Category: personal

I mentioned today during our church gathering about how much Clive loves car rides. I thought I would share a very short video to give you an idea of how much Clive loves car rides. This is just me asking Clive if he would like to go for a ride. I bet you didn’t know that basset hounds could get air when they wanted to. 😁

I didn’t video Clive riding today because Winter rides mean riding in Fred the Minivan and there isn’t anything really interesting about those rides. Here’s a video from when I was testing to see what the a GoPro video in Buddy the Mustang would look like. This dog loves cars rides.

If you ever read my blog very much you should know that thanks to the wonderful naming talents of Natalie G the people who make up Tapestry are affectionately known as “threads” (also I would like to add that if you read my blog very often you should probably find better reading material-😜). I am often reminded of how much I love my “thread” friends and tonight was another reminder for two reasons.

First, I have a tendency to volunteer for us to serve at bad times. For example, serving the Place of Peace meal for 70ish people the Thursday after Christmas when everyone is gone. I was told that not many people who be able to help because of the holidays. In fact, I only had one “thread” family sign up to help. No big deal the church budget would just cover the meal. So I bought I lot of stuff and hoped that a few people would show up to help serve. Well we had a great turn out and a ton of food. Pam actually heard one of the “PoP”s (what I am now calling regulars at the Place of Peace meal) say “we’ve never had this many desserts before”. I’m not really surprised that the “threads” pull through, you guys always do.

Second, the Strongs have a few agatized wood bowls. The first time I saw one I asked about it and told them how Pam and I were given one when we were newlyweds. For the longest time it was my popcorn bowl and I loved it. You may say “you can’t love a bowl” but you would be wrong. I had a deep and meaningful relationship with this bowl. You see popcorn is very important to me and therefore my popcorn bowl is very important also. I presently have a wonderful enamelware popcorn bowl that Pam gave me one year for my birthday or Christmas. It is great a great bowl and I love it, but your first popcorn bowl is always special. My first great popcorn bowl was an agatized wood bowl and when it broke I wanted another. Though I didn’t know that it was called agatized wood. Which is why when it broke I had no idea how to find another. I searched for bowls made out of sawdust and glue, which is what I thought agatized wood was, but I never found anything. Then I saw the Strong’s bowl. I asked them how they got it and discovered that her dad and mom buy them whenever they see them. Low and behold they brought me one tonight. It is wonderful. Thank you Strongs. Y’all are wonderful.

My morning text message conversation with Eric G concerning music at Tapestry’s worship gathering tomorrow morning. One day my time will come and y’all will learn that I may well be the greatest freestyle rapper of our time.

BTW tomorrow is ukulele Sunday at Tapestry.

There’s some blipped out language in the video but I’m posting it because I think this payback is completely hilarious. This NASA engineer built a package to track, video, glitter bomb, and fart bomb people who stole the package from his and a friend’s houses. The thieve’s reaction to the engineered instant karma is wonderful.

One of the things that I enjoy is consuming media that is mentioned in various nonfiction books that I read. I have read and watched quite a few books and movies that were referenced to make a point in a work of non-fiction. I read “Sophie’s Choice” (a book that is on my “I’m Really Glad I Read This But It Was So Disturbing That I Will Never Read It Again” list – there aren’t many books on this list but it does exist) because of it being referenced in Daniel Migliore’s book “The Power of God and the Gods of Power“.

Recently I finished “White Trash: The 400-Year Untold History of Class in America“, a book that I would encourage you to read. It referenced Andy Griffith‘s first movie “A Face in the Crowd“. I had never heard of the movie and it sounded so very different from the wholesome image that Griffith was known for, so I wanted to watch it. Tonight Pam and watch it and it was remarkable. It was so different from what I was expecting from a film made in 1957. It was also amazing how current its themes seemed. 

“White Trash” also mentioned the early 70s documentary series “An American Family“. I’ll be tracking this down through our library and watching it soon.

So let me recap:

• Watch “A Face in the Crowd”
• Read “White Trash”
• and while you are at it I would recommend reading Migliore’s “The Power of God and the Gods of Power”

My work here is done.

This week Pam wanted me to read this article concerning the biblical phrase “Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.” I have never spoken concerning the passage in Matthew or from the passage from Isaiah from which Matthew is quoting and she wondered what I thought of Diane Butler Bass’s thoughts. I really liked them. I would encourage you to read her article. I think it is quite good.

To quote Dr Butler Bass.

By the time of Luke, however, anyone reading the passage would have been thinking of Roman roads. 

And how roads were essentially the pathway of Caesar’s “glory” — the wealth of empire, the army traveling, the rich and nobles and governors moving to newly colonized places.

I tend to think of Roman roads as the Ancient Near Eastern equivalent of aircraft carriers during the Cold War or probably drones during our own time. When I graduated from the University of South Alabama with my undergraduate business degree I began working at Ingalls Shipyard in Pascagoula, Mississippi. While I was there we worked on LHD class naval ships. The LHD is basically a small aircraft carrier. While we worked on those (ok others worked on them I was a workman’s compensation adjuster) one of the naval officers there described aircraft carriers as extensions of American power. When an American aircraft carrier was in a region that region was suddenly controlled by America because the force that an aircraft carrier was able to exert was that impressive. Ancient Near Eastern roads did the same thing. 

As Dr. Butler Bass pointed out when God calls for “the way to be prepared” it is a statement of the extension of God’s rule into the world. I would add that this is both individual and corporate. Dr. Butler Bass described how her past was limited to a “spiritualized” internal understanding version of preparing the way and she now understands the call of preparation of “rebellion” “of political liberation”.  I tend to think it is a both/and situation – that God calls us to prepare the way both within ourselves and within our world. 

I think this is one of the things that I like about Advent Conspiracy, it is corporate and individual at the same time. I believe it encourages us to celebrate our Lord’s incarnation in such a manner that it leads to us preparing the way both in our hearts and our world.

Prepare the way of the Lord, you children of God!

Here is this week’s Jesse Tree ornament for Tapestry‘s worship gathering this week.