John Chapter 6 – Jesus: The Bread of Life

I want to talk a little bit about the book of John for a minute. John is one of my favorite books (being my namesake and all). John is from the Hebrew, meaning: “The Lord is gracious; gift of God.� John is self-acknowledge as on of Jesus’ favorite disciples; and considering he died of old age at about 105 years old after several attempts to kill him (including having him boiled in oil), I tend to believe that. One of my favorite DVD’s is last years’ “The Gospel of John�, which is available online at www.gospelofjohnthefilm.com for $44.95 (DVD or VHS). It's a great flick; taken word-for-word from the text, and beautifully acted. You won't be disappointed.

We’ve been studying this in church the last few month, and last week we were talking about John 6, which includes both the Feeding of the 5000 as well as the “Walking On Water� passage (which was, apparently, Jesus making a hasty getaway from a hungry mob!) I think this is one of the most significant passages relating to Jesus, because it encompasses so specifically just who He was. Everything He talks about here is so clear to us now, 2,000 years later. Yet the people of 33 AD must have thought he’d lost his mind.

First, Jesus crossed to the far side of the Sea of Galilee, followed by a crowd who essentially was there fro the free show (v.2: “. . . the people followed him because they saw the miraculous signs he had performed.�) So they get to the end of the day and here’s 5,000 men (that’s not including the women and children), and they’re all hungry. So Peter finds a little boy willing to give Jesus his 5 barley loaves and 2 small fish, which Jesus uses to feed the multitude.

And what’s the crowd’s response? Verse 15 say that “Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself.� These goofy miracle-hounds wanted a king; and if he wasn’t willing to serve, they’d make him King – by Force!

No – that doesn’t sound *at-all* like our Instant, No-Patience, Microwave Society today, does it?

So Jesus takes off for the mountains, whilst the apostles grab peter’s boat and hightail it back for Capernaum. So as the apostles are struggling across the Sea of Galilee in the middle of the night in the worst nor’easter storm any of them has ever seen, who do they see coming towards them in the heart of the storm?

You got it, little buckaroo – it was Jesus. Verse 19 states, in one of the great understatements of the entire New Testament, that “they were terrified.� Boy, No kidding. I think I’d have had an episode of urinary incontinence myself if I’d seen a man walk out of the storm over the water – y’know?

But it’s verses 25 – 59 that really cut to the heart of this story. The people catch up to Jesus in Capernaum and begin badgering him with questions. Jesus tells them to believe in Him, and of course they keep trying to parse his responses down to get a short, simple answer that’s easy for them. They want still yet another miracle from Jesus; as if feeding 5,000 of them wasn’t enough! They want another miracle, and they cite Moses’ bringing manna from heaven as a reason.

Then Jesus does something completely unexpected: he tells them, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.�(v.35) This little discourse causes the people to grumble and many of them turn away from Jesus. (v.41)

This was Jesus’ way of sifting out the grain from the chaff (to borrow another biblical referent.) He knows (and says so) that the “miracle-watchers� are just there for the show, not the message. Plus he compares himself to the manna Moses brought from heaven; something the Jews considered so sacred they had kept a jar of the manna in their holy of holies as a memorial to it. (Exodus 16:32). Yet He also knew that those who had really, seriously studied their Torah would know that Deuteronomy 8:3 said God was “ . . . feeding you with manna . . . to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.�

In other words, pay attention to ME; not to the miracles.

In retrospect, Jesus was just weeks away from the Last Supper where he said "’This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me’. In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.’� (Luke 22:19-20) Jesus again references being The Bread of Life for them, which had a great deal more meaning after His resurrection. His sacrifice as the redemption of our own sins is re-created in our remembrance of the Last Supper.

Which harks right back to John 6, doesn’t it? Funny how that all works out.

Julian Long; 8th grader at large. Plays Violin very well, indeed! Hard to believe the little ratfink is 14, isn't it?

My New Job. Again.

A friend of mine (Mike Sawin, whose Blog can be found at http://michaelsawin.tripod.com/sawinstuff/id4.html), was lamenting earlier this week about losing his job earlier this year and how awful that feeling was. I was going to send him a cheery little message to “Buck Up, Little Camper!� and Be Of Good Cheer, when I realized I’ve been through three jobs already this year myself.

Hmmph!

This, of course, begs the question of whether (a) I’m just so incredibly annoying I can’t hold a job for long, (b) I have such a low tolerance for B.S. that it makes my holding a job for long problematic, or (c) something other. And, after a great deal of soul-searching on my part, I’ve come to honestly believe (no, really!) It’s a combination of both (b) and (c).

(B) I can work on – but (c) is a problem area.

Looking back on it, the longest times I’ve held jobs were in the Army (15 years) and the limousine business (almost 5 years). The problems seem to come into play when I’m in the Nursing field; specifically, the civilian side of the Nursing Field; which brings to mind a funny story.

I was applying for a job in Indiana one time about, say, spring of 1993 or 1994. I was waiting for my 10am appointment with the Director of Nursing at the place, and as I sat there, the UPS lady came in with a package and her clipboard. The receptionist calls into the D.O.N.’s office: “Your 10 AM approintment is here; and UPS just arrived.�

Two seconds later the (female) D.O.N. whooshes out of her office, handing me the UPS package, saying “That needs to be there tomorrow.� She then grabs the UPS lady by the arm and runs her into the office for the interview.�

MY interview.

Now, mind you, I’m in a shirt, tie, and professional attire for the interview. The UPS lady was wearing those brown Dickies shorts and top they always wear. Nevertheless, she was taken in for the interview, and I got the package. Why?

Because I’m the Male, and she was the Female; and it’s a Nursing Job. (The sad part of this is that this D.O.N. interviewed this lady for almost ***three minutes*** while I cooled my heels outside; then when she realized her mistake, she came back out and spent almost a half-hour convincing me I wouldn’t like it at her facility, and that I should be a “Home Health Nurse.� (Frankly, the last place I wanted to be; but she just wanted to avoid a sexual discrimination lawsuit, I’m sure. Not that I’d sue, but I’m sure she was worried.)

Were this my only story it’d almost be funny, but it’s not. I have literally hundreds of stories of being addressed as “Doctor� in hospitals and clinics by both patients **and** staff; and other, lesser incidents as well. One place I worked recently had a softball team that literally Everyone played on except me (whether they wanted to or not); It was an all-female league, and they didn’t want to move to the co-ed leagues just for me. (That was my Second job this year.)

So, anyway, I have this new job. I’m working for an governmental agency that works with mental health clients (which they call “consumers� here in Texas). I’m one of three nurses that oversee the MR (Mental Retardation) consumers for San Antonio. It’s a lot of driving, but I get mileage, so that’s good for me! Plus I love to drive, as my stint with the limousine business showed quite well. We do very little actual “hands-on� care, but a lot of home visits, sitting and talking with the clients, Nursing Health Assessments, and tons of government paperwork.

Fortunately, my Army Training in “Mountains of Paperwork� works well for me here, as do my Obsessive-Compulsive traits and computer skills. I’ve also made a little “shingle� (as my supervisor laughingly calls it) that marks our office as the “Nursing� office, which everyone in the little building adores. In fact, I had to make on for my Supervisor; she liked ours that much. (Artsy-Crafty stuff is my method of releasing stress after a challenging day.)

So, basically, I get to drive all over town; hug all my consumers, work on the computer the rest of the day, and show off my Artsy-Crafty Skills. This is literally my Dream Job of a lifetime.

So, anyway, I said all that to say this: I was visiting one of my consumers for the first time, and here he comes walking over to where I was sitting. Little old man in his 70's with little funny round ears, thick glasses, pork-pie hat, receding chin (with matching receding hairline), deep-sunken eyes, and double hearing aids.

God help me – but it was my Uncle Howard!

My consumer had a diagnosis of “Fragile X Syndrome,� which is a malformation of the 23rd (male) chromosome. Men with this diagnosis tend to look like my Uncle Howard – almost exactly – and to share certain traits, like slowness of mind, regularity of habits, and practicing “hoarding� or saving things in their pockets or apartments.

Just like my Uncle Howard. So it appears my cousin Nancy was right after all; perhaps moreso than we ever expected.

Man, I **LOVE** this job!

Oriane Sheik-hossen (niece), Ariane Long, & David Sheik-Hossen (nephew) with 2 outraged cats; during our desperate attempt to "Americanize" them (the kids, not the cats); July 2002

Sarah the squirrel (the tame squirrel who lives on our porch) attempting to sneak up on the cat; August 2004.

Our living room; July 2004. Note the open beer on the hearth; a frequent occurence. The large newspaper to the right on the stand indicates it was also a Sunday.

The lovely & gracious Ariane; August 2004. Obviously a surprise shot.

JD & his new Taurus wagon circa July 2004. Note the spiffy white shorts!

Tweaking the Gringos

It's that time of year when I like to make the point as to exactly why I moved so darn far south for the Northerners who are reading this blog. Nothing mean-spirited in it; just the facts, ma'am. These are just some of the reasons I moved to Texas:


1.) It's the last day of September. I'm still wearing shorts, golf shirt, and sandals as I write this.

2.) Current temperature (at 10am): 75 degrees. Forecast today is 90 degrees, partly-cloudy sky. (Later note: Make that 94 degrees.)

3.) Forecast for tomorrow; the same (90 hi/ 70 low). If it rains this weekend, it'll be 80 hi/ 60 low. In Texas, 80 hi/ 60 low is what they call a "cold front coming through--break out your winter coats (I kid you not!)

4.) Not one single leaf has turned color here yet, so I'm not raking anything.

5.) They just finished repainting the pool, so I'm going swimming this afternoon.

6.) Burger King has **6** different varieties of Whopper down here; including your standard Whopper, Double Whopper, Whopper w/cheese, and Chicken Whopper; but also with the **Texas ONLY** variants of the Texas Whopper (with Barbecue Sauce and Jalapenos) and Double Texas Whopper (which literally has double everything except the bun; plus BBQ sauce and jalapenos, which makes it some kind of tragic yet delicious food accident disaster.

7.) Gas is still $ 1.74/gallon.

You just gotta love a state with this much self-confidence (that's "chutzpah" in New York!)

Deep in the Heart of Texas!!!!!!!!

I wanna talk about the great state of Texas for just a moment. This post in particular is aimed directly at those family members and friends who wondered why the heck we moved to Texas. There were some personal reasons revolving around the bankruptcy of my business in Indiana, of course, but we could’ve just as easily moved to the next town and still be close to family. (Portage IN or Chesterton IN – or, for that matter, Westville IN, North Judson IN, or even Aurora IL or LaGrange IL; they were all contenders for relocation.

Two things shaped our decision, though. The first was the realization that even if we were still close to MY family, my wife was still going to be 3500 mile plus from HER family. Her brother lives in Paris; her sister lives in Brussels; her best friend lives in London, and most of the rest of the family live in Mauritius (a tiny island just off the east coast of Africa, for crying out loud!) When I began to realize that she had adapted quite well to living that far from her family all the years we’ve been married, it broadened out horizons quite a bit.

The second thing is something you have to have been in the U.S. Army Medical Corps to understand. In all the world, of all the army bases I’ve ever been to, there’s only one I truly wanted to go back to – and anyone who’s ever been there knows what I’m talking about. The one place everyone who’s ever been a medic has to pass through for training. The one place we all spent trying to get back to again.

Fort Sam Houston, Texas. Beautiful downtown San Antonio.

It’s like nowhere else; I mean that without a trace of hyperbole. The sky is blue, the air is warm, the sun shines almost every day. The birds sing in the trees, and the entire city is geared towards tourism and making the outsider feel right at home. Even in the winter the temperature rarely gets below 50 degrees, and the heat of the summer is dry, with little humidity to ruin the moment. People smile at you and ask “How you Doin’?�, and you truly believe they’d like to know! Everyone smiles–a lot.

The cost of living is lower, too. As I write this, gasoline here is $1.70/gallon. In Chicago, it’s closer to $1.95/gallon at Ernie’s Shell today (Thanks, http://www.gasbuddy.com). In Indiana we had a 900 square foot apartment (2BR/2 bath) with free parking for $750.00/month. Here we have an 1100 square foot apartment (2BR/2 bath) with 2 swimming pools. Tennis courts, laundry facilities, and security officers for $632.00/month. My utility bills in Indiana were approximately $150 – $225 per month. Here they’re $75 – $120.00 month, even running the A/C all the time. And nursing pay is much higher. I was lucky to earn $12 – 13.00/hour at Porter Memorial Hospital in Valparaiso. Here LVN’s in Nursing Homes ear $14 – 15.00/hour plus $2-3,000.00 sign on bonuses. Hospital LVNs earn $17.00 – $23.00/hour.

Big, big difference.

I think the moment we decided to move to Texas is illustrative of the whole process. Ariane & I were outside shoveling snow. It was 2am, and we were shoveling wet, goopy snow out of our driveway because (a) the snowplows had just re-deposited it in the driveway again, and (b) if we waited until 6am when we got up for work, the snow would freeze in place, locking us into the driveway indefinitely. So, you get up and shovel every time the plow goes by. Makes for difficult sleeping.

As we’re shoveling, we discussing where we should move to when our lease is up in August, being vaguely dissatisfied with the place we had. Ariane says, “we don’t have to stay in Valpo, you know. We could move to Chesterton. Or Portage. We could even move to Westville or North Judson.�

And, of course, I wisecracked (being cold, tired, and exhausted), “We could move to Texas!�

So, while it was my idea, I don’t regret a bit of it. I’m immensely sorry I missed my Aunt Marilyn’s funeral, certainly. Had we known she was going to be sick so soon, we probably wouldn’t have moved quite so far.

But I haven’t missed any Popcorn Festivals, Wizard of Oz Festivals, Tastes of Chicago, or even Porter County Fairs. (Well, okay, **I** miss the animal barns at the Fair – Ariane is grateful we don’t have to smell those stinky cows again!)

And if I do, I just drive downtown to the Riverwalk, take a tour on the River Cruise Boats, and drink a Strawberry Daiquiri at the Joe’s Crab Shack or Hard Rock Café overlooking the river.

So – when y’all coming down?