Just Thinking....

I was just thinking that everyone should have to sit in front of the church membership with their proposed salary printed on a page and wait for people to vote on it. Really, it's such a great experience. Not. There's nothing like looking at someone else's proposed salary in black and white to get people upset about the exorbitant wage paid, or to get other people pondering how relieved they are that they don't have to live on that salary. It's a no-win. I'm actually not kidding about how everyone should have to do that. I suspect people trying to scrape by on non-living wages at hourly jobs, would suddenly be given a nice raise and some health insurance. And people making crazy amounts of money might find their discretionary spending funds slightly smaller than before. I'm feeling oddly socialist at the moment.

I was also just thinking of slightly changing the words to an old favorite. As I sit in our house, feeling vaguely miserable in the 90+ degree temperatures and super-concerned about what the summer holds if it's already this hot, I can feel the breeze from Swamp Thing. For those who don't name their household appliances, that's the swamp cooler's name. For those who live in humid climates, you cannot imagine having a Swamp Thing of your own, nor should you. Yes, this is for us desert-ish types with no air conditioning.

Do you remember this one? Wild thing, you make my heart sing, you make everything....groovy. Well, here it is:

Swamp Thing, you make my heart sing, you make everything....cooler.

Aaaaahhh. I'm pretty fond of Swamp Thing.

"But it's a dry heat" means nothing when you live somewhere that is usually not hot. There's been an odd rash of viruses, including pneumonia, all over our town in the last few weeks. I think our mountain-climate bodies are struggling to acclimate to unusual early heat.

I had one more thought today. I got to teach Sunday School yesterday. I'm still amazed I get to teach. There simply have to be more eloquent, qualified people out there, but they haven't stepped up. So....their loss. Yesterday's lesson was on forgiveness, based on the parable in Matthew 18 starting in verse 21. It was such a great lesson, such a great opportunity to teach about the freedom found in forgiveness. As I looked at each young face during my lesson, I found myself aching for the scars they will bear or already bear from painful wounds at the hands of another. And I found myself desperate for them to think further on the forgiveness offered them in Christ, so that they can turn around and forgive someone else. I had to look them in the eye and tell then that forgiveness is never free. It always costs, but it always brings the one who forgives to a place of freedom and peace and even joy.

I've also been thinking about other stuff, but that's about it for the blog.