A story caught my attention recently about a chain restaurant famous for all-you-can-eat bread sticks and unlimited salads. In response to underperforming stock, a hedge fund created a 300-page report outlining criticisms including overfilling salad bowls, using too much dressing, the liberal bread stick policy, and even the length of asparagus spears.
Have you noticed that national brands are reducing the size of their products while charging the same price? I was surprised when I bought a box of crackers (a brand that rhymes with “mitz”) how short the sleeves have become. One way to look at the hedge fund report is that investors want prices to remain the same while reducing the amount of food and service they offer. A popular deli in Pike Place Market in Seattle was highlighted in a book about business – not for how well it did, but for how it failed. This local Mom and Pop deli was popular because each sandwich had a huge pile of fresh cut deli meat and came with a large, homemade pickle, free of charge. Eventually, the owners decided to retire. A team of investors bought the place. The first thing they did was to charge for the pickles. The deli closed two years later. I guess the decision to reduce the product got them into a pickle. When I lived in Spokane, a Krispy Kreme factory opened near our home. They had an eight foot by eight foot red neon sign that lit up whenever they were making their delicious glazed donuts. We would go if the light was on because you’d get a free one for standing in line. I have never had a donut melt in my mouth like one seconds after it got off the white glaze drip line. After getting one free donut, like a moth to light, I had to buy a box. I have never eaten so many donuts in my entire life. The place was always packed and the drive thru seemed always to have at least three cars waiting. One day, the Corporation decided that they would no longer give away donuts. I have not been back since. A great thing about the Church with Christ as its head is that the same amount of Grace that existed 2,000 years ago is still with us today. There is no shrinkage. Think of it like water; the amount on Earth today is apparently the same amount as at the Creation. The forgiveness Jesus offered while he was on earth is the same amount he offers today. There’s been no shrinkage in God’s love for us and there never will be. The Holy Spirit that was made known on the day of Pentecost is the same gargantuan-sized Spirit we have today. The outer packaging of the church may have changed, along with the times we worship, the places, the languages, and even the style of clothes we wear, but the free gift of Grace is the same size then and now. And, it’s available to all. We need never say, “Super-size that, please!” God’s love is already available in any size we need and like that free Krispy Kreme donut I used to be able to get, the Grace of God is free of charge to all and even without waiting in line. -Fr. Marshall I participated in my first Safety Commission meeting. We meet in the council’s chambers which is an impressive auditorium. Front and center is a massive dark wood bench that is five feet tall and probably 60 feet wide. When the council is in session, the members are seated behind it in high back leather chairs. This room is designed to give the appearance of power to the people seated behind the bench. When the Safety Commission is in session, we sit up there. This seating arrangement will take me a while to get used to. It’s not my style. I prefer to preach on the same floor as parishioners, not from the pulpit. During Vestry meetings, I sit around the table with everyone else and in my office I sit at my desk only when there isn’t enough room. Of a crowd of thirty that night, we had eight speakers and they were unhappy. At issue is a community with a multiplicity of substantial complaints. Their park has become party-central, vandalism and graffiti are taking over, residents from outside their community are using their on-street parking, a side street has become a cut-through, and a major development is just about to break ground and possibly wreak even more havoc in the already disrupted living space. They’re turning to their local government for solutions. It was difficult for me to be sitting behind the bench and under the constraints of Robert’s Rules of Order. I’d rather be seated in a circle, with some coffee, and talk through their complaints and search for solutions. One shining spot of the city is Sergeant Tarr of the Chula City PD. Prior to the meeting, he met with residents in their community. He walked with them and heard their complaints. He cited cars for parking improperly, addressed the graffiti, and, on his own time, got to know the people who live there. Additionally, he is sending patrols over to the area and has made it known that the residents can contact him directly with any questions or concerns. In other words, he believes in circling the chairs and brewing coffee, too. On Wednesday night, I saw two modalities of government at work. One is to have some appointed commissioners hearing the complaints of the people and then discussing various ways to help. The other is to walk with the people, see where they live, and experience the problems themselves. Both modalities are important; including the structure and order of Robert’s Rules. Nevertheless, following Sergeant Tarr’s lead, I am meeting with the president of one of the homeowner’s associations to see what they need. Scripture gives us two images of God, one seated high on a throne executing judgments and the other a good shepherd who walks among the creation and lays his life down for the sheep. Although both images are important, I identify with the latter of these two images – the Good Shepherd. He leads and guides me and is present as I sleep and present when I awake. I believe that he will not take me to the throne of God and accuse me of all the things I have done wrong, but rather will walk me through the valley of death and in his house I will live for evermore. Thus, it is example of the Good Shepherd that I try to follow, both at church, at home, and even in the Safety Council. -Fr. Marshall Recently a flight from Newark to Denver was diverted to Chicago because of an in-flight dispute over a contraption called the Knee Defender. This new device stops an airplane seat from reclining. A male passenger used the Knee Defender to stop a female passenger in front from reclining while he was using his laptop. When asked to remove the device, he refused, so the female stood up and soaked him with a cup of water.
I once took a plane ride to a meeting and while in the air attempted to use my laptop. The person in front of me reclined rendering my laptop unusable. I’m 6’ 3” so flying is not comfortable for me in the first place. For starters, the back of the seat which cradles your shoulders and provides support for your head hits me between my shoulder blades. To have some comfort I slouch my shoulders down which pins my knees into the seat in front. If someone reclines, what little space is there disappears. You won’t be surprised that I think the Knee Defender is a good idea. The FAA has not ruled on this device which makes airlines responsible for setting their own rules. Some have forbidden it and in this case, the man was in the wrong because the flight attendant had asked him to remove it. Still, we tall guys have sympathy for this situation. This device that diverted a plane brings up an interesting debate on in-flight manners. When you purchase a ticket, does that guarantee you the space behind? Do you have a right to all space three feet or less from your nose? Can you restrict the movement of someone else’s seat? How about the space under their seat – is that yours or theirs? Do priests and pregnant women get special consideration? (Sorry, but I could not resist that.) I’m wondering what the appropriate Christian response is assuming the front seat passenger is not attempting to baptize the rear seat passenger. This story reminds me of another flight, from the U.S. to Russia. The aisle passenger reclined his seat as far back as possible. The result was passengers in this row would pull, push, bounce and drive their knees into his seat every time they exited or returned; the behavior seemed to worsen as the 12-hour flight dragged on. Yet the passenger would not take the hint and put his seat upright; he seemed to sleep through it, maybe indignantly. Getting back to an appropriate Christian response. In this situation, I believe it probably starts with hospitality. Perhaps we should not fight but, rather, respect each person’s right to as comfortable flight as possible. Given the information we know in this news story, perhaps finding middle ground would have kept the plane en route to Denver instead of causing a delay of more than ninety minutes. And after all that, the airline determined not to intervene and both passengers were allowed to continue; I hope they at least changed seats. Once on a short flight from Boise to Spokane a flight attendant announced that nearly half our plane had tight connecting flights and to please stay seated if our final destination was Spokane. I watched a young family stay seated until everyone on board had the opportunity to leave. Prior to landing, The mother said to her children, “Stay seated, kids, because just like Jesus said, ‘The last will be first and the first last.’” Then she chuckled and said to her husband, “I hope our Final Destination is better than Spokane.” -Fr. Marshall |