Not Quite Back

So I finally have worked my way back to the blog after a long hiatus.  This may be the way things are for a while as my mind is elsewhere these days.  I have been working at the church on various projects and plans.  There are also the usual pastoral requirements that seem to be more frequent and intense these days.  I suspect that this is the result of my lengthening tenure here.  It is good.  I am connecting with people in different ways.  Also,  I have been spending time with my family, getting to know the kids in this phase of their lives and hanging out with my wife as we get used to her new job and schedule.  She doesn't have a home office anymore.  This means we have to be more intentional about making time for each other.

Now, I do think about Burbania Posts.  Every once in a while something happens (like the Super Bowl) that makes me want to go type up a little essay to share with the score or so readers who might accidentally encounter it.  Still, there is always something better to do.  In the spare moments of my day I would rather read, or visit, or practice the ukulele or mandolin.  The fact is, I am becoming old-fashioned.  Technology isn't moving me these days.  It isn't all that convenient and now I am finding myself increasingly compromised by my friends at Google and Facebook and there rapidly vacillating confidentiality policies.  I am enjoying being more of a person and less of a computer part, I guess.

Stepping away from this stuff has been good.  I am enjoying interacting with people in more personable ways.  I am also finding that a world of church, family, and books is good for me.  Even the instruments I play are old-fashioned.  In these pictures, you can see them resting on my grandparents' ratty old chair.  The chair, itself, and I go back for about forty years.  It is interesting that we turn to this sort of thing when we get tired of all the rushing about.  I am not nostalgic for a simpler past.  I don't think such a past ever existed.  I am, however, drawn to things that don't beep or whistle at me and that don't need a plug or a key.

Don't worry, I am not going away completely.  I will still be around enough for my information to be stolen.  Its just that if you really want to know what I think about something (or what I am thinking about) your best bet is to give me a call, or come to church.

See, I am already worn out from all this typing and posting.  Today is my ostensible sabbath-day and I am "stealing time" from other things.  Turns out I still do work on the sabbath, but I try to make it more general planning and study-type work instead of focussing on immediate tasks.  Right now I am thinking about how the church could offer different sorts of worship at different times.  I am planning the music for those services when I double as musician.  It has been interesting to listen to different songs played both on the uke and the mando.  There are different emphases for each.  I am having trouble deciding what to play on which. It will probably depend on context.  Who is singing and do I have anyone playing along?  Let me know if you would like to sit in on a couple of songs this summer...I'm serious...

I will, of course, post what songs I decide to play both as hymns and for special music this summer (and for any other "special services" I end up with). I will also try to get myself into a reasonable weekly posting schedule as there are things I am thinking about that could use some air.

Anyway, back to it. Worship scheduling, music, family, congregation, even prayer.... Real life is good, even if the virual life is a bit thin in places....