Imagine with me if you will:

You're a manager very high up in a large corporation. You've got hundreds of thousands of dollars in past-due bills that your customers aren't paying. You advertise to fill 3 positions to work on this situation.

You have a manager under you interview and interview, offering the applicants hourly pay, benefits, and a significant monthly bonus (the structure of which is in process of being finalized) that increases based on performance - ie., the more money collected, the higher the bonus.

Out of dozens of interviews, the lower manager hires the only 3 who actually are up for talking to people about their bills.

Over the first month these 3 employees make you about $35,000.00. This is amazing - way more than double what you expected. Sure, you just pocketed 35 grand that you wouldn't have without these 3 people - what is a thousand from that? You still have 34 grand that you wouldn't have had without these three. Pretty good first month!

But when you then realize that the bonuses are going to be significant, you honor your word and give them the bonus, but you decide this will never happen again. You decide on a new bonus structure. If an employee does just as impressive next month, you'll give them 10% of what they made this time - a 90% cut in the bonus. You get to pocket an extra $900.00.

Word gets back to you that the employees aren't as happy about this as you are. How strange. You think they'd want you to have extra cash. Are they only in this for the money? You hold a meeting with them, which happens to be the first time you've introduced yourself to these underlings - surely they wouldn't expect to meet their boss? They're just employees after all. You sit down with them and the mid-level manager who hired them and who has been the mediator between these cubicle rats and you. You tell them:

This translates to: Thanks for making us so much money! We appreciate you, but this is what it's going to be for now. We may evaluate this again in the future. Sorry I don't have better news. We respect you just a little bit more than poop. Pollhost.com

Some days I can feel it more than others. Today is one of those days. The sideways glances and whispered comments revealing feelings of suspicion. Sometimes it is hard to be an immigrant, even here in the United States. Even though I've been in the country for many years, days like this colour how I see things - or perhaps remove the false tint and reveal the true hue of those around me. I feel like I just don't belong.

That sneaky feeling that all of the friendliness and sense of belonging projected from co-workers and neighbours has just been a sham, a trick, a shallow cover over how they really feel. It hurts to know that beneath the surface there is still a core of judgement and suspicion of all things Canadian.

I heard the scorn on the radio this morning and fear that I will hear it all day in expectation and for the next week in resentment: "It will warm up this morning, but not for long, as colder weather will be in Colorado this evening - a Canadian cold front is moving in."

DaveO's post about Christians in Politics really got me thinking... and I ended up writing quite a comment in response.

Here's the post and response.

As I drove to work today, after the first day of snow this season in Denver, I wished I had a camera with me. I wish I could have captured...

1. The light as it fell on the rumples of the snow-iced foothills, so crisp in the clean air.

2. The tree I'm parked under right now at my office, leafless, holding it's sillouhette in snow, creating a natural near mono-chromatic image.

I know two pictures doesn't sound like much.. but it made my day. It was beautiful driving to work today along the foothills.

I just received the first response to my letters! No, Starbucks has never responded to me.

I just got an e-mail back from Pillips 66 - this was just to clarify which station it was. We'll see if it goes anywhere from here - I'm hoping for free gas for life - or at least free slurpees for life.

Jon (the Canadian)

I recently heard someone comment about how praying about a situation can actually be disobedience. In regard to our actions, there are lots of things that God has made clear in the Bible. Praying for guidance as to whether you should love your neighbor is silly - Jesus already stated very clearly what is expected of his followers.

This got me thinking about what decisions fall into this categy of "givens."

Everyone who grew up in a church knows that a Christians is supposed to "read your Bible and pray everyday, pray everyday, pray everyday." These things are givens.

I've begun to realize that there are far more givens than we think there are; far more than we would like. Jesus expects his followers to pray, to fast, to tell others about Him, to help the poor, to have integrity, to speak plainly, to show respect to everyone, to take care of orphans and widows and the oppressed.

To take care of orphans and widows. James 1:27 makes this very clear: "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world."

The more we persue adoption, it really has become something that is a "given" to me - not a gift or a calling or an anointing that we have and others don't - really seems pretty plain and clear that this is expected of followers of Jesus. We're not putting this off, treating it as an option, or only adopting as a last resort - we'll have bio-kids as well. We're adopting because it is part of what it means to follow Jesus.

Part of me wonders what's wrong with our cultural Christianity that we have disregarded this very clear part of our faith.

But I do wonder what I am putting off, treating as an option, or only resorting to after all other options fail. What other "givens" are out there that I don't even realize because I've become so caloused by stubbornly ignoring them and relegating them to the realm of preference?