"If people think nature is their friend they sure don't need an enemy." - Kurt Vonnegut

Sorry for my absence. I've been crazy busy getting ready for my drive to Phoenix. It's Tuesday evening and I have both dogs' boarding arranged (at separate places), someone to come twice a day to take care of the goats and chickens, my Sunday morning class covered, my small group covered, and arrangements made so I can write the discussion question from AZ. The barn and the coop are cleaned and all the feed bins full.
Now I'll focus on my class for Sunday morning and work on making connections between people who have said they're interested in joining a small group and the leaders of those UFC groups.

Did you hear about the TV weather guy in Rochester NY who got fired for using a racial slur on TV? Instead of saying "Martin Luther King Park" he said "Martin Luther Coon Park."
The outrage was fast and furious and the TV station where he'd been the chief meteorologist since 2017 fired him quickly.
One of my not-so-pithy sayings that I shared with my students: "If you live by your mouth you'll die by your mouth." That is, it's only a matter of time before the connection between your brain and your mouth slips a cog and you say something horrible
I've done it more times than I want to remember (but do).
The more time you spend speaking publicly the more verbal faux pas you'll commit.

Last week Brett preached on the healing of the leper at the end of Mark 1. Mid-way through his sermon he talked about the leper falling prostate at the feet of Jesus. He quickly corrected it and noted the correction with his easy, self-effacing humor and said, "I've got to stop using that word altogether."
Less than 10 minutes later he'd again used prostate again as an indication of the leper's humbleness and submission. Only this time his error slipped right by him.
But not by almost everyone else in the room, including everyone in our small group.

Who in their right mind thinks Brett or that weatherman did that intentionally? If he wanted to end his employment he could have done it a lot easier than getting pilloried by the Rochester city council, the NAACP, and several other minority and city government agencies. And Brett undoubtedly regrets that attention was taken away from his point by a verbal slip-up.

But the question is "Who in their right mind?" The answer is: no one. But a society committed to feigned offense and extreme victimhood...well, that's a different matter. Obviously.
I hope he finds another good job quickly. (The weatherman, not Brett who thankfully still has his job.)

Dinner's done. I'm going to shower and then make the special French toast dish I'm taking to the staff meeting tomorrow morning. I have a 6 a.m. meeting and should be at the office by 7:30. This dish bakes for 20 minutes, the staff meeting begins at 9 a.m., so I'll put it in the oven in the church kitchen at about 8:30.
Sure hope it tastes as good as when my mother made it!