Insurance and all that jazz

Today we purchased insurance in Florida for our car and tomorrow we will go register said car in Manatee County.  It costs more to have a vehicle in Florida than it did in Illinois.  Maybe that is why there are so many motorcycles and scooters going down the road.  Traffic is pretty bad and people drive like they are going to a fire or running away from one.  Accidents and injuries are pretty much a daily occurrence, so we see ambulances going up and down the street quite a bit.

And, while getting insurance on the car, I checked on insuring the house we just bought.  Well, was I surprised to learn that first, I must complete the remodel before the inspector can come out and access the total replacement cost and second, we will be living in a flood plane.  Those kinds of surprises don't make for good times.  My wife and I discussed what to do since, to our knowledge, there has never been a damaging flood since the house was built.  We still have the original cabinets and all the original woodwork.  So, we may forego the flood insurance and just get a catastrophic loss policy to cover hurricanes and the like.

There has never been a hurricane here for years either. The homefolks say that the Seminoles used to retreat to this area during hurricane season because the storms seemed to pass it by.  So, they knew something that the white settlers have used.  So, if the bad weather wants to keep up the good work, that would be fine with me.

Work on the house is proceeding slowly for now because we are watching some of our grandchildren while their parents are away.  We will proceed full speed next week for sure.

Update After So Long

Probably no one reads this anymore if they ever did, (well, a few have) but I see I have not done anything for years.  I suppose I am old school and therefore have not considered writing a blog to be the most important thing in my life.  That, or I really don't have a life worth telling about.  You decide.

So, we have moved to Bradenton, Florida.  My wife made the suggestion last year and I went with it.  Hey, after being a pastor for 45 years or so, I have lived in so many places that home has pretty much been determined by where I hang my hat.  So, we put the house in Illinois on the market and moved into the one-bedroom condo we had bought a couple of years ago.  That lasted a few months and my wife told me she just wasn't an apartment kind of person after all.  What to do?  I really wanted a bit of a yard myself and would be happier if I didn't have to take the dog down two flights of stairs several times a day so she could water and fertilize the building's yard.  Well, the water stayed.  The solid stuff had to be bagged and thrown in the trash.   Anyway, we have purchased a double-wide mobile home and started the renovation on it to make it the way we, er, my wife, wants it.  More later on that one.

It is nice being in Bradenton because one of our sons and his family are here and we have not lived in the same town as any family for a long time.  The down side is that we know hardly anyone yet except a few folk we have met at the church.  I wouldn't count them as close friends, but I certainly would count them as fine people to know.  Making friends with whom we have things in common will come, I am sure.  In the meantime, I have work to do...

I didn't realize it has been so long since I wrote anything.  That says something about me, but I'm not sure what that might be.

I noticed I shared my frustration with a friend who exhibited a great deal of racism in our home and how I didn't know how to proceed.  But, we have had some social interaction since then with rather good outcomes.  There has been no more talk of anything that I would consider racist.  So, I wonder if this friend got the message from my body language.  Who knows?  However, I would say we haven't been as social as we were prior to this situation.  Of course, with the long, hot summer we have had, no one wants to get out much anyway.

In other news, I am serving as interim pastor to the two smaller  UM churches in Shelbyville, IL.  This is where I was when I started working with the United Methodist Church, so I know many of the folks who attend worship services.  I also know the town well.  Some of the people who now attend are new and that was a refreshing piece of information for me.  I really wondered if the congregations were going downhill.  The good news is that they are not.  Both congregations are strong and plan to remain that way.  Now, if we can just get a permanent pastor in there.....

More later.

A full Blown Racist

Let me preface this by saying I am a recovering racist in a way. I didn't know racism as a child and played with just about everyone if they were nice. I didn't like to play with anyone who was a bully or didn't play nice with others, but I got along and never really looked at the color of the skin. I knew there were differences, but largely ignored or accepted them, whatever was needed. But, I began to learn racism from my father, who didn't like American Indians (He had Choctaw in his heritage and married my mother, who had Cherokee blood in her, so go figure.) and he definitely did not like blacks even though, I have to admit I never saw him mistreat anyone outside the immediate family. Dad was pretty rough on all of us, but nice to those outside the house. :-/

So, I learned a bit of racism in my teen years and up, but I began to change all that as I entered college. I also became rather proud of my Cherokee and Choctaw roots and was saddened to learn that my Great-great Grandfather, a full-blooded Cherokee, was killed by a deputy sheriff because Grandfather was Indian. Killed him right in the streets of Mountainburg, AK. That was a different time, I suppose.

So, now, as one who registered as a supporter of the Cherokee Nation and is seeking to prove my bloodline, I have a neighbor with whom we have played cards a few times. I know the neighbor is a bit strong willed and have dealt with that. I know he likes his own way and tries to enforce it on others and I have overlooked that. However, while they were visiting with us, I was sharing about my trip to South Dakota and the Cheyenne River Indian Reservation. He wanted to know more about the way the people lived and it was obvious he thought Indians still lived in Tipis (teepees) and threw tomahawks around, or something like that. So, as I shared the plight of the Native American people and how impressed I was at the gentleness of the Lakota Sioux, he began to lambast the whole Indian race as a group who wouldn't work, wanted to live on welfare and were just a bunch of crazies who needed the white man to control them. Well, my Cherokee blood began to boil, but I remained calm. I tried to explain to him that the Indians did not want to live on welfare and would work if there were jobs for them -- in fact, many did work. I explained that the land here belonged to the Indian before the white man came and they did just fine. Their lives were different then, although times were tougher for everyone in earlier years. His remarks were that they were just a bunch of savages who went about warring with each other and they actually came from somewhere else to this land too. There was no changing his mind nor accepting any explanation for anything. So, I gave up and he told his wife, it was late and they needed to go. I was glad, actually, to see them go.

So, now, I don't know how to proceed. I really don't want to go anywhere socially with these neighbors any more, but my heart says I should remain friendly even though it pains me to see them so racially biased. But, we all have biases, do we not? While racism may not be my problem -- well, yes it is. You see, I am developing a real bias against white people and I have more white blood in me than anything else. Crazy.

Now that it is over

I quit preaching at the Five Point Parish on the last Sunday of June and I haven't missed writing the sermons at all. There are, however, some great people in the churches and we miss them just like we miss the people at the other churches where I was pastor. I think that the blessing of being a minister is that one makes so many friends in the churches. The down side is, of course, that one leaves friends behind. Thank goodness for e-mails, phone calls, and our old friend Face Book. :)

When I left my last charge, I was seriously considering taking a part-time ministry job close to home. However, I just could not get personal clarity on it and didn't feel God's call at all. So, I didn't apply. What I do feel God calling me into is a more personal ministry to those around me and also to be more of a mentor to the young, including my own grandchildren. There is no pay for this kind of thing, of course, but what rewards there are when you pour your life and experience into someone else.

So, may God bless and keep all those who have listened to me preach. That mantle, at least for the time, has been laid down.

It has been a week plus a day since we celebrated Mothers' Day in the three churches where I preached that week. And we honored the graduates yesterday in the two other churches. (You may remember that I preach in three churches one week and two the next.) However, the most interesting thing about the last two weeks was that, in one of the services, our liturgist stood up and wished every mom a happy Mothers' Day and then started the worship service with the song "This is My Father's World". I thought I would crack up, but I had to keep my composure since I was sitting in the chancel by then. I did mention it to the liturgist and he gave me a sheepish grin. We shared the joke, but no one else heard us -- thankfully.

I am still looking forward to June 26th as the end date for my work at the five churches. Will I miss it? Well, I will miss the people for sure, but I don't think I will miss preaching five times in two weeks. And I do hope the parish gets someone who can live in the area. This driving back and forth is not the best.

I am also looking forward to attending worship at First Church Mattoon. We really like the people there and the pastor is a personal friend.

Wrapping Up

We returned from two months in Florida in March and I started back on the Five-Points Parish as associate pastor. This will run until July 1 and then I am done. I have already decided that my work is not really what the parish needs and it is really wearing for this old guy. Maybe something will come along that I can do and still keep my sanity. We'll see.