Territorial traveling
Well, my busy travel season is about to start. I’ve been looking towards it with a mixture of anticipation and trepidation. I generally like the idea of traveling, at least when it’s not by car as I really don’t like driving for long distances all that much. Travel by air or rails can be quite enjoyable. But I digress…
Tomorrow, the Territorial Brood embarks on a jaunt to big sis’s neck of the woods for Saturday’s high-society nuptials of big sis’s daughter #2. It seems that the whole 07/07/07 date played a not insignificant role in driving this particular choice of date back a year+ ago. I might have figured 06/06/06, but you know me… (I kid because I love, big sis… ;^) ). Anyway, we have a nice suite at a Hilton, so the Territorial Redheads will have muy opportunity for pool time. And we’ve made arrangements for the Territorial Boston Terrier to be properly tended to, so we don’t have to worry about riding herd on his cute, but dumb, carcass. (Again, Hammie, I kid because I love…). I’m sure a good time will be had by all. I’m just amazed that big sis hasn’t taken it all that seriously or gotten all that stressed out by it. Oh. Wait. Never mind. (kidding, kidding…)
On Tuesday, I have a few meetings down in West Lafayette that could yield some interesting things. At least that’s only a 90 mile (one-way) drive, so it goes pretty quick.
Then, next week I leave on Saturday for my sojourn down to fair Houston. Texas and the LCMS in July. What’s not to like? I think that it’ll at least be an interesting adventure in terms of travel. And I’ll have my trusty MacBook Pro so that I can blog with impunity all along the way.
Who knows, I might even write well about some/most of all this. My ongoing, pipe-dream, goal is that I’ll embark on a plan of writing one good, solid paragraph every day. Yup, I dare to dream the impossible (or at least improbable) dream.
-ghp
Blaaaaahg
Yes, it’s time again to blahg. Cheap therapy for me. An easily skippable posting for you. Win-win. w00t…
Granted, I’m not in an overly depressive state of mind. The melancholia doesn’t have me that mired down (yet). I’ve just been in a dangerously contemplative state of mind. Not really dissatisfied with my lot in life, but neither all that satisfied. If you know what I mean (and I know you do, big sis…). Work is, well, work. It’s not easy. It’s not fun. It’s hard slogging through. I know that I”m not always doing things the right way, either in work arena, or in the personal arena (not the least of which is taking care of myself, fat, lazy, undisciplined schlub that I am…). It’s times like these where I am completely overwhelmed by identifying with that described by Paul in Romans 7:19.
I know some things that I need to do. I just need to get to doing them.
Even so, I know that I cannot do it all myself. The urge to take it all on me & my own actions is palpable & nearly overwhelming. Even as I despair in the assured failure of my inadequacies, I still feel compelled to repeatedly say to myself, “Self, not only can you do it all yourself, you must do it all yourself - it’s all about you & your willpower/gumption/fortitude!” It’s a vicious circle of wallowing in my own wretchedness…
Thankfully, Jesus doesn’t let me wallow & fester in that sinful morass. He grabs me. He cleans me. He daily reminds me of that day in January 1968 when He made me His own through water & the Word. He beckons me to the comfort that is found at the foot of His cross.
He gives me rest.
He won’t let me forget.
He will never abandon me.
He loves me.
He allows & enables me to trust.
He will gather me home.
Amen.
-ghp
Sensitivity
So, I attended a sensitivity workshop yesterday. Working on a university campus, these things are unavoidable from time to time. And to be honest, it really wasn’t all that bad, especially compared to some that I’ve been exposed to at other places of employment. But I digress…
It was pretty standard “awareness-enhancing”/”diversity” type of stuff, but there was one exercise where I’m sure that my response raised some internal eyebrows. More specifically, we had to choose one of four things that we would least like our children to be. The choices? Drug Addict. Mentally Ill. Convicted Felon. Gay/Lesbian.
I was the only one that chose “Gay/Lesbian”… 
Fortunately, I had a little time to come up with my reasons why, as we were required to give a brief explanation. Now, I think that I generally did ok with my explanation, but I’m not totally pleased in retrospect, especially as I would’ve liked to done a better job of preemptively addressing the implicit disapproval that was shown by the folks who felt the need to couch their answers by explicitly stating that they would (of course/obviously) have no problem if their kids were gay/lesbian.
I based my answer on two things:
- Social - in our current culture being gay/lesbian is not an easy row to hoe, even though in many circles it’s very accepted. There’s still a lot of sinful behavior directed against gays/lesbians. Frankly, I wouldn’t want either of my kids to end up like Matthew Sheppard, or any of the other folks who’ve been beaten by misguided folks who thought that physical violence was an acceptable response.
- Theological - I clearly stated that I also had theological/religious reasons for not wanting my kids to be gay/lesbian. For good/bad/right/wrong, I didn’t elaborate the reasons why, but just left it at the statement that I had strongly held, faith-driven reasons for my choice.
I wish I had been a little more explicit in better fleshing out my reasons/thought processes. Fortunately, as I have my own little forum here, I can do so now!
- The other three choices (drug addict, mentally ill, convicted felon) are all things that are generally recognized by most reasonable folks as things for which help can & should be provided. IOW, they are viewed as negative states that must be addressed.
- This is not the case with being gay/lesbian, if you are approaching it from a truly Biblical perspective — IOW, that which the Bible clearly shows to be sinful, is something that society increasingly views as ok & even to be celebrated rather than prayerfully addressed.
- There are (rightly) medical & support options for addicts & the mentally ill. We can, and must, be compassionate in helping these folks overcome these circumstances that result from our sinful condition. The same is true of rehabilitated felons — many folks realize that convicted (and rehabilitated) felons need help in rebuilding their lives.
- Society doesn’t give the same benefit to those whose lives are impacted by the sin that is homosexuality. I don’t want my kids to have society encourage their sinful tendencies any more than is absolutely unavoidable. I wouldn’t want them to be unnecessarily tempted by societal approval of over-drinking and/or over-eating, either.
- It doesn’t mean that I wouldn’t love my kids. I will always love my children. I may not always like them and/or their choices/responses, but I will always love them & try to faithfully execute my vocational responsibilities re: their spiritual well-being. That I wouldn’t want them to be gay/lesbian should never be misconstrued/misrepresented as a lack, or withdrawal, of love. Approval, possibly/certainly, but love, never.
I guess it largely boils down to this: Current “tolerance” & “sensitivities” seem to dictate that it is wrong (or at the very least ignorant) to view all four things as negative/unfortunate conditions that need to be addressed with compassionate support & concern for folks’ temporal & eternal well-being.
I pray that, should the opportunity present itself again, I’m able to more resolutely confess based upon that which has been given to me!
-ghp
I Like My Job…
As I mentioned a week ago, I was out of town for 3 days. It’s always nice to get out of the office, and getting out of the house on the company dime ain’t too bad either… 
However, I am most certainly a creature of habit. I thrive on the routine of day-to-day life. I’ve taken enough personality assessments/instruments (Myers-Briggs, Kirton-Adaptive, etc…) to know that my personality definitely trends towards the introverted, introspective, as well as the aforementioned affinity for routine.
Thus, I was quite happy to get back home last Friday evening.
And, more to the point of this post’s title, I was happy to get back to work this morning.
Even though I had quite a bit of catching up to do, and there are always the little things that annoy throughout the day; however, as I drove home this evening, I was struck by the strong sensation that I really like my job. I like what I’m doing, the folks I work with, and the place I work at. Not that everything (or everyone :wink:) is perfect, mind you — there are always things that could be better/nicer/easier (and I would include myself in that assessment… :eek:).
But even in light of that, I’m still far more fortunate than I deserve — I’ve been well & truly blessed — and for that I’m thankful. I’m also thankful that I’ve been able to learn about the doctrine of vocation — it’s truly cool to understand how God intends our daily work to benefit our neighbors, and how their work benefits us.
Well, that’s enough navel-gazing for now — I need to play a little Civ4 before putting the kids to bed & watching The Apprentice… 
-ghp
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