Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley

For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: “The one who is unwilling to work shall not eat.”

• 2 Thessalonians 3:10

For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

• 1 Corinthians 13:12

They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads.

• Revelation 22:4

I am again going after a television commercial, but really I am questioning the sanity of our society in general.

The advertisement talks about an app for your phone.  With the app (application if you are my age), you can avoid confusing texts that leave you alone and in the dark.

They have two actors.  They have the same first name in real life.  Let’s call them “Sam.”

The premise in this commercial, they have several with the same two men… This one is about a surprise birthday party.  You set the party up.  You invite a lot of people.  Then, due to it being a surprise party, the honoree might change his plans, thus you have a change of location for the party.  I’m adding to what is said for the entire thing to even make sense.

The Sam with the app (application) get the initial invite and they also get the change of address.  Everyone comes to the party and there is a big surprise awaiting the one being honored.  Oops, spoiler alert.

But the other Sam does not use the app.  Essentially no one shows up.  If you assume that the man and woman are husband and wife, then the party is made up of the couple, the honoree, and Sam.

The narrator explains that the initial invite RSVPs clutter the text thread and no one sees the change of address because they do not have this wonderful new software.

The fallacy in the commercial is that no one RSVPs anymore.  They just show up and wonder why you did not buy a big enough cake.  Note: At the successful party, the cake is way too small, while you might get a lot of cake at the party where no one shows up.  I guess the properly sized cake would be too heavy for the “Sam” to carry or maybe for the woman to carry – gender stereo type in an age when no one can give a definition of What is a woman?  Obviously, the woman is the female at birth person tasked with cutting the cake that is too small while everyone else enjoys the party.

But back to the lack of RSVP.  The church where I attend runs an invitation to a church dinner REQUIRING RSVP.  The slip is in the bulletin for at least four Sundays.  All you have to do is write your name and draw an X.  You are supposed to respond yes or no, thus everyone should respond.  You get hundreds of people ignoring the RSVP, and maybe, if you are lucky, thirty people will respond that they are coming.  Then the pastor says to order enough food for one hundred.  You think that the teenagers will be hungry so you order 120 plates of food.  Then one hundred and fifty people show up and you, as the organizer, are cruelly abused for not having enough food.

Second Thessalonians 3:10 says that if you do not work, you do not eat.  Putting your name on the slip that is provided in the bulletin and saying you will be there is not much work!!!!!!!!

I guess you have gotten the idea that I was the meal organizer.  Yes, for a couple of years.  And for you deadbeats that just show up.  It is NOT FUNNY!

But here is my gripe.

I have attended a few “party set up by text” events.  Even with everything texted where you can go back and reread it, the parties involved do not realize that there are three of those restaurants in adjacent towns, and one third shows up to each.  Have you noticed that some small towns use the same street numbers for the two busiest streets in town?  Yep, they recognize the street number and show up to a total stranger’s house on the wrong street.  My son lives on a road that is also the name of a street, avenue, drive, loop, and circle all in the same town.  There are so many ways to get confused and show up at the wrong place.  After two or three botched parties of this type, I have called the organizers and asked for explicit detailed information.  …  I wonder why they have never called me back for the next one?

When I was growing up, you had postcards, that usually required less postage than a card in an envelope.  It gave the information on the party and the number to call whether you were coming or not since no one knows what RSVP means anyway…

Google AI provides the following:

“RSVP means “Répondez s’il vous plaît,” a French phrase that translates to “Respond, if you please” or simply “Please reply,” indicating the host needs you to confirm if you’re attending an event, whether you’re coming or not, so they can plan accordingly.”

Maybe people get angry when you speak French to them.

The French may have a reputation for being rude, (some deserved, some not deserved), but not responding to an RSVP is rude!!

But then, I have had someone call me and say, “Party at Sally’s house.  Tomorrow, Six pm.”  If you do not know ten Sallys, then you were informed.  If you know two Sallys, you can take care of clarification right then.  While you are on the phone, you can say “I will be there” or “I have too much homework, sorry.”  That is even better than the postcard, and it saves the stamp.  You get immediate confirmation.

But shock of all shocks, not everyone reads their text immediately, or once a day.  My son might read it once a week, maybe.

And has anyone checked how much time they are on the phone without it being a phone call?  I have been busy today.  My son actually called and talked.  I had 55 minutes of time with the screen on.  Four minutes of that was using my phone as a phone.  Checking the blog activity stats.  Reading blog posts, and playing one particular game dominated those 55 minutes.  I have heard Don McMillan, the engineer comic who uses PowerPoint in his act.  He thinks we should quit calling it a phone.

I have a couple of Scriptures above about meeting Jesus face to face.  Think about it.  Do not have your face buried in the phone screen.  You might miss Him and He might not give you another chance.

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.