Hope In Cracks and Crevices

 Sitting on our couch in a dim, dingy apartment, surrounded by boxes, my wife cries. We are scared and disappointed. The apartment isn’t the one seen on our video tour. We feel trapped; crushed and defeated.  It looks as though there’s no way out. This is a tale of getting out from a temporary tenement apartment and monetary pressure. This is a personal story not national one. Escape through the cracks and crevices of a man-made system.

Dark wood and bad lighting set the mood as we entered in. Dust and dirt in the pantry, a microwave set in its space at a downward slant. Bathtub knobs black from dirt and rust, bathtub bottom porcelain chipped rendering it unusable. A toilet loosely bolted to the floor so it moves when you sit on it. Dark and dinge creep into hearts. Ceiling ringed with water damage and one or two black spots. Mold? And yes, there were bugs. At night. One is too many; more than one in a new apartment is not acceptable. But backing out of the lease was costly. How much money would we forfeit? The painful but difficult answer is two-and-a-half month’s full rent on top of the initial month and down payment.

From my computer in our delightful, bright new apartment, I type. Finding the management company information online I send them a request to waive all rent based on their bait-and-switch. Upon the third email I found out that the property had been sold to another management company. More research. More emails. No answers. We go back to the previous leasing office.

“Nothing we can do. Talk to the previous management company.” They use completely different systems. We are not in they’re system. While the previous leasing company keeps saying it’s no longer their responsibility! Through this all we have got no bills; no closing statement and the system online shows zero balance. We have fallen through the cracks! What a providence! “We can laugh, and we can cry, and never see the strong hand of love hidden in the shadows.”

Lavish Libations

 

Once outlawed, always American with a tinge of sweetness! No single sip started our pursuit. The adventure began on a couch. Streamed, not sipped---Neat, the Story of Bourbon. Novice noses already used to experiencing rich nuanced flavors of coffee, wine and beer. As the saying goes, ‘If life’s not a great olfactory experience, then it’s nothing at all.’

Sonic slushy sweet it isn’t. I once grew corn in my backyard. Fresh corn isn’t like grocery store corn. Flavorful but still corn. Bourbon isn’t only corn, it’s 80 proof, maybe 100. There’s a burn, a bite that bursts in the mouth and coalesces in the gullet. Corn is the key to bourbon, but whiskey is a wider road.

The wife’s becoming connoisseur of the Old Fashioned. I’m finding I lean toward a rye. Friends, waiters and whiskey flights are good exposure. So came my introduction to Skrewball’s peanut butter whiskey! As a man addicted to all things peanut this had to be in the arsenal. Water or no water? Cocktail? Or neat; pure and at room temperature.

What about that whole Christian and alcohol thing? Say ‘speakeasy.’ I’ve fallen off both sides of the horse. Christ followers walk in this tension. Legalism is a list of rules and regs, do this and don’t do that’s. Liberty is an emphasis on freedom in everything. Grace is the over arching principle that we are all screw ups and Christ alone has covered our sins.

Upon dedication of the temple Hezekiah called for whole-burnt-offerings and lavish libations (2 Chron 29). One author aptly states that Israel celebrated with whiskey and barbeque. Paraphrasing the Poet Preacher, “Enjoy bourbon! This is your reward in life and in your toil.” Enjoying the piquancy of whiskey adds accent and highlight to this life. For mood or season, straight or on rocks it flavors life. For the rest of life’s course, always grace, always ‘neat.’

Photo by Edgar Moran on Unsplash