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"Pastor, why don't you wear a robe?"

Every once in a while the question as to why I don't wear robes comes up in conversation. The latest suggestion was that I might consider wearing them when we serve communion. What's the big deal about robes?

On a practical level I find them cumbersome, hot and uncomfortable. On a theological level I don't believe that the office of pastor is so significantly different from other gifts in the church to require a different dress code, particularly one that dates back to ancient Rome. 

I don't see the point in wearing an academic gown to show off my level of learning for all the congregation to see, if I have something to say that is of God it may have nothing to do with my learning and everything to do with my relationship with Jesus.

It has been suggested that I could wear a gown as it creates an amorphous appearance that draws attention away from the person presiding at communion. Perhaps, but I believe that God uses individuals with their gifts and personality to shape and mold the church. Whoever presides at communion is a real life, flesh and blood person with personality and passion and, for better or worse, I don't think that should be hidden behind a robe.

When I've talked with my female colleagues many of them tell me they wear a robe because our culture has such high fashion expectations for women and, as a result, people are quick to criticize women's fashion sense and are easily distracted by it. Fair enough, but I'm not a woman and a man with a jacket and tie is rarely criticized for his look.

I believe the church is made up of people with different gifts, passions and talents. We come together in a great cacophony and in worship that cacophony finds some harmonies and is turned into a beautiful symphony. But we come together as one and don't differentiate based on dress, education or any other standard of this world. I don't wear robes because I stand as one with the people of God. I may lead worship but I too need to confess my sin, receive pardon, hear God's word read and preached (even if its my own words) and receive the sacrament. I do not stand apart from the congregation, I stand with them for I am one of them. 

Four opinions on one issue... music in worship

Following worship yesterday I was approached by four different people, all of whom wanted to express an opinion on the same part of the worship service. All four had a different thought to share!

Of the four hymns we sang yesterday only one was from the hymnal, two could be considered contemporary and the fourth was Wesley's, "And Can It Be" which I believe should be in the hymnal and I was shocked that only one member of our choir had ever heard of this classic hymn. 

So what did people have to say? The first person told me how much they enjoyed the music in the service and where delighted with the direction we were taking. The second person asked that we get a song leader to lead the newer songs for the congregation. The third person complained about only using one hymn from the hymnal explaining that the hymnal is full of good songs that we could sing. The fourth person didn't like trying to follow the repeats in the printed music for the non-hymnal songs and was delighted when I told them we would start putting lyrics up on our new screen soon. All four people were seniors.

So what is a pastor to do when he gets conflicting suggestions? 
First of all I believe a pastor has to be clear on the mission of the church and continue to share that with the congregation and not be swept along by individuals thoughts and opinions.
Second the pastor needs to listen to these voices to see if there if they represent a broaden current of discontent and then be willing to address it.
Third the pastor has a difficult responsibility in leading worship in such a way as to honor the generations that are present, so that all who come can meet with God. That being said for the sake of the future of the church there is a need to lean toward the younger upcoming generation.

How do you or your church handle things like this?

Friday Fun: Eating Meat On Friday

It's Friday and it's Lent, so here's a little story that Trevor Morrow tells in his book ''Free to Love.' The story originally came from 'Growing Up Catholic.' I hope you enjoy it...

If you were at  a baseball game on a Friday night and you wanted a hot dog, you had a problem because you are not supposed to eat meat on Friday,"Now just considering eating meat on Friday is a venial sin; wanting to eat meat is another one. So you have not even moved in your seat and you have already sinned twice. What if you actually ate one?! Aside from the risk of choking on forbidden food and receiving your temporal punishment on the spot, have you committed a mortal sin or a venial sin? Well if you think its mortal, it may be mortal; and if you think its venial, it may still be mortal. After much thought, you decide its venial, so you call the hot dog vendor, you take the money out of your pocket and you buy a hot dog; this is clearly an act of freewill. You figure you can go to confession on Saturday - but wait does a venial sin become mortal when you commit it deliberately? That's a chance you take. What if you've forgotten its Friday? In that case eating the hot dog may not be a sin... but forgetting that it's Friday is! What if you remember it's Friday half way through the hot dog, is it a venial sin to finish it? If you throw it away, is wasting food a sin? In five minutes you have committed enough sins to land you in purgatory for a million years! The simplest course is just not to take any chances, and avoid the near occasion of sin and stay out of ballparks on Friday!"

And that is why I'm a Presbyterian! Actually we have our own set of silly rules, they just haven't been canonized in the same way.

Adding Electronic Visuals to Worship

For the last few weeks we have been using a projector and screen in worship. For some of you who read this you will be thinking this is no big deal but for others it really is a big deal. Thankfully almost all the comments we have received have been positive. I've heard everything from, "its about time we got a screen," "I've been waiting ten years for this," to "I wasn't sure I liked it at first but I like the way it adds to the service." I even heard that one person thought the screen was a great addition for the hard of hearing as it would allow them to participate through the visuals. Of course the flip side of that was that on Sunday I witnessed the gracious activity of one of our members as they shared the images with a sight-impaired member, it was beautiful to see.

As I placed the screen, a portable 10' screen, in our sanctuary I was acutely aware of Gordon McDonald's great book, Who Stole My Church, and decided to walk carefully into this change. The first people to see it were the choir and  I processed it with them. The first Sunday I used a single image from CIVA to set the tone for worship and showed a short video of World Visions work in Haiti. The following week I added the Scripture text and some visuals for the sermon.

I wrote about the screen in our newsletter...

By the time you receive this newsletter, most of you will have seen the change in our sanctuary, the addition of a screen that will allow us to use more electronic media as part of our worship service.

Over the years, even the centuries, the use of technology has been an important part of the growth and development of the church. If you visit some of the old Presbyterian churches in Scotland or Ireland you will see pulpits that stand high above the congregation. This innovation in design was to allow the voice of the preacher to carry throughout the sanctuary in a time before the microphone. Today we take the technology of the a microphone for granted and don't even notice its there unless the volume is far to high or we get feedback from it.

Indeed there are many technological tools that we use in worship and have done so for so many years that we don't even notice them. Take the church bulletin, it is a fairly new addition to the worship service. Until local churches were in a position to purchase duplicating machines that could run a weekly bulletin churches thrived without them.

An older technology that has become indispensable is the printing press. Indeed the invention of the printing press has been said to be the most important tool in the spread of the Protestant reformation. Can you even imagine what worship in the church must have been like for most of its history without any printed material? Yet for most of the history of the church God's people worshiped without any printed material.

What I'm getting at is that everything in the church was, at some point, an innovation, I could write about the introduction of the organ to churches, the development of a separate pulpit and lectern from a single table, the introduction of electric lights. All of which were loved by some and not so much by others.

Today we live in a highly technological, visual time and if we are serious about reaching out to a younger generation and helping them find a place in God's family then we need to adapt to the world in which we live. This was an important insight of the reformation as the reformers sought to bring the gospel to people, not in Latin, but in their native language. Image is now part of the native language of people today, we live in a visual culture. This is the reality of the world in which we must minister if we are to pass the faith on to future generations, which is something I most certainly believe we are called to do.

How do you manage change in you church or organization?

Just a thought on our thinking

"Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things." Phil. 4:8

Sarah Palin writes notes on her hand... Who cares, it doesn't matter.

Lindsey Vonn appears in Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition... Who cares

Angelina Jolie heads to Haiti... Big deal... there are thousands of aid workers there already.

As our news reporting has become ever increasingly consumer driven have we lost our ability to discern what is really important? I fear so, I fear we are being entertained into complacency with just enough real life distraction so we can truly buy the lie and not engage the world as we should.

A thought from Brian McLaren on Denominations

In this short video Brian McLaren states clearly the challenge denominations face.

Are we focused on the product or on the business of being on mission in the world of TODAY? You can read more of Brian's thoughts here.

Sally Jenkins, Tim Tebow and tolerance

Every once in a while you find someone who can honestly disagree with someone's position on an issue but truly defend their right to be heard, even at the expense of groups that would share their position. Sally Jenkins is one such person who in today's Washington Post is able to address the pro-life ad starring Tim Tebow and while disagreeing with Tebow's position is thoroughly complimentary of Tebow as a person and the kind of guy our society should be delighted to have.

Tebow's Super Bowl ad isn't intolerant; its critics are

I'll spit this out quick, before the armies of feminism try to gag me and strap electrodes to my forehead: Tim Tebow is one of the better things to happen to young women in some time. I realize this stance won't endear me to the "Dwindling Organizations of Ladies in Lockstep," otherwise known as DOLL, but I'll try to pick up the shards of my shattered feminist credentials and go on. (read more)

Marcus Borg: 'The Heart of Christianity' some thoughts

A couple of months ago I was asked if I had read any of Marcus Borg's books. I had read "The Meaning of Jesus" which is a back and forth between NT Wright and Borg but had never read any of Borg's 'solo' works. So when a friend and colleague put a copy of "The Heart of Christianity" in my hand I was delighted to read it. Now I've been asked to write about what I thought of it. Let me be clear, there is no way I can fully engage all of Borg's thoughts here, it would take a book to respond but I do want to focus on a couple of things he says that I believe are of critical importance for the church.

First of all I want to be clear that I hear in Borg a deep concern for the future of Christianity and it is out of this concern that he writes. As Borg states, the classical theological historical, "image of Jesus no longer works for millions of people, both within and outside the church. For these millions, its literalism and exclusivity are not only unpersuasive, but a barrier to being a Christian. 
There are, of course, also millions of Christians who still see Jesus this way. But for people who can't accept the older image, the historical-metaphorical approach to Jesus and Christian origins provides a way to take Jesus seriously."

This presents the question as to whether Borg, in his attempt to remove barriers, has in fact removed some of the central elements of what it means to be Christian. Has Borg become a heretic?

Led Zeppelin and Queen go to the Minnesota Orchestra

Question: What do you get when you cross Led Zeppelin, Queen and the Minnesota Orchestra?
Answer: An amazing musical experience coming to the Target Center on February 4th.

I'm probably not going to go to this show but I love the idea of a full orchestra taking on the classic rock anthems of these two seminal bands.

I wonder if the primary audience will be those who love Zeppelin and Queen or those who love orchestral music? Not that you can't love both. Indeed many people do enjoy both types of music. I am glad that they have chosen a stadium rather than Orchestra Hall for the show, I don't think these rock giants should be played there.

I have to say that I think this will be one phenomenal show as musical styles are melded and blended, scores are adapted to fit the range of a full orchestra and the amazing talent of song writers and musicians can be appreciated by many. I only wish we could pull off this sort of melding in the church, perhaps then we would be able to create some truly wonderful intergenerational services.

You see I love the church of Jesus Christ, but I fear for her. I fear that too many members of the body want to keep things the way they have always been and then she will end up irrelevant in the world. I fear that too many want everything to be new but thereby cut-off the rich history and tradition of worship and worse yet neglect the needs of an entire generation that seeks to faithfully worship Jesus.

May we find creative ways to be body of Christ, from birth to death, in the world today.

Winter Driving and the Church

As I was driving to a lunch meeting I counted at least seven cars that had run off the road and into snow banks, ditches or each other. At some of the crash sites people were sitting patiently in their cars waiting for help to arrive, at others the police had arrived and were conducting their investigation into the cause of crash and unfortunately at two of the crash sites ambulances were present treating the injuries of those in the crashes. My view on the return journey was the same.

What caused these crashes? Some might say that the weather was to blame, it was snowing and the wind was blowing. Others might say it was the road conditions, there was snow sitting on top of ice. But if these were the cause then why did all the other drivers, in the same conditions not crash? At some point it comes down to the way the person behind the wheel was driving. There were many on the roads today driving too fast and others driving too close to the car in front of them, it was a miracle that there weren't more accidents.

The main cause of the accidents was driver error.

When I look at the church I see many people who would love to drive change too quickly in the church and end up crashing. I see others who push too hard from behind and end up crashing into and hurting those in front and then there are those who simply refuse to come out into the harsh conditions of the world and prefer to simply stay and home and not engage the culture of the world at all.

What we need are leaders who are willing to venture out onto the icy roads of the world and navigate them with skill and concern for those around them. Yes, you might hit an easy patch and lose control at some point but we lead based on the conditions around us. We can avoid the ugly, stupid crashes I witnessed today if we lead with discernment and wisdom.

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays - a pastor's rant

Once again I've been subjected to the annual battle over "merry Christmas" vs "happy holidays." I've received emails, petitions, I've been asked in person on and on it goes and I'm a little tired of it!

First of all its not Christmas yet, if you're a Christian who celebrates the birth of Christ on December 25th then its advent, not Christmas. The Christmas season doesn't technically begin until, well, Christmas and then we celebrate for twelve days.

I fully expect someone to say that they're not part of a liturgical tradition and so for them it's Christmas. Sorry, its not. If you are celebrating Christ's birth on December 25th then you are following the liturgical tradition of the church (we all know Jesus wasn't born on that date) and that's that.

So perhaps you should wish people a happy advent, which is a period of holy days (holidays) in which case it would surely be appropriate to wish them "happy holidays." Then again, if you waited until Christmas to wish people a "merry Christmas" you could, since Christmas is a 12 day festival, wish people "happy holi(y)days." too.

Yes, Jesus is the reason for the season, but he's also the reason for every season if you're a Christian, after all doesn't John tell us that, "through Him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made." So Jesus is the reason for winter, spring, summer and autumn! 

In our pluralistic culture there are numerous holy days this time of year, some are Christian, some are Jewish, some are Muslim and some are secular. Yes, there are secular holy days too.

If you want to impose Christian sharia on the nation then I suggest you go find some uninhabited island and start your own colony. If you want to be salt and light in the world for Jesus then stay, and rather than complain and campaign, make a difference, live out your faith every day. Reclaim Christmas in your own life. Spend less on yourself and give more. Spend more time in prayer and the scriptures. Give more time to family devotions. Give some of your time to volunteer with the homeless.

May God bless the holy days that lie ahead and a merry Christmas to you.

A Christmas Thought with the help of NT Wright

In speaking of the angels appearance to the shepherds and the shepherds testimony of what happened, bishop NT Wright reminds us that...

"The birth of this little boy is the beginning of a confrontation between the kingdom of God - in all its apparent weakness, insignificance and vulnerability - and the kingdoms of this world... When you see the manger on a card, or in a church, don't stop at the crib. See what it's pointing to. It is pointing the explosive truth that the baby lying there is already being spoken of as the true king of the world."

At which throne will you bow and worship this Christmas? Jesus, Consumerism, Patriotism or some other? Perhaps you are a pluralist and like to bow to more than one... should you?

The Naked Pastor

I'm not sure how many times I've been asked as a pastor why I don't wear a clerical robe during services of worship. The way some people approach this subject is to leave me feeling that I must appear to be naked in the front of the sanctuary.

In the first church I served several people were very disappointed that I didn't robe but I was also told that one of the congregants said the he hoped that they weren't getting a pastor who was highfalutin, robe wearing guy. I guess you can't please everyone all the time! It seems like this topic won't go away any time soon.

But should a pastor be robed or unrobed in worship? Well, to begin this conversation we need to understand the story behind how clerical robes began and for that I turn to James White and his book, 'Introduction to Christian Worship.'

They are really testimony to the conservatism of the clergy. When barbarians swarmed down from northern Europe in the fifth century and introduced men's trousers to Rome, the clergy kept sartorial faith by continuing to wear the everyday garb of imperial Rome... Protestant clergy, academics and judges continue to wear the black medieval scholar's gown.The eighteenth century saw the survival of a secular collar in two small white neck bands or tabs, which some Protestant clergy wear over a black preaching robe.

In other words robes are cultural, they reflect the dress of a certain time in history, for some its fifth century Rome, for others its the medieval period perhaps stretching into the 18th century. Today they are considered "traditional" as they represent these ancient traditions and practices.

Some suggest that Protestant clergy should continue to wear the black scholar's gown as an indication of their learning. But why? When was the last time you saw a scholar robed in the classroom?

Indeed many Protestant clergy who wear robes have given up on the scholars gown and know wear an alb which is a white dresslike tunic that was worn by both men and women in ancient Rome. Many clergy have also adopted the ancient Roman practice of wearing stole, which serves as a badge of office. Although most clergy pick stoles like a man picks a tie, rather than as a badge of office.

We can make theological arguments for and against robes, but at the end of the day the robe is a cultural artifact from the past. The question is whether it is a tradition worth preserving? Does it enhance our ability to reach 21st Century people with the gospel or does it inhibit our ability to be truly missional in our outreach?

Let's be clear. clothing is not neutral, it does communicate something. I know of one associate pastor who deliberately dressed way down on a Sunday morning so the poorest person in their congregation would not feel excluded because of the clothes they wore.

 

The need for "Peace-Poets"

"Peacemaker" A word that has been used in many ways over the years. For some a 'peacemaker' is a handgun made by Colt. For others it is the active military seeking to bring peace to troubled regions of the world. Then there are the Christian Peacemaker Teams who work in non-violent ways to bring peace to a troubled world.

Jesus said, "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God." In this statement from Matthew's gospel the Greek word for 'peacemaker' is a composite word. The first part of the word being 'peace' and is used to signify, peace with God, peace with one another and peace with self. In Hebrew the closest equivalent is the word, 'shalom.'

The second word, 'maker,' is taken from the Greek word that at its root refers to creative action. In the Greek Old Testament (Septuagint) this word is used to refer to God's action in the creation of the world. It is also a word that can be translated as 'poet.' It is a word that captures artistic imagination and creativity.

Einstein said, "imagination is more important that knowledge. For knowledge is limited to all we know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there ever will be to know and understand."

Perhaps in this season when we speak of the Prince of Peace, we could use a little creative imagination in how we think of peace in our world. We could be "peace-poets" who dream, write, draw and work to imagine and create a more peaceful world.

Satan, Santa and Saint Nicholas

I mentioned this a couple of years ago but I find it fascinating how a cultural depiction of Satan has been blended with the ideals of St. Nicholas to form our modern Santa Claus. The book that this is taken from is not a fundamentalists attempt to debunk Santa but rather its a serious scholarly work from Cornell University Press.

"The Devil comes from the north, domain of darkness and punishing cold. Curious connections exist between Satan and Santa Claus (Saint Nicholas). The Devil lives in the far north and drives reindeer; he wears a suit of red fur; he goes down chimneys in the guise of Black Jack or the Black Man covered in soot; as Black Peter he carries a large sack into which he pops sins or sinners (including naughty children); he stick or cane to thrash the guilty (now he merely brings candy canes); he flies through the air with the help of strange animals; food and wine are left out for him as a bribe to secure his favors. The Devil's nickname (!) "Old Nick" derives directly from Saint Nicholas. Nicholas was often associated with fertility cults, hence with fruits, nuts, and fruitcake, his characteristic gifts.This odd connection indicates how freely associative folklore becomes and how tangential to the essential point. The permutations of the folklore Devil are almost limitless; for the most part they do little to penetrate the problem of evil"

Taken from The Prince of Darkness by Jeffrey Burton Russell

This is not written to take the fun out of Christmas, there are many other "pagan" stories that have morphed over the years to form part of our popular culture. It is, I think, just an interesting observation

Bob Dylan, "Christmas in the Heart"

I've listened to this album several times now and each time I've enjoyed it more than the previous time. Dylan takes us on a journey through popular Christmas songs and Christian classics.

He starts that journey with "Here Comes Santa Claus" and ends the album with "O Little Town of Bethlehem" and the final words, "Where meek souls will receive Him still, the dear Christ enters in." With a final "Amen" added for good measure. From pop culture to the heart of what it means to be a Christian. One word, "terrific!"

I have no doubt that Dylan was keenly aware of the song order on this album as he weaves in and out of popular culture and Christian classics, no song on the album is more fun than "Must Be Santa." Yet it is the carols that drew me in as Dylan's faith shines through in the feeling he puts into them.

This may not be the easy listening Christmas album that everyone will be playing this year but this is a great album for fans of Bob Dylan or for those who like to hear a slightly different take on the old carols. Buy the album, its a complete set of songs that should be listened to together.

What's in a name?

I received a phone call today inquiring about what it would take to have children baptized in the church. The caller mentioned that they had grown up Lutheran but had been in a boy scout troop that met in a Presbyterian church.

I began to explain what it meant to be baptized as a Christian when the caller stopped me in my tracks and asked if Lutheran and Presbyterian were considered Christian. It wasn't a trick question, it was simply a question from someone outside the church looking in not having any idea what the labels meant!

For those of us on the "inside" we may be surprised by this as we assume that the known denominational label means we are Christian and we assume everyone else should know this too. The reality is that from the "outside" Presbyterian, Lutheran, Methodist, Assemblies of God... might just as easily be a cult. They are simply badges of differentiation, ways for insiders to tell themselves apart but they are confusing labels for the outsider trying to figure the whole thing out. 

Does the upfront public declaration of a particular identity help or hinder the un-churched in their faith formation?

A Call To Treason? Maybe... What do you think Paul means?

 
Do you ever find a particular verse of Scripture just eating away at you? Gnawing its way deep into your being? I've had that experience recently.

Paul's words in Romans 12 as he quotes from the Proverbs have been gnawing at me now for a while. It is a chapter that opens with Paul's call to no longer, "conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind." It is then followed by a call to live humbly, exercising the gifts we have been given to support the body of Christ and then, as in Corinthians, he talks about love.

Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with the Lord's people who are in need. Practice hospitality.

Good stuff!But then comes the hard stuff...

Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position.Do not think you are superior.
Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: "It is mine to avenge; I will repay," says the Lord. On the contrary:

"If your enemy is hungry, feed him;
if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.
In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head."

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

So why should I feed my enemy when he is hungry and give him a drink when he is thirsty? Apparently this is one way to show your enemy you love them. OK, but surely giving aid to the enemy is an act of treason in the eyes of the state.

Imagine you are part of the Roman army laying siege to Masada (these verses went written with 21st century enemies in mind), what is you goal? To force them to surrender by depriving them of access to food and water, the main military strategy behind a siege. Now as part of that Roman army you are a Christian and you read Paul's words, what do you do? Do you feed your enemy and get them something to drink? What do you suppose would happen to a Roman soldier providing this sort of support for the enemy?

I wrestle with these verses, they gnaw at me because they are not simply a call to provide basic needs for even our enemy but rather they go against the powers the state uses to suppress and defeat the enemy. How do you think a first century Roman would have read these words? What would Paul say if he were to write this to 21st Century America?

Jesus said his kingdom was not of this world, clearly we are to live by a different standard, a different way than the nations of this world would have us live.

He Came To Church One Day (conclusion)

Some of my readers had expressed hope that this would be a continuing saga. It might be. The end is simply yet to be written. I was only going to write the first piece and drop it after that but I decided to add a couple more thoughts.

Who is the person in the story? He started off being modelled after the experience a friend had in church and ended up as me! Perhaps you can see elements of yourself in the story too. 

He came to church one day... (part 3)

He found himself pulling into the parking lot in front of Caribou Coffee. As he walked inside he felt the aesthetic warmth of the wood and earth tone decor and felt better about life. The gas fireplace was lit in the corner to add to the ambient warmth. Placing his order for a large Latte he thought about how wonderful it was to be able to enjoy the simple pleasure of a cup of coffee in a comfortable space.

As he stood at the end of the counter waiting for the espresso machine work its magic his eyes wandered perused the one pound bags of coffee waiting to be purchased... Guatemala, Costa Rica, Rwanda, Kenya, Yemen. As he pondered the farmers working the fields in these far away places and all that had to go into getting the beans from the fields of Africa and South and Central American to his cup he thought, "Perhaps, even the simple pleasures in life aren't so simple after all." This his eyes came to rest on a bag labelled "Fair Trade." "Why," he wondered, "do we need such labels on bags of coffee?" Publish

His phone bagan to vibrated in his pocket indicating that he had received an email message. It was a response to his facebook status update, it simply read, "Who cares! Life's Shrt, praty on :-)" Laughing at his 'friends' lousy use of a phone keyboard he thought knew that he still cared about the answer.

Feeling comfortably alone in the coffee shop filled with others he sat down in a large leather chair to read the morning paper.