Peanut has the right idea when it comes to Saturdays, better known in her world as Caturdays.

She’s not the World Champion Cat Napper that Lucy was. Yet.

As you can tell, she’s making strides toward learning how to nap at anytime, anywhere, for any reason at all. Or for no good reason at all.

I do think she’s on to something.

There’s a reason God instituted the Sabbath. Every one of us needs a day off and 24 hours to rest and recharge.

No one was ever designed to go 24/7 for long. Eventually, you burn out and your health gives out.

So I think Caturdays and cat naps are something I might incorporate into my own life more often.

Even at 18 months old, Peanut is teaching me stuff.

Honestly, I do think this would be a stellar way to spend the weekend, accompanied by much binging of cookies and Netflix.

I just might have to take on this challenge, and sooner rather than later.

Hopefully, it will inspire your wild and crazy Friday nights.

You’re welcome.

As I type these words, I can rest in the knowledge that I finally have a place for Spongebob to reside in my car. As of this afternoon (after five failed attempts), I now have a rear view mirror that is actually attached to my windshield.

I took the Red Sled to Safelite Repair on Cowan Road in Nashville where the nice bearded man was able to get my mirror  back on in way less time than it took me in any of my previous five attempts. Apparently, reattaching rear view mirrors is not my spiritual gift. But in this case, the sixth time was the charm.

I don’t know why this particular mirror was so difficult to reattach. All my other cars haven’t given me this much trouble. And yes, I’ve had the distinct pleasure of having my rear view mirror fall off the windshield of every car I’ve ever owned thus far.

It’s a task I don’t wish on anybody. Hopefully, I won’t have to experience it again at least  until my next vehicle. You don’t appreciate something like a rear view mirror until you’ve been without one for a bit. Now I think whoever invented it should get his or her own holiday, complete with no work and lots of chocolate.

It’s Wednesday, September 12, 2018, and it feels like my brain has been pureed into mush. I’ve been wracking my brains to come up with something witty or creative, and I got nothing.

It was just another day. Another day in which I was blessed to wake up, drive to a job, have more than enough food to eat, and feel contentment at the end of another productive day.

It’s nothing that I should take for granted, but I still do sometimes.

Not today.

Maybe instead of TGIF and living from weekend to weekend, I’ll start using TGFED (Thank God For Every Day) and try to treasure each day for the gift it really is.

Not bad for Hump Day.

I often do my best thinking while I’m walking. Tonight, it was me getting in a few extra steps after a fine dinner at Chick-fil-A.

I started thinking about Colin Kaepernick and him kneeling for the national anthem before football games. I thought about Nike starting an ad campaign featuring him, and how people are now burning their Nike apparel (which in my opinion accomplishes nothing).

I admit that it bothered me quite a bit. I was offended. I had to ask myself what it was that brought out such a response in me.

I don’t pretend to know everything about this dilemma, but here’s what I’m learning so far. I speak not from a position of authority but from someone who’s trying to understand.

I still am not a fan of kneeling for the anthem, but I also believe that standing for the flag is more than just something you do at football games when the Star Spangled Banner is sung or played.

The truest way you can show respect for the flag is to respect what the flag stands for. In the Pledge of Allegiance, it says that the flag stands for “one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice FOR ALL.”

Perhaps, a greater offense than kneeling for the anthem is to remain seated and to stay silent in the face of any kind of oppression or injustice.

The pledge reminds us that liberty and justice aren’t just for a select few. They’re not for a certain race or ethnicity or socioeconomic status. They are for all, and any kind of oppression or justice anywhere in this land is a threat to liberty and justice everywhere.

When faced with these issues, the best thing I can do isn’t to point a finger of blame, but to look in the mirror and realize that the start of any change begins in me. If I’m to cast any blame, it must be into that mirror, but better still is to begin to do what I can to be a source of light instead of criticizing the darkness.

Jesus promised that one day everything wrong will be made right. One day, oppression and injustice will cease to exist, and true liberty and justice will prevail. Until then, He calls us to be salt and light to help people see a little what the Kingdom of God looks like.

I had a little bit of church in the car on my way from work to Radnor Lake and from Radnor Lake to home. I had Aretha Franklin and The Southern California Community Choir singing Gospel music like it was meant to be sung.

It’s the Queen of Soul at her absolute best. I’m convinced after hearing this album, entitled Amazing Grace, that she was absolutely the best female singer ever. And she never sounded better than on these recordings from 1972. The title track alone is worth the price of the entire album.

As for Radnor Lake, it was as magical as ever. I couldn’t have asked for a more perfect evening for a hike with the fall-like temperatures. I’m still amazed that more people weren’t out there taking in the perfect weather.

When I’m at Radnor, I feel a kinship with ol’ Thoreau. I definitely could get used to living in nature away from the constant overload of noise and electronics and general business that prevails these days. Some times, I yearn for the peace and quiet of earlier times when there was less concrete and more green.

But I got in 20,000+ steps and saw six deers, so I’m not complaining. I’ll take my peace and solitude whenever I can get it.

One of my favorite annual events that I always look forward to is the Greek Festival held at Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church in Nashville, Tennessee.

This year marked the 31 years since they started. I haven’t made them all, but I’m positive that I’ve been to at least 7 or 8 in a row.

They have Greek food and Greek dancing. What more could you ask for?

And to clarify, I’m strictly a spectator when it comes to the Greek dancing. I’d probably hurt myself and/or take out an entire row of the audience if I chose to participate. It would not be pretty.

Greek food is always a win. Any ethnic food that has baklava and gyros and hummus is guaranteed to be good in my book.

Rain put a bit of a damper on this year’s event, but I can still say that I was there. Thankfully, they had tents set up as usual, and both the food and dancing were great.

Next year, I plan on being there for Festival #32. A good time will be had by all.

“‘The water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life’ (John 4:14).

We are to be fountains through which Jesus can flow as ‘rivers of living water’ in blessing to everyone. Yet some of us are like the Dead Sea, always receiving but never giving. Whenever the blessings are not being poured out in the same measure they are received, there is a defect in our relationship with Him. Stay at the Source, closely guarding your faith in Jesus Christ and your relationship to Him, and there will be a steady flow into the lives of others with no dryness or deadness whatsoever” (Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest).

I couldn’t agree more.

If all you do is receive and never give back, there will come a saturation point when you will cease to be able to take anymore in. It will all become just words and sounds.

Maybe if you feel like you’ve lost the ability to hear God speak, it’s because it’s time to take what He’s already told you and pour into the lives of others. In the life of faith, it’s always better to be a sharer rather than a hoarder.

I think I remember reading once that when you hear a sermon or a lecture, you retain a very small amount. When you hear it and write it down, you retain more. When you listen with the intent to pass it along to someone else, you retain much more. Best of all, when you listen and then put it into practice, you will not merely retain knowledge but be transformed, which is far better.

I think I’d do well to take some of my own words to heart more. I hope that you and I will continually find people in your life that we can pour into.

I realize that it’s been a four-day work week. I also realize that it’s Thursday, which means that tomorrow is the day that inspires happy dances everywhere, better known as Friday.

I’m learning how to appreciate the weekdays as much as the weekends, so that I’m not rushing from one weekend to the next, missing out on 5/7ths of my life.

But still, Fridays are nice. It’s like a little reward for surviving whatever the work week threw at you.

It’s even nicer still when you get to sleep in on Saturday.

Tonight, I began a six-week class covering the Minor Prophets. I believe they’re called that because none of them could hit a curve ball and make it to the majors, like Isaiah and Jeremiah.

There’s a reason why you hear precious few sermons from these little books at the end of the Old Testament. They’re not easy reads. They can get brutal and brutally honest at times.

The reality is that sin and the consequences of sin are serious business. God doesn’t wink at our sin and brush it under the proverbial rug. As a pastor once said, sin always has a cost, and that cost always involves death. We die a little every time we give in to the choice of sin.

But underneath all the woes and warnings is grace. Even in the scary Old Testament, there’s grace. On the flip side of justice is mercy.

The Gospel isn’t “I’m okay, you’re okay. Let’s all just try a little harder to be nice to people.”

The Gospel is “I’m broken. You’re broken. We’re all messed up because sin entered the picture and messed everything up. Sin has a price, but Jesus paid that price by taking the punishment of that sin fully upon Himself on the cross.

Grace isn’t denying sin but declaring that you can be saved from it to an abundant life in God. Up until your last breath, there’s always a chance for grace.

I confess that these Minor Prophets aren’t something you pick up for a light summer read. There’s a lot that I don’t like in there, but if I’m honest, I know that says more about me than about the Bible. That means something in me needs to change.

So begins a fun quest to cover 14 little books of the Old Testament in 6 weeks. I think I’m up for the challenge.