where we realize we will not be a star pitcher for the Yankees. We won’t be the President of the United States, and we aren’t going to cure cancer. oh, sure, SOME of us do, but that’s a bloody small number.

No, most of us are going to spend most of our lives affixing the left front quarter panel to GM cars, or making sure all the bars on rt 6 between Griffith and Lansing have enough beer each week, or wrangling a bunch of teenagers into flipping burgers and dropping fries.

We will lead normal lives. Oh, more than a few of us will write good books, more than a few will become well known for one thing or another, more than a few of us may even become famous, but we will all all be working class folks, within a range of incomes and a range of lifestyles. And that’s fine, that’s what we’re supposed to do. Humans have been doing that for years.

Probably the only thing that is really important is to do what you do, well. To make the best of the talents given you by the creator. That is the truly important thing.

Today is Pentecost Sunday. We are reminded that Jesus came into a locked room to endow the apostles with the Holy Spirit, and give them the gift of tongues- that is, being able to be understood in any language. They had a very special message to deliver, and delivering that message was important enough to the Christ that he “invented” the reverse babel fish, a couple thousand years before Douglas Adams.

The message was the important part, not the speaking in tongues. Jesus did not endow the apostles with tongues and the Holy Spirit so they could yammer like fools at home. And yammering like a fool pretending to be endowed with the gift of tongues and the holy spirit is just wishful thinking, and it’s the most self aggrandizing type of wishful thinking there is. Christ came to earth and walked among us; while he was here he chose men to carry the burden and carry on the work and sent them out into the world. No matter what you think, you are not an apostle, that age is long gone. You have your own part to play, and you should be aware of your need to do it well. If you don’t understand what it is, pray and ask the Creator for guidance. meanwhile try to do the things you do well, and a lot of the time, the rest will take care of itself.