THE NON-STANDARD MINI-BLINDS

Allow me to start with something that may not seem to be a big deal to many - my absolute abhorrence of overhead fluorescent lights. For the longest time - going back at least to my seminary days when I had a huge office with an equally huge window overlooking the campus quad - I have always tried to keep my offices lit with natural light from outside combined with soft accent lighting (such as I have here with the led lights on the bookshelves here.)

It was not long after I arrived in the pastor's office here that I discovered no one could remember the window treatments being changed since this place was built in around 1982. (This speaks highly of the manufacture of these shades in that they have last this long!) I had a suspicion, but no confirmation, they would be put to the test during my time here. And, sure enough, one day a couple of weeks ago I went to raise the blinds on the west window and they would not stay up by themselves no matter what I tried. I figured I would give it a few days and see if I simply had not mastered the right technique; alas, these things were simply inconsistent to the point of almost being non-functional.

No big deal, right? I am not going to bother the trustees with this simple task - I have enough handyman experience from being raised by an engineer straight out of the Inspector Gadget mold that I know how to hang some blinds in no time flat. So, after I took measurements, and headed on over to Lowe's for a suitable replacement. The longest part of this project was going to be the round trip to Lowe's.

As Steve Spurrier would say, "Welp." Turns out that one of these windows is considered to be a 'non-standard' window in that it is eight feet long, so I wound up having to place a special order from another vendor (which promises delivery within a couple of weeks.)

Reflecting upon this experience, I was reminded once again of the reality of the small things in life having outsized effects. This is simply a case of a small catch mechanism wearing out in a set of blinds installed when I was in second grade. Thanks to this small mechanism no longer being consistently reliable, I wound up spending a lot more time and effort on what I figured would be a simple and quick project.

"OK, Lamar. So what?"

Here's what: This experience with the mini-blinds illustrates that what may be a small part of a larger operation has a much bigger impact than you might think. Being Christians in the Wesleyan tradition, we know and claim the importance of the spiritual disciplines of prayer, study, fasting, worship, service, and others as being not simple things to do because we are faithful. Indeed, the spiritual disciplines, which may seem to some as being small and insignificant, have a strong effect on our growth and faith as disciple of Jesus Christ and part of the faith community that is First United Methodist Church of West Monroe.

Grace and Peace,

Lamar