08/23/2020

For many years I have been making lists of what I need to do.  I have come to believe that the first item of the “To Do List” should be: check the to do list.  It is always easier to forget once the list is made than to stay on top of the task.  The old trick of tying a string around one’s finger as a reminder seems increasingly to raise the question “why do I have this string around my finger?”  Memory can be a tricky thing.  One item can easily push out another.  We notice this more as we become older, but it is present with us all along the way.  Both the very good and the very bad memories can be very durable.  Some memories deserve to be forgotten, but that does not mean that they are readily eliminated.  I find the more I can focus on good memories or can make new positive memories the less I am plagued by the bad ones.  It doesn’t mean that I am totally free of those difficult memory moments, but it does soften their impact.  It helps to remember that sins and failures are included in the manifold mercy of God’s forgiving love.  At times I have been able to rethink a difficult memory and give it a new context.  As I have matured, some memories were colored by the misunderstandings of youth and immaturity.  Memories can be redemptive as well.  When we think of Jesus saying “Do this in remembrance of me”  we are caught up both in the sorrow of what he suffered and in the joy of his continuing presence as our resurrected companion.  How strange that we can experience such a mix of feelings in one event.  The mystery of memory in the end is a gift when used under the guidance of the Spirit of God.  Then memory becomes blessed.

08/16/2020

When was the last time you saw a phone booth?  It has been a long time for me.  I saw one quite a while back but the receiver had been ripped off the phone.  Cell phones have become so ubiquitous that the phone booth is nearly extinct.  We now only have  cell phones and I miss our land line.  It never needed to be checked to see if it had a charge.  Dropped calls were extremely rare and coverage was nearly universal.  Worse yet what does Superman do when he needs to change into his cape with no phone booth around to facilitate the change?  Evil forces could triumph while he was hunting for a booth.  Not even Superman can change in a cell phone.  On the other hand I feel that my wife and daughters and grandchildren are all safer because they have cell phones for emergencies.  Even us “self-sufficient males” need that extra margin of safety.  Shopping lists can be checked again.  We can have electronic calendars, note books, address and phone directories, books and even games for when we are standing in a socially distant line.  Over all the change is good no matter how annoying it is for Superman.  Inspite of our own nostalgia, change can often be good in many areas of life.

08/09/2020

Our water heater sprung a leak recently and we are without hot water.  Showers are now a startling experience.  Sponge baths are a temporary norm taking me back to childhood when Grandmother drew the water for a bath, once a week, from the water reservoir off the coal cook stove.  In between we did sponge baths every day.  I really don’t miss those good old days.  Now days I hardly feel human without my morning shower.  I can endure a cold shower, but what a luxury warm water is.  A recent author wrote, “Some people long for an America that never really existed.”  It is easy to put a golden halo around the past and forget its reality.  While some aspects of the past were worthy and wonderful, other aspects were difficult and dangerous.  There were few safety nets for people in crisis.  There was great inequality in resources and whole segments of society felt neglected and powerless.  While many of these problems still exist, we are largely more privileged than our forefathers and mothers.  Lack of hot water for our family is an irritating inconvenience, but a temporary one.  It will get fixed and meanwhile we are reminded of how good we have it  on most every day.

08/02/2020

One of my favorite brands is changing its name and logo.  King Arthur Flour sometime this fall will become King Arthur Baking Company with a new logo.  This hardly seems like a radical change, but the company has noted that the virus pandemic has seen resurgence in home baking in America.  People who rarely or once a month baked are now often baking multiple times a month.  If you are a baker you may have noticed a shortage of yeast for baking during the pandemic.  King Arthur Flour thought the mane change, (rebranding) would respond to this change and better reflect the central purposes of the company.  This is not a promo from me for King Arthur Flour or King Arthur Baking Company, but the announcement caused me to reflect on a good change coming out of the disastrous virus pandemic.  Home baking has a warm homey feel for me and calls up times helping my grandmother bake.  The image of families rich and poor sharing fresh baked bread and other goodies like biscuits, rolls, cookies, cakes, pies, and my favorite pecan rolls is wonderful to contemplate.  Even in the worst disasters there are some small things that can give us a snapshot of a better world.

07/26/2020

On my trip to Disney World before the pandemic, I rode with my youngest grandchild, Eleanor, on the largest of the roller coasters.  It was all that I needed or could tolerate in a roller coaster.  My granddaughter’s verdict “It was good, but it wasn’t fast enough.”  This is a girl with an appreciation for speed.  Her grandfather covets her company even at a high speed, but is less thrilled by force of gravity.  Sometimes I think that generally things in our world move too fast.  Where is the time to appreciate the slower change of the seasons, the ripening of fruit, the growth of a child?  Where we find time to breathe deeply, to walk slowly, to contemplate, to relax, to digest, ease up, to feel deeply, to heal, learn to savor, to cool our fevered minds.   Perhaps “Be still and know that I am God” may not be about silence alone but about a pause in the rush and hurry of our lives to ponder the presence of God.  To quote an old popular song “Slow down you’re moving too fast. You got to make the moment last.”  Speed can be fun on the roller coasters of our lives, but there is something to be said for the lazy  days of summer.  Let’s slow down and let the quiet voice of God catch up with us.

07/19/2020

On the Internet one can find evaluations of almost any product imaginable.  Sometimes there are multiple products ranked as good, better, and best.  I have learned to be skeptical of these evaluations.  Is the “objective” evaluation influenced by money or gifts to the evaluator? Is the certifying agency truly independent or something set up by the company to add” shine” to the product?  Companies like Consumer Reports seem more reliable.  The heart of the problem even when the trust issue has been solved is “what does best mean?”  Best for whom or for what purpose should be the question?  A pressure cooker could be prefect at sea level might be useless at 10,000 feet.  I much prefer evaluations which provide full rationale for the products evaluated.  Even that information may not match my own experience, but at least I feel a bit more fore warned.  At times, what is best in other areas is even harder to determine.  Is it better for children to be back in school full time or with some modified safer scheduling?  Complex situations are much harder to figure out what is better or best.  All we can do is decide together on the best strategy and be willing to adjust when new conditions develop.

07/12/2020

I recall seeing a bumper sticker on a dented, patched, rusted, wreck of a car which proclaimed “my other car was a 100 dollar die cast model smaller than a toaster”  Does the bumper sticker indicate the need to impress other people or was it an attempt at humor?  Getting over the need to impress others by means of our possessions or our position is a deadly trap.  There will always be someone or something more impressive than whatever luxury we might claim.  Finding contentment in our present circumstances can be a key to happiness.  Contentment, in the end, may be less about circumstance and more about attitude.  It is hard to be content if we lack the basic necessities, but our desire to have what we think others have can be a source of discontent.  To paraphrase the apostle, Paul wrote, “I have found the way to be content in whatever circumstance I am in”  I have not come fully to such a state, but I am more content than I once was.  The satisfaction of simple things, the appreciation of loving relationships and the tastes, smells, sights and sounds of everyday life can build contentment if we allow them space in our minds.  I am still not at the Apostle Paul’s stage of contentment, but slowly I am learning more and more how to be more content.

07/05/2020

As you read this on Sunday, Independence Day is already over.  The fireworks are gone from the skies although some near our neighborhood have set off fireworks early and late.  This year there are limited community fireworks (always the safest option).  I remember a 4th of July sitting on the grass on the National Mall with family and friends among a crowd of thousands.  The fireworks were beautiful and the evening ended with the orchestra playing the 1812 Overture with fireworks and cannons punctuating the music.  I do like the color and pageantry.  The pyrotechnics are amazing.  It does give me pause when I remember that Francis Scott Keyes line in our national anthem, “and the rockets red glare, the bombs bursting in air…” was not in the context of a 4th of July celebration but rather a battle during a war.   Our country, perhaps too easily, romanticizes war forgetting its pain.  I sometimes wonder if our nation’s psyche would be different if we had chosen America the Beautiful or My Country ‘Tis of Thee Sweet Land of Liberty rather than the Star Spangled Banner.   Still I am going to enjoy the fireworks and think of the US whenever the National Anthem is played, but my desire for peace raises the question in my mind.

06/28/2020

My younger daughter is an artist.  Her paintings always impress me.  I am fascinated by the way her creative mind works.  Often I can see what she has in mind, but almost never would I have thought of expressing it in the way that she has.  At other times I am at a loss to follow her creative thought even when I appreciate the beauty of the finished work.  Early on, I learned that artists are not fond of the question, “What does it mean?” They may even find the question annoying.  What the artist is apt to say is “What do you see?” Art is not defined by the artist’s intention alone, but also by the viewer’s response.  It is, at best, a joint venture.  What the artist intends and what the viewer sees are both important.  The same sort of thing applies when we read something.  It is not merely a matter of what the author intends, but also how the reader responds.  In different times and cultures the “then” reader may have quite a different response than an earlier reader had.  Real communication can be found in the space between the author’s intention and the reader’s response.  All this may seem a bit complicated but in reality it is quite  simple.  It is a matter of what do we see in a painting and how close is that to what the painter intended?  What do we see as the meaning of what we read and how does that fit with what the author intended?  In the end, art, at its best, is a conversation rather than a monologue.  How do you thing this might affect our reading of the books of the Bible?

06/21/2020

When we were living in Scotland we discovered that Scots use the term “garden” when we in the US would say “yard”.  We tend to use “garden” to refer to areas for growing vegetables, fruits, and flowers.  All this reminds us of the Garden of Eden story.  In that story the humans were placed in the garden “to work and take care of it” (NIV).  Now the whole earth is our garden.  Are we taking proper care of it?  We certainly work it or even overwork it.  Taking care of  the earth is a more difficult task.  We struggle to find the balance between use and preservation.  Short term profit can look very tempting when longer term caution may be costly or inconvenient. Something as simple as recycling takes a degree of dedication to detail to maintain.   Bigger solutions to our care for our “big” garden demands not only our individual participation, but also more cooperative action.  We do not have agreement on what needs to be done to keep our world at its best.  Political pressures also complicate our desire to care for the earth.  Can we together find ways to wisely keep a balance between “working” the garden and “taking care” of it?  What is increasingly clear is that it is foolish to simply close our eyes and hope for the best.  Like Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, we are called to use, but not abuse the garden God has given us.

06/14/2020

In a whimsical response to the Garden of Eden story, someone once wrote, “It wasn’t the apple in the tree, but the pair on the ground.”  The text in Genesis doesn’t get more specific than “the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil.”  This stands in for all kinds of temptation which is common to human kind.  I admit that a beautifully ripe apple can be quite tempting, but it is a far lesser problem for most of us than a chocolate donut.  Apples come in an endless list of ever evolving types. New varieties have to be grafted in to maintain the proper characteristics, as I understand it.  There are apparently thousands of varieties of apples most of which we never encounter in the average grocery store.  Temptations likewise are an ever growing set.  There are current temptations which were unknown in their detail to those who came before us.  We are in no better position than Adam and Eve in their new world, but we do have the advantage of the presence of Jesus who faced his temptations and overcame them by the grace of God.  Jesus can help us with our temptations.  With Jesus we each become a better “pair” on the ground than we otherwise could be.

06/07/2020

This week Pastor Spencer wanted to include this statement by President George W. Bush that addresses the current climate in our country.

June 3, 2020

Laura and I are anguished by the brutal suffocation of George Floyd and disturbed by the injustice and fear that suffocate our country.  Yet we have resisted the urge to speak out, because this is not the time for us to lecture.  It is time for us to listen.  It is time for America to examine our tragic failures – and as we do, we will also see some of our redeeming strengths. It remains a shocking failure that many African Americans, especially young African American men, are harassed and threatened in their own country.  It is a strength when protesters, protected by responsible law enforcement, march for a better future.  This tragedy – in a long series of similar tragedies – raises a long over due question: How do we end systemic racism in our society?  The only way to see ourselves in a true light is to listen to the voices of so many who are hurting and grieving.  Those who set out to silence those voices do not understand the meaning of America – or how it becomes a better place. America’s greatest challenge has long been to unite people of very different backgrounds into a single nation of justice and opportunity.  The doctrine and habits of racial superiority, which once nearly split our country, still threaten our Union.  The answers to American problems are found by living up to American ideals – to the fundamental truth that all human beings are created equal and endowed by God with certain rights.  We have often underestimated how radical that quest really is, and how our cherished principles challenge systems of intended or assumed injustice.  The heroes of America – from Frederick Douglass, to Harriet Tubman, to Abraham Lincoln, to Martin Luther King, Jr. – are heroes of unity.  Their calling has never been for the fainthearted.  They often revealed the nation’s disturbing bigotry and exploitation – stains on our character sometimes difficult for the American majority to examine. We can only see the reality of America’s need by seeing it through the eyes of the threatened, oppressed, and disenfranchised. That is exactly where we now stand.  Many doubt the justice of our country, and with good reason.  Black people see the repeated violation of their rights without an urgent and adequate response from American institutions.  We know that lasting justice will only come by peaceful means.  Looting is not liberation, and destruction is not progress.  But we also know that lasting peace in our communities requires truly equal justice.  The rule of law ultimately depends on the fairness and legitimacy of the legal system.  And achieving justice for all is the duty of all. This will require a consistent, courageous, and creative effort.  We serve our neighbors best when we try to understand their experience.  We love our neighbors as ourselves when we treat them as equals, in both protection and compassion.  There is a better way- the way of empathy, and shared commitment, and bold action, and a peace rooted in justice.  I am confident that together. Americans will choose the better way.

05/31/2020

On Memorial Day we did some of the traditional things which we did on Decoration Day.  We visited the gravesites of some of our loved ones and brought flowers from our yard.  The lilacs still were blooming and sprigs of them looked beautiful in the graveside vases.  It felt right to bring flowers from our garden rather than purchasing them.  We had a lovely moment remembering those we hold dear who have gone on before us.  We did some other Memorial Day things like hamburgers and hot dogs.  There was no Indianapolis 500 race this year and little pageantry that we normally would have watched on TV.  We brought some flowers to add to our planting.  We wore our face masks to set a good example and to protect others.  I admit to being a bit shocked at pictures of crowed beaches and mass gatherings of people largely without masks or social distancing.  I hope we and they do not live to regret such action.  It is my instinct and inclination to protect people.  So I am motivated to be cautious when there is danger, especially to people I care about.  It certainly has been a unique Memorial Day in my limited experience.  With all the changes this year has brought, I am thankful for the memories of those who I have loved.  That much never changes.

05/24/2020

I expected this year to be one in which I traveled a lot going to meetings for the District and visiting family.  The current say at home orders changed all of that.  Still business needs to be done.  So it has been Zoom to the rescue.  Our District meetings have been digital.  Zoom lets us have a meeting where we can hear and see each other.  It is not ideal, but it does work. One of the restrictions is that it works better to speak one at a time.  This is not quite how discussions in person work.  There are always technical issues and a learning curve for new comers.  The first time one uses Zoom it is frustrating, but it getter better with practice.  For family visits we use Facetime which is much easier.  Seeing children and grandchildren face to face is comfortable and it cuts into the loneliness of stay at home restrictions.  These new approaches are worth learning.  I am thankful for all the technology that enables us to stay in touch with each other.  On Sunday morning Sue and I dress up and watch our service online.  Even though we were involved in recording the service, we still feel like we are joining you for worship.  With the frustrations, at times, with technology, who knew that I would be thanking God for technology that keeps us together.

05/17/2020

Working at home without hair dressers and makeup artists has shown us that they, like us, don’t live in a perfectly glamourous mode.  Watching talk show hosts trying to interview guests while kids climb over the interviewer or the interviewee has shown us everyday chaos much like our own.  For me it has humanized those polished faces we see on the small screen.  The ones that I have always liked now seem more real as we get a small glimpse into their family lives.  Are you surprised at how much alike we all are?  We have many of the same struggles and fears.  We celebrate the small triumphs of  life: graduations, baby’s first steps, and hidden talents discovered. We all experience the sorrow of broken hearts and lost loved ones.  We delight at having more time together and yet at times need a break even from those we love.  In short we are all human.  This virus crisis has not left anyone out.  We are reminded that we are all on the same level.  For the virus that puts us all in danger, but for our standing before God, we are all equal.  What a wonderful opportunity that is.  In Christ “I’ and “we” are gloriously linked.  For in Christ Jesus we all matter equally

05/10/2020

In a difficult time in my life someone said to me, “You’ll be a better person for all of this.”  I told the Lord, that “I wasn’t sure I wanted to be that good a person.”  Seriously, I do acknowledge that the challenges of our lives do help shape us.  Often we discover that difficulties and even tragedies often deepen our spiritual perceptions and enhance our compassion toward others.  This does not mean that those problems are good in and of themselves, but that the God of all mercy is able to use them to good effect in our lives.  In the present health crisis it is hard to look beyond the inconvenience and economic pressures to see anything positive. We are deeply grieved by the loss of life especially for our beloved elders and for the very young.  No small blessing can out way the pain of these things, but we do hope to learn from our experiences.  We do now know how much we took for granted in the recent past.  We know that we can find alternative ways to stay in touch with each other.  We know better how we should prepare for the future.  Meeting together in worship as the community of faith is even more important than we realized before.  As we look ahead, we hope for gentler times when we can learn our lessons in peace and plenty.  Lord have mercy on us all, everyone.

05/03/2020

If fully hydrated, a human being can go from 3 to 7 weeks without food before dying, but only 3 to 4 days without water.  About 60% of our bodies are water, so it is easy to see why that element is so very important.  Even more than food the lack of water can become an all consuming passion.  Water is vital, that is, necessary for life.  All over the world the need for clean water is paramount.  Initiatives to provide wells for clean water are always appropriate for our charitable gifts.  In the ancient world it was much the same.  A reliable source of clean water was often the reason for the growth of a village.  The positive pleasure of a cool drink when we are parched is a pleasure all of can appreciate.  Water soothes and cleanses.   Water comforts and sustains. Plants, animals and human beings are all dependent on available water.  Even a cup of water given in kindness is worthy of a reward.  In his conversation with the woman of Samaria, Jesus encouraged the woman at the well to receive “living water” as a gift from God.  The metaphor crosses time and distance to illuminate the gift of God’s forgiving presence.  The woman is bright enough to grasp the metaphor and respond to Jesus and his refreshing teachings.  I wonder, are we?

04/26/2020

I miss all of you.  It is hard for all of us not to be together.  I am thankful for the work that has been done to record the services online.  We have tried to limit the number of people involved to keep faith with social distancing.  I hope this has been contributing to both your mental and spiritual well being.  The scriptural advice to “not forsake the assembling of yourselves together”  is less a command to be obeyed and more an acknowledgement of our need for each other.  Faith needs  community.  A good way to strengthen community is to meet together for worship.  The circumstances we currently face make that unwise, so we need to think of other ways to strengthen our sense of Christian community.  We can do that through  our prayers.  As someone expressed it “When we are in the presence of God we are also present with each other.”  It is also good to strengthen each other with whatever contact is appropriate and safe.  Holy hugs may have to be more metaphorical than physical but they can express our spiritual unity.  When on skype, our granddaughter spreads her arms for a TV hug, Grandma and I feel the love reaching across the distance.  Let’s find creative ways to express our care for each other and turn this hard time into another loving moment of community.

04/19/2020

May 31, 2020 is Pentecost in the church calendar, fifty days after Easter.  This is sometimes styled as the birthday of the church.  Following Pentecost is Kingdomtide or Ordinary Time on the church calendar.  “Ordinary”  has a different meaning than our current regular usage.  Rather than meaning mundane it is based on the counting of days from the major events in the church: Advent, Christmas, Lent, Easter, Pentecost, etc.  It is based on the order of the church calendar and thus “ordinary.”  But when I hear the term I think of our current usage.  This is especially true when right now nothing seems ordinary.  I already long for an ordinary day when we can go to a café for coffee or lunch; when I can go to the grocery store without a mask or even a plan; when shops are open and people are back at work.  I long not only for feel good stories on the news, but also for no new statistics on the death toll from the virus.  Sue’s mom, our beloved Nana, had a hand written card over her kitchen sink that read, “Ordinary day, help me to know what a treasure you are.”  After weeks of quarantine, I now get Nana’s point.  I am now coming to more fully appreciate the ordinary day of the past and hope for more ordinary days in the future.  God, thank you for being with us in the ordinary and extraordinary days of our lives.

04/12/2020

In a world which feels unsafe I am confident in the safety that is in Jesus.  I believe in heaven where we will be present with the Lord.  I believe we will share in Jesus’ resurrection, but the resurrection is much more than a future event.  It is a present reality.  In the Gospel of John, Jesus tells Martha,  “I am the resurrection and the life.  Those who believe in me, even though they die will live, and anyone who lives and believes in me will never die.”  Eternal life begins not at our death, but when we believe.  Paul even indicates that the same power which raised Jesus from the dead is at work in us.  We live in the present power of the resurrection.  The transforming power is a work in us so that even though our outward form is failing our inward self is being constantly renewed.  So we have the best of both worlds.  We anticipate the fullness of life after death, but we also enjoy renewed life even before death.  I am glad that the blessings of God do not just wait for the future.  Jesus came to bring us life abundantly in the present and into the eternal future.  No wonder is such a glorious time.