LIFESTYLES EDITOR:

Sandee Suitt | suitt@dnj.com 615.278.5160

I MONDAY: Shopping

Lifestyles
I TUESDAY: Families I WEDNESDAY: Food I THURSDAY: Things to do

D1
Dear Abby | D5 TV Listings | D5
Friday, Feb. 8, 2008

I FRIDAY: Religion

I SATURDAY: Health

GOOD IDEAS
RELIGION Words of inspiration
Leslie Mertz, program director of Greenhouse Ministries in Murfreesboro, quotes David Platt, a friend of hers from seminary in New Orleans. The Christian mission is not to be lived in seclusion from the rest of the world; it's to be lived LESLIE MERTZ in the middle of the world, said Platt. He is the best example of a missionary that I know. Too often Christians want to pull away from the world and live in their own bubble, said Mertz. Thats not what Jesus did, though. He was in the middle of it all. Thats how I plan to make a difference in the world, by being in the midst of those who need a touch from Jesus.

COMIC STRIP See whats new

Check out our new comic strip, Cul de Sac on page D4 today. It takes the space formerly occupied Monday through Saturday by Lucky Cow, which comic strip artist Mark Pett has decided to end. The fictional fast-food restaurant went out of business in the last strip, which ran Feb. 2. Cul de Sac, drawn by Richard Thompson, is a lighthearted comic strip centered around a 4-year-old girl, Alice Otterloop, and her suburban life experiences on a cul-desac. Let us know what you think of life on the Cul de Sac. Email suitt@dnj.com with your comments and suggestions.

DNJ photo by Elisa Fisk

Pastor Arthur and his wife Lydia Patterson will host a Marriage Seminar at the Wingate Inn in Murfreesboro. The seminar will use a book entitled Blueprints for Marriage by author Johnny Parker.

What: Blueprints for Marriage Seminar When: 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 16 Where: Wingate Inn, 165 Chaffin Place, Murfreesboro Includes: An audio interview by Dennis Rainey of Family Life Today with Johnny Parker and a book authored by Parker, Blueprints for Marriage: Building Love for a Lifetime. Research from Dr. John Gottmans book The Seven Principles of Making Marriage Work will also be covered. Facilitators: Arthur and Lydia Patterson of Abiding Faith Church in Murfreesboro. Cost: $25 per person ($40 per couple) which covers the cost of the textbook and lunch. To register: Mail your checks for $25 per person or $40 per couple payable to Abiding Faith Church, 2441-Q PMB 366, Murfreesboro, 37128. The deadline to register is Feb. 12. For more information: Call the Rev. Arthur Patterson at 615-907-0111 day or night. On the Web: www.johnnyparker.com or www.lovegevity.com

THINGS TO DO For dog lovers

Greater Murfreesboro Kennel Club will host an All Breed AKC Sanctioned B Match from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. Feb. 16. Judging begins at 11:45 that morning, with entries accepted from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. The match will be at the Greenland Drive Livestock Center on Greenland Drive on the MTSU campus. Micro-chipping for dogidentification purposes will be offered 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the match for a reduced rate of $25. Appointments are not necessary, but you must reserve the dogs microchip by today. For reservations, call Jacque Delaney at 615-8905799. Middle Tennessee Chow Chow Fanciers will offer testing for the Canine Good Citizen certificate from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the match. Pre-registration is not required, but no more than 12 dogs will be evaluated. Testing fee is $10 per dog. For more information, call Margaret DiCorleto, 615273-2904 or e-mail chowmom@dicorleto.com. For more information about the match, call Jacque Delaney at 615-890-5799.

By DOUG DAVIS dougdavis@dnj.com

Arthur and Lydia Patterson have learned a few of the keys to a successful marriage. Well be married 33 years in June, said Arthur Patterson, a bivocational pastor in Murfreesboro. As for what attributes contribute to longevity in his own marriage, the 58-year-old said: Trust, commitment and following biblical principles have been the glue. He is the regional director for the Tennessee Education Association for Region 13, which in-

cludes Sumner, Wilson and Cannon Counties. His bride, Lydia, is a fifth-grade teacher at Kittrell. The Pattersons planted a church, Abiding Faith Church, in Murfreesboro in September 2006. It meets at 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. Sundays at the Fairfield Inn on Chaffin Place. Arthur Patterson served as a pastor in Louisville, Ky., for 18 years and has long been affiliated with the Church of God in Christ, which he calls the largest intercultural organization in the world. As a bivocational pastor, he has been a classroom teacher in special

education, choral music in grades K-12 and has taught psychology at the junior college level. Lydia Patterson taught special education in the first through fifth grades and in a gifted program before taking a teaching job at Kittrell approximately seven or eight years ago. We (did) marriage enrichment seminars during our ministry in Louisville, Arthur Patterson said. The seminars have normally been scheduled around Valentines Day.
See BLUEPRINT, page D3

Do you hear what I hear? Voices surround us

I keep hearing voices. I know they arent real, but if I ignore them, I do so at my own peril.

Ironic voices
Last week, I heard a computerized voice from the store whose technicians dress like Mormon missionaries. In the calm demeanor of Hal 9000 of 2001: A Space Odyssey, the phone call began with, The item ... The item ... the item you ... you ... the item you brought for repair ... Finally it sputtered, The item you brought for repair is ready for pickup. Who was that? My wife asked. I told her about the stuttering computer voice. Your computer store

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called with a broken auto-dialer to tell you that your computer has been repaired? Yes. NORRIS BURKES And Florida Today you believe them? she asked. No irony is lost on this woman.

SPIRITUALITY
but since this is my first time, Id hoped to speak with my doctor personally. The worst part about these computerized calls is that they are voice-activated. Meaning, if the computer misinterprets some background noise, it might suddenly ask, Youve selected a colostomy. Is that correct? Look it up. Thats a very different outcome.

Conflicting voices
Then my doctors computer called to remind me of my obligatory after-50 test, called a colonoscopy. In this procedure, the doctor will drive a camera north up my south end. Its no Kodak moment,

God voices
Ill have to admit, computer voices can seem much more definitive than spiritual voices. Computers understand 0s and 1s black and white. Nothing else. I guess it would be handy if Gods voice was computer-

Yes No

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Total votes cast: 89

Page editors: Sandee Suitt and Janice Mason

ized. You could plug in your GPS interface and say, Here I am! Should I go this way or that? Or maybe you could e-mail God. But, of course, not before you read the obligatory FAQs. Or perhaps as election day approaches, you could ask God which candidate should get your vote. Youd be required to use your telephone keypad to numerically spell your candidates name. Given my luck with automation, Id likely elicit the response, Youve selected Satan. Is that correct? No, thats not correct. Gratefully and gracefully, God desires to know each of us personally. God loves each of us the way he loves all of us. And he loves all of as if he

had only one person to love. My sense is that people who are looking for the automated answers from God are the ones who are not willing to do the work to enter into a personal relationship with God. The work required is the same as any good relationship. Talk to God, spend time with God and share the gifts of God with others. Final voices: The voice I should have heard is my wifes. The Hal 9000 was not to be trusted. At the stores pickup counter, my computer wouldnt so much as boot up. It had failed, had failed, had failed ...
Norris Burkes is a civilian hospital chaplain and an Air Force Guard chaplain. E-mail him at Norris@thechaplain.net.