Welcome to

Yesterday around 4:00PM I was hit by the afternoon crash, so I decided to head down to the corner convenient store for a refill of my favorite caffeinated beverage. Standing in the check-out line, I experienced an interaction between two people that woke me up more than the petty chemicals in my 32oz. cup could ever hope.

At first, I assumed it was two friends having a somewhat spirited disagreement. I tried not to listen at first, but as the volume grew ever louder and more heated, it became clear that one guy was the store manager and the other guy was a customer… a very drunken customer who was being asked to leave the store. When he couldn’t talk any louder, the customer opened up his can of… expletive language, the only noticable effect being that it really pissed off angered the manager.

At this point I was expecting the punches to fly, but instead – at the top of his lungs – the drunken man yelled, “LOVE ME!!!” To which the store manager quickly replied, “LOVE YOURSELF, AND GET OUT OF MY STORE!!!” Then then manager told one of the three cashiers who were giggling behind the counter to call the police.

Staring at my feet, I was reminded of Jesus’ call for us to be peacemakers and to love our neighbors… the angry store manager, the giggling cashiers, and of course, the drunken customer. And I walked away from them all wondering about the terrible inconvenience of this command.

1. One book that changed your life:
   Lord of the Flies by William Golding
   The Florida State University Student Bulletin
   Barney: I see Barney! by Quinlan B. Lee
2. One book that you’ve read more than once:
   Don’t Make Me Think! by Steve Krug (note: it’s an interface design book, sorry.)
3. One book you’d want on a desert island:
   How to Survive on a Desert Island
4. One book that made you laugh:
   Traveling Mercies by Anne Lamott
5. One book that made you cry:
   Silence by Shusaku Endo
6. One book you wish had been written:
   My Life by Abraham Lincoln
7. One book you wish had never been written:
   Barney: I see Barney! by Quinlan B. Lee
8. One book you’re currently reading:
   Simply Christian by N.T. Wright
9. One book you’ve been meaning to read:
   The Brothers Karamozov by Fyodor Dostoevsky
10. Tag 5 others: Mark Houghton, and… uh… I guess I need to get out more.

All done, Rick. Now I don’t have to write again for another six months or so.

“There was a time when the church was very powerful-in the time when the early Christians rejoiced at being deemed worthy to suffer for what they believed. In those days the church was not merely a thermometer that recorded the ideas and principles of popular opinion; it was a thermostat that transformed the mores of society. . . . But the judgment of God is upon the church [today] as never before. If today’s church does not recapture the sacrificial spirit of the early church, it will lose its authenticity, forfeit the loyalty of millions, and be dismissed as an irrelevant social club with no meaning for the 20th century.” (M.L. King, Letter from Birmingham Jail)

Interesting in more thoughts by M.L. King? Try here.