Overheard at the Counter: And So It Ends...

 and so it ends, this miserable year, and we are left wondering how this will be treated in the history books.  Will 300,000 dead have their eulogies?  Will the meanderings of the flaccid politicians be endlessly discussed?  Will the poets have their say?  What will be the final verdict upon our rampantly dissolute culture?

And who is going to get their "I SURVIVED 2020" t-shirt?  

Overheard at Booth 1: "Greatest Love of All Time" by MR

We had imagined ourselves having the 
Greatest Love of All Time, and 
we found it,
in the occasional quiet
of a Saturday afternoon
when all chores were done
and there was nothing left to do
but sit on the porch
drinking sweet tea
and watching our dogs chase squirrels.


MR
2020-1230

Overheard at Table 2: Driver Graduation

Graduated driver licenses
Like kiddies and training wheels.
Not a bad idea really
But probably a hard sell.
But then ...

in 2009, 38808 dead
93 people a day, nationwide

3,071 in Texas alone in 2009

Yeah, but that's total.  Got nothing to do with just kids.

Yes, but graduating the kids slowly can help not only cut down their contribution to the statistics, but also perhaps cut down on future instances when those children are adults.

It's not just driver behavior, though, it's also culture.
Better highway planning.
9-5

Overread at Table 2: Paul, Apostle of Christ

This is a movie for true followers of Christ, not for those who just think they know Him (i.e. cultural Christians). American evangelicals in particular may bristle at the refusal of these early Christians to take up arms against their oppressors and the perceived obsequiousness of Aquila to his wife Priscilla.




Also, those looking for action or miracles will not find those in this movie.  Instead, they will see the faith revealed on screen.  The subtle power of the acting, the camaraderie of the Fellowship of Believers, and the sepia toned darkness of the setting all bring about a quiet power that allows the submission to Christ to be the center point of the message.  Indeed, a few viewers may also have fun seeing which passages of dialogue are from which of Paul's letters.




In summary: this movie shows that the miracle of Jesus is the power of the faith in those who follow Him, and when the final scene arrived, most of the theatre was in tears  ... tears of joy and worship.

Overheard at Booth 3: Salinghetti on Forgiveness

Forgiveness does not pardon the other person for what they did, but rather, it frees you from the shackles of a continuous grudge.  This is not to say that forgiveness is easy.  It is very very hard.  But the freedom it brings makes you feel like you are flying.

- Salinghetti

Overheard at Table 2: End of the Year

1: Thank God this year is almost over.

2: Yeah, because we all know that COVID will magically disappear on January 1st.

1: Actually, that's on January 20th.   

2: Good one.  Yes, on January 20th, there will be a vaccine, COVID will disappear, the economy will improve, everyone will have jobs, and Brexit will be a done deal.

1: Brexit?  Now you're just moving in the realm of fantasy!

Overheard at Booth 1: "The Last One" by WS Merwin

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qyort5EpMes

The Last One

Well they’d made up their minds to be everywhere because why not.
Everywhere was theirs because they thought so.
They with two leaves they whom the birds despise.
In the middle of stones they made up their minds.
They started to cut.

Well they cut everything because why not.
Everything was theirs because they thought so.
It fell into its shadows and they took both away.
Some to have some for burning.

Well cutting everything they came to water.
They came to the end of the day there was one left standing.
They would cut it tomorrow they went away.
The night gathered in the last branches.
The shadow of the night gathered in the shadow on the water.
The night and the shadow put on the same head.
And it said Now.

Well in the morning they cut the last one.
Like the others the last one fell into its shadow.
It fell into its shadow on the water.
They took it away its shadow stayed on the water.

Well they shrugged they started trying to get the shadow away.
They cut right to the ground the shadow stayed whole.
They laid boards on it the shadow came out on top.
They shone lights on it the shadow got blacker and clearer.
They exploded the water the shadow rocked.
They built a huge fire on the roots.
They sent up black smoke between the shadow and the sun.
The new shadow flowed without changing the old one.
They shrugged they went away to get stones.

They came back the shadow was growing.
They started setting up stones it was growing.
They looked the other way it went on growing.
They decided they would make a stone out of it.
They took stones to the water they poured them into the shadow.
They poured them in they poured them in the stones vanished.
The shadow was not filled it went on growing.
That was one day.

The next day was just the same it went on growing.
They did all the same things it was just the same.
They decided to take its water from under it.
They took away water they took it away the water went down.
The shadow stayed where it was before.
It went on growing it grew onto the land.
They started to scrape the shadow with machines.
When it touched the machines it stayed on them.
That was another day.

Well the next day started about the same it went on growing.
They pushed lights into the shadow.
Where the shadow got onto them they went out.
They began to stomp on the edge it got their feet.
And when it got their feet they fell down.
It got into eyes the eyes went blind.
The ones that fell down it grew over and they vanished.
The ones that went blind and walked into it vanished.
The ones that could see and stood still
It swallowed their shadows.
Then it swallowed them too and they vanished.
Well the others ran.
The ones that were left went away to live if it would let them.
They went as far as they could.
The lucky ones with their shadows.

— W.S. Merwin, from The Lice (Macmillan, 1967) and The Second Four Books of Poems (Copper Canyon Press, 1992)