Friday, October 29th
Halloween 2004
I was really in the mood for Halloween this year because I just started carrying a mail route which includes some of Wallahalla St. For those who don't know- this is a Clintonville street that has a reputation of having various hauntings going on. It is a Clintonville Halloween tradition to drive down Wallahalla on Halloween. I noticed when I was carrying my route Wednesday that somebody had passed out a flyer on Clinton Heights called "Wallahalla Happenings" printed appropriately on orange paper. I will have to get ahold of that newsletter so I can keep up with the happenings on my route.
Thursday evening I had intended to get together with Scott Sloan to work on guitar stuff, but Scott pointed out to me that it was Halloween and he was going to be busy passing out candy. So Nancy and I simply went over to my parents house and did the same. As I was sitting there passing out candy I had some thoughts. First, I thought it was cool that I now go to a church that does not press Halloween alternatives. The trick or treat tradition is really rather cool if you don't get too worked up about it. In the hour and a half that we sat out at my parent's house on Chatham Rd and passed out candy, I didn't notice anything wierd. Oh, sure, the house across the street had a "witch" silhouette on it- at least the ugly old lady on the broomstick stereotype of a witch. Should a Christian be concerned about such things? I rather doubt it. Most so called satanism is a reaction against Christian extremism (and not always misplaced in my opinion) than actually being in league with the devil. Have we learned anything since the Salem witch trials? Maybe not.
I saw a lot of kids dressed in various costumes coming up to houses to get candy. Nancy pointed out that for the younger kids, this was quite a stretch. They've been taught all their lives not to talk to strangers and especially not to take candy from strangers. Then suddenly their parents tell them to reverse all that on Halloween night. The young girls especially had a real problem with that!
Nancy and I had a great talk Halloween night. We had quite a rough time of it in our marriage a little over a year ago- and thank God, we made it through! I suppose such times are necessary to strengthen a marriage, and so I thank God for the trials. We talked about how much better things are in our marriage than a year ago- and that was cool!
:cool2:
Thursday, October 28th
The Postal Fred
I always try to look on my job as a "ministry;" not in the Christianese sense of the term. Of course, "ministry" comes from a latin word that simply means "to serve," not in any religious sense but simply in the sense of serving people. Along comes Christianity and it puts all kinds of conditions on what "real" ministry or "true" ministry is- primarily that ministry is done within the context of the church. Not necessarily within church walls, but definitely connected to that very visible institution we know as the church. Is that really all necessary? Do we really need some kind of institutional authority in ourder to serve people "correctly"?
So yesterday I'm carrying the mail and I knock on a door to ask the resident if it is OK to put the large mail pieces (magazines, catalogs) between the doors instead of in the mail slot. Many Clintonville homes have tiny mail slots that only the letters will fit in. The magazines have to be curled and put in the slots; and then will not fit all the way inside. So anyway after waiting a minute or so a man using a walker comes to the door. I ask him the question and he says, sure, it would be fine to put the large pieces between the doors. Then he starts talking as if he is starved for conversation. He tells me he is 79 years old and that he moved to Columbus back in 1947 because it was costing them $200 a month more than they can afford to live in Chicago. After about five minutes I excuse myself and deliver the rest of the street.
When I get back to the van, I find that the man has come out of his house and crossed the street. He is waiting for me at the van! Remember that he has to use a walker to get around at all. He talks for perhaps another 5 minutes and I begin to cross the street with him. I'm really concerned for his safety, and I'm just plain curious how he made it down here to begin with. It turns out that he had to come down 4 steps in order to make it at all! He is continuing to talk, and tells me that he studied mechanical engineering. He tells me about the discovery of helium (they first discovered it in the sun) and the advent of alternating current. He tells me again that he had to move from Chicago, and that he grew up in Charleston SC.
It occurred to me during the conversation that I was doing "ministry." Just serving- by listening to someone who obviously needed someone to talk to. I remembered what Jesus said: "I was sick and in prison and you visited me." OK, this man wasn't in prison exactly (although he needed to get out of the house) and he wasn't sick exactly, just physically challenged. But you get the point.
I think it would be cool if the word "postal" came from the same root as the word "apostle." It seems like it might be a possibility: "apostle" means messenger- which is what postal people do: deliver messages. My dictionary tells me differently though. The word "postal" comes from the French, not Latin. Oh well :smiley2:
Tuesday, October 26th
WorkConnection
Well, here goes another post about work!
I guess that it's good that my focus has changed. I had a whole string of posts about authority in the scriptures, which really just goes to show that I had far too much idle time on my hands. This new route is harder, but it is good for me. Today was very annoying, especially carrying the advo ads on Indianola. The antediluvian mailboxes are too small to hold them, so I have to put them on the floor. Some of the buildings are well maintained by the residents but others are a complete mess- with weeks worth of ads lying on the floor. When I first started carrying mail the advo ads came nicely packaged and fit in mailboxes neatly. Somewhere along the line Advo figured out that people were taking these nicely packaged ads and nicely throwing them all in the trash. So instead of packaging the ads so that the largest was on the outside with the smaller pieces inside, they started packaging them so that the smallest piece is on the outside. This ensures that the thing will fall apart when it hits the mailbox so that everybody sees what is on the inside. Clever, huh?
The people on my route are exceptionally nice. Usually when one takes a new route, there is a breaking in period where people treat you with suspicion. Instead, people I've never seen before are coming up to me and greeting me by name! Word has gotten around that there is a new kid on the block, and people are even bothering to learn the new kid's name. This is really exceptional.
Another interesting quirk is that the guy that works on my left is into computer recording and even uses the same software and sound card that I use. (Actually it is a newer version of the software and a less expensive version of the sound card.) Also interesting is the fact that he is not a musician. There are an increasing number of people who don't play instruments but just use computers to put clips together and create music. At any rate, I burned some of my stuff to CD for him to listen to. He was off today, but I'm looking forward to getting his comments tomorrow.
:trumpetplayer:
Sunday, October 24th
Carrying the mail in Clintonville
Well, Clinton Heights Ave is starting to feel more like "my route" now that I've been carrying it 3 weeks or so. Last Monday it rained like the dickens and I was miserable. But even in the midst of this I noticed the smell. I'm talking about the feeling that one gets in one's nostrils in Clintonville. Perhaps only mailmen and others that work extended periods outdoors notice. But there is a smell in Clintonville when it rains that isn't there in Upper Arlington or the few other places I've carried mail. Perhaps it is a particular species of tree that smells that way when it gets wet. Or just the abundance of other vegetation of various kinds.
Not to fault the people on the other routes that I have had, but the people just seem more interesting in Clintonville. One person on my route publishes a newsletter for racewalkers, and another heads up the Columbus Curling Association. I only recently even learned what curling was, let alone known anybody that actually did it! I'll have to check out the event sometime, although I can't imagine that I would ever participate. I've heard a couple musicians practicing out on the route, and even heard a band practicing in an apartment on Indianola. One of the musicians is a retired professional trumpet player who played both classical and jazz. I met him one Saturday and we chatted a bit about music. He told me that his doctor encouraged him to practice every day in order to keep his muscles limber.
I seem to be experiencing a creative slump right now, probably due in large part to all the changes that have gone down in the past couple months. I've changed churches and routes, and started doing music with a couple of vocalists. All of this has conspired to draw my attention away from writing music, which is rather sad. Today I jotted down a couple of lines that may end up being a song someday. But what is more distressing is my lack of interest in developing new piano music. There is a church on my route which is willing to let me practice the piano there once in a while- and perhaps this will lead to some inspiration.
I do love carrying mail in Clintonville! This Saturday they sent me down to West Dodridge. I didn't even think about it, but somebody told me I'd better get down there early so as to miss the game traffic. Delivering mail there brought back a bunch of old memories. Even when I started in the post office nearly 19 years ago, many of the old apartment mail boxes were ratty looking- doors busted open and whatnot. I remember characterizing them as "antedeluvian" even back then. And most of the old apartments have the same boxes! One person had put a sign on their mailbox: "If you steal my mail, don't worry about the feds. I'll get you first!" (or something like that).
Thursday, October 21st
The state of my music
Last night I had the opportunity to lead a couple of worship songs at home group. I expected that it would feel strange to do so, as I haven't led any worship songs in over a year. But I really didn't feel anything one way or the other. There was nothing particularly hard about it, nor was there anything particularly exhilirating about it.
Several years ago God told me that He wanted me to occasionally write a song for Him. This was an instruction I put on the back burner for several years. Then I had a burst of creativity in this area and produced perhaps a dozen worship and/or Christian songs in a period of a few months. But I haven't had much desire in the past half year or so to write songs "for God." I have produced some piano stuff which I'm pretty happy with. Right now I'm working on something I'm going to call "Qoheleth." I really like it, although it is rather sad and slow.
I gave a CD of some of my original piano stuff to an old friend: Rick Keller. Rick and I played chess in high school. Since high school both of us have given up chess and returned to music. He has been playing keyboard and guitar with a saxophonist and I have been playing piano in various capacities. Anyhow Rick noticed the "melancholy" character of a lot of my music. This is due partly to the pieces I decided to burn to CD for him to listen to. I write a few joyful things, but I tend to be more proud of the more melancholy and meditative things that I write.
Anyhow I really do need to get back to writing songs- that is: music with lyrics. I'm not as good at that as I am the pure instrumental stuff, but I know that God is pleased with me when I write songs. Not because they are so wonderful, but because I am doing it more for Him than for me.
:pianoplayer:
Friday, October 15th
Archetypes
My dreams have not been particularly inspiring for several weeks now: at least the ones I remember. Usually I have the normal performance anxiety dreams that I've had all my life. Right now they are centered around the Post Office because of my new route and working at a different station where methods are slightly different.
But last night I finally had an archetypal dream: the first I've had in a long while. Perhaps I remembered it because I woke up slightly after 3 A. M. I've heard that the dreams you have early in the night tend to be more primal than the later dreams.
There are a couple of reoccurring themes in my archetypal dreams. There is always some kind of a mess in my dream which is bothering me. I feel some sense of responsibility to clean it up. I am often driving in my archetypal dreams. I'm always driving too fast for comfort, and sometimes I almost lose control.
Certainly it is normal to feel these things. But I need to give more responsibility to God. Perhaps I feel that time is slipping away too quickly and I won't have time to clean up the messes that God has given me responsibility for.
:jester:
Thursday, October 14th
The quiet life
I underwent a minor lifestyle change recently by bidding to a longer mail route. The change has been good- my mind has been more focused on learning the route, and thus more focused on my job. My mind tends not to wander so much on to politics, the church, and all that jazz. I find myself leading something closer to the quiet life.
Paul the apostle on at least a couple of occasions endorses the quiet life. The Christian life, according to Paul, is to live quietly but to be ready to give an answer for the hope that is within you. This seems to be a rather radical concept in our Christian circles these days. There is always somebody who seems to be telling me that if I want to "do" Christianity properly, I need to be an activist- either an activist for church or an activist for some political cause. Active for something!
I don't feel the need to be so active these days. I go home more tired at the end of the day, but somehow feeling better. I'm not so purpose driven anymore. Life seems more peaceful.
Lord, I thank You for Your peace.
:smiley3:
Tuesday, October 12th
Christianity and Conservativism
With the upcoming presidential election in the U. S. has come a lot of thinking about the role that politics should or should not play in the life of a Christian. I've been doing some thinking of my own, as well as checking out what others are saying about the subject. I guess I'm a bit surprised to find that only in the U. S. is Christianity so completely identified with political conservativism. Christians in other countries are not nearly so monolithically conservative as we American Christians. Not surprisingly, Christians in other countries opposed the U. S.- Iraq war by a substantial margin.
And the supposed monolith of conservatism in the U. S. is not so solid as it appears, according to what I am reading. I saw a statistic that Jerry Falwell "enjoys" an approval rating of only 44% among those identifying themselves as evangelical Christians in the U. S. By contrast the Pope has an approval rating of 60% among the same group!
Should we really be surprised? Can anybody that reads their New Testament believe for a second that Jesus was or is a conservative?
I read an article that said that conservativism is often based on fear. Those who are rich and powerful tend to be conservative. Of course they do- they have much more to conserve than those who are poor and powerless! This same article quoted St. Francis (I think the Assissi guy) who said that people should own nothing- not even their prayer book. If one owned even a prayer book, one would be tempted to say to one's brother, "Bring me my prayer book:" or "Who took my prayer book?"
:smiley2:
Sunday, October 10th
Shock your spirit!
I haven't added a blog to my site for quite some time. Up until a couple of weeks ago I'd been quite an active blogger, as I have thought about and read new material on Christianity and politics. But for the past couple of weeks I've been thinking about lifestyle changes. None of this sound very interesting or compelling compared with the political future of the world or even of the United States, but it's important to me- and I'll bet its even important to God. I got a new mail route in Clintonville and I've been adjusting to it slowly but surely.
My impetus for the change has been a saying that I hear at the gym from time to time among those that work out. The slogan for making progress in your physique is: shock your body. If you stay at the same level of working out, your body doesn't respond nearly as well as when you change things up from time to time.
So I thought: why not apply the same principle to your spirit? If your lifestyle remains constantly the same, how can your spirit grow? So, despite the fact that I hate change, I bit the bullet and bid to a new mail route. Not only has it shocked my spirit, but it is shocking my body as well. My wife is wondering why it is that I walk so funny when I get home from work these days. The streets in Clintonville go straight up a hill from High St (OK, maybe not straight up- but it feels like that to me!) and are carved into a mountain (OK- maybe not a mountain- maybe just a gentle hill) so that steps extend up to the houses on either side of the street. Fortunately, I only have one such street on my route. But it has been enough that my legs and especially my knees are feeling it at the end of the day.
The physical change is not nearly so important as the soulish change. The neighborhoods I delivered on my previous routes were more affluent than the Clintonville neighborhoods. But there was not the sense of peace that I feel as I walk the streets of Clintonville.
This change will do me good.
:grin2:
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