20 December 2005

Ho, Ho, Ho...

Must be getting soft in my old age...but the constant stream of carols (since mid-November on one local radio station) hasn't seemed to bother me so much this year. I find myself humming along merrily to all sorts of weird versions of the same old tunes. Well...OK. I'm still not cool with Bing Crosby and David Bowie. Whoever put that duo together needs some serious therapy.

But, on balance, I find myself anticipating Christmas with a joy I haven't felt in a few years. And I'm not sure why. The mountain of work on my desk (between congregation, synod and civic responsibilities) is absolutely un-do-able between now and the weekend. There is still some shopping that needs to be done so that the Mrs. has something cool to open on Christmas Day. The doctor just upped by blood pressure medication again. And I'm not sleeping very well at night.

What a wreck! But I'm a perfect candidate for Christmas! Thanks be to the God who comes among us in our current condition...so that we don't have to live forever in such sorry shape. That's enough to make me smile (even if Bing and David insist on singing together).

12 December 2005

Too Busy to Say Good-bye...

I was shocked. Maybe...maybe 40 folks (in addition to the kids and grandkids) showed up for Doc's funeral yesterday. Even his one son didn't come; he was "sick." And this was the town doctor...the guy who set their broken bones, wiped their snotty noses, stood with them in the midst of death itself for more than 40 years.

Maybe most folks were just uncomfortable with his dying. After all, when the grim reaper comes for the doctor, who can escape? Or did they simply forget what he had done for them over the years? He'd been retired for a while and was no longer so visible in the community. Out of sight; out of mind. And the next thing you know, we're just too busy to say goodbye.

In the meantime, here's a good lesson: if you think glory is fleeting, you ought to take a look at gratitude. Apparently, it doesn't have much staying power either.

05 December 2005

"It's just terrible out there..."

Several of the folks in the crowd that I hang with professionally are pretty liberal. Probably Democrats. Maybe socialist. OK...leftist wackos. So when we are together at various functions, you can count on lots of whining about how terrible George Bush is, how wrong our "occupation" of Iraq is ("was Saddam such a bad guy, really?"), and (my personal favorite) how the economy is just going down the tubes.

Went Christmas shopping with Mrs. Claus last Friday. The economy looks pretty good to me. And I'm not just talking about the "everythings-on-sale-at-Walmart" economy. I'm looking for parking places and room to breathe at upscale bookstores, specialty gift shops, nice department stores in fancy malls. I'm seeing ads that encourage me to give a Lexus as a gift (a campaign I'm sure you wouldn't run if it didn't work). A Lexus! Ho! Ho! Ho!

The only thing I can conclude is that my liberal friends need to fire their current brokers and get better ones. The stores and parking lots are full; the economy continues to grow at a rate that is the envy of the world; more people are working at higher paying jobs than ever before; and my portfolio is making money...and has been for the past two years.

Please. Can't we just complain about George Bush and war, and leave the economy alone?