Thursday’s Thirst

How could anyone ever complain about a week like this toward the end of October!  Beautiful sunshine every day – temperatures start in low 40’s but get way above normal by mid-day – full moon and meteor showers at night.  I know today’s forecast is not that great, but this one day of possible rain is to be followed by a dry weekend of seasonal temperatures.  Like I said, how could anyone ever complain about a week like this?

Rooms get messy – desks do, too.  Snowy roads are messy – but not as messy as muddy ones.  The floor of my car tends to get messy when the weather is wet – and so does my backseat, no matter what it’s doing outside.  However the messiest, by far, are people!

Lately I have been struggling with sorting out my priorities.  The final third of the year is always a challenge,

As I drove to a three-day training event on Monday, I figured it would generally be attended by older pastors.  What I was not really expecting is that I would be the oldest among the 20.  However, by at least a year or two, I was!

Generally speaking, I would rather drive in a snowstorm than in rain at night, but there I was Tuesday around 8:30 p.m. driving home on I-94 in the pouring rain.  The scene was not much different the following day at 6:30 a.m. as I drove back to church, except that the morning traffic was much heavier than the night before.  Fortunately on Wednesday evening I was home before it got dark.

This year’s Florida drive was a little different than most years – primarily because it was in September, not March/April – though we did follow our usual path.  We take the eastern route down, driving around Columbus and through Virginia, West Virginia, North and South Carolina, Georgia, and Jacksonville to get to my aunt’s home near the Atlantic coast.  Then, after our time in Orlando, we drive ‘straight up’ I-75 through Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Ohio to get home.

A friend and colleague of mine recently stepped away from social media for a time.  He is back now, I believe, with the ‘intentional interim’ time now completed.  Personally, I have not recognized the same issue for myself – though stepping away from ‘normal life’ (while not disconnecting from social media) is something that I am enjoying as I write this!

Inertia:  A tendency to do nothing or to remain unchanged.  Inertia:  A property of matter by which it continues in its existing state of rest or uniform motion in a straight line unless that state is changed by an external force.  Inertia + friction must be overcome if change is to take place.

I know the expression is “two steps forward and one step back,” but there are times when this sounds a little too optimistic!  On those days we might instead be saying “two steps forward and 1.75 steps back.”  Or one may feel as though reversing the numbers is more appropriate – “One step forward and two steps back.”

One week ago last night Miguel Cabrera hit career home run number 499 and the waiting began.  As the Tigers came home to play the Indians and then the Angels, Comerica Park filled with fans who were wishing they could see number 500 in person.  However, as this morning arrived and he was still at 499, I sense the fans growing a little restless and fatigued.