Cheapskate Pastor Says Yes To Tithing But No To Tipping

Sometimes even well-meaning Christians forget what it actually means to be Christians.  Yes,  I do too.   We start focusing on serving ourselves and forget it is more than just us.  It’s serving those we share the earth with.  In this case, it’s serving those who serve us.

I read of a pastor who along with eight friends went out dining at Applebee’s Restaurant.  Because of the size of her party, there was an auto-tip of 18% added to her bill.  The pastor resented this and showed her resentment by writing on the bill, “I give God 10% why do you get 18?”  Now some cheapskates people might agree with the pastor’s take and stiff the poor minimum-wage-earning waitress whose job it is to cater to the whims of her diners.  To me, I think…well you know by now what I think.

To one server, it was insulting and comical.  So much that she took a photo of the bill and posted it online where it went viral.  Well of course it will.  People pounce on that kind of stuff.

Was the pastor right?  In my opinion, no she wasn’t.  I think she was being a miserable cheapskate and should have exercised her Godliness in a more positive way than she did.  Was the waitress right in posting the offending receipt?  Well I probably would have done the same thing.  Unfortunately, her manager didn’t see it that way and fired her.   She apparently breached an unwritten confidentiality law that made it illegal to post bills that diners wrote on online.  The pastor wasn’t a happy camper went she found out her autographed receipt was viral online.   Serves her right!  She should have thought of that before she did what she did.

The thing is lately is that many of us think that going to church, tithing and reading the bible make us perfect Christians.  Somewhere along the way, we forget the ‘Do unto others as you would have them do unto you’ part.  Sorry if I step on any toes but it’s my take and my opinion.

Related reads:

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/blogs/sideshow/applebees-waitress-fired-pastor-receipt-193820748.html

Selfish Christians

Pastors and Gays

My Greedy Ex Is Back!

Have you ever been in a relationship with someone you loved, when out of the blue, they say,  ”Honey, I think we should take a break.  I need some space to sort things out.”?  At first you are heartbroken but as time passes, you start having fun enjoying the single life with your new-found freedom.  You have regular dates but nothing too serious and have your entire summer planned out.  Then again, out of the blue, she (it’s usually a girl) shows up.  ”Hey honey, I missed you.  I think I am ready to be with you now.”  Yep, how convenient.

So obviously, she was not having as much fun with the separation as you were.  For her, the grass wasn’t greener on the other side.  Unfortunately, you had made plans that did not include her, so her showing up throws a wrench into the mix.  Yes, you love her but you are just not ready for her at this time.

Well if you understand that scenario, you will understand my mixed feelings over the news that the NHL and the owners have ended their labor dispute.   This means that they would play the remaining 48 or so games instead of scrapping the entire season.  I guess they figured that a half year’s revenue is better than no revenue.

I am an avid hockey fan so I should be pleased if not excited about having some games this season, right?  Well not really.  You see the thing is, I have since moved on.  I made plans that did not include sitting down for a few hours watching hockey.  I have home renos and family stuff.  Maybe I am not that avid I guess.  I was hoping that they would have called the season and made plans for next year.  But no, here they are with 48 or so games to tantalize us.

I am also unhappy that millionaires are taking the sport out of sports with their greed for more millions.  At the end of all this, we the fans are the losers.  Not the overpaid players and not the fat cats who own them.  Lost revenue has to be recouped and I’m sure it won’t be done by a decrease in someone’s pay.  No sir, we will pay. Just watch.

And honey, I’m sorry but you just can’t show up when you feel like it.  You are toying with my emotions here.   What am I gonna do now? I have already made plans  and I just can’t fit you into my schedule right now.

Just my take.

Alcohol and Facebook

You are perhaps wondering where I’m going with this blog.  Well they may sound like a mismatched couple but alcohol and Facebook , has more in common than you think.

I had this Aha! moment the other day while on Facebook.  I was checking my news feed and browsing a few status updates.   Some of the statuses my friends had led me to wonder,  ”Would she say this in person?” or  ”This does not sound like him at all.  He doesn’t talk like this.  Actually he’s never talked like this in all the years that I have known him.”    And that is when I made the connection.

Facebook and Twitter to some extent, gives us that imagined protection and bravery to say whatever we want, just like alcohol.  All of a sudden, we can talk about our lazy boyfriend or girlfriend and even wax philosophical.  Just like with alcohol.  We can rant about how bad life is and how our work sucks, also just like alcohol.  Hey, and when on Facebook, it’s all about us.  We try to be the center of attention.  Again, (Let’s all say it together) JUST LIKE ALCOHOL!  I mean, some of us don’t need Facebook or alcohol to do all that but for the rest of us, we need a dose of bravery, in liquid or media form.

So, which persona is  real?   Is Facebook giving us the chance and courage to be and say who we really are or are we playing dress up?  If it is the former, maybe I should only communicate with my friends and family via Facebook.  This way we could be ‘keep it real’.   Or have a nice stiff drink of bravery.  I am thinking most would opt for that choice.

And you thought I was going to blog about Facebooking while drunk.

 

 

Not Another Christmas Album!

Glee: The Music, The Christmas Album (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I love Christmas music.  Give it to me in reggae, pop, celtic, rock, whatever, I love it!  The fact that I am a Christmas freak may have something to do with that.  While YouTubing for some classics recently, I found out something really strange.  Just about every man, woman and their dog had a Christmas album!  It didn’t matter if they were new on the music scene, they had a Christmas album.

It seems as soon as a new artiste comes out, their manager goes to them, “Ok, here’s the dealio. We have to, I mean we NEED to, release a Christmas album like ASAP!”  “But it’s only July…” “Nevermind that. We need a Christmas album.  It’s what makes you bonafide.  You feeling me?”

Luckily for me, I rather the Christmas classics. I like the old stuff, they make me feel warm and fuzzy inside and go better with everything.  Putting up the tree, decorating the house, having a Christmas dinner, or just sipping on some accidentally-laced egg nog.  It just goes together, you feeling me?  Many years ago, I would actually go out and buy the latest  Christmas album every year, before I realized that I couldn’t keep up.  How many times can one sing ‘Silent Night’?  And really, how many versions of the ‘Little Drummer Boy’ can you make?

Saying this, I must say I really enjoyed the Biebs’ Christmas album ‘Under The Mistletoe’.  It’s actually a good listen and one of the better albums out there.  It sort of reminds me of another of my oldie favorites, The Jackson 5 Christmas album, especially the way he did, ‘Some day at Christmas’, a very poignant holiday song that predicts a Christmas in the future where wars and pain etc. will be non-existent.  Too bad we won’t be around to see that…

Hmm…I wonder if Rebecca Black has a Christmas album?  ‘It’s Christmas, Christmas, gotta get down on Christmas…’

Related articles

• Katherine Jenkins – This Is Christmas (stirringtrouble.wordpress.com)
• 9 Christmas Albums That Won’t Make You Want to Punch an Elf (entertainment.time.com)

Do you help or take a photo?

With the digital age, there’s a camera installed on almost every device.  Pens, ties, phones, you name it.  Photos tell a story and there are a lot of stories out there to be told.  There are also a lot of would-be-story tellers out there who have dreams of being the next Pulitzer prize winner.  Because of this, people are apt to take a photo rather than assist someone in need.  This was evident again this week when a freelance photographer took out his camera and took a photo of a man who was pushed off the subway platform and into the path of an oncoming train.  The photo showed the hapless man struggling to climb back unto the platform mere seconds before the train got him.  

Now the million dollar question is, ‘Could he have helped or at least offered help?’  Apparently, the victim was struggling to pull himself up but it was too little too late.  In his defense, Umar Abbasi claimed that he shot the picture in the hope that the flash would have alerted the driver of the impending danger.  Sounds kind of farfetched but that’s my opinion.  Maybe he was giving in to his instincts as a freelance photographer to shoot first then ask questions after.  Again, my opinion.

This not the first time a camera-happy photographer has ignored the plight of a victim to get his glory shot.   I once saw an award-winning photo of a starving child in Sudan crawling to reach a feeding center while a vulture hovered close.  He apparently owned up to taking the picture then leaving as ‘that what he was trained to do.’  How cold is that?  The photographer, Kevin Carter, committed suicide some years later at the age of 33.  His suicide note read:  “I am depressed … without phone … money for rent … money for child support … money for debts … money!!! … I am haunted by the vivid memories of killings and corpses and anger and pain … of starving or wounded children, of trigger-happy madmen, often police, of killer executioners … I have gone to join Ken [recently deceased colleague] if I am that lucky.”

We can’t stop at just blaming the photographers.  As a society, we too have the moral responsibility to come to the aid of our fellowmen.  After all, what award can be greater than the personal satisfaction we would feel for potentially saving someone’s life?   Don’t listen to the saying  ‘Take a photo, it lasts longer.’  The feeling of being a hero lasts way longer.  A photo is worth a thousand words but…it’s only words.

Just my take.

Related articles

• New York Post Publishes Photo of a Man Seconds Before Death – Would You? (nicolekraftosu.wordpress.com)
• WATCH: NY Post Photographer Defends Taking Horrifying Picture (huffingtonpost.com)
• Would You Have Taken the Post Subway Photo?: Pulitzer-Winning Photographers Respond (gawker.com)
• NBC TODAY Show – Photographer: ‘No Way’ I Could Have Saved Subway Victim (hulu.com)
• 
  http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2012/jul/28/gutted-photographers-who-didnt-help
  
• 
  http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/report_mumbai-serial-blasts-people-took-pictures-instead-of-helping-out_1565573
  

Research before forwarding

“If you forward this blog, Bill Gates would send you a check for $5000.  It’s all true.  It was in the NY Times”.  Have you ever opened up an email like that? Maybe not the exact words but same idea.  You are not alone.  Many of us have not only received but also forwarded emails like this without a moment’s hesitation, hoping to cash in on whatever the email promises.

Being a  suspicious person, (a curse and a blessing sometimes),  I do not take too many things at face value.  If you need to keep a chain email going, I am the wrong person to send it to.  If it promises money or free gifts, I check it out for legitimacy.   I have VIP access to snopes.

If a forward has phone numbers,  you can bet I’ll try calling them.  Once I received one about a missing child and I called the number that was supposed to connect me the someone who was in charge of the case.  Of course it was all a hoax.

Most of these emails can be seen for what they are if we take a minute or two to check out their validity.  Google, snopes and other websites are out there, use them.  If it sounds too good to be true, it most likely is.

Note:  If you click ‘like’, you will be automatically selected to be Freshly Pressed.  Honestly!  Don’t have a WP account? No problem, you will receive a cheque in the mail.  It’s true! My neighbor’s friend’s sister’s dog got his cheque yesterday!

Update:  I guess some people did not read my blog.  This morning, I went on Facebook and noticed everyone was sharing a photo of a guy with a powerball ticket bearing the winning numbers of the last draw.  It said that if everyone shared the photo, he would give one million dollars to a random person.  I was surprised to see some of my friends who had fallen for this obvious fake and decided to do some research.  It didn’t take me long, to find out that I was right.  Read it here.

Related articles

• Tired Of Fact-Checking Those Bogus Right Wing Chain Emails? There’s An App For That! (addictinginfo.org)
• LazyTruth Fact Check Chain Emails, Responds With The Truth (lifehacker.com.au)
• FW: FW: Fw: FW: Fwd: fwd: fw: LazyTruth tackles false claims in email chain letters (niemanlab.org)
• Two Limitations of the Human Mind (pochp.wordpress.com)
• Break the chain (joyandwoe.wordpress.com)
• Fake Powerball Winner

Freshly Pressed? Well I’ll Be Damned!

It was my 149th post.  Just another take on another day.  And just like the other days and the other takes and the other posts, I checked my email immediately after publishing.  In fact, I kept checking every few minutes.  (Just habit).   I was not counting on receiving an email with the subject ‘Congrats, you’ve been Freshly Pressed!’ so quite naturally and being the suspicious person that I am, I was dubious.

 Freshly Pressed? Yeah right.  Nice one. Now what do these internet hackers want now?  Click on the message and I get a virus, right?  Finally curiosity got the better of me so I opened it, and there it was!  An email notifying me that my post ‘A Real Eulogy‘ was selected to be Freshly Pressed!  I read it again and again then sent a ‘thank you’ response to WP.   Thank goodness this blog was one of my best.   Nothing like getting a blog recognized that you personally think is among your worst.  Read my blog Freshly Press But Not The Best.

I started blogging on WordPress just over a year ago.  It was my umpteenth attempt at blogging but this time I vowed to stick it out and see where it takes me.   Like most bloggers on WP, one of my main goals was to be Freshly Pressed.  Not that I thought I was a great blogger but getting pressed would make me consider myself a genuine blogger.   I thought I was ‘different’ but that’s beside the point.  After a few months of blogging and waiting for that break, I got lost in my blogging world.  I found my rhythm and became more concerned with content than I was with getting Freshly Pressed.  Publishing a blog that I thought would be a good and interesting read became my main priority.

Getting Freshly Pressed was indeed an honor.  I now consider myself a blogger.  (I hope you do too).   FP gave me some legitimacy.  I thank the WordPress admin team for selecting my blog but most of all, I thank my regular readers and followers.  You take the time to check out my blogs and add a comment or two.  There are times when I feel like quitting but realizing that I have readers waiting patiently for my blog, gets me back on the computer.  Thank you!

I have kept all the email notifications and will be going through each of them and promise to view the blog of each and every blogger who liked my post.

If you are a blogger who have never been Freshly Pressed, keep on pressing.  Your time will come.  Stay true to yourself and your blogs, no matter what.  Today, I will bask in my recognition but I know that soon I will be right back to obscurity, toiling in the trenches.

Related articles

• On being Freshly Pressed (rollergiraffe.com)
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• Freshly Pressed, Already Wrinkled (sassandbalderdash.com)
• freshly pressed! (misadventuresblog.com)
• Freshly Pressed and partying like a rock star. You may now commence your eye-rolling. (adlibb3d.wordpress.com)

A Real Eulogy

Last April, I wrote a blog about eulogies at funerals and how it is the accepted norm to make the dead look larger than life.  Read here.   Yesterday, I attended the funeral of a good friend and community stalwart.  His funeral was well attended as he had touched the lives of many.   The Eulogies and speeches were of the same tone.  They painted a picture of a great friend, a champion of the people, a great community man who loved his country and his roots.   Then it was his son’s turn.

To the amazement and maybe disapproval of many, the son did not follow funeral protocol.  He started out by saying his dad was a bad dad.   It’s like mice crashing a cat’s party.  How dare this brash young man hijack this party?  Yes, he’s the son and has authority but he can’t speak of the dead like this!  It’s rude and uncouth and just plain wrong!  He’s sullying the name of his father.  This is definitely not the time nor place for this kind of talk.  I heard debates like this.

It was one of the best and genuine eulogies that I have ever had the pleasure to listen to.  I clung to every word this young man was saying.  He unwrapped a side of his dad that many in the congregation never saw.  It was an unwrapping like no other.  He spoke of barely knowing his dad because of a divorce and growing up thinking that not only would he not shed a tear when he dies but would not attend his funeral.  He shared how he came to terms with what his dad did and was able to forgive him.

This brave young man did not mince his words.  He gave a son’s view of his dad.  How could my dad be ‘The People’s Champion’ and  ’Man of The People’, but couldn’t be my father?  He asked himself this time and time again.   How could he leave us behind and go and help others?  It just didn’t make sense.  The answer did come to him and with it came strength.  It was well written and presented.

His Dad would have been proud of this son who showed that he has inherited his penchant for speaking his mind.  At the end of the service, I overheard various debates on the suitability of his eulogy.

To the young man, you could not have chosen a better time.  You did not sully the reputation that your father had, you enhanced it.  You explained the situation that tossed your father into a path that he was not ready to take and how he made the unpopular choice that he made, thus you made his legacy that much more meaningful.  A bad man didn’t die.  A man who turned his own weaknesses and failures into strength did.  A man who didn’t have the tools to be a Dad, had the tools to be comrade, a friend, a voice, a mover and a shaker.

The understanding and strength you showed to forgive your dad was the beginning of a maturity that many of us lack.  Your eulogy was not controversial, it was revealing.  It was not unsuitable, it was necessary.  It was relevant.  All can see that your dad’s memory and legacy is alive and well within you.  My condolences to you and your family and may your dad’s soul finally find rest.

Please read:

• Eulogy to a friend and countryman.
• Speaking ill of the dead
• What would your final words say?

Straddling the line between bravery and stupidity.

Tomb of the Unknown Soldier #respect #honor (Photo credit: FashionbyHe)

As Hurricane Sandy bears down on the United States with dangerous intent, I read an article that the US servicemen who guard the Tomb of The Unknowns, would not be taking refuge from the storm.  They would instead, treat it like any other day and stand guard, just as they have since 1948.  Bravery? Dedication?  Or just plain stupidity?

Now don’t get me wrong, I admire the brave men and women of the armed forces who fight to protect our countries.  I also take my hat off to the many who died in the wars.   Their contribution is admirable.   Still, I think that these soldiers lives should not be put at risk while their superiors are most likely hiding out from the storm.  I am sure that the dead soldiers that they are guarding would rather they seek self-preservation than guard their remains.  It’s a good show of respect yes, but also a good show of stupidity and misdirected commitment.

I think that if the dead unknowns could talk they would say, “Don’t be idiots, we are already dead.  Do you want to end up like us?  Go run for cover!  We’ll still be here when it’s all over.”  I can understand firemen risking their lives to save the living but risking your life to save the dead?  Doesn’t make sense.

Just my take.

Related articles

• Tomb of the Known Unknowns (outsidethebeltway.com)
• Everything Else In D.C. May Be Shut Down, But Not The Tomb Of The Unknown Soldier (businessinsider.com)
• Amazing photo: Sentinels brave forces of Hurricane Sandy to stand guard at Tomb of the Unknown Soldier; Correction: Photo taken in September 2012 (twitchy.com)
• Soldiers Stand Guard at the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington during Hurricane Sandy (IMAGE) (americanlivewire.com)
• Amazing photo: Sentinels brave forces of Hurricane Sandy to stand guard at Tomb of the Unknown Soldier; Correction: Photo taken in September 2012 (gds44.wordpress.com)

 

Thursday’s Thoughts: Winnipeg’s Praying Police Chief

A few weeks ago, the City of Winnipeg got its first black police chief when Jamaican born Devon Clunis got the nod for the position.  Devon, who has over 20 years of service, also served as the police chaplain.  Since his selection, his strong Christian faith has been a topic of discussion.

In one of his first meeting with the media,  (A Christian news magazine), Clunis wore his faith on his sleeve and said the following:

EXCERPTS from the ChristianWeek story, New police chief: prayer will play a role in reducing violent crime

– “I’m a little tired of us… being ‘(the) murder capital of Canada,’ ” says Devon Clunis, who was appointed chief of police at the beginning of October. “People consistently say, ‘How are you going to solve that?’ It’s not simply going to be because we’re going to go out there and police it away. I truly believe that prayer will be a significant piece of that.

“What would happen if we all just truly — I’m talking about all religious stripes here — started praying for the peace of this city and then actually started putting some action behind that?” he adds. “I believe something phenomenal is going to happen in our city. I truly believe it’s coming. I don’t think I’ve arrived at this position just by chance.”

– Clunis attributes his success to God. He says he has never asked God to make him a powerful person, but rather he has prayed that God make him a leader who treats people with dignity and respect and who is successful in his endeavours.

– Clunis says at the end of the day, he just wants to give of himself to help the community.

– “God still cares, He’s still involved in our lives,” Clunis says, “and I believe without a shadow of a doubt the only reason that I am in this position is because God is involved in it. Without a shadow of a doubt.”

Yesterday, the media was in a frenzy.  ’Chief urges prayer to fight crime’ was the general headline, his words sadly taken out of context.

Chief Clunis has my support.  I am happy to see a man of strong christian values in his position.  I have seen, read and heard of too many ‘bad cops’ and ‘dirty cops” that I, for the most part, have lost faith in them.   Clunis has given me a reason to have at least a glimmer of hope.

As for using prayer as part of his arsenal, why not?  With Winnipeg the nation’s crime capital, what do we have to lose? And while you kneel in prayer for our city,  don’t forget to say one for Clunis.  He needs our prayers and support and we need him to stay strong in his faith no matter what comes.

Oh, and like him, I also believe that the only reason he’s in this position is ‘because God is involved in it’.

All the best, Chief!  Keep the faith!

Just my take.

 

Related articles

• Winnipeg police chief proposes prayer to help combat crime (cbc.ca)
• Winnipeg police chief says comments on prayer and crime misconstrued (ctvnews.ca)
• Combat crime with prayer urges Winnipeg police chief (metronews.ca)
• Local Hero: Devon Clunis preaches the power of prayer (stjohnscathedral.ca)
• Winnipeg police chief to speak to media (cbc.ca)
• Police chief ‘misconstrued’ on controversial prayer statement (theglobeandmail.com)