Happy Friday

It is Friday and everyone is ready for the weekend. People are trying their best to finish up what must be done while others have mentally checked out. A lucky few have already started and the not so fortunate others have full work days ahead as they gear up.

As a kid, I loved Fridays!  School's Out! Football games followed by date nights. Sundays were for asking for forgiveness.

In college Friday after glass meant road trips! We'd pack in someone's car, head to the beach or the city and party like its 1999. (Of course this was way before 1999.) I think the best road trip I remember, and let me be honest ... I don't remember many, was to Atlanta to see George Harrison in concert and afterwards hanging out with a bunch of Hari Krishna kids singing and playing tambourines.

In Seminary I was polishing off Sunday's Sermon. Hold up in my office in the inner city of Louisville, Kentucky, I started typing them out in advance though I never exactly stuck to the script when I delivered them. This is where I learned to speak and write but Friday's weren't all that great while I sat there waiting on God to tell me what to say.

Throughout my career at Union Mission, Friday became escape day. Get it down and get away! Beach weekends or road trips with the kids to Athens for football, it was the gateway for family time. My now adult kids still view it this way.

These days, I live somewhere between a virtual world and a real one. Living at our beachhouse and working throughout the world at the same time means the days blend together. It's more of a routine that must be kept. Get up, coffee at the Breakfast Club, drive the girls to school, a three mile run and then work, mostly on the computer or on the phone. Travel is the only disruption but where we are has no real impact on the routine.

But I never have to remind myself that its Friday.

It is the "Day of Venus" the Roman Goddess of love. Even if you're not a pagan, there's something nice about Friday belonging to love.

In Greek it's a day of preparation ... to ask for forgiveness on Sunday. The Greeks liked to plan ahead.

So lets dive in shall we?

Happy Friday!

Oh ... and forgive yourself on Sunday.