The Main Point by Michael Main

Saturday, August 09, 2003

ANOTHER FINE MESS

It's pretty much guaranteed that our Sunday service will be a little confusing and disorganized. Our Pastor has a much deserved day off and since we're a small congregation that means we'll be scrambling a bit to get things done. Church won't flow "smoothly."

Even when everyone is present and accounted for our church never operates like a well oiled machine. Kids make noise, sometimes the music team volunteers can't all be there, so not every song is perfect, once in a while we forget an announcement.

Thank God we do that.

I don't want processed Christianity. I don't want Velveeta worship.

Shouldn't being a Christian be a little disheveling...a little crazy?

Matthew 3:4
John's clothes were made of camel's hair, and he had a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey

Sometimes churcheology goes so far overboard it blows my mind. Could you imagine taking communion but first removing from the cup a little label that reads sanitized for your protection?

Our church service tomorrow will be a little out of kilter. There will be slips and spills. It will be untidy. And we will love each other in our unsanitary insanity.

God does.

This is grace.

ODDS AND ENDSODDS AND ENDS

We have air conditioning!

The poor guy who came to install our new unit earned his money. We were hot, bothered and loaded for bear when he arrived five hours late. We immediately started protesting the charges his company wanted up front. The repairman was a sensible guy. He said, "Call my office, I don't get paid to fight these battles."
Amy was sensible too...she kept me off the phone.

We still ended up paying 100 dollars for a "permit", but Amy had them knock off 200 dollars in other charges.
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Cleaned up and personalized the look of the blog. The guestbook is gone (no one ever signed it), so is the feature to notify folks in email if the blog changes (here's a hint, I write everyday so if you need a reminder just slap a sticky note on your monitor).

It's amazing how much time I can waste when I have time to waste.
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Actually did a "home improvement" project today without any major screw up. Finished lining my home made wine cabinet with wine labels. It actually looks pretty good. I did a pseudo-decoupage thing. If nothing else it proves I learned something teaching Sunday school kids...how to cover stuff in glue.

Friday, August 08, 2003

SADNESS

Attended the funeral for my friend, Bill, today. Bill worked hard. He died young.

   Note to family: When I die don't mourn my passing too long...celebrate my ascension. Remember my life. I enjoyed every minute of it. Largely because of you.

All funerals are sad I suppose. Bill's was too. Not only in its dark somber overtone, but also because it had such a disconnected feel.

   Note to my family: No open casket. I don't really want folks standing 18 inches from me staring at my face right now and I'm alive. I'm going to work on the assumption that death won't improve my appearance.

Bill was raised Catholic and never formally joined our church. His wife joined, and they both attended church regularly for about two years. For whatever reason, some months ago they both drifted away. We reached out repeatedly to no avail and I had hoped that perhaps they had found another church home, but today as I listened to the standardized words of comfort and prayer from a priest who admittedly had never met Bill or his family, it became apparent that in the last year of his life Bill was without a contingent of fellow faithful wanderers.

   Note to my church family: Thank you. I would be aimless without your hands to hold.

The funeral was held in a mortuary chapel. The first 5 rows were reserved for family but the immediate family opted to stay in an alcove so we could not observe and share in their grief. I respect their choice, but I don't understand it.

   Note to my family: Share your grief, cling to each other and to our friends. There is no shame in sadness. Mourn so that you can move on.

I left Bill's funeral today wishing I could do more for his wife, daughter and grandchild. I will try in the weeks and months ahead.

   Note to self: Talk is cheap

I left Bill's funeral today knowing I will do more for my wife, and children. I will do more to remind them that life is fun, God is good and when I'm gone that will still be true.

   Note to Bill: I'll miss you man.

"DONT DRIVE ANGRY"

"Don't drive angry" is one of the many funny lines in the movie "Groundhog day"...I'm wondering if "Don't blog angry" should also be a rule.

I meant to sit down and blog several times today, but got distracted. I use this time to reflect if at all possible...right now I'm sweating and I'm angry because we scheduled our day around the company that said they were going to replace our air conditioning unit today. It's 5pm on Friday...still no sign of them.

I can understand that to some extent, it's 102 degrees in San Antonio today and I'm sure they're getting a lot of calls. However we've been waiting for several days...and it's 102 degrees at our house too.

I'm most angry at the fact this company is trying to rip us off. Our home warranty firm is paying for the cost of replacing our condenser, but the firm they've hired has tacked on "fees" that are not covered. I can live with some of them, but I'm a reporter...I did some checking. They want to charge 100 dollars for the city permit. It's debatable if a permit is needed at all, but in any case the city permit costs $6.25. I'll even throw in the 22 dollar inspection fee. But a 200% markup seems a bit extreme.

I'm trying to maintain a Christian attitude...but it's difficult when the environment doesn't exactly remind you of Heaven...Did I mention it's 102 degrees?

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Addendum: We negotiated a more reasonable fee.

Compromise is possible...but sometimes to get folks to bend, you have to bend a few ears.

And twist a few arms.

Thursday, August 07, 2003

TOTAL COMMITTMENT

Some stories don't get the national attention they deserve.

Did you miss this story?

Never doubt a mother's love.

TOTALLY OBLIVIOUS

I read this story with interest:

SIOUX CITY, Iowa - Veteran black activist Al Sharpton contended Wednesday that the news media are dismissive of his presidential campaign because newsrooms are overwhelmingly white.

"I think when you look at the lack of diversity in the newsrooms, when you look at the lack of diversity from the editors and those in power, then you see them as automatically dismissive of anything that is not like them, which is white males," said Sharpton.

This from a man who has a made a living being a race activist and dismissing any honest dialogue over whether he's actually helping the people he claims to be representing.

"Hello Kettle? Pot calling."

I agree there's not enough diversity in newsrooms, not of the superficial nature that Mr. Sharpton alludes to...there's a distinct lack of diversity of thought and beliefs. How many conservative Christians do you think are on the staff of the New York Times? How about the Washington Post? Care to take a wild guess at the number on the staff of the L.A. Times?

"Tonight's lotto numbers are: 0,0,0....if you guessed those numbers you win."

TOTAL RECALL

Arnold Schwarzenegger is going to finally be able to convince the critics he can act. If he can get people to vote for a pro-abortion, pro-gun control candidate and still make them think they're voting for a Republican he deserves an Oscar.

Wednesday, August 06, 2003

ADDENDUM

This is so weird.

Yesterday I blogged about burdens and how my Urologist and dental Hygienist thought because of my work hours they couldn't fathom how anyone could do what I do.

So help me, someone else said something similar this morning. What's odd is she works pretty strange hours too, coming in at 8 or 9 pm. She's one of my news contacts, someone I call every morning first thing and today she laughed and said, "Man, every time you call I think 'how can he get up so early?'"

This woman's name is JoAnna.

She is a Bexar County Medical Examiner.

Her job entails going to the scene of every late night death that is linked to unusual circumstances. Examining the corpses. Then she supervises their removal and later takes part in cutting them open for autopsy. She's a great news source since every murder victim, car accident victim, etc. she has personally seen...and touched.

She ties on toe tags, and she thinks my job is tough.

Really.

Thank you God for making such a weird and entertaining world.

Tuesday, August 05, 2003

UNBURDENING

I don't need no beast of burden
I need no fussing
I need no nursing
Never, never, never, never, never, never, never be *

Right now two of our dogs are behind me, blissfully content in relatively small cages, and the third is sleeping at my feet, comfortably consuming a great expanse of my carpet.

They are care free.

Unburdened.

My life has had its burdens lately: car repairs, broken A/C units, busted pipes, battered bicycles and broken cameras-although apparently my camera can be put through the spin cycle and still work a little, who knew?

At the dentist's office this afternoon my hygienist asked me about my work hours. When I told her I get up at 1:45 in the morning, I got the usual reaction, shock and dismay, followed by something along the lines of, "I don't know how you do it...I could never do that!"

I got a similar response from my Urologist some months ago. He asked about my hours and then shook his head and woefully pronounced, "I could never work a job where I had to get up that early!"

My hygienist makes her living scraping tartar and scum off stranger's teeth, stuffing her fingers in their mouths, flossing them and wiping spittle from their chins. My Urologist spends a goodly portion of his day trying to reach up and grab men's tonsils through orifices that are not intended to connect to the tonsils.

When comparing job gripes with these folks, I don't even want to play. I wave the white flag. But they see my job as difficult and apparently enjoy what they do.

Webster's defines burden as something that is carried, oppressive or worrisome.

I guess we all learn ways to carry our burdens.
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That's the four million dollar ring Kobe Bryant bought for his wife following his admission of adultery and his indictment for rape. They weigh diamonds by the karat but that one seems too heavy to bear by any scale.
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A man who used to attend our church died this week. Our church family has tried to reach out to his wife without a great deal of success. No doubt she is having a hard time coping with this sudden loss. I can't blame her for feeling she is carrying all she can.

Sometimes even gratitude can be a burden.

How many of my burdens are of my own making?

Psalm 68:19
Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior, who daily bears our burdens. Selah

*Rolling Stones

Monday, August 04, 2003

A STRANGE MIX

When my stepson Joey was much younger he was like a lot of kids in that he was very specific about what he would eat and how he would eat it. Specifically he would never let one food item touch another. The peas couldn't touch the potato. It would gross him out if the bread got some of the juice from the roast beef on it.
I'm glad he's grown up so he can enjoy the brave new world of foods coming our way. Anyone ready for a blueberry, turkey burger?

"HELP ME I'M MELTING"

Weren't those the last words of the Wicked Witch of the West?

In any case, the air conditioning repair crew is on the way. You know it's bad in your house when the dogs prefer to stay outside. Our home warranty will replace the unit if it can't be fixed, so Amy and I have been doing little chants and dances around the dead compressor hoping it's gone for good. It appears the voodoo may have worked since what we thought was condensation leaking from the unit is actually oil. We've struck oil! Yay!

Sunday, August 03, 2003

POOR ME

Saturday was not a good day. The air conditioning failed at the house...no repairman until at least Monday. My car is still overheating because my mechanic now only works Saturdays "by appointment." I decided to take my bicycle in for an overhaul, the bike rack jettisoned it into the street on the way to the bike repair shop.
I'd show a picture of the significant damage to the bike, but my favorite digital camera

The camera I love so much because you can carry it anywhere and not notice you have it, is dead.

I didn't notice I still had it in my jeans when I threw them in the wash.

Midway through the day I went fetal as a result of the frustration, the heat, some possibly tainted hamburger meat, and a sense of self preservation.

In reality, the bike, the car and the camera can be fixed, replaced, or disgarded. My life will go on. We have a home warranty, so the air conditioning will eventually be repaired without a bank loan. The questionable goulash didn't kill me.

It's amazing how often when I am too focused on money and things,my life gets out of balance. When the things stop working (even as the result of my own stupidity) I realize how they have really acquired me.

Thanks for the reminder.

Today is going to be a good day.

PSALM 22:26

The poor will eat and be satisfied; they who seek the Lord will praise Him. May your hearts live forever!

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