Without a doubt, I was in a bit of shock when seeing our Downtown temps at 92 degrees, and to think we’re at the 19th of September. I’m now wondering if we’ve broken some daytime temperatures in our area so far this year. At least the wind was blowing enough to make us feel it wasn’t so hot.
With it being another Sunday morning, I hurried myself to office early enough to get my contemplative session completed, and then sat myself down at the piano and ran thru all the music I was scheduled to play for St. Paul Lutheran Church. After I finished playing all of them, I felt pretty comfortable with their selections. I had enough time remaining to get some return emails sent out, and then picked up my music and headed over to play.
Just as I pulled up, the rector had just finished unlocking the doors, so I headed up to the office to have a chat with their visiting Pastor, just so we were both on the same page regarding the order of Service, and how many versus were to be played. Before heading up to the gallery, I spent a few silent moments in the nave along with absorbing the beauty of their stained glass windows. The early morning sun was illuminating those east-facing windows which was a visual delight.
With a little time to kill, I sat at their pipe organ and ran thru a few preludes which I believe always helps to set the tone for a religious gathering. I’m pretty much determined to go out and get some appropriate lighting for their organ and piano. It’s always been a little annoying when having to strain my eyes to see the music, and especially because they have glaring desk lamps stationed on them, and since I’m not able to get the necks of them lowered far enough, they end up shining in my eyes. What makes it even worse, is when I shut them off and find there’s not enough light to easily read pages of music. Yes, that will be a shopping project for me this week.
My listing at 213 – 13th St. NE went under contract today which ended up at a sale price which I believe both parties are comfortable with. I expected it to be sold before now, but as always, those homes that haven’t been “tweaked” with all the lipstick and staging, seem to be taking longer to sell, but at least they’re going for fair prices. I mentioned again today how sorry some of these pandemic buyers are going to be when finding they’re upside-down on their mortgages. Oh well, I’ve done my part in attempting to educate, so it’s all on them.
Between my playing at St. Paul, meeting with my seller and emailing a counter-offer to the buyer, it was nearing Noon, so I drove out to Burger King and ordered a Whopper Jr. for my Sunday lunch. Sometimes I order a double hamburger from Mc Donald’s which is about as plain as it gets, or I’ll buy a Whopper Jr. at Burger King with more veggies added. Wouldn’t you know, they both cost exactly the same amount which is $2.13. When comparing the two, I’d say Burger King is the winner for taste and value. It’s too bad we don’t have a Burger King closer to our Downtown, and I’m sure if there were one, they’d be doing a great business.
After lunch, I changed my clothes and busied myself with yard cleanup and gardening, and without a doubt, I could’ve been out there all day if I didn’t have to run back to office and get some signatures from a seller. Oh well, we have to make hay when the sun shines. Right?
While out in the garden, the words in one of the readings in St. Paul Lutheran’s bulletin continued to come back to mind, and the sentence that grabbed me the most was, “We exploit the earth with our apathy and greed.” The more I thought about it, the more memories of such occurrences came rushing forward, and keep in mind, they were all situations that’ve been happening right here in Northern Iowa. I see it in my profession, in some of today’s farming practices, along with just about every other profession. I certainly made no brownie points when asking someone recently how she enjoys serving two masters. She didn’t get it until I associated it with one of the gospel readings. Oops.
Not to be sounding like I’m an alt-right religious freak, but I can’t help but wonder if the end of days that’ve been mentioned, is referring to the overly materialistic mindsets so many millions of people now have burned into their brains. Newer, bigger, better and more, is the mantra I’m seeing with many in the general public. I can’t help wondering if the “end of days” is actually tied to our climate change and exhaustion of our natural resources, and as it’s been said before, the extermination of the human species will likely be caused by the actions of mankind.
While out in the garden today, I was noticing and then remembering the differences of growing fruits and vegetables from say but only 20 years ago. We’re having more issues with radical temperature swings, water tables, pollution, imported bugs from other countries which wreck havoc on our crops and lastly, the over-dependence on hybridized cash crops, monster hog confinements and chicken farms. In a nut shell, it’s all about global competition where the little farmers are squeezed out because they can’t compete on a larger scale which goes right back to exploitation and greed. Nearly everyone believes apathy is just Ok, but it’s not because in most cases, it too is sinful.
How many times have we compromised our characters by thinking, “Well, if they’re not doing it to me, why should I care?” Yes, I think far too many of us are in desperate need of some spiritual/mental re-booting. Oh and by the way, have you noticed how few people have been going on retreats these recent years. Yes, we have the pandemic, but I’m referring to years before it hit. It’s definitely something to think about.
Tonight’s One-liner is: The problem is not getting rid of fear, but using it properly.
