Ridin' with the Reverend

A couple weeks back Deb came home from work and told me how she was discussing our youngest son's upcoming wedding with a co-worker. Asked where the wedding would be she named the local Catholic Church, when a third co-worker standing nearby said, "I go to church there and I've never seen you!" This second co-worker then began to question which service, etc. WOW!!!!! So this is the good Christian who takes the low road, insists we must not go there since 'she' has never seen us there, and takes this derogatory approach publicly. I never cease to be amazed at how crass some people can be, and surprisingly how some people who call themselves Christian can be so critical and judgemental.

As I grew up, my folks didn't attend church regularly. The only time I ever saw my dad in church was for a wedding or a funeral. He swore like a trooper, or maybe I should say truck driver for that is what he was. If anyone ever asked him which church he attended it was always, "I go to the Round Church. That way they can't get me cornered!" Yet, in action and in his heart he was one of the greatest examples of a Christian man I've ever known.

He'd do anything for anyone, was always there to help when something needed to be done. At the age of 74 he and a close friend Bob were still going out and cutting wood for several of the widow women in the neighborhood so they'd all have wood to heat their homes the coming winter. The last summer they did this they cut up seven cords of wood, and never once expected to get any money back in return. It was just something you did for others. Dad was the epitome of 'pay-it-forward' before the movie even was thought about. He'd always tell me not to be afraid to help someone, "You will get it back ten-fold in other ways."

The funny part is for all of this, he and mom ensured I had a strong faith, and attendance at church. Not sure how they knew one of the local ministers, especially since they never attended church themselves. But, when I was five years old I began to attend church every week. The minister lived about five miles Southeast of our house. The community non-denominational church was about two miles Northwest of us. Reverend and Mrs. Moore drove via our road every single Sunday, and there I was in my Sunday best standing out by the road waiting for them to stop and pick me up. I remember getting my twelveth annual consecutive pin for perfect attendance. Pretty hard not to get there when riding with the Reverend. But it was my non-church going parents who made sure this happened--two very much Christian in their hearts and actions.

So where am I headed with this? (Anyone who reads my blog knows I don't get to my point straight away.) My point is that sometimes those who are the most vocal about their religion, and commitment to the Lord often times seem to be living their religion the least. In particular I'm amazed by those who 'vocalize' their faith openly and loudly in front of as large an audience as is available to them -- certainly in this day of the internet, facebook, etc. that can be a pretty large group. When I hear this I wonder if they've ever read Matthew 6:5,

"And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. 6But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly."

And for this second co-worker, Romans 14:12-13,

"So then each of us will give an account of himself to God. Therefore let us not pass judgment on one another any longer, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother."

This is one of the great parts of riding a motorcycle, especially on long road trips -- it affords lots and lots of time for self-reflection, for contemplating where each of us is in life, for trying to understand if we are contributing to this world in general and to ourselves specifically. It's about understanding others, and understanding who we are and how we fit into our families and to society. It's learning whether we are contributing to our immediate families in everyway possible, or just financially--are we doing what's best for the family, or for ourselves????? It's like religion, and it's like you are always 'Riding with the Reverend!'

Post Script: When my dad's father was about five years old, his father (my great grandfather) Ralph Philo Moore passed away. He and his next youngest brother were taken to an Aunt's to be raised. As she was married to a Shaw, the boys took that surname. I just thought it kind of a strange consequence that I road to church for twelve years with Reverend and Mrs. W. A. Moore. Never did find out if there was a shirt-tail relationship there.

Grandson's Can Drive a Point Home

Twice a week, my youngest grandson comes over to spend the morning with 'Papa' while mama works.  Often we go upstairs to the office, he watches the Mickey Mouse Club House Show and Papa works on Genealogy on the computer. 

So we are sitting there tuned into the Mickey Mouse show and they are playing their little song, and I start singing along with it, "Hot Dog, Hot Dog, Hot Diggity Dog!"  Tate looks up and says "Papa don't sing that!"  A little surprised, I said, "Hey, I can sing that, it's Tater's Song." 

He immediately corrects me and says, "No Papa, my song 'Walkin' the Floor over You!' " 

Well, Papa on occassion has been known to sing that one too, but until then didn't know Tate had been paying attention.  So, I told his mom about it when she came to pick him up.  She laughed and said the other day he was playing in his room and she heard him singing and went over to listen, "I'm walkin the floor over you, ..." 

Guess you have to be very careful about what you say and sing.  You never know when they are paying attention and what they will take home with them!  8-)

It's a Great Thing Prices are Stable in These Times

With the economy so bad and all, something we do not need is a price increase in products.  And, for the most part, with the exception of gasoline (the oil companies are pretty up front about increases, on a regular basis no less) everyone else is keeping prices the same.  Of course there is one small issue, the packages are getting smaller.  I'm sure you noticed.

Now, we've seen bread prices stay the same, but loaves of bread drop from one pound loaves to twelve ounce loaves.  We've seen lotion prices stay the same, but containers drop a couple of ounces.  I think you get the idea!  But, that's private enterprise and they are trying to stay alive.  So, what's the next step?  Hey, if it works for free enterprise, shouldn't it work for the government too?????  Great idea!

So where is this headed?  I had to mail a package to one of my grandsons, and Deb's been on me for awhile to get it done.  She'd even put the things into a large box some boots came in.  As I finally figured I'd procrastinated about as long as is possible, I went out to the shop to grab a smaller box to see if I could save a few bucks on shipping.  Now I've got just about every conceivable sized box, bubble wrap, shredded cardboard, and other packing materials available.  So, I judiciously surveyed the inventory to ensure I went with as small a box as possible.

I looked around, and my eye landed on a middle sized flat rate box from the post office.  Now we've all seen the adds from USPS and that for a fixed rate you can ship anywhere in the US if it "fits in the box."  So, immediately grabbed a new box and figured that was the best way to go.  However, next to it is a middle sized flat rate box my father-in-law used to mail a package our way early this year.  Hmmmmm!!!!!  As I look at the two, the older one "appears" to be slightly larger than the new one. 

Well, I am in the shop, and there are at least five or six tape measures in the shop, so I grabbed one and started measuring the new box: 12 1/8 X 13 5/8 X 2 3/4.   Then I measure the old box: 12 1/8 X 13 7/8 X 3 1/2.  Isn't that interesting?  A little quick computation on the old cell phone calculator and I come up with 588 cubic inches on the old flat rate box and 454 cubic inches on the new flat rate box.  Gee, I must have missed when the USPS told us they were making the boxes slightly smaller.  Still the same rate, just can't quite squeeze as much in as you used to.

Well, if we figure a middle sized flat rate box ships for $10.70, and then divide that by the two different cubes, it comes up  to be 1.819 cents/cubic inch to ship the old box and 2.356 cents/cubic inch to ship the new middle sized flat rate box.  By my calculations that's a 29% increase. 

Of course, the President announced a three year freeze on military pay a couple of months ago, and then today heard he was freezing government except for military.  So as I'm understanding this, the post office sneaked in a 29% increase on us the unsuspecting public, but our social security and retirement is going to remain the same for three years.  Thought there was a slogan out there somewhere about, "...government for the people."  Well, since this blog is about being on the road bend over, we'll "DRIVE" the idea home just one more time!!!!!