the view from the pew 7-30-16

It will be a sad day for me when Pastor Sattler retires from the pulpit. He’s a science geek and frequently incorporates “didjyaknows?” into his lessons. He mentioned in the sermon about something called the ‘atrial kick’. This happens to a baby on the 22nd day after conception when their heart starts to beat. Her……

the daily purge 7-29-16

These shoes belonged to My Marta long ago. The P Lutheran needs no carbon dating to tell me that she wore these during her junior high school days. I read the writing on the wall of the shoe where it says “Kirsten (BFF)” and I know these were the days when she and Kirsten were……

the daily purge 7-28-16

Coffee beans have been roaming the Earth for hundreds of years and only recently been domesticated for use in our morning, afternoon and evening elevenses. Coffee has been an integral part of our lives down on the Gatwick farm since we lay claim. For me, since my pre-teen days. It’s what my parents drank and……

the daily purge 7-27-16

Charles Darwin’s buttons would be popping off his morning coat if he knew how quickly the computer mouse has evolved from the tracking ball mouse to laser beam mouse to the index finger mouse and in some cases, the human eyeball mouse. I can not remember how computers ago it was when T Purging Lutheran……

the daily purge 7-26-16

Letter to the editor: Dear sir or madam, when will you run out of stuff? Signatured, Concerned Citizen Dear Concerned Citizen: Most of what has been purged are items bought over a decade or two and that adds up. That The Purging Lutheran purges once a day for five days a week and has been……

the daily purge 7-25-16

If you have ever eaten food you might recognize this. If you were raised by wolves, however, then maybe not so much. This is called a placemat. Your mom lays it out, neat and square, on the dinner table and it looks very pleasant when guests come over. This picture shows how it looks when……

the view from the pew 7-23-16

Sometimes it’s the sleepies, sometimes it’s someone on a lawnmower outside (duh, of course), sometimes it’s an interesting face, sometimes it’s a child howling at the moon, sometimes it’s a funky hat, sometimes it’s the candle ready to go out, sometimes it’s the argument in the car, or sometimes it’s the arthritis that distracts a……

the daily purge 7-22-16

Do you still own a land line phone? A land line? What’s that, Barry? Those are phones attached to an outlet in your wall connected to wires leading to an upper, outside corner of your house where wires jump! to a telephone pole and connect themselves to a larger (bigger) wire that transmits your ‘Hi, Mom!’,……

the daily purge 7-21-16

Q: What do shopping carts, puppies and magazine baskets have in common? A: They are guaranteed to leave nicks & dents, bite marks or scratches on the surrounding scenery. Shopping carts are notorious for escaping their corrals and finding their ways into the sides of your car. Carts are scientific proof that all matter has……

the daily purge 7-20-16

After you’ve had a hard night repairing downed powerlines after a nasty storm, leading a barn raising for the local Old Order Mennonites, working on a Bible study for members of The Island of Misfit Christians, or simply pushing toothpaste back in the tube, what tastes better than a heaping cup of weapons-grade coffee? Black……

the daily purge 7-19-16

This is a book bag I bought for My Marta a long time ago. I have followed the musical stylings of The Beatles since I was a tadpole. I admit for the first time that when I first became aware of them in 1964 (when I was six) I was confused as to how they……

the view from the pew 7-18-16

Saturday service (7-16-16) centered on ‘when good things distract’. The weekly Gospel reading, as it is for churches everywhere, was Luke 10: 38-42. At the Home of Martha and Mary As Jesus and His disciples were on their way, He came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to Him. She……

the daily purge 7-18-16

Today is the dead center of summer. It’s ‘heat wave’ week in the USA. Temperatures will climb past the 90°s by Wednesday and lay their hooks into the atmosphere for the rest of the week. If you are fortunate you have access to a lake, river, creek, ocean, waterfall, retention pond, pool, Slip’n’Slide, water pistols,……

Let’s all go to the lobby film review #5

It’s difficult to review a movie today that isn’t bulging with potty mouth (bad language), hoochie-coo (don’t-make-me-say-it-you-know-what-I’m-talking-about) and hitting (violence) from end to end, and when you find one it helps if it’s a moderately un-dumb movie. Except Independence Day: Resurgence, which I paid for in more ways than one, the other movies are available……

the daily purge 7-14-16

How did this break? Theory #1: It was jammed with Easter marshmallow peeps, left in the sun, they expanded and broke the glass. Theory #2: It was jammed with water molecules, left in the freezer, they expanded and broke the glass. Theory #3: It was jammed with Easter marshmallow peeps and water molecules, left on……

the daily purge 7-14-16

What is it about China that lends itself to being the hometown of tiles games? A recent purge of the game Rummy-o showed that it was the combination of two other Chinese games, Mahjong (a tile game) and Khanhoo. Khanwhat? Khanhoo, the forerunner of the Mexican card game, rummy. Today’s purge is a tin box……

the daily purge 7-13-16

We welcome Pink Roy G. Biv to The Purging Lutheran’s The Purging Lutheran. While the ‘Pink Roy G. B’ part is easy to see the ‘iv’ not so much. Indigo and violet are just teeny, weeny slices set between the two colors, pink and yellow. Why get rid of such pretty paper? There are only……

the daily purge 7-12-16

Yesterday The Purging Lutheran introduced The Gatwick Housing Reclamation Project of 2016. Step One: painting. This paint roller is the first casualty of my Five Year Plan. Smart guy me bought and used a handle extension (pole) so I could stand further back from the wall and admire my effort from afar. I also learned a……

the daily purge 7-11-16

The Purging Lutheran has received complaints recently that my purges are becoming more predictable from a writing style point-of-view; that they start, middle and end the same way day after day. Some readers claim to have fallen asleep mid-purge. I can understand their complaints so I have asked for a writing partner to help with……

the view from the pew 7-9-16

Service rolls on this Saturday (7-9-16) at Holy Cross Lutheran Church. Our church jumped into the ‘comfort dog ministry’ with our own caring canine. Her name is Naomi, a fine dog, ready to serve the lonely, scared and heartbroken. It’s hard not to like most dogs and she is no exception. I’m thinking she’s likely……

the daily purge 7-8-16

another computer = another cord How many computers has The Purging Lutheran & The Fam had? A couple or a lot? I’m fairly certain I don’t remember. What I do know is that these cords keep showing up here, there and everywhere. What now with the internet being able to fly through the air these……

the daily purge 7-7-16

It’s a modern, plastic comb. People use it to make themselves look, quoting Debbie Harry, “supa-shawp!” You can command your hair to go this way, thataway and almost any other way. Sometimes a person needs to add gel to keep their hair at a particular angle it isn’t predisposed to lay. People with short hair……

the daily purge 7-6-16

Who even knows why we need sprinklers? At least here in Central Indiana, God has been providing clouds full of rain for … (pick your Earth-age preference) 1. hundreds 2. thousands 3. millions 4. billions of years. Just this morning The Purging Lutheran, as he struggled to climb out of bed, listened to the rain……

the daily purge 7-5-16

Alert: adult content included Rummy-o is a tile game. If you wonder if it is related to an other tile game, rummikub, the answer is more than ‘yes, they are related’, the answer is ‘they are the same game’. Rummy-o is what you get when the card game, rummy, marries the Chinese tile game, mahjong, and……

the daily purge 7-4-16

Back in the days of The Purging Lutheran’s ‘blood aclohol content’ lifestyle I was a sub-par father to say the least. When weekends came, it was popcorn or pizza dinner for The Lad and Our Marta. It was pizza if the kids, we and our boozed-up neighbors were eating together, popcorn when the children were……