Sunday was a pretty good day,

all in all. Started off with a good class, the guys were pretty talkative. I always enjoy their comments, I learn so much. One of our guys is struggling financially, more on that later. 1 (that’s one) sang a song in Pop’s class, I played the guitar, Charlie played the mandolin and Rudy played the bass. Cool.

In the afternoon, one of the guys came by the house, out of concern for the guy having financial problems. How cool is that? So, we talked about it, he has some leads on extra jobs and such. I’ll go by and get the total picture, see what we can do short term to stem the tide, then help with a long term solution. It’s just one of those situations where things got out of control due to unforseen, extraordinary events. Of course, the problem is compounded by our consumer driven society and the constant push to keep up with the Jones’. At least in this case, it isn’t because the guy just doesn’t want to work, he is a hard worker, family oriented person and we’re gonna help!

Along those same lines, and at least somewhat related to my previous posts, I went to a benefit in the evening down at Katie’s in Bacliff. Jim over at Lone Star Guitars has been wanting to raise money for someone affected by Hurricane Rita since shortly after it hit. I wasn’t sure he was going to pull it off, but he did. Great lineup of bands, including PeeWee Bowen, the Grateful Geezers and Mark May. Can I just say right now that Mark May ROCKS!? Oh, wow, I’d never heard him play a gig before, only heard him messing around at the shop. Holy moly, he is really good. Really, really good. Didn’t sing worth a lick (I’ve heard he has a great blues voice), but wow, he tore up the guitar(s). And his sidekick can get after it as well. Okay, enough about the music, let’s talk about money. And the way this one went off. Jim made all of the arrangements and ran the show for free. It was sponsored (money passed through) St. Christopher’s Catholic Church. Zero funds went to Katie’s as in no cover charge (they did a have a good bar day). Zero funds went to the bands (they each sold a few CD’s and probably gained some fans). Zero funds went to any type of overhead. Items were donated for auction with 100% of the money going to the benefit. All told, several thousand dollars was raised yesterday. At a bar. In Bacliff. For an elderly couple from Silsbee without insurance (I’m sure that some gov’t money was available somewhere).

I asked a question in my class yesterday, do you think people are, at their core, good or evil? What does the Bible say? Does sin equate with evil? How does grace fit into our definitions? What is grace? What is love? I know that I saw love yesterday, at church, at home, finally, at a bar in Bacliff. Life is good. Late.