Half a Bubble Shy of Plumb

As an wannabe writer, I love language. I have always been impressed with the way real writers string words together in ways other people do not. Each writer has his or her own "style" which is unique, but the common thread is they write things in ways most of us do not. Perhaps it was a writer who coined the phrase, "Half a bubble shy of plumb" to refer to someone else who he considered to be a little off. Or maybe the saying became part of American, idiomatic, rhetoric after it was overheard on a construction site. Either way the phrase has come to be a reference to some thought or action that is not quite right. It might refer to another person's perspective on the whole of life, or any specific part of it.

We have all known people who we consider to be half a bubble shy of plumb. Believe it or not, there are those who are convinced I am about half a bubble shy of plumb. Please take a little self-test. Re-read the second sentence of this paragraph and give your response a number from the list below:

1. That is silly. You are one of the few people I know who is thinking straight.
2. You may be half a bubble off, but I am right there with you.
3. Only half a bubble?
4. I have no opinion/the jury is still out.

Thank you for your participation in our survey today. Not being a psychologist, I cannot tell you what your response indicates except to say, it will give some indication of your motives for reading this blog.

No one is always wrong, just as no one is always right. In the good old U.S. of A. we officially do not believe that "Might makes right." I say "officially" because several people, with warped ideas of spiritual authority, have attempted to threaten, intimidate, cajole, coerce, or figuratively beat me into doing what they thought I should do. I found recently that I simply do not suffer bullies well. ("suffer" is from the old English which means to allow or tolerate. That is the way the thought came into my mind. What can I say?) There was a time when I thought anyone who disagreed with me was wrong. I am pretty much past that now. Disagreement is healthy. The problem is most of us do not know how to, "Disagree agreeably" as one of my college professors put it. So, when we have a disagreement, we often use whatever power we have to separate ourselves from the person with whom we do not agree. The bully's mantra is, "My way or the highway." Incidentally, the religious spirit works through that attitude to maintain its authority. The thing about being bullied is, God does not work that way. In fact the very least one can expect when being bullied is for the Lord to raise up a standard against the bully. (Isaiah 59:19) Remember we never fight against flesh and blood. (Ephesians 6:12) By the way, the best we can expect in those situations is for God to make us more than conquerors. (Romans 8:37)

I had a conflict with a former pastor. Well, I guess I should say he had a conflict with me. It took me a very long time to even realize there was a problem. I hold a Master's degree from a Seminary and he does not. This was a problem for him. He mentioned it, more than once in public settings. (I was going to elaborate on that, but you all are smart enough to know that proves my point, without any elaboration.) Toward the end of the time that was going on, a conflict developed with my supervisor at work. His problem seemed to be that more people liked me than liked him. I cannot give you concrete evidence on that one, but I could give you a few names of people who thought that was the case.

Jack Hayford wrote in, Prayer Is Invading the Impossible, "In every area of human endeavor, whether it be science or history or mathematics, the expertise of the professional is acknowledged, until it comes to Theology. Then everyone is an expert." (If anyone has an original edition of that book with that quote in it, I would appreciate having it. I know I am off by a few words there.) Untrained and uneducated experts in any field of human endeavor are often inclined to do whatever they need to in order to present themselves as adequate. Then again, is that not the way it is with anything human? I read just yesterday about a pre-teen boy who picked fights with boys older than himself just because he could. He did say he almost always lost.

I took a day off yesterday and drove out toward the desert alone. I do that sometimes. It gives me the ability to refocus, refresh, and re-evaluate. In this case it also gave me the opportunity go get away from the stress and the stifling affects of the religious spirit and be a little more free to hear what the Holy Spirit had to say to me. You just read part of the result. More to come. God bless.