USA. A Mexican restaurant. We had not yet ordered anything, and the food was already arriving.
Chips. Salsa. Unrequested. Free.
I stopped the waiter. "We have not earned these."
"They just come with the table, man."
They come with the TABLE. In my land, hospitality is a debt. Every gift creates an obligation, weighed carefully, returned in the proper season with interest of feeling. Here, the gift arrives before you have even proven you can pay for dinner.
This is not an appetizer. This is a declaration: we trust you. Eat.
I ate with the gravity the moment deserved. And then — I must report this calmly — the basket emptied, and a new one appeared.
"Did we…?"
"Refill," the waiter said. "It's bottomless."
Bottomless. They have wells of salsa. The supply lines of this nation are beyond anything my ancestors imagined.
My friend warned me. "Don't fill up on chips, dude."
Too late. I had accepted three baskets. Honor demanded each one be finished — an unfinished gift is an insult. By the time my actual food arrived, I was a ruined man.
I was not hungry. I was not comfortable. I had been defeated by a courtesy.
Generosity that arrives before the request cannot be repaid. It can only be survived.
I know the rule now. I have made my peace with the basket. One basket. Two at the most.
Who am I deceiving. There is no number of baskets I would refuse. The trust of a nation is in that salsa, and I intend to honor all of it.
@Scott7651358812@DanWolken Tech literally wins one conference championship in their existence and have gotten high on their own farts for months now. String a couple ten win seasons together or try looking competitive in a playoff game before anointing yourselves king of anything.
@drantbradley Adults can mentor more than one student. The ideal is that an adult can mentor 5-6 students throughout their time in the group.
Youth groups provide an intentional pathway to accomplish this. Sure, you don’t NEED a youth group for this, but few if any seek this out on their own.
Influencer ≠ Pastor
They are 2 different vocations. They can overlap. But they're 2 different vocations.
Both can share the gospel.
We're all called to share the gospel.
But Influencers don't do your funerals. They don't give you the sacraments. They may call out your sin for clicks, but they can't be there to do the hard, small, consistent work of shepherding you.
@drantbradley@CFBPlayoff SMU is just a fraud this year. Super easy schedule. Best win was Georgia Tech. SMU deserved to be there. The reality is there are never 12 deserving teams in any given year.
@StatmasterSteve@ChrisVannini No, it’s the 12 most deserving teams. There is no way to correctly judge the 12 best teams. Win your games or get left out.