Shaky Theology

This could be a dangerous discussion . . .

We are entering the season of Lent . . . a time when all good Christians get back their power tools, rakes, and 10 bucks from their neighbors and friends. Or at least it should be.

I try not to borrow things (aside from jokes). Given my proclivity for damage, I would rather break my own stuff, thank you. Drill bits are my specialty. And jig saw blades. Never met one I couldn’t snap.

I learned not to borrow early on, in grade school. The worst feeling in the world is borrowing that (insert your favorite color here) crayon and having it snap in two. Even those fat boy crayons were not safe from my evil powers. Pencils were the another easy target for me. I think I was dealing with some internal stress issues that caused me to death grip whatever was in my hand and crush it into the paper before me.

I also still have guilt over “borrowing” a metal pendant from a class mate (as a joke) and discovering it years later cleaning out a closet. That’s one I’m gonna have to answer for on judgement day. Another one I’m gonna have to answer for is the tote lid. I was up visiting the kids and grandkid and went to the box store to purchase three big totes to store their Christmas stuff in. I grabbed the three totes and three lids and headed to the self-checkout. When I got back to their apartment, I realized that there was already a lid on one of the totes, so I had taken one too many. I told the missus that we were going to have to stop back at the store on the way outta town and return it. But things got late, we got in a hurry and I forgot about it until we unpacked the car when we got back to Grinnell. One tote lid too many. Now, people will say ” that’s why they have insurance . . . acceptable loss, etc.” That damm tote lid is my tell-tale heart, or Raskolnikov’s purse. It haunts me. And will eventually drive me mad. Until I return it to the box store from whence it was purloined.

I hope they too are in a season of Lent.