Cashier Faints at Sight of Visa Signature Card

My friendly neighborhood global bank sent me another credit card upgrade the other day. Sometime in January, if I recall, to be precise (I'm sure I just forgot to activate it all along). But wait, it's not just any new credit card. It's a Visa Signature card. It even has a shiny new number, breaking all of the web sites where I had entered my old credit card number (such as certain monthly payments...). Yet, who would be displeased when the new card offers so many tremendous benefits? It is "perfect for value-conscious, financially responsible Customers like yourself" (I'd buy that one from just about anyone but the company who sends me my credit card statement each month).

Surely enough, I immediately started to "experience an unparalleled level of service," as promised. For instance, when I walked into Wal-mart, even before I had bought a thing, there was a friendly old man at the entrance who greeted me very kindly. He even gave my children yellow stickers - two apiece. Do you get that with the credit card you carry?

Also, this is not one of those credit cards you would only use when you don't have any cash with you. BofA declared that they "fully expect [me] to make [my] new card [my] card of choice for everything - from everyday purchases to travel around the globe." I no longer have to put any green down at McDonald's. Now I can charge everything! I want to see those paupers with their dinky wannabe credit cards do that! And I get to travel around the globe, too. Do I get to take the wife and the kids?

But wait, there's more. This card will cause people to treat you with the "respect offered by a superior credit card product." You can see me walk taller already. The other day, I was buying this really expensive jewelry for my wife, and the cashier looked at me with that look of, "can you really afford that?" Then, I pulled out the new Signature Visa, kind of like Jerry Seinfeld in those commericals with the gas pump, when he fills it up to exactly $10.00, and then adds just a little bit extra because he doesn't need an exact amount with his fancy plastic. Anyhow, I slowly eased it out of my wallet (I ought to get a better, newer wallet for it). The poor cashier took one look at it before she sank to the floor. Just amazing.

Oh, the joy of respect wherever you go. No, you can't have one. It's very special, not for just anyone. We are an elite circle. Now please excuse me, I need to update my Amazon payment methods.

_________
BTW, Ly, I'm sorry - the part about the jewelry was a factual inaccuracy.

Greetings from Galveston

We spent a few wonderful days at the Escapes! to the Gulf at Galveston. The place was superb, and we had an awesome time.

The hotel was right next to the beach. Contrary to most hotels, the Escapes! is a mile or two outside town, and instead of Seawall Boulevard (4 lanes) separating you from the beach, there's nothing between you and the shore.

Just a nice wooden walkway from the hotel right to the sand. The shore is very flat, so that you can go out into the water for quite a while, even with small children. The kids were a little skeptical, but we did get them jumping in the waves eventually. They busily collected shells, too.



With boatloads of sand, we were able to build several large sand castles, and enjoyed ourselves to our heart's content. Ch declared that she wanted to stay in the sand, and not go home.

The kids (just the kids? Nah!) loved the pool. It was beautifully clean and had a corner that was shallow enough for the toddlers, as well as a ledge where they could walk around the edge of the pool by themselves. There was also a whirlpool jaccuzi for Papi.

The apartment was really nice as well. Here's the bedroom Ly and I slept in.

People had asked us, "is your hotel still being repaired from Hurricane Ike?" Not the Escapes! There were a few places that could still use some repair, though. Note the pier in the distance below the tall building. Most of it is missing.

Here's a fully furnished apartment right by the beach. Maybe next time.

Wichita Mountains Unedited

PhotoShop will only be in the mail tomorrow, so I have to post this one unedited. I like it too well to wait any longer, though.

On Our Knees

There was a significant line in a dramatic presentation we had at church last Sunday. I remember it like this:

American Christians would rather live standing that die kneeling.

That would be our problem.

I'm assuming that the idea behind the quote is supposed to be that we don't just give ourselves up and submit to another power (in this case, the entire Bristish fleet). Before I get back to those two alternatives, let's consider the words die and kneel.

Die

• I have been crucified with Christ. Gal. 2:20
• If anyone would come after me, let him [...] take up his cross. Matt. 16:24
• "We will abandon it all for the Sake of the Call." (SCC)
  

Kneel

• So the servant fell on his knees, imploring him... Matt. 18:26
• The twenty-four elders fall down before him who is seated on the throne... Rev. 4:10
• I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it... Mark 11:20
• You do not have, because you do not ask. James 4:2
  

I believe that the statement above is a statement of pride and self-reliance. I do not believe that the alternative is one of subjugation (and what I'm about to say is more general in nature, and not intended to be an answer to defending a country). Our problem as Christians is that we are too often characterized by our desire for comfort, entertainment, and riches, gained by our selfish efforts, and not primarily by being people on our knees, unable to help ourselves, but imploring our Father who alone is able, too rarely a people ready to die, giving up our priorities for his purposes.

Addendum: For those of my readers who will feel that this is an attack on their patriotism, the sacrifice at Fort McHenry, or the "Star Spangled Banner" itself: what if the answer of the lawyer had been, "we believe that what you're about to do is a great injustice, and we pray that God will help us to not be overcome, despite the size of your navy?" Same patriotism, different attitude?

Fasst

I'm done. I'm done. I am brilliant. I was fasst.

La, after finishing first eating her breakfast cereal.

Time

Someone asked me about something at church last night, "...when you have some time." (I don't recall who or what.)

Well, it's not looking too good for this life... . Maybe next life?

Change

People are not afraid of change. They fear the unknown.

Dick Brown, chairman and CEO of EDS

Oklahoma Weather

Don't put those warm coats away just yet. According to a co-worker I talked to a moment ago, Oklahoma had snow on June 3rd, 1969. I hear it didn't stick, though.

Listening

"The most important thing in communication is to hear what isn't being said."

Peter F. Drucker

Speaking the Truth Doesn't Matter

The goal of the gospel is not just the proclamation of truth. The goal of the gospel is life transformation through a relationship with God, a life that no longer is about you, but is lived for God's purposes.

Consequently, what matters is not to speak the truth only. For lives to be transformed, what matters is what other people hear (and what happens in response). We learned all the way back in speech communication that what a sender says is not automatically the same as what a recipient hears. The sender speaks from a set of experiences, uses a specific vocabulary, and speaks from a particular world view (I'm probably still missing some ingredients). The recipient will quite likely have a different vocabulary, very likely a different world view, and certainly a different set of experiences. That means that what I say is not automatically what you understand.

In addition to these differences, "noise" makes communication more difficult. Noise can be physical noise, such as other people talking, that causes me to misunderstand. Noise can be specific words that get me going, while you may mean a totally different thing.

If my wife comes into the kitchen on Saturday morning wearing a particular outfit, I may say, "Why did you wear that?" What I mean is, "I thought you were thinking about wearing that next Monday?" However, turns out that our son had a bad night, which I completely missed because I was quite tired and never woke up. She only slept about three hours and is completely exhausted, and a little flustered that I slept through it all. Not surprisingly, she has a headache, too. Does she hear "did you change your plans?" Possible, but not certain. She may just hear, "why do you have to wear that ugly thing?" Yes, this a fictive example.

I'll assume that we're agreed now that what one person says is not automatically understood in the same manner by another person. Let's assume I'm talking with another person about Jesus. He may actually be open to the gospel, though he also has some friends that are Buddhist, and whom he respects a lot. I start the conversation by pointing out the difference between a believer and an unbeliever. That's biblical language, isn't it? Turns out that today's society considers people of varying faiths all believers. My friend will quite possibly feel all his assumptions about narrow-minded, judgmental, we-have-the-truth Christians reinforced when I just put him, his Buddhist friend, and everyone else who doesn't think like me into the box, "unbelievers." It no longer matters what I say afterwards. The noise introduced through that unnecessary term just torpedoed whatever truth I may have to share.

That's why I examine what I say, what other people believe, and why I choose terms that express what I want to say without offending - inasmuch as I can. I am working on using the term non-Christian in the future. It expresses what I want to say just fine and avoids the unnecessary offense of "unbeliever."


So, yes, speaking the truth does matter ... if it is the first step. If it is the only step, it doesn't matter. Only if I speak the truth in such a manner that others hear the truth communicated in love, then speaking the truth matters. Speaking the truth so as to be understood must take the other into account, and must be done in sensitivity to the other.

Easter in a Nutshell

Dear Jesus,
Thank You!

Marquee of New Hope Church, Oklahoma City

Building to Last

No institution can possibly survive if it needs geniuses or supermen to manage it. It must be organized in such a way as to be able to get along under a leadership composed of average human beings.

Peter F. Drucker