Posted by Grant
Just when Michelle and I thought we were getting the hang of this, things started getting difficult around day 8. After church on Sunday, we drove to Republic Coffee with our lunchboxes. Eat some homemade food with a delicious hot tea from a local business? Yes please! In my mind, I had it all figured out. It was a beautiful spring day, we had plenty of time to kill. We'll just stroll right in, get us a table, chat about the sermon, sip some tea. Michelle will drop me off, we'll kiss goodbye, and that will be that. It was my Friday after all. Why shouldn't things go exactly like this? Unbeknownst to me, this would not go as I had planned.
Michelle and I got out of our car and walked in. I had both lunchboxes and water bottles. We walked inside and were greeted by a friendly-looking gentleman in his early 40's. He took us to our table. As he was placing the menus on it, I smiled and politely informed him of our intentions.
Me: "Thank you. But we don't need those. We brought our lunch."
Server: "We don't allow outside food."
Me: (laughing) "I'm sorry. What I meant to say was, we're not occupying your table as nonpaying customers. We're ordering tea. We just won't be ordering any food, because we brought our own."
Server: "We don't allow outside food."
Without warning, I felt a tidal wave of anger come over me. In less than a second I had gone from happy to enraged. I began to have malicious thoughts about this man, whom I had never met. I began to have thoughts about what four letter word I shout at him him next. Thankfully, I kept my mouth shut. But that wasn't the worst of it. Michelle apologized to him for me as I gathered up our belongings and we left. As we were getting into our car, I noticed the worried expression on her face.
Me: What?!
Michelle: Don't you ask me "what!" You know exactly what you did.
Me: I didn't do anything!
Michelle: You were staring at him like you wanted him to go to Hell!
When your wife says something to you like this, take heed. We drove over to the Central Library parking lot and ate our meal in a silence as thick as an autumn morning fog. My wife will tell you that I can only pretend that everything is ok for so long. Eventually I crack and the matter must be settled. Such was the case in this instance. I drove back to Republic Coffee, got out and located the server. I offered my hand and apologized to him. He took it, and he smiled at me. He said he hadn't meant to be rude, but that was just their policy. I said no, it was me that had been rude. Because that's how it was. Like a child, I hadn't gotten what I wanted, and I felt justified making my anger known.
This incident taught me a fact about myself that I've known for quite some time, but still don't like to admit. I do not like being inconvenienced. In fact, I hate it. Even at 27, I still want things my way. And I want them now. Not tomorrow. Not 5 minutes from now. Right now. 5 minutes ago. I don't do well with lines, waiting rooms, or stop and go traffic. I want to get in, do what I need to do, and get out. Remember that Burger King slogan from the 90's? "Your way right away." Granted, I'm not as bad at this as I used to be, but it is still very evident in my life and my attitudes about people. I am impatient and I want convenience. Because I have things to do, places to go, people to meet. I'm in a hurry. Because I am important and have important things to do.
My wife recently communicated some real wisdom to me about living like this. Ezekiel the prophet saw men, "with their backs to the temple of the Lord, and their faces toward the east, worshiping the sun..." (Ezekiel 8:16, ESV) As postmodern man understands it, a 24 hour day is based on the earth's rotation around the sun. I constantly check my watch, I am obsessed with "saving time,"I don't like being inconvenienced, and have no patience. Essentially this amounts to worshiping the sun, which is idolatry. Most of us think of worship as some sort of organized event, where everyone wears similar attire and bodily prostrates themselves before some stone idol. But not all idols are made of stone. Some are made of flesh, some are made of dreams. In this case, it is a star. Rushing and racing through life never really saved me any time. It only made me more frantic and stressed out. When I did "save time," it was probably 15 minutes. The sun god is not a kind one. This fast has shown me a very important lesson thus far. I am an idolater and I need to repent.
Republic Coffee (http://www.republiccoffeememphis.com), 2924 Walnut Grove Memphis, TN 38111
Showing posts with label Ezekiel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ezekiel. Show all posts
Thursday, March 15, 2012
Sunday, March 4, 2012
Simplifying the Skeltons! Month One/Day One
Posted by Grant
This is the official inauguration of our fast. Michelle and I went shopping last night and purchased all of our foods. Subsequently, we came home and raided our fridge (in a very different sense). No Ramen noodle packet was safe, no frozen Tupperware overlooked. We cleaned out our fridge and left nothing but the shelves. Then we filled it with our approved foods, a list of which follows below.
We had our final indulgence last night at the Bayou (http://www.bayoubarmemphis.com/), a place that has become one of our favorite Midtown restaurants. The kitchen is open late, and no matter what time we show up on a Friday or Saturday night, we always get a table. I immersed myself in a deep bowl of blackened chicken and shrimp fettuccine (creamy red sun-dried tomato sauce) and also got my first taste of Ghost River beer (http://ghostriverbrewing.com/). I had the seasonal Black Magic and it was the most delicious dark beer I've had in quite some time. Speaking of beer, it isn't on our list of approved foods. Let us take a moment to look over that list.
The Hatmaker approved list, from chapter one of "7":
1. Chicken
2. Spinach
3. Eggs
4. Whole wheat bread
5. Sweet potatoes
6. Avocados
7. Apples
The modified Skelton certified list:
1. Turkey
2. Spinach
3. Bananas
4. Oatmeal
5. Eggs
6. Sweet potatoes
7. Avocados
8. Tortillas
9. Carrots
10. Tomatoes
11. Beans
12. Pineapple
In "7," Jen Hatmaker encourages readers to modify or alternate the plan to fit their own lives. Michelle knows of a couple that tried only the 7 foods from the book (please read it for more information). That method didn't work for them because the husband is a runner and he wasn't getting enough protein. We've made some changes to give ourselves plenty of foods with genuine nutritional value. We're reading ingredients lists and not purchasing foods with ingredients we can't pronounce (maltodeoxyriboflavindextrosiumafolic acid). The only approved beverages are water and tea. This of course excludes my newly found Ghost River beer and coffee. If you've ever spoken to my wife before she's had coffee, you know that you will hear words and syllables you didn't know the human tongue could utter. Likewise I have become dependent on my daily caffeine rush. We'll be stocking up our tea over the next day or so.
To conclude, I want to clarify and define the essence of our motivation. Together, we've read countless books on how to "get it." Every season, every year there's some new pastor/seminary professor/guru/public pundit/talking head that writes a book on how to "get it." It's laden with cool, hip language and metaphors and slang terms. It sells lots of copies and people talk about it for a few years. I do not think "7" is one such book. I believe that Michelle and I are embarking on a journey with our Father that will change and renew us from the inside out. It will show us our spiritual lack, and reveal just how "other" and "foreign" God is to us. How totally and absolutely unlike us He is. This is our real mission. The fast is just the road to walk upon, not the destination.
“And you, take wheat and barley, beans and lentils, millet and emmer, and put them into a single vessel and make your bread from them." - Ezekiel 4:9, ESV
This is the official inauguration of our fast. Michelle and I went shopping last night and purchased all of our foods. Subsequently, we came home and raided our fridge (in a very different sense). No Ramen noodle packet was safe, no frozen Tupperware overlooked. We cleaned out our fridge and left nothing but the shelves. Then we filled it with our approved foods, a list of which follows below.
We had our final indulgence last night at the Bayou (http://www.bayoubarmemphis.com/), a place that has become one of our favorite Midtown restaurants. The kitchen is open late, and no matter what time we show up on a Friday or Saturday night, we always get a table. I immersed myself in a deep bowl of blackened chicken and shrimp fettuccine (creamy red sun-dried tomato sauce) and also got my first taste of Ghost River beer (http://ghostriverbrewing.com/). I had the seasonal Black Magic and it was the most delicious dark beer I've had in quite some time. Speaking of beer, it isn't on our list of approved foods. Let us take a moment to look over that list.
The Hatmaker approved list, from chapter one of "7":
1. Chicken
2. Spinach
3. Eggs
4. Whole wheat bread
5. Sweet potatoes
6. Avocados
7. Apples
The modified Skelton certified list:
1. Turkey
2. Spinach
3. Bananas
4. Oatmeal
5. Eggs
6. Sweet potatoes
7. Avocados
8. Tortillas
9. Carrots
10. Tomatoes
11. Beans
12. Pineapple
In "7," Jen Hatmaker encourages readers to modify or alternate the plan to fit their own lives. Michelle knows of a couple that tried only the 7 foods from the book (please read it for more information). That method didn't work for them because the husband is a runner and he wasn't getting enough protein. We've made some changes to give ourselves plenty of foods with genuine nutritional value. We're reading ingredients lists and not purchasing foods with ingredients we can't pronounce (maltodeoxyriboflavindextrosiumafolic acid). The only approved beverages are water and tea. This of course excludes my newly found Ghost River beer and coffee. If you've ever spoken to my wife before she's had coffee, you know that you will hear words and syllables you didn't know the human tongue could utter. Likewise I have become dependent on my daily caffeine rush. We'll be stocking up our tea over the next day or so.
To conclude, I want to clarify and define the essence of our motivation. Together, we've read countless books on how to "get it." Every season, every year there's some new pastor/seminary professor/guru/public pundit/talking head that writes a book on how to "get it." It's laden with cool, hip language and metaphors and slang terms. It sells lots of copies and people talk about it for a few years. I do not think "7" is one such book. I believe that Michelle and I are embarking on a journey with our Father that will change and renew us from the inside out. It will show us our spiritual lack, and reveal just how "other" and "foreign" God is to us. How totally and absolutely unlike us He is. This is our real mission. The fast is just the road to walk upon, not the destination.
“And you, take wheat and barley, beans and lentils, millet and emmer, and put them into a single vessel and make your bread from them." - Ezekiel 4:9, ESV
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