I am such bad luck

If you see me in the grocery store, in a line, pick another one.  I always pick the slowest lines.

And I have noticed that if I like something too much, I lose it.  I loved this car that I had in 1983, and I totaled it out.

I had a favorite hat.  I lost it.  I had a favorite key chain.  No one knows where it went.

A few days ago, I lost my favorite shirt.  I guess it is probably in a hotel room in Chattanooga, Tennessee.  I had another favorite shirt that I lost on the last Holy Land trip.  UGH!!!

I shouldn't get so attached to things.  They tend to leave me.  And I think that there is a lesson here... things come and things go... love people more than things.

It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the good.

a response to the sermon

I received this email in response to the sermon that I posted last week. Remember, part of the sermon was about opening our minds to ideas that are different to us.

Good Morning Jeff,

Thank you for posting the link to your sermon this past Sunday. It worked well and your sermon spoke to my heart. Love the story of Zacceaus, as I always identified with the part about being short and many times needed a tree to climb to see what was going on! No, seriously, what pains me the most about my family and friends is when they have a point of view entirely based on how they were raised and treated. They keep those blinders on you mentioned and never want to see the other person's point of view or even give them a chance to think differently.

Last summer I was asked to find a Bible study about the LGBTQ issue in the church. You helped me by sending me some good references. Before the study, I did not believe in same sex marriage. I know and love several people who have family members who did this but always felt it should be called something else and even it was not what God wanted for us. After the study, I realized the hurt and guilt and self loathing people who have these inclinations felt. I saw how we as Christians continue to devalue these sons and daughters of ours almost to the point of suicide for some. I heard stories of people in a church I went to for over 30 years felt, how some of my former Sunday school students felt and I cried. Your story about playing the Christian music was especially enlightening as I remembered my feelings about what marriage meant to me and how selfish I had been to think only I knew what was right and what was wrong in God's eyes. After the Bible study, my little church in Vermont voted to become an Open and Affirming church and hung a Rainbow Flag outside to let the community know it changed! This is a church with mostly people in their senior years and very few young people But when they had the celebration of hanging the flag, several of our former young people attended and said for the first time in their lives they felt safe to worship Jesus!!!

I didn't mean to write such a long email, but I just wanted to let you know how much your message meant to me this morning and that even an old woman like me who thinks she is welcoming to everyone, but in her heart was not, can remove those blinders and change.

Thank you so much,

Your friend...

it's not a sign of the end times

If someone starts spouting off to you that this thing or that thing is a "sign of the end," don't listen to them.  In fact, run the other direction.

Every time that there is a war in the middle east, some so called "Bible teachers" indicate that it is a sign of the end times. They sell some books and make some money. The "Left Behind" series for example was totally wrong, except that the authors made millions. They are laughing all the way to the bank.

So this came across the news the other day:

Fifty years ago today, the first official barcode was scanned at a grocery store in Troy, Ohio. The symbol of parallel lines has since become the most prevalent tracking tool for products around the world, though many dispute who deserves the credit for its eventual success.

I remember when barcodes first came out. "Good Bible teachers" insisted that this was the mark of the beast. They said that soon, no one would be able to buy or sell without a bar code tattooed on their hand or forehead.

Rubbish. Ridiculous.

Can we please just live in the present? Can we apply ourselves to living and loving today and stop speculating about tomorrow? Some people fill their minds with speculative theology... it keeps them from having to think about how they interact with people day to day.

How we treat people day to day is much more, much more important that what we might think about Jesus' return.

Let's focus our minds on what is really important. Kindness, grace and love.

It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the good.