PERSPECTIVE

It’s around zero to -5 degrees here in central Wisconsin. We have about 14 inches of snow still on the ground. It’s hard to tell because of how much we push the snow around and make giant piles of it.

I woke up this morning around 4:30 am. Writing this article was on my mind. I missed last week. I was busy…too busy to write. Can you believe that...too busy to write! Me and the guys in the band were preparing for a dinner concert that we were using as a fundraiser for our ministry this summer. We were doing songs that we don’t normally perform. So, we were rehearsing every evening…that we could. I had a couple of people in the hospital from my church so I made some hospital visits (which are a 45 minute drive one way). I officiated a couple of basketball games (that’s where the funds came from to put on the dinner). In the middle of all this the parsonage sewer line came to a complete and immediate halt. So, I took the time to rent a snake and try to clean it out myself… I broke the snake. If any of my parishioners are reading this, I paid for it out of my own pocket. And it wasn’t just a “simple job”. Because of the snow and ice outside, we had to take the toilet off the floor and go in from the inside. We eventually had to call in a professional due to my failure.

Let’s see…where was I? Oh yes, I started a “Lenten Family Bible Study”. That’s where we come together on Wednesday Nights. People bring a dish to pass, fellowship together, pray together and then break up by age group to study God’s Word together. I am one of those guys that develop his own curriculum for everything. So, I’ve been putting in a lot of late nights on that.

I still have my regular sermon prep to do. I’ve been working on getting the band booked for ministry (which is a whole other blog by itself). I also I performed a sweetheart wedding for an 84 year old man and his bride (which shall remain ageless).  And for the grand finale… drum roll please…my whole household has come down with a respiratory infection…everyone but me. This week isn’t looking any easier.

That’s the last 10 days. The purpose of this diatribe isn’t pity. In fact, it’s just the opposite. As I was lying awake and thinking about this article at 4:30 am, it dawned on me (pun intended) that one of the ladies from my Church was getting up and getting ready for work. I wouldn’t want to have to do that every day.

As I looked outside at the ice and snow, I was reminded of a couple of fellows from my Church that deliver LP gas and work outside all day in the cold. I wouldn’t want to do that either.

As I hear my kids and wife coughing in a symphony of hacks, I am reminded of the different ones I have visited in the hospitals with the flu so severe it almost cost them their lives. I am reminded of parishioners and family members with children that are battling cancer…fighting for their lives. I wouldn’t want to face that.

When I think about the time that I gave for that wedding, it also occurs to me the joy that the bride and groom are experiencing came at the price of sorrow. Both had lost their spouses in prolonged illnesses. I don’t want to face that!

So, you see it’s about perspective. My life maybe a little crazy, hectic and hard to manage, however, I would rather lose a little sleep and write this article (which I enjoy doing) than go through what some others are going through!

Thank you God for giving me what I can handle!

So I will tackle this day with God’s grace and help. I will praise Him because He promised He would never leave me alone. I will purposely live for Him because God promised that those who do will be so close that they will be in His shadow! (Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.  I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.” Psalm 91: 1-2)

I will endeavor to learn how to manage my time so as not to miss being with you (my friends) on the “Front Porch”.

I must go. I have some friends I want to pray for today. I want to ask God to give them strength. Then, I have an elderly lady to take to the hospital which is an hour and a half away. I wouldn’t want to have the heart problems she’s having or face the surgery that she’s facing.

My World As I See It

The past couple of weeks have been a little crazy. I have performed 3 funerals and am in the process of planning a wedding that will be conducted on Valentine’s Day.  I have made 6 hospital visits (not including my own) which is quite a feat as most hospitals are an hour drive away. I am developing my freshman daughter’s Biology curriculum. I am developing a curriculum for my Church for the Lenten season. I have been refing quite a few basketball games. One tournament was for Special Olympics. My wife needed to be taken to the emergency room and early the next week had surgery. And to top it all off, the band I’m in is preparing for a major fundraiser, a dinner and a concert. Of course we are doing everything  ourselves…the advertising…the dinner….and the concert. It’s happening on February 9^th and you are all invited! Oh, and I almost forgot…I became a grandpa.

That is a little “snapshot” into my world. There’s more, but I’m not going to bore you with the details of my world. However, that is part of the thought I wanted to share with you for just a few minutes while we’re together here on the “porch”. The “world” that each of us operates in shapes our thinking and ultimately, us. That’s important to remember. Let me explain.

I remember when my wife was teaching a teen Sunday School class. She got into a discussion (More like a debate) with a young man in her class. He was talking about the way things were in High School. The discussion got a little testy when my wife said, “But in the real world…”  To him, High School was the real world. Isn’t it amazing how we probably felt that way when we were in school, but now that we have lived outside of High School, it’s not the real world.

The same principal applies to a person who is a caregiver to an elderly parent or a parent to a child with disabilities. That job is so consuming that it is their world. The same principle applies to someone in the military, or someone working for a company. The job becomes your world.

In each one of these scenarios, the person in them may try to read books magazines or articles to expand their horizons. They may try to catch news, or have a hobby to break the monotony of the cycle they are in. I’m sure it helps. Nevertheless, they are still in their world. A world that shapes their thinking has a language and acceptable unacceptable protocols.

“So, what’s the point?” Well, it kind of simple really. When we interact with people, why don’t we meet them on their terms in their world? In general, we are a little selfish here. Most of us want to meet people in “our world” based on “our terms”. Let’s face it. It’s work to meet somebody in their world and have to speak their language and understand their culture. So, they can just come to my world.

How many relationships could be improved or even saved if one person in the relationship would move into the other person’s world. I think that this is something that God would want us to do. I mean I think it’s His will for us to do it. How do I know that? Well, Jesus is our great example, and He did it for us!

The Front Porch: The Peacefulness of Falling Snow

The Front Porch: The Peacefulness of Falling Snow: I sat in the darkness of early morning. The lights on the Christmas tree and other decorations illuminated our living room. Behind me (whi...

The Peacefulness of Falling Snow

I sat in the darkness of early morning. The lights on the Christmas tree and other decorations illuminated our living room. Behind me (while I sit at our dining room table) is the front door that we rarely use. It has a single glass pane that runs the length and breadth of the door.

In the stillness of this morning, I turn in my chair and stare out the glass pane of the door into a Wisconsin winter wonderland. It snowed 5 inches yesterday and I had to shovel the walkways around the house and Church 3 times. As I look out this morning, through the illumination of the street lights, I see that it is snowing again…big flakes, straight down.

My initial thought was, “Ugh!” Shoveling snow is not my favorite form of exercise. But, have you ever watched it snow? There is something very peaceful about snow falling from the sky. It softly drifts down and lands in place. It gently comes to rest, so gently you can’t hear it. The soft flakes cover the earth with a mantle of white that gives an aura of purity to our dirty world. As much as I hate it, the snowfall is beautiful!

In the quietness of the moment, I sensed God still saying to us, “Peace, and on Earth goodwill toward men.” Yet, all around me there is turmoil. An elderly lady in our Church is in a nursing home and desperately wants to go home. A man from our community is suffering from aggressive cancer and is not expected to live long. A woman called to ask for help with gas to get her husband to the hospital for daily radiation treatments. A 3 year old child from our community is suffering from cancer with tumors so large that he is on a constant narcotic drip to help him with the pain. A Vietnam veteran’s knee is so swollen he can’t walk and doesn’t know if he can get medical help. Then yesterday, I gave a memorial for a 63 year old mother that, very unexpectedly, passed away in her son’s arms while they were waiting for an ambulance to arrive. These are just the immediate situations around me. There are other, greater issues. In Wisconsin, the congress is fighting internally causing the people to choose sides. Nationally, Democrats are fighting against the Republicans creating division in the country. The poor are demanding the government to take more money from the rich amplifying hatred among the classes. Then, to spoil the pot, it seems that little to no one is seeking God which causes a shadow of despair.

So, I sat for an half an hour or so in front of that big pane of glass in the door with a hot cup of coffee and watched it snow. It was great therapy. Then this thought struck me. “It really isn’t the snowfall. It’s getting quiet and being still.” Then, I remembered the scripture, “Be still and know that I am God…” (Psalm 46:10 NLT)

In that quiet moment…in the stillness of early morning…in the midst of all the chaos…while the beautiful snow was falling, I knew, I just knew, God was still in control.

Friday, December 14th

President Roosevelt made a speech about the bombing of Pearl Harbor. He said it was a day “… that would live in infamy.” The day he was referring to was December 7^th, 1941. That day was infamous because Japan attacked our naval base and over 2000 lives were lost….

Friday, December 14^th, started like most other days. I was up by 7 am deciding what the most important tasks of the day were. I really wanted bacon for breakfast but we didn’t have any in the refrigerator. I was a little annoyed, after breakfast, that my youngest daughter didn’t get a perfect score on her spelling test after we (and I mean “we”) had worked so hard on it. I was a little frustrated with one of my sons. We are trying to get him enrolled in college. Even though he says he wants to go, he doesn’t seem to have the drive to get through the admission process…and I don’t know how to give it to him.

My wife and I took a drive to pick something up from the store. I didn’t really want to go. I wanted to go to my office and work on my book. I just can’t seem to make progress on it. Someone or something is always occupying my time. On the way home, we could hear grinding in the front wheel of our vehicle.

“Oh Great,” I thought to myself. “There goes $200.00 bucks I don’t have.”

When I finally got back to the office, my son Jon (some of you folks may know him as the guitar player in our band) asked if I had heard the news. I had not. So, I turned on the news in my office and listened…and I cried. After an hour of being paralyzed by disbelief and hearing another news briefing held by the Connecticut State Police, I went home to find that my daughters had heard the news and what had happened in Newtown, Connecticut.  After a little talking, my girls put their heads on my shoulders…and cried. They cried for the children that were terrorized and killed. They cried for the moms and dads and the pain that they were experiencing. They cried.

As my girls were there weeping, I realized something. In the overarching scheme of things, my daughters 96% on her test was pretty good. I realized that I was having a good day without bacon. I realized that my son is working hard to be the best at his new job and that at 19 he is trying to learn how to juggle a schedule. I realized how much I love him and what a great kid he is.

I realized how much I love my wife and my calling. I love what I do and the people I get to be with. I realized how blessed I am.  Finally, I realized that in the overarching scheme of things eventually my vehicle will get fixed.

I also realized some “deeper” issues. I realized that I don’t have the answers for the parents that are hurting. I realized how insidiously evil this act was. I realized how lost the perpetrator was. And for what I know about God, I realized that He allowed it to happen.

There is another time in history that God allowed a massacre of children. In fact, God allowed prophets to predict it. It’s actually part of the Christmas story. You know about the wise men that came to pay homage to the “new born king of the Jews”? After they left to go home, Herod, the King of Judea, had all the Jewish boys, age 2 and under, executed. Joseph, Mary and baby Jesus escaped the carnage. The others living in Herod’s kingdom did not.

There is no way for us today to understand the sorrow of the Jewish people during this time. In fact, the Bible says, “A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.” (Matt. 2:18 NIV) There is no way for us, who are not involved, to understand the grief that the parents of Newtown, Connecticut are experiencing. All we can do is weep with them.

So, why did God allow this? I have no idea. What kind of God would allow this to happen? To the children: A righteous God that honors the innocence of children. To the parents: A merciful God that has experienced, for Himself, the execution of His son. To the perpetrator: A just God that said, “Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done.” (Rev. 20:12)

During these days that follow, many are offering solutions that will not address the problem. Some will say the problem is a cold piece of steel that spews projectiles. An inanimate object never hurt anyone by itself. Some will say the problem is mental instability. The mentally unstable that I know have a difficult forming sentences… and drool. Some will say the problem is Democrats and Liberalism and some will say it is Republicans and Conservatism.

None of these things are the problem. They are all symptoms of the problem. The problem is evil and sin. This means, the only answer to our problem is God and His righteousness. If we, as a nation, cannot see this, then we are doomed to a dark abyss. Can we ever climb out? I don’t know.

What I do know is that FDR said December 7^th, 1941 would be a day that would live in infamy. If that is so, then December 14^th, 2012 shall forever be shrouded in sorrow. The only thing I know that will get us through… is faith in God Almighty.