It’s Late, I Have A Trial In the Morning And I Can’t Sleep . . .

So I have a trio of random observations & questions.

Shit stains

Noble work is that which we are ourselves unwilling to do. There are some really bad things that have to be done in our world. As I have been telling Pastor Josh, you can go to an accident scene with a decapitation, scream, cry, wave your arms, invoke every saint you can think of, rend your garments, and at the end of the day, somebody still has to put the head in the body bag. Son Tim has had to pick up a patient recently who, owing to some extreme medical problems, required everyone on the ambulance to wear air packs (breathing apparatus). You will not find me working in a coal mine or as a steeple jack, but people have to do those jobs. Someone has to prepare bodies. People need to dig trenches and ditches. And when you stay at a hotel, if you have a bowel movement, someone has to clean the shit stain out of the toilet bowl. For some reason in December when I was staying at Oglebay Park in Wheeling, a very nice facility, it struck me that I was capable of cleaning the toilet at least mostly, and that there was something about someone else cleaning up my shit stains that didn’t sit right with me. And it strikes me that I – and lots of us, I guess – fail to make the same connection in our homes and other places where we are more “familiar.” Damn. What morons.


“Off-road,” my ass -

In West Virginia, lots of people have pickup trucks. At least from ads, I guess that they are popular lots of places. On many of them these days, I keep seeing decals touting particular models or “editions” as “off-road,” suggesting that they are bigger and tougher, and that the guy who drives them is more of a macho guy who probably shoes horses and stares at the gathering sunrise through a leathered face (and all that sort of stuff you see described in Western novels). There’s a problem, though. These trucks don’t seem to be fitted out for much “off road” except maybe driving over lawns. As a rule, they don’t have skid plates protecting the engine/oil reservoir. They don’t have oversized suspensions/ shocks/ struts. Nor brush guards. Nor much in the way of lights. Nor winches. Nor anything that anyone who is really going “off-road” might really want.

Sadly, there are so damn many roads, there aren’t many places that most folks want to go which are “off road.” The need for such vehicles is limited, and for the car companies to market them and gullible buyers to purchase them is just another face of the hairpiece-shoelift-girdle-I-wannabe-somebody-else coin. Sad.


It’s a PRAYER. What part of that don’t you people understand?

Reverend Warren (never heard of him til now) has been asked to PRAY a SINGLE PRAYER at the inauguration. The idea of that prayer is a wise thing. When undertaking a monumental task, it is foolish to neglect seeking the blessing of Deity. (For that matter, where America is at now argues in favor of sacrificing a sheep or two at the inauguration, too.) Rev. Warren has political views that are controversial. If he asks Lord Jesus to strike the homos dead in his prayer, then it was a darn bad choice to have him. Why do I think it’ll be a little more generic and upbeat than that?

This is a part of the broader trend to adore being a victim. Please, give me an opportunity to be self-righeous, to be one of the “sat upon, spat upon, ratted on.” (That’s Simon & Garfunkel.) Oh, how can you think of letting someone who disapproves of my marrying who I please pray to GOD? How insensitive? I am so hurt. Whimper. You goofed, you have betrayed us, Mr. President-Elect - you have been on Double Secret Probation, and now we can tell you about the Rule that you have broken.

Give me a break. It’s a PRAYER. It is a HUMBLING thing. It is an admission that we don’t have a CLUE what we are doing, or at least that we cannot or will not read any of the clues with which we are provided. This is another opportunity for us to LISTEN to God. Oh, we won’t really do it in all likelihood, we are too busy giving Him advice, but maybe one person per prayer gets a dose of humility. It won’t happen all at once. So, bow your heads and talk to God yourselves through Rev. Warren. And if he doesn’t pull it off for you, go in your room, close the door, and go at it yourself. What, you think you're going to make things worse???

Pippa passes.

R