…yeah I know you did not ask!
There are 3 species of hominids on this planet, men, women and teenagers.
Rev. Joe’s Random Thought # 3,730
…yeah I know you did not ask!
We are all 18 at heart. Witness the overweight, pushing 60 individual whose phone’s ringtone is a rock anthem from the early 70s.
Rev. Joe’s Random Thought # 1,984
…yeah I know you did not ask!
Casual Fridays…When middle age folks (and older) come to the office in clothes that make you want to poke your eyes out.
Rev. Joe’s Random Thought # 4,234
…yeah I know you did not ask!
Life is purposeless. Life just is. Anyone beyond scrambling daily to just meet their existence needs knows this at some level. Most folks do not acknowledge it. Perhaps this is actually the healthier response, to remain somewhat delusional. However it is this unacknowledged comprehension that drives so much of human behavior. The mass psychoses that are the various religions stem from this. The fanaticism of the sports aficionado is a symptom of this. You can add anything that pretends to provide or reveal purpose to life. Being a creative species we have concocted many.
The question becomes what happens when this purposelessness is acknowledged. An argument could be made that this is a possible cause of depression, addiction, and a varied list of maladaptive behaviors.
The more I dwell on it, the only sane response when you are aware enough to acknowledge that life is without purpose is to live in the moment, to just be. Another possible response when you accept this is to provide your own purpose realizing that ultimately your purpose is an ephemeroptera.
Rev. Joe’s Random Thought # 6,787
…yeah I know you did not ask!
Intelligent Design… If there were truly a loving, compassionate god, would he/she/it design a system of carnivorous might. The strong preying on the weak, biting through their jugular veins, and ripping them apart bite by bite. A system designed such that many of the males of the species will eat the young of their species if given half a chance. And so on and so on and so on …
Rev. Joe’s Random Thought # 2,363
…yeah I know you did not ask!
If there were truly a loving, compassionate god, he/she/it would allow us humans a graceful, peaceful, and respectful exit from this life. That happens occasionally, but it seems rare.
Rev. Joe’s Random Thought # 1,273
…yeah I know you did not ask!
On NPR this morning they reported that the Scripps National Spelling Bee had a tie for the first time in 52 years. The two eventual winners went through 25 championship words before being declared co-winners. Then NPR gave their names. I thought to myself that I could not pronounce let alone spell their names…
Just for the record the winners were Sriram Hathwar, an eighth-grader from Painted Post, N.Y., and Ansun Sujoe, a seventh-grader from Fort Worth, Texas.
Anyone who has been to prison…
As some of y’all might know I am an ordained minister. Actually I am doubly ordained. My first ordination is from the Universal Life Church of Modesto, California. 
I originally became ordained because of the good Christians at Saks where I worked in Jackson, MS several years ago. Even though I was not worried about my soul, they were. So I became ordained and posted the certificate in my cube. If they came by cube with their evangelizing I would point to the certificate and invite to my services…basically we met every Friday night down at Joe’s Bar and Grill. They pretty much left me alone after that. Along with the certificate I received a wallet card and a license plate holder. I sometime pull the wallet card out in various discussions.
I am a big fan of The Dude in the film The Big Lebowski. A few years ago Robin had me ordained as a Dudeist priest. I usually say I am a Dudeist priest of the Pastafarian Monastery. It is all in good fun, although I can legally do anything a pastor/minister/priest can do.
I typically gas up at the same gas station/convenience store close to the house. This particularly store has a couple long term employees. One them is a friendly fellow about my age, covered with tattoos, Continue reading “Anyone who has been to prison…”
I, at least, thought I was hilarious.
I spent a few nights in a motel in Jackson, by gawd, Mississippi while visiting a friend done there. The scrolling marquee on the billboard for the motel advertised free breakfast, pool and WiFi.
One evening I went up to the front desk and requested two of the free wifies for the night. The clerk looked at me with an expression somewhere between incomprehension and customer service patience migrating to head banging exasperation.
I, at least, thought I was hilarious.
There is a story in here somewhere.
There is a story in here somewhere.
We went to a retirement dinner which was actually breakfast foods. Our protagonist is retiring from a lifetime of teaching elementary school. What makes this interesting in the dime novel sort of way is that our heroine is a late in life lesbian. She and another woman met, became enraptured with each other, and divorced their respective husbands. What followed was tumultuous relation over a period of years. The romantic portion of the relationship did end, but the relationship continues at some level.
What grabbed my attention at the dinner was that we were sitting next to her current girlfriend. Her original girlfriend, now her ex was walking around taking pictures. Both the divorced husbands from above were there. At one point the two gentlemen were visiting with each other.
I can only imagine what would happen if I showed up at my ex’s retirement dinner.
You cannot make this stuff up.