very often, but now that I’ve started I can’t keep myself to 5:

1. Bono, for his artistry and social activism.
2. Peter Gabriel, for lending his voice to Amnesty International and because his Real World label makes available so much wonderful music from around the world.
3. Anne Lammott, for writing honestly about faith and for not being sweet and pious.
4. Kathleen Norris, for writing thoughtfully about Christianity.
5. Donald Miller, because his books make me laugh and because he shows what Christian evangelism can be like if you aren’t a jerk.
6. The nurses of the Maricopa County NICU. I was at Miranda’s site My Farcical Life and her list included parents in the NICU, which reminded me of the incredible women and men (not so many men) who took care of Firecracker and so many other babies who arrived too early or with other issues. The nurses didn’t just care for these babies; they loved them. Some moms lived hours away (I lived an hour away); some moms never showed up. The nurses had to stand in for us. Nurses grew attached to “their” babies. They made special name cards for each isolette and created baby books for the parents. How they found time to do all that while juggling so many duties, I’ll never know. Mona was our special nurse. Mona, wherever you are, I pray God sends you many blessings.
7. Philip Pullman, for creating the incredible imaginative worlds in the His Dark Materials trilogy and for putting up with all the nonsensical controversy over his criticism of religion.

And, OH JOY, His Dark Materials: The Golden Compass has been made into a movie. Nicole Kidman is Mrs. Coulter, which I think is perfect, because she can convey cruelty so well.