route 50W: receive Jesus

It seemed so real, but was it?

During “Morning Joe” on MSNBC early in the minutes of my day, I was on my computer, and I heard someone talking about .. I thought I did anyway. I looked up, as the last I heard was, “He died for you. He loves you.” Then on the screen was, “Receive Jesus,” and it was over. It was maybe 15 seconds. No indication of who sponsored it. My shake of the head was accompanied by, “Was that real?” Or was it a message just for me? I searched the internet to see if I could find any information about the commercial. Nothing. I guess it was real. Maybe it was just for me.

The day and drive started real slow. Maybe this trip on route 50 was not a good idea.

I thought Salem, Illinois, might be a good place for some lunch. I had never heard of M & M Courtyard Cafe and Coffeehouse, so it fit my rule about eating. I sat at the table by the window.

I chose to have what the woman at the counter had for lunch: grilled cheese on sourdough bread and tomato basil soup, just like she had. The cook came over to say hello. I asked him if he is one of the m’s on the window name. Mike told me that he and Maureen were the two m’s. Which one was first depended on which one you asked, he said. When I asked her, she did the same thing he did – she put her name last. Everything is homemade by Mike, who comes in at 1:30 a.m. to start the baking. That made me order a blackberry turnover.

Tried to get into the courthouse, but was not allowed with my cell phone, and was not allowed to leave it with the guard; it needed to put in my car. He was unimpressed that I was driving 50 W from Cincinnati, and went back to reading his paper.

I was finding it hard to be away from home. It is said that you can never return home again, but I was finding it almost impossible to be away from home at all. It is hard for me to leave home and to be away from what I find familiar. Ouch! Retirement might be hard. Sometimes I like being alone, but lonely always seems to be connected with alone. Sometimes in quiet moments stinkin’ thinkin’ prevails, if you know what I mean. It is easy, when there is no one present but yourself to listen to and to talk to, that both your heart and your Achilles heel are obvious.

My two sisters text me daily. They want to know where I am. That’s nice.

I parked my car somewhere I can see if from my hotel window, or so I thought. At first I couldn’t spot it. Then, “There it is. It doesn’t look like a Buick.”

Don’t you know? I was lying in bed, watching television, and that “Receive Jesus” commercial came on again. At the beginning of the day and at the end of the day! I still couldn’t find anything on the internet about it.

Tags: Jesus