Mr. B.A.

Life is good, and I am blessed. I serve a great God, my wife loves me, and I am content.. most of the time.

But then.. like that (loved but not liked) relative showing up unannounced with his unruly kids to visit for the evening OR LONGER.. arrives Mr. B.A. (Bad Attitude). Recently it appear Mr. B.A. stops over with his buddy Mr. B.B. (bad back) when I prefer to be left alone.

An everyday example of a visit from Mr. B.A. is arriving at home at the end of  the day greeted by our dog Cooper (a rescue dog with issues) barking at me. While Mr. B.A. has not entered my house at this point I cringe to my barking dog and see Mr. B.A. easily as I look out my front window. He is  sitting in his car on the curb, he notices me, and smiles giving me a thumbs up.  Arghh.

I am tired after a long day and all I want to do is relax for a few moments, so I turn on the TV and flip it to the evening news.

Top stories are the border crisis, race riots, LGBTQ is adding another letter, and in North Korea that rogue 'nut job' hopped up on Red Bull is testing Nukes again.

Meanwhile Congress is playing partisan politics russian roulette with the American public, and.. there is a 'weather' alert of a pending 'snowflake' blizzard/protest in Berkeley where frightened college students burn flags, tipping monuments, and blocking streets as part of a SJW class project?

​And OBTW.. everything bad listed above I have learned is still the fault of .. DONALD TRUMP. I thought he was no longer president.  GO FIGURE!

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So I turn off the news and notice Mr. Bad Attitude is now out of his car walking towards my house grinning big, and pointing to my door to let him in. I cringe but for the moment I look away.

Next is dinner, And dinner is always good as my wife Mary takes good care of me. Following dinner we most always watch Wheel of Fortune. Dinner and now Wheel watching is our 1 hour reprieve from this big ol' B.A. world.

For a brief moment I pretend Mr. B.A. is gone. I imagine he is not just outside my house.

but he is.

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THEN.. 'Wheel' is over and so from 7pm CST to bedtime there is rarely anything good to watch on TV but I want  to be sure so I waste the next 30 minutes channel surfing and coming up  with zip!

AFTER.. the channel surfing I browse the web, or then on to Social Media for the whole 'poke the bear' experience. 

Social Media is a digital glut of cat videos, political judgments, and 'Christian' cries of heresy among the bretheren.  This angst found in the world via Social Media is sensed by  Mr. B.A. ​and so he makes his move.

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Now it is 7:45pm, and Mr. B.A. responding to the vibe of pointless channel surfing, and web browsing let's himself in and sits in MY chair. From his newly claimed throne he is munching Flaming Hot Cheetos leaving cheeto-orange greasy finger marks on my chair, TV remote, and my computer laptop. B.A. does acknowledges me with a glance and  a nod before taking control of the TV remote with his left hand a computer mouse with his right. It is Clickity, clickity, click as Cheeto dust fills the air.

I am tired, irritated, my dog growls at me because I spoke to my wife without asking his permission and Mr. B.A. is now in full control of all things electronic for the evening, and in his glory!

So I mumble/moan about another evening lost with Mr. B.A., while I sulk (loudly).  Yes I sulk 'loudly'.

It is not a pretty sight... Sulking loudly is much like when men cry.  It is an ugly display of emotions and not an endearing as observed by my wife Mary.
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​Then, there is a LIGHT BULB MOMENT..  Ya know, it does not have to be this way. There could be more to my life than you-tube videos, and Twitter suspensions. Imagine a life bigger than Big-Bang reruns or a Hollywood blockbuster/flopbuster. 

Even as I type these words a Spirit inside me speaks in a still small voice.. "Well, duh." note: I am not saying this voice was the Holy Spirit as I pretty sure He does not say "Well, duh" unless  these are His words after passing through my Jeff filter.

So maybe I quiet myself.  Yes, I remember being quiet for an evening back in 2017.. and I liked it.

Well about 'doing quiet' again tonight?  I could turn off the TV, read a book, or listen to good music.. maybe even Worship Music.  Yes, I do remember I liked that.  This could work!

And maybe I calm myself to PRAY.. not asking God for stuff like a child at Christmas, or to help me not be bored, but pray to know God better, to thank Him, and to pray for others.

So while I ponder being quiet I notice Mr. B.A. seems distracted,  and looking uneasy.  He looks at me as if to say,  "hey you need to focus, the night is young, let's binge Netflix!"

But I continue to ignore B.A. and quiet myself, I pray and let my mind be amazed by our God  the Creator of all things and our perfect Heavenly Father.

At this point Mr. B.A. gets up.  The TV is off, the computer is in sleep mode and he is feeling ignored. His  Flaming Hot Cheetos are gone except for the crumbs his beard and speckled down his Back in Black AC-DC t-shirt.

Mr. B.A. looking dejected leaves my home while muttering maybe I will see you tomorrow.  I smile, but honestly I am not sure tomorrow is going to work for me.  I remember that time in 2017 when I was quiet just like today and I liked it. 

AND.. my wife likes me better this way as my loud sulking is not one of my endearing qualities. So it's a win win situation.

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​I would like to say Mr. Bad Attitude will not come to visit again, but I know better.  Also my TV and computer are not bad they just symbolize the distractions and wasted times that keep me from God's peace.

May God bless those moments of quiet and purpose found in His word, prayer that are rarely found in front of a HD big screen TV.

May He bless each of you with joy and purpose found in a life long pursuit of Him in the quiet.


​May your attitudes be good, your hearts always thankful, and no loud-sulking please.
​
Jeff ( attitude adjusted ) Larson

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