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Rants! & Raves! 2.15
Here it is, Rants! & Raves!, your weekly chance to sound off. Remember the rules:
1. A Rave! is something that happened during the past week that you’re tickled about and is signified by the word “Rave!” and/or an appropriately happy emoticon.
2 A Rant! is something that happened during the past week that you’re steamed about and is signified by the word “Rant!” and/or an appropriately unhappy emoticon.
3. You may Rant! about something a person said, did or wrote, but you may not Rant! about generally disliking a person.
Let her rip…
Topic: Watercooler Chatter, WorldMagBlog
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back to top37 Comments to “Rants! & Raves! 2.15”
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RAVE:The daffodils are up!
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Today I have only a rave:
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Rave: I may finally be over my flu.
Rant: I am very, very tired.
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Rave
: A very good friend, who lives in Maine (I’m in Conn.), called, & we talked for almost 3 hours! We usually only speak on the phone once a year, but when we do, we talk a lot!
Rant
: This same friend doesn’t “do” e-mail, cuz she finds it too time-consuming.
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Rave: My daughter did a very good presentation on Helen Keller today (Famous Alabamians)
Rave: Lynn and Alisa. Thank you;)
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Rave: After a couple of weak months financially, February is on target to be my best in a long time…and if I get a book contract quickly on this pending one, and first payment, it will be my best month ever. (It probably won’t happen that quickly, of course.)
Rant: I haven’t seen any daffodils yet.
Wednesday we had snow, a brutal half inch or so–the first on the ground this winter. And I couldn’t help but think it was February 13, the day before Valentine’s Day, and three or four years ago I saw the first tree blossoms of the year on Valentine’s Day. We can’t be too far out now, but in February I’d rather see daffodils than snow. (I’m not really complaining, of course, just expressing a preference.)
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P.S. Rave: that God has allowed me to live in the South and experience its beauty and its people. I still cry sometimes in sheer joy, especially in the spring when everything is in bloom.
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#8 Cheryl
We may not know much but at least we ain’t lost know when to cry
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Rant:
Y’all may be celebrating the daffodills, but I’m lamenting the onset of pollen season. Trees begin blooming this time of year in GA, and I’m susceptible. Taking claritin since last weekend. I’d rather have 2 feet of snow…
Rave:
It’s Friday and the day’s half over! Not that I have anything planned for this weekend…
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Rant: Those who gripe about a measly half inch of snow. You southerners are something else.
Rave: It’s suppose to get up to almost 30 tomorrow!!!! We’ve had high temps in the single digits this week. 30 will be positively balmy
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Number three daughter is deeply engrossed in readinf How the Red Fern Grows and has had two people tell her the dogs die (they saw the movie, one is her older brother). What kind of people do that???
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reading, sorry, too caught up in the face thing I guess..
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#12. Who gripes. We usually close the schools and take a holiday.
As a matter of fact we looking for snow. Our little one really wanst to see it. Anyone know of any in driving distance of Birmingham?
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#17. I meant a day’s drive from Birmingham. Technically Canada is driving distance.
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#17 Kbells,
I know. I was just taking a poke at Cheryl D. in #7 and her brutal half inch of snow. If that was all we got up here in Mn. I’d be happy. I don’t much care for snow and having to drive in it. Thank goodness for 4WD.
Rave: I had the house to myself when I got home from work this afternoon.
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We’ll see how the service works at the house and the office tomorrow. If it goes well, I’m telling AT&T to take a hike.
Ya live and learn.
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Laura M. We really are looking for a short trip with a little snow but driving all the way to Minnesota with a four-year-old is just asking for a child abuse charge.
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Laura M.,
I survived the New Year’s blizzard in Chicago (I forget which year–1999 or 2000), so of course I was joking about the brutal half inch of snow. That was brutal, and I was one of a tiny number of church members who made it to church the next day–it helped that I lived a block away and could walk. But Nashville is supposed to have an average annual snowfall of seven inches. The year before I moved here, they doubled that. But in my five years here, I don’t think I’ve seen more than an inch total in any winter. We have always had just one to three snowfalls, all so light you can still see the grass from the house window. So that’s my real rave, that 20 inch snowfalls are a thing of the past–please God, may I never see another. Any of you who want snow in heaven will have to live in a different part from me.
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KBELLS, we drove from northern MN to south of Nashville last January with my daughter and her 2 and 4 year old. Of course, she was the one in the back seat with them. It was a reminder how traveling was before we were back to “just the two of us.” You really could drive up to south of Nashville (from Birmingham)and enjoy the snow when it comes. She lives near Spring Hill and when we arrived in Jan. my grandsons had a huge snowball waiting in the driveway. It was demolished the next day and quickly melted, of course.
My daughter’s youngest son had forgotten about snow because they moved from MN to TN when he was quite young. After their first good snow fall, she bundled him and older brother up good to go out and play. A few minutes later, she heard a knock on the door and it was her little boy. He wanted to come in. “I’ll go out and play in the snow after it warms up a bit,” he told her. She realized then, that this child was definately turning into a Southener.
KBELLS, we used to laugh when we heard them close schools for a sprinking of snow. Now I realize there is no point to have it. All the children want to be out playing in the snow anyway. It would be way too distracting to have school!
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In Fairfax Co., Va. my son used to go down to the school to slide on the hill when they closed school.
It made sense of course. In some outlying areas, it was dangerous for school busses to travel on icy roads.
The same thing happens here in Henderson Co., NC. Our Lions Club operates on the school schedule. “If the schools are closed for weather, we don’t meet.” A few weeks ago, we didn’t meet, though streets downtown were clear.
Of course, some complained.
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Rant: Things have not gone well at the church this past week. A couple of the folks are angry with me and not willing to reconcile at this time. One elder up and quit, which puts us in a bind.
Rave: At least we are presbyterian, so the congregation can’t fire me on a whim!
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TJ – Are they angry over something you actually did, or over a perceived offense?
My husband took offense at our pastor over the latter, & his feelings of offense & anger grew with time.
However, he finally sat down with Pastor & told him his thoughts. Pastor took notes, & explained what he could. Merely talking it out broke that spirit of anger & offense in my husband.
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Karen O — yes!
It is yes to both. I expressed an objection to a traditional practice the church had always done in the past. I was probably too strong in my objections, but instead of coming to me in private, this man refused to speak with me, placed a letter on my desk (which I did not find until later), and has not returned my calls (though I have spoken with his wife since then). I would earnestly desire talking and reconciliation, but I’m afraid it will merely be a “you’re wrong pastor, you need to do things the way they’ve always been done” answer.
The thing that miffs me most, though, is not that folks disagree with me. That’s going to happen, and those things can be dealt with in a brotherly manner. I don’t expect everyone to be a carbon copy of me, and I’d be horrified if they were! But this was not handled properly, and certain folks appear to be unteachable. Plus, I find out after the fact that the phone lines were burning up because of this before I even found out about it. Tongues wagged among some of the congregants, but no one bothered to even come to the pastor. That’s very discouraging, but very human I suppose.
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TJ, you probably know better than I do, that this needs to be resolved quickly. Some things fester until people are angry and don’t even know what they’re angry about.
Karen O. Most times, things like that happen when someone’s feelings are hurt, not the pro’s-&-cons of the differences. Sounds like your husband has it worked out, but if not, it will eventually hurt him more than anyone else.
Someone just sent me a beautiful e-mail with attachments. One of the sayings was:
Opportunity may only knock once, but,
Temptation bangs on your door forever.
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TJ, I’m reminded of the saying someone came up with several years ago,
The seven last words of the church:
“We’ve never done it this way before.”
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TJ: My sympathy to you. I’m not a pastor, but have been in that position while being asked to lead up things in a church. What they really meant was, “you do the work, but don’t change a thing.” I very carefully laid out a brain-storming session and worked through several ideas. In the meetings they all agreed and seemed on board. Then the behind my back phone calls to the people who really ran the church began. It was apparent that the church was actually run by a certain family and by gossip. Certain people were never to be crossed or challenged.
My husband was actually made president of the congregation. He was put on the board by another pastor they drummed out eventually. He only was put on the board, because no one else wanted the job. He too, ran into a brick wall. Nothing was ever to be changed. We have been gone from that church for years and I know if I walk in tomorrow, it will be the same. I don’t believe in change for it’s own sake, but when ministry is not being done or people are not growing, it is sin.
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Chas – Yes, my husband, Lee, has it worked out. His forgiving our pastor led to him forgiving our daughter for something she had done. There had been an underlying tension in the house, which was gone when Lee let all the anger go & forgave.
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Karen O., praise God!
Well, I’ve seen both sides at churches, but I tend to resist change for its own sake. Our church just recently jumped from mostly hymns to mostly choruses, for instance. Well, since it’s a church of people who like hymns, I’m scratching my head.
In my late teens I attended a church whose new associate pastor decided our church needed some shaking up. I think we looked a little too much like a church for his taste. We were getting ready to move and voting on names for the new church. (We were named for the road we were on.) Since we were a Baptist church, most (possibly all) of the suggested names for the new church ended with “Baptist Church.” But the leaders came up with the brilliant plan of changing the last two words to “Christian center.” It didn’t fly.
I think one reason it didn’t fly was that in the few months before that the changes were so fast and furious, and seemingly random, that people were leaving the church in large numbers. The conversation if you met others in the parking lot on the way in was, “Wonder what they did this week?” One week we came and the chairs were all in a circle. People protested, so the next week we were in a semi-circle instead. The pulpit was replaced with a lecturn, and then with a “modern” pulpit (glass, I think). The hymnals were discarded. The order of worship was switched backward. And on and on. Literally, each week for months there was some vast change, and people started getting tired of it. The old people left first, then the younger families. I moved farther away (I moved from my mother’s house to live with my sister), and I chose to go to my sister’s church instead of making the drive to a church that was playing games. I was relieved when I heard the associate pastor had been sent to start a church, though the elder who told me expressed with a laugh that it was the best way to get rid of the man.
In another church, the church appointed a committee to study what the Bible says about the church, and made changes accordingly, bringing the congregation on board. They switched from just deacons to elders and deacons, for instance, and allowed women to be deacons (as the Bible seems to allow) but not elders. The changes weren’t done willy-nilly, and the church was excited rather than scared. Somewhere in there they were about to hire a new pastor, so they sent out a questionnaire of what we needed in a pastor, and then discussed it. After that, we hired our first black pastor–the church had been around for 75 years, and had gradually become more and more black–and once again, people were on board, though it was in some ways a major change.
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Thanks to all for your kind and helpful responses.
Cheryl, those were some pretty major changes that you have mentioned. I assure you that I have done nothing that radical, and I’m certainly not trying to “modernize” the worship (which is what that pastor appeared to be trying to do). There are just some old traditions that the church has done without thinking that I thought should be tweaked. To give just an example: at Christmastime in the past, poinsettias were purchased by church members in memory of departed family members (we have quite a few widows in our church). One of the problems which was communicated to me is that the ladies will give the money for the poinsettias, but no one wants to do anything with them once Christmas has come and gone (no one will take them home). So flowers are purchased and the money is wasted (imho). So I recommended this: why not, instead of purchasing poinsettias (which I think is an ugly flower anyway, though I didn’t tell anyone that!), give that same amount of money to a mission fund. That way, the money isn’t being used to buy something that will die in a few days/weeks (indeed, something for the Kingdom!), no one has to clean up/throw away the purchases, and we can still print an “in memory” list for the mission donation instead of the poinsettias.
I thought that sounded reasonable. Nope. Instead, there was a minor resistance to it, the ladies wanted to do it the same old way, except that it was worse than ever before — nobody wanted to take responsibility, so no poinsettias were really purchased, no money collected, no list compiled. Plus, some apparently assumed and started a rumor that I was against flowers (the only stipulation I had insisted upon is that they not be placed front and center upon the communion table). Of course, no one (except for one lady) came to me about this. It was all just assumed.
That’s a small taste. Just one more thing: the Bible does not teach that women can be deacons. Just thought I would through that in at no charge, so you could see how easy a rift could be started.
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TJ:
I don’t really care about the women-as-deacons issue, for the record. I once had to edit a book in which someone examined the scriptural evidence and came up with “yes,” and I agreed the evidence was compelling. The strongest piece to me: There’s a description of women in the list of deacons, which could be either “wives of deacons” or “women deacons.” And it simply makes no sense that there would be biblical qualifications for wives of deacons but not for wives of elders. Of course, at least as strong on the other side is that the seven who were called to serve the widows–a ministry specifically to women–were all men. But I’m in the PCA, which doesn’t have women deacons, and I’m happy with that.
If the poinsettias are an issue again next year, here’s an idea: See if someone could find a local nursing home that would gladly have some of your church women bring the plants to residents who don’t get visitors. And yes, I knew you wouldn’t be attempting changes of the sort I’ve seen!
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Cheryl, the poinsettia idea you mentioned is wonderful! I never would have thought of that! Thanks, and I will suggest it for next year.
I was just poking a bit of fun with the deacon issue. Having said that, though, there is another option that you did not mention. I agree, btw, that it makes little sense that the wives of one group be mentioned and not the other (though, there is one possibility: Paul is mentioning some specific problems Timothy was facing in Ephesus; it is possible that there may have been a specific problem with wives of deacons in that church. I don’t think this is the reason, but it is a possibility). The most likely reason for the separate mention of “the women” (imho) is that there was a separate group within the church (obviously composed of all women) who assisted the deacons in their task within the church. There were women in the early church (post NT) who were described as “deaconnesses”, and even Calvin mentions this in The Institutes. However, this was never (by the Early Church or Calvin) considered to be an ordained position within the church (in the same way elders and deacons are), and if memory serves this did not happen until the 19th century. In many (most?) churches, if they have a strong women’s ministry, the women of the church do a great job of assisting the deacons in their duties. But Paul never refers to an ordained office called “deaconnesses” here (or anywhere else), so it’s difficult for me to accept that interpretation. Nevertheless, it is a bit “grayer” than the issue of eldership (with regard to women).
Once again, thanks for the suggestion about poinsettias!!!
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TJ,
In addition to Cheryl’s suggestion about the poinsettias (which is similar to what the church I grew up in always did with both poinsettias and Easter lilies – though as they had a number of church members in those homes they delivered to those first), one way to simplify the process of getting them ordered to begin with is to have a set number that will be purchased, set up, and given away. There can still be a set donation amount in memory of a loved one (or in honor of a loved one who is still living), and any extra money about the purchase cost can be sent to missions as you had hoped. They have their flowers, some money goes to missions, and whoever has to do the ordering doesn’t have to be waiting around till the last minute to find out how many to order. An idea, anyway.
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That’s an interesting idea too Pauline. Thanks!
I am copy both your suggestion and Cheryl’s into a notepad file so that I will have these for next Christmas season. Thanks again!
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