15 minutes you get back

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I like using the phrase (insert number here) minutes you never get back.

Especially to describe a frustrating time sucking situation. It also reminds me that time on this earth is limited so there is certainly a sense of urgency to how we spend our time. I also like the phrase because if and when I ever do get around to doing a podcast I think 45 minutes you’ll never get back, would be a good title , warning potential listeners of the mind numbing craziness they may be subjecting themselves to.

All that being said, there are certain things I don’t like about what the phrase implies. There is a certainly an implication that time is something that is mine to use however I want. I used the phrase a few days ago to describe an interaction with a difficult person. (The phrase difficult person, is subject to a deeper dive as well, but we’ll save that for another discussion). My wife quickly reminded me how rude I was being. How we feel about “our” time reveals how selfish we can really be .

I learned early on in my journey with Christ that my money is not really mine. It’s really God’s money and I try to use it the best that I can. I have had a harder time applying this to time.

The investment of time can reap many dividends, so in a sense there is time that you can get back.

Here are just a few examples.

Time spent with family and firends comes back to us as memories.

Time spent poorly sometimes comes back to us as consequences but often comes back to us as discernment,

Time spent practicing comes back to us as talent.

Time spent waiting comes back to us as patience.

Time spent being kind to others may not ever come back to us but it does ripple out into this world in a positive way.

I guess if we think more of time as a gift we can give away rather than keep for our own use our time will truly be better spent.

The Bridge from King to Godwin.

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If you ask me what my favorite song by any of my 4 favorite musical artists, I will generally say whichever song of theirs I’m listening to at the time. Allen Levi is the exception to that rule. While it is true that I adore just about everything he’s ever done, I especially love his album Rivertown. Rivertown is an album about life in Columbus Georgia where Levi worked as an attorney prior to becoming a fulltime musician.

My favorite song on the album, and thus my favorite Allen Levi song is the Bridge from King to Godwin. It talks about racial reconciliation in a historical context and the bridge metaphor works extremely well.

The entire album of Rivertown is available digitally at bandcamp for $7.00.

2021 – Will this be the year ….

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I finally finish reading listening to Moby Dick?

I watch the Matrix?

I start bicycling again?

That I get adopted by Steve Martin?

The White Sox play the Cubs in the World Series?

I talk less and smile more? (and will you be in the room where it happens?)

People hug again in public?

Ig-pay atin-Lay ecomes-bay ate-stay anguage-lay of Orth-nay Akota-day?

I start a pod cast?

Pinterest changes their name to My Space 2021?

Elon Musk changes the name of SpaceX to My Space?

Llamas take over the world?

People write what they want the first time and give parentheses the break we know they deserve?

Fred wins the fight, and the cat stays out for the night?

Citrus rights workers finally get lemon laws abolished?

I unpack my adjectives?

Saturday Night Live alums start a new Health Club called Gym Belushi?

Actual mileage stops varying?

Bob Bennett Weekly Facebook Concert

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One of my favorite musical artists Bob Bennett performed a Facebook live concert on March 21st this year when the country was in the midst of a national Covid-19 lockdown. 

TheInnaugural Pandemic Concert

I have been listening to Bob’s music since the early eighties and even had a chance meeting with him a few years ago when he came unbeknownst to me to  our church and performed at our worship service while he was recording an album at our local college. I spoke with him briefly and bought a c.d. from him. I remember him as being gracious and encouraging.

Bob Bennett Elgin E Free Church 9/25/16

Since March 21st. Bob has performed concerts each and every weekend via FB live with the exception of one weekend when he was having medical issues. That weekend some young men did some covers of Bob’s song as a get well wish for him.

AN Homage from the week Bob Missed

This past Saturday Bob performed his 39th FB live concert featuring music from Christmastide which if memory serves was the C.D. I picked up from hat my church 4 years ago. My wife and I watched and listened. Amy had written in the chat that it was my birthday and waited in expectation for Bob to greet me with warm wishes. Bob did not wish me birthday greetings, which I didn’t mind as my birthday is in September! #Crazywifecrazylife

I talk here from time to time about my Big 3 (My favorite 3 music artists. If I were to go 4 Bennett would easily join Alan Levi, Michael Card and Randy Stonehill in that musical pantheon.

If you are interested in seeing a virtual Bob Bennett concert live, checkout his FB page.

If you want to explore more of his music click here to get to his Spotify artists page.

A Brief History of why I’ve never voted for Donald Trump.

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I have never voted for this guy. Here’s why.

I have never voted for Donald Trump. In this brief post I will attempt to explain why not.

In the Fall of 2015 I began the process of deciding who I would vote for in the 2016 Republican Primary in my home state of Illinois and who I would then vote for in the subsequent Presidential election.

I watched every debate and did much research as I tried to reach my eventual decision. There were 17 candidates running for President to begin with. This article lists all 17.

10 of the original 17 Republican Primary Candidates circa 2015

After watching 2 rounds of debates I had decided that there were 15 candidates that I would be able to support if they eventully received the nomination. Donald Trump was one of the 2 I decided I would not be able to vote for if he won the nomination.

In the time between making that decision and the Illinois Republican Primary nothing happened to change my mind about that decision. In fact, by the time the Primary came along I was even more certain that I could not in good conscience support Trump and did not vote for him. This post written in Feb of 2016 goes into greater detail why at the time I thought I “would never vote for him.”

In the months that led up to the general election nothing changed my conviction that I could not support Mr. Trump. Again when election day 2016 came on the first Tuesday of November I did not vote for Trump.

After Trump was inaugurated I quickly came to the opinion that Preisdent Trump was a far worse president than I thought he was going to be. (This post I wrote in the summer of 2019 urges people to hold Trump accountable for his actions.) As a result I did not vote for him in the Illinois Primary this past March. Shortly after the primary election I came to the opinion that President Trump was a much worse president during the pandemic crisis than he was prior to it. I also came to the opinion sometime this Spring or Summer that President Trump was a much worse incumbent candidate than he was when he was first seeking the office.

As a result this past November I did not vote for President Trump on the 4th time that I was given the opportunity to do so.

In summary I decided in the Fall of 2015 that I would not be able to vote for Trump and nothing in the 5 years that followed changed my mind. So at each opportunity I have either voted for someone else or have left that part of my ballot blank.

I’m certain I could explain this in further detail, but I fear that if I did, it would cease to be a brief history.