Friday, March 16, 2007

"Supply Side Jesus"

Seeing as I work Sunday thru Wednesday mornings and into the afternoons, do most of the ordering, as well as gain & retain many customers, many people ask (and lots of the time assume) that I am the owner of the coffee shop. Quite often I think to myself that I should be. That the only thing that is keeping me from owning my own shop is capital. Then my mind ventures off into what I would do with riches were I given them. How my shop would be different. How my life would be different. How I could help people simply by giving all my money away. How I would do exactly what I want to do.

A line from a Psalm 49 (link to whole Psalm in title) stuck out to me one morning several weeks ago. I didn't remember it exactly, but this is what stuck and it certainly jives with the OT, NT & JC: don't focus your eyes on wealth or those who possess it.

Then I realize that I have "enough." I have more than enough, really. I don't go hungry. I sleep well. I have friends and family. I make much less money than most (in America) and much more than most (in the rest of the world). I certainly have enough. But yet, "Enough" is a word very rarely used anymore, by me or anyone else for that matter.

"Enough" about me... here's an intriguing parable from Al Franken.

Thursday, March 08, 2007

"I can gather all the news I need on the weather report"

When I went out early to retrieve the coffee shop’s lot of daily papers, the Tuesday Times did not have stories about the President’s assassination or the covert operations in the White House, nor was there any coverage of the nukes that had gone off on the east coast.

I think I officially got lost somewhere in 24-ville this week. It isn’t that the show is especially better this year than other seasons or that I’m even as into it as I have been previously. Rather I think that the events described and government’s way of handling them are very close to those of our current situation. Both the very real possibility of attack at any moment and our government’s ability to mask truth and frame whomever it sees fit (mostly those regions who would benefit us economically) make this season the most “real” 24 ever. In a sad masochistic cycle for a man who wants to “die for something,” Jack is shaping up to be an intriguing character, who loves to make up for his sins and those of his family by inflicting massive amounts of emotional and physical pain upon himself and others.

In other “news” –

A dog has come into our life just long enough for us to realize we don’t need/want one right now. Adios, Rico - You'll be greatly missed.