Lines and Horizons with a side of Cynicism...

I had another great idea for a blog post... yesterday. I forgot to write it down. Now it's disappeared completely into the aether of existence.

I watched Game 7 of the ALCS on Sunday. It was a great game. Boston totally blew it wide open in the 8th inning. And from the people at the bottom of the order, no less.

I've been wondering where exactly God is calling me in terms of ministry. While I'm not exactly at the "point of no return" as far as decision making goes, that decision is looming on the horizon. This candidacy checklist that I received from the Virginia Annual Conference today is so long and exhaustive. Six to nine months is the typical timeframe for the completion of the checklist.

While I hate to trivialize this checklist, there are a lot of hoops to jump through in order to become ordained. It's three pages with 25 steps and most of these steps are summarized in a paragraph or so.

Something else that's be preoccupying my thoughts as of late is my increasingly cynical attitude towards people who say things they don't mean. I've never been one to flatter or compliment someone loosely or easily. When I compliment you, I mean it. I don't say things that I don't mean unless it's in the middle of a fight. I ruminate and chew on every word before I speak.

But lately, I've had to question whether words spoken by someone I care deeply about are as deliberate...
This person says things and before sunset, this person will be saying something completely different and rationalizing it away by saying it was said in jest.

My gut refuses to accept this explanation. So I ask you...
Should I trust my gut or should I doubt the very God-given instincts and go with what my mind tells me I should do.