Blogs

On Memorial Day the family went out in search of the illusive dolphin.  We spent a good deal of time and no little fuel trolling out at about 680 ft.  Finally the shout, "Fish On!"  I was handed a rod and told to "Start reelin', Mama."  It was a gorgeous bull dolphin.  Someone shouted, "It must be at least 15 lbs."  I wrestled it up to the boat and just as we tried to gaff him, he went under the boat and cut the line.  Drat!  Of course, as you might imagine, the more the story is told, the bigger the fish gets.  It always amazes me that we can always tell you exactly how much it weighed and how long it was even when it got away.  That is just one of life's mysteries.  I wasn't really expecting it when the fish hit even though we were looking for it.  It was just suddenly there and I felt somewhat unprepared.  Isn't that how it often happens when we miss opportunities to shar

When the church comes together and functions as it should it is a beautiful thing to behold.  The carillon is installed and the speakers are being re-positioned as I write this.  This has not been without its challenges.  They were originally placed on the exterior of the bell tower and the appearance was unacceptable.  Because of the way that the new roof was installed they could not be mounted as they were originally 50 years ago.  What to do?  The church has come together using its many gifts and abilities to accomplish this feat.  To get the carillon controller into the choir loft, some of our folks enlisted the aid of the fire department.  We had four burly firemen march in and in less than 10 minutes the controller was lifted over the balcony and in place.  One member took the day off from work and rented a lift truck to get up to the tower to mount fabricated braces and got the fabrication donated.  Before 1:00 p.m.

When we were children we couldn't wait until we were older.  Now that we're older we wish that we could be children again or we are looking forward to when we retire.  It seems we are always waiting 'til then.  I read an email just the other day about how when we are children we are dying to get older and then when we get older we are just dying.  In the process we have forgotten to live.  Our lives are seldom exactly as we would wish them. Some of us are struggling financially and we think that if we just had more money then we could be happy.  Some of us have more than enough money but if our families were just easier to get along with, then we would be happy.  Abraham Lincoln said, "Most folks are just as happy as they make up their minds to be." 

At the end of the Gospel of John in Chapter 20, it seems that John is wrapping up his narrative.  But then he goes on in chapter 21 to tell another story.  It seems that the disciples were somewhat at loose ends.  They had seen the Lord and knew that he had risen but for some reason they hadn't yet truly understood the significance and caught the vision for the future.  So they did what many of us do, they returned to the familiar.  They went fishing.  Jesus came to the lake shore and hailed them, asking if they had caught anything.

For several years I rode my bicycle to school.  I lived in central Florida and we actually had some small hills where I lived.  I remember pumping the pedals hard to get to the top .  I knew it was worth it because I would be able to coast going down the hill.  How exhilarating it was to feel the breeze as I whizzed down the incline, propping my feet up on the bar and letting the force of gravity do the work.  Often my spiritual walk feels like that.  For a time I have to put in some hard work getting to a place where I can feel comfortable just letting go.  Sometimes I make it harder than it has to be.  God has told me that I can rely on Him.  Holy week for pastors is a busy time.  We want to make the special services meaningful and memorable for the congregation.  It is like climbing that hill.  But, once the time for the service arrives, we can let go and let God do the filling, the inspiring and the touching.  We c