Sorry I'm Late!...

Well, I know, it has been a while and time has occurred within space. Since the last time I thought on paper, I was laid off at work. This means I am now amongst the great throngs of "unemployed".

Nevermind that I worked "there" for a decade. Within the great American workplace, the bottom line rules and if you take on risks and go "out there" for the Corporation, expect your rewards to be few.

That aside it was not a bad place to work for 10 years. Airconditioned in Florida and you played with computers (well within determined parameters-get caught surfing and lose your job!).

Ah, the things I learned, the applications I used and the people I spoke to around the world!
"Are you sure you're a supervisor?" Yes, I was one of those people you speak with when you call an 800 number and say, "I want to speak to your Supervisor!" And that's putting it mildly.
What is it about Americans that they think that phone ownership grants them the right to be foulmouthed with anyone they care to? But I could talk them in from the edges and down from the ledges. And I was good at it! And before I was laid off I was selling GS cookies for my daughter so I went back to my former scene of the crime and everyone was happy to see me and I got hugs and handshakes-even from my former boss with wellwishes and handshakes, etc.

Relationships were the real profits I garnered from that job. Not a whole lot else matters! Don't you agree?

vision into journey

It is true, I maybe slower than some. It has really taken me until the age of 50 to realize my vision. Or perhaps I ought to say that I was pursuing it but it seems a lot less likely to slip from my reach now than earlier in my life.

When I look at the variety of religious activities, just in Christianity alone, in America, I see a lot of marketing. I should know, I worked for the last nine years in a "telemarketing" firm. Oh, not the worst boiler-room operation. And all of our operators are still sitting in a building in America.
We aren't hiring Meerkats in Marakesh.

But it does seem as I travel down the road of life, going to church is a lot like looking at fast food choices. If you don't like Arby's you can always go to Denny's or Burger King, etc. ( No I receive no product endorsements in all of this.) What really is the difference between Baptists and AG and Methodists, etc...?

No, I studied American church theology and I know the differences in Biblical interpretation. I also took World Religions in several different permutations and Philosophy as well. But the founder of the whole gig told his followers that the world would recognize the authenticity of thier movement by the way they existed in community with each other, not, insisted on opinionated conformity to various interpretations of what the founder said or meant. Love, for
Christ's sake, is supposed to be our hallmark.

I am remembering a debate in a denominational conference on the importance of distinctives.
Do you insist on square burgers or round? Seeded buns or steamed? Veggie or Beef? And does your Jesus look more like a comedian or a King? Do your seminary students have to sign the same faith statement when they leave as when they arrived, thus proving that they haven't learned anything?

Holding the Truth without sacrificing the Love is still a work area, it seems for most churchfolk
today.

Steve C.

Time to light up your darkness!

Living in Florida means that you can do something different about holiday festivities than what you did when you lived...elsewhere!

We spent Christmas Eve at Seaworld, and two evenings later, were boating up canals in Port Charlotte. The idea is that the householders decorate their backyards to show off for boaters.
The downside was that it was too cold! This is supposed to be Florida, right! And the diesel fumes from the tour boat besmirched the clear Southwest Florida atmosphere.

Celebrating at the beach is also something we have pursued from time to time, picnicking as a substitute for more northern activities, like sledding or snowballing each other into Pneumonia.

For chilly nights our house still has that wonderful amenity, a fireplace. Unused for nearly eight months out of the year, it has it's parallel in the Central Airconditioning installed in the house I grew up in near Buffalo, NY. This also was only used for three or four months.

Well enough paradox and to you and yours, may the New Year bring blessings of Peace and Joy!

Steve Cornell
(Will post something other than my mug from now on! Aren't you relieved? )

Castle Obsession?

All right, let's ruin the suspense for you mystery buffs out there and get right down to it.

Castles: what's up with that? Well when I was, younger, shall we say, I saw every day a piece of wood with my last name on it with 5 castles on it. I was told this was our family's coat of arms.
We even had a geneology with that "ensign" emblazoned on one of the pages. You could tell it was a real geneology because it also had other coats of arms attached to our family.

See, back when a coat of arms was like your company logo, your family's logo identified you in the real rat race of life. It was your personal statement! Today most of us assume it identified all the succeeding generations down through time. Not true, unfortunately. Your coat of arms was truly personal. Each generation or person had to earn their own from the crown of (in my ancestor's case) England.

So, even though 5 castles were on the coat of arms of the ancestor of mine who came to America
way back in the 1600's, I cannot claim them. I can only dream! And wonder, which 5 castles were they?

A Promise to myself...

Well, you know it is December in Bradenton, FL, when you can smell the smell of Citrus peelings being prepared to be cattle feed. I can't even tell you if they boil them, chop them, slow smoke them, or mix straw with them to facilitate pyramid building. But, I can tell you this, they smell in the mornings and it's something like old ancient orange juice.

But with the smell comes the weather people leave Michigan or Buffalo or Maine for when the snow flies. And of course that means the "snowbirds" are amongst us again.

The fact that I am blogging can be totally laid at the feet of 2 situations. One is a desire to write and for an ADD'er who never finishes anything, an opportunity to write short compositions is golden. The other thing is the many fine bloggers I have been introduced to over the webcommunity of www.theooze.com which I recommend to all and sundry.

Peace and blessings on your journey,
Steve.