Do you like your job? I do. And it makes a big difference in my level of personal happiness.

More on the Happy Jobs study from the University of Chicago. Here are the top 5 "Happiest Jobs."

What do you think?

5) Special Education Teachers
I get this one. The people who do this job LOVE it. They tend to be patient and caring. They get low to average pay and varying amounts of respect. But they LOVE it. A really hard job that some are called to and find happiness in.

4) Architects
The architects I know are tired. They started out as architects because of a love for buildings and creativity. The longer they are in it, they find more and more frustration with people, budgets, and zoning laws and building codes, and less and less actual creativity. Surprising that they are so happy to me.

3) Travel Agents and Ticket Agents
Now this one is odd. Travel agents DO seem to have a lot of fun, but their business appears to be ever-shrinking since most of us just use the Internet now. Ticket agents at the airport get battered by frustrated customers all day every day. SO I guess the happiness comes with the travel agents who have found a way to earn a living helping people have fun and find creative places to travel to. That would make me happy too.

2) Firefighters
My firefighter friends are an even-keeled bunch. Low key, unflappable, and good senses of humor. They work for low pay and high respect. They take great risks but also have lots of days with little to do. A unique breed, but evidently a happy one.

1) Clergy
More than 80% of clergy report being happy. This one shocked me. I meet a lot of clergy who, like architects, started off with great joy and vigor to love God and help people. But low pay, low respect, and long hours have worn them down. Interestingly, it does vary by group - Catholic priests are different from mainline Protestant clergy who are very different from evangelical clergy. 3 very different groups - some much happier than others.

I love my job. I really do. It energizes me nearly every day. Talking about real life and faith with lots of different kinds of people.

According to a University of Chicago study, your job enormously shapes your happiness. What you do, where you work, and the people with whom you work = all big factors in how happy you are with your life.

I found the results surprising when the study shares the top 10 "Happy Jobs." The jobs where the happiest people are. Here are numbers 6-10. 1-5 to come tomorrow.

What do you think?

10)Airline pilots
I get why these folks would love their jobs. Fly all over the place. Good pay. Flexible work hours. With seniority, only on duty a few days a month. What's not to love?

9) Industrial engineers
My first job out of college was with a lot of industrial engineers. Good people. Unflappable. Often serious. Detail-oriented and patient. Tend to be very even-keeled. That must mean happy.

8) Auto mechanics
Most mechanics I know ARE very happy. Never thought about that before. Have known a few miserable ones, but most seem to enjoy tinkering with engines and fixing things. A happy fit with average pay.

7) Science techs
These folks largely work in research and development. Experimenting with stuff. Finding new solutions, inventing new things. For the scientist who enjoys science more than people, I can see much happiness here. "Just let me work on my project."

6) Actors and Directors
This one surprised me greatly. Most actors and directors I have known are frustrated by low pay and few working opportunities. Lots of creativity looking for an outlet. All revved up with no place to go. To think that they are the 6th happiest profession makes me worry about the rest of us.

Andy, our Executive Producer, and I have a running joke. He never pays cash for anything. Always the plastic. Always the debit card. I pay cash for nearly everything.

He travelled to Tampa for the World Series with $8 in cash. I never walk to the mailbox with less than $10 in cash on me.

Andy is 26. I am 44. And he has won.

Here is the proof. Salvation Army Christmas kettle ringers are beginning to accept plastic - credit or debit. Unbelievable but it helps explain how the Salvation Army continues to be a leader in the nation in charitable giving every year. Great unswerving mission of serving the poorest and most desperate among us. Combined with a willingness to find ways to make it as easy as possible for you and me to give.

Well done- but I will still be giving cash.

Sunday night's show was really special. I reflected on the historic nature of the election of Barack Obama and how it symbolizes the fulfillment of the dream of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

While I have many differences with Obama, I know it is important to take a few days and honor this historic moment. Americans elected a black man to the Presidency for the very first time. That fact cannot be ignored. It is a BIG deal.

Many emails rebuked me for doing this. But a few understood that we cannot afford to fail to honor this moment - whether we voted for Obama or not. My favorite email came from Don in Seattle.

Short and sweet - Enjoy!

Was mesmerized by your show Sunday night on KTTH in Seattle. The first hour, where you took only black callers was the best hour of talk radio I've heard for a long time. Like you, I didn't vote for him, nor do I agree with his politics but you have to recognize this as an historic moment in American history. Listened to the first two hours of your show without any distractions.

This is an historic moment. No question about it.

Regardless of whether you agree or disagree with Obama, his election represents a significant occasion in American life.

45 years ago, Dr. King stood on the Washington Mall and uttered those sparkling words, "I have a dream..."

40 years ago, Dr. King gave his life for that dream.

In 2009, we will have a black President.

I am taking a moment to savor that fact. After more than two centuries of racial struggle and slow progress, America has a black President. In a country where a black person once represented 3/5 of a man,
that is a BIG deal.

And we need to honor that moment. Countless people struggled, even died, to help America break free from its racial obsessions and denials.

Being black does not necessarily qualify one to be President, but neither does it disqualify one. We need not vote for someone because of his race nor need we NOT vote for someone due to race. We have made progress.

Before we all return to regular life, as well as the political bickering and debating of tax, immigration, and foreign policies, take a step back and give thanks. We live in a land where we have grown a little closer to the vision of our Founding Fathers - who saw a place where ALL men are created equal.

The email exploded after last week's show. I explained how and why I have become a one-issue voter in Presidential elections. The moral depravity that is abortion has come to weigh on me so heavily that I regard it as more important than any other. For my reasons, see the blog post from earlier in the week.

Nevertheless, some of you disagree, some more elegantly than others. With that, here is the email of the week. And by the way, I have never been to a pro-life rally.

Sir,

You are talking out of both sides of your mouth. Out of one side you say your heart breaks for the 1.2 million, but the when your producer brings up the 6 million children that die annually due to starvation, you start to fumble over your words, and then conclude that starvation is only a church issue??? Are you for real??? You lost all credibility with that answer!

Since you are also against the death penalty, what do you suggest the penalty be for women that have an illegal abortion?? Life imprisonment, perhaps? 10-20 years without the possibility of parole, maybe?? The answer is, you don't have a clue, because like most anti-abortionist, you have not thought it out fully!
And again, even if the Supreme Court makes it illegal, it will then go back to the States to decide, so it will NEVER be completely illegal, you fool! So as you are stepping on and over all those dead starving children on your way to a right-to-life rally, to save an embryo or stem cell, you think about that. F-cking ridiculous,,,,

I voted yesterday. Only took 30 minutes. It was organized, efficient, and pleasant. All good.

The results are in. We have a new President. President Obama.

I am glad the election is over. This one unfolded for over 2 years. I am tired. And ready to move on.

Elections bring heat. Voices get heated in debates. Friends and family members frequently divide. The nation's differences of opinion often teem with heated words and gestures, even insults. It can be difficult to move forward after all the harsh words and heat.

In Sussex County, Delaware, they practice "Return Day." Tomorrow, the candidates will return and parade together to show that they pledge to work together, to bury the hatchet on their differences and hard feelings, and to move forward as one. The town almost has a carnival-like feel on Return Day, and the candidates perform a ceremonial burying of an actual hatchet.

That is a really healthy practice. Division does not help in the long run. Unity does. More importantly, as you know, I am a proponent of forgiveness. Forgiveness offers the greatest spiritual power for transformation in this world. Hurts and wounds are transformed by the grace of forgiveness. Healing occurs.

On Return Day, remember the words of Colossians 3.13:
Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another.
Forgive as the Lord forgave you.

I have been having fun with a few friends, doing a "prayer camp" together. We all were yearning for a deeper, richer prayer life.

So we decided to spend 3 mornings together, simply praying and trying some new ways of praying.

One we have found helpful is to meditate and pray on the attributes of God, as described by Thomas Aquinas. Consider each one in meditation and pray as it prompts your spirit.

Here they are:

1)God is eternal
He has no beginning and no end. God always was, always is, and always will be.

2)God is unique.
God is the designer of a one and only world. Even the people He creates are one of a kind.

3)God is infinite and omnipotent.
God sees everything. There are no limits to God. Omnipotence refers to God's supreme power and authority over all of creation.

4)God is omnipresent.
God is not limited to space. He is everywhere. You can never be away from God.

5)God contains all things.
All of creation is under God's care and jurisdiction.

6)God is immutable.
God does not evolve. God does not change. God is the same God now as He always was and always will be.

7)God is pure spirit.
Even though we describe God with human attributes, God is not a material creation. God's image cannot be made. God is a pure spirit who cannot be divided into parts. God is simple but complex.

8)God is alive.
We believe in a living God, a God who acts in the lives of people. Most concretely, He came to this world in the incarnate form of Jesus Christ.

9)God is holy.
God is pure goodness. God is pure love.

It is the unavoidable elephant in the election room.
A lot of folks want to pretend it is not there. But it is.

Maybe it's because I became Catholic in January, or maybe it is because I have actively supported the pregnancy resource center in my own community for years, but for some reason I have received an email barrage this year. All revolving around the role of abortion in this and any Presidential election.

A simple question has crystallized in my mind: Does abortion trump all other issues, including war, poverty, racial equality, immigration, tax reform, as the key issue on which one votes? Does abortion supersede all the other issues? In a word, yes.

Or put another way, can a person of faith, especially a Christian, ever vote for a candidate who is pro-abortion? In a word, no.

My own team here at the show disagrees with me, not because they are pro-abortion. We all agree abortion is wrong. But they believe it is one issue among the others. It is not.

I admit my thinking has changed on this issue over the years. And it has become much more focused over the past 10 years or so. Perhaps because I am a father of two girls. Perhaps because my faith has deepened. Perhaps because I have sat with a number of women as they received the results of their pre-natal ultrasounds. Two weeks ago, I visited with a close friend, a young woman who would not consider herself a believer. We looked at her ultrasound, and as she saw the 9 week old human inside her, she had an "Aha" moment. This was a real live person.

Faith and science agree: life begins at conception. That is when everything necessary for a human being is put together and becomes a real life.

Is that a human being? Yes
Are humans made in the image of God? Yes
Does that give human life a unique value in creation? Yes
Is God ever for the shedding of innocent blood? No

I would never vote for a candidate who advocated for the legal extermination of 1 million gay people, or Jews, or poor persons, or Presbyterians, per year. How could I possibly vote for a candidate who sees nothing wrong with the termination of that many unborn children? It simply is not morally possible.

This issue is a scar on the American people. It reveals our selfishness and our love of stuff as well as our disregard for mercy and love. It trumps all others.

How can any other issue compare to the taking of vulnerable human life, to the tune of more than 40 millions unborn children since the 1970's?
Reasonable people of good will and faith disagree on many issues. There are multiple ways to address poverty, racial equality and war. But there is no room for debate on the moral issue of the extermination of children.

I am not voting for a candidate or for a party. I have voted in the past decade for Democrats, Republicans and Libertarians at the federal level. Now I will vote for those who cannot speak for themselves. I will be voting for children by proxy. I will vote for them to live rather than die. And I will work and give for this same goal in addition to voting.

Advocating for the lives of the unborn does not automatically qualify a candidate to be the President. However, NOT advocating for the lives of the unborn does disqualify one for that office.

Because the President of the USA can make a difference. Not solely because of his ability to appoint Supreme Court justices (e.g., Ginsburg is 75 and John Paul Stevens 88). Not solely because he becomes the moral leader of the free world. But also because he will have a large influence on pending subjects like:

1) The Freedom of Choice Act – which would provide a federally guaranteed right to abortion through all 9 months of pregnancy
2) Partial birth abortion – which amounts to infanticide
3) The federal funding of abortions - paid for by taxpayer money – making you and me complicit in this moral evil
4) Consideration of the repeal of the Hyde amendment
5) The Pregnant Women Support Act

Not to mention the issues of cloning, stem cell research, and the mas production of human embryos purely for use in experimentation.

So, like Martin Luther, here I stand. I can do other. While I care about other important issues, they all pale in comparison to the moral gravity of abortion.

I have become a one issue voter. Abortion trumps all others.