Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley

Those who run after other gods will suffer more and more.
    I will not pour out libations of blood to such gods
    or take up their names on my lips.

• Psalm 16:4

Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus to avoid spending time in the province of Asia, for he was in a hurry to reach Jerusalem, if possible, by the day of Pentecost.

• Acts 20:16

In looking at the article title, I am asking myself, so please do not state the same in the comments, “WHAT were you THINKING?!!?!?!?”

Actually, it was a pleasant experience, for the most part.  My wife and I were laughing most of the way home.  Maybe the laughter was partially from the Salvation Army bell ringer, who was clearly ringing a monotone Jingle Bells as we left the last store.  Only one note for her one bell, but the timing was impeccable.

Everywhere we went, people were saying, “Merry Christmas.”  I might have heard one “Happy Holidays,” but if I did, I tuned it out.  As for the wholesale warehouse store, they all know my wife and I, so they probably knew we would prefer “Merry Christmas.”  And if you doubt that they really know us, I was having a hard time getting the membership card out of my wallet one day, and the greeter said, “Don’t bother.  You’re almost family.”  I had to succeed in getting the card out when I reached the checkout.  I have never seen them do that for anyone else, and a couple of times, they have had a motorized cart ready for my wife, seeing her approach, rather than have her get one from behind the rows and rows of the carts that require pushing.  Explanation: We both use the store as our pharmacy.  We are there a lot.  You know; it’s that getting old, and falling apart, thing.

But I dropped my wife off in front of the store and then drove to the parking space.  I almost did not make it into the store.  The handicap parking places were taken as usual, but just one row past, there were a lot of parking places.  With letting pedestrians walk past, I did not see a driver get into their car right behind me, a handicap spot.  I parked and then took the shortest route to the entrance.  I looked both way and there was no traffic.  Luckily as I stepped from the curb into the traffic lane between me and the entrance, I heard a chirp of tires and a racing engine.  I looked up in just enough time to jump back onto the curb.  Yes, I jumped, or I would not be writing this.  A white-haired woman (no way will I refer to her as a lady) flew by at a high rate of speed and slid her tires into the handicap spot as she slammed on the brakes.  This was the parking spot that opened after I passed.  She was speeding in the parking lot directly over the spot where I had been walking. And yes, I was in a clearly marked crosswalk.

I do not exaggerate here.  She must have been in a parking spot waiting for a handicap spot to become available.  And she could have parked next to me and not be guilty of attempted vehicular homicide and she would only have to walk 10-15 feet further.

You might ask, “What goes through some people’s minds, but in this case, you might find the mind was empty, blank, no one at home.  Pure stupidity and laziness.  Yes, handicapped, but would fifteen extra feet to walk make that much difference?  If she can shove the gas pedal down that hard and then the brake, she was no THAT handicapped.

But my wife bought treats to place in the waiting room at the dialysis center.  Most of the patients should probably not be eating the treats, but she was thinking of all those, like me, who take their spouse or parent to the center three times each week (or the bus and valet service drivers every day of the week), and then pick them up four hours later.

My wife also got gift cards for those family members that are hard to shop for.  We started with pharmacy and wholesale shopping.  We ended with groceries.  No pursuit of false gods as the Scripture says or rushing to get home for a special event.  Frankly, I think there should be more rush for Pentecost than for Christmas. Maybe that’s just me though.

We were doing very little holiday shopping, just shopping while everyone else was getting frantic.  As we checked out with our groceries, the shopper in front of us in line had the checkout cashier check on something twice, having gotten the wrong thing the first time.  She apologized; we laughed.  After all, we had nothing frozen and once we checked out, we were on our way home.

I wrote recently about not having a firm grip on this “patience thing,” but it requires a firm grip on your state of mind before you get to the store with the long lines before you can be patient while in the line.

Merry Christmas, everyone.

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.