Amateurs

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I spent the last week not looking at the news, for the most part, and this was done intentionally. I avoided the breathless hype of post-Oscar ridiculousness, and didn’t come anywhere near video or audio clips of Trump’s State of the Union speech, or whatever people were calling it.

It was nice to take a break from the constant hum of frivolous and ugly news.

It seems the best possible face one could put on what we’re witnessing now is an administration hellbent on cutting waste in government spending. DOGE, eh? Efficiency, you say? Seems more like a cover for a complete gutting of the institutions that have served us well for a long time. No doubt, there may be some glut and questionable spending in a sprawling bureaucracy, but it seems in a rational world there would be a bit more evaluating and number crunching before this wholesale evisceration commenced.

What we’re watching now is the wanton collapse of a system of governance. There has been no scalpel, just a wrecking ball and explosives, and to what end?

Once the destruction is complete, what then?

I bet they know, and I bet most of us won’t like it. It has little to do with efficiency or streamlining or responsiveness to need. Or justice.

They appear not to care if the world burns.

No, thanks

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Daily writing prompt
What is one question you hate to be asked? Explain.
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Maybe not in so many words, but something like “What did you accomplish today?” The temptation is to respond with “Not a damn thing,” because I seldom wake up with my first impulse being what the agenda for the day is gonna be, and what I can cross off some list.

It’s not that I don’t enjoy tackling a project now and then, and I don’t consider myself lazy. It’s just that I’m not motivated by nor want a to do list as something offered as a way of “making myself useful.”

I take pride in or at least feel a certain satisfaction in working on something to completion, tackling a project and seeing it through. But I feel little compunction to make a list for the sake of making a list and looking busy.

I guess I don’t need to be accomplishing something every day.

Judgement Call

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Daily writing prompt
How has a failure, or apparent failure, set you up for later success?
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I guess I’ve never thought of life writ large in such clearly defined terms. In specific instances, like learning to ride a bike or a language or measuring twice and cutting once, it’s been a matter of persistence and learning from mistakes.

Vocationally, maybe my time in the ministry came about because I somehow needed to end up there, after a few false starts and work that didn’t mean much other than a paycheck. Still, I don’t view that period in my life as either success or failure, or even a calling. It just… was.

And as far as success or failure as a human being, I find such stark categories to be inadequate and offensive, even as, on occasion, someone might be driven to think about a person in those terms.

A Few Things

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Daily writing prompt
What experiences in life helped you grow the most?
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Being raised in a loving family, working in a restaurant during high school, going to college, watching people who worked hard until the job was done, getting married and raising a family, picking up stakes and heading to Seminary, holding pastorates in several congregations over the course of 26 years, traveling to various places, reading, listening to serious people, including comedians, who pay attention to what’s going on in the world, writing in a journal and posting things in here that help me work through and give expression to thoughts and observations and feelings.

Stages

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Daily writing prompt
Describe a phase in life that was difficult to say goodbye to.
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I don’t know if there were any. I’ve always been ready to move on.
In retrospect, and perhaps as a function of nostalgia, I might choose the college years, when we were on our own, far from home, and having a taste of what in certain ways was more freedom than we’d known before or have known since.

Hmm…

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Daily writing prompt
If you could be someone else for a day, who would you be, and why?
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Not sure, since it’s only for a day. On the other hand, if I come away from the experience feeling like it has some bearing on the rest of my life, then maybe it would be worthwhile.

So, maybe a professional golfer winning a big tournament, or a guide at Gettysburg NMP.

Who Needs This?

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I guess resigning instead of playing along with Musk can be viewed as a sign of protest, if not …strength? On the other hand, wouldn’t a sign of strength and courage be to stay on and fight and make things difficult for these heartless thugs? Otherwise, they’ll just replace you with a sycophant or incompetent cyborg, or no one.

It’s the rare bird who would actually risk a stable home life and marriage and child-rearing responsibilities and a nice life beyond the Beltway to go all-in on saving the democracy—even as one stands to lose all that stability by neglecting the fight and giving Trump and his minions carte blanche.

All of a sudden, we’re in the fight of our lives. All of us have to be in this together– now– if there’s any hope of turning a corner in 2028. The people in charge are in it for themselves, as usual. They won’t be of any help, can’t be counted on for anything other than misery and coldness.

Updated

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Daily writing prompt
Describe the most ambitious DIY project you’ve ever taken on.
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Almost three years ago, we re-did the half bath we have upstairs, from tearing out carpet (have never understood carpet in a bathroom) and toilet, to leveling the floor, to smoothing out the walls, to measuring, cutting, and installing new flooring, to painting walls and adding wainscoting and trim, to new plumbing connections, new toilet, new electrical outlets and switches, new towel and tp holders, fresh caulking, and a new mirror.

When nature calls, I sometimes still make the trip upstairs just so I can admire our work. We’d never taken on anything quite so ambitious, even though, in the larger scheme of DIY projects, it’s pretty modest.