Sounds of Hope

We are in Asheville NC.   As fate would have it and because of our perpetual bad luck, it snowed last night.   I discovered that tickets to the Biltmore are $39 a person.   Somehow, while I really, really want to see the Biltmore, spending $78 doesn’t seem that wise.   The waitress at Waffle House told us to come back in mid-April.   She said it might be worth the cost then. As usual we opted for a cheap hotel.   I tried to push for a mid-range one but we are at the Super 8.   I’ve stayed in worse hotels but this is certainly not that great.   Plus it is noisy.   Here we sit.   Our anniversary trip is being spent sitting on opposite ends of king size bed with laptops on our laps.   Now before you say, oh boy, she really does complain a lot, that’s not my intention this morning.   I’m just sharing the reality of our anniversary trip.   This was my consolation prize for an anniversary trip to Phoenix that didn’t materiali...

From ashes you came, to ashes you will return. What a sober statement. Usually you hear this phrase at a graveside. Even there it is not comforting. Facing death you do not find comfort in being reminded that you too would turn to ashes. I went on a quest after I wrote this blog yesterday. I felt an urging to find a place to have the imposition of ashes. There are so many paradoxes to my personality. I can appear very confident. I am not. To go to a strange church, especially on this holy day, is not easy for me. At the camp pool, we learned about the buddy system, it works well to conquer fears. I thought if I had a “buddy”, or knew at least one person at the church, it would be easier. Most of the churches that I knew or am known at here in Nashville do not observe Ash Wednesday. I considered Trevecca Community Church since I have a good friend that told me they were observing. While I suppose one should be thinking about sacrifice for Ash Wednesday, I didn’t want to drive through...

I guess everyone knows that I come from a Pentecostal background. While the church I grew up in was a rather staid version of Pentecost, nevertheless we were free from ritual and the trappings of formalities. We were not like those Catholics or even Lutherans. We were free. Over the last few years, I have developed an appreciation for all those things that I was told were wrong when I was a child. No, I’m not talking about how I can go to the movies or play cards. One of the biggest disappointments in my early life was my parent’s decision to not allow me to see Sleeping Beauty. I was eight years old when Disney released Sleeping Beauty. I had never been to the movies since in the views of my parents this was a worldly (sinful) activity. My best friend Barbara was going. I can remember lying in bed hearing my parents discuss the invitation I had from Barbara’s Aunt Eleanor to go with them to see the movie. The decision for the sake of my soul was that I couldn’t go. I was so disapp...