“I hate paying taxes. But I love the civilization they give me” ― Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr.

It's Tuesday, March 6, 2017, and I want to end the rumor mill right now. She came back. The wife. That's right. She left me again, but, thankfully, she decided to come back home. She was out of town for a few days to visit and do some yard related work with her sister, over in Louisiana. You probably remember her twin sister. They were born 18 months apart. They are not identical, but, they are close enough for government work. At any rate, things seem to be better aligned now that she is back. Three days of fetching for myself. Saturday, home alone, I climbed those stairs up to my office. My office is in the process of being renovated. I thought she asked if I wanted her to straighten my office. Everything has been taken off the walls. All the bookshelves are cleared. Stuff is stacked everywhere. In the midst of this chaos, I got my old computer up and going and began working on my 2017 federal tax return. I felt like I had intruded into someone's office who was getting ready to move. (Maybe she knows something that I don't know. She also recently bought me a black suit. Uhmm.) After inputting our data from last year's earnings and all the other gyrations required, well, I felt like maybe I should consider moving. I still have some scrubbing to do in getting everything exactly right, however, I was very much less than happy with the amount I will have to forward to the US Treasury. I even paid for the updated version of my tax preparation software. Is that the best it could do? It's only $200 more than what we paid in last year, but, that's not the point. It is at times like this when I wish I had learned how to play that Angry Birds game. Joking only. Therefore, it's not necessary for anyone to send me the verses that speak to the issue of paying one's taxes. I typically do come around. Especially, when I consider how blessed we are to live in and to be a contributing citizen of this great country, the United States of America.

I had a lady come up to me at our evening service this past Sunday evening. She said she knew me. I didn't know her. She worked in my organization in downtown Houston for the big company back in the mid 1980's. I couldn't remember ever having met her, but, she was a part of one of the support groups that worked on a different floor. (Our organization had 150 people at that time.) I didn't know what to expect. She said that everyone respected me as a good boss to work for. Really? She had to be reaching on that one. She went on to say that she was in the first wave of the big layoffs in 1986. It turned out to be a wonderful thing for her since she found a better job and spent the next 19 years there before she retired. She said she saw us when we joined the Church and she recognized the name but thought the Santa Claus she saw couldn't be her former department head. One day my profile came up on her Facebook because of the match on the Company we both had previously worked for. She couldn't believe that it was me. Here's how I look at it. I came away thankful that she didn't have some bad experience where I had made a decision that she had disagreed with. I've heard of a few that still carry a grudge because they didn't get the promotion they wanted or I had not saved them during a round of layoffs. I'm glad this lady had done well. I'm glad we have something even more significant in common. We are believers in the Lord Jesus Christ and members of the same local congregation. Small world. I'll let you sing that little song to yourself. Don't resist or it will be stuck in your head for the rest of the day, "It's a small world after all, It's a small world after all, It's a small, small world."

I do worry about some things. No doubt, at times, needlessly so. Like, whether or not I should vote for someone in the Republican primary that is running unopposed. I typically do, but, I guess the question would be, why? They are automatically passed through to the general election where they will face their Democratic opponent, that is, if they have one, and if they don't, uh oh, it will be déjà vu all over again. I hate to be turning into a curmudgeon at large, but, to be honest, I'm not that pleased with any of the politicians on the ballot, in office, running for office, of either party. Does it always come down to a lesser of evils decision? I voted for a fellow in an important county position because he was an accomplished business leader and he was running as an outsider. He is now running for reelection and this go around it seems like there's an endless convoy of dump trucks loaded with dirt on him and his past. These feelings of angst and disgust are not new. Here is Andrew Jackson, who served two terms as President, (1829-1837), in his pointed assessment, "I weep for the liberty of my country when I see at this early day of its successful experiment that corruption has been imputed to many members of the House of Representatives, and the rights of the people have been bartered for promises of office." And so it goes. Yet, I still find myself being pulled by the obligation of my citizenship and love of country to find myself participating and doing the best I can. That will not always be rewarded, but, it is still the thing we all must do. Along with seeking God and His help. Amen. ....More later.