thoughts on the news of the day: general stores

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            About this time of year a few years ago, I ventured off to Vermont.  The leaves were just beginning to turn and as I drove through the countryside, I couldn’t help but notice the clean crisp look of the barns and buildings which scattered about the road.  One of our trips into the mountains led us to the Vermont General Store.  You can find almost anything there.  It has clothing, table linens, candy, household gadgets and of course, Vermont Maple Syrup.  It’s a look at the past when General Stores were the center of town and served up everything, including the kitchen sink.

            But you don’t have to go to Vermont to find a general store.  Here in the Ozarks we have our own version – Dicks Five and Dime Store.  It is located on the corner of Main and Commercial Streets in historic downtown Branson.  The store is jam packed with a plethora of items and the aisles are almost impassable; it is that crowded with merchandise.  You can find just about anything at Dick’s.  Remember those old diaries that we used to keep – the kind with the key that never worked?  Yep, you can find them at Dick’s.  Anything you want with a John Deere Tractor emblem can be found at this dime store.  And if you need a souvenir outhouse salt and pepper shaker set, it is definitely the place to go.  Dick’s has been there forever and invented the word variety when Mr. Walton was still dreaming of paper bags filled with merchandise.

            At the risk of turning this blog into a travelogue, I highly recommend venturing off into the mountain fall colors this month to see what you can find.  You might find just what you are looking for.

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thoughts on the news of the day: hens and chicks

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            Today a friend of mine posted a beautiful photo of a bird with two chicks under her wing.  And I thought of the passage from Luke’s Gospel that has Jesus saying “how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings.”

            We don’t often use the words “Mother God”, but there it is: Jesus compares himself to a mother hen.  Most of us prefer the words “Father God”.  It is what we grew up with, what we are used to hearing.  But why isn’t it OK to think of God as a Mother to us all?  Mothers have attributes that are endearing to all of us.  They are compassionate, protective, and in their own way very strong.  I remember a friend once asking me, “Do you know what the most dangerous place in the world is?”  The answer is: “in between a mother bear and her cub.” 

            Mothers are attached to their children in ways fathers aren’t.  Yes, its true, we are.  We have carried the child in our womb (another biblical reference) and known it nine months before the father.  We love our children unconditionally.

            I think the point is that we really can’t know God, we can only use metaphors to describe God and those are inadequate at best.  So I invite you today to think about God in other ways besides the traditional ones. It might strengthen your attachment to the One who loves you unconditionally and forever more.

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thoughts on the news of the day: budget

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            Budget. It’s a bad word these days.  Our finance and stewardship committee is struggling to complete our church’s 2012 budget and it is a challenge.  While we have floated along nicely for several years, living with a deficit budget and dipping into our endowments, it is becoming apparent that we are going to have to make some fairly drastic cuts in order to balance our budget and be good stewards of all God has given to us.  This is not unusual for churches these days, or for any non-profit organization that depends on contributions to operate.  There is just not as much money to go around and folks are cutting back.  Don’t get me wrong, we have a very generous congregation but expenses have skyrocketed.

            You might be in that same position yourself.  Your financial picture might not be a bright as it once was.  Interest rates have nosedived, the stock market is dismal and lay offs at companies have all given us opportunities to hone our household budgets. 

            It could be pretty depressing if we dwell on it too much.  But our church, especially our church leaders, have a great deal of faith.  We believe that God will provide and that we will have enough to do the work in the community that God is leading us to do.  The funds will be there when we need them.

            So I encourage you, too, to have faith that all will be provided.  That’s easy to say, but not so easy to do when the check is looking bare.  But think about all the times in the past when you weren’t sure where the money was coming and it appeared.  God is in it; God is in our lives and in our budgets, we only have to trust and have faith.

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thoughts on the news of the day: rosh hashanah

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            At sunset today, the Jewish New Year will begin.  Known as Rosh Hashanah, the words literally mean “head of the year”.  The High Holy Day honors the creation of the world as it is narrated in the Bible.  It begins the ten “Days of Awe” which culminate in Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement.  There are actually four Jewish new years and this one marks the New Year for people, animals and contracts.  Observances include praying in the synagogue and hearing the shofar. Meals are prepared with challah being served as well as apples dipped in honey and fish heads. New fruits are served on the second night.

            Whether you are Christian or Jewish, today might be a good day to start your year over.  Perhaps January resolutions are now forgotten in the busyness of life.  Maybe things haven’t gone so well for the first three quarters of the year.  You might have made mistakes you regret.

            Now is your chance to begin again.  It’s never too late to start over.  Brush off those promises to lose weight, stop smoking or drinking, spend more time with the family.  Today can be the first day of the rest of your life.  It’s all up to you.

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thoughts on the news of the day: identity theft

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            Arthur Gerald Jones is 73.  He is also Joseph Richard Sandelli.  Jones has been living under the Sandelli name since 1979.  He disappeared then and was declared dead in 1986.  But he now lives in Las Vegas where he has worked in a casino for ten years under the assumed name.  He has been charged with fraud but will probably only get probation as his punishment. 

            Aren’t there times when you wish you could run away and start over?  I have a friend who routinely declares “I want to run, screaming into the night and never come back!”  You could take a new name, leave your mistakes behind and start fresh.  Trouble is, wherever you go, there you are.   We can run to the ends of the earth, but we are still stuck with us.  Running away from a situation and off into another place is called “taking a geographic cure” in 12 Step programs.  Alcoholics do it all the time. 

            I guess it’s better to stay and face a situation.  As Mr. Jones/Sandelli found, the truth eventually catches up with you.   In spite of our own denial about ourselves or our situation, we eventually have to face reality.  There is no running away from it.

            And that’s where God comes in.  God is always there for us; God never runs away from us or our situation.  So I say, when you want to run away, run instead to God.  It’s a great place to find yourself.

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thoughts on the news of the day: goodbyes

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            Saying goodbye is never easy.  Divorce and death come to mind as the most difficult ways to say goodbye, but anytime we have invested in a relationship, it is hard to close the door.  I read a quote on facebook today by Paulo Coelho that goes like this: “If you’re brave to say ‘good bye’, life will reward you with a new HELLO”

            And I believe that is true.  We have to have a good goodbye before life can reward us with something beyond what we had.  But, like I said, saying goodbye is never easy.  We live in denial that the relationship is really over and then we get mad – at the other person in the relationship, at ourselves, at God.  The mad lasts for a while then we settle down and hopefully go for acceptance of the fact that things have changed and there is no more relationship.

            We all remember the old saying, “When God closes a door, God opens a window.”  But we have to do our part.  We have to close the door with God and we have to climb through the open window in order to heal and to move on.

            There are many ways of moving on.  One is to physically separate ourselves from the other person or persons.  That is probably the easiest.  The next way to move on is to get busy.  There are places to go and things to do to get our mind off of what was lost.  We just need to be careful that we don’t get so caught up in the busyness that we forget to grieve the loss.

            What ever way we decide to handle our goodbyes, we have to remember that life does go on and there is so much more, so much more ….

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thoughts on the news of the day: play

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            I missed it.  Yesterday was World Wide Day of Play and I missed it.  It was sponsored by Nickelodeon and featured First Lady Michelle Obama.  The event was primarily held on the White House lawn and included all kinds of demonstrations of games and opportunities to play games.  And while the kids were playing on the lawn, the current President and a former President, Bill Clinton were on the course playing golf. 

            I don’t play enough.  Do you?  It would seem to be an important part of our lives in terms of relaxation and renewal, but for the most part we don’t do it.  Seems like I am always being asked, “What do you do for fun?”  For some reason, people like to ask pastors that a lot.  And if I were honest, I would have to answer, “For fun, I work.”   That’s because my job is mainly fun and always rewarding.

            But I don’t think that’s what they mean.  I think they are asking, “How do you relax, how do you play?”  And I don’t have a real good answer.  Last year I played golf for fun.  But this year I haven’t had much time to hit the links – which is probably not a good thing.  I do play with my dog some, does that count?  And I am looking forward to our community dog park being built – more and better opportunities to play with her.

            How do you play? Do you have time to play?  I’m not talking about poker on the computer or words with friends on your smart phone.  I am talking about getting outside and romping in the sunlight.  Maybe today is a good day to do just that.

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