Opening the computer, I sit at the table, bark out orders.
"ALEXA! Play "Jesus Christ Superstar" ... LOUD!"
"My mind is clear now ... at last ... all too well ... I can see ... where we all ... soon will be ..."
The phone starts buzzing.
"Dammit!" I exclaim. "ALEXA ... PAUSE!"
"What up?" I say into the phone.
It's one of us ... a Bar Church semi-regular ... but life's not good at the moment ... and though I haven't seen him in months ... I hear about it ... and it's not good ... in fact, several times listening to him talk I can't help but mutter one of the simplest of prayers ... "Jesus Christ!"
Twenty minutes later he finally arrives at something I can understand ... he wants me to do something for him ... meet him at an undetermined time in a yet to be decided place but probably near where he lives on the other side of the County.
"Let's see what happens," I answer.
"Thanks Rev," he mumbles hanging up.
"ALEXA ... RESUME!
"If you strip away the myth ... from the man ... you will see ... where we all ... soon will be."
The computer pings and what I'm writing is interrupted by a phone call from a friend on messenger.
It's Elisa.
I'm thrown into a theological quandary.
I'm finally getting what God wants me to write ... I'm on a roll ... but it's Elisa ... she's sitting right there ... I have to take the call.
I don't take the call.
Sending a text instead I write, "What's up?"
"ALEXA ... RESUME!"
"Jesus ... you've started to believe the things they say of you you really do believe this talk of God is true?"
The phone buzzes with a text.
It's Elisa.
"Why aren't you taking my call?"
The truth of the matter is I've never taken a call from messenger because I'm afraid, once I start it'll never stop and there are lots of people I'd really not rather hear from so it's best to be overly cautious.
But it's one of our own ... and I love her and she deserves a response.
"ALEXA PAUSE," I yell and proceed to type her number out on the keyboard but a message pops up from Eric.
"Are we going to rehearse again before Easter?"
I fire off a message to Elisa ... "I'll call you later."
Then I respond to Eric ... "No."
"ALEXA CONTINUE!"
"And all the good you've done will soon get swept away you've begun to matter more than the things you say."
Loud thumps from up stairs startle me.
"ALEXA OFF!" I snap.
Taking the stairs two at a time to where Che's supposed to be napping, I open the door to catch her running across her bedroom, dives under her covers, holds up her bottle and says ... with bright sparkling eyes and a face I love more than anything ... "More bottle?"
Back down the stairs, I replenish the bottle with milk, climb up again and give it to our baby girl.
"You go to sleep Che-bay," I tenderly order. "Mommy will be home when you get up."
Reclaiming my seat in the dining room, I softly say to myself, "I'm never gonna finish this."
"ALEXA GO."
"Look at all my trials and tribulations ... sinking in a gentle pool of wine ... Don't disturb me now, I can see the answers ... till this morning is this evening life is fine"
My phone buzzes, dancing around the table because my wife's calling.
"ALEXA ..." and the music stops without me ever telling Alexa what I want.
Sarah's actually Face Timing me to show me the meat specials at Sam's Club.
It's an ongoing part of fun game of banter in our home. To me nobody beats Matt's specials at IGA ... she believes there's always better deals to be found.
For the next ten minutes, she's pointing her phone at slabs of meat the size of Wisconsin for me to say "Yay" or "Nay" on before purchasing.
"Cheaper at IGA," I say, and she throws down half a cow ... narrowly missing an innocent shopper.
"What about this?" and I view a long tube of hamburger meat that could stretch across all four lanes of the Tybee Road.
"Cheaper at IGA."
She slings it back into the refrigerated case making the sound of brick hitting brick.
We go on like this until I concede a pork the size of Rhode Island is a great buy because my Sarah always finds the deals.
"I told you," she smiles as we laugh.
"ALEXA" and ... the music starts again before I finish.
"What's that in the bread ... it's gone to my head ... 'till this evening is this morning life is fine."
The phone buzzes.
ALEXA stops the music before I call her name.
It's Danny.
He's got some Palm Fronds he's cutting for us to use at Bar Church this week.
"That'd be great," I reply and ALEXA picks it right back up before I even clear my throat.
"Look at all my trials and tribulations ... sinking in a gentle pool of wine"
Getting up, I say nothing to Alexa and pour myself a gentle pool of wine before returning to the sermon.
"Hmmm," I mumble, "I wonder what I was writing about?"
Try as I may, I can't for the life of me conjure back up whatever inspired me to sit down in the first place.
"Oh well," I think sipping the wine, "God'll have to get back to me on whatever it is."
It's quite in the house.
Che's fallen back asleep ... the girls are still at school ... Sarah's probably in the midst of price negotiations with someone in upper management at Sam's Club using the IGA/Matt card to get her way ... Alexa's done with "Jesus Christ Superstar" and me.
Warm gentle breezes from the Ocean blow the lush, green foliage of trees washed pollen free from a day of good rain.
Sunshine is baptizing the world in light.
Choirs of birds sing Hymns.
Che cries so I make my way upstairs. Yawning she throws her tiny arms around my neck. Her skin is hot from the blanket and near 80 degree afternoon ... there is no better feeling in the world ... well, there is one but Sarah's not home and all the girls will blow in any moment now.
Downstairs, I take her outside to feel the cool Ocean breeze and she lays her head on my shoulder.
For this moment, there is peace on earth.
Is this what "Come on earth as it is in Heaven" means?
Che's hungry so I let her pick whatever she wants from the Pantry ... a red Dum-dum ... give her my cell phone to watch "The Micky Mouse Club" and lay her on the sofa to finish waking.
Taking my seat in front of the computer again, I ask myself, "Isn't this the way we're supposed to live? Appreciating the world we're given and loving those who love us?"
I think this is the way God intended things.
Now, who is it that I didn't call back?
It's going to drive me crazy until I call back whoever it was.
It'd be nice to start again ... but this time do it the way God always intended ... appreciating and celebrating life without all the disruptions ... that'd be nice ... please?
I've been living to see you ... dying to see you but it shouldn't be like this
This was unexpected, what do I do now? ... Could we start again please?
I've been very hopeful so far ... now for the first time I think we're going wrong
Hurry up and tell me this is just a dream or could we start again please?
Before it get's too frightening we ought to call a halt. So could we start again please.
"Could we start again please?"
"Could we start again?"
