In Eckleburg's Eyes - 4/8/2008

I taught my Monday Bible Study on Luke 11:14-15 which Kurt Aland sensitively labeled “The Dumb Demoniac” in the Synopisis of the Four Gospels. At the end of Bible Study, I also received great news! Last week’s April Fool’s Literature Ministry prank was used by God for good. It seems the monthly ministry outing has been postponed a week until April 19th, leaving many usual participants unable to come. The short crew and longer interval between meetings meant that the workload would have been unmanageable had it not been in for the work of the “two elves.” The only negative is that the aforementioned elves have been enlisted into further service on the 19th as they showed proficiency in the ministry. It is good to know that God uses even my pranks.

In the afternoon, genealogy guru and Ancestry.com subscriber AHJ visited the house with information regarding my mother’s paternal grandparents. Their history is shrouded in mystery as they immigrated illegally in the nineteenth century, falsifying government records and keeping their roots hidden even from their own children. The little information she was able to glean from census records was invaluable. She did so to pepare us for our visit to the Ellis Island Immigration Museum (where they entered the country) on Wednesday. Thanks, AHJ!

I spent Monday night at JTH’s last regular season basketball game. The playoffs begin next week. The game was a rare overtime thriller, with the extra period beginning with a 38-38 deadlock. The referees quickly set a 2:00 time limit with no respite for the teams as everyone wished to get out in time for the national championship game later in the night. Down by two points, JTH hit the game winning three-point basket from “his spot” in the corner with 37 seconds remaining to secure a 45-44 victory. In the midst of this highly competitive game, one of the referee’s was talking on his cell phone! Priceless. [This picture was actually taken in the second half of (at the time) a three-point game while the ball was in play.)]

JTH’s team ends the regular season with a 3-3 record after not winning a game all season in their last campaign. A postseason outing to Mr. Gattis is already in the works.

I was drafted to do the devotional seconds before delivering it and had few viable thoughts. This resulted in a ridiculous extemporaneous spiel on the following news blurb from Sunday:

With six games remaining, Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant has a league-leading 15 technical fouls, which means that his next regular season technical will result in an automatic one-game suspension that could damage the team's standing...Bryant has held his tongue, walked the other way or used another, more confusing means to voice his frustrations to officials. "I just cuss them out really bad in Serbian," Bryant joked. (“Lakers' Bryant Is Cursing Refs in Foreign Tongues.” Washington Post, April 6, 2008)

No, I did not use the story to segue into the merits of speaking in tongues. I used the story to remind of Ephesians’ (4:29) warning not to cuss, but more specifically to speak of faith in terms people can understand and not “Christianese.” Remember I prefaced this by acknowledging how poor the devotional was.

After the game JTH and I picked up some groceries at Kroger and negotiated two $5 thick crusted pizzas from Little Caesar’s (of which I am very proud) before heading to the home of Mr. X to watch the National championship game.

En route, JTH informed me that his truck was not operating smoothly after eating with us at Gondolier on Thursday (4/3). After getting the automboile inspected he learned that while dining, someone attempted to steal his truck’s catalytic converter. Evidently this can be done by using a hacksaw to cut the tail pipe and removing the part. The item sells for over $100. Trucks and SUVs are especially susceptible to this scam as they are higher off of the ground. Maybe that is why our service was so slow as the workers were in cahoots. This may seem harsh but remember this is the same restaurant that I had my identity stolen at because servers were giving away credit card information. Maybe that’s why no one eats there anymore. So, warning never eat at the Gondolier at 138 West End Avenue in Farragut!

We then arrived at the home of Mr. X to watch the national championship game pitting the Memphis Tigers (the #2 overall seed) against the Kansas Jayhawks (#4). The game went exactly as we would have wanted. We hoped for one of two scenarios to occur. If Memphis won the game, then Tennessee would have administered their only loss of the season (February 23rd) and the Vols would have beaten the national champions head-to-head for the third consecutive year.

If Memphis lost, we were hoping it would be their ineptitude from the foul stripe as obnoxious coach John Calipari has downplayed its importance all year, especially after a narrow defeat of Mississippi State in the tournament’s second round. ("What, me worry?") We received the latter. Memphis missed four of its last five free throws in regulation, which allowed Kansas to advance the game into overtime. Kansas hit its last 14 attempts from the charity stripe to clinch a national championship. Memphis’ free throw shooting cost them their first national championship.

Still, the highlight of my day came in the form of a phone call. Shortly after JTH’s basketball game, KLTW called me from the parking lot of a grocery store. As they were leaving, KJW noticed they had parked adjacent to a Yellow Xterra. When she saw the SUV, she said, “Chan’s car.” Then the Xterra left as she watched and she pleaded, “Chan!” While I hate that the child felt slighted, it felt good to be acknowledged.