Think About It

One of the things I have done differently this year is to use a tablet for my sermon notes rather than printing them out on paper.  I am not a die-hard “tree hugger”, but I do believe that I can do my part to save some trees and landfill space for the next generation.  That sounds pretty noble, doesn’t it?  Well, it’s all good until someone forgets to plug in the electronic device!  As I was preparing to preach last Sunday morning, I realized my device was a bit low on battery.  I might have had enough to get me through the sermon, but I wasn’t sure.  So, as we were preparing for the worship I started charging my tablet, but it wasn’t making enough progress fast enough.  So, then I thought about using another device that had more a of a charge – to do that I had to download the file.  So, what about printing out a paper copy … well that would take time.  So, what about … Folks I have to admit that by the time I got up to preach my brain was r...

Are you having a tough day today?  If so, why?  What has gotten you so wound up that you can’t relax and rejoice?  On those days when I have a bad day, I am finding that the cause is often something outside my control.  Maybe it is an argument between co-workers.  There are times it is a news story that has captured my attention.  As trivial as it seems, it might even be the fact that my favorite team is in a losing streak.  You know, there are times when it doesn’t seem to take much to suck the life out of me.  Now, while this may seem to be rather simplistic, I think there is some positive news.  You see, if it is something this simple that can make me feel bad, shouldn’t it also be true that something simple just might be able to pull me out of the doldrums.  If we are facing a bad day (not one of those terrible, horrible, no good very bad days … just a bad day), could it be that we just need something to turn it around?  As I wa...

Happy Memorial Day! Throughout my life, Memorial Day has been one of my favorite national holidays.  I think that, when I was a kid, it was more about the timing of the day.  It was the beginning of beach weather, baseball season was in full swing, and we were counting down the last days of school before summer vacation.  Not bad reasons to have a holiday, right? As I have aged (and matured) I find that I still like Memorial Day.  These days it’s less about getting out the grill or having a day to fertilize the lawn; rather, it is a day set aside to reflect.  As much as we’d like to believe that we are self-made people, so much of who we are comes from the people who have gone before us.  Some of them fought and died for the freedom of our nation, but many more of them lived and taught us about what made us good people.  I am grateful that we take the time to honor our military heroes, but I also believe that we should take some time to give credit (an...

Sometimes factoids are interesting and informative – other times they are just fun.   Today’s fits into the latter category.   According to one reference, on this date in 1903 an automobile trip started in San Francisco and begin the first trip across the United States.   It arrived in New York on July 26.   If my math is correct, that means it took a little over two months to make the cross-country trip (about 64 days).   Now, I don’t if there were a lot of stops for sight-seeing along the way in 1903, but that is a pretty incredible trek.   According to a popular map application, it would take about 44 hours today to travel the 2903 miles.   That’s quite a difference between 64 days and 44 hours!   We have come a long way in the last 120+ years, haven’t we! The reason for this post is to remind us that even though there are challenges and struggles in 21 st Century America, we have made progress in many areas.   Our health and wealth hav...

I recently went to a meeting that brought together several members of the community with different backgrounds to try to analyze what we can do to address a healthy community.  As the conversation developed, it became obvious that, while we all came from different perspectives, one thing we all had was a desire to make things better for our friends and neighbors.  Another thing that became obvious was that each of us had an inclination to help certain groups of people.  While there was an overall hope to help, some focused on the homeless, others’ main concern was students, some were homed in on those who had been incarcerated and others show deference to children.  Not only was their focus typically narrowed, so were the talents and resources they brought to the table. Interestingly, as I looked back on that group, I was reminded of another collection of individuals – this one addressed by Jesus.  When the Lord challenged His audience to do something, He stated...

There are some passages of scripture that make good, easy sense.   There are truisms that we can look at say, “Well, that’s a no-brainer”.   However, there are others that are more head-scratchers.   One of the ones that might cause us to ponder is the Beatitude, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.” (Matthew 5:4).   First of all, few of us like to mourn – and even fewer of us would consider it a blessing!   So, how can we make sense out of Jesus’ words?   First, I think this admonition reminds us it is OK to be emotional.   Not only is it permissible to express our feelings, but it may also be the best way to find healing.   We might think we are being mature or macho by hiding what is bothering us, but we may not be able to find comfort until we admit what is troubling us. Second, there might be times when we do too good of a job of hiding our struggles.   If we put on a façade, people might not know we need help. ...

One of the things I like about team sports is that they can be played even if people don’t necessarily have the ability to communicate.  Most of the major sports have a common “language” that consists of the way the game is played.  One hockey player can set another one up for an assist even if one speaks Czech and the other speaks English.  On the baseball diamond, infielders who speak Japanese, English and Spanish can all turn a double play.  Now, while activity can sometimes speak louder than words, at some point, there is a benefit to learning each other’s language.  So, if you were a team athlete, where would you put the emphasis of learning to communicate?  I would suspect you would start learning the language that applies to the game you play.  You may not be fluent in another language, but learning certain words can make life easier and productivity better. The reason I bring this up is to challenge us to learn the language of spirituality....