I wonder what the difference is? Those of us who call Williamsburg home are blessed to live in a community that is very diverse...very diverse! The diversity seen here is often limited to much larger cities where crossroads of the world meet. Our little town with its streets lined with beautiful shade trees and houses reminding us our antiquity is at the center of the history of our great country. However, it is, also, a place that many foreign students flocked to each year to work in the numerous service projects available. I remember asking one young man, who was thousands of miles from home, why he would leave home to be a waiter at IHOP. His response was simple, "I can make more money here waiting tables during the busy season than I can at home in a year!" There you have it, but that's not my point!
What fascinates me is the difference in cultures. I frequent McDonald's restaurant each day with the same drive-through order: "large unsweetened iced tea with ten Splendas." The window is served during the summer by young adults from the far east who are so different than those who have the same job in the fall and winter. The "summer" crew is polite, courteous, and greet the consumer with a "Good morning!" and a hardy "Thank you for coming!" They will go out of their way to be sure your order is correct. It is very refreshing! However, during the "off season" one gets no conversation, no greeting, and often an incorrect order. It is not very pleasant to be served in such a bland, non-friendly manner.
If I am not mistaken, most of these young adults are about the same age with nearly the same education, but there is a difference! While some are sullen and appear to be angry, the others are smiling and enjoying their opportunities. What makes these young adults so contrasting?
Could it be the influences that have shaped their lives? Could it be the difference in parenting styles? Could it be while one appreciates the chance to improve his life, the other believes the world owes him a life? The answer to the previous three questions is probably , "Yes!"
Is it any wonder that the consumer gets a bit frustrated with some while not so with others? Without the consumer there would be no jobs for these young adults. There would be no places to work...even minimum waged jobs! I know flipping hamburgers all day and getting someone's "large unsweetened iced tea with ten Splendas" is not the same as discovering the cure for some dreaded disease, but it is better than having nothing to do at all, right?
Be grateful for small blessings, at least, until your blessings can be larger!
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Why Can't We All Just Get Along?
As I sit here this morning wondering about the confusion that exist throughout the world, I won dered why can't we all just get along? North Korea has exploded, at least, one nuclear bomb test and fired off three or four "test flights," the Dow Jones numbers rise and fall like a child's yo-yo; critics appear before the president announces his nomination for the U. S. Supreme Court; and, churches on every corner bicker with one another over some matter of opinion! Can we all just get along? Do we have to criticize each other just because we don't cross every "t" and dot every "i" exactly alike?
We are engaged in a significant expansion and remodeling of our church facilities right at the moment. It has been a project that began last September and is just now drawing to a close. I have watched with interest throughout these eight months as the work has been done. One thing that has caught my attention is the precision of the process. As one job is completed, another one is opened up for a different group of workers. Some work in the area of preparation and are replaced by builders and they are replaced by finishers! Today, painters have spotted places that need a bit more attention while others have been applying the finishing touch. One will be cutting a piece of moulding while one is being carried to the third guy who will put it in place! Precision! It reminds me of a finely tuned dance troup who knows each others move and are ready to step in at the right time.
Why can't life be that way?
If folk were less eager to criticize the opposition and more concerned about getting the job done, peace might just break out everywhere. Lasting peace! Politicians have an "unwritten code" that they must not applaud the efforts of the opposing party! Athletes must not congratulate their opponents even in defeat! Neighbors must fine some critical point with each other's lawns! Churches must announce the differences they have with each other! Why can't we all just get along?
Maybe the reason is that we just cannot be wrong about anything! I remember as a child blaming every scuffle that my brother and I had on my brother. I doubt that he was the source of all our disputes, but I was not about to admit my guilt! Do you have any idea how difficult it is to live with the above disposition? If one cannot be wrong about anything, he must always be on edge lest he be mistaken about something. What if the one thing I don't know proves me to be wrong about some practice? It means that I have to ignore the obvious error and plod ahead because I cannot be wrong! How sad! How troubling!
Friends, neighbors and brethren, why can't we all just get along?
We are engaged in a significant expansion and remodeling of our church facilities right at the moment. It has been a project that began last September and is just now drawing to a close. I have watched with interest throughout these eight months as the work has been done. One thing that has caught my attention is the precision of the process. As one job is completed, another one is opened up for a different group of workers. Some work in the area of preparation and are replaced by builders and they are replaced by finishers! Today, painters have spotted places that need a bit more attention while others have been applying the finishing touch. One will be cutting a piece of moulding while one is being carried to the third guy who will put it in place! Precision! It reminds me of a finely tuned dance troup who knows each others move and are ready to step in at the right time.
Why can't life be that way?
If folk were less eager to criticize the opposition and more concerned about getting the job done, peace might just break out everywhere. Lasting peace! Politicians have an "unwritten code" that they must not applaud the efforts of the opposing party! Athletes must not congratulate their opponents even in defeat! Neighbors must fine some critical point with each other's lawns! Churches must announce the differences they have with each other! Why can't we all just get along?
Maybe the reason is that we just cannot be wrong about anything! I remember as a child blaming every scuffle that my brother and I had on my brother. I doubt that he was the source of all our disputes, but I was not about to admit my guilt! Do you have any idea how difficult it is to live with the above disposition? If one cannot be wrong about anything, he must always be on edge lest he be mistaken about something. What if the one thing I don't know proves me to be wrong about some practice? It means that I have to ignore the obvious error and plod ahead because I cannot be wrong! How sad! How troubling!
Friends, neighbors and brethren, why can't we all just get along?
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
The More Things Change....
Our local bi-weekly newspaper, The Virginia Gazette, has been covering our community and the surrounding area since 1735. It is pretty much a "folksy" type paper full of information that the rest of the world would find useless and probably a bit boring. However, if you live here you want to know what is happening around town and find out from "The Last Word" what the latest complaints are. Today as I perused it over lunch, I began to wonder how much different the news might have been nearly 300 years ago than it is today. No, I did not research this carefully and read the first edition of the paper, but I did wonder about it.
Were the concerns of 18th century much different than in the 21st century? Were their economic problems then like there are today? Were folk struggling to find employment? Were wars and rumors of wars rampant in their world? Were there athletic events that some found interesting? Were there political "issues" being discussed at length on the front porches of Duke of Gloucester street? Did children give reasons for parents to be concerned? Oh, the list could go on forever, right?
I guess my point is, how much have people changed over the centuries? I know our problems have different wrappings, but are they basically the same problems? When I was a young person one of the huge concerns of parents was their young boys "going out behind the barn" and smoking a cigarette, now it is inhaling some mind-altering drug. But, is that basically the same concern? In high school, if a young girl would become "with child," she would be sent to live with an aunt because the aunt needed help, but she would return in about nine months without a child that was given up for adoption. Today, it is the guilt of unwanted pregnancies and abortion that leads the list of concerns for teenagers who are "with child."
One thing is for sure, God has not changed and never will change! That's comforting to all of us who place our trust in Him. We will never have to apologize for what He did, never be embarrassed by some misdeed that He performed, and never have to explain His prejudices toward anyone. What a blessing! Also, God maintains the answer to the guilt for our misdeeds and the cleansing power of forgiveness. Aren't you glad?
So, whether it is the 18th century or the 21st century, some things are different, but some things never change!
Were the concerns of 18th century much different than in the 21st century? Were their economic problems then like there are today? Were folk struggling to find employment? Were wars and rumors of wars rampant in their world? Were there athletic events that some found interesting? Were there political "issues" being discussed at length on the front porches of Duke of Gloucester street? Did children give reasons for parents to be concerned? Oh, the list could go on forever, right?
I guess my point is, how much have people changed over the centuries? I know our problems have different wrappings, but are they basically the same problems? When I was a young person one of the huge concerns of parents was their young boys "going out behind the barn" and smoking a cigarette, now it is inhaling some mind-altering drug. But, is that basically the same concern? In high school, if a young girl would become "with child," she would be sent to live with an aunt because the aunt needed help, but she would return in about nine months without a child that was given up for adoption. Today, it is the guilt of unwanted pregnancies and abortion that leads the list of concerns for teenagers who are "with child."
One thing is for sure, God has not changed and never will change! That's comforting to all of us who place our trust in Him. We will never have to apologize for what He did, never be embarrassed by some misdeed that He performed, and never have to explain His prejudices toward anyone. What a blessing! Also, God maintains the answer to the guilt for our misdeeds and the cleansing power of forgiveness. Aren't you glad?
So, whether it is the 18th century or the 21st century, some things are different, but some things never change!
Monday, May 4, 2009
"I'll Never Be A Mother...But I Can Wonder!"
For the 45th time, I am planning a "Mother's Day" sermon and each year I struggle with this task! One reason it is getting more difficult for me is because this is the second year in a row that I will not get to buy a card or send a bouquet of flowers to my Mom. I miss her greatly! As I sat in the quietness of my study checking out sermons that others have preached on this wonderful day of celebration, my mind began to wonder what it must be like to be a mother. No, I will never know because I am a 63 year old man, but I can still wonder!
I read recently some thoughts that others have had about being a mother and found them to be challenging. Here are a few of them:
"It takes about six weeks to get back to normal after having a baby...the truth is that once you are a mother, "normal" is history!" The thrill of birthing a human life must be an incredible experience, but things are never the same again. A mother's time is not her own! A mother's thoughts are always about someone else! A mother's love blooms and never fades!
"You cannot love a second child as much as you love the first one...the truth is the person who said this never had two or more children!" I have known some families with several children and each child seemed to have as much love as was needed. I guess love is something that a mother never runs out of because there is always enough for one more!
"The hardest part about being a mother is labor and delivery...that person has never watched her baby get on that big yellow school bus on his first day of school...nor has that person said good-bye to a son boarding a plane for Iraq or Afghanistan to fight for their country!" The travail of child birth seems light compared to the travail of the heart at separation.
"Your mother knows you love her, so you don't have to tell her...somone has never been a mother!" Trust me, you never quit telling your Mom that you loved her then and moreso now!
HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!
I read recently some thoughts that others have had about being a mother and found them to be challenging. Here are a few of them:
"It takes about six weeks to get back to normal after having a baby...the truth is that once you are a mother, "normal" is history!" The thrill of birthing a human life must be an incredible experience, but things are never the same again. A mother's time is not her own! A mother's thoughts are always about someone else! A mother's love blooms and never fades!
"You cannot love a second child as much as you love the first one...the truth is the person who said this never had two or more children!" I have known some families with several children and each child seemed to have as much love as was needed. I guess love is something that a mother never runs out of because there is always enough for one more!
"The hardest part about being a mother is labor and delivery...that person has never watched her baby get on that big yellow school bus on his first day of school...nor has that person said good-bye to a son boarding a plane for Iraq or Afghanistan to fight for their country!" The travail of child birth seems light compared to the travail of the heart at separation.
"Your mother knows you love her, so you don't have to tell her...somone has never been a mother!" Trust me, you never quit telling your Mom that you loved her then and moreso now!
HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
"Take The Detour If You Have The Chance!"
When you reflect on your immediate past, what do you think? I wonder how many of us can look back at the past decade and think, "Wow! This is as good as it gets!" For the past dozen years, I have been privileged to live and work in Williamsburg, Virginia. I have lived here longer than I have ever lived anywhere in my life. You see, I am a "PK" [preacher's kid] and it was usually "three years and a cloud of dust!" One would think that I would have learned my lesson about preaching, but I am in "my own" forty-fifth year of preaching.
As I drive to my study each morning (a ten mile jaunt), I have the blessed privilege of arriving here several different ways, but without doubt the best way is detouring through "colonial" Williamsburg. This morning I took the detour! Let me tell you about it!
Within five minutes (that's about as long as it takes to take the "detour") I witnessed sleepy-eyed students from the College of William and Mary making their way to that early morning lecture. At the same time, joggers came by on their normal morning routine as they "stay in shape!" As I made the turn onto Boundary Street there was a man power-washing the sidewalks in "colonial" Wiliamsburg. "Power-washing" in the 18th century? Is that not a bit peculiar?
Rounding the corner at Francis Street one knows that he is returning to "a different age!" Historic interpreters, dressed as their forerunners were, are making their way to jobs (gun- making, gardening, serving, and carriage driving) that will allow modern thought take a backseat to historical perspective. Is there anywhere else that one can see beautifully decorated tour buses and ducks drinking from a puddle leftover from last night's storm...all within two minutes? Is there any other place where one can see fifty elementary students dressed in shorts and T-shirts eagerly awaiting someone to step out in colonial garb to tell them "how it was back then?" Three minutes later (if you get caught by a traffic light) be ordering an iced tea from the "golden arches?"
That's what it is like for me to "take the detour" to work each morning! What a community this is!
One more thing. This is like every other village in the country in that we have those who have little good to say about "our town!" They are consumed with modernization, new housing, more traffic, and signs that don't quite meet the specifications. Their disgruntled words can be read each Wednesday and Saturday in our local newspaper (The Virginia Gazette) on the last page called, "The Last Word!" They probably feel better letting others know that they are not happy, so that's all right! The rest of us get a good laugh out of those things that others seem to think will destroy the universe if they are not halted...and halted NOW!
For more than twelve years I have been blessed to live and minister in "our town!" I love it!
I hope you can come by and "take the detour!"
As I drive to my study each morning (a ten mile jaunt), I have the blessed privilege of arriving here several different ways, but without doubt the best way is detouring through "colonial" Williamsburg. This morning I took the detour! Let me tell you about it!
Within five minutes (that's about as long as it takes to take the "detour") I witnessed sleepy-eyed students from the College of William and Mary making their way to that early morning lecture. At the same time, joggers came by on their normal morning routine as they "stay in shape!" As I made the turn onto Boundary Street there was a man power-washing the sidewalks in "colonial" Wiliamsburg. "Power-washing" in the 18th century? Is that not a bit peculiar?
Rounding the corner at Francis Street one knows that he is returning to "a different age!" Historic interpreters, dressed as their forerunners were, are making their way to jobs (gun- making, gardening, serving, and carriage driving) that will allow modern thought take a backseat to historical perspective. Is there anywhere else that one can see beautifully decorated tour buses and ducks drinking from a puddle leftover from last night's storm...all within two minutes? Is there any other place where one can see fifty elementary students dressed in shorts and T-shirts eagerly awaiting someone to step out in colonial garb to tell them "how it was back then?" Three minutes later (if you get caught by a traffic light) be ordering an iced tea from the "golden arches?"
That's what it is like for me to "take the detour" to work each morning! What a community this is!
One more thing. This is like every other village in the country in that we have those who have little good to say about "our town!" They are consumed with modernization, new housing, more traffic, and signs that don't quite meet the specifications. Their disgruntled words can be read each Wednesday and Saturday in our local newspaper (The Virginia Gazette) on the last page called, "The Last Word!" They probably feel better letting others know that they are not happy, so that's all right! The rest of us get a good laugh out of those things that others seem to think will destroy the universe if they are not halted...and halted NOW!
For more than twelve years I have been blessed to live and minister in "our town!" I love it!
I hope you can come by and "take the detour!"
Sunday, April 19, 2009
What was it you said?
I wonder what it would be like if all of us decided that we would do more listening and less talking? Wow! Now there is a challenge for a world where everyone wants to be heard...and heard NOW! I remember hearing my father say, "God put our tongues behind a cage (teeth - bb) and he intended it to stay there!" Hmmmm. Maybe Dad was on to something! He would add, "He gave us two ears and one mouth which should tell us that God wants us to hear twice as much as we speak." Hmmmm, again.
On the Internet news today I read where folk were criticizing our president for listening to some of the leaders of countries with whom we have not had the best of relationships. It sounded like he had committed a crime of some sort the way it was described. All he was doing was listening, is that so wrong?
Have you ever scolded a child for what you perceived to have been a wrongdoing, but found out later that what you "perceived" was not what really happened? Did you give that child a chance to explain? Did you really listen or just hear some words? There is a big difference between "listening" and "hearing!"
My point is that many misunderstandings could be cleared completely if some would only spend more time listening and less time talking! The New Testament writer, James, said, "My dear brothers, taken note of this: everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry." [James 1:19] That's good advice!
Today, why not make it a practice to listen carefully to what others are saying before you say your first word? It will catch them by surprise and you might just learn something.
On the Internet news today I read where folk were criticizing our president for listening to some of the leaders of countries with whom we have not had the best of relationships. It sounded like he had committed a crime of some sort the way it was described. All he was doing was listening, is that so wrong?
Have you ever scolded a child for what you perceived to have been a wrongdoing, but found out later that what you "perceived" was not what really happened? Did you give that child a chance to explain? Did you really listen or just hear some words? There is a big difference between "listening" and "hearing!"
My point is that many misunderstandings could be cleared completely if some would only spend more time listening and less time talking! The New Testament writer, James, said, "My dear brothers, taken note of this: everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry." [James 1:19] That's good advice!
Today, why not make it a practice to listen carefully to what others are saying before you say your first word? It will catch them by surprise and you might just learn something.
Monday, April 13, 2009
Kenny Perry is not an "average" golfer..."
Most of you know that I have had a passion for golf for all my adult life! I began hitting a golf ball around when I was about twelve, played my first round of golf on a "real" golf course with my cousin, Doug Dotson, when I was sixteen, and have been playing now for forty-eight years! I guess, other than living, I have played golf longer than anything else I have ever done!
Yesterday afternoon I watched on television, along with millions of others, the two greatest golfers in the world battle it out in the Masters golf tournament in Augusta, Georgia. It was classic! No one could write a script any better! While neither of them won the tournament they made one spectacular shot after another for nearly four hours with only three or four "bad" (?) shots!
As much as I enjoyed the prowess of Mickelson and Woods, I was hoping that Kenny Perry would win it all! Maybe it was the older guy rooting for Perry to become the oldest player ever to win the Masters. Maybe it was because I had read some articles about Perry's relationship with Jesus Christ. Oh, maybe it was because I wanted to see someone beat the best in the world! Regardless of what I wanted, Perry came up short in the "sudden death" playoff.
In an interview that I listened afterwards, Perry hinted that he was not in the same caliber as the "stars" of the game, but was merely an "average" golfer! I wonder how anyone could consider himself "average" when he missed winning golf's greatest prize by one stroke. Perry is not your "average" golfer. Believe me, I know!
There must be a certain sense of reality that takes over when one "almost wins!" Those poorly made shots will be replayed forever in Kenny Perry's mind. Though there were only two or three of them, they will never be forgotten! It will always be, "what might have been!"
One thing that stands out in my mind is that Perry understands that golf is a "game," and in no way compares to "life!" The "almost winner" still has his family, health, and, most of all, his relationship with Jesus Christ. With those things he will always be a winner!
Yesterday afternoon I watched on television, along with millions of others, the two greatest golfers in the world battle it out in the Masters golf tournament in Augusta, Georgia. It was classic! No one could write a script any better! While neither of them won the tournament they made one spectacular shot after another for nearly four hours with only three or four "bad" (?) shots!
As much as I enjoyed the prowess of Mickelson and Woods, I was hoping that Kenny Perry would win it all! Maybe it was the older guy rooting for Perry to become the oldest player ever to win the Masters. Maybe it was because I had read some articles about Perry's relationship with Jesus Christ. Oh, maybe it was because I wanted to see someone beat the best in the world! Regardless of what I wanted, Perry came up short in the "sudden death" playoff.
In an interview that I listened afterwards, Perry hinted that he was not in the same caliber as the "stars" of the game, but was merely an "average" golfer! I wonder how anyone could consider himself "average" when he missed winning golf's greatest prize by one stroke. Perry is not your "average" golfer. Believe me, I know!
There must be a certain sense of reality that takes over when one "almost wins!" Those poorly made shots will be replayed forever in Kenny Perry's mind. Though there were only two or three of them, they will never be forgotten! It will always be, "what might have been!"
One thing that stands out in my mind is that Perry understands that golf is a "game," and in no way compares to "life!" The "almost winner" still has his family, health, and, most of all, his relationship with Jesus Christ. With those things he will always be a winner!
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