Dawn and I are induling in an unusual pasttime this spring, for us that is. We have planted stuff and will try to make
it grow. Grass in the side lawn, herbs in the big pots, flowers in the smaller pots, and I am trying (for the second time)
to raise a Japanese Cherry Blossom Tree from seeds. Also, we are trying to nurse a peace lily back to life.
We traditionally kill plants. Last year, herbs did pretty well. And this peace lily has been with us (in various stages
of health) for 8 years.
Our ministry is like our horticulture. There are no guarrantees to begin with and it is easy to make mistakes. We can
have the best of intentions and even try, and still things do not go as planned or hoped. But like our planting efforts this
year, you keep on trying, and trying to improve, replacing bad practices with good, abandoning the irrelevant for the important.
It is always a pleasure to gain some quality time with folks you enjoy being with. This weekend was a welcome reconnection.
There is never enough time to say all that I would like to say or hear all I need to hear, but something is better than nothing.
I am currently reading The World is Flat by Thomas Friedman. It is a great book about globalization; about how
digital technology is making the world smaller and easier to access from anywhere else. I can now as easily buy a book that
is only available in England as I can one that is only available in the U.S.
However, gas prices are making my world physically smaller. Dawn and I have always found driving to be enjoyable. We
are more willing to drive a distance for small pleasures than anyone I know. But that is slowing drastically.
In this digitally flat world, our roads are becoming increasingly up hill. I have been painfully aware for decades that
gas in this country was drastically cheaper than it was in other countries, but now Friedman's flat world is encroaching and
the priviledge of being a citizen of "the world's only superpower" is leaking away. And it is looking less like the leak will
ever be fixed.
It is a minor lament, a small sadness.
