Good Friday

The Earthquake

By Preson (aka Tommy Phillips)


I'm in horror... I don't know what to do, where to go, what to believe!

I was asleep in the garden, and I was awakened by the stomping of what sounded like fifty men, with torches and swords. I thought I was still dreaming, you know that feeling when you first wake up in an awkward place, and you're overcome by confusion? I was terrified. I remembered that Jesus was over near the sycamores, so I ran around the north side of garden and grabbed peter and john, they had the same confused look on their faces, I told them to follow me.

When we found Jesus, He was surrounded by men, roman soldiers. We stayed back, out of fear, we couldn't understand their dialogue. Thomas was standing next to Him with his dagger in his hand, and Jesus was touching one of the guards on the side of His head. Suddenly the earth shook, when I turned around, the others were gone and Jesus was being led away, Thomas had ran also, but one man stayed behind. He didn't have a torch, and he seemed distraught. I heard him crying and I realized that it was Judas Iscariot. Did he have anything to do with this? There was so much I didn't know.

So many things happened after the arrest in the garden that I don't even know where to start. There were rumors that He went before Pilate, and that he had been sent other places also. An elderly man told me that the Sanhedrin had brought charges before Him, and that he could be tried for blasphemy.

The next time that I saw Jesus was the most painful moment of my life. There was a crowd along de-larosa street, unlike any crowd I had ever seen. Some were crying, some were screaming, some were angry, and some were laughing. I pushed through to see what was happening.

There was a man, obviously a criminal, carrying his cross up the hill. He was a mess. His eyes were purple and swollen, his back was raw and torn from his punishment, his face was bare.... but then I saw his hands, strong hands, hands that looked like they've know hard labor. A carpenters hands. I recognized them. They were the hands that had I had watched turn a few loaves of bread into food for thousands..., that had put mud on a blind man’s eyes to heal him..., these hands had reached out for Peter when he walked on the water. We had seen these hands do so many amazing things, I sometimes just used to sit and stare at them and thank the father for sending them. Last night I watched these hands wash my very own feet...

I tried to push through the crowd to get to Him, but the guards held me back. I screamed out His name, and he turned and looked at me with pity in His swollen eyes. Why did He pity me? Why was he feeling sorry for me?

I watched as they took those perfect hands and they drove nails through His hands, my heart ached. Not his hands, they were instruments of love, of comfort, of peace. They once flowed with mercy, now they run with blood.

I watched as they raised up His cross, with blood flowing from His feet and His head.

I remembered what it was like when we used to enter the big cities. People would wave palm branches and sing songs about Him. They would cover the ground with leaves so that even His donkey would have comfort in his steps. The sick would crawl up to Him just to touch the tassels of His robe because they remembered what the prophets had said about the messiah have healing power in His tassels of His cloak. Now they are waving fists. Now they are hurling insults. Now He is naked and humiliated.

I can watch no more, I must run.

It is all over.

I passed Joseph from Arimathea while I was running. He asked me where I was going, I told him that I didn't know. He asked for assistance, that he was going to the Governor to ask for the body. Why would I want the body? I wanted Jesus, not His body. I wanted to hold His hands, not wrap them to His chest in a shroud. NO!!!

The Sabbath is coming.

I must hide, surely they will come for us next.

This was a terrible day, never again will I celebrate this day. There is no hope, I see no reason to rejoice. Never again will my Passovers be sweet, for I will remember what was to follow.

I must hide.

Home Away From Home

I had the distinct pleasure of visiting friends, honestly family, in Philadelphia this past week. I already had a day off of work due to MLK day on Monday, so I decided to utilize 2 of my hard-earned paid vacation days to make the trip. Everyone else in the world seems to flock to Florida for the 80 degree winters. Having been born and raised in them, I did just the opposite.

I was able to stay with great friends of mine Tony and his wife Jessica. Tony seems to be completely won over by the city of Philadelphia. Grant it, he's been able to spend a bit more time seeing the sights and sounds of the city, as this was the city where he dated his wife. I do seem to remember our first year when neither of us really liked the city and longed for the beaches of good ole FL. I never really stopped disliking Philly. Tony, on the other hand, cheers for the Eagles now instead of our home team in Tampa the Bucs. I seem to remember the Bucs and Eagles playing earlier this year, wonder who won that game? Though I'm sure the Eagles will win this weekend and make it to the Super Bowl. Oh wait ... turns out the Eagles lost last week and will be joining the rest of us on our couches watching the game. Oh well, Super Bowls, Championships, Trophies, National Titles and all that, they're overrated. We win them every other year in FL. Philly? Not so much. Tony man, Nate and Luke E. have been in Philly just as long as you and they still cheer for their home teams. You're selling out. That's weak!

Back to the trip though. I know what Tony is talking about when he speaks of his trips to FL being a little difficult. I set aside 5 days for the trip and it's still difficult to schedule everyone into those days. Here's a brief run-down of the trip. Landed Thursday night around 11. Friday I made a few calls in the morning then met up w/ Justin at Baja Fresh, of course. From there we made our way to Denise's work to slip in the back door and say hello. Friday night I was able to pick Tiffany up from the airport, just like old times. Later I met up w/ Tony for a few wings and a pint at Fatty's. Saturday was Steven's wedding during the day. From there I went to visit Nate and his wife down at their place in the city. Saturday evening was when the Eagle lost, which never gets old to watch. I was able to watch with Tony and Jess at their apartment where the cheers and ultimately groans of all the Eagle fans in their building could be heard. Sunday was a chance to visit my old church New Life Dresher, who are now officially Dresher as they are meeting in their new building there. After having lunch with friends from church it was off to one of establishments I do miss from the Philly area, King of Prussia. I made a few purchases at about a 70% discount.

Sunday night Mafia was easily one of the highlights of my trip. I thought Denise had a bit of Mafia eyes as she sat next to me telling not to eliminate her, at least not in the first few rounds. I didn't say it though, so I can't claim credit for being able to tell if Denise is Mafia from her eyes. I did however call her out as Mafia when she claimed to be the only Cop remaining and talked about whom she had cleared the previous night. Denise, no one would come out and admit to being a cop if they knew they were the only cop remaining. That's suicide. That is unless of course you are Mafia. Unfortunately for me, I can never just sit quietly and play the role of the common citizen. Because I'm always active and talking, and claiming to be Mafia, I usually find myself dead in the first 2 rounds. So, when I called Denise out for being Mafia I was a pretty easy person to turn everyone against and I was killed off about a minute later. I do have to admit that while we were playing I looked around the room at the people I had been given the joy of living with for the last 3 years and was very glad I had made the trip.

Monday I was able to have lunch with another good friend of mine Michaeline down in the city at the Continental. We just kind of walked around Center City for a bit and did some shopping. She said she needed a black belt and a few hours later she had everything except of course a black belt. Or did she buy one of those too? I can't remember. Needless to say she was fun to shop with. Monday night was Dave and Buster's w/ Nate and Marissa. Tuesday, my final day, I had lunch w/ Tony and then met up with Luke H. for a couple pints at the Blue Comet in Glenside. After hanging around Machen for another hour or two I found myself rushing to get to the airport on time.

Since I've been home people have been asking how my trip was and what had done in Philly. I didn't do that much if you think in terms of going to recognizable places and doing grandiose things. I guess it doesn't really connect with them if I say I went to the Machen kitchen sat on the stools and talked. But for me that's often the place I'd most like to be. There's something to be said for simply walking downtown with someone you've missed and talking for a few hours. Something to be said for being able to spend a few more days entering the lives of friends and sharing life with them. For me that something is thank you. Thank you to all the friends I saw this past week, and even those I didn't see, who have meant so much to me over the years. Thank you for giving me a home away from home.

Blessed to be a Blessing

That phrase has been challenging me a bit for the last few days. I think I heard my pastor use it this past Sunday while discussing the Church and social justice. I don't know about you, but I confess that in my mind at times I've wondered what I might do if I were to somehow strike it rich one day. You hear all these stories about people who win ridiculous amounts of money through the Powerball lottery or some other means and then blow it all on the most meaningless expenses, spending just to spend. It's easy whenever you hear something like that to think of how you would use that money so much differently.

We tell ourselves that we'd give so much to charities and to fight hunger, disease, and injustice around the world and maybe we would. What we don't realize or fail to acknowledge is that the way we handle our money now is probably how we'd handle it if we had millions of dollars more. How often do we make smaller unneccesary purchases to spoil ourselves and then find a way to justify it? How often do we neglect to give to these same social causes like hunger, and disease on the smaller scale we can afford because we think we don't have the means? And what about our time, what about our efforts? When do we make the sacrifice needed to get involved? It seems foolish to think that someone who doesn't realize the manifold blessings he already posseses would somehow use them differently if his blessings were to increase. Such a one would still be operating from the same foundation, namely a sinfully self-absorbed heart bent on self-worship and self-gratification.

May the Lord open our eyes and burden our heart to the ways He has already richly blessed us. May we, no matter what the scale of our means might be, consider His blessings and consider those to whom we might be a blessing. May He continue to transform our sinful heart and conform us to the image of His Son, that His name might be great and that His kingdom increased.

Uneventful Days

I find myself now deeply entrenched into a day-to-day routine. My alarm goes off every Monday through Friday at the same time 6:50A.M. I always hit snooze at least once, if not twice. I sleep as late as possible, ready myself quickly, and jump in my car for work by about 7:30. I try to get to the parking garage at work by 7:55 at the latest, b/c it takes me about 5 minutes to walk to my desk on the third floor. I always take the stairs and not the elevator. For those who were wondering, the staircase is a combination of one side being evenly numbered steps and the other odd, though I haven't counted the number of steps. Saturday is my sacred sleep-in day, which usually amounts to waking up at about 9:30 or 9:45 at the latest.

My evenings consist of driving home, grabbing dinner and trying to be at the gym by about 8:30 at the latest. I work out with my buddy Paul usually 5 times a week. The gym is a must if you intend to avoid having your posterior grow to the shape of your ergonomicly designed office chair. My weekend nights are typically spent with friends at one of our normal bars, or at the occasional movie.

I don't really meet a great deal of new people, though attending a new church has helped in that department. It just seems like I wake up every Monday morning and start counting down 'til Saturday morning. Life is one ongoing routine for me.

Not sure I'm a big fan of it all. I miss packing my bags every couple months and driving a thousand miles away to my second home in Philly. Don't get me wrong, I certainly don't miss Philly but the change in scenery was nice. I guess this routine is a reality for almost everyone, at least in the U.S.

It always amazes me how quickly weeks fly by, then months, even years. I'm seriously going to be 60 years old before I know what hit me. As much as I endeavor to savor the moments as they pass, they still pass and I'm powerless to stop them.

Highway Robbery Ect........

So I have my new job and I basically know what type of income I can expect for the next year or so at least. Couple that with the fact that I'm not in school & I kind of feel now would be a good time to really get out on my own. So I've been doing the apartment shopping and all that, trying to balance a projected budget for myself. One thing I find myself in the market for is auto insurance. Some may be aware of this others may not, but since I made my first auto insurance payment I have hated the industry all together. It really makes me think of the mob or the tax collectors from biblical times. Guys who you sort of have to pay or else, even though you know you're getting screwed over. I don't even want to think about how much money I've paid in auto insurance, let alone how much I will eventually pay, in my lifetime. I do know that I've never seen a dime of it and I never will. And should I ever actually need them to provide me with even the smallest of services in exchange for my payments, I can rest assured (or maybe I should say rest insured) that those payments will be increased. Heaven forbid they actually have to give me something in exchange for the thousands of dollars I pay them. It is quite literally highway robbery. I may sound a little fired-up as I write this, maybe that's b/c it's 3AM and I been up getting online quotes for insurance. Bear with me.

So I was driving home yesterday and as I approached a split in the road this young woman (probably a year or two younger than me at least) decided that changing lanes on a wet road, talking on a cell phone, at 60+ mph, without looking was a good idea. It of course was not a good idea. But in keeping with the driving philosophy that I've maintained since I first started driving, I anticipated her making that move. I saw her moving and had already avoided the would be collision at least a half second to a second before she knew I was there. But does that ever find its way onto my, or anyone else's, insurance bill? Not really. I guess I'm just venting, or as Scripture would probably call it, grumbling and complaining. It just seems like there's something very unjust about the whole auto insurance industry, and just about any other insurance for that matter.

1:13

Right at 3:58 AM this morning I heard a distant banging sort of sound as if from a fairly large object. This was followed by an immediate creaking sound for about a second or so then another bang followed and the power went out. Various thoughts began to go through my head. I hadn't heard any thunder, had something been struck by lightning? This happened last Saturday night, I was planning to visit a friend's church in Tampa but overslept when the power had gone out the night before. It seemed to be trying to come back on but couldn't quite get there, how long would it take? You know, I really ought to invest in one of those little 9 volt batteries to back up my alarm clock. I don't want to miss church again, but I can't go back to sleep until I'm able to set my alarm. Besides, I'm not really tired.

After about 2 mins of thinking I decided to venture outside for a walk. It seemed like such an adventurous idea and I need to clear my head anyway. As some may be aware I sometimes struggle with sleeping at normal hours or even sleeping at all, particularly when I've got certain issues on my mind.

Something about this walk seemed so very exciting. For some reason I found myself not wanting to be seen & was disappointed to find 3 or 4 cars driving past me as I started down Bayshore ave. As I looked to the sky I scarcely saw anything resembling a storm cloud, how had the power been knocked out? I headed north with my iPod and looked out across the bay. For some reason I found myself beginning to think about life and what would happen if it all ended for me on that walk? I thought about the last text message I had sent a friend of mine, what would it mean to her if I were gone the next morning? I thought of my latest blog entry, they'd probably read it at my funeral. Any number of thoughts began to fill my head, but behind them all I thought of what it would be like to pass into the afterlife to see my Saviour.

I had walked for about 6 minutes or so before I began to see a power company truck coming down the road with a search light inspecting the power lines looking for a problem. Behind the truck I could see what appeared to be a collection of vehicles. As I began getting closer I could see at least two of them were also power company trucks there were also at least 4 police cars and one fire truck. Just as I was able to make them out something caught my attention out of the corner of my left eye, something that seemed a bit out of place. It was a speed limit sign. Everything was normal about the sign except the fact that it was bent nearly level with the ground. It had obviously been run over and evidently at a fairly high speed. I began looking at the grass for tire marks of some sort. It seemed as if there were tracks, but whatever had run it over did so without swerving or breaking. Then of course the whole puzzle began to come together and the solution was a dark one. It was now about 4:30 or so as I stood on the side of the road. I walked up to where the emergency vehicles were parked virtually unnoticed. I was expecting to be greeted by an officer informing me that I needed to be on my way or something. All the activity seemed to be on the other side of the street and I planned to walk past trying to get a glimpse of the situation on my way. As I was doing that focused on the crews working on the power lines across the street I realized that about 30 feet in front of me lay the cause of it all. It was a mid to late '90s model white Ford Mustang. All that I could see of it was the front end, which was facing the road with a slight angle towards me. On top of the car lay the downed telephone pole, crushing the roof of the car in a 'V' formation.

It stopped me in my tracks. Why was it that all the crews working seemed focused completely on the power lines across the street? Certainly this was the real cause for attention. As I pieced together the path that this vehicle must have taken the and result seemed grim. I saw no blood yet I saw no sign that there had been an effort to rescue anyone from the vehicle. Had they been ejected upon impact? Had they survived possibly? It was now 4:37 AM.

Evidently I would be walking no further down that sidewalk as the downed pole and wires were covering it. I began to turn back and to think about the life of the individual driving that vehicle. As a kid growing up I always had this image in my mind of the "Drunken Driver". He was this evil man who went out to drink himself silly possessing this sadistic lust for endangering the innocent. As I've grown older I now realize that the sweet girl who's always smiling when I see her at work, the one who's a junior at the local college and working towards her career, she's the one with 2 DUIs. It's people much like myself. In fact, I had been out with a few friends from work the night before when the topic had come up. One even mentioned that she thought I would be over the limit & I had only had 3 drinks and felt completely sober.

I walked a little further, going past my street and back through my neighborhood. Walking past the downed sign got me thinking, what if I had gone for a walk about 30 mins earlier? I could have been hit. What is it that really stands between me and the driver of that Mustang? It is certainly no righteousness of my own, only sovereign grace. Not 2 mins after I slipped back into the back door of my house I saw my clock blinking 12:00, the power was back. Looking at my cell phone it was 5:11AM and I was suddenly struck by the thought of just how much had happened in the last 1:13 since the power had gone out. It seemed kind of eerie listening to the beeping of surge protectors marking that fateful moment when what seemed like a minor inconvenience for me was so very much more for the driver. What is it that really stands between that driver and myself? Only sovereign grace.

Guess that means I'm "It"

So apparently I've been tagged courtesy of Denise. And to demonstrate my intelligence, or lack thereof, I first off had to copy and paste 'joie de vivre' into the my Yahoo search since I wasn't sure what it meant. I'm no poet nor do I read as much of it as I should, so I'll take the picture option of the assignment. The picture I've provided
is a bit outdated (about 2 years old), but I think it captures what I love about summer. The girl pictured is my niece Ashlynne, who's now 7 years old.

It's a given that any picture I would provide is going to be taken at the beach. I've blessed with the opportunity to spend a bit of time with Ashlynne this last week. We've gone for walks to the park to visit our alligator "buddies" who live there. We've gone for walks in the dark and shared our fears, she's afraid of baby dinosaurs 'they may be small but they're still tough' and we share a fear of suspended heights such as cliffs or tall building ledges, or tall bridges. I've also been selling her on the TV show 'Knight Rider', she loves KITT but don't we all. We've also had a run-in with a black racer while we were playing in the backyard, a black racer which I shot in the face with a rubber band 'that's what you get for biting my uncle in the face when he was in 7th grade' she yelled. (I was bitten in the face by a snake in my 7th grade science class).

The point of this all is of course that what I find to be my source of Joie De Vivre as I understand it (by way of Yahoo) is essentially family in the sun.

Is This Good For the Company?

About 5:00 yesterday afternoon I was taking a brief break at work before my 6:00 shift that night. I didn't have enough time to justify a drive home so I went out and sat in my car and put in one of my favorite albums looking to make the most of my time off. Just about that time I received a phone call. It was from a lady with whom I had had a few phone conversations over the course of the past week or so. She informed me that she had good news and bad news then asked which I wanted to hear first. I of course said give me the bad news.

Her name is Tammy and she works in the H.R. dept at Raymond James a financial firm based in St. Pete. I had first heard from her last week as she called to set me up to interview for a position in their customer service dept. The job consists of serving as a go-between for the corporate office and their branches throughout the country. I would be answering phones and adjusting accounts as need be as well as working to resolve any questions the branches may have regarding said accounts.

Well the bad news, as it turns out, is that I wasn't offered that position. There is of course still the good news to address.

When I interviewed for the position the previous week the process began by taking a general aptitude test, basically an IQ test. Now as some may know I kind of like taking those types of tests and have tended to score fairly well on them in the past. I typically look forward to placement tests, unless they involve Hebrew of course. I took the ACT for college having been out of school for a couple years and having only studied for a maximum of 45 minutes and I promptly earned a scholarship for my first semester of college. So apparently when I took this test before my interview I tested quite well, I even heard that the phrase "off the charts" was used, for another position in the company. Tammy called me the day after my interview and asked of I would be interested in interviewing for this other position, and of course I was. So I came in and interviewed for it on Monday. As it turns out the good news she brought me yesterday was that I had been offered the position. I of course accepted.

This position deals with portfolios Sr. Portfolio Manager is the title. It pays a little better than the one I had previously applied for and sounds a whole lot more interesting to me.

For those who may be wondering why I titled this post as I did. Well, just watch Office Space again. I don't feel like I took a job at Inetech, but I can't help but reference the film at a time like this. I'm thankful that the Lord has given me favor in my pursuit of a job and I'm thankful to have had a credible friend working for me on the inside, Jeremy. Besides I needed to put some kind of a post on my blog or else Denise might consider removing the link from her blog.