Canticles of the Unhomed

Sunday, April 17, 2005

Return of the Mack, Baby

So I'm back. Blogger finally figured out what was wrong with my blog, and fixed it. They solved the problem on the first try, so props to Blogger.

Check out some new blogs in my links section. My buddy Chuck, who is the other Pastor of the House with me, now has a blog, along with his wife, Erika. Check them out. Also, my buddy Cortney's dog, Max, has a blog. I know, I know. Just check it out, okay? Do me a favor.

Galaga sweetness still reigns. We are beginning to separate the wheat from the chaff as far as Galaga players at the House is concerned. That game has caused much weeping and gnashing of teeth. And yet we still play it. Stunning. We wait for the return of the Son to the fray, and we regularly gather to lament the fickle affections of the Galaga godess. Honestly, its like a bad love affair; she abuses us, but we keep coming back, thinking that this time will be different.

We flounder in themidst of registering the House as a religious society in Alberta. We had to do a name/trademark search, and of course, it spitted back another church somewhere in Ontario that has already registered the name "The House," and trademarked it as well. We are told that if it wasn't a church, we could get away with it, but this is too close even for the sometimes dodgy copyright laws. So, we have officially changed the name of the church to "The House Community Evangelical Free Church." We figure that the chances of anyone else having that name in Canada is pretty slim. This way we can still informally use the name "The House," and officially refer to ourselves as the "House Community" and the Evangelical Free Church part of the name is both a nod to the denomination, and keeps the government happy.

Which reminds me. Paid my taxes recently. Most of my income last year came from my writing, from which tax is not automatically deducted. Having never dealt with that situation before, I didn't give it any thought. Then, when I did my taxes, after paying an accountant $278 to do my taxes, I am left having to PAY $7,400. Thankfully, I was able to pay it off, but it decimated my savings. $7400!! What the hell is that?!?!? What the hell could the government possibly do for me that would be worth $7400? I don't drive, so I don't need roads. I pay property taxes, so that pays for sewer and other services. I was telling this to a friend of mine, Uwe Stiles, who happens to be a constable for the Edmonton Police Service, and he said I could think of it as going to pay his salary. Makes sense, but my reply was, when was the last time I needed the police? To which he asks, "You ever been beaten half to death in your front yard?" My reply was, "No." he smiles and quips, "You're welcome." Funny. But still, $7400? Stinkin' worthless government. Feh!

I now have eight invitations to speaking engagements this summer. This my regular summer pattern. Should be fun. There's some camps, some retreats, and a conference. As well, I have been put on pulpit supply for the District. I really like the whole itinerant preaching thing. Gives me enormous freedom - I can go in, say what I want and get out, and leave the regular pastor to clean my mess! No, just kidding. But, this is a fickle business. If you start turning down invitations, you stop getting them, so its going to be a busy summer.

Been working on the love story. It is a story about a young pastor in a traditional church that falls in love with the non-christian woman that owns the coffeehouse that he spends alot of time in. The catch is that he never tells her that he is a pastor, because he's afriad that she will change the way she interacts with him if he tells her. Eventually, it just becomes comfortable, and for three years he doesn't tell her, until it comes out when she accidentally finds out that he's a pastor, and of course she feels betrayed, and hurt, and so on and so on. She leaves him, and he is left with trying to deal with learning to live without her. He starts to fall apart, and it affects his ministry, and so on. I am toying with the idea of getting them back together, since true love forgives, but I am also toying with them staying apart, he gets involved in a bad rebound affair, and it ultimately destroys him completely. I'm not sure. But, this is the first non-speculative fiction/science fiction piece I have ever done, so its kind of experimental.

:: written by Matt Thompson, 11:56 AM

3 Comments:

Are you stealing my life story Matt? I could probly give you some great insider experience on what it's like to fall in love with someone who doesn't want to tell you that he's going to become a pastor, and then is hurt and betrayed when she finds out.