IN A WORD . . . YES

After talking things over with a friend, the C2O, Mrs. Ref and reading one comment from a Baptist, I have decided to accept the request to be considered for appointment to the vacant city council seat.

I wrote a short memo to the mayor saying that I accepted his request to be considered to complete the term of the position, while also stating that I would not make a decision on whether or not to actually run for election come November until later.

I dropped the letter off this morning on my way to The Big City. He was in the office at the time and as I handed him the letter I said, "In a word, yes." A look of relief and gratitude came over his face. I don't want to say I'm a shoe-in, but I get the feeling . . . Another city employee (and fellow volunteer firefighter) was in the office as well. He asked, "Are you applying for the open council position?"

My response sounded vaguely familiar: I'm not applying so much as answering a call to serve. It's probably alot like my job . . . nobody in their right mind would actually apply for this.

His response went something like, "WOO HOO!!"

Padre Mickey wonders if the City Council would actually benefit from having a ref present. I have never been to a council meeting, so I can't answer that. I don't know how pleasant or acrimonious the meetings are. The good Padre has a point though -- so maybe I'll grab one of my flags and tuck it in my pocket just in case. My whistle might come in handy as well.

And Mark raises the question about whether or not a Christian should even hold government office. I have also thought seriously about that. I finally came to the conclusion that this is Small Town, Montana, and our issues aren't likely to cause serious conflicts of faith, if any; and our local justice issues are practically non-existent. There is, however, that issue with the new deputy who is hell-bent on ticketing every law breaking citizen with a vengence (the school bus driver doing 37 in a 35, the several people jay-walking, and the woman driving the car with a damaged front fender are just a few examples of the many miscreants, renegades and general lawlessness rampant here in SW MT), and who apparently has no sense of mercy, in the big picture, or life in a small town, in the little picture. I personally think the man needs to be sentenced to watch the entire corpus of The Andy Griffith Show in one sitting so he can get adjusted.

Now, where was I . . . Oh, right. I agreed to be considered for a vacant council seat. On the negative side, I wonder what I'm getting myself into. On the positive side, the term ends in November, so I have a few months to try it out without feeling like it's a permanent position.