i got flicked off

for those of you concerned, i returned from pearlington mississippi alive and well a few weeks ago. we fully completed an 1100 square foot home in about 7 days. i was able to have a few discussions with a couple of pastors down there and heard the condition of their hearts and spirits. both of them where very forthcoming with me and both were tired, tired from the struggle to keep their hopes alive, tired of living in fema trailors and tired from having to be a pillar of strength for those around them. it hurt my heart.

yesterday i was genuinely flicked off for the first time in a long time. i say genuinely because i have a handful of friends who use their middle fingers as tokens of affection, much like hugs. i am a fairly gentle-natured-teddy-bear-esque-laid-back kind of person. being this type of person, my behavior doesn't typically warrant the rage of another person's middle finger. i do have to say that it caught me a bit off guard.

the incident occurred at cracker barrel of all places. this restaurant should embody a small town sense of love and community, most places with rocking chairs and porches do. the country cooking should be good for your soul, comforting you. i do not know how such an atmosphere could allow a person to leave in such an aggravated state, i really don't. perhaps this particular person had difficulty with the golf-tee pyramid intelligence test, i'll never know.

what i do know is that this person had very much difficulty removing her car from her parking space. a process that should have involved simply reversing straight back, putting the car into drive and turning left became a very complicated and intricate 17-point turn.

i was dumbfounded. this person was simply dumb. for several minutes the driver pulled forward, reversed, turned a hair, pulled forward, reversed, turned a hair and so on and so forth. the ordeal lasted long enough for my dad and i to have various conversations about the episode and for at least one of us to consider offering our own driving acumen as a solution.

after a while, it became a little comical to me. i began to chuckle a little. it became a sort of smirk.

the light dawned and the person pulled back into the spot, reversed straight back and made a simple left out of the parking lot.

as the car pulled by us, the window rolled down. at first, the person appeared to be waving at us, a sort of apology for the longevity of the driving procedure. next, it looked as though the person was moving into a sort of peace sign (i thought it quite strange that someone would flash a peace sign in this situation). finally the person extended the middle finger directly at me.

wow, i thought to myself. i've just been flicked off. it did seem a bit extreme to me. but i'm sure my laughter didn't help her have a better day. of course, i could have been laughing at any number of things outside of the terrible driving spectacle going on in front of me, say a joke or the like. thus, i determined that this middle finger was unwarranted.

this evening i began reading a book by george barna, of the barna group, entitled revolution. i'm at the half-way point and must say that i have found it quite interesting and challenging. the barna group is well known for doing research for people like disney, the us military, billy graham and various types of churches. barna is said to be the most quoted man in the church (this is odd considering Jesus and paul probably get a good bit of play. my guess is Jesus and paul get hurt by the classics 'somewhere in the new testament' and 'i think Jesus or paul said...' or that they mean extra-biblical sources. the book takes a look at the social, philosophical and theological movements within Christian culture and the church. i'd recommend it thus far.

which reminds me, i need to change the now reading books on the right of my blog. at one point i had the intentions of this up to date with what i'm reading. but it was too tedious to keep up. perhaps some day i'll be a real blogger. until that day, these random and unscheduled posts shall have to suffice. Godspeed my friends, Godspeed.