hurt

When someone hurts a friend, it hurts us too.

This happened to me the other day.  Someone said something hateful to one of my friends.  The spoken words were not about me.  I was not involved at all.  The situation had nothing to do with me.

But, I still hurt, because they hurt my friend.

"When one member suffers, we suffer as well."  1 Cor 12

Today I extend words of comfort to my friend and to anyone out there who is hurt.  Be comforted my friend!!!

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

this cannot continue

Every now and then we come across something that we do not like.   I had this reaction about a thing that I observed... "the current trajectory cannot continue."

Unfortunately, some things we can do something about.  Other things we cannot.

So if there is something that you want to change, then please do so.  If you can change the trajectory, then please do so.

God grant me the serenity to accept the things that I cannot change, the courage to change the things that I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.

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

Father's Day

Father's Day came and went.  I got a really cool Jurassic Park shirt from my daughter Jennifer.

Note the raptors...

I got to speak with all three of my children on Father's Day.  I received two cards.

First the humorous...

From my wife Cathy.

And then there was the serious card...

That's a keeper for sure.  

And, yes, had I been there,  I could have saved the Titanic.

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

a rock!!!

Darn.  There is a rock in my shoe.  I take the shoe off.  I cannot find it.  It is still there.  I deal with in for a bit and then I take the shoe off and look again.

These are some of my favorite shoes.  Nicely old.  Broken in.  Comfy.  But not with the rock there.  I am discouraged.  I hate to have to throw them out.

I take the shoe off and pull the insole up.  It must be in here somewhere.  I find a little bit of stuff, but I don't think this is the problem.  Shoe back on.  Problem is still  there.

Then I stepped on the tile floor.  I was barefoot.  Oh.  The rock is not in the shoe, the rock is in my foot.  What is it?  I pull up my foot and look.

Stuck to the bottom of my foot is a rubber bumper from a cabinet door.  I remove it.  Problem solved.  How did it get on my foot?  I guess that I stepped on it at some point.

Sometimes what we think the problem is, is not the problem.  Sometimes our reasoning faculties get it wrong.  We are not always right.

I apologized to my shoe.

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

I don't like to do it

The drain was running very slow, problematically slow.  I don't want to do this.  I don't want to take it apart.

I tried the plastic snake.  No help.  I tried the drain cleaner.  No help.  The next thing that I did was to put off the inevitable.  I don't want to take apart the trap.  I don't like to do it.

So I put it off.  I did other things.

If the snake didn't work and the drain cleaner
did not work, I know that this is going to be gross!!!

I delayed as long as possible.

But the problem did not go away.   

Sometimes in life we put things off that we don't want to do.  Sharing disappointing news with someone.  Calling a church member who is upset over something.  Picking up the pet poo.  Paying that bill.  Saying that we are sorry.  We all have things in our lives that we put off doing, because we don't like doing it.

I finally relented.  I got my tools out and took the trap apart.  I am not going to tell you what I found in the trap and pipes, but let's just say that it was a good thing that I finally took it apart.

I take apart plumbing at my house.  I generally don't do it for
clients.  I just don't like doing it.

All cleaned up and put back together.

Now everything is working fine.

Is there something in your life that you are putting off?  Don't make yourself miserable by having the action hanging over your head.  It is not going to go away.  Step out and do it.  Take care of it.  Get it done.  You will be glad that you did.

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

To Pen a Note

Someone made fun of me.

I used a phrase that they had not heard of.  I was emailing about a joint email that we were working together on and I used the phrase that I would "pen a draft."

They called and ridiculed me.  In good fun... well, sort of.

Anyway, I looked it up.

click here to learn about the phrase

Anyway, it is quite a real phrase and it is of correct usage in the English language.  Heck, every day that I write a blog, I am penning a note.  If I write a draft, which I do from time to time, I am penning a draft.

Let's keep an open mind.  Just because we have not heard of  a thing, does not mean that it is not a thing.

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

G. K. Chesterton Quotes

Gilbert K. Chesterton 1874-1936

Chesterton was a brilliant man. He had no college degree, but was known as a brilliant orator. When he came to town, the halls were packed. Everyone wanted to hear what he had to say. He spoke many eloquent words on gratitude.

I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought, and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder. –Gilbert K. Chesterton

There is no such thing on earth as an uninteresting subject; the only thing that can exist is an uninterested person. –G. K. Chesterton

The aim of life is appreciation; there is no sense in not appreciating things; and there is no sense in having more of them if you have less appreciation of them. –Gilbert K. Chesterton

When it comes to life the critical thing is whether you take things for granted or take them with gratitude. –G. K. Chesterton

When we were children we were grateful to those who filled our stockings at Christmas time. Why are we not grateful to God for filling our stockings with legs? ~G.K. Chesterton

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

End of time bad theology...

A friend's mother recently asked me about  "end of time prophecies."  And as you know, many preachers have made a living out of pulling scriptures out of context, combining them together in ways that are arbitrary, and coming up with maps of the end of time and dates for the end.   There is a great book called, "The Last Days are here Again" by Richard Kyle.  In the book he goes thru church history and outlines every group who made a calendar and set a date for Jesus' return. I guess that humans like to feel that they are special and living in special times.  By the way, none of the predictions were correct.  The authors however, did make a lot of money off of their readers.

In my opinion, this is all a waste of time. The rapture and attached teachings were not taught prior to the 1850's.  It is a new teaching in the timeline of Christianity.  If you don't believe me, read about it online, read about John Nelson Darby and how this teaching emerged.  It is a new comer to Christianity and it is not a helpful doctrine.

A companion thought that I have to this is that the book of Revelation is not about the future, it is about the past.   John wrote Revelation about what was happening in his day and he wrote it for the Christians being persecuted by Rome.  I am not a scholar, but this is the view of all Biblical scholars.

So, in my opinion, except for the simple return of Jesus, all "Biblical prophecy" has already taken place.

To me the good news about this is that we can stop worrying and stop speculating about the end of time, about Israel and the Middle East.  We don't have to worry about some tribulation time coming in the future.  Instead, we can relax and live and live and live - lives of love.

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

loss of community

I had a lovely breakfast yesterday with Dave and Jennifer.  We talked about most everything.  One of the things that I love about people that I am friends with is that we can talk, agree, or disagree, talk some more and still love each other. 

Because, there is something higher going on.   

Dave spoke of the political climate in our country as "we have lost the sense of community."  I love that.  We have made it so much about me that we have lost the we.

It is time to return to love.  It is time to restore the sense of caring.

There is something bigger going on in this world than my feelings about a thing.

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

- - - - - - -

I am leading a trip to Italy in November of this year with Pastor Sherri Swanson. There is plenty of room and we would love to have you join!!!

click here for the Italy brochure

the end of the world

This is not the end of the world.

I am almost 68 years old.  I have lived through countless wars and war story lines.  Every time something happens, well meaning Christians say that these things are signs of the end of the world.

Israel attacked Iran last night.  It is not a sign of the end of the world.  It is a sign that they don't want Iran to have a nuclear weapon.  That is all.

Life goes on.  Stop thinking that this is the end.

On Saturday I am flying home to Florida.  On July 1, I start at Ocean View UMC and I am looking fwd to that.  Life will go on.  This is not the end.

Don't waste your time thinking about the end of the world.  Spend your time instead thinking about who you can care about today.

There is love to be shared.  We need to keep doing it.

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

- - - - - - -

I am leading a trip to Italy in November of this year with Pastor Sherri Swanson. There is plenty of room and we would love to have you join!!!

click here for the Italy brochure

types of churches

There are churches that claim to be the most Biblical.

There are churches that claim to have the right doctrine.

There are churches that say that they have the key to the future.

There are churches who are the most popular.

Some say that they have the best worship.

I want to find one church.  And I want to go to that church.  I want to find and go to the one that shows the most love.

If I have all of these things and I have not love, I am nothing.

Where is the love???

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

- - - - - - -

I am leading a trip to Italy in November of this year with Pastor Sherri Swanson. There is plenty of room and we would love to have you join!!!

click here for the Italy brochure

see the good

So I was driving yesterday on Independence Street in Lees Summit between 2nd and 3rd streets.  It is a residential area.  I would have taken a picture, but the traffic did not allow me to stop.

One of the residents had put a sign in her yard, right by the street.  On one side it said, "see the good"  on the other side of the sign it said, "you are doing great!"

So here is this random person in Lee's Summit, MO encouraging those who drive by.  A good word at the right time is so helpful.

Please remember that we can use our voice to hurt or to heal.  We can discourage folks or we can encourage them.

See the good.  You are doing great!  I love it!!!

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

- - - - - - -

I am leading a trip to Italy in November of this year with Pastor Sherri Swanson. There is plenty of room and we would love to have you join!!!

click here for the Italy brochure

an old man is drilling gasket, so what?

Some people ask me what I do when I go to work in Kansas City.  Well, I do random handyman work, but I also work for a friend that has a small steel company.

They build giant duct work for power plants.
People all over the world have electricity because
these power plants are operating.

The sections of ductwork have flanges that are bolted together.   There is a gasket material that goes in between the sections of duct.  They have to be drilled so that the sections can line up and be bolted together.

The material is shipped to the warehouse.

The material is laid out to be marked.  
My friend Bruce does this, which is the hard part.
the brainy part.

The marked gasket is lined up for drilling.

Drilled gasket is laid out per job order.
Pictures are taken to prove that the work has been done.

Drilled gasket is rolled and prepared for shipping.

Wrapped and ready to be packaged for shipping to the job site.

Why does this matter?

Well, it is simply this... Near Palatka, Florida, near Memphis, Tenn. and in places all around the world, people are turning on a light switch.  They are running an air conditioner.  They are heating up baby formula.

Why?  Because they have power.  Why?  Because a lot of people in the distribution stream did their job to make it happen.  Including the old man who was drilling gasket on a trip to Kansas City.

A good number of people go into making anything successful.

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

- - - - - - -

I am leading a trip to Italy in November of this year with Pastor Sherri Swanson. There is plenty of room and we would love to have you join!!!

click here for the Italy brochure

Making time for Dad

My Mom died in 1995.  She was 62 years old.  My Dad lived for seven years after mom passed.  He died in 2002.  I miss my Dad.

One of the regrets that I have in life is that I did not work harder to spend time with him in the last few years of his life.  I have my excuses... I was busy at church, I was busy raising children... blah, blah, blah.  My worst excuse is that I didn't know that it was the last few years of his life.

Well one of my friends is doing it right.  Tim's Dad wanted to go to Northern Europe to see the places where they were from.  Tim took his Dad on a trip to Denmark and Belgium.  I am so happy for them.

Tim by the statue of Hans Christian Anderson.

Your parents won't be with you for ever.  Take time away from your busy life to stay up with them.  You will be glad that you did.

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

- - - - - - -

I am leading a trip to Italy in November of this year with Pastor Sherri Swanson. There is plenty of room and we would love to have you join!!!

click here for the Italy brochure

goodness

Harry on the left, former mayor of Vero.

I run into Harry from time to time.  He is a good man.  I know it.  I just know it.  I can sense the goodness in him.  His heart comes out through his words, his eyes and his handshake.

He lives in a posture of goodness.  I hope he feels the same way about me.

What posture does your life take?  How do you rub off on others?  Some people come across as being in a hurry.  Some come across as being angry.  Some are know-it-alls.  Some live as victims.  Then there are those from whom kindness exudes.

What is the posture of your life.  What flows out from you to others?  May we all work harder to be filled with love, joy, peace and kindness.

The world needs more people like Harry.

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

- - - - - - -

I am leading a trip to Italy in November of this year with Pastor Sherri Swanson. There is plenty of room and we would love to have you join!!!

click here for the Italy brochure

what to think?

Something happened.  I don't know what to think about it.  I probably never will.

Some things in life are a mystery, an enigma.  From time to time, something comes along that is just puzzling.

I am ok with that.  I think that it makes sense that we will have unresolved questions in this life.  Our mission here is not to know everything or to understand everything.

Our mission here is to show love and kindness.

Some things I will probably never understand.  I am not going to get hung up on that.  Let's just keep sharing the love.

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

- - - - - - -

I am leading a trip to Italy in November of this year with Pastor Sherri Swanson. There is plenty of room and we would love to have you join!!!

click here for the Italy brochure

wrong word

I thank my friends for calling me out when I am wrong.

A few days ago, my post ended with this...

"You have tattoos?  I love you.  You are the wrong religion, I love you.  You voted for the other candidate, I love you.  Simply said, I love you.  No qualifications, just love."

A dear friend of mine wrote in and said that instead of saying that I loved someone of the "wrong religion" wouldn't it be better if I said to love someone of "another religion."   They indicated, and rightly so, that when I penciled that person in as the wrong religion I sounded like the "but" people.  

I love you even though you are the wrong religion.  Yes that is not what I should have said.  Let me try again.

I love you no matter your religion.  I respect your religion.  You are valuable.  I love you.

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

- - - - - - -

I am leading a trip to Italy in November of this year with Pastor Sherri Swanson. There is plenty of room and we would love to have you join!!!

click here for the Italy brochure

love the sinner hate the sin, pt 2

A few days ago my post included a rejection of the phrase, "love the sinner, hate the sin."  One of my dear friends wrote in with questions....  He said basically, regarding pedophiles, I think that it makes sense to love the sinner and hate the sin.

I agree that there are sins that we would all agree are sins.  My rejection of the phrase love the sinner hate the sin is not a rejection of the notion of sin.  Not at all.

But when the phrase is commonly used about someone, their personhood is usually all balled up in the [perceived] sin whatever it is.  The focus of the speaker is most often one of hatred of the sin.  And the hatred bubbles over to the person.

I find it to be a convenient catch phrase which gives people a chance to judge others.

Here is my other issue... in high demand religious groups, the focus is on sin.  I personally, do not want my life to focus on sin.  I do not want the discourse of my life to be mainly about sin.    Jesus' message was about love.  We should talk about love as much as possible and focus on sin as little as possible.

Time and time again, Jesus loved the person and did not focus on their behavior.

He does not call the woman at the well a prostitute.  He does not call the Roman soldiers abusive occupiers.  He does not call the thief on the cross a thief.  He just loves them all.

So should we. 

I hope that helps.

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

- - - - - - -

I am leading a trip to Italy in November of this year with Pastor Sherri Swanson. There is plenty of room and we would love to have you join!!!

click here for the Italy brochure

learning

There is always something to learn.  We humans like to think that we know a lot.  We like to think that we are smart.  Our experience brings us a great deal of information.  But there is always more to learn.

When I moved to Florida, I learned that plants grow forever with out the presence of a winter freeze.  I learned that the salt air is detrimental to things like air conditioners.  An A/C unit that might last 20 years in Missouri has a life span of more like 10 years in Florida if you are close to the beach.

Then there was this annoying lesson.  If you leave a hose with a metal end on a spigot long enough, you will never get it off.  Something in the salt air fuses the two metals together.  I spoke with a plumber the other day who told me that he worked for an hour to remove a sprayer from a hose end and could not get it loose.  A plumber!!!

So, odd as it sounds, when I get a new hose, I cut off the metal end and put on a plastic one.  Problem solved.

New hose... I cut off the metal end.

old and new ends...

There is always something to learn if we are open to do so.

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

- - - - - - -

I am leading a trip to Italy in November of this year with Pastor Sherri Swanson. There is plenty of room and we would love to have you join!!!

click here for the Italy brochure

taking the time

Too often in this life, we are in such a hurry that we fly right past amazing things.  The adage "be sure to see the good" is a reminder that we can easily miss amazing things.

My friend Arthur was touched by the appearance of a rainbow after a storm.  He made the decision to stop and take a picture...  We should all stop and take more pictures.

Blue Springs lake is in the background.

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

- - - - - - -

I am leading a trip to Italy in November of this year with Pastor Sherri Swanson. There is plenty of room and we would love to have you join!!!

click here for the Italy brochure

be the reason

I saw this on a church sign in Vero Beach the other day...

"Be the reason that someone believes in goodness."

I love that.  Nothing more to say.

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

- - - - - - -

I am leading a trip to Italy in November of this year with Pastor Sherri Swanson. There is plenty of room and we would love to have you join!!!

click here for the Italy brochure

love is indiscriminate

Indiscriminate- love is indiscriminate.  It is not given to some and withheld from others. True love goes out to all.  As the lamp provides light to all, true love is indiscriminate.   As the scent of the rose is available to all,  so love is blind.  The tree provides shade to the good and the evil, love is available to all.

When we are acting in love, the kindness goes out to all.  We love the friend and the foe.  The home team and the rival.  We love those who like us and those who hate us.  True love goes out to all.   Don't be bothered by anyone.   Don't be disturbed by anyone who is mean.  Keep loving.  Keep caring.   Let the shade fall on them,  the scent of the rose find them.  Let the light of your love go out to all.

Love cannot be contained.  It wants to come out of us.   It wants to forgive.   It wants to heal.  Don't be overcome by your hurts, find the love in your heart and give it out again.   Give it back again. And again.  To the new person in the office, to the old curmudgeon, to the friend, to the surly, to the rich to the poor.  When we learn to love like God loves, everyone is the recipient.

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

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I am leading a trip to Italy in November of this year with Pastor Sherri Swanson. There is plenty of room and we would love to have you join!!!

click here for the Italy brochure