CHRIST IN WINTER: Reflections on Faith & Life for the Years of Winter
PLAN B
I’ve never seen this on a
shelf in a grocery store, but we eat lots of “Plan B” at our house. At least,
that’s what the cook calls it.
CURMUDGEONLY DREAMING
One of the interesting
questions of the last two years, the pandemic years, for old people is: how
much of the change in my life is due only to covid restrictions, and so can be
ignored if we ever get through the pandemic, and how much of that change is due
to real old age decline, so that there will be no recovery? It’s not exactly
necessary to know the answer now. Still, I think I might be able to deal with
life a little better if I know if my aversion to people in the flesh is just
because I’m trying to avoid the virus, or if I have truly morphed into the
curmudgeon I always hoped to be, so that I can keep on being the man of my
hopes even after the virus is vanquished.
AT LEAST OUR STATE IS
FIRST IN SOMETHING!
Indiana’s Attorney
General, Todd Rokita, says that he doesn’t believe the covid 19 crisis is all
that bad, even though all Indiana hospitals have had to appeal to the National
Guard for help because they are overwhelmed by more covid patients than ever
before. Rokita does not believe the figures his own state releases on covid
because …that’s been politicized from day one. Those figures are just puffed
up. It’s not nearly that bad.
Rokita
is right. The covid crisis is politicized in his state. He just doesn’t admit
who is doing the politicizing. Not surprisingly, this state ranks 42nd
in vaccinations. But we have a legitimate claim to being first in stupid
politicians. [Yeah, yeah. I know. Your state does, too.]
CHRISTMAS CHAOS WRAPUP
Old friend Paul Unger told us of a Christmas when he was pastor of Calvary UMC in Normal, IL. The tree for Christmas was outside, waiting for entrance, and decorating, when an ice storm came up and covered it. Paul took it to the parsonage garage, next door, to let it thaw, but that wasn’t fast enough, so he ran the garden hose from the hot water faucet in the kitchen and sprayed it with hot water. Took a lot of time and water. Then it went to the church and got decorated for Christmas eve. When folks came in for the service, though, they found that every last needle on the tree was now on the floor. He had “scalded” the tree, something that he, even though a farm boy, did not know was possible. [I’m a farm boy, and I didn’t know it, either.] But, of course, he got a sermon out of it. “You Can’t Keep Christmas from Coming.” Makes no diff how many needles the tree does or does not have.
Paul also told us that
when they were young, he and his 3 sibs would snoop before Christmas to find
and look at their gifts. One year they thought it would be funny to put them
back in a different hiding place. Problem was that when Christmas came, their
parents couldn’t find them, and they couldn’t, either, because they could not
remember where they had hidden them.
I think I quoted this years-ago observation from old friend Kathy Roberts in another recent CIW, but… “I don’t understand why people are surprised when Christmas is chaotic. Anything that starts with the birth of a baby is bound to be chaotic.” As faithful watchers of “Call the Midwife” on PBS, I can certainly understand that.
Reminds me of the yuppie
couple of a few years ago who had a baby and were so amazed when it changed
their life. They had assumed they’d just keep going on as usual with their
yuppie lifestyle. They were so surprised that they couldn’t keep on as usual
that they wrote a book about it, so that other couples would know ahead of time
that their life would change when a baby came into it. How “Duh?” can you get?
WHO IS THAT MASKED MAN?
The young woman pharmacy tech at CVS called me “Mr. John.” Apparently she felt that I was too old to be just “John” but not old enough to be “Mr. McFarland.” That’s sort of nice.
John Robert McFarland
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