clearance rack or free rack?

Dear Friend,

It was such a great day today…today was the first day in a long time that I can remember that it was cold all day. I mean right when I got up at 6 this morning it was cold…and at noon, it was still cold.

On Mondays I have class at the seminary until 11:50 a.m. and didn’t have to be back for my next class until 3pm. So I had a pretty big break, and because of the cold weather, I really wanted some coffee. I don’t normally drink coffee. I prefer tea.

Well, I ended up at Borders Books and Music…I always sit in the back by the window. So today I decided to change things up when it came to my beverage of choice. I had a white chocolate mocha with no whip cream…and no white chocolate chips on top either. I must say that if you don’t order coffee that often, it is quite intimidating trying to order one, especially when there are people waiting behind you. I always try and pretend like I know what I am ordering. I think the key is that whatever you order, you just have to say it really, really fast.

So I got my coffee and started to walk back to my table. It was amazing. There was this girl, she must have been twenty, sitting at a table reading Sports Illustrated, the magazine. No offense to girls who read Sports Illustrated, but I have never seen that before. I felt like going and grabbing the latest People magazine and reading about TomCats wedding and officially throwing off everything natural in the world. But I didn’t. I thought about it though. So I sat down and called a friend of mine in Colorado. I hadn’t talked to her since last week, so I wanted to get caught up and see how her Thanksgiving was with her family. After we ended our conversation, I decided that it was time to hit the road. I felt like driving with the windows down.

I noticed something though as I was leaving. I have seen this a hundred times, but for whatever reason I stopped today and stared for a bit. I don’t know about you, but when I want to look at something that would seem odd if I were just standing there or if I wanted to listen to someone’s conversation, I always put my cell phone up to my hear and pretend like I am talking. Well, today I wanted to do both. I wanted to look at something that would seem odd if I were to be staring, and I also wanted to listen to people talk.

This is what I was looking at…



There was this mother and daughter talking right by this rack of books outside of Borders. Just as I was walking out, I heard this daughter tell her mother what a great price this cookbook was…”it was 50% off,” she said. As I grabbed my phone to stick up to my ear to pretend like I was talking to someone, all I could think of was “I got even a better price for you…just keep your money and keep walking.” Have you ever noticed that clearance rack of books outside of Borders??? I mean really. What’s from keeping someone from just taking a book? From the way Borders displays these books, it is almost like they just want you to take one or two off their chest. This particular store had the books outside. So that way if you took one, there is no buzzer to go off. They must know they aren’t going to sell these books or something. I mean, I’m a Christian, and I have thought about taking a few books before, so I can’t imagine what someone would think who doesn’t even really care what the bible says as they walk out.

Anyways…I smiled, and I hope that you did too. Maybe I’ll see you at the clearance rack...or should I say free rack at Borders.

heart.soul.mind.
kyle diroberts

sacred dirty ground...

Dear Friend,

Some of my favorite times of worship that I can remember have taken place on my knees…

water-made-wine...

Dear Friend,

One of my favorite miracles that we have recorded in history is that of Jesus turning water into wine…I love this miracle because it would appear that it’s soul purpose was to keep the party going...and if that wasn’t enough, the first-century bartenders, who mixing up what would be the first ever 7 & 7’s and rum & cokes at this wedding party described in the bible, were amazed at the quality of the water-made-wine that Jesus had prepared.

I love to eat. I love to drink. And it seems like when you can combine these two wonderful things, it makes for a happy tummy.

I am in the process of working on my master’s degree at Phoenix Seminary, and one of my favorite things about the seminary is that it is in the middle of so many restaurants and bars. Because of this, I will often go out to eat or go have a drink after my night classes. I have been doing this for so long now that I feel like a character in the classic TV show Cheers. I think they’re right…it really does feel nice to go to a place where everyone knows your name. I love the fact that it doesn’t matter if it’s been a day or a week since I last saw them, but when I return, we pick right up with where we left off…eating, drinking, and sharing stories about our days.

Often times when I’m sitting in these restaurants and bars, I am left with a lot of time to watch people. One of my favorite moments in a restaurant or bar is watching the people interact with the servers…some people are just rude. I get very protective of my friends who are servers, and so I don’t like when people aren’t nice. They treat the servers as though they are servants, and they order them around. Or sometimes it looks like some people just ignore the servers and almost treat them like they don’t even exist or aren’t good enough to receive their attention. And, yet, to be fair, there are some people who are really nice and who seem to treat the servers like real-life people.

I think the reason why I like being in restaurants and bars so much is because it is always so much different than being in a coffee shop, a bookstore, or at seminary.

Just the other day I was at one of my favorite places to eat lunch…Red Robin. I was with my favorite person to eat lunch with…Lolly. I always get the Buffalo Style Clucks and Fries with either an Ice Tea or a Fat Tire. On this day, we were sitting in the bar area just watching people while we were waiting for our server to come over. I don’t know what his day was like before we showed up, but I am guessing that it was stressful because he didn’t look very happy. When he came over he was really short with us and kinda rude actually, and so he took our drink orders and then just walked away. As he walked away my mind started to wonder…the first thing I thought was, “this isn’t going to be easy making this guy laugh.” Then my next thought was, “Christians.” I was wondering what Lolly would say about my two thoughts, and so I asked her how many Christians she thinks would be able to interact with this waiter…or even make him laugh or smile because he was definitely a little grumpy?

I ended up thinking at the end of our conversation that Christians should hang out in bars and restaurants more often (please know that if you struggle with drinking, then I wouldn’t suggest you going to a bar). I guess it just looks like Christians have a really hard time being around normal people in the world. I mean, we always talk about the extremes…homeless people, prostitutes, drunkards…but I’m thinking more about just the normal everyday people. I feel bad because it seems like when Christians get around the normal people of the world they freak out or feel like before they leave, they have to share the gospel with them, and if they don’t then they have failed…and if they don’t share the gospel, then they feel like they can do the next best thing which would be leaving a track with the bill. This fear or panic makes my heart sad because I think that if Christians just let go and be themselves (in Christ) that the normal people of this world would find them quite interesting. I believe that we have underestimated how interesting and intriguing we (Christians) are.

The environment in a bar or restaurant isn’t easy. Actually, I think it is quite hard. I think that servers are very street-smart. They have an ability to read a person’s body language and mood really well.

At the same time, I think that as Christians we could also be street-smart [definition of street smarts: have the skills and knowledge necessary for dealing with modern urban life], and maybe being around more servers and bartenders would help. It says a lot if you can hold your own while interacting with your server or bartender. And besides…who doesn’t like good food or good beer (some prefer wine)??

I have this random reoccurring daydream…it is kinda embarrassing…but it goes like this…Jesus and I go out one night to one of our favorite wine bars, and instead of ordering wine, we just ask for water in our wine glasses…and well, you know the rest of the story.

Well hopefully I’ll see you around.

heart.soul.mind.
kyle diroberts