My Office

My office is a mess. I know it is. Part of that is because of the basic structure of space-time--only so many hours in a day to accomplish so many things... the stuff just piles up. It's also full of toys. And that's a combination of things, too. I am, after all, the Youth Minister, the Minister of Christian Education, but not the Sinister Minister! Ok, ok, my official title is "Associate Pastor" but if you were to check out my several page job description, you'll find that stuff in there too.
Except the Sinister Minister thing, of course.
Anyway, there are also toys in my office because I like toys. But I try to keep them relevant at least.
There's my Professor Charles Xavier action figure. Well, I'm not sure that "action" is the right adjective for a paraplegic character, but you get my meaning. He is, of course, one of the main characters of the 43 year old (and still running) Marvel Comics franchise, The X-Men. X-Men posits a world where the next stage of human evolution is occurring, resulting in "mutants" --some of whom have what we would call "super powers." Professor X founds the X-Men for the purpose of peaceful promotion of mutant rights while protecting the world from dangerous super-powered mutants. His "dream" is of peaceful coexistence of human and mutant kind. Imagine what it would be like if Martin Luther King Jr. had to deal with an African American community whose members could quite possibly pick up an SUV and throw it at their oppressors. There's a lot of social and even political commentary in X-Men, and that's why I have my Professor X figure in my office.

Then, of course, there are my Jim Henson things: a little plastic Doozer from Fraggle Rock The Doozers were always working, and she reminds me to keep at my work as the day wears on. She also reminds me of something Jim Henson wrote, "I love my work, and because I enjoy it, it doesn't really feel like work. Thus I spend most of my time working..."
And then there's my Kermit the Frog doll. (Our friend, Kris, asked me what the rational for having Kermit in the office was, here's a slightly better wording of what I was trying to tell you, Kris.) Jerry Juhl, a puppeteer and writer for both The Muppet Show and Fraggle Rock had this to say about Kermit,
"Kermit is the eye in the middle of the hurricane. And, you know, he's always in control. Sometimes just barely, but he's always in control. And the interesting thing about it, of course, is that he created the hurricane." The fact is, I look up to Kermit. I work with children, and youth, and people who work with children and youth, and adults who are like children or youth. I hope to be the eye of the hurricane. I hope to always be in control (if only just barely)--and if I'm the one who created the hurricane, so much the better!

Be good to each other,
Rev. Josh
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