Aaaaaahhh, good drugs

Lucky me, I am sicker, so off to the doctor I toddled today, and now have 5 days' worth of prednisone and 10 days' worth of amoxicillin and that should knock out this crud which decided to awaken my asthma. Whee!!!

Got the second paper done. Two down, two to go. I have the sermon more or less sort of in place. I'm not real happy with it, it's not one I really feel passionate about, but there you go. After another couple slugs of antibiotics it may seem better, and of course there's still 36 hours to go (35 but who's counting?) before I have to deliver it, and anything can happen. The Visual Arts people made the slides all wonderful as they always do. There's one image I absolutely adore--two kids in what appears to be a praise choir, and one is clapping away but the second is clearly over the whole thing, and the look on her face is priceless. Isn't it true that, even in the middle of the most inspiring singing, sometimes you just "don't feel it??" The point for that one is that part of what church is about is being with others, so on those days you aren't alone and can maybe get carried along on the confidence of others, and some other day you'll carry someone else along, and that's how it goes, because there are times when all you can see in front of you is a steep uphill climb. I want to talk about how what looks like an uphill climb is sometimes absolutely accurate, especially at this time of the year, when the messages from the culture get so loud, telling us that our value is based on looks/money/amount of Stuff we have. And then propose some alternate things to look at other than ads--those we love, the beauty of nature. I've got a stunning photo of a climber on a very exposed ridge with summit in view, and beauty all round, and to me that works for the notion that perseverance may not lead us on a flat, easy route, but one filled with all the joy and beauty and inspiration of God.

Smarmy, isn't it? Feh.