Miss Kitty's

I was on my way to a friend's party at Miss Kitty's.

"Do you need directions?" he asked me on the phone just before I left the house.

"It's right on the main drag, right?" I asked knowing there was only one major street through Williams.

"Yeh, It's easy to find. It's right next to the Inn just after the road splits. There's a billboard right out front."

"Alright. I'll see you in about an hour."

I can't explain how I missed the sign on the side of the building, but I did. I'm blaming it on a dark, cloudy evening and the fact that I was looking for a billboard. Either that or the presumption that, on occasion, Murphy blinds us to the information we need most for the sake of a good story. Anyway, an hour and a half later, I was completing my third or fourth pass of the downtown loop, two one-way streets running opposite directions, and not feeling like my chances of finding the illusive Miss Kitty's were improving. We had surveyed every building that could possibly serve the purpose. How can you get so lost on a half mile strip? I called my friend who didn't answer his phone. Apparently he was already partying in the covert location I was still trying to discover.

I was a little embarrassed about it when I finally took my wife's advice and stopped at a hotel to ask for directions.

"Miss Kitty's?" the lady behind the desk looked at me quizzically. "They're not open anymore. They went out of business a while ago."

Judging by the expression on her face, the expression on my face must have been worth quite a bit as I struggled for how to proceed.

"Well...I have a friend who said he's having a big party there tonight."

"Oh! Miss Kitty's!" she exclaimed like a profound mystery had just been solved rather than created.

My first reaction was to study her face and see if the joke was on me. I'm not sure if I was more or less at ease to see that she was completely serious.

"It's just a couple buildings down the street from here. It's right next to the Inn just after the road splits. There's a billboard right out front," she offered cheerfully.

My heart sank as I began to question the laws that govern the space-time-continuum in this strange place. With a fake smile and a thank you, I got back in the van and we drove slowly toward our possibly fictitious target. When we were about to pass the last major building and head out of town for the fifth time, I pulled over and contemplated the cars in it's parking lot. This has to be it, I decided as I looked at the large sign in front of it that bore no mention of Miss Kitty's. There was no evidence of a big party there either but I pulled in anyway and looked for a place to park. I found a spot near the large, unhelpful sign.

When we filed out of our vehicle, we found ourselves looking at the sign from the opposite side than what was visible from the road (unless you would have been trying to find it by looking backwards while driving forward on a one-way street). There on the billboard in letters that had been weathered to near invisibility were the now disdainful words, Miss Kitty's.

I feel like that about scripture and faith fairly often. You read or hear about something that you really want to be part of. The directions seem very clear and straight forward. Then you set about the business of actually getting there. One of those things in scripture that I aspire to is to "rebuke, correct and encourage with great patience and careful instruction." I didn't rebuke or correct anybody (not too severely at least, though my friend did apologize for not answering his phone) but, on the receiving end of things, it was encouraging to finally get there. Sometimes great patience is required because of the careful instruction you didn't get.

But, to its credit, scripture is actually very good at looking backwards on a one-way street and alerting you to where you are and where you're going. It points out helpful signs we wouldn't otherwise see (like the one on the side of the building I drove past four times). It's right next to the Inn just after the road splits, I promise.

The Diamond Machine

It seems easy to get caught under the weight of the world right now. Politics are crazy, economies are crazy and people in general are crazy. It's enough to squash anybody! As much as we would like things to be different, God promised exactly what we're seeing. Worse than that, He said "stand up under it." Under it?! I'm more interested in the way OUT from under it most of the time. Seriously. What is He thinking?

I'm gonna say, "diamonds." It takes the weight of the world to make them, literally (unless you're made in a lab, which can be equally traumatic). A hundred miles of earth piled on top of some carbon in the molten mantle of our planet presses it into those little gems we buy on special occasions or put into tooling to cut stuff that's too hard for anything else. They are also the best heat conductor in the world, good for taking heat from the things that can't handle it. Call them treasure buried in a field... really deep. That is until their natural home, a somewhat turbulent environment in the first place, gets tired of carrying the weight of the world and decides it should ride on top for a while, an eruption. Ever been caught in one of those? Thought so. That's often how we got where we are. Less extreme versions of the same process form many other precious stones if you don't feel like being a diamond.

Whatever gem you're becoming, I'd call it logical to feel like a stranger here on the earth's surface? Some people really are going back underground these days. There's some justified speculation that diamonds are not as rare as they seem, but try telling that to the diamonds. They can be a bit hard headed, like Christ and the apostles who were willing to live and die as outcasts for their cause. That's why they get used the way they do. It's encouraging to know you're not alone at least, even if our environment keeps us from seeing each other as much as we would like. And what do we see when do get together?

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Most diamonds are opaque black because they are polluted with too many impurities to see through. And guess what it takes to purify them... that's right; more heat and pressure. Yep, I can relate to that one. Something about a plank in my own eye comes to mind. Not to worry though. Rough diamonds are no less useful as an abrasive (that comes naturally). And even if you remain a diamond in the rough, you're still one of the most durable substances in the world. It's never more than we can bare. It's the very thing that makes us. He'll put you through the pressure and the heat, but leave yourself in his hands and you might be surprised what you actually get used for.

Atrophy

Atrophy.

It spoke softly to me,

“Do you know who I am?

I hold the strength on which you stand.

I am your friend, to warn you of a coming end.”

My strength will last another day. I bid you later come again.

There was space between the clouds today.

“Come play! Come play!”

I stretched my legs and made my way.

But they demanded more.

They asked for strength I knew I’d had before.

I tried to take a breath that wasn’t there.

It’s nothing. I only need to rest.

“It’s something. A very crucial test.”

Atrophy? Is that you? Have you come to be demanding too?

Please will you wait until my rest is through?

“But there’s more you need to know.”

Enough for now. I have to go.

There were clouds today.

“Come play! Come play!

The rain will wash your cares away!”

I noticed that the sky was turning red.

Another said, “I seek the living, not the dead.”

Atrophy? Is that you? Please wait here while I go ahead.

I took one step and fell.

“You need to know not everything is well.”

Atrophy? Is that you? Will you never let me sleep.

“There are secrets that the clouds above you keep.”

But they say all I wish to know.

Enough for now. I have to go.

The moon broke through the clouds tonight.

“Come dance with me beneath my silver light.

Forget your pain. Forget your plight.”

But the bed they helped me into held me fast.

Atrophy? Is that you? Should we talk at last?

“I was your friend, but now the lot is cast.”

c. James Cornelius

The Raven

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I was on a run the other day and a raven flew overhead nearby. He had what I thought looked like a chicken egg in his mouth. It was a little hard to believe until I ran past a neighbors backyard a short distance away and noticed a chicken coop (and some freshly agitated chickens). I assume he took it back to a tailgate party and cooked it on the camping stove he stole the day before. I think it's also a safe assumption he at least had some hash-browns and hot sauce to go with it. I couldn't keep up though, so it's just an assumption.

Taste The Rainbow

While reminiscing about when I used to work nights, I remembered hearing this funny commercial run very early one morning. The end of a Skittles commercial and the beginning of a Listerine commercial combined seamlessly to broadcast, "Skittles. Taste the rainbow! - (lips and tongue smacking with morning mouth) - YUCK!". The next time it played, they where in the reverse order. Timing is everything.

Only Time

I've heard the song 'Only Time' by Enya several times lately. She gives an inspirational list of questions not to worry about because only time can give the answer. 

Most of the answers are destined to be vague at best.

This one is a little more decisive.

Angels on a Bad Day

What's an angel's point of view when we're having a bad day? They are serving us ALL the time. Dare you to give some thought to what that means (let's just say privacy is not a barrier). By God's direction, they are powerful hands working "all things together for the better" for us on a daily basis (mind that context, Romans 8:28), but they do not see the future any better than we do. They do not share his omniscience, and this requires to them to have faith...a lot (especially for certain ones of us. You know who you are).

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So without letting my imagination run too wild, I catch myself in a funk sometimes and I think, If there's an angel with me today, he must be thinking, "I really wonder what this assignment is about. I hope this pays off," in the most selfless and faithful way possible of course. It's like a superhero babysitter with an I.Q. of 1000 assigned to keeping a stubborn child out of the street. And for the demons they have to fight in the process, I'm sure they still recognize us as the biggest hazard to ourselves. I truly look forward to rejoicing with them some day at how we turned out in the end. But for now I see them in the position of working very hard for very delayed gratification. They see God face to face, so they have no uncertainty about how worthwhile their labor is, but they're still getting paid on back side of the job.

The least I can say is I'm very thankful for them. When scripture says we will judge angels, I imagine it to be the same sort of judgement that believers will face with God, mainly a rewarding of our works above and beyond the salvation we have by faith alone. When God gives me my spiritual pay day by His infinite grace (and I mean infinite), I'm going to turn to the angel(s) that saved my life (and my children's, and my wife's, and...) at least a dozen times and give him the most meaningful reward I can from what I've just received. Then we'll spend eternity laughing together about how crazy my first life was, and praising God that he got us both through it.

It's just me thinking, so take it with a grain of salt. To the Kingdom.