Rabid Fun

John Cowart's Daily Journal: A befuddled ordinary Christian looks for spiritual realities in day to day living.


Wednesday, September 27, 2006

At All Times... In All Places.

Tuesday, my daughter Jennifer came over fresh from her breakup with Pat.

She fluctuates between remorse and relief as is normal in such situations. I took her out to breakfast at Dave’s where she broke down crying when the waiter ask her whether she wanted toast or a biscuit. Such major decisions come hard for her at the moment.

At least she kept only one of the five dogs.

The fact that Jennifer faces spinal surgery next week complicates the situation. She may need hands-on care for a week or two after the operation and since she is now homeless and couching — all this presents a logistical problem for the rest of the family as to how we will take care of her.

I comforted her by telling her that I know of a doorway in a downtown warehouse where she can huddle out of the rain with her dog at nights. And from my work with the mission, I know all the best dumpsters where she can scrounge for food.

She got the giggles.

Nothing like a supportive Dad in times of trouble.

Ginny and I prayed things over and figure that if we throw away some furniture, which we intended to get rid of eventually anyhow, we can put her up in the back room for a short time. I am the logical person to do any needed nursing care because of my working at home.

Jennifer said she does not want to put anybody out. I explained that somebody will have to be put out; it’s just a matter of who and when and how much — this is called life . We are a family. We make do.

It looks to be a pain in the ass, but it’s manageable.

Yesterday also our middle daughter (I have 3 sons and 3 daughters) Eve announced plans to move in with her boyfriend. She said, “We've really been talking about it pretty thoroughly and making sure any issues are taken care of beforehand”.

My goodness. Any issues to be taken care of beforehand? What could they be?

Like maybe marriage?

Oh, Dad is just an old fuddy-duddy.

However, she is an adult and responsible for her own decisions.

Eve says that she and Mark have never had a fight. To me that bodes ill for a stable relationship. They have not known each other long enough to have a fight.

Although Ginny and I have been happily married for 38 years, we are not marriage counselors. Never even talked to one. But at times young couples have come to ask our advice about love and marriage and getting along.

Our standard advice: Buy A Bicycle In A Box!

That’s right. Buy an unassembled bicycle still in the box. You are going to give this bike to some poor kid at the mission. Then, the two of you put together the bicycle. If you still want to get married after assembling a bicycle, I’d say you have an excellent chance for a long, joyous life together.

The chief end of all human endeavor is to be happy at home.

If you don’t have that, you don’t have diddle squat.

And one element in being happy at home is the security of commitment, an Us Against The World attitude based on the intention of a permanent commitment.

Of course a marriage ceremony hardly guarantees that. Look at the failed marriages right and left (I should know, I failed miserably at my first marriage), but I’ve seen even more split-ups and heartbreak in live-in situations. They sometimes work but why chance it? Stack the deck in your favor. Give yourself every chance at happiness.

On another happy note: an old friend I have not seen for months and months came by yesterday to pick up his copy of the Civil War diary.

When he arrived, he first removed his hat and placed it on the coffee table. Then he shed his suit coat and draped it over the back of a chair. He took out a pack of unfiltered Camels and his lighter and placed them on the table. Then he unhooked his cell phone from his belt. Then he reached down and drew his pistol (revolver?) from his ankle holster (he’s in law enforcement), opened the chamber and placed that on the table too.

I began to perceive we were in for some serious conversation.

We enjoyed a delightful talk about sex and politics and prayer.

The gist of our talk is that since God is omnipresent, He is at all times in all places, and since much prayer involves talking with Him about specifics, then we can enjoy prayer at all times in all places too.

He and I discovered that we both practice conversational prayer.

This is not get-down-on-your-knees, bow your head, fold your hands and close your eyes kind of prayer, but it means keeping up a running mental conversation with Lord all day long, whatever else you might be doing.

Typically mine goes something like this:

Good morning, Lord… Please help me find my glasses… What should I do about this?… Please keep Ginny safe as she drives to work this morning… Thanks for that idea… Lord, You do remember that the Lotto drawing is tonight, don’t You?… Please help Ginny with whatever she’d doing at work…Old Mr. Jackson, he’s on oxygen, asked me for help mowing his yard. I just can’t do it. Please send him somebody who can… This damn computer crashed again! What should I do now?… Thank You so much for Ginny. I’m glad to be her husband… There goes the phone ringing, please give me wisdom to say the right thing to whoever it is… How should I word this?…This paragraph just is not working, how should I fix it?…I feel bitter and resentful about so and so, please forgive me. Again… Wow! That girl is really stacked! But her face looks troubled; Lord Jesus, please help her with the problem that’s bothering her most…What would You have me do about this can of worms? Is it really any of my business? Do I need to do anything about it?…Ginny should be getting off about now, please keep her safe in rush hour traffic … I think they should go for a field goal, don’t You… All praise and glory and honor be unto Thee O Lord… On some level, I love You… This is really good corned-beef hash, Thank You… The Viagra is not working Lord! Never mind. It's kicking in now… Good night Lord Jesus. Thank you for a good fuck, a good day, a good life!

Well, you get the idea.

At all times and in all places, no matter what is going on within us, around us, in spite of us — we are loved.

He is there — All times. All places. All circumstances.

Lord, please make me more aware of Your happy presence.

Here.

Now.

Today.


Please, visit my website for more www.cowart.info and feel free to look over and buy one of my books www.bluefishbooks.info
posted by John Cowart @ 5:47 AM

1 Comments:

At 6:29 AM, Blogger pai said...

thank you, thank you, thank you.

 

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