A Few Thoughts...

Do you know the maximum amount that can be carried by a human being?  When I look this up via google, I find that in the 1930s a man named Paul Anderson lifted 6,270 lbs and stood up with it on his shoulders.  To put that in perspective, that is about the weight of a limousine or SUV.  But, the heaviest amount carried by a human over any distance was Patrick Baboumian who carried 1,216 lbs. over ten yards.  That is the equivalent of carrying a fully grown grizzly bear or picking up one of the little two seater cars you see occasionally see around town and carrying them across a large room.  I can not even fathom either of these feats. And yet every day, I meet people who are carrying around weights that are too heavy to bear.  Worried about all things imaginable, they seem to have the weight of the world on their shoulders.  Maybe its their past, maybe it is fear, maybe its their worries, but they often seemed crushed by the weight.  In a world th...

Recently, Dave Ayers, a zamboni driver, got the most unexpected call.  For those Southerners like me, a zamboni is a machine that smooths over the ice on an ice rink.  They come out in hockey games between the three periods.  Like the people who drag grates over the infield between innings in a baseball game and wet the dirt to smooth things out and avoid dust, the zamboni smooths and refreezes the top of the ice for a smooth playing surface.  So, it was a shock when 42 year old Dave Ayers, a zamboni drive got the call to come into the game. Dave is the emergency goal keeper for the Carolina Hurricanes and the two other keepers were both injured.  Although starting slow and allowing two goals, Dave got up to game speed and being prepared he helped Carolina to a 6-3 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs by stopping eight shots.  Dave described the event as a once in a lifetime experience.  When the moment came, Dave was ready! Lent is a season of prepara...

Have you ever read the Sermon on the Mount?  Let me commend it to you.  Many people refer to it as the best sermon ever.  You can find the Sermon on the Mount in the gospel of Matthew from chapters 5 to 7.  The sermon is a summation of Jesus’ moral teaching.  And, this sermon of Jesus has been the core of Christian ethics for millennia. This sermon of Jesus begins with the beatitudes and reminders of how those who follow Jesus are blessed and that for each situation, God’s grace is enough.  The sermon then reflects on the Ten Commandments and Jesus expounds upon them in ways that call his followers to a high standard of living through having even pure intentions.  And, as I read and reflect on these passages I am often completely convicted of my own inadequacy and ways that I fall short of God’s will for my life. But recently as I was reading through them, in the middle of the Sermon on the Mount I found the most unexpected blessing.  In the middl...

When is the best day of your life?  No, the previous question is not a grammatical mistake.  Although most people would ask when “was” the best day of your life, I’m asking when “is.”  When we follow Jesus, today IS the best day of our life.  The glorious ability to follow Jesus in love and grace means that the delights of today can be beyond anything of our past. Following Jesus produces delight.  The beatitudes, statements of Jesus found in Matthew 5:1-12, remind us of this delight from our good fortune of being blessed to follow the Lord.  The Greek word makarios that we often translate as blessed means more than we think.  It means happy / fortunate.  My translation into English would be: being delighted due to good fortune.  So, the beatitudes of Jesus would translate into English as: Delighted are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Delighted are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Delighted are the meek, f...

In Sunday morning worship, we commonly say the Apostle’s Creed which is similar to parts of the Nicene Creed.  All of the Creeds provide us a reminder and opportunity to publicly proclaim as a church what we and fellow Christians believe and have believed about God from the time of Jesus.  In fact, the next time you have a United Methodist Hymnal in front of you take a look at 880-889 and you’ll see several affirmations of the Christian faith that we share with other United Methodists and many denominations of Christians around the world.  881 is the Apostle’s Creed that we say most often on Sunday mornings.   A question I often get is about the word “catholic” with a small c.  The word catholic often causes confusion.  The creeds use the Greek word for universal that was brought over to English and not used often in modern language.  When catholic is spelled with a lower case c it means universal or for all peoples.  When Catholic is spelled with...

This morning I was leaving the hospital after praying with a member who was awaiting a procedure.   A person walking by casually said, “Good morning pastor.”   I said, “Good morning.” I did not know the person, but had a name badge and cross on so I assumed that was how the person knew I was a pastor.   As our paths crossed, we exchanged a smile.   Continuing a few steps more, I heard the voice again.   “Pastor, don’t I know you?   You look so familiar?”   Momentarily concerned, I wondered if I was not recognizing a member in front of me.   We visited for a moment.   He did not know me and I did not know him, he just felt I looked familiar.   I asked if he had a pastoral need, but he didn’t at that moment.   He stopped me because he felt he recognized me.   And, he told me a story of who I reminded him of.   It was a pastoral couple who had brought him to faith decades ago.   He thought I might be their son. This happ...

The first suggestion is more of a rule than a suggestion.  Rule one is one that I hope everyone knows.  Don’t look directly at the sun!  It’ll burn your retina and cause short-term and potentially long-term eye problems.  Don’t do it.  Also, make sure that children around you are not staring directly at the eclipse as well.  My second suggestion is to pay attention.  You have to be awake and semi-prepared to see the eclipse.  An old cereal box  and some aluminum foil, a metal colander, or fancy eclipse watching glasses can all help you witness the spectacle first hand.  But if you nap, or more likely becomes so consumed by the business of a normal Monday that you don’t go outside, you’ll miss it. A third suggestion is to take a moment a to be mindful of the many wonders of orbital mechanics of which we are often not aware or daily take for granted.  We are blessed with an amazing universe.  Take a moment to give thanks for it i...