Right There Under Our Feet

My wife, Ann, and I find ourselves travelling by air  from time to time at this point in our lives for a number of reasons.   First, we travel by air because it is the quickest way to visit family that live many states away.  Secondly,  responsibilities with the United Methodist Church these days sometimes take me to places far away.   Ann and I enjoy travelling and seeing the wonderful world that God has created.   The part I like the least about air travel is going through the security checkpoint.    As one who worked at Ground Zero after the 9/11/2001 attacks,  I understand the reason for the security.  However, I find myself often nervous and a little rattled as I go through the process.  Such was the occasion a few weeks ago.  After I successfully completed the security check and was gathering my belongings,  I discovered that I was missing something very important:  my drivers license.  I had shown it in the security process, but it was no where to be found.  I checked my bags not once, but three times.     I wondered what I would do.  How could I pick up a rental car without a valid drivers license?   How would I manage to go through security on the return flight without that valued document?   As I sat on the plane on the way to my destination, I remembered that I had taken my shoes off in the security process.   I wondered if maybe my drivers license was in my shoe.  When I departed the plane,  I quickly found a seat and took off my shoes.  Lo and behold, there was the precious drivers license that I had been missing.   It had been there right under my feet all the time. 

The loss of my drivers license was a scary experience.   It taught me an important lesson not just about securing carefully my valuables, but also about life.   Sometimes, it is right there under our feet.   Mission is certainly in faraway places, but sometimes the opportunity for missions in right there under our feet in the neighbor down the street or the person across the office.  Many people travel far to see the beauty of God’s creation, but it also right there under our feet in the flower in our yard, the smile from a family member, or the sight of a sunset.   Have a joy-filled week.—  Pastor Randy Wall

Prayer:    O God, thank you for the wonder of this world that is all around us.   Give us a heart to see the beauty of it all and the needs of all;  through Christ our Lord.  Amen. 

She Was Born

We are celebrating in these days the birthday of my wife,  Ann Blackley Wall.  She was born.  There is something in the word “birth” that seems so ordinary.  In this big world,  births take place somewhere all the time in all sorts of places.  If you are on social media, you see reminders of birthdays of friends most everyday.  If you are a news junkie and you keep up with celebrity birthdays, there is always some famous or fabulous person who was born on that day.  While births seem ordinary, there is something about witnessing a birth that is not anything ordinary.  What a miracle it is to gaze at the tiny fingers, face, and feet of a new-born child, grandchild, niece, nephew, and the like.     Psalm 139:14 declares,  “I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;  your works are wonderful,  I know that full well.”  When I gaze at a new-born child,  my cup overflows with the meaning of those words knowing that child is “fearfully and wonderfully made.”   While births may seem so ordinary, there is nothing ordinary about seeing a newborn. 

Ann Blackley Wall, the beautiful woman that is my wife, was born.   I like to say that holidays and special events are about emphasizing something that we should remember and give thanks for all the time.   For example,  we pause on July 4^th to remember our independence and freedoms when we should be grateful for  them all the time.    On Christmas,  we remember and celebrate that Christ was born and the “word became flesh”  when we should celebrate that all the time.      In these days,  I celebrate and give thanks that my wife,  Ann Blackley, was born.     The birth of anyone and everything is a holy, blessed experience. How blessed this world and particularly my world is for the fact that Ann Blackley Wall was born.

My Mom used to like to say “the alternative to birthdays is not a good one”.     Surely there is someone in your life that is having a birthday soon that is a blessing to you.  Do let them know.  Everyone appreciates being appreciated.   Have a joy-filled birthday, Ann Blackley Wall, from a husband who loves you.   Have a joy-filled week,  my friends.-  Pastor Randy Wall

Prayer:    Lord God, thank you for the gift of life that you offer to one and all.  Give me a grateful heart to give thanks for gift of the lives of those near and dear to me;  through Christ our Lord.  Amen. 

Anthony Bourdain, Kate Spade, and Me

Whenever Richard Cory went down town,
We people on the pavement looked at him:
He was a gentleman from sole to crown,
Clean favored, and imperially slim.

And he was always quietly arrayed,
And he was always human when he talked;
But still he fluttered pulses when he said,
"Good-morning," and he glittered when he walked.

And he was rich – yes, richer than a king –
And admirably schooled in every grace:
In fine, we thought that he was everything
To make us wish that we were in his place.

So on we worked, and waited for the light,
And went without the meat, and cursed the bread;
And Richard Cory, one calm summer night,
Went home and put a bullet through his head.

-       Edwin Arlington Robinson

I was saddened to hear of the death and apparent suicides of Kate Spade and Anthony Bourdain last week.   I did not know either of them personally.  I had watched Anthony Bourdain’s show on CNN a few times.    The death of Kate Spade and Anthony Bourdain provoked two thoughts in me.   First, it reminded me of the above poem that I studied in college.  Richard Cory: gentleman, rich, and schooled in every grace.  Richard Cory puts a bullet through his head and takes his life while the world around him is oblivious to all  going on internally within him. 

The second thing that the death of Kate Spade and Anthony Bourdain made me think of was a time when I was in a very dark place in my life.  Over 25 years ago,  I thought about taking my life.  Unlike Richard Cory, there were people that noticed the bad emotional and spiritual condition I was in.   One of those people was my late Mom.  I remember being on the phone with her late one night sharing my despair.    Mom made me promise not to take my life and to call her in the morning.    I am not sure Mom slept much that night, but if she did she awoke to a new day and her oldest son alive though not well.   The second person that noticed my plight was my friend, the late Sam Dixon (who died in the Haiti earthquake a few years ago).  Sam saw my pain, cared for me, and prayed with me during those dark days in my life.  I miss my Mom and miss Sam, but will always be grateful that they noticed my plight and stood with me as God’s instruments. 

As I write this,  I know there are a lot more Kate Spades and Anthony Bourdains out there who are in a place of despair.  Like Richard Cory, perhaps there are no people who notice.   I hope not.  I pray that there is a woman like Shirley Perry Wall Wyrick and a man like Samuel Dixon who does and stands with them as they walk through that “dark night of the soul.”     Maybe you are that person that God wants to use.  Let it be, Lord.  Let it be.   Have a joy-filled week.-  Pastor Randy Wall

Prayer:    Lord God, thank you for people that have cared for me in the dark times in my  life.  Help me, Lord, to pay it forward to others;  through Christ our Lord.  Amen. 

The Growing Season

Our daughter, Ginger, has many wonderful attributes like all our children.   Among her great qualities is that she does so well in chronicling the story of her family with pictures.      Ginger lives in Colorado Springs, Colorado with her husband and two children where her husband is stationed with the United States Army.    A few weeks ago,  Ginger shared on social media two pictures of her two children.  One picture was taken on their first day of school.  The second picture was taken on their last day of the school year.  As any grandparent,  I am always excited to see any pictures of my grandchildren.  One of the things that stood out in the two pictures of my oldest grand-daughter, Lillian, was how much she had grown during the school year.   It was obvious that she had grown several inches over the course of 9 months. 

This is the growing season  in my part of the world.   Grass, flowers, and the like are growing outside my window.      In a few days, the grass will need to be mowed again because it has grown.  In a few weeks,  I hope that growth of my tomato plants will bring fruit to be enjoyed on our table and on my palette.      What is not always so obvious is the way that people grow in their mind and spirit.     Are you growing in your love for God and neighbor?     The apostle Paul knows that Christian growth is the aim and he expresses it this way in Ephesians 4:  11-13 where he writes:

 ¹¹ So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, ¹² to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up ¹³ until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

Whatever age we might be, there is always room to grow in our service to and in our relationship to Christ.  Keep on growing.  Have a joy-filled week.--  Pastor Randy Wall 

Prayer:    O God, thank you for my life.   Help me to honor you with my life as I continue to grow in my relationship with you and in my service to you and others;  through Christ our Lord.  Amen.