“Who you are tomorrow begins with what you do today.” ― Tim Fargo

Good morning. I am happy to report that, while somewhat puny, I am on the mend. It is Tuesday, July 21, 2020, and I bid each and everyone a very warm greeting. Yesterday, I was laid up. Just like my grandfather used to say, I was laid up like a bunch of dogs under a shade tree. But, God is good and I think in a day or two I will have put this 'bug' behind me. I am not altogether pleased with myself to recall how I spent much of my more than 50 plus years in the workplace working whether I was ill or not. That's the reason one day when I didn't show up because I had been in an accident, the joke around my staff was they had better check the funeral homes. That reputation for always being there regardless was not necessarily always in my own best interest and it wasn't in the best interest of my department. I treated Church attendance the same way. My eldest and I were talking about how this is still a thread for some within our local assemblies, those coming regardless, and how this too could be a danger during this virus threat. I remember one time going into my downtown office and once there I had to lay on the couch in my office because I felt that poorly. Unbeknownst to me, my secretary called 'the wife' to come and fetch me. She didn't tell me until 'the wife' was waiting at the curb down on the street. My point? I could have been a wee bit more balanced back in those days. Meanwhile, since I am now retired, being laid up like a bunch of dogs doesn't mean that much.

Why was I like that for much of my working life? It was a combination of many things including a wrongheaded sense of my own importance as if my very good and talented staff couldn't do without me actually being there. Fortunately, I did do some better before I left the big company. And, to prove up the point, when I left they moved on quite nicely. The Bible teaches us we are not to think more highly of ourselves than we should. (Romans 12) We live and hopefully, most of us can say we also learn. Our local congregation reopened again last Sunday for in-person services. This time they set aside the choir practice room for those wishing to attend but needing more isolation. It didn't make sense for us to go and watch the services on a TV screen from the choir room, therefore, we stayed home and watched the live-streamed service. Our county judge has been one of the leading voices of keeping everything open and in exercising individual freedoms regarding the wearing of masks and social distancing. However, late last week he put up a brief announcement regarding the spike in confirmed positive Coronavirus cases for our county. On this announcement, I believe for the first time, he ended by asking everyone to please wear a mask if they go out and to do their best to practice social distancing. His comments did have some influence on my decision to stay put on Sunday and then I became puny anyway, ran a little bit of an elevated temperature, entertained some achy breaky feelings, and I am now on the mend. None of that necessarily fits but I threw it out there anyway. 

I said there were other reasons I doggedly did my best to always be in my place. Much has been written and said about work ethic and in my situation, I was shaped by the example of my mom and my grandfather. Maybe mine was not as balanced as it should have been but I'm thankful it was a part of my identity in the workplace. I've written extensively about how commitment to the job has faded in the working world today. That's based on my firsthand observations. Now we hear that having that kind of commitment is another of the white man's tools against people of color. We had a number of names for those kinds of nonsensical statements and the one I can use goes like this, Hogwash! I saw a list of all of those types of things promoting racism including integrity, responsibility, commitment, etc., and I immediately thought of the Bible itself. Check it out. Read Proverbs. Read the rest of The Scriptures. Those are not admonitions for white people, they are rules for life from our Creator. This means the people using these kinds of statements as recriminations need to take it up with Him. If anyone needs some clarification on my views regarding this matter, feel free to contact me for further exposition. Thanks so much for your support of my blogging efforts and may God add His blessings. Just think. I might do better when I am feeling better. We can always hope. Amen. .....More later.