Tonight is blog post 701. Guess it means something though I am not sure what. Most of my writing happened two years ago during treatment. Readership dropped off after that was over. Yet we still try to put stuff up here on the odd chance someone may stumble upon the blog. It still serves as a place to let stuff out on occasion. There is something therapeutic about putting words down so you get them out of your system. Maybe some of the words are my way of working through something in my head. I know that may not always be good but it can help. This evening it may be good to just put down some odd ideas roaming around in my brain. Some of it is sixth decade stuff. Some may seem trivial. Maybe some may stick.
* It's time to realize the Texas Rangers just are not playing good enough to make the playoffs much less go to another World Series. I hate it but it is what it is.
* Reminds me of my #1 rule for living. Life happens. Denial is a waste of energy.
* Why complain about the heat? If whining about temperatures really helped then we would already be in fall. So let's just deal with it as best we can and keep going. We are closer to fall now than we were.
* Reminds me of #2 rule for living. It is what it is. Wishing things were different never makes a dent in the reality. There are healthier ways to cope.
* Olympic watching is great but there are only so many sports that get my attention. I remember my first Olympics back in 1968. They are fun but sometimes the contests baffle me.
* I am about ready for school to start. Routines do have benefits. Nothing says fall is coming like hearing the buses cruise around town. My youngest is getting ready for it too. I can tell.
* I will miss him terribly once school starts. I always do during his hours away.
* I am not quite ready for football no matter what level. Hard for me to get excited when it is still this hot. My attention is still on baseball.
* Why do people go to beaches in summer? Give me cool mountain air anytime.
* Doing church stuff still interests me in my sixth decade. Some of it never gets old. But there are other times I wonder. Odds are good that I'm not the only minister that does.
We will leave it at that for tonight. It's just stuff roaming about my cranium. Now you know.
Bro. Trey
So much of what is said carries the echo of a complaint. People usually do not hear the words that flow out of their mouth. The same is true of typing. You can easily begin to make explanations that become negative or weary. Last week is one of those examples. Busy is one word that describes it. We began VBS last Sunday night. Our schedule said it would run through Thursday evening. It did. This makes for a hectic week. There were also still the usual interruptions that follow along. Several trips were made to town for ministry times. The good news is there was only a wedding to contend with on Friday and Saturday. One advantage is the time passes very quickly. The problem is trying to keep up with the demands without wearing down. Maybe we survived all the madness of the week. I just know that I am glad it is over.
Different people may hold various points of views on the success of our VBS. Let me say from a professional perspective that it sure seems more difficult to attract the numbers we once did. I spent most of winter and spring trying to locate a decent week to hold our event. Ours is a world of sports camps, summer school plus other family time. This looked like the safest time to attempt our venture. We still did not pull the amount of students you would desire. A few will point at that as a mark of failure. I will disagree. Our students worked as leaders for our school. They did an amazing job in learning what truly goes on with a project of this size. Noe one could be prouder than me for their efforts. We did have some awesome kids come through to learn, play and just have fun. That smaller number seemed to take it all in each evening. We collected about 250 cans of food to go to our local food ministry. That seems pretty unreal to me.
We also had some of our kids make various decisions about their faith. One of my favorite children came today to go public with her desire to become a follower. There are more who will come along in the future. We had three children from out of state in attendance. My guess is there church background is not much. Those kids received the truth of scripture into their world. We gave them the chance to discover who Jesus is and what He can do. Those things matter. I know other churches struggled this summer with VBS attendance. Our plight is not our own. What we did accomplish is to do our best with God's help for whoever crossed our path. I count that as success not failure.
Now we head back to the usual routine of living. School begins in about four weeks. Rhythm will return to our small town. God's activity will keep moving along. We joined Him in that journey in a special way last week. One can only hope we continue to share that adventure.
Bro. Trey
The middle. That's where we spend most of our time in life. Extremes come and go but the middle remains fixed in time. It does not define us but it can diagnose where we are and where we are going. People write a lot about the highs or the lows but not many give serious thought to that area between. Even though we measure our value by success or failure we seldom imagine this vague place being of great importance. Maybe we don't like to think much about the middle. If we own up to its reality then we have to make conscious choices about who we are. You may conceive of it as that flawed answer we give others when they ask how we are doing. We usually say, "fine." That is the middle.
It's not a place with bright sunshine with clouds peppering the sky with white wisps. Neither is it the full blast of a cold, wintry rain. My mind sees the middle as kind of a blue/gray color. It's drab. No one sets out to be drab or dull but that is what it is. You feel it in your bones when it's quiet. Everything just seems listless. You may have your own set of ideas about the middle. Maybe you are a person who crashes through it to either flame out in emotion or settle down in the blues. A healthy person will recognize it as a real time while moving in one direction or the other. That is often up to us.
Life is not about the extremes. Some will use their energy seeking only the highs in order to sail along on the waves of happiness. You may know others who carry about that dark, cold idea that our world will never be any different much less better. God promises to be with us in the extremes. He is our joy that sets our heart into songs which burst at our heart. He also comes to us when gloom is our constant shade. But when we meet God in the middle is when we find our greatest power. He calms the soul that is flaming out in the hunt for the high. He lifts our spirit when all else around us fails. He knows where we are somewhere in between.
To discover God as a unyielding presence sets our life in motion. There may be days when He seems to let us soar to heights never imagined. We will have other days when He just keeps nudging us to living water. That is who He is. Jesus performs amazing miracles during His sojourn with us. He speaks wondrous truths to those with ears to hear. He also spends time just walking or visiting or just doing stuff we call the middle. It's His presence that changes everything. Perhaps you can sense Him making a difference right where you are now. It makes the middle matter more than you can know.
Bro. Trey
It is impossible to put into words all of the events of the last 24 hours. What was to be a fun escape at the movies becomes the largest massacre in U. S. history. No one can imagine that. We feel it physically at the revulsion at such an act. We feel it emotionally when we try to connect with friends, relatives while putting ourselves in their place. We feel it spiritually as we wonder what evil exists in our world. Please do not misunderstand me. Human beings do struggle with their emotional and mental health. More than a few require help to simply get through a single day. Yet do not miss how often those issues resolve themselves in expressions of evil. Do not confuse the individual with the action but just hold that thought in mind.
My daughter and I want to see this film. I noticed on Facebook how many people were at various showings of the movie around the area. No one will ever be able to view that story the same way again. Even being in my sixth decade allows me no special insight into how such carnage occurs. I do know we forget or live in denial that similar actions happen across our planet each day without media attention. What happens in Colorado or Syria is not uncommon. Someday we may finally see that. The problem is not with guns. Our trouble is not with those who may suffer mental issues. We live in a world running amok with ideas, pains, and unresolved hurts that wreck our health. Theologians call this sin. Maybe we would do well to recover our grasp of that.
Evil exists in many forms and fashions. We think of it as something in Germany in the 1940's. Maybe we want it isolated in some foreign nation today. Evil is one of those drumbeats that continues no matter how it is disguised. I see evil on a regular basis. Maybe there are not weapons involved that tear other human beings apart but it is here. Someone defined evil as the desire or intent to control another person in anyway required to take life from another. We use words most times in church. Hurts go unhealed until we become reflections of the evil remaining within us. Perhaps we do not shoot someone but we will do what we can to injure another person for our selfish gain. Those actions are as evil as those perpetrated last night in Colorado.
May we live long enough to see God bring good out of this horrible tragedy. May we also spend time letting Him search our hearts for whatever evil seeks to dictate our journey. Always remember the cross of Jesus tells us in plain terms just how blind evil makes us. May we receive the eyes to see beyond that cross into the grace of God.
Bro. Trey
Moving along in your sixth decade allows you time for reflection. Just typing the words of being in my sixth decade seems hard to swallow. Forcing your mind to think on such facts may be painful but it does pay off. Liberation comes to mind when realizing how long that truly is. It's old enough to know better yet young enough to still try it as the bumper sticker says. Maybe all of us are the sum total of several people over the years. You cannot escape the influence of those growing up years no matter how much you try. We entered the young adult era believing we could make a name for ourselves unlike any other. Now is the period for evaluation for the next part of the journey. No wonder life can seem so confusing!
There is a certain type of serenity one should gain at this point of the adventure. You are old enough to know who you are as well as who you aren't. But there is still the occasion for internal conflict when you get cross with that knowledge. Look at people all around you desperate to hold onto the illusion of youth. Notice far too many whose emotions lag behind their birth certificate. Rather than embrace the wisdom of time we may settle for a perspective that never comes to grip with reality. Don't get me wrong here. Count me as one who attempts to keep his physical health as good as it can be. Just be sure you note my awareness that health in one area of life is no promise for avoiding the bad.
At my age one should be aware of what can still be changed and what remains entrenched in place. There is always room to grow or discover more. Being alive means embracing that opportunity. When you deceive yourself to imagine you know it all is when you stop living. Most of my theology is fairly set in stone by now. Much of my views on all things in life exist with a degree of certitude. What is left are the many times when God may surprise us with fresh lessons that pull all of the above together. Few things thrill me as much as being in the midst of uncovering a new truth to apply to my years. It saves you the headache of waging war at windmills that never were a threat.
It sounds like a country song to write that most people exist while few truly live. Is there anything more tragic than that? It makes little sense to deny the aches and pains which increase every year. But can we not see how our troubles can be self inflicted when we ignore the wisdom of our years? We should not go quietly into the night as the poet wrote. Let us rage against the injustice and evil within our world. But also let us count each day as blessed. Let us discover every single day who we are still becoming. Such is the stuff of a life well lived.
Bro. Trey
It was 33 years ago that I helped move our new music minister to town. I was a senior in high school way back when. We called a family who lived in the Longview area. I still remember the first songs we did in choir. The house for the music leader was across the street back then. Large oak trees shaded the house during the summer. We were excited since he seemed to know what he was doing. Past music ministers came and went every few years. This one ended up staying for 33 years. He just announced his retirement.
To stay in a place that long calls for something unusual. Very few actually remain much more than three years much less over thirty. I was 17 and now I am 51. Imagine how many changes are included in that stretch of time. You remain in one place because it grows to be part of you. Marriages begin and sometimes end over that period. You celebrate births and mourn deaths. He sometimes even served as an interim pastor of sorts when the senior minister left or retired. I can only guess how many funerals or weddings he participated in some capacity. You know people on far more than a surface level. You become woven into the fabric of church history.
Some may not see this retirement as a big deal. Maybe there will be those glad to see him leave this place of leadership. I would tell them you do not replace 33 years of work with the turn of a resume. Everything will change within the confines of that congregation. I went up to a funeral about a year ago where he sang and my former pastor spoke. My comment to them was it felt like an old timers baseball game. There was something familiar and comfortable about that service. We were in their sanctuary which is not the one I knew. Yet there was a sense of walking back in time to earlier years while hearing them sing and preach. Maybe that made a sad occasion a bit more bearable.
I will go back if possible for any reception or recognition time. They mattered that much to me over the years. But do not expect me to move them again! Odds are good they will not be moving from that place they found a home.
Bro. Trey
There are some Sundays when a worship service contains magic all on its own. This does not always mean there are great breakthroughs but that everything flows and ties together. You know this is not always the case. Worship services take on a personality unique from week to week. It may be due to the crowd or attendance. Maybe a day comes along when none of the songs just seem to fit. One can always find fault with the sermon. So when you have a day when you believe God brought every element together then you want to stop to reflect.
I am the one responsible for pulling the morning service together now. All complaints or suggestions begin and end here. Part of me enjoys the challenge of thinking through how to be fresh each week. That may not really be possible but one can try. Songs and hymns get put down on paper early in the week. My goal is to have that completed by Monday night. Sermon details are nowhere near written down by then. All there is will be a gut feeling about the direction for the following Sunday. Mixing old and new music is quite a chore. Balance is always critical but not always practical. Music for last week went out on Monday evening. Then it is time to tackle the message. Riding a roller coaster may be the best way to describe that effort.
We do have a general theme for the Summer. Our sermons revolve around some element of trusting God or faith. I scratched down ideas back in May. We used a few of those so far. There are weeks a scripture text drives the message idea. Last week was reverse of that approach. It was reading that led me to the text. I say all of this to let you know that all of the songs fit perfect with the sermon idea. Maybe my delivery was not all it could be but it seldom is in my mind. Even our last song which is our "invitation" hymn echoed our whole service. Some days you just have to sit in amazement over how it all works out. Words cannot express the awe felt when something like this happens.
This does not mean that every person was overcome by the divine presence. No doubt there were far too many who did not or could not see God's preparation. Too many are like Simon in our scripture text. They have God figured out with no room for grace. Perhaps we get so content in being theologically precise we lose heart. Emotions such as wonder or desire never enter our vocabulary. We are content being correct even if we are cold. Count me as one grateful for God's activity. One can only hope that never changes.
Bro. Trey
Some weeks can go slow. Other weeks seem to fly by with everything happening. This is one of the latter rather than the former. My youngest and I made several trips to town together over the last few days. Work stuff meant the need to go see people with the other usual errands. This can be tough with him. Let me just say that he did a great job helping dad do his thing. Everyone got visited plus they got to experience my son in his finest form. It was a week of togetherness from start to finish.
I really did not want to mention the weather again. But let me try to tie it into whatever else follows. Humidity is amazing. Our temperatures are below normal lately but we are getting a healthy dose of that heavy air. It never fails to make me think of being in South Louisiana. You can almost see the moisture moving about. It hangs like newly washed clothes over the line to dry. Trying to run and walk took extra effort this week. Lungs grow accustomed to dryer heat only to adjust to high humidity. There is one other odd thing that this weather pattern does to me. I get awfully hungry for seafood. Maybe this is because my birth place is New Orleans. My appetite becomes single minded in the desire for shrimp or oysters. One of the problems is that my youngest has a very limited menu for his meals. Most of those fried foods are not in his usual routine. But the desire for seafood finally overcame my matching his menu.
We went to a place in town on Wednesday that has good seafood. I told him there would be french fries at least. Then it dawned on me that I could order him a meal while sharing my fries with his. This way there would be even more for me to eat. Who knew he would end up enjoying clam strips as much as he did? My plate would be loaded up with fried oysters and shrimp but he would also enjoy his meal. We went again today because he asked to go there. Imagine my surprise as he marches up to the counter to order his own plate of the clam strips and fries? He didn't share this time. The plate was cleaned out in minutes as he worked his way down from top to bottom. My heart burst with pride seeing him dig in while I enjoyed my meal. It wasn't so much about his trying something new but that we have a new common interest. My little man enjoys some of the same stuff as his dad now.
This is a big thing to me. Maybe it falls on the smaller side of most spectrum but it matters to this dad. Good days are often made up of things that seem small. It's when you add them up that you realize just how big life becomes.
Bro. Trey
We got rain again today. It was not the spectacular variety as it was Friday night. Most of the precipitation was slow but steady. That is not to say it was not an orchestra of dramatic thunder. Rolling thunder is a good word for it. I could hear it off in the distance while completing my running and walking in the afternoon. What was faint at the start drew closer with each step. There is something to be said for getting in your cardio work in the rain. You adjust your body to triple digit heat only to have it replaced by raindrops. The one drawback is when it does stop raining. My body could feel the humidity literally shoot up like a roman candle. But it was still a great gift in the midst of our summer turmoil.
Learning that every gift of God counts is something that must come with age. Most storm through the day without consideration of those small moments that surprise us. Gifts matter. We find them in the laughter of children. You see them in the odd shapes in a storm filled sky. You hear them when birds sing after a passing shower. They may not seem huge when compared to other acts of God but they do count. We simply end up too busy or too consumed by our agenda to recognize them. They keep your heart open to God even when the extravagant facets of His nature seem distant. They are worth our gratitude. They call for our humility. We are better for them.
That was not the only gift that would come my way today. It was not too long ago I mentioned my longing for a pocket watch. They always look so cool in the movies. Maybe it seems to be a British thing to me. Seems like they always wear a pocket watch with their suits. You reach down to your watch on its chain to look at it without drawing attention to yourself. Watches on the wrist usually do not go well for me. My arms just are not made to wear those types. Anyway, this evening one of my favorite people came up and gave me a pocket watch. I may not look nearly as suave as the British but we will see. Maybe it's a tad weird for me to be so excited by this present. That did not keep me from playing with it all evening while trying to learn how to appear cool. It may not keep time any better than another watch but that is not the point. It is a gift to be appreciated. I shall use it with great pride and humility. That's what you are to do with every gift that comes from God. I just hope He lets me look cool while it's used.
Bro. Trey
Summer storms tend to be sudden when they shake you to the core. Trying to predict where they hit seems like time wasted. Such a storm hit us square tonight. One moment it seemed partly sunny then it unleashed its fury upon us. Rain is always welcome here but not when it causes the power to go out. Most people are probably able to handle a power outage but not my house. I call the power company as fast as possible because my youngest just is not a happy camper in those times. There are even occasions when I use the emergency number to make sure they grasp the severity of the moment. He is a child of this century with all of the gadgets that go along with it.
We watched it rain for awhile on our small front porch. His face was drawn and sad. I told him that the call was already made to the electric company. Now we simply had to wait until we regained lights along with the gadgets. Sitting out there was fun in its own way. We stared at puddles across the yard. Seems like it takes the grass some time to take in the rain when its dry. You could see clearer skies all around us but that does not make the lights turn on. Thunder roared across the sky as it moved from one part of town to the other. Lightening strikes could clearly be noticed when they reached down from heaven itself. Creation has a way of getting our attention to remind us that it refuses to yield to our expectations. Everything we depend on in life is taken away when the storms break loose. A person can feel small surrounded by noise and light across the sky.
Humanity really does have that problem of pride still. Science tells us it can cure all that ails us. Education wants to teach us how to make it all work for us. Maybe we are simply who we are when all our tools are removed from our grasp. Are we products of our gadgets more than our unique human quality? Mankind existed for centuries without our comforts. We survived and even thrived in the most oppressive of circumstances. Now you hide our cell phones and we totally lose our minds. Summer storms are a good way to remember who we are meant to be. The quiet breeze is our only soundtrack following the upheaval of wind and rain. One can only hope we learn to listen when its silent. We surely tend to drown out even our voices with our noise.
Bro. Trey
Allow me one more thought about summer. It is a very peculiar time around here. You know how we complain about the weather this summer as if there is much difference between now and any other summer previous. It never rains enough until there comes a tropical storm then we wish it would stop. Most people work feverishly in flower beds until mid June or early July. This is why my beds have very little planted in them. People go from inside to outside only to get sinuses going wild. Teachers may be the only ones who truly know how to appreciate this time of the year. They understand the days are at a limit before returning to the grind. The rest of us just go back and forth in our emotions.
It's the time of year you see trucks weighed down with watermelons or other garden stuff. Most of them are beyond their prime years of life so it seems as if the tail leans dangerously close to the pavement. There is the occasional old cowboy who refuses to yield to the weather. He still wears long sleeves under his overalls. Winter cowboy hats do get replaced with the straw fashion. Guys like this drink coffee at all hours of the day for one reason. They live with the idea that the more coffee you get on the inside will make your outside feel cooler. Such is the logic of those who spend hours on tractors or in fields of golden hay. Farmer tans are common in my part of the world. Necks are red or brown while arms are tanned up to a point where the shirt ends. You won't see this fashion everywhere as it is particular to the South.
We tend to rock along during these hot days unaware of time passing by. One day it hits us that school is about to start so we better do what we can to enjoy. I miss many things about summers when growing up. What I would not give to be able to fish off my grandparents pier one more time? I still miss baseball. My mind is convinced my arm still has one good game left in it. I don't tell it otherwise. My job is still to cut the grass at the house. That hasn't changed since I lived at home. I tell my father that he is to blame for my seeking perfection is mowing the yard. We both laugh at that. There will be a day soon when the gardens stop giving us vegetables. A day like that is worth grieving. But all of this is the story of summer. We complain now but will long for it the first cold, rainy day of the fall. It's human nature.
Let's celebrate the next few weeks. Our students will be back on the practice fields or in the band hall in a month. We will begin to stress out about holiday travel along with all of the other things that go with it. Our straw hats will go back to be replaced by winter wool. Gardens will be plowed over for next year. Patriotic decorations go back into boxes until the end of next May. Make every day matter. Enjoy some tomatoes. Watch a ballgame. It's why God gave us summer.
Bro. Trey
Most blog posts on this night refer to the sounds of fireworks going off in the distance. The same is true on this evening. We celebrate the 4th of July by exploding stuff all around us in celebration. It may well be money that is better spent elsewhere but where is the fun in that? My youngest surely enjoyed our show behind the house. There is a set budget but I do try to buy all there is for that amount. My goal is to get several fireworks that rise high into the evening then follow with bright colors cascading all around. Even some of the neighbors seem to watch what we do here. Don't tell anyone but it is one of my favorite nights of the year. Count me as thinking it as money well spent.
We celebrate all types of special occasions. A holiday like this one is no exception. Families gather around to cook out, swim or other stuff they enjoy. We did some swimming today prior to the show. My body is quite weary now. Catching or helping my son swim is a workout unto itself. He has no idea just how big he is. I do. Thank goodness much of my growing up years was spent in a pool learning how to swim. Imagine about 170 pounds shooting down the pool slide while expecting me to get to shallow water. That is an exercise few would wish to do on any regular basis. What matters is he enjoyed the time immensely. How my body aches in the morning is not even on his mind.
One can hope we mark this day with some degree of remembrance of the meaning. History says that probably will not happen. We are most fortunate to live in this country. It is still the best one that I know. That is not an arrogant comment but one that is heartfelt. Ours is a time of deep conflict and division. Some will tell you that it's never been this bad before. You may be surprised this condition is not new. Even our earliest days at our founding were times of great debate. Then we see the literal battles of the Civil War. What is amazing is how we stay together even when opinions vary wildly. Keep that in mind the next time someone tells you these are the darkest days. We are a country known by serious issues. That is not a novel idea. Let us hope and pray we continue to keep our hearts in line with God for all of His blessings. That is being the land of the free and the home of the brave.
Bro. Trey
Ever spend much time looking at a kernel of popcorn? Odds are good you never even considered doing such a thing. Who ever takes time to reflect on popcorn? We simply enjoy it because it tastes good. It never tastes better than when soaked in butter at a movie theater. My youngest and I went to the movies today. They show a clip before the show to make you hungry for popcorn. They were too late as we already had our safely in our seats. Yet there I was staring at the enormous size kernels as they popped across the screen. My mind began to wander with questions that no person should ask.
Who came up with the idea for this treat? Did someone just happen to discover it on a hot day or in the midst of making a meal? You would think that there was a person at some point in the past who was scared when the very first kernel erupted. Maybe they thought it a mistake. But when they tried eating one then they were hooked. Then the question comes up whether or not two popcorn kernels are alike? Maybe they are like snowflakes as each takes on a peculiar shape or size. This is not a snack that looks like much from the outside. You just simply learn to enjoy it even if you don't study it much. Are there popcorn crops somewhere? Perhaps a farmer somewhere who grows special corn for better flavor? These are some of the thoughts that ran through my mind while gobbling down the bucket of popcorn.
Surely a sane man should have better things on his mind. These curiosities may say more about me than the snack. But how may trivial things take up our brain waves over the course of any given day? Someone is quoted as saying small people are those who think small thoughts or have small ideas. Don't know about you but it does sound like some church people I know. We live in the day of people expecting or perhaps even demanding a congregation cater to their wants. You can trust me on this one. We have all of eternity at our fingertips yet our agenda seems no more logical than wondering about popcorn. Hope that bothers you as much as it does me.
Bro. Trey
