Think About It

I recently went to a wedding and got to thinking about marriage. This may sound a bit odd (don’t most people think about marriage at a wedding). The answer might not be as obvious as we assume. Typically, as a minister, when I go to a wedding, I am more concerned about making sure everyone is where they are supposed to be and doing what they are supposed to be doing. I get the words right, but all too often, I am more focused on who has the rings than the big picture of being husband and wife. So, this time, as I sat there in the audience I reflected on marriage. As I processed my thoughts and feelings there were certain words that came into focus. The first one was forgiveness. For a long-term relationship to last, the couple must be willing to forgive each other. Interestingly, this more often than not means to forgive the myriad of little things rather than a few big indiscretions. The second was commitment. Most lasting marriages are made more through commitment than by ...

One word that has gotten a lot a traction lately is “justice”. Whether in lamenting what people perceive as a lack of justice or a call for equal justice, the phrase is on a lot of people’s lips these days. While the idea of justice might be popular, is the concept all that appealing? Sure, it’s in vogue to call for it, but are we willing to pursue it? You see, justice isn’t merely a word to slap on a bumper sticker or write on a protest sign, it is something that must be practiced. Justice is living according to the laws of the land, justice is being a good witness when we know something illegal is afoot, justice is being willing to serve on a jury (even if it costs us money), justice is defending those who act appropriately and calling out those who don’t. Justice is seeing issues through the lenses of right and wrong, not deciding things based on whether it is “us” or “them”. Yes, justice is an important cause, but it must be more than just a catchphrase, it must be a lifesty...

Happy Valentines Day! When I was a youngster, I remember handing out those boxes of chalky candies that had pithy little sayings on them. For a matter of a few cents, you could pass out those little heart-shaped sweets that said, “Be Mine” or “You Are Special” – you know those heart-felt sentiments that were bound to woo that certain someone special. As I look back, I am not sure I ever gained a “valentine” by utilizing such a ploy. Now we fast-forward through the years and those commercially produced candy hearts have been replaced by mass-marketed cards. There may be more words on the cards than on the candy (and they certainly cost more), but they are basically the same thing. We pay for the convenience of someone else doing the thinking for us. Sure, sending a $5.00 card is better than a box of compressed sugar candies (and much better than sending nothing at all), but is that the best we can do? This year, what about taking the time to make our own cards and write our ow...

One of the things the last two years has allowed me to do is to become lazy. Now, before I get too far into this discussion, I have to admit that I didn’t need much of an excuse to grow idle, but the lack of accountability of the last few months has made it a lot easier to do and to excuse. If I don’t want to do something, I have a readily available excuse – and if someone confronts me about it, I can always blame it (one way or another) on my personal response to COVID. Whether it is not interacting with people (which can be explained away by “social distancing”) or not being as productive as I used to be (everything takes longer to get done these days), I have a built-in excuse for not living up to my potential. While this has become convenient, it isn’t (necessarily) true and it is often a comfortable excuse for laziness. Sure, early on, we might have been able to explain-away certain things, but as we enter our third year of this mess, the newness is wearing off. We need to ...

One of the fun things about the Winter Olympics is watching competitions that we don’t always get to see. Let’s face it, neither curling nor the biathlon are sports most of us watch on a regular basis. Yet, when the Olympic Games come around, we will sit and watch the world’s best compete. Some of these sports are not as popular as others, but one thing is for certain, the gold medals in these events shine as brightly as those won in any sport! As I was watching one of the lesser-known events the other day, I got to thinking about how not all of us have the same talents, but we can all be the best we can be in our calling. When the Apostle Paul reflected on diversity in the church, he observed, “And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son...

John Stuart Mill is credited with this observation in an 1867 address to the University of St. Andrews, “Let not any one pacify his conscience by the delusion that he can do no harm if he takes no part, and forms no opinion. Bad men need nothing more to compass their ends, than that good men should look on and do nothing. He is not a good man who, without a protest, allows wrong to be committed in his name, and with the means which he helps to supply, because he will not trouble himself to use his mind on the subject.”. Sir Edmond Burke is often credited with a briefer version, “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”. This has been on my mind recently because of the amount of violence I am seeing – not only in my community, but in our nation as well. Whether the information is anecdotal or based on factual trends, it appears that our communities are becoming more dangerous. While it is one thing to realize this, it is something altogether ...

In our time together yesterday, we took a look at how we must understand that it isn’t enough to just stop doing evil, we must be willing to replace it with good. Cleaning house is a good first step, but unless we fill the void with something productive, we run the risk of becoming worse than we before. There are times when it is important to stop behaviors to move toward growth, but unless we follow-up with something appropriate, our old ways might return – and they might even be worse than before. Several years ago, communities followed the “broken windows philosophy” which advocated that we needed to get rid of the unsightly elements of our dilapidated areas. While this makes sense – people are less likely to commit crimes or acts of immorality in clean and kempt areas – there is a limited window of opportunity to do something positive with these areas or they will begin to resume deteriorating. Just as this is true in our physical structures, it is the same in our social areas...