More From the Book

Next page begins with me questioning a couple pieces of Evangelical Conventional Wisdom (go figure), the second of which is the bit in the New Testament (Philippians?) where St. Paul says to dwell on good things. You know the line, "Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, etc." Dawned on me one day that all my life I'd heard that fragment used to justify all kinds of witch hunts in search of all the things (and people) that are wrong in the world. Seems ironic now. Paul seems to have been encouraging his audience to see the good in the world, but all these years later that passage has become a weapon. One of the things I'm most grateful for these days is a group of friends who are intent on seeing the beauty in the world and the people around them. It's there if you're not afraid of it.

There's one man in particular who's been especially helpful in this area. I won't embarass him by naming him here, but to see the world through his eyes, to enjoy a restaurant with him and his family, to watch him listen to music -- these experiences have, and continue to affect the way I, and a dozen people I could name off the top of my head, dwell on the things that are good in this world. It's already influencing the way Ruthie and I are rearing Little G., and it can't help but color the way he'll relate to the people around him as he grows. It never ends -- we really are all a part of one another.

The next jotting was a big one:

This is so far removed from the reality of my life that I don't know what I'm doing here.

I'll never forget that morning. I was sitting in a setting I used to refer to as "in church" for approximately the four thousand thirtieth time and I finally snapped. I remember the details of that particular meeting vividly, but won't harp on there here because of the kind of thing I've alluded to in the previous couple of paragraphs.

It was a Superbowl Sunday a couple years ago and I was so worked up that I typed furioulsy enough through halftime show to miss the Janet Jackson boob incident completely. That led to this.

And the next thing in the book says,

I have been approaching church the way I've been approaching my job.

Which led to this.

Incidentally, I'm still with The Home Depot and am having an absolute blast lately.

This Little Black Book where I sort through my Issues is also the place where I record bumper-stickers that amuse me. For example:

If we quit voting will they go away?

Don't have an answer to that yet, but I'm holding up my end of the bargain.

And then there's the title of a song I wanted to track down (and did):

Yesterday When I Was Young

by Roy Clark. He sang it at Mickey Mantle's funeral and broke my heart. Might be worth a listen. Speaking of Songs I Like A Lot, Toni Braxton is on the iTunes right now begging me to Unbreak Her Heart -- wish I could help her.

Still can't spell-check.