Russellings of the Spirit

I don’t usually do this, but what the heck! It’s a new year, so why not start it by doing something different?

I will rudely ask: What did YOU get for Christmas?

I ask you that question for the same reason most people do: because I am bursting with excitement to tell you what Santa brought me!

Sure, there was the power tool battery and charger (thanks, kids. Love it!), and the thermal blanket for my smoker (so Joan and I can have some delicious ribs, even in the dead of winter), and a HARMONICA from my beloved. 

But here is a picture of my favorite present of all: My CAPTAIN OBVIOUS SOCKS!

I love this present a LOT. Mainly because it is a present that showed some genuine insight by the giver of the person on the receiving end.

Because I AM Captain Obvious. Long before he became a character in the GEICO commercials, Captain Obvious was my alter-ego.

• I am that guy who will turn to you in the fourth quarter of the football game and say, “You know, if we want to win, we’re going to have to score more points than them.”
• I am the guy who pours out the last glass of orange juice and says, “Looks like we need some more!”
• I am also the guy who walks outside, feels the droplets on his head and ventures forth with, “Hmmmm. It’s raining.”

Believe me… I could continue listing examples that further establish my Captain O bonafides, but we’ll hold it there with those three.

See, it’s not easy being Captain Obvious. For obvious reasons. People usually greet your prescient insights with such retorts as, “Duh!” Or “No kidding?” Or by sarcastically restating your name with, “Thanks, Captain Obvious.”

But here is the thing: over the years, I have discovered there are a few things that SHOULD be obvious that really aren’t. 

It is not always obvious, for example, that misfortunes seem much worse when we are right in the middle of them than they do with the benefit of hindsight. When Marsha Westbrook told me in the sixth grade, for example, that she didn’t want to be my girlfriend anymore, it felt like the end of the world.

It wasn’t. 

Not even close.

Or when my cute, little advertising and public relations company went belly up in 1997, it cut me to the core. It was my LIFE! It was my IDENTITY! But it was also the thing that was keeping me from answering the real call God had on my life.

I also think it is (or should be) perfectly obvious to every person alive that they were created by an infinitely loving Being… a Sentient Being which continues to love them completely, unconditionally, relentlessly, and irrationally. The evidence of that astonishing love – in my humble opinion – is EVERYWHERE! Even a casually opened pair of eyes should be able to see it, shouldn’t they?

But alas… no. 

Millions and millions of people today will wake up, walk through their day, and lay their head down tonight believing they are nothing more than a randomly assembled group of atoms, totally at the mercy of an aloof, uncaring universe.

And so, at the risk of restating the painfully obvious, I will continue my quest. When they are behind, I will tell my teams to get busy and score more points. I will suggest a trip to the store for more orange juice (or milk, or peanut butter, or laundry detergent) whenever I encounter an empty container. I will suggest an umbrella to deal with the current downpour…

… I will also keep reminding you and you and YOU that even when it is NOT obvious, you nevertheless are unique, unrepeatable miracles of creation, sustained by a God who gave everything to express his love for you.

Duh. Obviously.

Abundant blessings;