There But For the Grace of God

 Good afternoon.  The heat just continues to build.  Sort of like summer is marshalling all of it’s forces to hand us a sort of last gasp of heat and humidity before the autumn breezes begin to blow and, hopefully, the autumn rains will come.  This time of year is an interesting time as far as weather is concerned.  Yes, the heat and humidity seem to go on and on without end.  Yes, it seems to be miserable outside.

But there are real changes taking place in the environment…changes that are happening because summer is actually winding down.  The tall grass in the park is shooting up seed pods.  Birds are finishing up raising their young.  Many plants are coming to maturity.  The summer grasses, Bermuda, buffalo, and others, are thoroughly enjoying outdoing the fescues.  The toad that sits under your porch light at night is getting fatter.  Even the constellations in the sky are changing to their fall displays.  It’s a great time to lose your summer doldrums and watch the creation as it morphs into a fall and then winter pose.

As part of this time of year…the extreme heat, I normally try to get my walking exercise in during the morning hours.  It was until a couple years ago that I could stop at Towne West shopping center and walk in comfort.  But that building has been sold and turned into basically warehouse space.  It’s no longer available to the public.

Sometimes, I can walk while still at home.  Other times, I’ll come to work, then walk downtown.  That was the case today.  I came in to work, then went for my walk.  As I was walking past the Garvey Center on West Douglas, I noticed a wallet on the sidewalk.  I thought about leaving it, but decided it was in good hands with me…I didn’t know who else might come by and see it.

I took it back to the church and looked through it.  Finding a drivers license, I tried to find the gentleman on social media.  I was unsuccessful at that, but I did have an address.  I decided to go there to see if he might be home.

Arriving there, I found a locked front gate, a rather dilapidated house, and a neighbor sitting on her front porch.  I went over to the neighbor and asked if she knew the man who lived next door.  She didn’t know much about him.  I told her why I was there and gave her contact information for the church, telling her that his wallet would be at the church if he wished to recover it.  She said she would tell him, and that was it.

I have never found anything like that in any of my walks before.  I have found maybe a coin or perhaps a nail in the street...something like that.  I'll usually pick those things up if I can.  But I’ve never found anything of real value such as that wallet.  Hopefully, he’ll get the note I left with the neighbor lady and retrieve his wallet.  If he doesn’t, I’ll take it to the nearby police station and leave it with them.

One other thing this hot time of the year does is bring out into more of the open those who have not been able to keep up their bill payments and their electric utility service has been suspended.  We’ve received several calls this summer from folks in that circumstance, and many more where the service is in danger of being discontinued because of non-payment.  We’ve had so much of that earlier this summer that we’ve had to discontinue our benevolence for a time.

Today, I received a call from a woman who, if she is telling me accurately, has been living without electric service since the end of March when the cold weather rule was discontinued.  They managed to find a generator to meet their basic needs, but now the generator is broken and they are totally without service.  There are two older people in the home…both of whom require medical services that need electricity.

I didn’t even ask how much they owed.  It doesn’t really matter.  If they owe, for example, one thousand dollars to get service started, that amount may well look like one hundred thousand dollars to them.  The mountain is insurmountable regardless.

My guess is it will be a long time before they are able to get electric service again, if ever.  I wonder how many households in the Wichita area are just like these people…service has been discontinued due to inability to pay, or who are in danger of having service discontinued.  What is the percentage of households who are living like this?  I’m thinking that number would be much higher than one might think.

If you are living with a roof over your head, with transportation, and in relative comfort, be thankful.  Just be thankful.  And be humble.  Then find some way to help support those who are not living with your level of comfort and convenience.  You know the old saying, “There but for the grace of God go I…”

 

Blessings

The Vote

 Well, good afternoon.  The primary elections are over, at least until next time.  I hope you voted, if you were eligible to do so.  I don’t know who you may have voted for, and besides, it’s none of my business.  The ballot is one of the most cherished parts of living in this society, and frankly is one of the last places where one’s private business truly is private.

It seems that we’re being tracked, traced, and pumped for information pretty much with everything we do and everywhere we go.  If you have a rewards card with any business, they are tracking your purchases.  If you have a smart TV, cable TV or streaming, you are being tracked in what you are viewing.  Your car, if it’s a newer model, can and does track your maintenance and other aspects of ownership and driving.  If one of your appliances connects to the Internet, your use of that appliance is being tracked.  And, of course, wherever you click on social media or whatever you search for is being tracked and traced.  It’s pretty much ubiquitous.

But voting...the ballot...we know if you voted.  We know where you voted.  We know which political party’s ballot you voted on if the election is a primary.  But we don’t know HOW you voted…who you voted for…how you voted on bond issues and other questions.  That information forever stays with you unless you choose to divulge it.  And that’s an increasing rarity these days…the privilege of privacy.

We’ll have another election in November.  This time, there will be only one ballot because it is not a partisan primary election, but rather a general election.  Your vote will continue to be a matter of privacy.  Yes, we will know whether or not you voted, but we will not know HOW you voted on this or that race or this or that issue.  Be informed.  Don’t pay much attention to the mailers, the TV ads, or the social media posts.  Get your information from trusted sources.  Do your own research.

You should know by now that if you’re a citizen, you have an obligation to participate in elections.  Not an obligation that comes from some law or edict.  But rather an obligation out of thanksgiving for being able to live in such a society.  Yes, even with all of our faults, prejudices, and issues, we manage to make it work.  But it takes us all to participate as best we can…to give back rather than continuing to just be on the receiving end.

OK, I’ll quit preaching here and go on.

I was visiting with one of our deacons who works with building and grounds.  We had just looked at a water leak and plumbing issue.  This has come in addition to several other items that need to be repaired or replaced in and around the building.  I said something about a 50 plus year old building needing more attention, just like when we get older, we have a larger stable of medical people…many of them specialists in some area.  We do that because generally, more can go wrong with an older body than a younger one.  As the body ages, it begins to have to cope with stiff joints, unstable blood pressure, diminishing eyesight, and other maladies that often accompany aging.  It’s just a fact of life for people as it also is for things…buildings, automobiles, and the like.

Of course, there comes a time when the body can no longer cope…can no longer make the adjustments it needs to keep going, and it expires…it dies.  Eventually, it’s the same with a building.  Oh, it may be put on the historic preservation list and be around 200 , 300, 500  or more years from now.  But eventually, eventually, it will succumb to the inevitable.  The question for buildings always seems to be, is it worth it to make the repair, or do we just replace?  The question for bodies may look similar, but the thought process is much different, because we’re also looking at the mind and soul of the individual as well as the physical body that houses that soul.  We believe every person has inherent value and worth, unlike a building or automobile.  And we need to take that into consideration as we make sometimes very difficult or painful decisions.

Meanwhile, we employ people in various vocations and specialties to help us navigate through those times when something goes awry in body or mind.  And often, they can help.  They can many times enable the body to better cope with the problem.  In some cases, they can either fix the problem or at least put that problem or issue on the back burner, which allows a better quality of life and living for awhile.

It is my hope and prayer that you are living your life as fully and completely as possible, given your circumstance and situation.  May God continue to embrace and bless you.

 

Blessings,