For the past several weeks Becky and I have been streaming a French detective show. While they have given it an (odd) English title, the dialogue remains in French with English subtitles.  So much for multi-tasking.

Though I once disastrously took a couple of semesters of French in college, and though we spent a wonderful week in Paris a few years past, my ability with French is limited, to say the least. When we started watching Season 1 of our show the dialogue was a slur of background noise.  Now, well into Season 6, I am able to distinguish individual words and even understand a few of them beyond “merci” and “bon jour.” But, please, don’t turn off the English subtitles.

We have a friend in Brazil whose command of English is quite impressive. I asked him once how he had learned our language.  “Reruns of ‘Friends,’” he answered.  It’s going to take more than seven seasons of our detective show for me to get past “Je ne sais pas,” however. Any recommendations for good French reruns to stream? Continue reading →

One of the many advantages of rising early is the ability to enjoy the sunrise and the morning stars. It seems as if this November has had more than its share of bright reds, yellows, and oranges splashed against the eastern horizon. Turing my gaze to the south and to the west, Jupiter and Sirius with Orion between them have shone as bright morning stars. As I have witnessed the coming dawn and the stars on my morning run, I have heard the voice of God.

It is not that God speaks through nature; it is that God sometimes uses nature to tune our ears to hear his voice. In fact, the voice I hear these fall mornings is spoken through the word of Scripture echoed by the sunrise and morning stars.

Psalm 30 served as the morning psalm a few weeks ago, and its words spoke to me as I prayed for our world and for the lives of some close to me.

                 His anger is but for a moment,
                                and his favor is for a lifetime.
                Weeping may tarry for the night,
                                but joy comes with the morning. Psalm 30:5

Our weary world weeps and our bodies and souls bear the burdens of sin and misery, but the word reminds us of a joy that is to come. The November sunrise does not speak in its own voice but gives unspoken testimony to the word spoken by the Lord. Continue reading →

I’ve always been a bit of a news junkie.  I just can’t help myself.

As is often the case, I should listen to C.S. Lewis and follow his advice. Lewis famously described reading newspapers as a waste of time and counseled against it.

Among some of the things Lewis said about reading the newspaper (or scanning your newsfeed):

• I never read the papers. Why does anyone? They’re nearly all lies, and one has to wade thru’ such reams of verbiage and ‘write up’ to find out even what they’re saying.
• I think those are very wrong who say that schoolboys should be encouraged to read the newspapers. Nearly all that a boy reads there in his teens will be seen before he is twenty to have been false in emphasis and interpretation, if not in fact as well, and most of it will have lost all importance. Most of what he remembers he will therefore have to unlearn. 

I wasted a fair amount of time on Wednesday reading news accounts and analyses of Tuesday’s election. I suppose I will have to unlearn most of what I read.

In fact, day-after analysis is notoriously unworthy of remembering. Continue reading →

I haven’t voted yet. I like the idea of an election day, so I’ll wait until Tuesday. And I like the idea of a secret ballot, so I’m not going to tell you how I am going to vote. What’s more, I have no idea why County Surveyor is a partisan office in the county where we live, and I don’t know if we need to figure out how to make surveying great again or if it’s just time to turn the page on surveyors past.

On Sunday I am filling the pulpit for a friend who is pastor of a church across the state line in Ohio. Yes, two days before the election. I’m planning on mentioning the election in my sermon – the principle of pertinent preaching, but I won’t tell the congregation how to vote. In fact, in their county the County Engineer is a partisan office, and I know nothing about making engineering great again.

I won’t say much about the election coming up on Tuesday, but I will say something about “day after” Wednesday. Continue reading →

We took one of our cars in for an oil change and tire rotation the other day. Oil changed, tires rotated, they called to tell us the car was ready. Good news, no other problems. When we arrived at the dealership to retrieve the car, we had to wait at the service desk for a few minutes while our service rep was finishing up a phone call with another customer. I didn’t want to eavesdrop and I am no mechanic, but it was pretty clear that this was not a good news phone call. That engine chugging and the smoke out the exhaust had to do with shot piston rings and a ring job was going to be at least $3,600.

As I listened in on the bad news call, I was impressed with how well and how calmly the service rep was dealing with that poor motorist at the other end of the line who, as best I could tell, was not particularly calm or taking the news very well.  Just change the spark plugs?  No. Covered by a warranty?  No. New engine? New car? The ring job would be cheaper.

“Those calls are never fun,” the service tech told us after he finished the conversation with the customer who had just received the bad news. Continue reading →