Fearless Faith

I hit the wall some time ago while working on the final copy of a paper for a class I was taking. After several hours of floundering about with form and direction, I decided to take a break in hopes of returning with inspired vision. It was a mostly good move, but the resulting activity I chose for a break needed greater consideration than I gave it. After all, how difficult can paying bills be?

Generally, I do not mind the process. It usually provides a sense of accomplishment knowing that we are fulfilling our obligations, most months, in a timely manner. However, the stress points from working on the paper, with yet another one waiting in the wings, did not bode well for the little irritants that tend to challenge me on occasion.

It all started with the admonition in the top right-hand corner of one envelope to “Affix Stamp Here.” I really hope that after decades of letter writing I would have figured that one out by now. The stamp certainly cannot go in the top left-hand corner, for that is where an entirely too small set of lines exist for the return address. Then, of course, there is the glassine window of the return envelope accompanied by a payment stub that makes it difficult to determine which side will orient the address to display correctly in the window. If I accidentally send it to myself, can I cash the check for my trouble?

Why, do you suppose, would anyone provide a return envelope that is too small for a regular check to be inserted without folding it? It usually takes two or three attempts at working it in before success is achieved. And what’s up with those perforations? Does it make sense in this day of automation and engineering excellence for a new crease to be placed alongside the perforated line of the payment coupon so that, however hard you try, the tearing motion prefers the crease to the perforation? It’s always helpful to compound the problem by stuffing the coupon in the envelope with the extra width attached so that the address rides too high to be fully read (see glassine window, above).

And then, the final straw. After entering the amount on the check in two different places, both numerically and cursively (in more ways than one), the creditor has the audacity to include additional instruction on the bill, “Please indicate amount you are enclosing,” followed by a blank line. By that time, numerous possible responses come to mind, but I mostly mutter to no one in particular, “you figure out.” To top things off, I licked an envelope to seal it only to discover it had a self-adhesive strip. My daughter got a lot of mileage out of that one.

The writer in 2 Peter encourages us to not sweat the small stuff but to take a broader approach to life. “Don’t lose a minute in building on what you’ve been given, complementing your basic faith with good character, spiritual understanding, alert discipline, passionate patience, reverent wonder, warm friendliness and generous love, each dimension fitting into and developing the others. With these qualities active and growing in your lives … no day will pass without its reward …” (2 Peter 1:5-8, MSG). Passionate patience takes time. As for impatience with bills and the mechanics of paying, I am still working on it. I hit the wall some time ago while working on the final copy of a paper for a class I was taking. After several hours of floundering about with form and direction, I decided to take a break in hopes of returning with inspired vision. It was a mostly good move, but the resulting activity I chose for a break needed greater consideration than I gave it. After all, how difficult can paying bills be?

Generally, I do not mind the process. It usually provides a sense of accomplishment knowing that we are fulfilling our obligations, most months, in a timely manner. However, the stress points from working on the paper, with yet another one waiting in the wings, did not bode well for the little irritants that tend to challenge me on occasion.

It all started with the admonition in the top right-hand corner of one envelope to “Affix Stamp Here.” I really hope that after decades of letter writing I would have figured that one out by now. The stamp certainly cannot go in the top left-hand corner, for that is where an entirely too small set of lines exist for the return address. Then, of course, there is the glassine window of the return envelope accompanied by a payment stub that makes it difficult to determine which side will orient the address to display correctly in the window. If I accidentally send it to myself, can I cash the check for my trouble?

Why, do you suppose, would anyone provide a return envelope that is too small for a regular check to be inserted without folding it? It usually takes two or three attempts at working it in before success is achieved. And what’s up with those perforations? Does it make sense in this day of automation and engineering excellence for a new crease to be placed alongside the perforated line of the payment coupon so that, however hard you try, the tearing motion prefers the crease to the perforation? It’s always helpful to compound the problem by stuffing the coupon in the envelope with the extra width attached so that the address rides too high to be fully read (see glassine window, above).

And then, the final straw. After entering the amount on the check in two different places, both numerically and cursively (in more ways than one), the creditor has the audacity to include additional instruction on the bill, “Please indicate amount you are enclosing,” followed by a blank line. By that time, numerous possible responses come to mind, but I mostly mutter to no one in particular, “you figure out.” To top things off, I licked an envelope to seal it only to discover it had a self-adhesive strip. My daughter got a lot of mileage out of that one.

The writer in 2 Peter encourages us to not sweat the small stuff but to take a broader approach to life. “Don’t lose a minute in building on what you’ve been given, complementing your basic faith with good character, spiritual understanding, alert discipline, passionate patience, reverent wonder, warm friendliness and generous love, each dimension fitting into and developing the others. With these qualities active and growing in your lives … no day will pass without its reward …” (2 Peter 1:5-8, MSG). Passionate patience takes time. As for impatience with bills and the mechanics of paying, I am still working on it.