Church thoughts

This Saturday morning finds me in the local Starbucks -- local, as in Ozark MO.
I just decided to go out for coffee this morning and this is the nearest coffee shop. It's Saturday morning on Labor Day weekend, so it's pretty quiet in here. There is plenty of activity behind the counter, but most of it for drive through or online orders that dash in for pick-up and then are quickly on their way.
For some unknown reason my Chromebook is not connecting to the wi-fi, so I'm using a hotspot from my phone.

I've been thinking about the church/religion thing lately ... again.
There are certainly things that I miss about regularly attending church. The gathering of like believers and sharing of ideas, experiences, and thoughts is certainly uplifting. However, the whole religious thing is pretty tiresome. 

All-in-all, I'd have to say that church people are among the most fake people I know.
Like most things, that isn't always true, but it seems that church people can be a pretty judgmental bunch and as such, have to guard against being judged themselves by putting on their church masks when they around other church people.

Although I rarely get answers to questions I ask on Out of My Hat, I am truly interested in your thoughts on church/religion.
I don't know if you attend church regularly now, or ever have.
I don't know if you have experienced some kind of church or religious trauma somewhere along the way.
I don't know if you follow any particular religion or denomination within a religion.
I don't know if you feel compelled to share your religion with others or to convince them to follow with you.

But, if you were looking for a church today...
What would it look like?
Maybe not the whole structure, but what things would you really want to see in your church?
A large church with small groups? Or maybe just a small group?
A band with contemporary music? A choir and traditional music? Some sort of blend?
Teaching/preaching from the Bible or holy book? Uplifting message for daily living? No preaching at all?
Or maybe just a place to connect with others that have a similar outlook on life and philosophy of living?

Maybe you are looking for some kind of instruction on how to get to heaven or an explanation of heaven/hell, life/death, or something like that.
Maybe you are looking to connect with God.
Maybe you are looking to connect with people.

What would your church look like?
Who would your church welcome?
                                     ...exclude?

I'm curious.

John

Hold off on the Pumpkin Spice!

Damn.
It's hard to believe that it is Labor Day weekend already!
While many in the US view this as the unofficial end to summer, it is important to realize there is still plenty of summer left for us that don't deal with kids in school or with school related jobs.
Yes, football begins with college ball this weekend and the NFL next week, and we are getting a break from the hot weather in the Ozarks in the coming week -- but it is still way too hot to break out the flannel shirts or sit around an evening fire pit. 

For me, fall is here when I can put the lawn mower away for the season or when the World Series is over (not that I've really followed baseball this year). 

I know that the seasonal cycle continues and fall and winter will take their places in the coming months, but I will hold on to the summer, even as the days are notably shorter, plants reach the end of their annual cycles, and temperatures gradually cool to flannel shirt, light jacket, and fire pit night levels.
I am looking forward to leaving the air conditioning off and having the windows open. I suppose I need to fill the LP tank to get ready for eventually needing to fire-up the furnace for winter heat. Late summer is generally the best time (cost-wise) for filling the tank and will last us until this time next year.

I have no big plans for today or the holiday weekend.
Just another easy day/weekend in the life of John.

John

Wednesday Wisdom

 

There's something in the air...

Ugh!
Seasonal allergies are killing me! I've spent the weekend coughing from post nasal drip to the point that my abdomen is sore. It's difficult to sleep. After using the last couple of doses of Sudafed that were in the medicine cabinet, I decided to go the Dayquil/Nyquil routine and have been doing a little better. Although I was up several times in the night, I am feeling pretty well rested this morning and enjoying my coffee on the deck while Groucho the cat snoozes on the chair next to me.

While the first part of the week is going to be warm, temperatures will drop a little towards the end of the week. At some point I am going to have to thin and replant my irises and peony plants. I have been deadheading my moon flowers and hibiscus plants, but will leave a few dead blossoms to grow the seed pods so I can start some new plants next spring. 
Only a few flowers remain in the back flowerbed that has gone mostly unattended this summer. It will be a good clean-up and replant project for the off season. 

I have several blue sea holly plants that grew to full height this year but didn't blossom. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with them. I might just pull them. I might find a place to replant them. Or I might let them go another season and see what happens next summer. 
I'll probably find a place to replant them.

For today, I'll probably stay inside and tend to finding a balance that minimizes these seasonal allergies. 
Life in the Ozarks

John

Wednesday Wisdom: follow your gut

I've slacked off on the blogging lately -- no Thursday Theology or Monday Meditation posts in a while.
Sometimes it was because my morning routine was disrupted. Usually it was because I just didn't feel like it. I find that happening more frequently.

I sometimes think I should write even when I don't really feel like it, but following my gut has been a good move in the past, so I'm sticking with it.
Right now my gut is telling me that the political silence that I've tried to maintain here at Out of My Hat has come to an end (at least temporarily). There is more than Democrat vs Republican policy at stake in this 2024 election cycle. The thing that is holding me back is that I don't expect that a blog from some guy with a few dozen followers will have much of a positive impact on anybody, especially since most of my readers are pretty like-minded. 
I guess we'll see.

Currently, I am feeling pretty good about the level of energy around the coming election. I am hoping that the electricity found in the Harris/Walz campaign will have long coattails and bring in a House majority and a greater Senate majority, as well. The Democrats in the cities of St Louis and Kansas City aren't enough to counter the large GOP dominated rural areas of Missouri, and I am essentially a blue dot in a red sea here in Highlandville MO. I don't expect VP Harris to win Missouri, but I am hopeful for a strong enough showing to help Lucas Kunce defeat Josh Hawley in the senate race.
I am still disappointed and saddened by the number of people that are willing to tolerate the racist, xenophobic behavior of the former president and his allies. 

Republicans have generally dominated the support from military families, but their candidate has referred to our military personnel as suckers and losers. He has ignored advice from his ranking Generals and called them stupid when their advice didn't mesh with his desires. Maybe he has alienated enough of the veterans in rural Missouri to make a difference. 

It is unfortunate that the one group of followers that don't seem to be turned off by any of his radically hateful behaviors is the power hungry group of evangelicals. Although he is the most anti-Christian behaving person I can think of, this group of religious fundamentalists see him as the only hope of establishing a national theocracy with themselves as the powerful leading religion.
Funny, but I haven't found the "hate your neighbor" verses in the bible that they seem to follow.

One reason I don't like to write about this stuff is that it starts to really piss me off, and I am finding that I am now banging on the computer keyboard much harder than I was when I started this post. I give anger very little space in my world. I should take a page from the Harris/Walz campaign and be more joyful about the race, focusing on the good that will come.

I'm hopeful.
How are you feeling?

John

A deck transformation

Yesterday I disassembled the futon and moved it from the deck to the basement. I carried the pieces for the new deck furniture from the garage to the deck. Today I get to assemble it.
Fun times.

Although the new chairs will give us better seating on the deck, it means that I won't have a quick and easy outdoor sleeping place. 
Because our new stuff is actually outdoor furniture, we won't have to worry about it getting wet when it rains and it gives us more options for arrangement. That will be better for watching the fights (or anything else) on the deck TV. The new stuff is two individual wicker chairs w/cushions, one two seat combo with a center console, and a small coffee table. I think the arrangement will kind of divide the 10'x22' deck into two rooms -- one with seating for conversation or watching the small TV, and an area for (a new) table and chairs for outdoor dining. The new table and chairs are a little smaller than our existing set, so we'll have a little more room on that end.
I'm going to have to find a new way to enclose the porch for winter use, or just not use it as much for that season. Maybe I'll be somewhere in the sunny south for a chunk of winter, making it less of an issue.

That's how I'll be spending my morning/day. I'm hoping for a little rain so I won't need to water my flowers. There is a good chance we'll finally get some rain this afternoon. I guess I can push mowing to another day.

That's my retired life.
What is Tuesday like in your world?

John

64 years, 2 months

Today is a new day and a new experience. Unfortunately, it's not really a good one. It's not unexpected, but it's not good.

I had my annual physical this morning and I am now, for the first time, on a daily prescribed medication. 
As the weight has slowly piled on, my blood pressure has been slowly creeping upwards. Perhaps the daily dose of medication will do more than just reduce the high blood pressure. Perhaps it will inspire me to get off my otherwise fairly healthy fat ass and finally lose some of this weight. I'd like to be able to drop the weight, lower the BP naturally, and do away with the prescription. I have a follow up appointment in 6 months. 
While high blood pressure isn't inevitable for all of us, the simple truth is that nearly half of US adults have it. It's not surprising when you consider that about 43% of US adults are obese. It's time I work to bring my part of those stats down.

On the plus side -- I've got good insurance and the meds come out to just pennies per day. 

Happy Monday

John

Mission Accomplished

Yesterday was a successful day!
I did exactly what I set out to do -- nothing!
Well, I did manage to smoke a cigar, have a tequila cherry limeade, and read some in my book, but nothing else.

I should probably try to be more productive today.

It is going to be a little cooler today -- 77f (25c), so I should do some work outside. Sunday will be about the same with a chance of rain.
At some point I should probably work on stretching my social skills and try interacting with people or actually doing something to benefit society in general or maybe just one person along the way. That is much more difficult than doing yardwork!

If you were given the task to interact with someone today and lift them up in some way -- what would you do?
I could use some suggestions.
Bonus points if it includes lifting people up without actually having to interact with them.

John

I think this is Friday -- right?

It has been quite a week!
Once again, early retirement has afforded me the opportunity to be able to take care of the unexpected on pretty short notice. This particular trip had some unexpected side benefits.

I got to have dinner with one of my cousins and her spouse and express my gratitude to them for always being available to help my mom and for truly loving her. The dinner, the conversation, and just being in their presence was so very uplifting to my spirit.

Another perk of the quick trip to Central Illinois was meeting with a couple of life-long friends.
It is unbelievable that a little kid somehow had the wisdom to forge friendships with these two other boys that would grow into the men that are my friends today -- men that are good persons and so incredibly rare in my small world today.
Though our life paths have been vastly different and separated me from them for a long time, their character and moral fiber makes me proud to be numbered among their friends. They give me hope in humanity and remind me that there are men of character and integrity in a world that seems to value boisterous, toxic masculinity more than the strong, quiet, intelligent and loving men that my friends are.
I will be riding this spiritual lift for some time and being more purposeful about planning another time to experience their presence and positive life energy.

Do you have those people in your life?
I hope you do.

It is good to be home this morning. I am feeling well rested after an exceptionally long sleep in my own bed last night -- 9 hours!
It is going to be a beautiful day here in the Ozarks. I may not do anything at all -- other than enjoy a cigar and a margarita while sitting alone on the deck.
I know -- it's just another day in the life of John.

John
#retirementdoesnotsuck

Monday Meditation

It is a quiet and beautiful morning in the Ozarks of SWMO. 
My coffee is good (an Ethiopian Yirgacheffe), the sun is shining, the swallows are feasting on the flying bugs outside of the screened in deck, and Groucho the cat is quietly resting on one of the chairs at our deck dinner table.
I'm sitting on the futon with my Chromebook on my lap and a book by my side. The hummingbirds occasionally pause to look through the screen as if to let me know the feeder is empty and I need to clean and refill it. Several crows are making quite a racket from the treeline and beyond. I don't know if they are angry or just having a good time. I am going to guess they are having fun. The four that seem to always fly together just flew from the treeline, past the house, and then circled back to the field. The golden finch pair (male and female) is flying back and forth from the back flower bed to the roof of the house.

This is how I begin most days. With nowhere that I have to be and nothing that I have to do, I live a pretty stress free life.

I just noticed a small jumping spider on the screen opposite of me. These tiny hunters are pretty cool to watch. I've seen them catch flies and even a small moth. They don't use a web. They patiently hunt down their prey and quickly attack.

Sorry, but I often find nature to be distracting from typing or writing or reading or talking -- you get the idea.

My Monday is looking like it will be a beautiful, people-less kind of day.
I might do a little yard work. I might get a little exercise. I will definitely spend some time reading. And I am always grateful and aware of the privilege I have to live this simple life.

John

August

August is here already and the summer is nearly half over. The morning sun is slowly creeping southward and now shines onto the eastern side of the deck rather than being shaded by the edge of the house. It's been a pretty good summer. Although we have had some warm days, it hasn't reached 100f (38c), and we have had a decent amount of rain. All-in-all, it is pretty tough to find something to complain about.

Today's high is supposed to be around 90 (32c) and that's cool enough to watch the UFC fights from on the deck TV. Since the fights are in the UAE, they begin at 11am our time and will be on through the afternoon hours.
Ceiling fan
Cigar
Cold drink
and fights
Yep, it's going to be a good day.

I'm sure that most people put far more effort into planning their weekend fun, but this suits me just fine. And I have already had a little people interaction for the week, so I think I'm good there.
Until the fights begin (and after they've ended) I have my books to read. I don't think I have a reason or the inspiration to have to interact with people today.
Yep, it's going to be a good day.

I hope that your weekend is as people-y or as solitary as you'd like for it to be.

John