Ale for the Soul

A little over a week ago, I finished working at Ole Grapevine Cigar & Tobacco Shop for a second tour of duty.  Once again, I found this particular place of employment extremely toxic and dysfunctional.  With the exception of one other staff member, the crew at the shop were too chummy with one another in very unhealthy ways.  Similar to the first experience, I was micro-managed and isolated from feeling a part of the "family", as the manager liked to call the company.  I never felt included...only taken advantage of and then made to feel inferior and worthless.  The customer base wasn't too much better than the work environment.  In some ways, the customers were worse...a bunch of entitled, rich people who wanted their way while everyone else be damned.  Spoiled-rotten brats!  The manager summarily decided, without even consulting me, that I would be moved to an "on call" position.  Since I'm not naive, I realize this means I'll never wor...

As I grow older, the search for significance and meaning increases.  Most of my life has fallen through the cracks without much to show for fifty years of living on this planet.  However, I can take joy in and thank God for His continued Sheparding of this life and the manifold blessings evident all around me.  This world is not my home, but I can enjoy the journey with my eyes fixed on True North.  Father God and His Son, the Lord Jesus, are the only relationships that make this life worth living.  On April 4th, I underwent the second and final cataract and lens replacement procedure.  Knowing what to expect, I was a lot calmer while in the operating room.  Beyond that, the subsequent weeks of healing couldn't have been any more different from the first procedure.  There were lots of draining, irritation, and discomfort.  Wow!  I couldn't help but to become concerned I might lose the use of my left eye or come out with diminished vision...

...He is risen indeed!  This is the typical New Testament greeting from one brother or sister to another.  What impact does that statement have in my life?  Does it really make a difference?  It all boils down to belief, and more than an intellectual assent but a deep-seated belief found in the inner recesses of my heart and soul.  I can claim a born-again experience, but is it evident in daily living?  Thoughts, behaviors, and actions will quickly tell how true this may be in my life.  As I see how life has turned out, am I still trying to wrest my will out of the Hands of God instead of allowing Him to have unfettered access to all that I am?  As you can see, there may be more questions than answers; however, that is where faith comes in.  Many of the heroes of the faith couldn't see the larger picture of the puzzle as the pieces were getting put into place during the course of life.  Soren Kierkegaard said it best, "Life is best under...

Every four years, an additonal day is added to the calendar to course correct our measure of time to better match the Earth's rotation around the sun.  According to a simple Google search, the Earth takes 365.2422 days to fully make one trip or revolution.  This adds up to roughly six hours per year or 24 hours over a four-year period of time.  Hence, the additional day to take care of the excess time and to get us back on track.  Six hours a year may not seem significant or noticeable, but I'm sure it would be over the course of a greater amount of time.  Seasons would become mis-aligned, day would become night, night would become day, and all kinds of havoc would be wreaked due to the accumulative affect of the excess time versus Earth's rotation around the sun.  While the Earth is taking advantage of its "free day" to catch up, how will I use the time?  Chores and other loose ends finally taken care of?  A day out in the state park hiking and c...

Roughly two weeks ago I finally had the long-awaited cataract surgery for my right eye.  This was at least two years in the making as the wheels of bureaucracy at the county hospital finally ground down to the day of the procedure.  In the time since, I have been very pleased with the extraordinary progress of sight restoration and healing that has taken place.  In fact, I am so overjoyed by the results that I will adamently request a similar procedure for the left eye.  Initially, the doctors stated there wasn't enough cataract in the left eye to fool with.  At the time, I agreed.  Since I will still need "readers" for vision up close and considering the newfound vision on the other eye, I will now push for a second procedure.  We shall see what happens now.  This whole ordeal reminds me of the moments of spiritual clarity I have when vision in the fourth dimension become crystal clear.  Today was one of those moments.  This morning I a...

In June of this year, I resigned from my position at Old Grapevine Cigar Shop.  This was in direct disobedience to what I knew was God's Will for this life.  The Holy Spirit kept telling me not to leave, but I still chose to do so.  In the five months since leaving, I had an extremely difficult time finding employment.  What's strange is I have never had this much trouble finding work.  Hmm, I wonder if this was God's way of showing me His Will shall prevail?  Finally, I prayed that if God really wanted me to once again work at the cigar shop, He would need to have the manager contact me.  As soon as I said "Amen", there was a text message from the manager asking if I would fill in during the holiday season.  Wow!  Beginning on the Saturday immediately following Thanksgiving, I have been steadily working at the shop in Grapevine.  During this time, two co-workers were fired thus opening a path for me to continue employment beyond the hol...

Happy Thanksgiving!  Hopefully your holiday was filled with time spent seeing family and friends.  Relationships rekindled and strengthened, blessings recounted, memories made, and so much more.  While the rest of the world moves on to "Black Friday" shopping, my goal is to maintain a spiritual posture of thanksgiving for the many blessings Father God has provided.  The day was spent at the A.A. support group for their Noon meeting and subsequent meal.  As usual, there were quite a few people in attendance and more than enough food to go around.  I even took two containers of food to friends who quite possibly don't have anyone with which to spend the holiday.  Following this time of fellowship, I headed to Greenwood Cemetery in order to contribute to the Find A Grave website.  After a few hours spent working on taking pictures and setting up memorials, I felt fulfilled and satisfied with how the day was spent.  There was another individual o...