224. Cougar Gold

I realize this blog of things that I appreciate about my country is pretty personal and not really the stuff of joy reading, but it has helped me stay out of the dumps of depression and eased me into retirement. When I started it I thought it was just politics that were getting me down, but then the pandemic came and I found that all kinds of things can get me, or anyone else, down. It just gets easy to forget that “though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death…my cup runneth over.” So, this exercise reminds me of that, and hopefully anyone else that stumbles upon it will also be reminded. That being said, when you get to the end of a list it can get a little difficult to remember all the new things that are making that cup bubble over and that’s where I am. That’s a good thing, to make yourself thing of minute details about your life that make living enjoyable. It’s very important to remember that life is enjoyable, that I have life, and I have life abundantly. So, in thinking about this and adding to my list, I realized that I had a few restaurants and wineries and breweries and that sort of thing on the list—and these are all American, because elections and political events can get me down about my country—so I realized one thing that fits into the food category is cheese. More particularly is my love of Cougar Gold cheese.

Cougar Gold cheese is a cheese that is very local around the Palouse because it is made at Washington State University. I only live 25 miles from WSU and even though it’s in the neighboring state it’s still home and I attend sporting events and concerts and plays there fairly often. The mascot for WSU is the cougars, so the cheese is named for that. I’m not sure what the gold is about, except perhaps the value. Whatever the reason, that seems apt to me.

It seems like most popular cheeses in the US lean toward the creamy mild flavor—none more obviously than American cheese. Even cheddar cheeses are typically more mild in the US, and if you want a good sharp cheddar—I mean a good sharp, not the “sharp” found in the super-market—you need to get a specialty sharp cheese, probably something from Europe. Cougar Gold, while fully American, is like one of those strong flavored European cheeses. You also will pay for it, but it isn’t really all that expensive, especially if you get it at WSU. If you buy it at the local stores around here a can runs you $30-$32 but if you buy it at Ferdinand’s Ice Cream Shop at WSU or the campus bookstores you’ll pay $25 for a can. Yes, it comes sealed in a tin striped in gold and gray. The can is about the equivalent of two bricks of cheddar in the grocery store that run $8-$10 a pop, so really, it’s not that expensive. And if you’re not picky about it holding together perfectly (which I am not) you can buy a can of end cuts at WSU for $20—so you are really getting a better buy for one of the best cheeses anywhere.

Around here you can find Cougar Gold in all sorts of local dishes in homes and restaurants, along with all the crazy lentil recipes. (The area is known for lentils, peas, and wheat.) Cougar Gold Macaroni and Cheese is a favorite and you can get the recipe online if you’d like to try it. Cougar Gold and bacon grilled on Texas Toast is one of the best grilled cheese sandwiches to indulge in as well. But I will just as easily eat a chunk of it with a cracker and a glass of wine, or bits of it with some pretzels and beer. Let me add that I try to save it for special occasions because I love it so much and it is definitely a saturated fat that is not good for my coronary artery disease! Nevertheless, I love Cougar Gold cheese.

 

223. Pellet Stoves

 I grew up living in homes heated with wood burning stoves, most of them closed so you didn’t see the flame. I always loved seeing fires in fireplaces, but I could understand why people didn’t typically rely on them for heat because generally a fireplace takes the heat out the chimney, so they end up more ambiance than actual heat source. I also remember spending hour upon hour out in the woods cutting firewood. I was never allowed to use the chainsaw as a kid, but I spent plenty of time splitting wood. I still like to split wood once in a while, though I only do it when camping so instead of improving my chopping skills I’m getting worse. I don’t know how it works for wood permits anymore and I don’t even own a chainsaw, so sometimes I miss that, but it was really time consuming and until my recent retirement I can’t imagine having enough time to have to cut wood. On top of teaching that would have just become a nagging chore that I would have come to resent instead of enjoy.

We live pretty far north, so heating is something people here have to really think about. Sure, we’re in the Northwest where electricity is affordable, but we spent a winter electrically heating a small house and it was not cheap. We ended up buying a wood pellet stove and I have been in love with my pellet stove since then. Now we are on our second pellet stove and it runs off a thermostat so it has become incredibly easy, yet it has the same heat as a wood stove, along with a visible flame like a fireplace. For me the pellet stove is the perfect compromise. My $500 to $600 heating bill for the year is a pittance compared to a monthly electric bill that would run over $400 a month by itself. Plus, the money I spend on pellets goes toward the wood products industry which is a renewable resource and the industry that has supported my life long existence through loggers and mill workers from whom I am descended. And, because it is a renewable heating resource, I don’t have to pay taxes on it.

It’s easy to start a pellet stove, too. Our first pellet stove had to be started with pellets soaked in lighter fluid, which in itself was easier than splitting kindling and playing with paper and matches. But in my new stove hot air lights the pellets and we set the thermostat at the temperature we want and it just starts on by itself. I love the visible flame. I love that I can stand in front of it after being outside shoveling snow. Or on the day in late winter when the snow is getting rained away and it seems colder than those sunny January days when it’s below zero. Today is one of those gray, damp cold days in late winter. Right now, I’m sitting at the table near the pellet stove as I write this. I love a good pellet stove.

222. Craftspeople

There are all sorts of things that get done that you just overlook because they are there and functional. As I write this, my kitchen counter and cupboards are being taken out so that we can have new, more functional cupboards. It takes a special kind of person to build the cabinets, to figure out just how big or small to build something, just where to connect the electrical wiring—all the sorts of things that I have never wanted to do and have learned to use fairly explicit language to ease my frustrations when I’m even attempting it. These people have a sort of patience that extends far beyond just their knowledge of how to sort and build things. This is what you call craftsmanship. There is a great combination of knowledge, patience, and pride in one’s work that goes into craftsmanship and that is what I really appreciate in a craftsperson.

I realize that we all enjoy doing something and at some point, if we’re lucky, we get to put that to use making a living. I really appreciate that there are people who like to do things that I don’t—things I need but have no desire or patience or ability to make. Some craftspeople that I have really appreciated in the recent past include cabinet makers, electricians, plumbers, carpenters, and masons. Our new garage was built by some pretty incredible people who were skilled in cement work and woodwork. Someone else came and installed the garage door. A former student came and welded and installed beautiful railings. I had a ceiling heater in the bathroom that went out so I replaced it. A few month later the fan on it went out and it got so hot it melted the plastic container around it. That cinched my decision. We used a space heater for a few weeks and I had another of my former students come and put in an electric heater on the wall that has great heat and turns off right away if anything goes awry or if it just gets too hot. He did a great job and knew all the connections and seamlessly put it into the wall without even messing up the paint job. I would have been swearing profusely and grouching at any family member who dared make helpful suggestions.

One of those old philosophers called this the division of labor. I, for one, am more than happy to divide my labor with someone who knows how to build beautiful cupboards, who can wire my house in such a way that I can have electric heat in my bathroom, who can build me a beautiful garage and patio, who can weld and form iron into beautiful railings. If I had to do all of those things myself, I’d just have shelves in my kitchen, a space heater in my bathroom and a much larger lawn. Things around my place would be very different because we all put up with quite a bit of inconvenience if we don’t have the abilities or aptitudes to make or craft certain things that we use in our lives.

I feel very fortunate to have lived in the same small community for nearly thirty years and to have been the man to train so many in the rudimentary arts of language. That’s my craft. In turn I have been able to employ many of these friends to make my own living situation more comfortable. The skills of craftspeople are amazing to me. I can’t fully describe here just how thankful I am for these people who grew up around me or their parents who entrusted me to teach their children. To see human being hone their crafts and share those with me and others is truly wonderful. Any part I may have had in helping others develop a craft, market that craft, and earn a living from it is truly humbling. I am very proud to be the beneficiary of so many American craftspeople and I am so thankful because it truly is what makes this country the wealthiest country in the world. And sometimes, when I’m opening a smooth drawer or feeling warmth from the heater as I shave, I have a moment of clarity and realize how fortunate I am. 

221. Typewriter

While I know I spoke somewhat disparagingly about typewriters in my last entry, I have thought about it a bit and realized that even though I easily gave mine up for word processing I still have a deep and abiding appreciation for what the typewriter has done for our country. It was almost as revolutionary as the printing press. While typewriters may have removed the artistry of handwriting, they certainly improved the speed with which one could commit their thoughts to paper and the word processor has done little to improve upon that. I can’t compose by hand a letter at 100 words per minute, but I certainly can give it a go on a typewriter. When I learned how to type in high school, I quickly set out to purchase a typewriter for college. I know that here in the United States college professors would expect my papers to be typed because they neither had time nor inclination to recognize the artistry in my handwriting. As a secondary English teacher of 35 years I can fully appreciate that sentiment. I was quick to require my students to type their papers when word processing became available to all of them unlike the typewriter, which never did.

All of my undergraduate papers were either composed or finalized with a typewriter. I owned a portable Sears electric typewriter that I still have stored away in my closet. Even though I don’t use it anymore and the ribbon has long dried out, I couldn’t possibly part with it for the landfill. Maybe someday I can bequeath it to an antique dealer or my son as a relic from times gone by.

When I went on to graduate school, just after a one-year hiatus from the undergrad life, I quickly transitioned to word processing, even though I, as of yet had not purchased a personal computer at home to replace my typewriter that I was still using to compose letters and the odd poem here and there.

But then, as a part of my graduate training in English, I went to study at Oxford University. Not only were they not using word processing, they had never used the typewriter for student papers at any level. I was astounded to find that no one there seemed to know how to type, let alone see a need. I and some American friends found a word processor that we all pitched in to rent for the summer, but I ended up giving it little use because time had to be scheduled which was terribly inconvenient and my don would not accept typed papers because he felt one wrote differently when typing. That is possible since you can write much more quickly by typing. He actually wanted to see my handwriting, which, luckily, is legible due to my advanced age and the fact that we were forced to be legible unlike now when we promote keyboarding. At any rate, I learned how to not only compose long papers by hand on A4 notebook paper, but to also draft finals on the same sort of oddly shaped paper. Someone tweeted at me the other day in a snarky response to my own tongue in cheek tweet about being bilingual in English because I can speak both American and British English. They told me that that difference is merely of accent, not language, but, as any person who has lived in both countries knows, it is far more than accent. They are distinct dialects. And our attitudes toward typing are also distinctly different. The year I spent as an exchange teacher in England taught me that. When I suggested to my fellow computer teachers (yes, I taught ICT!) that we teach keyboarding skills they were certain that there wasn’t time in the day to teach that along with the pertinent computer skills. I couldn’t convince them that keyboarding would speed those other skills up. My American knowledge of the typewriter and its keyboard is a boon to my own skills and why I still love a good typewriter.

 

January 30 Sermon at Grace Community Church in Potlatch, Idaho: Our Calling

 Lectionary Scriptures: Jeremiah 1:4-10, 1 Corinthians 13, Psalm 71, Luke 4:21-30

Have you ever noticed how Christians often talk about a calling? I guess I’m such a literalist that I find that word confusing. Since I’m a person of the 20^th and 21^st centuries, the word “call” implies a telephone or shout across the distance to get someone’s attention. I have never had that kind of experience from God where he shouts at me, or picks up the phone and has a conversation with me but I have heard plenty of Christians act as if that is exactly what happened to them. So, the term seems confusing at best and nonsensical at worst and might cause me to become somewhat snobbish about my own faith as if that “calling” others talk about is something in their head. Yet part of me knows, not just from Bible passages like Jeremiah, but a sense of belief beyond my scoffing. Maybe I get jealous that God doesn’t talk to me like that, yet at the same time I don’t really want God to talk to me like that. I think it sounds terrifying. And that may be exactly why he doesn’t call me in such a direct way, I don’t know. Nevertheless, I do believe in God’s “calling” or desire for me to do something, sometimes something very particular. Sometimes I spend too much time thinking about it, and at other times I don’t think about it at all. I think it can sometimes be very hard to know what you are supposed to be doing, what you are “called” to be doing because there might seem too much to be done and you can’t possibly do it all, or even a little bit of it. (Little secret: We definitely are not called to do it all. Remember how great God is and how miniscule we are and that we are only called to do a miniscule part of the whole.) Other times it doesn’t seem there is anything to do, but it can be possible that I’m called to just sit still and know God is God. We are all called as Christians and getting overwrought about what specific calling we have is not going to make us grow taller. He lets us know in subtle and not so subtle ways.

Jeremiah had one of those dramatic callings, the kind that I would find frightening. “⁴ The word of the Lord came to me, saying,

⁵ “Before I formed you in the womb I knew^[a] you,
    before you were born I set you apart;
    I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”

⁶ “Alas, Sovereign Lord,” I said, “I do not know how to speak; I am too young.”

⁷ But the Lord said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am too young.’ You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you. ⁸ Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you,” declares the Lord.

⁹ Then the Lord reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me, “I have put my words in your mouth. ¹⁰ See, today I appoint you over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant.””

Jeremiah was called to tell the Jews that they were not following the laws correctly, that they were ignorant of social justice, and that they were going to be overtaken by, what turned out to be, the Babylonians. If anyone needed a bolstering from God to meet their calling, it was Jeremiah. ⁶ “Alas, Sovereign Lord,” I said, “I do not know how to speak; I am too young.”

⁷ But the Lord said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am too young.’ You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you. ⁸ Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you,” declares the Lord.

God knows our very inmost being, so he certainly knows what we are and are not capable of doing. And we need to know that anything he wants us to do, he will make it possible. He knew Jeremiah would be reluctant to do what he was called to do. He knew he was asking a great deal of Jeremiah, yet he also knew that Jeremiah was the perfect fit for what he needed done. God directly told Jeremiah in a verse that we always quote for ourselves in Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” We are not wrong to quote that verse as words for ourselves because they are true for us as well, and probably most of us haven’t been called to anything nearly as terrifying as what Jeremiah was called to do.

When I think about what I am called to do, I know it mainly involves what I am perfectly capable of doing, things I probably enjoy doing pushed a bit beyond my comfort zone. Things like writing, being with people, just talking, going for walks, runs, etc. I don’t particularly enjoy public speaking, but it no longer terrifies me and sometimes, like today, I am called to do it. And like any other calling, I have moments of doubt. “Why did I say I would do this? I don’t know enough about this. There are plenty of people who could do it better than I can…” That, I have learned, is not at all abnormal for any of us. It is right to have self-doubt because then we can turn it over to God and let him use whatever comes from us for his will. He tells us that in Romans 8:28 “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” Everyone here has a calling to serve God through faith and humility and we don’t have to hear it quite as directly as Jeremiah did. We are the called according to his purpose and we just have to remember that it’s his purpose, not ours so whatever he has us do will work for him.

There’s no doubt that Jesus was a very brave man. I suppose it helped a great deal that he was also God, but being fully God did not negate being fully man. He knew exactly what he was called to do and he did it, but he did ask to be released from some of it, then turned it over fully to God’s will. Certainly, we need to look to him when we have doubt or fears about our own calling. From the Psalm: “Be my rock of refuge,
    to which I can always go;
give the command to save me,
    for you are my rock and my fortress.”

Look at what happened to Jesus in the Gospel reading starting a little early at verse 16: ¹⁶ He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. He stood up to read, ¹⁷ and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:¹⁸ “The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
    because he has anointed me
    to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
    and recovery of sight for the blind,
to set the oppressed free,
¹⁹     to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”^[f]

²⁰ Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him. ²¹ He began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing. ²² All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his lips. “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?” they asked.

²³ Jesus said to them, “Surely you will quote this proverb to me: ‘Physician, heal yourself!’ And you will tell me, ‘Do here in your hometown what we have heard that you did in Capernaum.’”

²⁴ “Truly I tell you,” he continued, “no prophet is accepted in his hometown. ²⁵ I assure you that there were many widows in Israel in Elijah’s time, when the sky was shut for three and a half years and there was a severe famine throughout the land. ²⁶ Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them, but to a widow in Zarephath in the region of Sidon. ²⁷ And there were many in Israel with leprosy^[g] in the time of Elisha the prophet, yet not one of them was cleansed—only Naaman the Syrian.” ²⁸ All the people in the synagogue were furious when they heard this. ²⁹ They got up, drove him out of the town, and took him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built, in order to throw him off the cliff. ³⁰ But he walked right through the crowd and went on his way.”

Jesus publicly declared his calling in the synagogue, read from Isaiah and impressed people, but then he said that he wasn’t called for his hometown and the people just got mad, taking him to the cliffs to throw him off, yet he walked right through the crowd and went on his way. It’s a little bit shocking how they treated him, but it’s also interesting how he easily sidestepped them all. He knew today’s Psalm: ¹ In you, Lord, I have taken refuge;
    let me never be put to shame.
² In your righteousness, rescue me and deliver me;
    turn your ear to me and save me.

Fully God, fully man. Fully aware of what was going to happen, unlike us, yet we can still take refuge in him and his assurance of salvation.

I have no doubt that sometimes we say we don’t know what we are called to do, not because we don’t know, but because we are afraid. But we don’t need to be, because if we are called by God to do something, we are protected and we don’t need to be afraid. It will be all right. And I’m pretty sure that I have not said anything here that we haven’t all heard before, but I believe we need a reminder. I certainly need a reminder. I think these scriptures for today from the lectionary are not necessarily as cohesive in a singular theme as they sometimes are. But the call of Jeremiah struck me, especially with the Gospel reading and Jesus proclamation of his own calling. It seems easy to relate to Jeremiah and his reluctance to answer the call because he was too young. Maybe for many of us here the excuse is that we are too old? I don’t know, but the Psalm is one of reassurance that we have refuge in the Lord and that he takes care of us. So, I don’t think we need to be “worried” about our calling, we just need to know that we are called.

But I haven’t forgotten the passage from I Corinthians, the love chapter. For me, that passage and the first Psalm are key to my faith and believing that I am called. The first Psalm talks about being steadfast, like a tree planted by a river. Listen again to todays passage from I Corinthians 13: If I speak in the tongues^[a] of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. ² If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. ³ If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast,^[b] but do not have love, I gain nothing. ⁴ Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. ⁵ It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. ⁶ Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. ⁷ It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. ⁸ Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. ⁹ For we know in part and we prophesy in part, ¹⁰ but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. ¹¹ When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. ¹² For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

¹³ And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

If we are only getting a part of the picture, but we know we have refuge in the Lord and that he loves us, we don’t need to worry about what we are called to do because we already know that all things work together for good for those who are called according to his purpose. Because love always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. We must also do that. We love him because he first loved us and we know that all things work together for good for those who are called according to his purpose. We know our calling. It may not have come out of the clouds in a frightening voice, or over the telephone lines or a text message, but we still know our calling.

My mouth will tell of your righteous deeds,
    of your saving acts all day long—
    though I know not how to relate them all.
¹⁶ I will come and proclaim your mighty acts, Sovereign Lord;
    I will proclaim your righteous deeds, yours alone.
¹⁷ Since my youth, God, you have taught me,
    and to this day I declare your marvelous deeds.
¹⁸ Even when I am old and gray,
    do not forsake me, my God,
till I declare your power to the next generation,
    your mighty acts to all who are to come.

¹⁹ Your righteousness, God, reaches to the heavens,
    you who have done great things.
    Who is like you, God?

There is no better calling. Don’t be confused, afraid, or ashamed. We know our calling. Amen.