The Land of Fruits and Nuts

You know, rural Mississippi lore dictates that California be referred to by the moniker found in the title of this post. I suppose that said lore was established around the same time that folks concluded that God would punish Californians by causing earthquakes to consume the whole region. Regardless, let me say that the only fruits and nuts I saw on this week's trip to San Francisco were on my dinner plate. (Groans all around, please. Thank you.)

I had a great time in SF; it's a city that's certainly full of interesting history, interesting people, interesting everything--definitely worth a visit, for any of y'all that have never been. I won't bore everyone with senseless details, but there are several things I wanted to note. "Several" = "A Whole Bunch"

First of all, about the city itself. The temperature was fantastic...upper-60's, lower-70's; however, there was no escaping the wind...a steady (and icy) 10-15 mph blowing straight off the water. San Franciscans must have entire coat wardrobes. Additionally, the city is ALL hills. Now, I knew SF was supposed to be hilly, but I didn't realize that it was exclusively hilly. And, just to show off the city-tour knowledge I learned on the trip, there are 43 hills, to be exact. ;) Lastly, you know about the Victorian houses that define San Franciscan architecture? (As in, the homes you see in Mrs. Doubtfire or on the intro to "Family Matter.") Well, I thought there'd be one or two blocks that represented that architecture, and then the rest would be regular ol' housing. Wrong. If it's a residential structure in San Francisco, it's a 3- or 4-story Victorian structure, butted right up against one on either side. So, just to summarize...ALL wind, ALL hills, ALL Victorians.

Now, onto what I'm calling my "Best Ever..." section. I found a couple of things in San Francisco that I thought were better than any other similar experience I've had in my life so far. How cool, right? Okay, here we go.

Best Ever Dining Experience. I love me some food, but I gotta say I've never had as good a meal as I had at The House of Prime Rib. I thought I'd come away from SF raving about seafood; well, the seafood was good, but this restaurant was absolutely perfect. Here's the deal: this restaurant only has one thing on the menu...prime rib. You just pick what size. Then, when the time comes, a huge silver cart comes before your table, and your slab o' beef is carved for you. Potato, creamed spinach, Yorkshire pudding, and horseradish come along with it, and it's all just the best stuff one could eat. The food was great; the service was great; the atmosphere was great. It was wonderful. And, you know, I'm usually one that goes for restaurants that are a little more pretentious (i.e. carefully crafted plate presentation, excessively descriptive menu listings, etc.), but the straightforward approach...albeit an upscale straightforward approach...was perfect for this place.

Best Ever Architecture. I absolutely love architecture, but for the first time in my life, I came across an architectural structure that I just couldn't turn away from. It was so beautiful and so grand that I just wanted to stay there. The structure was the Palace of Fine Arts, which was built for the Pan-Pacific Exposition that San Francisco held in 1915; it was the only structure that was not demolished following the Expo.


This top photo shows the massive rotunda, which is surrounded by curve colonnades. Here's another photo, just because I want to include another one. :) Click on both to get a closer look. Notice the height of the people compared to the height of the structure.



It felt like such a centuries-old location, harkening back to Greek and Roman times, but at the same time, it didn't look Greek or Roman, because...well, it wasn't falling apart. So, that dichotomy invoked an engulfing timelessness that completely won me over.

Moving on, there were some other really great things that I wanted to quickly mention. 1) Saw a fortune cookie factory. Basically fortune cookies are cooked like crepes and then bent like tuile cookies. 2) Saw the giant redwoods in Muir Woods (named after environmentalist John Muir); they are awe-inspiring. Plus, the air was about as refreshing as I've ever experienced. 3) Saw a great exhibit called "A Curious Affair" at the newly-relocated (and beautiful) Asian Art Museum. The exhibit showed furniture, figurines, paintings, etc. showing the mutual fascination that Westerners and Easterners had with each other as trade began to flourish between the 2 areas. It was intriguing to see how Europeans depicted Asians, as well as how Asians depicted Europeans, especially since it wasn't all about stereotypical (derogatory) imagery, as I thought it might be. There was also a hefty bit of...um, whatever the geographical equivalent of anachronisms is. 4) Saw another great exhibit on Monet at the Legion of Honor (SF's actual Fine Arts Museum). The works fully represented Monet's artistic progression throughout his life, and that was interesting to see. Although, by the end, I'd had my fill of pastel-y Impressionism.

To wrap things up, and to come full-circle as well, I want to assure you that I did see a couple instances of "Land of Fruits and Nuts" behavior, but both came from tourists. :) 1) Every single day, people were swimming in our hotel's outdoor pool. Remember, with the wind, it was cold. Plus, the pool hardly ever got sun, because of its location. Water temperature had to be about 60-65 degrees, at the most. I wanted to warn all those folks about the dangers of pneumonia, but I refrained. 2) My favorite: Outside of Ghirardelli Square (where you buy the Ghirardelli chocolate...yum), a street performer was singing clever little ditties with his guitar. Usually, they were simple, rhyming couplets...some a little corny. No one objected to the gentleman though...except for one. A whiny, middle-aged man who boldly proclaimed that the lyrics were "SO cheesy." The irony is, of course, that the middle-aged man, was himself the epitome of cheesiness. Why? Because he was wearing a "genuine Looney Tunes" jacket. And, for those of you who don't get the hilarious SNL reference, please go here.

The Spectrum of "Good"

Last Sunday, I heard a sermon that, all in all, wasn’t especially applicable to me. However, the pastor said one sentence that struck a chord:

“Sometimes, the good things in life crowd out the best things in life.”

Oddly enough, he didn’t expound on the statement; it wasn’t an integral part of the message. However, there seemed to be a lot behind those words, so I started thinking…

I tend toward a homeostasis of “good things.” I want to get closer to God; I want to help people; I want to do the right thing; I want to refrain from sin. I’m constantly wanting to improve me, based on what God wants for me. (Sidebar: wanting and doing are two completely different things; let’s make that clear. I’m not always successful…most of the time, I’m not.) But, you know, about that whole “improvement” thing…I always seem to look at it from the perspective of bad vs. good. My goal is to decrease bad and increase good. And, in the end, if I play my cards right, I have big ol’ heap of the “good things” mentioned in the quote. But, you see, it’s not like the Fair, where you can trade in 4 small stuffed animals for a big stuffed animal. If I go through my whole life thinking that “good” is good enough, then how in the world am I gonna be prepared to receive any of the “best things” that God wants to give me? And, God certainly has those “best things” out there somewhere for us. Look to Malachi 3:10, which talks about the blessings that are so full that we don’t have room for them.

That’s the key. God’s ultimate blessings are greater than we can comprehend. Well, of course they are; that’s not surprising to anyone. But, in practical application, we don’t serve boldly enough for God to use us in those ultimate ways.

Let me take a step back. I don’t serve boldly enough for God to use me in those ultimate ways. And, this fact hit me this week in a major way. I have concocted some sort of “Plan of Service” that attempts to quantify my level of service to God. And, I did that because that’s how I approach everything. I create a game plan—one that lays out a list of steps—and I follow through on them. And, man, that works really well with earthly things. But, with spiritual things, God’s got the game plan, not me. And, if I try to guess God’s game plan, then I’m gonna come up short every single time.

Here’s the tricky part. If I use my own game plan, good things can still come of my efforts. Because of that, I can rationalize that things are “good enough.” God’s work is still being done, after all.

However, take a look around. There aren’t a lot of really serious Christians out there. So, for those of us that are serious about our faith, the responsibility is great. Good enough isn’t good enough. This world needs God’s “best things,” and we are the conduits charged with transporting God’s best to the world. For that to happen, we must not attempt to control how we serve.

Do you create your own plan for your service to God?
Do you limit, consciously or subconsciously, what God puts into your vessel?
Do you defer your service until you gain enough information to reach some sort of comfort level?
My answer to all those questions right now is Yes. And I confess that does God a disservice.