Posting here had been delayed, but I'm back

I have not posted a blog in too long a period of time. There are a few reasons for this. Most of them revolve around reluctance to write drivel. There seems to be so much drivel written these days and I have not wanted to add to it.

One solution that may work for me involves choosing a specific person, in my head, and write what may make sense to that one person. If others “listen in” it is acceptable to me, at least now. It’s not so much that I have nothing to say. I keep thinking and continue to have a dialog, at least in my head. It is more difficult, I think, for introverts, and especially male introverts, to write their thoughts to groups of others.

One way I can get past the tendency to keep my thoughts to myself is to begin writing to so-and-so. Perhaps that is you today. What do you think about that?

Whatever the reason, I am now back in a different frame of mind and intend to keep posting to this blog.

Quote from the Presiding Bishop

I read the following passage this morning in Presiding Bp, Katharine Jefferts Schori’s new book, Gospel in the Global Village: Seeking God’s Dream of Shalom.

Read: Joshua 24:14-18; John 3:1-12; Surah al-Ma’ida (5):48 texts on religion and violence from three Abrahamic faiths.

Bp. Katharine states:
How do we hear these texts? As Jews, Christians, or Muslims, do we hear only our own tradition?
Do we hear with the ears of one who has been liberated from slavery? Then choose this day to serve the God who has done that.
Do we hear what we have always heard, justification for where we are, what we believe, the community in which we live and move and have our comfortable being? Careful—nobody gets to see the kingdom on God without being born again.
Do we hear with the assumption that we have the full and final and only truth? Well, God is still as work—don’t be too eternally certain.

What I have learned from Link Light Rail

I have been learning a new lesson. The new Link Light Rail project in Seattle has set an example for me. It is not about riding the light rail train in place of my “global warmer” vehicle. Besides, it is difficult to get me out of my electric vehicle conversion that I drive daily. Further, Link Light Rail does not travel where I need to go.

However, the Light Rail project has taught me by example about studying and learning before it is “crunch time.” Fully one month before the light rail trains opened their doors to the public which happened a couple of weeks ago they were running the routes. For several weeks I saw the light rail trains running on their tracks without riders. It was easy to think, “That’s dumb. They are just driving the trains for weeks at a time without riders.”

During this initial phase they were breaking in the equipment and breaking in the engineers who would be driving the trains. I think that they also used those practice runs to set the train schedules.

In most other civic projects additions are made to what is already in place. For instance the bus system may add new drivers, new buses, or even new routes, but they are adding on to a system that is up and running. Light Rail is a completely new public project for Seattle.
What I have learned from Link Light Rail for my own life is how good it is to start a new project while the old one is still functioning. Run both projects side by side for longer than one might think is needed. When the new system is beyond working out the flaws and bugs, then one can switch over to the new system in a more seamless manner.

At our store I have been investigating a new postage and mailing label system. If, or when, we use it there will be many aspects of our routine that will change. It is critical to make certain that all of the bugs are out of the system before it takes over as the sole method of producing mailing labels with postage on them.

More details. From an offer I received in the mail I hesitatingly tried Stamps.com for creating mailing labels and postage for our shipping needs. For the first few days Stamps.com looked good. It was easy to use. The graphics were very helpful. Their technical support reps on the phone were excellent and always available.

Always, always, verify by trying out the technical support system before you purchase or use a program. They can make or break a good application. I have seen more than one bookstore, and certainly one book distribution facility go out of business due directly to adopting a new computerized system that had too many flaws for them to continue in business. Using Stamps.com showed me a system that would improve our store operations and our shipping methods. It imbued me with enthusiasm, but its design did not fit our needs.

After several different attempts and a couple of phone calls I learned that Stamps.com is designed for customers with a much smaller address book than we have. Loading our whole address book on to their software was possible, but it was unusable. Stamps.com’s search method for the addresses was not compatible with our addresses. Reluctantly I cancelled our trial subscription with them.

By further searching I found another company with a similar application. Endicia is built for larger mailing operations. Ah, but, Endicia is a company that has been purchased by a multi-national corporation. They have trimmed their expenses. From my experience the wait on the phone to talk with a technical service person averages about 30-minutes. Such a long wait is intolerable for our business. We can not afford to have me, or anyone of us, wait on hold for 30-minutes. Endicia offers a somewhat extensive technical database on their website. If I am patient, read directions carefully, follow their links to further instructions, and am not interrupted by customers, phone calls, or staff questions, then the information that I need is generally available. There remains an issue with the address book, but for this issue we have developed a “work-around” method that looks functional. I think that we can make the work around satisfy our needs.

In the past couple of weeks, when I have had the time, and for a few customers, I’ve tried using Endicia. I see that, especially when we purchase the correct printer and postal scale, it will very likely save us time and money. There is more testing yet to be done before we change our shipping routines and cancel our relationship with the postage meter supplier, and make the commitment to using Endicia as our sole shipping label system. I think that we are at about a 90% commitment to Endicia. In another week or so I expect that we will make the decision.

Thanks to Link Light Rail I know that we need to test, test, and retest the new system and all of its components. Then we will run them side-by-side for some time until we fully commit to the new system and change our routines. This is just one more example of how this ministry-which-is-the-store continues to be an enjoyable and challenging learning experience.

The woman who wanted a Bible

Our store is in the middle of our annual Summer Sale. Part of the sale includes what we refer to as Porch Books. They are books that were on sale last summer and then throughout the rest of the year, and still have not sold. We put them in display boxes on our front porch (well, it is hardly a porch, but it is outside the front door).

Another part of this story concerns a few of our visitors who see the world differently than I do. One woman came in this week carrying two Porch Books. She asked, “Are these Bibles?” One was a full-size hardcover book that was a Church Annual that lists all of the congregations, their addresses, and the names of the clergy. It is certainly not a Bible. The other was a non-descript paperback book. It was very obvious to me that neither of those books were Bibles. I replied to her, “No, those are not Bibles. Do you want a Bible?” “Yes,” she said and immediately deposited those two books on the counter and went back outside. She then came in with two other books and asked if they were Bibles. Once again I said “No.” And, I asked if I could help her find a Bible. She wanted a Bible for one dollar but we did not have one for even $10 that I may have given to her for a dollar. She finally purchased a dollar book that included some Bible quotes in it.

What was obvious to me was that this woman could not read. She had no idea about what the words inside a book looked like to be called a Bible. I was deeply saddened that she was so handicapped that she could not determine on her own the kind of contents that was in a book. A bible usually has written on its cover the word “Bible.” She could not determine even that much. Another feeling that I had for her was worry about how vulnerable that woman was to anyone who could read words when she couldn’t. How easily she could be taken advantage of or be harmed by people who know the meaning of written words. At the same time, she knew that having a bible was important and she wanted one, even if she could not read it.

Ah. My heart hurts for her.

Changing or remaining steadfastly the same?

I had an E-mail conversation (several messages back and forth over a few hours) with Barbara, a parish secretary or administrator in an Episcopal congregation. Her congregation has not moved along with the rest of the Episcopal Church in the past several years. In the Episcopal Church the Scripture lessons to be read in church each week are listed in the back of the prayer book. Perhaps nine years ago there was a move to change the lessons. The Revised Common Lectionary is the new listing of lessons to be read in church. They are “revised” from the previous list. They are “common” meaning that several different denominations, including Roman Catholic, Lutheran, Presbyterian, Episcopalian, and others have agreed to use the same list of lessons. A “Lectionary” is the list of lessons.

Six years ago the Episcopal Church, nationally, agreed to begin using the Revised Common Lectionary (RCL) for “trial use.” It was up to dioceses and congregations whether or not they use them. Three years ago was the time for all congregations to use them, but the old Lectionary was still permissible to use. Beginning this Advent (the beginning of the new church year near the end of November) the old Lectionary will not be able to be used and we are all supposed to be using the RCL.

Barbara’s congregation, probably with the leadership of the priest, is not changing to the RCL. They are continuing to use the old Lectionary. She wrote to me wanting to order the calendar that they have always used, the one that lists the old Lectionary readings on it. Barbara said that last year’s calendar did not have the old Lectionary and it has been a burden to them that she wanted to correct. I explained that the calendar publisher was not including the old Lectionary on their calendars now.

In a series of messages Barbara kept coming up with other questions and possible solutions to find a calendar that will list the old lessons for each Sunday. I could read her feelings of stress in needing a calendar to meet her congregation’s needs.

I was saddened and felt sorry for Barbara and her congregation. The Church, in many of its denominations is moving onward. Throughout history things have always been changing in the Church and they continue to change. Barbara’s congregation has decided not to change. This is coupled, in my opinion, with the results of the “me, now” generation. That is, the “I want it my way and I want it now” view of life. In the past generation this has become the norm for those of us living in this culture. Barbara’s congregation has not changed and kept up with the changing Church, but they still “want it my way and want it now.” She did not get as indignant as I may be presenting it, but the underlying concern of Barbara’s was “What do you mean that we can not obtain the calendar printed with the lessons that we want on it?”

It is, to me, a sad situation for Barbara’s congregation. They, or perhaps just the priest who is their leader, have made the decision to stop growing in the life of the Church. Part of that decision results in the rub, the pinch, that comes from wanting what no longer exists.

What a corner we box ourselves into sometimes by wanting things to remain as they have been but can not be that way any longer.

Some help for keeping up with General Convention 2009.

Are you curious, interested, fascinated, or urgently need some information and insight on the progress, events, and actions of the Episcopal Church’s triennial national meeting, General Convention, being held in Anaheim CA?

Here are some links to blogs from participants. Perhaps you can browse them and find one or two that “speak to you.”

From the Diocese of Olympia (Western Washington State) participants:

* Young Adult Deputy Katrina Hamilton
* Bishop Greg Rickel
* Diocese of Olympia deputation

From the Diocese of San Diego CA participants

Twitter links:

* www.twitter.com/ecwwtweets
* www.tweetbeep.com

Offering one-stop shopping for worldwide coverage of General Convention, this site features video, audio slideshows, news stories, Twitter feeds, Facebook updates, Flickr photo galleries and more. Visit it here.

Do you have other sources to suggest? Add them as comments or E-mail them to me and I will consider including them in this list.

So many books, so little time!

It has been way too long since I posted to this blog. I intend to change that.

My most enjoyable, inspiring, uplifting, hopeful book this week is not a book from our store. I’ll tell you about it anyway.

The first gardening book that turned my gardening world upside down maybe fifteen years ago was Jeff Ball’s Sixty–Minute Garden, Rodale Press, 1985. I incorporated his creative and fresh ideas in my garden immediately and have enjoyed continuing to use his ideas over the years. I just love those authors who take a fresh look at what we all know how to do, or all know “what is,” and give us new methods to try. The changes that Jeff Ball encouraged were so different and thoughtful that I couldn’t wait to utilize them those many years ago. His ideas result in working in my garden less than sixty minutes a week. He eliminates the continual battle with garden hoses for water and other tasks like weeding. And, they work! They have been working in my garden for about fifteen years.

Now Mel Bartholomew has a new book, The All New Square Foot Gardening, Cool Springs Press, 2005, paperback, $19.99. Each page has refreshing new ideas about gardening that are thoughtful, reasonable, and I can hardly wait to try them. I have been reading a page or two at every opportunity, avoiding continual reading because I may forget one of the nuggets on each page. Bartholomew’s enthusiasm spills over into other parts of my life with creative ideas that are “outside the box.” One example from this book: instead of using a lot of heavy dirt to grow the garden plants the author offers a mixture of peat moss, vermiculite, and compost that results in no weeds, no fertilizer, and very little watering. At first it sounds strange but stick with the author and he shows you how and why it works.