A TAPE THAT FIT THE BILL

“And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling.
And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power:
That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.” (I Corinthians 2:3-5)

Our paychecks at the answering service are ready early on Friday evenings. This Friday evening as I stopped by the office to pick up my check, Bill the owner and Cassandra his daughter were there. Bill said he had something he wanted to give me and stepped into another room. He was gone for at least a minute and I wondered what he could possibly want to give me. Bill walked out and handed me a cassette tape. He said, “It’s you preaching; it’s one of your sermons.”

The date on it said Feb. 21, 2010 and that it was a sermon from Acts chapter 19. The typing was on a blue ribbon. I thought that tape couldn’t POSSIBLY be from 2010. I did preach a series of sermons from Acts in the early 2000s. I thought it must be from 2001 and I must have transposed the numbers. Also, I had a typewriter with a blue ribbon many years ago, so that also caused me to think it was from the distant past.

This evening (Saturday) I popped the tape into my “boom box” (combination radio, CD player, and cassette player). To my amazement the tape WAS from February of 2010! (I’d forgotten at that time I was making tape labels on an old MAC computer and printing them in blue.) By 2010, Jon was digitally recording each sermon and making up sermon CDs for anyone who wanted them. We DID, however, continue to make up two or three “old fashioned” cassette tapes every sermon.

That February 21, 2010 tape was of a NIGHT service. We only had Sunday night services once in awhile, but that was the FINAL one. In fact, there were ONLY a total of two more services after that at First Assembly of God of Framingham. That afternoon, February 21, 2010, Mary Ann and I had been informed the decision had been made to close the church down. I remember being very, very sad that afternoon, and greatly wishing I had NOT planned to have a Sunday night service for that day! I billed it as a “God Encounter Service”. Instead, I wanted to go home, get in bed, pull the covers over my head, and have a good cry. But I did what preachers try to do on days like that. I went ahead with the service and the sermon.

Jon used to start recording at prayer time and that’s where the tape comes in. For THAT part of the tape I DO sound nervous, a little sad, and a little unsure of myself. I wondered if the whole tape would sound like that, because if it WOULD, I was not sure I’d really want to listen to it. That was not the case however.

Second Corinthians 12: 4 says, “My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness”. Some of you will not understand this, but it’s SO true. My experience through all my years of pastoring and preaching was that when I went into the pulpit feeling very happy, capable, and confident, I sometimes didn’t do so well in my preaching. It was the Sundays that I was depressed, didn’t feel well, didn’t feel capable, and didn’t want to be there that God would surprise me. The Holy Spirit would “show up” and I would preach almost like I was a completely different person. Once I got into that sermon on Acts 19, I sounded full of faith, happy, joyful, cheerful, confident, and like I could sell a refrigerator to an Eskimo! The sermon was interesting, informative, and inspiring. More than that, it was anointed...with the anointing of the Holy Spirit. Jon also chose some great “altar songs” for prayer over people after the sermon. My eyes kind of filled up hearing that music and hearing me praying for people in the background.

I’ve got a confession to make. I did not remember how good that service was. I’d always kind of regretted holding that service that night. And, I felt it was kind of unfair to have to run a service and preach a sermon right after being told the church was closing. After hearing that tape, for the first time I was glad I scheduled that service and preached that sermon and so glad I had not canceled it!

At the church office, we had sermon tapes of mine going back almost ten years. I hate to admit it, but I was so down after the church was closed that I threw all of those in the dumpster. So there were VERY few tapes or CDs left of my sermons. I will cherish that tape given to me by Bill. In so many ways, it “fit the Bill”!

Jon DOES have a few sermons from the final few months of the church still available to burn onto CDs. I would love to have anyone who is interested hear that tape of my Acts 19 sermon...the Feb. 21, 2010 evening service. I asked Jon if we could somehow put it on line for people to download. He said we probably COULD but that it could get kind of involved and he’d rather not do that. I don’t blame him. Our church website was very simple and we never had sermons available to download or anything like that- and now the website is gone. But Jon CAN still burn CDs of that sermon. Should anyone WANT a CD of that sermon and service, just drop $5 in the mail to: Bob Baril, P.O. Box 4702, Framingham, MA 01704. Jon will make you a Cd and we’ll mail it off to you. (Listen this is certainly not all Jon does, and it may take a few days to get it back to you, but if you want a CD of that we’d be happy to share it with you.)

Again, thank you Bill for handing me that tape. And, God, thank you for reminding me through that of your desire to use a weak and fallible vessel for Your purposes.

VICTIM IS VICTOR

“And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint;
saying, There was in a city a judge, which feared not God, neither regarded man:
and there was a widow in that city; and she came unto him, saying, Avenge me of mine adversary.
And he would not for a while: but afterward he said within himself, Though I fear not God, nor regard man;
yet because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.” (Luke 18:1-5)

In the words of The Beatles’ “A DAY IN THE LIFE”: “I read the news today, oh boy...” Well, Saturday morning I read the front page of the MetroWest Daily News (Framingham, MA) and it really WAS an “oh, boy!”. The story was about the results of Framingham resident Norma Shulman and her victory over the Massachusetts State Police in Woburn Superior Court. I’m amazed that I did not even know anything about her story until it hit the papers just a couple of weeks ago. In 2007, Norma Shulman attended the Boston Marathon as a spectator along the route in Natick. It’s a familiar spot...the site of the historic Henry Wilson Shoe Shop on Route 135. Norma had stepped slightly off the curb. Now, to be fair, that IS a big “no-no” with the Boston Marathon. The race route is from curb to curb. I have attended MANY Boston Marathons in Framingham. I do not step off the curb, but I’ve honestly seen hundreds of spectators step off the curb over the years.

There are always a lot of law enforcement officers present throughout the race. You’ll always see a lot of State Police motorcycle cops. Well, that day, State Police Sgt. Dennis Bertulli hit Norma Shulman and in an instant knocked her over like a rag doll. Amazingly, Bertulli did not stop. He just kept on going. Shulman went to the hospital. She was a bit bruised and banged up, but had no serious injuries. Her medical bills came to around $1000. Shulman repeatedly tried to get the State to pick up her medical bills and to admit at least SOME fault in the incident- with NO success.

Something STRONGLY in her favor is that the entire incident of Shulman being struck was caught on the WBZ-TV channel 4 video coverage of the Marathon. It’s been posted on youtube and has had thousands and thousands of hits. Again, I’m shocked that the public knew virtually nothing of this incident until just a couple of weeks ago. Shulman says she suffered humiliation and various personal problems as a result of this incident. Some may snicker, but not me. While Shulman HAD stepped partially off the curb and that DOES make her partially at fault, it does not excuse the cop at all. It would SEEM that he could have avoided hitting her. Even if NOT, the cop absolutely SHOULD have stopped to have checked things out...to have been prepared to render aid to the woman...to make sure she was not seriously hurt. In my humble opinion, the cop was guilty of leaving the scene of an accident. The jury specifically found the cop guilty of “negligence” and awarded Norma Shulman $15,500 in damages.

I know Jim Rizoli is a very controversial figure in Framingham; well when you’re a Holocaust denier, you’re GOING to be a controversial figure! I don’t often agree with Rizoli, but he sent a Letter to the Editor into the paper that I agree with 100%. Rizoli stated that if the State Police had just APOLOGIZED to the woman and covered her medical bills, this whole thing would probably have been over with.

In case any reader thinks I’m the kind of person who has a chip on his shoulder against police officers, that’s not true. My father was a career law enforcement professional. If anything, I tend to lean heavily on the side of law enforcement. But I also know that IF my father had hit someone with a motorcycle like that, he would NEVER have just ridden off. NEVER!

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts, especially the State Police, wanted Norma Shulman to just shut up and go away. She WAS partially in the roadway. That channel 4 video was very embarrassing and incriminating toward the State Police. The whole thing was very bad publicity. But it was one simple female older woman from Framingham with no clout, against the Massachusetts State Police. Almost four years went by. She suffered sleepless nights, depression, fear, bad memories. The message of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts was:

“MOVE ON” and “GO AWAY”.

She and her attorney did all they could to pursue justice. At times it must have seemed like a lost cause. I guess most people WOULD have just gone away. When you’re a Norma Shulman and just won’t let something go, you become an annoyance to friend and foe, alike. You make everybody uncomfortable. While everybody praises the emperor’s new wardrobe, you are the one yelling, “But he has no clothes on!”...and nobody’s paying attention.

Kudos to Norma Shulman. The good guys won...OOPS, I mean the “good gal” won!

STUFF

“Whereas thou hast searched all my stuff, what hast thou found of all thy household stuff ?...” (from Genesis 31:37)

Today I’m off from my answering service job and am in the process of going through “stuff”- cleaning and sorting through stuff that has accumulated at our Framingham home over a twenty-four year period. On this Valentine’s Day morning, I found an old, deteriorating scrapbook filled with mostly greeting cards. It was a scrapbook my mother had made of the “new baby” cards that had come upon the occasion of my birth. I was the oldest. Whether there were similar scrapbooks for my brother and sister, I don’t know. The scrapbook covered not only the “new baby” cards, but birthday cards up to the 3rd birthday. These cards are all from the ‘50s and definitely have that “antique/collectible” look about them. The scrapbook included a pamphlet about “Your Baby’s Formula” given by St. Margaret’s Hospital where I was born. Listen, in the 1950s a woman did NOT breast feed! I got kind of a chuckle out of that one.

I was surprised to find a Valentine card in the book. My mother had labeled it “Feb. 14, 1958”. I wondered WHO would be sending me a Valentine card in 1958? I opened the card and it was signed “Grandpa”. My father’s Dad died about eight years before I was born so this had been from my maternal grandfather. He died less than two years after that. I remember that he was tall, thin, wore glasses, and was always smoking a pipe. I was kind of touched to open that card today!

I also found one of my favorite books from childhood. As a little kid, I had some hardcover books. Do they even MAKE hardcover books for LITTLE kids anymore? I don’t know. This one was “Benny’s Flag”. It’s the true story of Benny, the Native American boy who won a contest back in the 1920s to design the flag of the Alaska territory. Benny loved to look up at the sky, especially the Big Dipper constellation. You may know that the Big Dipper design IS Alaska’s flag to this day. I decided I’m going to send that book to Amy for her my unborn grandson and any subsequent children of hers to enjoy.

It’s only 10 in the morning, but I’ve already found this stuff!

UP ON THE ROOF

“Therefore, whatsoever ye have spoken in darkness shall be heard in the light; and that which ye have spoken in the ear in closets shall be proclaimed upon the housetops.” (Luke 12:3)

This has been an unusually bad winter in the Boston area! Initially, the winter season started easy- too easy. There were, maybe, three dustings of snow prior to December 26. It had to have been one of the least snowy Novembers or Decembers I could ever remember. At my residence, the bulk of the leaves don’t fall until LATE in the season. I often do not have them all up until as late as Nov. 22 or 23. Some years I have not even STARTED raking leaves until Nov. 1 because there were so FEW down that there would be no point in that. IF we were to get a light snowstorm on, say, November 7, and a moderate to heavy one on November 16, it would not be unusual that HALF of my leaves would be on the ground under the snow and I’d be raking them up in April. SOME years, that’s happened! I was SO glad to have ALL leaves raked up well before Thanksgiving Day! But I wondered if the snowless period up to and including Christmas would mean a catastrophic winter forthcoming. Indeed, it DID mean that!

This is now categorized as the 11th snowiest winter season on record for the Boston area since they started keeping official records in 1872, and it’s not over yet! We will likely finish in the top 10, maybe at 7 or 8. The last winters with very heavy amounts of snow were 2005 and 1996. A BIG issue this year has been rooftops and specifically roofs COLLAPSING. Every year, some roofs collapse in the Boston area. Those that DO are usually flat roofs. This year, over 100 roofs have collapsed so far in the Boston area. Many were flat roofs, but not all were. Many were commercial roofs but some were residential roofs. The church building we owned was the former United Auto Workers union hall and it had a flat roof. During snowy winters I’d glance up with some trepidation to see snow piled on the roof. One winter, we hired a crew of about 3 guys to shovel the roof off. I THINK that was 1996. As much as I miss the church being open and pastoring, I do NOT miss that flat roof this year!

At the answering service where I work, we answer for a roof maintenance company. That company has been inundated with calls from homeowners wanting the snow cleared off their roofs. The owner told us he is SO busy trying to keep up with clearing the snow off the roofs of his commercial customers that he just has to say “NO” to all residential requests. We have the job of telling frustrated homeowners “No!” We also answer for companies that rent out apartments and condominiums. There have been scores of callers reporting, “water coming in through the ceiling”...stuff like that. Just yesterday while getting my hair cut the barber asked me if I’d had a problem with water leaking at my residence due to the snow. I was very thankful to be able to tell him we have no problems with it at all. It turns out HE had a major problem with water leaking into his home from snow and ice buildup this year.

Driving around this morning, I was interested to notice that on the SAME street and on the same side of the street, you’ll see some houses with lots of snow and ice on the roof; some with just a little snow and ice on the roof; and some with NO snow and ice on the roof. The old house we live in, which was built around 1892, has absolutely NO snow or ice on the roof right now. We DO have quite a snow buildup on the roof of the house’s small front porch, however. A home renovation expert I heard on the radio said that a lot of the houses that have large amounts of snow on the roof have that problem because the attic area of the house is SO well insulated that the heat from the attic causes the snow on the roof to continually melt and refreeze. This not only creates icicles and ice dams, but causes the snow to become very solid, heavy, and resistant to falling off.

My father was a guy who would tend to overdo everything. I remember that he went wild insulating the attic of our residence (an “oversize Cape Cod” style house) in Canton. The result was snow buildup. He then installed an electric heating wire on the roof controlled by a switch in the basement adjacent to the main fuse box. The home renovation guy on the radio said those heating wires just make things worse by exacerbating the melting and refreezing process and that the electricity used costs a fortune. I know that one time my father FORGOT that he’d turned the heating wire on and left it on for like a month! His electric bill was outrageous! Dad had a new roof put on that house sometime around 1988. I THINK he had the heating wired removed at that time. If I recall correctly, I think he also may have cut back on some of the insulation he’d put in.

One split level house in a suburb north of Boston COLLAPSED and was totally destroyed due to snow on the roof! This stuff gets serious. It’s something how the roof is something you pretty much never think of unless you get leaks or you have inordinate amounts of ice and snow on it threatening collapse or causing water damage. (For instance, the roof on the house we live in was replaced in 2004 after we’d repeatedly had shingles blowing off the house. The previous roof was over 35 years old.)
Today, I couldn’t help but think that this “upper” issue which becomes a major problem when least expected is like a spiritual “upper” issue...that is, where you stand with the “person” up above. I mean WAY up above. I mean GOD.

The way many people just ignore their roofs, many people just ignore God or say that God doesn’t exist.

Others are like my father, trying to do all sorts of efforts to make things right, not realizing they are only complicating things and making matters worse, You see, you CAN’T make things right with God on YOUR terms any more than my father could solve that snow buildup problem on his roof HIS way.

If your roof is “prepared”...if the shingles are in good shape, etc., and you haven’t over insulated or made other mistakes, and if it’s not completely flat, you probably won’t have much of a problem.

If you follow the steps in the New Testament that tell you how to get right with God, you won’t have a problem spiritually when you it’s time to depart this life and meet God.

Think about that this winter as you drive along and notice the contrast in roofs. If you want to know more about the relationship with God that He desires for you, I’d be happy to respond to your inquiry!

"THE PULPIT COMMENTARY" for sale

February 10, 2011

Hi!

Most evangelical Protestant pastors know what THE PULPIT COMMENTARY is.

It is a 23 volume hardbound set of very good commentary notes on the entire Bible,
ideally designed for helping pastors prepare sermons. Not only are there study
notes and definitions, etc. for every chapter of the Bible, but there are suggested
sermon outlines for virtually every chapter of the Bible.

I was GIVEN a brand new set of THE PULPIT COMMENTARY about 3 months ago.

The problem is, I already have one!

Frankly, my own PULPIT COMMENTARY is now packed up in storage with 99% of
the other stuff that was in my old Pastors' office...but one day I hope to set up an
office again when I am able.

Like most modern ministers, I now do 90% of my study and research for sermons
on-line. However, THE PULPIT COMMENTARY in hard copy is still a great tool!

According to CBD/Christianbook.com THE PULPIT COMMENTARY can
be expected to sell for $1000 retail. THEY typically sell it for $300. Recently
they had a special sale on THE PULPIT COMMENTARY and offered it for $175.

I am willing to sell this brand new set of THE PULPIT COMMENTARY (still in
the original packing box!) for $75! I'll charge $100 if I have to ship it someplace
just due to the cost and inconvenience of shipping it.

You might want to give it as a gift to a pastor or someone about to graduate from
Bible College or Seminary.

I know I can sell it on EBAY, but I wanted to offer it first to people I have a personal
connection to.

BOB BARIL < revrbaril@aol.com >
FRAMINGHAM, MA

508-523-4595

please feel free to pass this on to anyone you think might be interested.

A LESSON FROM JACKIE

“Then said he unto the disciples, It is impossible but that offences will come: but woe unto him, through whom they come!
It were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he cast into the sea, than that he should offend one of these little ones.
Take heed to yourselves: If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him.” (Luke 17:1-3)

I had a conversation recently which caused me to remember Jackie. That’s her real first name. Jackie was short for Jacqueline. Jackie was about twenty years older than me. She and her husband became born-again Christians in 1979, and I had a big part in discipling them. Jackie was a character. I say “was”. She’s no longer with us, having passed away from cancer in 2000. Jackie was a chain smoker, and I believe that had a lot to do with her death. Jackie was married to Kent, a much quieter and more mild mannered person than she, and they had four very macho sons in their late teens and early twenties. Jackie was outspoken and opinionated. She was also very sensitive and would go to ANY lengths to try to right a wrong as she perceived it. Jackie just didn’t let things go...she hung on to things. I hate to admit it, but in a lot of ways I’m a lot like her. We’re both ethnically French Canadian. Many French Canadians are very sensitive and emotional people and definitely hold on to things. Listen, it’s not per chance they drive around with those “Je Me Souviens” license plates! That means “I remember” and it means they remember New France being snatched away by the English, and they are just never going to forget that!

But back to why I was thinking about Jackie. As I said above, a recent conversation caused me to think about her. The conversation was about a person who just WILL NOT let something go. Jackie experienced some terrible tragedies in her life. Especially for a person who was a fairly “new” evangelical Christian...being taught to believe God for miracles and answered prayer, and being taught to trust in God who has a wise plan for one’s life and who never gives us more than we can handle, well, Jackie’s faith was really challenged time and again. In 1980, her 20-year-old son Jon was killed instantly as he tried to walk across a busy highway. She was not hesitant to say Jon was her favorite child,and she was absolutely devastated. Looking back, as distraught and sorrowful as she WAS, it’s truly a miracle she didn’t have a complete mental breakdown over it. Four years later, another son was in a bad accident. The pickup truck he was driving flipped over on Route 1. He broke his neck and was paralyzed from the neck down. Once again, Jackie was sent into a complete tailspin that lasted for probably two months. She “sort of” recovered but was never really right after that.

Jackie could have a wonderful sense of humor. She was also very sociable and loved to host cookouts at her home in the summer months. But she struggled with depression, and kept chain smoking those Benson & Hedges 100s. There was a conversation everybody who knew Jackie had experienced with her MANY times. It would go something like this:

“I don’t know why other people complain that they have trials. They don’t know the meaning of trials. My son is DEAD. My other son is paralyzed for life. Why did God take my son? Why did my son die? Why did He allow Craig to be paralyzed? A lady said, 'Pray for me, I have a mole on my nose.' I wanted to PUNCH that mole right off her nose?! My son is paralyzed! My son is dead! Why does GOD do these things to me?”

I can’t tell you how many times Jackie said those words, or words very similar to me and to everyone who knew her. And, over and over again. We prayed for her. We listened to her. We read Bible verses to her. We tried to console her. We tried to tell her comforting stories...that never worked. We heard this conversation over and over and over and over...
You’ve heard that annoying Shari Lewis song that little kids sing, “The song that does not end...”. It’s kind of like that.

As painful as it is for me, I’m like Jackie! For one thing, I will take up others’ offenses. I can get far more upset FOR other people and their offenses than even they are. I’ll write letters and e-mails. I’ll shout the thing from the mountaintops. I’ll beat the issue to death until everybody is sick of it. Even the victim is sick of it! I don’t get in trouble on my answering service job too often, but that taking up an offense thing DID get me in trouble a couple of months ago. Most of the medical practices we answer for are very professional and do a great job. A few, well, just aren’t and don’t. There’s one that seemingly never returns calls and doesn’t seem to care much about its patients. Of course, we have to be professional and represent our clients. A woman called who was very upset with one of those practices that does not return calls, etc. She told me of her illness and that she had been calling for two weeks and never got a call back. She was totally distraught. I took up her offense.

“You know what I’D do?!” I said to her, “I’d get in my car and drive right over there and say, here I am and I’ve been calling you for two weeks!” As soon as I got off the call I got reprimanded by my Supervisor. And a couple of days later I got spoken to by the person in charge of the whole answering service. And, I realized they were right. I had allowed myself to become emotionally involved and I took up someone’s offense which it really was not my place to do.

I can definitely take up another person’s offense and sometimes just run with it, and other times, like Jackie, I will try to see that a wrong is righted and will just not stop talking about it. Now, please don’t misunderstand me. If “the emperor has no clothes on” and no one has the guts to say that, I think it’s noble to say, “Hey, the emperor has no clothes!” And listen, I’ve done that PLENTY in life. But you have to be careful about becoming a Johnny one note and just talking about it ALL THE TIME.
There’s a guy who used to live in Framingham whose issue was “head injuries”. He made some good points, but that is ALL he wanted to talk about. He wrote numerous letters to the newspaper about head injuries. He filed legislation about head injuries. He constantly talked about head injuries. He really meant well, but after you’d spent some time with the guy, you felt like YOU had a head injury!

Yeah, I hate to admit it, but I do that! Do you?
I realize I can be a lot like Jackie and her famous speech of:
“I don’t know why other people complain that they have trials. They don’t know the meaning of trials. My son is DEAD. My other son is paralyzed for life. Why did God take my son? Why did my son die? Why did He allow Craig to be paralyzed? A lady said, 'Pray for me, I have a mole on my nose.' I wanted to PUNCH that mole right off her nose?! My son is paralyzed! My son is dead! Why does GOD do these things to me?”

So, I have to learn that from time to time, being the guy who rocks the boat and says, “The emperor has no clothes” is a GOOD thing, but being that Johnny one note who gives the same speech for the 1000th time is a bad thing.

It’s going to take me awhile to learn this lesson. For sure, at times I will blow it totally, but it IS truly “A Lesson From Jackie”.

REASON TO KEEP A LANDLINE PHONE

“Call now, if there be any that will answer thee; and to which of the saints wilt thou turn?” (Job 5:1)

“This is the Town of Framingham: due to the impending snowstorm...”
If you live in Framingham, MA and still have a landline phone, you’ve received a number of “Reverse 911” calls in recent weeks. I don’t know who the guy is who does the recordings, but he’s good. His voice is professional and authoritative, but not intimidating. He doesn’t have a Boston accent nor any detectible regional accent. His voice kind of has that “Walter Cronkite” quality that says I’m in charge, what I have to say is important, it’s for your benefit, and you need to listen.

Framingham kind of OVERDOES the Reverse 911 calls, but for the most part they ARE helpful. I think for the latest snowstorm there were at least three separate Reverse 911 calls. One told about a parking ban during the storm. One announced there would be no Board of Selectman’s meeting and no School Committee meeting. One announced that trash pickup would be delayed one day due to canceling trash pickup on Wednesday. And I THINK there was a fourth call announcing no school. At work at the answering service, we get those automated phone calls for all the medical offices and businesses we answer for. It feels like “Storm Central”!

“This is the Town of Swampscott announcing a snow emergency...”
“This is an important message from the Town of Duxbury...”
“This is an important message for all Natick residents...”
and so it goes.

This morning, I could tell who has landline phones in my neighborhood and what households have gone to strictly cell phones. The cell phone houses all had their trash out...about 40% of the households. The others, who’d received the Reverse 911 calls did not.

Reverse 911 calls are not just about snowstorms. Sometimes a Reverse 911 call will come through stating that an elderly man wearing a blue jacket and a New England Patriots cap is missing. He has Alzheimer’s Disease and may be disoriented. Or a call may come through saying a 10-year-old girl with long blonde hair is missing and may be in danger, etc. When I’ve gotten those calls, I’ve actually taken them very seriously and I’ve “been on the lookout”.

We are scheduled to be moving within the next two months...probably outside of Framingham. My wife asked me if we will really need a landline phone when we move. And, honestly, we COULD probably get by with just the cell phones. I will admit that when I’m on the phone, 80% of the time, it’s on the cell phone and not on the landline phone.

But part of me wonders if we’ll be kind of cut off without a landline phone.
Incidentally, did you know that in Massachusetts when you dial 911 on your cell phone you do NOT generally get your local police department? You get the Massachusetts State Police. That is one reason why it is good to know the “regular number” of your municipal police department:
In Framingham, it is 508-872-1212.

There is a big push to get rid of landline phones. Again, I am not sure what I will do when we move, but there IS an argument to keep a landline phone!