Kicking it up ANOTHER NOTCH!

Okay, whose cuisine reigns supreme? That's the question I used to love to hear on the Iron Chef series before I began my long boycott of the Food Network after they cancelled Emeril LaGasse's daily program. They left me and I left them. I glanced through the list of the 100 plus Emmy award winners just announced and found only one or two programs I may have seen. I didn't recognize the titles but one was on the Discovery Channel, and the other was on PBS. This means I am certainly not a member of the "Must See TV" crowd. I am attracted to the series "The Office" but have only seen a few episodes since it has been on. I think it did win one award. There is something that strikes a cord with almost anyone who has been in the workplace for any length of time in being able to identify with a group or organization where the leader is clueless and actually believes his or her cluelessness to be a sign of their expertise. Been there, done that, too many times to count, therefore, that scenario does make for a humorous setting. It's Tuesday, September 22, 2009, and I suppose I'm sharing a little flashback in how I had to weather the storm of neither knowing or caring about "Who shot J. R.?" We are all different and different things appeal to us. I am not discouraged because of not having a water cooler moment to share with a co-worker from some episode that most of America watched.

What do I like to watch? I typically stay with the historical pieces, the natural beauty of our planet series, some sports, and, you guessed it, plenty of news, commentary, and current event type shows. I like old time radio, therefore, I enjoy some of the older reruns on the TVLand Channel. My wife likes the Game Show Channel and we both enjoy some of the BBC comedies and mysteries shown on PBS and A&E. We are most likely candidates for an obscure survey category: Old Fuddy Duddy. While I may not fit a conventional category, they do recognize who comprises their audience. How can you tell they know? The advertising. Most of the popular hit TV series will not be peddling Polident for dentures, hearing aids, and AARP memberships. Bingo! Therefore, we can be sure that being out of one target group does not take you out of another. After sitting through a night of game shows I might well experience a dream where Santa is being pulled by eight tiny mobility scooters or he no longer sports the gleaming white hair and beard after using a hair coloring product.

How does it feel to be out in left field? How about it being more accurate to say I'm not even in the ballpark? Old people. You have to love us, right? People talk about flexibility and we think about our joints. You hear something about change and your ears perk up because you think they might be talking about a way to help avoid those annoying hot flashes. We are a force to be reckoned with at least as it relates to drug sales and body part replacements. Because I watch one show and you watch another or you like American Idol and I like American history, we all are in need of the mercy, grace, and love of our heavenly Father. Being lost and undone before God puts every one of us in the same survey category: Hell bound sinners! The good news is that God has provided for us to join a new category through our faith in the finished work of our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. It's the one category that should unite us in our identity in Christ. We can like different things and talk differently but as believers we have a common bond that should oversee how we live each day. The good news is that we can all identify with the commercial that says I've fallen and I can't get up because that's our condition, but God sent His one and only Son to do what we can't do for ourselves! That's a water cooler story that's worth sharing every day of the year! Amen. ......More later.