William Bendix playing Chester A. Riley, from the radio and TV series, 'The Life of Riley', "What a revoltin' development this is!" (This became a famous catchphrase during the late 1940's)

Good morning and welcome to the ranting and the raving portion of today's program. I thought I would do my best to hit the ground running on this Monday, October 2, 2017. Don't look now but I have currently in my possession a total of 750 Santa Claus bad business cards. This last rerun was better but still pitiful when compared to the first 'perfect' run. I've never actually seen the movie 'Five Easy Pieces', however, I've seen that clip several times of Jack Nicholson ordering the sandwich. Last Friday, I went through a similar situation.  I ended up channelling the Jack Nicholson character: "Okay. Here's what We are going to do. We are going to start over and pretend these bad cards have never been run. Got that? I am going to upload a brand new proof (the same used in the first run), and you are going to take that new image and run another 250 cards and we will call it a new order. You still with me?" The fellow I was talking to said he could that. I should know something about the fifth run either tomorrow or Wednesday. Did someone say the 5th time is the charm? I know. Most people say it's the 3rd time but you can see that one is long gone. All they did on the ones I received last Friday was to lighten the previous bad card up a little. It is only very slightly better. But, it's not even close to the original run. He said he hoped they could deliver the outstanding image I desired. I said, well, we do know it's possible, but, those cards are nearly used up. Oh well, now you know where this white hair comes from. You thought I wanted it to be white? It's really hard for me to catch a break.

I did get asked. Why didn't I write something last Friday about it being National Coffee Day? You know me. I wouldn't want anyone to think I'm too preoccupied with something like coffee. Here's how it really came down. By the time I was reminded to remember about it being a special day for coffee, I had already finished my blog and was getting ready to leave the office on an early morning road trip, at 5:45 a.m. Then you have the situation which is a reflection of my own reality: Every day is a national coffee day for me. I know what some of you are thinking. You wouldn't put it past me trying to establish a National Community Coffee Day. While that has a really nice ring to it, I wouldn't want to be thought of as being conceited in any way because of my own coffee preference. I do appreciate people letting me know when and where they come in contact with Community Coffee. Those testimonials are reassuring. I do want to set the record straight about one thing. I do not now, and I have never carried a copy of the Community Coffee plant in my wallet. I thought that was an important fact to share.

It was my privilege to have been asked to participate in the homegoing service of a dear lady this past Saturday. Sister Catherine, 83, had been a member of our Truth Seekers Bible study class for many years. She was one of the most genuinely sweet ladies that I have ever known. She liked to get to the Church early. I would fix her a cup of Community and we would visit for a few minutes. She had not been able, because of her health, to attend regularly the last couple of years of her life. But, when she was there she was so excited. That's right. Excited. She simply loved the Lord and because the local fellowship of believers was established and ordained by the Lord, she simply loved her brothers and sisters in Christ. She couldn't hear that well, but, that never dampened her enthusiasm for hearing the Word taught, songs of praise sung, and the preaching of the truth. She taught me something. It's one thing to be faithful in showing up at the designated services each week. That can become a habit. It's a good habit to have. However, to show up and be excited about the Lord and His people, well, that's another thing entirely, and she taught me that's how it can be, and that's how it should be. I shared with those at her service how that I also taught Sister Catherine something. I taught her how to enjoy Community Coffee because I didn't want her to be unfamiliar with what they serve in heaven. We are so thankful for knowing her and her family. We didn't tell our Sister Catherine goodbye, we just said, I'll see you after while, on the other side. May God comfort her family. Amen. ....More later.