January 2, 2007 — 8:44 PM
My refrigerator and cupboards are pretty bare. I let them get that way on purpose.
As previously noted, I went on a road trip for Christmas. Leading up to this I let my food reserves dwindle so that I wouldn't come back to rotten food. It seemed like a good plan. That was until holiday schedules and throngs of people made me think otherwise. I went to the corner store to get some basics, but the major shopping just had to wait.
Finally today I had the chance to go to Whole Foods to get a huge amount of stuff. I was cruising around the store mid-afternoon so it was relatively easy to get through the aisles and find what I needed. I was down to the last few items on my list when the power went out in the store.
Many groans were heard throughout the place. Shoppers paused momentarily and then resumed their task hoping that all would be restored post-haste. Unfortunately, this was not the case. It was a major failure.
The employees were unsure of how long it would take to get the power back on. In the meantime all customers had to exit the building because it was unsafe to be inside when the power was off. (I wasn't sure about that one, but I knew that there was no way to check out so I went along with the story.)
What a bummer. I'll have to go back again. Hopefully I'll have a chance tomorrow.
But the biggest bummer was reserved for the employees. Since all customers had to leave immediately we were instructed to leave our carts and baskets where they were and the employees would put all of the items back. There were a lot of groceries to put back! I imagine that task took some poor employees the rest of the day.
Happy new year Whole Foods employees!
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January 5, 2007 — 5:29 PM
On Thanksgiving day I wrote about the Christian Scripture that says: "Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." (1 Thessalonians 5: 18). I mentioned how I wasn't feeling particularly thankful for all the stuff that had happened in my life over the past year but how I was going to try.
Today I got a card from my mom thanking me for Christmas presents and inside she quoted the same Scripture passage. But she had a different reading of it. One that seems truer to the real meaning of the Scripture. She quoted it and then pointed out that it says "in all circumstances" not "for all circumstances."
That's a very important distinction and one that I find completely consistent with the message of the Hebrew and Christian Scriptures. In both good times and bad, the faithful are called to give thanks to God - ackowledging that God has provided in the past and will continue to provide in the future.
But the faithful aren't called to thank God for the yucky situations they may find themselves in. The Bible actually includes many cases where the faithful complain to God pointing out the injustice of their situation. That's not giving thanks!
So thanks Mom for noticing the choice of English prepositions.
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January 7, 2007 — 10:14 AM
Tomorrow it is. My first day at my first call in my new career. Exciting!
When I graduated from the seminary I was sure I wanted to find a call to work in a parish (church) setting. But, if there is one thing I have learned over the course of my life, it is never to be sure about anything. It's good to have goals and to work toward them, but there always needs to be some flexibility in how those goals may actually work out.
So God saw my sureness about wanting to go into a church position and laughed. And then threw me a pitch I wasn't looking for. A position opened on the staff of the seminary from which I graduated. I learned about it and thouhgt, "I don't want to go to work at the seminary - it's not a church setting." But it kept coming back to me. People kept telling me I should consider it because I would be perfect for it.
I relented and told God I would look into it, but that I still really thought I should go to work in a church (I am a stubborn sort). God said, "Fine, have it your way." And I was offered both a position in a church and the position at the seminary. I had to decide.
As it turns out, the seminary position looks like a much better fit for me a this time in my life. So tomorrow morning at 8:30 am, I will walk into my new office at San Francisco Theological Seminary to begin my career as the Director of Vocational Formation and Placement.
God sure has a good sense of humor.
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January 14, 2007 — 3:55 PM
Is there any question who I am thinking of? I rather doubt it, but I'll tell just in case someone missed it:
President George W. Bush. (And Vice President Dick Cheney is right there with him!)
According to Dictionary.com, hubris is: excessive pride or self-confidence; arrogance. I believe that is a very apt description of the President's reaction to criticism of his decision to send more troops. His answer to those who question him on this seems to be: "I'm the President and the Commander-in-Chief. That means I get to do whatever the heck I feel like doing. I don't have to listen to anyone."
In an interview that is to air tonight on CBS' "60 Minutes", the President will reportedly say: "I fully understand they could try to stop me from doing it. But I've made my decision. And we're going forward."
It doesn't seem to matter that much more than 60% of the American people do not back this plan. It doesn't matter that Republicans as well as Democrats in Congress do not back this plan. All that seems to matter is that he wants to do this.
That indeed in hubris embodied.
I'm in danger of going on a long rant about how I truly feel about that, but suffice it to say that hubris is not what democracy is about.
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