Kanata, Ontario, Canada...

Here I am, Kanata, Ontario Canada, try to tell people where you’re going in Canada, they think you’re trying to be funny. I thought the people that were from here were making a joke when they told me where they were from. Here’s the view from my hotel room, last night when I “landed”.



Anyway, I went out for lunch today, local pub (nice place, looked like good beer on tap, but I’m working), so I sat there, ate my bangers and mash (VERY good!) and I notice this one waitress comes up to the bartender, she’s crying. Proceeds to tell the story of this lady that orders a steak (for lunch, if you can imagine!) and gets upset when it’s not there on time, rips the bill up in the girls face and refuses to pay for her drink (rum) and salad. Come to find out this lady was with a party of people that are with the company that I’m doing work for. So I got another side to the story, same story. I was pretty ticked, you just don’t treat people that way. That’s twice in two weeks that I’ve been places where people treat wait staff like second class citizens. What is up with that??!! Do we (collectively) not realize that they are people too? I asked the bartender who pays for that, she tells me it’s the waitress, she has to pay the tab out of her tips. I have half a mind to find that lady and talk to her, I’m afraid I’d be rude though. That just burns me up.

That’s about it from Canada. Things are going well here, not as quickly as I had hoped, but I’ll be done in time to head home, maybe even make it home tomorrow night.

BS

Attitude, adventure, abandon...

Well, that was completely uncalled for don’t you think? Last night I was out with the guys and I actually got upset about how to play a dart game. Do you really think that darts has anything to do with why I was upset? Yeah, me neither, there is obviously something else bothering me. Now starts the process of finding it. It’s probably a very good thing that I’m headed out on the road, maybe I can relax and soul search. Anyway, I owe an apology to a few people, I’ll talk to you guys later, until then though, here’s a public, I’m sorry for my attitude.

In other news, I’m headed to Canada today, I’ve got the GPS loaded with maps of Vermont, New York, PQ and Ontario. I’m going to drive and then let the GPS get me out of wherever it is that I am. That could/should be fun. We’ll see how it works out for me. Unless I decided to take the bike, then I’ll have to stop and buy a map.

I think it’s time to put down all of the other books and tapes and such and grab a novel and read it. Maybe it is time to give the brain a rest, let it go into cruise control. I can’t say have more fun, I’ve been having more fun lately than I have in a very long time. Maybe that’s part of my angst? To much fun? As if!

BS

Smelling the roses...

Tuesday broke dreary and humid, but not hot, so that’s nice. Very strange to come upstairs at 5:30 and find that it’s still pretty dark out! I’m not very thrilled with that idea, I like long days. Oh well, in a few months it will seem strange that dawn is breaking earlier. Go figure.

I walked up the hill this morning, like I do, during the walk down I noticed that the “mountain” in the distance was shrouded, again, in clouds. It’s amazing to me how we can live around things for so long and not see their beauty. Maybe we just don’t take the time to notice, maybe we’re so caught up in our own little worlds to notice the world or worlds around us. Riding the motorcycle has been great for that. Big D and I were talking about that last night, riding in Vermont versus riding in New York, where he used to ride was pretty congested and up here it’s more of pick a direction and go, it’s not going to be that crowded (save holiday weekends, etc). It’s good to remember to stop and smell the roses or see the mountains or just find a cool place to pull off the road and sit, quiet, look at hills or sun or nothing at all, just notice the world around you.

Went out riding yesterday for a few hours, what a great time. I have to travel to Ottawa tomorrow and I’m thinking of taking the bike, I’ve scratched the whole day off the schedule, for travel, and it just seems to make sense, taking the bike. At the same time, it’s a long ride, weather is unpredictable and well, I’m nervous about a ride like that, to be honest. If I had someone with me, preferably on a second bike, I’d feel better. Oh well.

All in all, things are going well, I’m starting to feel a bit better these days, not as funky as before. I still haven’t had a real good deep conversation for some time. The message from Sunday proved to me that my brain still works, so that’s good. There’s a question on the table about 1 Timothy and caring for widows, I must try to find the context of the passage, etc. Seems a talk with Dr. Stets is in order.

I suppose I’d better get back to work. Tomorrow could/should be a good day of riding/driving, so I better get directions, etc.

BS

The core of all religions is the same...

The title of this, second post in one day, is the gist of the message that was given by one of the deacon's at the Episcopal service that I attended early this morning. She started out telling a story about how a young Jewish student wanted to know the meaning of life (after years of studying the Torah) so he started asking around. Finally he went to the Rabbi and asked him, the rabbi slapped him and said, "answers divide us, the questions unite us, you have a perfectly good question, keep studying." I wondered where she was going with this. I liked this story.

Then we get to the "hard" part for me. She says that all religions, at their core, are the same, Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, etc. I can't buy into this. When you use some of the definitions of religion as Merriam-Webster's dictionary defines it, there is opportunity to agree with her, Merriam-Webster says that religion is, as follows:
------------------
Main Entry: re·li·gion
Pronunciation: ri-'li-j&nFunction: noun
Etymology: Middle English religioun, from Anglo-French religiun, Latin religion-, religio supernatural constraint, sanction, religious practice, perhaps from religare to restrain, tie back -- more at RELY
1 a : the state of a religious
b (1) : the service and worship of God or the supernatural (2) : commitment or devotion to religious faith or observance
2 : a personal set or institutionalized system of religious attitudes, beliefs, and practices
3 archaic : scrupulous conformity : CONSCIENTIOUSNESS
4 : a cause, principle, or system of beliefs held to with ardor and faith
(Merriam-Webster online)
------------------

Now we think about what these religions are actually at their core, Christianity is the following of the ways and teachings of Jesus, isn't that the core? Buddhism is the following of the ways and teaching of, Buddha, right? Islam - Mohammed, etc. I'm not sure how I see these as the same thing. Or am I missing the core? is the core actually deeper than, is the core self-preservation at a cosmic level? Buddhism (if my memory serves) the idea is to transcend to a place where you are one with everything, the self is gone and you are one, so cosmic self-preservation doesn't seem like it's right. Is the core to be a part of something that is bigger than you?

I'm not sure I know the answers, anyone have thoughts?

BS

'05 Suzuki Boulevard C-90...

I darn gone and done it now! Yesterday, I made the long drive and picked up my “new” bike. A 2005 Suzuki Boulevard C-90, slightly used, but in amazing condition! I’ll throw a picture up for you to see it.

I’m so excited I just can hardly stand it! It’s very hard not to go switch plates (from the old bike) and drive it, but you know what would happen then, right? I’d run into someone, get hit, or lay it down. So I’ll wait, impatiently!

I had a great time traveling to get the bike, two of my bestest buds in the whole world went with me and I really enjoyed our time together. One of the worst things about growing up, you don’t get to spend the “old days” with friends, know what I mean?

After taking the bike for a short, illegal, ride, I went and helped take some measurements for a mug rack we are building for a local pub, then had a couple of pints, dinner at the local Indian restaurant, have I mentioned how much I loooove Indian food?? We were going to eat at the pub, but Indian sounded so good we had to go there. Thanks for dinner Fuzz and Dawg, you certainly didn’t need to do that!!! It was a nice treat, though, dinner with above mentioned and Mom and Dad. Then back home for a brief, illegal, ride on the bike, fall asleep on the couch, bed.

I’m not sure what I’m going to do this week, I’ve been trying to be a bit more laid back when I travel and such, so maybe I’ll leave early on Wednesday (I have the whole day to travel) and visit friends along the way, maybe I’ll just blaze on up to Montreal or stop in Ottawa (I’ve seen Parliament before, but didn’t take pictures). Who knows, I think I’ll leave Wednesday as free-form as possible. I’ve got the rental care slated for early pickup so I can “blow with the wind”.

In other news, the Putter comes home today, I think, I’m very much looking forward to seeing him. He hasn’t really been gone all THAT long, but it sure seems like forever. I enjoy our times together, he is a good friend and a good guy.

I guess that’s it for today, maybe I’ll walk downtown for Mass and bagels (not together!)

BS

Crash Test Dummies, motorcycles, funk...

So, here it is Saturday morning, August is almost gone. WOW! This year has certainly flown by. I have a very difficult time believing that time can move as quickly as it seems to. I went out with my two youngest daughters for dinner last night, they are both such mighty fine young ladies, it’s an honor and a pleasure to hang out with them. I, personally, had a wonderful time, now I understand the look on my Dad’s face when he used to hang out with his daughters, always grinning, like the Cheshire cat, I never understood it. Now I do.

Today’s lyrical contemplation (really it’s just a song I get stuck in my head) is Crash Test Dummies “I think I’ll Disappear Now”, don’t worry it’s not what you think. The part that I find interesting is the first few lines, “Running into you with no warning, is like catching a sniff of tequila in the morning, but I’ll try, try to keep my food down.” The song is really about a guy seeing his girl after a breakup and wanting to just slip away for a while. I’m not totally sure why I’m jelling with this song at the moment, maybe it’s the motorcycle rides I’ve been taking. Just up and disappearing for a few hours, it’s nice. Very good therapy for me, know what I mean?
As I may have mentioned before, I’ve been in a bit of a funk lately. I know it’s tough for people that care about people to just let them be in a funk, how does one deal with it when people are trying to pull you out of a perfectly good funk? Sometimes I think it’s not a bad thing, to be in a funk. Sometimes you get to explore different sides of your personality. Find out a little better what makes you tick or at least better understand yourself so that the next time you get “funky” you can identify what’s bothering you faster or discard items. I don’t know it’s tough, huh?

A few positive, or VERY positive notes (I’ll let you decide), I’ve been sleeping in my bed for the past few nights, that’s nice! Although I seem to have gone to sleeping 5-6 hours a night, different for me, but I’ll take what I can get (for instance this post was started around 4 AM, It’s taking a while to do as I’ve had e-mails to do and comics to read, AND revisions to make, etc.). I’m heading to pick up the motorcycle this morning, I really hope everything works out, I’m a bit leery of making such a large purchase from someone that advertised on the internet, but I suppose it’s not much different seeing a bike on the side of the road and buying it from them. So I’m looking forward to getting that on the road on Monday, I have to travel to Canada on Wednesday, but I don’t have to leave until afternoon, so I’m hoping Wednesday is a good day for a ride, but by then I’ll have other things to do, so we’ll see if a ride materializes. I spoke with someone yesterday who’s husband has an amazingly expensive bike, yesterday was the first time he’d been on it all year, he packed an overnight bag and said, “I’ll call you when I ‘land’”, I think that sounds like good therapy, maybe I’ll have to try that next year. ‘Course I’d clear it with the wife first!

This isn’t nearly as long or as interesting as it once was, revisions, you know. However, it’s an update.

“And just in case I don’t see you, good afternoon, good evening and good night”
BS

Billy Joel?...

Today’s lyrical contemplation doesn’t really make any sense. I’m sitting here at work, I have a bit of a headache and I’m feeling very tired of customers and work and computers. So I was thinking about the line (and title) from Billy Joel’s song “And So It Goes”, I like the line, however the song doesn’t fit in context. It’s about love, I took the line out of context, oh well. That’s the way it goes, huh? Welcome to the post-modern world, I can do that! HA!

Ah, the stories I could tell. I guess they’ll just have to wait for another time.

Not a whole lot has happened since the last writing, but I figured it was time to throw something up here. Ever have those times when you just feel dry? Like your brain doesn’t work or want to wrestle with tough questions. I’ve been having one of those times lately. Occasionally someone will spark a good thought with me and we’ll get into a decent conversation. Lately I’ve found myself pretty bored though. I need some stimulation.

Maybe the new motorcycle will help stimulate me. Yup, I did it, I’m going down on Saturday to buy the C90 Suzuki Boulevard, 2005 loaded to the hilt. I’m excited, can you tell??!! Come by and take a ride.

Guess that’s it for now.
BS

A few days later, a motorcycle...

Well, it’s been a few days, hasn’t it?

Let’s see, a recap of the week. Worked in a town about two hours from home, fun times, yeah whatever. I did listen to a good book “A New Kind of Christian”, while driving. My sister and one of my wife’s friends (and Skip) have been trying to talk to me into reading it for a while. I resisted, but now I’m ensconced in the book and thoroughly enjoying it. It’s certainly a good read and brings up some very good points, maybe a post about this book is forthcoming.

Wednesday, Thursday I “worked” from the office, didn’t have a whole lot to do, supposedly an upgrade in Texas for two days. The upgrade turned into one day, so I rode the motorcycle Wednesday and Thursday. Friday I went hiking with the kids, wife and aforementioned wife’s friend (I may be able to call her my friend these days too, she’s been nice) I think we all had a good time, funny to see the difference between my kids, one blazed right up the hill and the other blazed down. The five-and-a-half year old kept up amazingly well! I really suspected that he and my youngest wouldn’t make the whole hike, they did. Very impressive!

Spent Saturday cruising around with one of my buddies, we logged a good three hours in the car driving around looking at motorcycle. What a blast that was. It’s looking good for him! He found a really nice used bike, wish I could remember the model, but it’s a Suzuki 800, comfortable, well cared for. It’d be nice to have someone to ride with.

This brings up my motorcycle shopping spree. Well, it wasn’t really a shopping spree, I got out of work early on Tuesday, so on my way home I stopped and looked at motorcycles at a few different shops, I rode an ’05 Suzuki C90, what a beautiful bike, Blue on Black two tone paint and a 1500 cc engine. It’s very comfortable. I’d really like to get it, I just don’t know about making the family live that tight, know what I mean?

Ah well, guess I better get off to church to practice before it’s time to “work”.

BS

Better days...

It’s amazing what a little bass playing will do to help one’s attitude. As you may have noticed, Friday was a crumby day. Saturday wasn’t the greatest, but it was alright, Sunday things started to get better, there isn’t a whole lot that clears the mind (and scares the crap out of you) like riding over a very steep and windy hill at only slightly under highway speeds, particularly when you’re “out driving” your headlight. Sunday made things much better, I got to play bass AND had a drummer there, that was fantastic. Apparently he’s not going to be playing much, if at all, anymore so that is sad.

Saturday I spent some time looking for screws for the cabinet doors, just plain can’t find any of the size that I needed. So, I didn’t get to put the doors on in the kitchen (they look very nice, even though they are strewn around the kitchen! You two lady’s did a great job! And I hear you had “fun” doing it!), I did, however, manage to get a few things done that I needed too, paid bills, various and sundry other office work that needed done. The Dawg and I got our favorite pub manager a bottle of Oban Scotch, his daughter is getting married today in New York City. We figured, the father of the bride doesn’t really get anything except bills, so we thought a bottle of Scotch would help. We hope it did!

Sunday, church, lunch, hung with the wife for a few, then the good Dr. H stopped by and showed me his new motorcycle. I must admit I’m envious. I really want a new ride, I just don’t want to settle, I want what I want, you know? Is that wrong? Then I went to see Big Stetz and help him with his porch, I hope I didn’t mess it up too badly, you know me and hammers!

Today, I’m back on the road working, but close enough to drive home tonight, so that’s nice. Not much else happening... Oh yeah! One of my buddies may be getting a motorcycle! His wife sounds like she’s “warming” a bit to the idea, so that’s exciting! (You listening McB? This could be you! Think of the times you and your man could have cruising around on a motorcycle! It’s good times, I’m telling you!)

Suppose I’d better get back to work. Let me know what you think about the new bike.

BS

A bit of depression...

Ever have one of those days when you wake up in the morning feeling like your on top of the world, feeling like your living in harmony with everything, your life, nature, the whole nine yards. You decide that if your in a poker game you can’t do anything but win, so you sit down at the table and start to play, you look down and you’ve got all but one card that you need, that card, you feel, is in the dealers hand, ready to be flipped, so you go “all in”, the dealer flips and instead of flipping the number card of the suit you need, dealer flips number card of the neighboring suit, you lose, but SO close, so close you could taste that money, so close you could taste the wine, Italian wine, yeah, that’s it. Alas, it’s gone and you got nothing.

Today was a strange day, the highlights of my day were the few hours I spent on the back of my bike and ushering Saturday in (at the pub, of course). The really good part of being on the back of the bike was that I’m alone, alone with my thoughts, I’ve really needed a lot of that lately, I’m not 100% sure why.

Suffice to say that it was one of those days that you wish you could go back and do over again, maybe make some different decisions, maybe not. I’m not even sure I’ll be able to sleep tonight, it’s been a weird day.

BS

Traveling, environment, meandering...

As I type this, I’m on a plane from SLC headed east, back home. This morning the Transportation Safety Administration told us to remove all lotions, gels and liquids from our persons as we attempted to come through security checkpoints. You’d think that since all passengers (a majority of the “frequent travelers” carry water with them) have had to dump all liquids that the airlines might be willing to help us out by giving us more water on our flights??!! Not so the case this morning, so far I’ve been able to obtain one eight ounce bottle of water, merely a shot glass for me, I usually drink a liter plus on a three hour flight. I guess I’ll have to drink up on my lay over! On a positive note, an atta-boy to Delta for continuing to show movies on their flights, “MI:3” and “Over the Hedge” were good, oh alright, I didn’t actually watch “Over the Hedge” figured I’d wait to watch with the kids, but I glanced at it a few times and it looked funny. The ladies across the aisle seemed to enjoy it.

So I was thinking how funny it would be if a Bible came with the words “Don’t Panic” on the cover, instead of “Holy Bible”. I realize that may be sacrilegious to some folks, but I think it would be very amusing. You know the reference, right? I don’t really know why I think that would be so amusing, I just do.

How cool is it that the local Salt Lake paper has a section called “Outdoor” the out-of-doors is such a focuse for people in West, Colorado, Utah, Arizona, etc. It’s really cool! I suppose probably the Boston and New York papers have such things and we don’t have that, because we don’t need it, we live it on a day to day basis. Although, I don’t live it as much as I’d like. It’s hard to find that balance between all the projects I have to do around the house and being outside, riding the mountain bike (about 5 times so far this summer), hiking (what, once this summer?), riding the motorcycle (a lot more than the others, simply because I can go further faster) and other things. It saddens me. Ah well, we live with what we got, right?

I wish that I could reprint, in whole or in part, Tom Wharton’s article from “The Salt Lake Tribune”, if you can find it online it’s called “Has nature just become a thrill ride?” (August 10th). It’s a very well written article (and timely for those in SLC as the Outdoor retailers meeting is happening this week) It asks a tough question that has an even tougher answer. How does one “compete” and “commune” with nature (especially where money is involved), is it even possible? It is opined that only the heart of the person (or intent) is really how it is defined.

I think Tom is right and I think that applies to “religion” also. If one is a nice person because they are a nice person, good for them. If you struggle with being nice to people and you work hard at it as a sacrifice, say, to Jesus I think and believe that you will be rewarded for your effort. The same way that if you go out into nature to climb a mountain or a rock face and find that in so doing you may very well destroy something (or contribute to its destruction) and you forgo your expedition or take strides to minimize your damage, I think that’s good and you’re showing responsibility and good stewardship. If you don’t, well then you’re heart just isn’t in the right spot and you lose your right to complain/gripe or tell others how to live (I urge you to read Peter Schweizer’s article in USA “The Forum” for August 10th entitled “Gore isn’t quite as green as he’s led the world to believe”). I really hope that Peter’s allegations aren’t even 50% true, as I respect Al Gore’s getting people thinking about the environment more. (I say as I sit in an airplane that is spewing junk into the air.)

This has been a meandering post hasn’t it? Sorry about that. I hope it has made some sense to someone!!??

Peace,
BS

Leaving Salt Lake will anyone notice...

A big thank you to the people of the Salt Lake City area. I’m headed to the airport in just a little bit and, so far, it’s been a good trip, the beer is tasty, the people nice and the view is beautiful!

A funny thing happened to me last night, while I was sitting at the Wasatch Brewery in Park City, Utah. I met some very nice folks, Dana and Scott, both from Colorado currently, but Scott is originally from the Boston area. The funny thing is, the conversation started around baseball of all things! Those of you who know me, know that I don’t give two flying pigs feet about baseball. Anyway, Scott is a freelance marketing dude and Dana is the executive director of an organization that I have a lot of respect for. I have or will allude to them during this post, but for reasons of not wanting to ID people on my blog (you’ll notice this is the first time I’ve used names, simply because there is no connection between, Scott, Dana and I) I’ll leave the ID to your sleuthing abilities. Dana would NOT autograph her business card for me. Oh, well, I have the card and if anyone disputes the fact that I met her, well, they’ll have to drop her an e-mail and have her prove it!

Anyway… Dana and Scott are agnostic so our conversation centered a lot around “religion” and politics. It’s very hard to explain how I feel about “religion” versus following Jesus as a life journey. The definition of religion does not define how I feel I live my life, not a set of rules that I conform to with ardor. I study Jesus and the Bible and try to follow them. I don’t do a good job, most of the time, but I try.

I digress. My new acquaintances have two children and were in town as part of a large convention, I figure they have, either, a lot of money or the conference folks were paying for the babysitter, cuz the kids were at home. I’m guessing the conference folks were paying, these folks didn’t seem the types to be stuck on money and stuff. At any rate, we had an enjoyable conversation, and their offer of joining them for dinner was VERY tempting. It was late and I am up early to head home. Thanks Dana and Scott for making a lonely evening in Park City a very interesting and thought provoking evening! May you be blessed along the rest of your life journey.

Some of you may not find this next bit funny, but I did. I only brought two pairs of socks with me on this trip, I don’t know why, but I did. So that meant I either had to wear the dirty socks or wash a pair. This I did, yesterday morning after getting ready for work. Washed the socks, wrung them out and brought them to work with me. I set them on the trunk of the car and let the Utah sun do it’s job. What a great job it did! Just after lunch, my socks were nice and dry, stiff as a board (hard water) but dry! My client folks laughed at me, they thought it was a riot that I had “laundry” on my trunk drying. It was fun. I like fun.

Well, it seems that I must get ready to head to the airport. I’m hoping to make it on time. I’d like to go to the re-vision meeting tonight, but more importantly, I’d like to make it down to the pub for a beer with the dawg (and others). I miss my “home brew”.

“On the road again, I just can’t wait to get on the road again…”

BS

Salt Lake Brewers...

Last night, I got to go to yet another brewery here in Salt Lake City. I was told, during my last trip, that Red Rock was the only brewery in town. Turns out it isn’t! Last evening at Squatters I partook of a very nice beer selection. They Cask Conditioned Full-Suspension Ale was very nice, not as good as the stuff from “home”, but better than not having anything cask conditioned at all! The interesting thing was that I expected to be punished for having 2 casks and a sampler, but the beer affected me very little, I don’t really understand that, particularly because dinner consisted of nachos, and the altitude here is almost 4,300 ft. I’m alright with that, so alright that I may very well take a trip to the Wasatch brewery tonight. Oh yes, Wasatch brewery, makes of Polygamy Porter! Not that I’m super excited about that, but the Dawg saw that somewhere and thought it was a riot, so I figure he’d get a kick out of knowing that I’d been there (maybe there’ll be a t-shirt in there for him somewhere, but DON’T tell!! Ok?)

So I was laying in bed this morning, thinking about something to share with you all, one of those once in a lifetime revelations about oneself. Then I remembered something else and forgot about the revelation, how frustrating is that??!!

BS

Salt Lake City...

Here I am, Salt Lake City. I guess these are the days for expanding ones horizons or maybe I’m just finding that my comfort zone is too small, or maybe I’m just tired of being me (the old me) and I’m turning over new leaves, left and right.

This morning (afternoon to the East Coasters) upon my arrival out here in Salt Lake, I got caught up on some work stuff (e-mails, etc) and then I headed to downtown Salt Lake, I even ventured out to find the Trax (light rail here in Salt Lake, VERY civilized McB (in case you read this) I even saw a guy give up his seat for a woman). So I wandered around Salt Lake for a while checking out the various sights, main street, LDS Temple, Tabernacle (unfortunately undergoing MAJOR renovations), Utah Statehouse (from a two block distance, if I had remembered my camera I might have gotten closer), read some history of SLC and then hit my favorite little brewery in SLC! I was pretty full from a very late lunch (on Main St) so I only had a sampler and ¾ pint of Dunkel (yes, fruity-one I tossed ¼ pint! Don’t tell the dawg!) It rained like a son of a gun while I was in the brewery, that’s why I ordered the pint, then it stopped raining so I bolted to the train, while I had the chance. I may just have to go back tomorrow night, should I get a shirt or glasses or something???

The end of vacation was good, we did some more sight-seeing around D.C. (National Archives was WAY cool!) and, much to my GREAT joy, we went to the Air & Space Museum Annex at Dulles. What a fantastic time we had. A big thanks to the folks in D.C for making our time so enjoyable AND putting up with four crazies! How you livin???

Sunday, I woke up early and composed a message to deliver at church. It was strange for me, because originally I was going to entitle the message, “My Jesus” and talk about how and why I think the church has messed up Jesus and who he was. Instead the message turned out to be “The Jesus” and it was a challenge for people to get into history so as too see who Jesus was, in his time. This will help us better understand our jobs, I think, but I’m still working through these things myself. I realize that the title is only one word different, but it took six week of wrestling with God before I would acquiesce and do what he wanted me too. Thanks to all of you who prayed, encouraged and talked me through this one. It wasn’t easy (not that any of my messages have come easily, this one was a long labor).

I think that’s good for tonight. May you never lose your temper, when you get in a bar room fight.

BS

Vacation...

So, I’ve been trying to make myself more spontaneous, it’s not easy to change how one is wired, but I’m trying. It’s fun.

I’m on vacation this week and figured I’d just work around the house getting some things done. Didn’t work out that way, we decided on Monday that we should go to Washington, D.C. so we did. Bought tickets on the 12:30 train from our home town to D.C., It was a long ride, but we got in, late even, but in good spirits. One of our friends picked us up and drove us around the city a bit (my wife and two of my kids) we saw all of the monuments, etc. It was cool to see them all lit up at night. I must say the WWII memorial is amazing at night! Last time we were here it was still under construction, so we finally got here and slept, just hanging around today (which is VERY nice) maybe tomorrow we’ll go into town and see what’s happening. Tour some monuments and such, maybe we’ll hit the zoo, we’re not sure exactly.

I started reading a good book on the way down to D.C. “The Challenge of Jesus” by N.T. Wright, so far, good book. I would love to use this book as a basis for a message, but I don’t have enough time.

I am still baffled however; as I am scheduled to speak in church on Sunday (two services) and I still have nothing, nada, zip, zero, less than that even, I’m in negative numbers here. We shall see where his majesty leads.

Well, I guess I better get back to my vacation.

Peace, love, beer,
BS