Mayo--100 Words

Mayo.

You know that white stuff you spread on a sandwich.

Yeah. That stuff.

Not Miracle Whip! Read the label. That’s salad dressing! I have to remind my wife and mother-in-law that all the time.

I love mayo! Maybe more than I should.

You see, mayo is the perfect condiment for just about anything. And, when you grow up in the South as I did, you use it on just about anything. Don’t get me started. It’d only gross you out to know all the things I’ve eaten mayo on.

But oh, what I wouldn’t do for some right now!

Average--100 Words

Average.

There is batting average. And, average looking. And, of course, feeling average.

How average are you?

Are you sure?

Satisfied being considered average?

Des McHale said, “The average human has one breast and one testicle.”

Okay. Thankfully, most of us are above average in certain respects and below average in other respects, which sort of averages out.

But, is average good enough?

I hope you said NO!

Isn’t it time to stop settling for average?

A.W. Tozer said, “Refuse to be average. Let your heart soar as high as it will.”

How high are you really willing to soar?

Ordinary-100 Words

Ordinary.

Lately, I’ve been wrapping my mind around that word.

What I once accepted as ordinary is no longer enough for me.

Maybe it is an age-thing or maybe it’s a maturing-thing. Or, could it be what I’ve viewed as acceptable shouldn’t be accepted as the norm?

Do I have a specific area this applies to? Well, no. I’m thinking about work. And church. And music. And worship. I’m thinking about how I work with other people. And, how I relate to other people.

Nothing about life should be ordinary. Ordinary lends itself to becoming boring.

Who really wants boring?

Unsettled--100 Words

Unsettled.

I’m having a run of being unsettled.

Can’t really put my finger on the source of the problem.

It’s not for a lack of looking, trying, or examining.

I’ve done plenty of that. Or, as we called it in the church “soul-searching.”

I’ve done that.

Now what?

James Thurber said it this way, “All men should strive to learn before they die what they are running from, and to, and why.”

I’m certainly not getting any younger. So, maybe I’m doing that kind of striving.

I just hope, when the search is done, that I’ll know what I found.

Overwhelmed!--100 Words

Overwhelmed!

That, my friends, is today’s emotion. Well, in truth, it’s been more like the 2010 emotion.

I find myself struggling with being overwhelmed.

With work. And writing. And life in general.

Some may call it a lack of faith.

Some may call it bad time management.

Others may call it a thousand other things.

At one point in my life, those reactions would have bothered me. Or, caused unbelievable grief.

At this time of life, it’s not that I don’t care what others think, I know that only I walk in my shoes every day.

So, you can’t know.

Realism--100 Words

Realism.

In the Wizard of Oz, the wizard was grand, glorious, and mysterious. That is, until the curtain was pulled back and the truth was revealed.

I love going to Broadway shows. I especially love when intermission comes and the curtains close. I know when the curtains reopen the backdrop will be different and the scene will have changed. Before my very eyes realism changes.

Every day of life is that way to some degree.

Some “truth” is debunked as myth.

Some “fact” is proven false.

Some “realism” is shown to be nothing more than a lie.

That’s just life.

Debate--100 Words

Debate.

That word has been tossed around a great deal lately. Not just in Washington, but all across America.

As it has been discussed, I’ve struggled to understand how debate really works, especially in the areas of politics and religion, among other subjects.

I regularly hear people say, “We should have a debate about…”

Sounds good.

Sounds positive.

Yet, what’ve I come to realize is that that statement usually means, “We should have a debate about it as long as you agree with me in the end.”

Really?

Is that honest debate?

No!

So, what does debate mean to you?

Music--100 Words

Music.

Contemporary Christian. Jazz. Blues. R & B. Sacred harp. Rap. Rock. Classical. Gospel. Alternative.

Different kinds of music. Different tastes, that’s for sure.

Every type of music isn’t for everyone. Some more than others.

While the delivery of music is varied, the results are generally the same.

Music calms the savage beast, or so the old saying goes.

Music certainly calms a crying baby.

Music relaxes a stressed soul.

An unknown person said, “Music speaks what cannot be expressed, soothes the mind and gives it rest, heals the heart and makes it whole, flows from heaven to the soul.”

The End--100 Words

The end.

As a small child, I dreaded reading those words at the end of an exciting biography borrowed from the school library.

As a teenager, those words were not my friend as they scrolled across the drive-in movie screen.

In college, those words never came soon enough as I came to the end of a British Lit assignment.

The end of the work day often seems a week away.

Yet, today, I find myself once again dreading the words. Today marks the end of a much needed vacation with my family.

These days passed too quickly.

Goodbye old friend.

Relaxing--100 Words

Relaxing.

Been doing a lot of that this week. Seeing that I’m off work and going unpaid, I’m not thinking about my job. Not at all.

Here’s what others said about relaxing.

Dave Berry described it this way: “Dogsled-riding is a sport that is relaxing as well as fragrant.”

An unknown person said, “Humor is a whisper from the soul, imploring mind and body to relax, let go and be at peace again.”

Robert Heinlein said, “Women and cats will do as they please, and men and dogs should relax and get used to the idea.”

That sums it up.

Travel--100 Words

Travel.

Do you remember the TV show titled Star Trek?

No, I’m not talking the movie or movies. But, the TV show from the 1960s, the tongue-in-cheek “drama” starring William Shatner as Captain Kirk. There was also Bones. Scottie. And, Mr. Spock. That Star Trek.

One of my favorite parts of the show was when one of the characters needed to be transported to another location. They would say to Scottie, “Beam me up!” Or, “Beam me down!”

What I wouldn’t give to be “Beamed up” rather than sitting long hours in a car or plane.

Where’s my transporter? Anyone?

Vacation--100 Words

Vacation.

This may sound strange. I’ll go ahead and admit that.

But, I don’t like vacation.

I’m the worse person to take on a vacation.

You see, normally, I enjoy work. No, each day isn’t great, but overall, serving God is the greatest job anyone could have.

So, when vacation comes, it takes me three days to wind down from work. Then, it’s time to gear back up for work.

So, if vacation lasts seven days, three are spent winding down, three days are spent winding up. That leaves a grand total of one good day.

I’ll enjoy that day!

Rewards--100 Words

Rewards.

It is interesting to think about rewards. And, what we are willing to do for them.

We often thrive on rewards. We need them. It’s almost as if we demand them.

I certainly know we find pleasure in rewards.

Compare that to what John Ruskin said, “The highest reward for a man’s toil is not what he gets for it but what he becomes by it.”

Do rewards change you? Do they change your attitude? Your outlook? The way you think?

While we all appreciate and like rewards, we must rise above the votes of others.

And become better.

Correction--100 Words

Correction.

I don’t heart that word. How about you?

I don’t like it. I don’t want it. I rarely think I need it.

From my employer, friends, from my spouse.

Even from God.

But, I need it more than I care to admit.

My two-year-old son has been struggling with a few issues this week. It’s not been a good week for him.

He needs and has received correction.

He doesn’t like it. Want it. Or, thinks he needs it.

But, for his good, he is corrected by his loving parents.

Could it be that’s what God does with me?

Laughing--100 Words

Laughing.

What causes you to laugh?

A TV sitcom? Your spouse? Your pet? Your children? Your job? Comments and posts on Facebook?

I tend to think that there is much to laugh at every day. In big things. In small things.

That includes laughing at myself! Why not?

Everyone else does!

If they can laugh at me, why not laugh at myself?

So, today, what will cause you to laugh? What will cause you to chuckle? Snort? Blow milk through your nose? Laugh so hard that your belly shakes?

I hope something does. Life is too short not to laugh.

Countdown--100 Words

Countdown.

It seems we are always counting down.

On New Year’s Eve, we count down time to midnight.

From the first sign of pregnancy, we count down time until delivery.

We count down to the Super Bowl, our favorite TV show coming on, or even using a clock to tell us when the end of the world will come.

Teenagers count down until the driver’s license. High school seniors countdown to graduation.

Why don’t believers countdown till heaven? Oh, I know “no one knows the hour.” Yes, I get that.

But, where’s the excitement? Where’s the anticipation? Where’s the joy?

Struggles--100 Words

Struggles.

What causes you to struggle?

Dieting? Exercising? Learning a new skill online?

I suppose we all struggle. Probably with different things. The only commonality is the struggle. The internal battle.

The struggle stretches me. It irritates me. It devastates me. It angers me.

Mainly the constant struggle of life frustrates me. And, my giving in to the struggles disappoints me.

Well, it’s more than that. It breaks my heart when I give in to life’s struggles. The ones that know my name. The one that haunts me constantly.

I know the Source to overcome. Following Him is another story.

Hindsight--100 Words

Hindsight.

Some say hindsight is 20/20.

I don’t know about that. Sometimes it is. Sometimes it isn’t. Sometimes, even in looking back, it’s difficult to make out what’s what.

I’ve decided some people blame hindsight for second guessing.

That’s closer to the truth.

Some people want to second guess every decision or action.

They question the motive of others. They question just about everything.

Then, as if to justify their second guessing they’ll say, “Well, in hindsight we should have…”

I’m tired of being second guessed. Especially when no one had the courage to speak up in the first place.

Gorilla--100 Words

Gorilla.

Big animal. Mean. Scary-looking. Something to fear.

All true definitions.

Gorilla is also the name of a superglue.

The same definitions used above fits the superglue!

Especially in the hands of a two-year-old. Twelve days ago, I was applying superglue to some paper.

In a second, my son grabbed the superglue. When I reacted, he jerked his hand back and touched the superglue to the corner of his eye.

In case you are wondering, superglue on the eyelid doesn’t take 15 seconds to set. Not even 5 seconds. Try instantly.

Gorilla—big, mean, scary. All true. Especially the superglue-variety.

Argumentative--100 Words

Argumentative.

Sure seems some people are more argumentative than agreeable.

Know people like that?

Not that a person always has to be in agreement with me or anyone else, for that matter.

But why is it that some people never seem to understand that there are two sides to an issue?

They’ll argue without knowing the facts or even listening to what is being said.

I guess I’m just getting old. I don’t suffer people like that for very long.

Let them be. Let them believe what they want to believe. Let them be right.

After all, aren’t they always?

Unknown--100 Words

Unknown.

Henry Louis Mencken once said: “The one permanent emotion of the inferior man is fear—fear of the unknown, the complex, the inexplicable. What he wants above everything else is safety.”

What do you think about that quote?

I want, from the depths of my being, to disagree with Mencken!

I want to say IT ISN’T TRUE!

But, is it?

Too often, I’m guilty of seeking the easy way and not the unknown.

Too often, I seek safety not uncertainty.

Am I a coward?

Or, is the course of least resistance sometimes good?

Is fear and safety always opposites?

Uneasy--100 Words

Uneasy.

Ever have those situations that causes uneasiness? Not sure anything is really wrong, but something seems amiss. Something’s not right.

I had one of those situations today while driving to work.

I saw something out of place. Just didn’t belong.

What do you do in those situations?

Those situations cause me to think. Maybe I over think the situation a little too much. I don’t know.

I’ve decided, I don’t like uneasiness.

I really don’t. I like certainty. I like to understand what I see.

I guess I like the known much more than the unknown.

How about you?