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A Time for Everything

Yesterday I went to a friends house and changed the brake pads on my car. You have to understand that I may have remembered almost everything from High School, but I didn’t take Shop. Put another way, I have very little ability with the care and maintenance of an automobile. Yet, I actually changed one of them myself, instead of contracting the work out like Tom Sawyer. (My brother still claims that the only time I mowed the lawn before college, I subcontracted it out to a friend for part of my allowance.)

It’s not like someone (MrTool) hadn’t shown me before. I just had to do it. I am grateful for the immense patience given to me.

There are other things which, despite the best folks showing me, I just cannot grasp them: I cannot tie a necktie. Really, I cannot tie one. I’ve had tons of people show me. Just like curing hiccups, though, most are convinced that their unique combination of methodology and personality will be the great shaft of light into my darkened understanding. I repeat, I am unable to tie a necktie and this is not something that needs to be fixed. Kurt, MrTool, this is the wide open opportunity to compare notes. I still have at least one tie from each of you that you tied for me that remains tied and hanging in the closet. (I also have one from my brother-in-law.)

I have learned to accept it, begrudgingly. I hope you can accept it, too. I cannot tie a necktie. I have aggravated salespeople. I’m talking upscale salespeople who believe that the customer can do no wrong. Trust me, an hour plus tying a necktie the wrong way will send even the most loving, patient soul screaming into the parking lot. (He actually said, ‘excuse me’, and I never saw him again.) I have aggravated myself standing in front of a mirror thinking that this is such a simple thing, how can I be this terrible at this? Seriously, I have aggravated myself to the point of rage trying to tie one.

The first one of you that gives me a necktie for Christmas…

So what does this mean? It means that I avoid formal events wherever possible. It also means that there really is a time to give up on some things. The rub, of course, is knowing the difference between a difficult task that can be overcome with perseverance and knowing when it is time to simply stop. I seem to only know the difference way too late. As a friend used to say, this is one of those things that you’ll know when you see it.

Thinking about the difference on a broader scale, I think about a lunch meeting my minister is attending today. This is persevering in a difficult enterprise. Can we come together with others of similar faith and doctrine? (The bigger question in regards to dissimilar faith and doctrine will come soon enough.) Can we reach out and allows others to reach in? There’s ugly history involved in meetings like these. The response to an offer of fellowship could be rejected outright. We could be considered worse than “almost Christians”. The response may be more encouraging. Maybe our kids and teens can have common events. Who said that Vacation Bible School was a thing of the past?

More to the point, it’s worth it to strive for unity. It’s not because of the importance of what is at stake. Honestly, there is nothing at stake. There is a lot of potential for good, yes, there is a great joy in family coming together to worship God, true, but that is not the same thing. What is the difference between the potential of my good friend you do not know and the potential of your good friend that I do not know? Nothing. Without any realization of potential nothing is lost or gained. In this specific case, work begins in an attempt to realize this tremendous potential of two churches working together. Even if it doesn’t work out and nothing comes of the lunch meeting today, it is worth the effort.

Then there are those things that should be abandoned.

I used to keep up with the Great One and his new movement in Portland LA. I have friends that try to talk to the legion of 20-25 year old members on MySpace. After a while, I just derided what he was doing and lamented the damage caused. Starting in 2004, I tried to get the powers that were to address the issues that Kip and his teachings had on all of us. In the end, what was done missed the point and came too late to be effective. No amount of begging, pleading, or writing has any effect at this point, on Kip or the powers that be. Besides, the King has returned to LA to build another church better, faster, and stronger than the one that his enemies run. After this much times, is it important to track him? Sure he just built a church in Mumbai and is maybe organizing another in Dallas. Does pursuing this do any good?

It may for some. I certainly hope that others can bring light into our collective lack of understanding. I’ve seen others that have what could be an effective plan to address the issues still raised by our former leader. For me, though, I have to give up. I might be able to talk to a few