Winter Weary?

Yesterday I hung my winter clothes back in the closet.

Yes our eight or ten days of Winter here in north Florida proved grueling, (Remember that photo I took on Feb. 6^th?) but Ginny and I survived.

Now cold weather appears to have passed; tv weather guy predicts mid 80s temperature by Saturday; so I packed away my parka and mukluks.

This morning I put on my swimming trunks and began cleaning the pool.

I haven’t cleaned the pool since November; King Algae reigns.

If the tiniest bit of algae remains in the water, it spreads green slime on walls and bottom. In a few weeks it turns our pristine pool into thick green soup.

I should have kept it down.

But I didn’t.

Some spiritual lesson here? Yes, for several weeks now, I’ve had algae of the soul. I need a good scouring—with the Christian equivalent of chlorine (whatever that is). My filter is clogged.

I’m reluctant to read the Scripture; just don’t have the energy for it. I neglect prayer. I’ve waste time looking at naked internet ladies again. I find even the thought of church attendance loathsome. I avoid witnessing to people I previously intended to talk with about their souls. I’m ignoring my diet. I regard the poor as a nuisance.

Spiritual algae—I wallow in it.

Maybe it’s just the doldrums of Winter. I’d like to think so…

But come right down to it, I’m me just being me.

Lord, have mercy on John Cowart… Green pastures, not green algae, please, Sir.

Here’s Jon’s take on the matter:

Different subject:

Tuesday night, Feb. 24^th) President Obama addressed a joint session of Congress.

Concerning education, he said that learning is not just for kids.

“Tonight,” he said, “I ask every American to commit to at least one year or more of higher education or career training… this country needs and values the talents of every American ”.

In the light of that, Ginny and I have been discussing how to enhancing our own education. Certainly not by going back to a classroom; I hated school when I was there. Maybe something on-line. I’m considering advanced rescue training, Latin, computer stuff, or some subject altogether unfamiliar. We’ve even talked about square dancing. We’ll settle on something soon. But we do plan to do it.

Another thing the President encouraged was for Americans to express consumer confidence in the economy. So, this morning I bought two books I’ve been hesitating to buy for six weeks.

I didn’t vote for either of the two major candidates (see my November 2008 postings in the blog archive if you really care about political stuff more than I do), but once a President is elected, I’ll do what little things I can to support him and the nation.

I always pray that politicians know more about what’s going on than I think they do.

Hummm… Can you get a billion dollar federal grant for a scaled-down algae eradication project (i.e. Fight unemployment by hiring a pool boy).

Would that qualify as one of those Green Projects the President was pushing?

Last night Ginny and I stayed up way too late watching Anthony Hopkins and Jessica Lange in Titus, a DVD film version of Shakespeare’s first play, Titus Andronicus. We watched the play for hours, then stayed up even later talking about it. Vengeance, rape, murder, mutilation, manipulation, betrayal, and Roman Legionaries on motorcycles--Great fun!

Worth staying up late to watch; But I’m paying for it this morning.