Out of the Kitchen

I have come to realize that maybe I just wasn’t meant to cook. Maybe I should give up my stove and only be allowed to operate a microwave from now on.

While cooking tonight I grabbed a hot pan without stopping to consider how hot it was. Two of my fingers took the brunt of the burning – they are both swollen and blistering. One of the fingers is just recovering from the last time I burnt it – maybe a month ago. I wonder if it will recover again?

I made shake-n-bake bbq chicken breasts. I have to say, it didn’t taste all that good. I hope the chicken wasn’t bad – I got it on sale for next to nothing. Maybe it was just the seasoning? Hope so.

Ronnie, at work, got me all the overtime days I had called and requested she sign me up for. I go back to having just one day off each week next month other then the week I’m in Iowa. I also put in to work 12 hrs of overtime right when I get back from my trip.

They are trying to encourage us calltakers to work more because we make the least amount of money. The radio people were kind of pissed but I can see why they did it – overtime was outrageous last year. Some people worked so much overtime they got over $20,000 in overtime pay.

I will need to work more overtime to pay for all my bills. I have a few extra ones to pay for a few months so that will help there. Plus then you have Christmas coming…makes me crazy.

Beggars

A while ago I was on my way into Wendy’s for lunch. A black woman in her fifties or so, approached me asking for money. It is one of those situations I hate – being accosted by beggars when I am in a rush and hungry. I reason, as many do, that she could get a job and giving her money would only encourage her to keep down this path of begging. I said “no” and kept walking.

While standing in line, Matthew 25:40 came to mind. It says:

The King will reply, “I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.”

Ashamed of my casual brush off of this woman, I gave her all the money I had left on me as I walked out. It was less then $5 but she was very grateful.

A man walking out after me stopped me as I was getting into my car. “You know she is going to buy alcohol or drugs with that money.” he said scornfully.

I looked at her and then back to him. “Maybe. But I was moved to give her the money. How she spends it doesn’t matter to me…I did my part.” With equal scorn he mumbled something about stupid women and stupid Christians as he got in his vehicle.

For some reason I remembered this incident this morning. Several times since then I have been moved by the Holy Spirit to give to causes or people. I could not deny the urge to do so and keep a clear conscience.

Last night I had a panic attack – primarily over money. Not that I didn’t make enough but how I spent what I did make. When I am down, I have the tendency to spend money to try to make myself feel better.

I thought about all the bills that needed paid and how I didn’t know what to do. I felt like everything was closing in on me and I found it horrifying

In the midst of my panic, Matthew 6: 25-30 came to me again. It is the passage on worrying. I told God that I was claiming the promises He gave in this passage and believed He would do as He said He would. I’m not going to say an immediate calm overtook me but a heavy burden was lifted and I could go back to sleep.

Today it occurred to me that I was like the woman at Wendy’s. I asked God for help and He gave me peace. What if God had been like the scornful man – refusing to give something he thought would be squandered away? Where would we all be if God said we had to work it out on our own?

Just as we would rush to the aid of our hurt child – God rushes to us ready to dry our tears, pick us up and carry us back to safety in His loving arms.

French Cuisine?

In France there is a tiny songbird called Ortolan. It is smaller then our hummingbirds and supposedly quite pretty. It is a protected bird.

In yesterday’s paper there was an article about this bird and how, in France, it is considered a delicacy (though illegal). People roast the little bird and then pop it in their mouth whole. It is, unfortunately, bite sized.

Kind of makes you sick to your stomach, doesn’t it? French cuisine is one of the most lauded in the world. Where would the world be without it?

Still this story, after I gagged a few times, made me want to rethink ordering next time work “goes French”.

Banner Forest Heritage Park

In the above park in Washington last month, nature and humans collided yet again. A man out hiking with his dog was attacked by a black bear. The man said his faithful companion tried to warn him with a few loud barks but it was too late.

The man, according to the newspaper, suffered grievous wounds at the claws of the bear. They say he almost didn’t survive. Of course rangers are out now trying to capture the renegade bear to kill it for violating a cardinal sin.

The demise of any animal who, in it’s own habitat, attacked a human is repugnant to me. We go out into their domain and expect them to stay away from us…or, worse yet, pose for our pictures. We know the areas are potentially dangerous and yet seemed surprised by the occasional attack.

Saying once a wild animal tastes human flesh it will always crave it is asinine at best. A wild animal will prey on the weakest animal – whether it is deer, rabbits, or man. We are responsible for our own safety in those situations.

How do we know that this man didn’t violate one of the basic rules about not carrying food on his person? How do we know that the bear wasn’t trying to get to the dog and the man simply got in his way?

There has to be an alternative to killing these animals. That we can be so cavalier about killing off the things that bother us speaks volumes about society in general.

Into the Wild

Yesterday Oprah had Sean Penn on to discuss his new movie “Into the Wild”. It is based on the book by the same title. Sean said he read the book and couldn’t stop thinking about it.

I haven’t read the book – I imagine I will have to do so before the movie comes out in the theaters. I have heard the story, though, from when it happened.

It is a story of a young man who decides to go out into the wilderness to find himself. Many people think of doing such things but he did so. He carried few items with him, expecting to live off the land. He did alright the first year but through many unfortunate circumstances he found himself stuck there in the wilderness when he expected to be going home. Short on food and in the dead of winter, he ate some seeds of a plant that is quite deadly. The seeds stay in the body preventing food from being absorbed – thus, even though he ate, he starved to death. It took his family two years to find his body.

The guy had many philosophies, the main one being that life ought to be truly lived and the only way to do so was to take the road less traveled. Without risks and pushing oneself, we all become complacent.

How closely what I remember of the story and the actual events in the book are probably vastly different which is one reason I need to read the book. But by all those who knew this young man, it is apparent he was quite remarkable.

While I agree with his philosophy on life and how things easily acquired aren’t valued as things we struggle with, I also say that living a life like his is easier said then done. Most of us don’t have what it takes to do what he did. He had moxie and a passion for his beliefs. That is very enviable.

Maybe my trip next June will be a turning point for me – even though it will be short. Or maybe going for this short trip will inspire me to go more often into the “wilderness.”