Thanks and Farewell

Today marks the last day I will ever blog on this site. I wanted to thank each and every one of you that has spent time reading whatever has come forth from my brain. Whether my writings gave you encouragement, laughter, confusion, anger, or just made completely no sense, I am thankful for all that I have met (either in person or blogging) through this blog and others. I will still read your blogs every once in a while, but I realize that this chapter has come to a conclusion for me. Thanks again and continue to be a blessing to all. Peace.

A Labor Day Creed

We believe in the right and duty of persons to work for the glory of God and the good of themselves and others and in the protection of their welfare in so doing; in the rights to property as a trust from God, collective bargaining, and responsible consumption; and in the elimination of economic and social distress.

(from the Social Principles of the Book of Discipline)

What to Make of It?

I’ve not written on the disaster that Katrina initiated because I’m out of words, especially seeing and hearing second hand accounts of starvation, death, and injustice occurring throughout the city. Why do things like this happen? I have no idea. I have found some solace in a post by another blogger Krister. Even though his answer may frustrate you, I think he is asking some smart questions in the face of easy answers evangelicals tend to pass around in situations such as this.

Read Krister’s response HERE.

In my job, I have the responsiblity to serve and consult clintele from a base of about 400. One of my territories that I cover is the state of Louisiana. I’ve only been able to talk to people from the northern part of the state, and when I have called I usually can’t get through the phone lines because the circuits are tied up. Even though I do not have immediate family living in the flooded area, I feel deeply for my clients and their surrounding neighbors. Restlessness evades my whole being and I become paralyzed with the question, “What can I do?”

Ignorant Pilgrim

If you could do it, I suppose, it would be a good idea to live your life in a straight line – starting, say, in the Dark Wood of Error, and proceeding by logical steps through Hell and Purgatory and into Heaven. Or you could take the King’s Highway past appropriately named dangers, toils, and snares, and finally cross the River of Death and enter the Celestial City. But that is not the way I have done it, so far. I am a pilgrim, but my pilgrimage has been wandering and unmarked. I am an ignorant pilgrim, crossing a dark valley. And yet for a long time, looking back, I have been unable to shake off the feeling that I have been led – make of it what you will. (133, Jayber Crow)

Wendell Berry is a poetic lyricist. His novel, Jayber Crow, has really been speaking the language of my current life travels. It’s been refreshing to journey along side Jayber even though our paths are from different time periods (not to mention one is a fictional tale). I really enjoy the illustrative metaphor of a pilgrim as to how one lives their life, always on a journey. My pilgrimage is one that has been through those valleys, hilltops, and everything in between. In a way I can righly describe my own pilgrimage as ignorant. Many times I have avoided the straight path as Berry describes and have walked in circles or doubled back. Other times I not known where I was going until I was already at my destination. My dreams and desires have come to rest on mistakes and mishaps. My life's path has come to me or either I to it, with much surprise, anxiety, grace, and waywardness. But as Berry pens, I have this uneasy feeling that I have been led throughout it all.