December Ramblings

What a Storm!

Welcome to the deep freeze, my friends. At this point you may be wondering, "How bad can winter be? At least your roof didn't cave in!" To which I reply, "Shut up, you're ruining my blog!"

An intellectual might then ask, "Why don't you think of something else to discuss, rather than bring up the weather each week." Alright, smarty-longjohns, have it your way.

Don's guide to life in Elgin, or

How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Caterers

Is there anything you can hate more than people who have it better than you? I'm speaking rhetorically, of course, I don't hate anyone - just say things under my breath at. Well, I can think of one: people who have it better than you, don't realize it, and complain about how bad things are for them.

Example the first:

The hardest part of today was deciding what to blog about. It's a fine line between humourous and crude, between thoughtfully new points of view and irrelevant slop. My life is so hard! I have to write this blog, and the best I can come up with is "Yep, it's still cold here!" In numerous countries tonight, thousands of emaciated children desparately try not to think about the lack of things in their stomach. My life is not so bad.

Example deux:

Today at work, I stamped, labeled, and mailed around 300 Christmas cards with the help of my somewhat-higher-up-but-not-quite-boss batman to my robin Cal. I worked 8 am to 4:30 pm, made dinner, talked with housemates, and then declined into a delirious state of mental inactivity known to most as "couch potato." Currently, I am warming myself with the heat produced by a laptop, though with the battery a shadow of it's former self it is eternally tethered to the wall, hardly retaining the convenience responsible for its fame. That is the worst thing about my life right now: my laptop battery stinks.

Meanwhile, in other cities, laptops are being stolen (and not returned, with no note regarding why and providing no contact information). Fellow volunteers work long hours, sometimes seven days a week, with little reward but the internal estimation that they are indeed doing the good they set out for. Indeed, for a sickening majority of souls, life does not afford the rewards so deserved, and yet for the privileged they come without asking.

Upon moving to Elgin back in the day in 2009, I was immediately struck by the dischord between church as a universal body of believers and church as an office building next to the highway. Some practices of the general offices offended me. I'm somewhat ashamed to say that every other Wednesday, a caterer provides snacks for the entire building. The food is quite tasty, but the fact that Sunday's donations pay for Wednesday's snack time at the office rather than, say, feeding the hungry children I mentioned earlier, digs away at my stomach.

Time to Learn Something

The subtitle for this post, how I learned to stop worrying and love the caterers, tells you that there has been an attitude adjustment. Still upset by a lack of austerity, I accept that it is not my role to police the spending habits of the seventy-odd leaders compiled into the office. People need time off or they burn out. Work is stressful, and some of the people in my building write and care for large sections if not all of the denomination. Sometimes you just need a stinkin' doughnut!

Compared to the conditions of the people our hearts break for, we have it easy. It should be hard for me to relate to even my fellow BVSers who try to withstand screaming clients, 80-hour weeks, and the occasional crime. If there's one thing I know, it's that I have it easy.

As Christmas surrounds (truly a season to me now), my letter to santa is quite short. I want to continue to spend time with friends new and old. To grow to love the place I find myself, wherever that is. My prayer is that I am not blind to the resources around me, the abilities in me, and the vast options ahead of me to better fit into the machinery of the holy body. Likewise, that I may, whenever possible, enable others to do the same, is the charge of my soul.

Appendix

Christmas is upon us, so I will say, "Tis the Season for Random... Things."

Family Christmas Photo

Is it sad that the only sweater I own is an ugly one?

The workplace

View Larger Map

My Office (as seen from Google Maps)

The Only Guide to Tic-Tac-Toe You'll Ever Need

is right here

I didn't mention Bill Bryson once this time. Aren't you proud?