Can you say sunset?

I remember one small radio station I worked at in those early days where I had a drive time show in the afternoon… then had to load the mobile unit with the station’s trash and haul it to the dump on Saturdays.  That’ll keep ya’ humble. This is the same station where one afternoon, the manager came in the control room, handed me a bunch of fishing reports from nearby lakes and told me to give a fishing report,  because we had a new sponsor. I’m not a fisherman, but I boldly launched into my first…and last ever…fishing report.  I could see through the studio windows that everyone in the station was rolling on the floor, laughing.  I had no idea what was causing all the laughter…again,  I AM NOT A FISHERMAN.  Is it MY fault that ‘crappie’ is not pronounced the way it’s spelled?  Or that the stupid fishing report was all about crappie?  Needless to say to say, the new sponsor cancelled.  For some odd reason, they didn’t fire me.

Despite the setbacks, my career finally started to take off when I was hired by a major market radio station to host their drive time Sunset Show (Yeah, I know…cheesy show title; but hey, the money was good.)  When the time for the first show rolled around, I was as nervous as a Chihuahua on amphetamines.  After all, this was my debut in the “Big Time.”  The theme song rolled, the on-the-air light came on and, sweating bullets, I announced, “Ladies and gentlemen…welcome to the Suns- -t Show!”  Yep, I bleeped my first words in the Big Time. “Welcome to the Suns- -t Show.”  I said it five more times before I finally staggered off the air 3 hours later.  It’s become such a mental block that, to this day, I have to concentrate when I say, s-u-n-s-e-t.   For some odd reason, they didn’t fire me, either.

In other words, stuff happens. (No bleep here, thank you very much) Usually, of course, it was a mistake by me that caused stuff to happen…but hey, who’s counting?  The point is, we all screw up on a pretty regular basis; sometimes the consequences can be severe, sometimes not so much.  In my case, I made a ton of mistakes in the early years that could have ended my career before it really started.  Instead, a lot of understanding bosses let me slide. Sadly, at the time, I was too dumb and filled with youthful arrogance to be grateful; instead I just took it as my due. After all, I’m me.

Isn’t that human nature?  We take all the helping hands for granted…after all, we’re us.  That forgiveness/second chance stuff?  We deserve it…we’re special, aren’t we?  We barge through the days, months and years totally oblivious to all those people who came through our lives and gave us those second and third chances. Being totally honest with myself, (which is almost never a comfortable thing to do) I asked myself how many of those mentors, friends, relatives, employers and co-workers of mine have I gone back to and thanked them putting up with me and my mistakes. Sadly, the answer is; hardly any.  How about you?  Yeah, right.

When you think about it, isn’t that kind of biblical?  God’s people screw up.  He forgives them and gives them another chance.  God’s people screw up again and He forgives them again and gives them another chance….and on and on.  So are God’s people filled with gratitude and thanksgiving for all those do-over’s?  Not so much. In fact, an amazing number of us even deny that He is part of their lives.  Most of the rest of us simply ignore Him.  And yet, for some odd reason He hasn’t fired us.  Yet.

Epilogue
Matthew, when writing down the part of the Lord’s Prayer, “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us,” used the word aphiemi for forgive.  It means to send away.  It’s the same word used in Luke 4:39 when Jesus rebuked the fever in Peter’s mother-in-law.  That is the same kind of forgiveness Psalm 103:12 describes as God removing our transgressions “as far as the East is from the West.”

Thought for the Day                                            
Everyone thinks forgiveness is a lovely idea…until they have something to forgive                                 C.S. Lewis

A semi-interesting fact
If you think you spend a lot on gas, consider; A jumbo jet uses 4,000 gallons of fuel just to take off.

Joke Du Jour
Two lawyers were walking along, negotiating a case.
"Look," said one to the other, "let's be honest with each other."
"Okay, you first," replied the other.
That was the end of the discussion.

New Feature!!
Cool songs you’ve never heard on radio. Check the player on the upper right, click and brighten your day.

Really??  Actual News Stories:

Dumbo lives. Officials in Glendale, Calif., are working on ways to make their circus elephant float for the Rose Bowl Parade less obnoxious to animal rights activists. The float features a fake elephant -- manufactured -- pulling a carriage. While no living elephants will be involved when the float travels through Pasadena on New Year's Day, members of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals say it glorifies the exploitation of animals in the circus. And people say clowns are stupid.

Ramp Up The Deficit - The San Francisco Board of Supervisors is installing a 10-foot wheelchair ramp to the President's chair. Because it's in a historic building, they hired outside historic consultants for $48,824 and paid $132,205 for a historically appropriate design. The staff cost of overseeing the project was $38,434. They also spent $25,200 for materials, $201,678 for labor and $49,000 for a set of historically accurate brass handrails. And it took 10 weeks to install, so they spent $51,042 to relocate the meetings. The total cost of the ramp was nearly $700,000. The Board President said that it's significantly less than the original plan for the ramp that would've cost $1.1 million. So by bureaucratic logic, they actually saved $310,000. Did we mention that neither the Board President nor any member of the board is IN a wheelchair?

Our bozo criminal for the week from St. Louis, Missouri, must have remembered the old bank robber's quote that you rob banks because that's where the money is. Thinking that a police substation lot would be a good place to break into cars, because that's where the cars are, our bozo entered the lot just after 1 a.m. and began looting cars. Lots of cars, yes. Lots of police officers, too. He was quickly spotted and placed under arrest. Jail is where the cells are.  Lots of cells.

Antlers in the treetop  It was dark when Per Johansson returned from work to his home just south of Gothenburg, Sweden.  "It was raining really bad. I heard something screaming with a very dark voice," Johansson said. "At first I wondered if it was the crazy neighbors, but then I heard it again and went and I saw something really big up in a tree in my neighbors' yard and it was a moose. It must have been drunk after eating fermented apples and as it was reaching out for more fruit it must have slipped and fallen into the tree."
Johansson called the local fire and rescue department, which responded with a fire engine and a jeep with a winch.  When dawn came the day after it was freed from the tree, the moose had not yet left. "When I went out for the newspaper it was still laying there on the ground, sleeping. By the time I left for work it was walking around the neighbor's yard on very shaky legs." Johansson said.  "Today the moose came back and walked around the yard," he added. "I think it likes it here.

Seriously?  Tiny Goshen College in Indiana has banned the "The Star Spangled Banner: at all sporting events because the Mennonite school's president considers the National Anthem's words to be too violent. Professor John Blosser told The Goshen News that there is much national pride at the school, but that most people aren't going to blindly accept what the country does.  NBC Sports' Rick Chandler said: "I suppose we could have followed the example of the Mennonites and simply fled, giving the nation back to the British. But then we’d all be playing cricket."

Point to Ponder

Thomas A. Edison was working on a crazy contraption he called a "light bulb."  It took a whole team of men 24 straight hours to put just one bulb together. The story goes that Edison and his team finished with the very first light bulb in his assembling room which was in the basement.  He gave it to a young helper, who nervously carried it up the stairs to screw it into the lone socket to test. Step by step, obviously frightened of dropping such a priceless piece of work, he climbed the stairs. You've probably guessed what happened by now; the poor guy dropped the bulb at the top.  Which meant the entire team of men would have to work straight through for twenty-four more hours to make another bulb. For some odd reason, Edison didn’t fire the kid. In fact, when Edison, totally exhausted, was ready to have his second bulb carried up the stairs; he gave it to the same young man who dropped the first one. That's true forgiveness. I wonder if he thanked Edison for the second chance?

Are you kidding me???
At last count, the Bible, or parts of it, is available in 2,508 different languages

Snicker 
If you love something, set it free. If it comes back to you, it is yours... If it doesn't, it was never meant to be.  But, if it just sits in your living room, messes up your stuff, eats your food, takes your money, and doesn't appear to realize that you've set it free..... You either married it or gave birth to it.

Remember, Christianity is more about walking than about talking