Spring weather is always a mix, one day warm and sunny, the next dark, stormy and chilly. That's sort of the way life goes as well, in the midst of the difficult times we see brightness and warmth, caring and concern, but suddenly that can reverse and we can be looking at another storm on the horizon. So how do we deal with the roller coaster? For some it's turning to a bottle or pills or some other addiction. For others it's family or lover or social groups. For still others of us, we turn to our faith.
We may not understand why things are happening as they are, why someone we trusted turned a corner and wasn't trustworthy, why our efforts done seem to lead to the successes we hoped for, but we do believe that God's power is at work, that things will work out, and we've learned to count the blessings of family and friends that are there no matter the situation. Some of those friends we see face to face regularly, but some are from the internet communities we have helped to create and sustain. People who are friends because we share some common struggles, have offered some helpful advice, worked through some difficulties together.
Now I know there is a big debate in some circles about being able to call a group on the internet a community, but think of the function of community and I think you will agree that one need not be face to face daily with someone to be a community. I think you will agree that community is a group that is "there for you" in a time of need, and indeed the groups I speak of on the internet are "there for you" in your time of need - to support, uplift, guide, slap you in the face to wake you up, cajole you into doing what you know you should and childishly resist. Sometimes we need the help, and at other times we are the ones giving the help. Sometimes we share our story and several more join the community because we have touched something deep and important to them - perhaps lanced a festering wound in their lives that now can at least begin to heal.
Spring weather, good and bad, sunny and dark, calm and windy, delightful and stormy - welcome to the wonderful descriptor of life in general! Enjoy it all from the warm sunshine to the booming claps of thunder, for they are a display of life right before your eyes in special effects Hollywood will never truly match!
Peace!
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Saturday, April 26, 2008
I have a headache
On Thursday, this near 60 year old went to a pre-retirement seminar. One of the first questions was, "Can you afford to retire?" Looking at things from a very cursory point of view, the answer was clear - NO! But then some other answers started to come along. Maybe, maybe. Some of the things shared were surprising, some very new, some not so, and some troubling.
Some options were opened up as well, and I think we will be tightening the financial belt a bit more, trying to start a small regular amount into another account the church makes available to me, and a matching amount into a IRA my wife has. That is in addition to the payments may by the local congregation to my retirement account, and a small automatically deducted savings monthly. That will be slow addition, but it will help, and we will look for other things, like refunds, rebates, similar financially unexpected bits and pieces headed into savings somewhere for that fateful day.
Many questions from the group indicated that our concerns as we approach retirement have some similarities, but also have some widely divurgent strains as well. Should we retire and take on something like Peace Corps, Habitat for Humanity, Heifer Project International? What about retiring and taking a short-term appointment to an overseas church (usually 4-5 years)? Maybe retiring from the church and going to work for some place that like older workers? Maybe another career?
Well, I started getting serious about another career possibility yesterday as we had breakfast, preparing to leave the city where our son and his wife and our grandson live - I drafted the basic line of a written story. I've fancied myself a writer for some time, even tried my hand at some things that all remained locally used items and had some compliments on what I've done. My genres would vary - some fiction, some resources for small churches and pastors. How much might be published is a good question. If some did, and some steady monies became part of the equation, that would be good!
It dawned on me, this last weekend -- Retirement is something we ought to start planning when we START working, so there will be the resources we need WHEN we get to the "golden" age. And I didn't, so I'm hoping my sharing will start some others down the advanced preparation path that will make this easier for them!
Peace!
Some options were opened up as well, and I think we will be tightening the financial belt a bit more, trying to start a small regular amount into another account the church makes available to me, and a matching amount into a IRA my wife has. That is in addition to the payments may by the local congregation to my retirement account, and a small automatically deducted savings monthly. That will be slow addition, but it will help, and we will look for other things, like refunds, rebates, similar financially unexpected bits and pieces headed into savings somewhere for that fateful day.
Many questions from the group indicated that our concerns as we approach retirement have some similarities, but also have some widely divurgent strains as well. Should we retire and take on something like Peace Corps, Habitat for Humanity, Heifer Project International? What about retiring and taking a short-term appointment to an overseas church (usually 4-5 years)? Maybe retiring from the church and going to work for some place that like older workers? Maybe another career?
Well, I started getting serious about another career possibility yesterday as we had breakfast, preparing to leave the city where our son and his wife and our grandson live - I drafted the basic line of a written story. I've fancied myself a writer for some time, even tried my hand at some things that all remained locally used items and had some compliments on what I've done. My genres would vary - some fiction, some resources for small churches and pastors. How much might be published is a good question. If some did, and some steady monies became part of the equation, that would be good!
It dawned on me, this last weekend -- Retirement is something we ought to start planning when we START working, so there will be the resources we need WHEN we get to the "golden" age. And I didn't, so I'm hoping my sharing will start some others down the advanced preparation path that will make this easier for them!
Peace!
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Below the sign of stupid
I hate to do this, we all do, but I must claim my place below the sign of "STUPID!"
You see, I was trying to be nice to my dearly beloved while she was knitting away and struggling with the effects of steriods. Making lunch, I was cutting a smoked chicken breast to go in stir-fry - at least our lower fat version. So where does stupid come in? I was holding the chicken with my hand, not a fork; those new knives our son and his wife gave us are very sharp, and I have a left thumb minus a tiny slice to prove it.
No, I didn't cut deeply, but when I trimmed off the flap I'd sliced, I have a cute little red spot at about 10 o'clock if you hold your thumb up and look at the nail as a clock face. It was annoying, both for the loss of feeling with a band-aid on and for that flashing sign in my mind - STUPID, STUPID, STUPID!
But at least I know the knives are still sharp - and that's a plus, right?
Trust me, I was a lot more careful when I cubed a partially frozen block of smoked ground venison - there's that sign again! - holding it with my hand again. This time I kept the knife well away from the hand, and both dishes were quite good, thank you very much! But I can't say I really put myself in the meal, because it wasn't that bad.
So, to all you would be chefs who read this, avoid the sign! Keep those sharp knives out of the hands of people standing under the sign! And I'll try to learn my lesson as well. Justin, though you have some years before this is a worry, learn from your grandpa and DON'T use knives like I did! I'll carry the scars for both of us, my grandson! (Yes, I'm grinning as I write, and, yes, Dad, I hear you telling me to be careful around knives!)
Peace!
You see, I was trying to be nice to my dearly beloved while she was knitting away and struggling with the effects of steriods. Making lunch, I was cutting a smoked chicken breast to go in stir-fry - at least our lower fat version. So where does stupid come in? I was holding the chicken with my hand, not a fork; those new knives our son and his wife gave us are very sharp, and I have a left thumb minus a tiny slice to prove it.
No, I didn't cut deeply, but when I trimmed off the flap I'd sliced, I have a cute little red spot at about 10 o'clock if you hold your thumb up and look at the nail as a clock face. It was annoying, both for the loss of feeling with a band-aid on and for that flashing sign in my mind - STUPID, STUPID, STUPID!
But at least I know the knives are still sharp - and that's a plus, right?
Trust me, I was a lot more careful when I cubed a partially frozen block of smoked ground venison - there's that sign again! - holding it with my hand again. This time I kept the knife well away from the hand, and both dishes were quite good, thank you very much! But I can't say I really put myself in the meal, because it wasn't that bad.
So, to all you would be chefs who read this, avoid the sign! Keep those sharp knives out of the hands of people standing under the sign! And I'll try to learn my lesson as well. Justin, though you have some years before this is a worry, learn from your grandpa and DON'T use knives like I did! I'll carry the scars for both of us, my grandson! (Yes, I'm grinning as I write, and, yes, Dad, I hear you telling me to be careful around knives!)
Peace!
Sunday, April 13, 2008
Ecumenism
Ecumenism. A word that conjures different images for different people. For me, it is the church acting out the unity we profess in following our Savior. This comes up today because I will be going to an Episcopal Church to preach as several churches in our town do a pulpit exchange.
Sadly, some have decided their faith expression is exclusive - rather than following Jesus' lead of opening the realm to all who would come. I listened yesterday to the tale of a church in a city in the Northwest of Iowa that sent an email to all the other churches requesting there be no further communication or contact with that church, because if you weren't one of them, you were hell-fodder! Imagine Jesus saying such a thing to the Samaritans, to the Romans, to lepers, women, tax-collecting betrayers of their own people. Well, given the stories we have, maybe we cannot, given his inclusion of these self-same people among those who called him Master and wondered at his love and power.
Ecumenism is the call of the church to find that one voice Jesus asks us to speak with. Some efforts have been undertaken through the expression of full communion - denominations that agree to recognize the membership, ordination and beliefs of each other as sisters and brothers in this common faith, through Churches United in Christ, through the increasing number of multi-denominational congregations as small churches combine to accomplish effective ministry in small community settings, and in places where cooperative ministry brings a variety of congregations from different denominations together under a supervising pastor working with lay licensed leaders in each setting to provide the opportunity to continue to minister when the cares of the world seem to great.
I think all of these provide a moment for the Savior to smile at those who have heard the call to be one in that amazing love and life-giving power.
Peace!
Sadly, some have decided their faith expression is exclusive - rather than following Jesus' lead of opening the realm to all who would come. I listened yesterday to the tale of a church in a city in the Northwest of Iowa that sent an email to all the other churches requesting there be no further communication or contact with that church, because if you weren't one of them, you were hell-fodder! Imagine Jesus saying such a thing to the Samaritans, to the Romans, to lepers, women, tax-collecting betrayers of their own people. Well, given the stories we have, maybe we cannot, given his inclusion of these self-same people among those who called him Master and wondered at his love and power.
Ecumenism is the call of the church to find that one voice Jesus asks us to speak with. Some efforts have been undertaken through the expression of full communion - denominations that agree to recognize the membership, ordination and beliefs of each other as sisters and brothers in this common faith, through Churches United in Christ, through the increasing number of multi-denominational congregations as small churches combine to accomplish effective ministry in small community settings, and in places where cooperative ministry brings a variety of congregations from different denominations together under a supervising pastor working with lay licensed leaders in each setting to provide the opportunity to continue to minister when the cares of the world seem to great.
I think all of these provide a moment for the Savior to smile at those who have heard the call to be one in that amazing love and life-giving power.
Peace!
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
If friendship is an obligation
My wife offered me a quote I very much like in response to trying to help a member of the church understand that I consider it part of my role to be there for persons having major surgery - or even minor surgery - if it is their desire. The quote ran, "If friendship is an obligation, then I'm obligated." I think that is true through and through. When we become friends with someone, opening our lives and sharing at many levels, there is an obligation that becomes part of that relationship - being there! It matters not that the matter is trivial, from someone's point of view, or that it is uncomfortable, or that it is socially unacceptable. The obligation is there, and perhaps the test of friendship is to see if that "friend" is there in your time of need.
I've also heard the disturbing thought shared that pastors should never become friends with their congregants. I find that disturbing because I don't know how we are to truly minister to the needs of peoples lives if we do not become friends. It seems to me to be like saying Jesus wasn't friends with those who followed him. He actually tells them I call you friends. I think pastors are to walk that same walk - calling people friends, sharing the difficulties of life as a disciple and supporting them even when they walk away or break trust.
Speaking of friends, I have long had the best of best friends in the lovely lady that agreed to take my name and share my life over 35 years ago! She tweaks me to get grins. She braces me when I get off kilter, and through it all, I know that she is there for me! That's true friendship - and one I wouldn't trade from all the money, power and fame in the world!
So, I would wish for all of you a friend who can teach you the truth of that little quote!
Peace!
I've also heard the disturbing thought shared that pastors should never become friends with their congregants. I find that disturbing because I don't know how we are to truly minister to the needs of peoples lives if we do not become friends. It seems to me to be like saying Jesus wasn't friends with those who followed him. He actually tells them I call you friends. I think pastors are to walk that same walk - calling people friends, sharing the difficulties of life as a disciple and supporting them even when they walk away or break trust.
Speaking of friends, I have long had the best of best friends in the lovely lady that agreed to take my name and share my life over 35 years ago! She tweaks me to get grins. She braces me when I get off kilter, and through it all, I know that she is there for me! That's true friendship - and one I wouldn't trade from all the money, power and fame in the world!
So, I would wish for all of you a friend who can teach you the truth of that little quote!
Peace!
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