Dear Apple Computer, Inc.,
I’m sorry.
See, I’m trying to break the strangle hold caffeine, in the form of Dr.Pepper, has on my life. I read once that it’s addictive powers are equal to that of heroine - or maybe that was price or something. Anyway, my judgment is twitching and glitching from some sort of withdrawal syndrome I’m sure will pass. I’m not making excuses as much as I am explaining the science, the possible biological misfire, behind my last bit of correspondence to you.
You can understand how a computer, especially a laptop perched and purring upon one’s lap for so many years day after day, can begin to feel like, well, a friend. Can’t you? So maybe I got a little emotional, the lines between reality and Dr.Pepper deprivation induced fantasy got a little blurred. I got caught up in the loss of a loved one I now am ready to admit is just a laptop - but a dang good laptop vital to my work and well-being.
Forgive me. No hard feelings alright?
After I wrote you I felt bad. I felt like I had wounded deity in some way. You’re the guys who slayed the gray box of my childhood with the technicolor iMac of my college days and loosed the chains on my music with the liberating iPod. You’ve done more for artsy fartsy folks like me than Bill Gates ever could. How could I have let my little momentary disappointments come between us like that? Again, I’m sorry.
I was so sorry that I went ahead and called you up again asking for a brown box. It arrived, I put my COMPUTER (not friend) inside for a quick ride to Apple Heaven where your geniuses replaced just about everything in it, buffed the scratches from it’s screen just for the love of it and whooshed it right back to me in 48 hours.
It arrived today, sparkly and faster than ever.
Sure I hate that it broke so many times, in the same way, over and over and over again. That sucks. But at least I’m not stuck with a beige, ugly, always-crashing, slow, symbol of corporate conformity, style-lacking, Microsoft-dependent, innovationless, virus-laden, spyware-riddled, sorry excuse for a computer on my lap tonight. That would suck different. It would suck in a way I could bear about as much as losing a loved one without the aid of caffeine to numb my pain.
So thanks Apple for sending my iBook back in working order again. And please accept my sincerest apologies for ever doubting your love for me or my little...laptop.
Your repentant friend, customer, fan and regional Mac Mormon,
Shaun Groves
P.S. If you happen to stumble onto a replacement for my elderly iBook just lying around Steve’s pad someday I wouldn’t refuse it of course. That address again is:
PO Box 680055
Franklin, TN 37068
Got thoughts? Discuss this SHLOG on my message-board
WHITE FLAG (my next CD) will be in stores July 12th but can be pre-ordered for only $5 at my shows and pre-ordered on-line at various websites like shaungroves.com for a little more. OR you can buy an illegal “pre-release not for sale” copy (given to our “friends” in media, retail and radio) from this joker on e-bay. Only three days left to bid on this item. And my has the crowd pummeled this seller with a bevy of bids. A whopping none so far. Hope that’s not a predictor of things to come for this CD. I have a SHLOG to fund.
The seller has been warned that selling this CD is a violation of copyright law and that selling it for so little is a violation of my self-esteem.
(Thanks to Amy aka. “Hopelives” from the message-board for the scoop on this infidel and his shady auction)
Got thoughts? Discuss this SHLOG on my message-board
I’ve been reading all evening in Walter Brueggemann’s commentary on Genesis in preparation for teaching “creation” at IKON tomorrow night. The man’s brilliant but, like most theologians by trade, boring - to me anyway. Something gets lost in a bookcase of theology books that poetry’s snapshots, in spite of all their simplicity and limitations, capture in vivid detail. For me. I guess that’s why I write songs and not commentaries.
But Brueggemann has, between the short naps he’s lullabyed me into, inspired tonight. God’s creating of the world is different from the carpenter’s whittling and hammering, it turns out. God, he says, is not a manufacturer. “He does not ‘make’ so that an object is simply ‘there’.” Instead He creates so that an object is simply His for His purpose. And His purpose is “good.”
Speech is vital to this “good” happening. God speaks 14 times in the creation story of Genesis 1:1-31 (vv. 3, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11. 14, 20, 22, 24, 26, 28, 29). God speaks the world into existence, no coercion or strong-arming of particles or nothingness. He speaks “Let it be” - no command, just permission to conform to his want, an invitation to be what God desires. Then reality responds, leaping into perfection’s mold, forming whatever God wills. God speaks, creation listens. And this God calls “good.”
In Genesis 11:1-9 the Hebrew phrase “lo shema” - “they did not listen” - is used to describe the crowds laboriously scurrying to erect the Tower of Babel against God’s will. And now, after reading tonight, those words “did not listen” conjure up a new image of God, His face buried in His hands or His fist pounding the air. Ignored. Infuriated. Broken-hearted. His invitation and permission shoved aside.
My busyness and plans, my willing and working, amount so much of the time to nothing more than a child’s La-la-la-la-I-can’t-hear-you’s with index fingers jammed in tightly. My shoulder to the wheel, my nose to the grindstone, I’m busy these days doing “good” work. But that’s no good at all if I’m not listening to Divine speech, to the invitation to be what He wants, what He made me for.
I think I’ll turn in now. My brain is full and my eye lids are thick. But first I think I’ll sit out on the porch, take in the obedience of midnight creation, and listen.
(IKON is a community primarily for post-high school young adults (twenty-somethings) meeting on Tuesday nights at 8(ish) at The People’s Church in Franklin, TN to learn, go, give and pray together. IKON is pastored by me and Brian Seay. We’ll meet outside tomorrow in God’s creation for the start of our Summer-long study of Genesis.)
Got thoughts? Discuss this SHLOG on my message-board
(CLICK IMAGE TO LEARN MORE)
Please read the letter (below) that Rick Warren emailed to 150,000 evangelical pastors this past weekend and prayerfully consider, not only becoming more involved yourself, but who in leadership you should pass this letter along to. Anyone who isn’t in church leadership can still print the form at the bottom, fill it out, and send it to:
The ONE Campaign
c/o DATA
1400 Eye Street NW
Suite 1125
Washington, DC, 20005
____________________________________________________
June 3, 2005
Dear co-worker in Christ,
I have a simple request—but it could determine whether millions live or die.
You’ve probably read in the papers about “The ONE Campaign: To Make Poverty History” that’s been endorsed by a wide coalition of folks from all across the faith and political spectrum. Helping the hurting is something we all want to do.
I’ve never been involved in partisan politics—and don’t intend to do so now—but global poverty is an issue that rises far above mere politics. It is a moral issue - a compassion issue - and because Jesus commanded us to help the poor, it is an obedience issue! He told us to do all we can to alleviate the pain of our brothers and sisters: “Inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me.” (Matthew 25:40, NKJV)
That’s why John Stott, Billy Graham, and many other evangelical leaders are joining me in lending our names and prayers to this campaign. I deeply believe that if we as evangelicals remain silent and do not speak up in defense of the poor, we lose our credibility and our right to witness about God’s love for the world: “If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him?” (1 John 3:17, NIV)
We are blessed to be a blessing to others, and certainly America, as the most blessed nation on our planet, has the greatest obligation to help those who are stuck in poverty around the world. Last month, I was in Kenya and Uganda, and then in Rwanda where the average income in that nation is 67 cents a day! Imagine trying to raise a family on that.
If you were hopelessly in debt, with no chance of ever getting out of debt—or even your children getting out of debt—you’d despair. But if someone cancelled all your debts—as the Bible commanded Israel to often do—you’d have the hope of a new future. The poor aren’t asking for a handout—they just need a hand up!
This summer, at the G8 conference, our nation has a historic opportunity to lead the world by showing a visible and significant commitment to the fight against global poverty, hunger, and disease. In early July, President Bush will gather together with leaders from the world’s eight wealthiest nations in Edinburgh, Scotland, to discuss these very issues—especially in Africa.
We all grieved when 250,000 lives were lost in the tsunami in Southeast Asia. But there is a health tsunami of that proportion in Africa every 12 days!
What can we do? For the past two years, I’ve had 4,500 of our Saddleback members quietly testing a prototype of our global P.E.A.C.E. Plan in 47 countries. It is a strategy for small groups in churches to show compassion. Once we have the template perfected, we’ll share it with every church that’s interested.
But there is something much simpler that you can do right now: Join me and other evangelical leaders in an open letter to President Bush that encourages him—with our support and prayers—to take specific, measurable actions to fight poverty, hunger, and disease at the G8 summit. Below is a copy of the text of this open letter we’re sending.
All I need you to do is e-mail me back at giving your name and title, and I’ll add your name to the list. Also you can visit http://www.one.org for more information.
If you can send a copy of your signature (preferably in a jpeg format) to add to the bottom of the letter, that would be great, but don’t let that delay your response. We’d rather hear from you now.
Thanks in advance for showing your compassion for those suffering from disease, hunger, and poverty.
May God bless your ministry,
Dr. Rick Warren
Pastor, Saddleback Church
Author, The Purpose Driven Life
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear President Bush,
Because:
ONE billion people around the world live on less than ONE dollar a day; The US government spends less than ONE percent on overcoming global AIDS and poverty; Citizens are uniting as ONE across political and religious divides to support action to overcome the emergency of global AIDS and extreme poverty.
At the G8 leaders meeting on July 6th we urge you to:
Help the poorest people of the world fight poverty, AIDS and hunger at a cost equal to just ONE percent more of the US budget on a clear timetable; Cancel 100% of the debts owed by the poorest countries; Reform trade rules so poor countries can earn sustainable incomes.
We urge you to lead an historic deal with other nations to help Africa and the poorest nations overcome global AIDS and extreme poverty. Together as ONE, we can Make Poverty History this July.
Sincerely,
Address: ____________________________________
City, State: ____________________________________
Zip code: ____________________________________
(THANKS TO CMCENTRAL.COM FOR POSTING THIS LETTER FIRST)
