2003-02-17 - 1:01 a.m.

Overheard in the Mountain West

Smartalec grandson to aged grandmother sitting at table reading Sunday paper: 'Are you going to get ready for church, Grammaw?'

Wise old grandmother to smartmouth grandson: 'I'm backing up to get a run at it.'

Chortling grandson to suddenly cognizant of what she has just done grandmother: 'Hey, that's what I'm going to tell Mr. Ssmith next time he asks if my work's done. Then when he sends me to the principal's office, I can say my grammaw always says that!'

d and e came over early Sunday morn and then went to church with us. That does not happen as often as it used to. 1d doesn't work as many Sunday shifts and does not always bring them to church now that they live in littletown. 2d and I have discussed going out to get them but haven't done so yet. 1d has taken them a few times to the church where he goes to a youth group and that is better anyway. It is not the sort of group I would feel comfortable in, but the folks love the Lord, and if she feels more at ease there, I am ok with it and have told her so.

I am proud to have d next to me in church. It has taken many years for him to learn to 'keep a low profile' when he is with Grammaw, but he does it as well as any 6 ft 14 year old boy can. I always have teased him that if the war comes, he can't hide out with me because he'd get us shot first thing. And there is more truth to that sentiment that I care to think about.

Keep a low profile and don't make waves. That probably sums up my philosophy fairly well. Choose your battles carefully and don't fight unless you are prepared to die for it. It took along time for me to get to this position. In my youth, I was contentious, willing to argue and spat at the drop of a hat. In my 30's I was still that way inside, but learning to control my actions. Now I am the same inside and out. That is not to mean that I don't have strong opinions about almost everything. That is still as true as ever. It is just that I don't feel it necessary to defend every position I take. If others want to be wrong, let them!

There are a few things I am willing to die for, however. Some are positions I have held all my life, some are positions that I have adopted through the years. I don't add too many new ones now. For the most part, I am comfortable in my skin and don't feel the need to prove things. I have walked to the beat of a different drummer for so long that acceptance is not real high on my list of things to be desired.

As high-flown and admirable as that may sound, it also suspiciously sounds like apathy. Oh well.

EE's devotional

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