Haven Gillespie for the soul

That Lucky Old Sun: as covered by Johnny Cash

"Up in the mornin', out on the job
Work like the devil for my pay.
But that lucky old sun has nothin' to do
But roll around heaven all day.

Had a fuss with my woman, an' I toil for my kids,
An' I sweat 'til I'm wrinkled and gray,
While that lucky old sun got nothin' to do
But roll around heaven all day.
Oh, Lord above, don't you hear me cryin'
Tears are rollin' down my eyes.
Send in a cloud with a silver linin',
Take me to paradise.
Show me that river, Take me across,
wash all my troubles away
Like that lucky old sun give me nothing to do
But roll around heaven all day."

The seed that fell upon rocks

Most theologians and commentators over the years, agree that the parable of the sower, told by Jesus, describes the different types of soil indigenous to the area surrounding the city of Jerusalem, however the rocky soil from that parable is actually no-where near Jerusalem, but is in fact in Boynton Beach, Florida, lining the backyard of a house on A1A, near Woolbright. And war is waged against it, as we good men of middle earth attempt to remove trees and shrubs from the soil surrounding the two-story house where enemy rocks have entrenched their legions.

So let this be a call, nay a humble plea, to all landscapers in the universe: that as each plant, tree, whatever it may be, is to be grafted into your natural playground, and the angry horned devils whisper into your ears the temptation to plant them without first removing all rocks from the surrounding earth; fight with every ounce of strength you can muster, or else the 20 year old sons of general contractors, forced to pull out massive Geiger trees, will hate you.

Crazy old Maurice

While driving to work this morning, i experienced the supernatural. As i turned right onto Hypoloxo toward I-95 I noticed an elderly man in a silver Taurus, with a handicapped sign hanging from his mirror quickly approaching in the far right lane. he fiercely merged into the middle lane and then back into the right immediately in front of me. As he sped by, i swear his eyes said, "i own this highway b*%#$."

I've never seen an old man swerve through so much interstate traffic at what must have been breakneck speeds, it was unbelievable. I kept a close distance for a few moments, but the last glimpse i got was of him using the H.O.V lane to pass a Chevy Silverado. I was speechless.

The asthma angel

I've never really thought about whether or not angels can have sicknesses, because quite frankly the reality of the answer to that question has never affected me, however today, the angel i was visited by had asthma, and because of it, my work was given purpose and through it significance.

Up until asthma angel's visit i had been slightly perturbed in my work. As some may know working for Alexander Kaiser almost always involves huge quantities of sand, the largest piles of rocks ever amassed by mankind, and all other thinkable abnormal objects and trash; and lest we forget the wheel barrel, with the name Arora spray painted on the side; yes of course that blessed orange, never flat wheel barrel, to be used to carry whatever material we are dealing with, from one side of the property another. And don't ask my father why or for what purpose, because you will rarely get an answer besides, "because I asked you to do it."

Today it was Aloe plants, like none ever seen. Planted into a solid embankment of large rocks, and stretching their fanged arms in every directly, effectively thwarting any potential of digging a shovel anywhere near its roots. I swear they were gigantic, and i snapped two ropes trying to pull them out with a truck.

Anyways, upon pulling the first one out, i dragged it to the road and began working on the second and most vicious of the aloe plants. Near the point where i would have sworn that i'd never remove that plant from its rock filled home, a van pulled up.

He stood just about 6 foot tall, roughly 35 years old; a thicker angel with a shaved head; tan skin and a Spanish accent. I never caught his name but he was a plumber and drove a white van.
I've never seen someone so excited to see aloe plants half way out of the ground. To his surprise i was getting rid of all of them, and to my surprise he asked if he could help me pull one out and load it into his van to take home.

"It helps with asthma," he said, as he opened up the double doors at the back of his van. "Take it to bed with you," i replied to his eager request.

It was then that he removed a shovel from his van and began working with me to get a large section of plant number 2 out of the ground, and it was then that i realized that angels must have sicknesses because this one did. After loading it up into his van, he thanked me very kindly, and went on his way. It was in this moment that i realized that Christ uses the ordinary, the practical things to teach us life's most important truths. He uses the middle aged men with asthma and his delight in aloe plants to reveal that even the mundane and everyday toil is ultimately significant, for while it all may seem like chasing after wind, it is to His glory that i labor, eat, read a book, write, or sleep.

Now i'll never know to what extent landscaping or shoveling large piles of dirt will glorify Christ, but maybe it does, maybe the small, mundane tasks that i perform everyday, are ultimately what helps to bring about Christ's kingdom today. i sure hope so, because sometimes that is the only thought that brings any significance to the all too often seemingly meaningless nature of this life.

Well, all i can truly say is that I've never been so proud to pull aloe plants out of the ground.