I Work For God, But I Never Claimed I Was Employee of the Month

Ah, that fine line between righteousness and self-righteousness! Just about a week ago, I learned that I had to go in for surgery ASAP, to remove my appendix, which most unreasonably chose to announce its displeasure by rupturing. This was merely the latest in a series of odd or inconvenient events which seemed to be sending a signal of some kind:

[] My daughter developed a chronic cough, possibly due to allergies but worrisome
[] I passed a kidney stone, and missed some school and work
[] My wife lost a filling in her teeth
[] My follow-up CT Scan showed a “problem” with my appendix
[] The day I was to see my specialist, my car busted a hose and broke down
[] My specialist told me I needed immediate surgery
[] My “hi-speed” internet became “no-speed” internet, as Roadrunner went out completely for more than a week and RR’s IT people are not only incompetent, but arrogant and rude by policy and character
[] While I was in surgery to have my appendix removed, the country went nuts and voted out the only adults in Congress
[] My alma mater has not only continued a dismal losing streak, they are now getting blown out by teams with losing records
[] My wife’s dentist has a demon working in the office, who twice refused to honor her appointment
[] I have not had a cup of coffee in over two weeks now

OK, so if you don’t know me that last item may seem trivial, but I just about have the Folgers people on my speed-dial for a reason.

Anyway, this list is a pretty sour mess for just a couple weeks of events, and does not even include all the fun things like what was waiting for me when I went back to work this morning, or trying to catch up in my classes, with two major projects due and a series of tests and assignments to do before final exams in just two weeks. So this may explain the paltry blogging for the past bit.

All this put together seems to suggest that the Lord has been trying to get my attention; like many people I can get a bit of “tunnel vision” when I get going, and this fall I was pretty single-minded. It’s true to say that men only think of one thing – at a time. Some of the time it’s Sports, or Politics, or Food, but we do tend to act like dogs chasing cars, even when we blog.

I don’t want to sound preachy – too late, I know – but I started blogging on a regular basis because I felt that I was supposed to be doing this. Hey, not that I know everything, but I try to be informative, to provoke debate or at least pose an intriguing question or notion. I love the response I get back from readers – fascinating really, how some people post a comment on the thread while others send an e-mail. Also kind of interesting to notice that my old stuff gets as much attention as my new stuff – either some of my ‘vintage’ material is pretty good, or I have been pretty bad lately, you tell me.

This past week has been a time of reflection for me, with a resolution to be a better husband, father, man, employee, and citizen. Three of those goals are pretty much private things; I’m a decent man all things considered, my wife and daughters know I love them, and I do good work at the company. That said, I want to make sure I neither get complacent, nor miss a chance to improve. But I also understand that no one of us knows everything in Life, nor has all the right answers to even one of the important questions; it’s not a one-size-fits-all reality, and in many ways even if my answer is right and true, there may well be more to learn and comprehend beyond what I hold. And there are dangers and problems which are not always obvious – I could have prevented the kidney stone problem, maybe, with more care years ago about my diet, instead of waiting as long as I did to improve my balance and reduce my sodium intake, but the doctors assure me there was no way to prevent my appendicitis; no one knows exactly why it happens, or why it affects the people it does. Even wise men cannot foresee the unknowable, and I would be rash to consider myself wise.

Well, it’s Monday, this column is long, a bit vague, and fairly egocentric. You know what that means – I’m back!