There are not enough Books

I love books and I love to read.   I read daily not just from the Bible and the local newspaper, but some book.    It seems that reading is something that I have always loved to do.   I am pleased to say that our children and grandchildren love books also.  Our grandchildren make the trip to the library regularly for story time and to get books they read at home.  It is commonplace for Ann and I to give our grandchildren books on a regular basis.

When I enter a library,  I am often astounded at the number of books there are to read.   The internet tells me that my alma mater, Duke University has 6 million volumes in its library system.    Google tells me that the Library of Congress (which was founded in 1800) has more than 16 million volumes.    Wow, that is a lot of books.    I came across a passage of scripture the other day that got me thinking about books.   It is the last verse in the gospel of John.    While it is easy to skip over a verse of the Bible particularly when you get to the end of a book and chapter to move on,  pay attention to John 21:25 which says:

²⁵ Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written.

What a powerful thought it is to think that the whole world would not be large enough to contain the books that could be written about what Jesus is doing.   Lets go and fill this world with the good things He continues to do through people like you and I.   Have a joy-filled week.—Pastor Randy Wall

Prayer:    O God,  we give you thanks that our you are still working in our world.  Through the power of your Spirit, use us as your instruments in this day and in this life; through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen. 

Staying Connected

This is the time of year when many students are returning to the classrooms for a new school year.   I would guess that some of you have already seen your children or grandchildren make that trek for their first day of school and the rest of you will see them do the same very soon.   When I retired from full time ministry a few years ago, one of the things I decided to do was to take some classes at our local community college.   After completing the enrollment process, I decided to take a class in an area that was unrelated to the pastoral ministry:  marketing.   One of the things I learned about marketing is that businesses should stay in touch with their customer base regularly.   That is why you see car dealerships show the same commercial on television time after time and why retail businesses send you emails about their latest sale at least once a week.   They want you to not forget about them, and want to stay connected to you.

It is good and important to stay connected in not only business relationships, but in our personal relationships.    Isn’t that why  we phone or text regularly our friends and loved ones?   Isn’t that why we think it important to have a “date night” with our spouses, children, and friends?   We not only want to stay connected, but we need to stay connected.  

The importance of being connected to your customer in business and being connected to friends and family got me to thinking about our connection to God.   Are we staying connected to God?  Are we taking time to read and listen to the Holy Scriptures, and to speak to God and have God speak to us in prayer?      Perhaps there is no person that has ever walked the face of the earth that faced more demands than Jesus.   People were always clammering for his touch and his word   Yet,  Jesus took time amid the many demands upon him to go to a lonely place and spend time in prayer with his heavenly Father.     This routine had such an impression on his disciples that we read in Luke 11 that they asked Jesus to teach them to pray.   As students learn new things in a new school year,   let each of us learn to stay connected with our heavenly Father.  Will you join me in prayer?   Will you join me in prayer for our students and school staff for a safe, fruitful school year?  Have a joy-filled week.—Pastor Randy Wall

Prayer:    O God,  we thank you for the gift of prayer.  Help me to make staying connected to you an important part of our lives.  We pray this day for all students and school staff as they face a new school year;  through Christ our Lord.   Amen.  

What Makes You Happy?

What makes you happy?     For those of you who are regular readers of my blog, you may recall that my daughter Heather has a third party  that sends a question to me each week via email this year.  That was the question a few weeks ago.  I have several responses to the question about what makes me happy.  My first response is something I read a few years ago from one of my favorite preachers and authors, Frederick Buechner.   I recall in one of his books Buechner states that happiness is manmade while joy is God-given.    I believe there is some truth in that.   For example,   I recall several times going to McDonalds  when my children were young and giving in to the request of my children to get a “happy meal”.    In a few minutes time, they would be happy but it would be short-lived.    Happiness is like that.   It is here today, and is gone tomorrow. 

   

My second response is that I cannot say that there is only one thing that brings me happiness or joy.   There are so many things, and most of them are fairly simple.    For me, happiness/joy are the following:

• ·         Being on the hill at Frank Liske Park watching the sun set with Ann beside me
• ·         Sharing life, a meal, a trip, and the like with Ann
• ·         Watching a bird eat breakfast or lunch at one of the bird feeders outside our den window
• ·         Watching the sun rise from the balcony at the beach  knowing God has given another day
• ·         Preaching a sermon and getting the sense that something was said by me that was beyond myself and touched someone else
• ·         The sheer joy and fun of being with my children, their husbands, and the grandchildren especially when everyone is there
• ·         Watching a newly fallen snow
• ·         Eating my first tomato sandwich of the season
• ·         Being together with a church congregation for the high seasons of the Christian year like Christmas, Easter, and the like
• ·         Being the officant at a wedding and seeing the bride and groom as they began their life together
• ·         Seeing a new born baby (especially when that child is one of my grandchildren)
• ·         Watching the earth and clouds beneath me as I fly in a plane
• ·         Giving a gift to someone I love and seeing them surprised about the gift
• ·         Opening a letter in the mail from one of my children with a note or from  one of the grandchildren

These are some of the images that come to mind when I think of what makes me happy.   I am certain there are many more.   I am so grateful for my life and the blessing that it is.   I encourage you to make your own list of what brings you joy or happiness.  Have a joy-filled week.-  Pastor Randy Wall

Prayer:    O God,  you are the giver and source of all happiness and joy.   Thank you for your goodness that is fresh every morning;  through Christ our Lord.   Amen.  

Fishing with the Grandkids

Back in the 1980’s, there was a syndicated television show called “The Southern Sportsman” hosted by Franc White.    At the time, I was living in eastern NC and would see Franc White’s zebra-striped  vehicle riding around the area from time to time.  Franc White ended each episode of his television show with one sentence:  “Do yourself a favor, take a kid fishing.”  I did that a few weeks ago when Ann and I had all our children and grandchildren  together for a few days in the N.C. mountains. 

One afternoon,  all of us went over to Lake Junaluska.   While some of the family took a dip in the pool,  I took some of the grandchildren and went fishing on a pier next to the pool.   There were only two of my 6 grandchildren that wanted to go fishing with “Pop Pop”:   8 year old Thomas and 3 year old Eloise.   Thomas and I had gone to the woods and cut down some tree limbs to make into fishing poles.   With Thomas’s help,  I put fishing line, weights, and a fishing hook on each fishing pole.  This was Thomas’s second fishing trip with me and this was the very first fishing trip ever for Eloise.   I put the worm on the fishing hook for Eloise and helped Thomas secure the worm on his fishing hook.  After Eloise and Thomas had their fishing hooks into the water, I told Eloise,  “Now Eloise,  one of the things that you have to do when you are fishing is be patient.  Do you know what the word patient means?”   Eloise replied,  “Yes, Pop Pop.  It means that you got to wait and wait.”    Eloise and Thomas did not wait very long.  Soon, their interest in fishing waned and they ended their fishing expedition heading to take a dip in the pool.  

Sometimes, you have to wait and wait.   Sometimes, you have to be patient not just when fishing but in life.  Hungry children wait for their parents to prepare dinner, and commuters wait in traffic.   Eager brides wait for their wedding day to come, and farmers wait for the harvest to be ready.   Psalm 27:14 declares:    “Wait for the Lord;  be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.”     It is hard for my grandchildren  to wait for a fish to be caught, and it hard for God’s children to wait for a prayer to be answered or a healing to happen.    Perhaps one of the reasons why Jesus called fisherman to be his disciples was because he knew that we need patience.   Have a joy-filled week.-  Pastor Randy Wall

Prayer:    O God,  I celebrate that you are still working in the world.  Give me patience as we wait for your will to be fulfilled;  through Christ our Lord.  Amen.

You Might be a Senior Citizen If...

I am having a birthday in a few days and it is the big 65.  There seems no universal agreement on when a person is a senior citizen today.  AARP says that you can become a member at 50.   There are some restaurants that give a discount if you are 55 or others that do the same at 60.  There is no debate, however, that you are a senior citizen when you are 65 and you are on medicare.   

When Dave Letterman was on the air with his talk show on late night television, he used to share his “top ten” about this or that subject.   Here are my “top five”  signs that you might be 65 and/or a senior citizen:

1.         You can remember all the words to the Beatle’s “Hey Jude”, but you cannot remember what you had for dinner last evening

2.       You know that “Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young”  is not a new law firm in town

3.       If you have paid for gas with a one dollar bill, you might be a senior citizen

4.       If “on line” ever had to do with how you dried your clothes instead of the world wide web, you might be 65 or over

5.       If you think of  a telephone instead of a party when you hear the phrase “party line” , you might be a senior citizen

One of my favorite Psalms is Psalm 90.   We read there these words:
¹⁰ Our days may come to seventy years,
    or eighty, if our strength endures;
yet the best of them are but trouble and sorrow,
    for they quickly pass, and we fly away…..
¹² Teach us to number our days,
    that we may gain a heart of wisdom.

I am grateful to God for the gift of life, and the life abundant in Christ.  I give thanks for the gift to share the journey of life with family and friends like you.   Have a joy-filled week.  One last thing: Will someone please remind me when my birthday is.  I would not want to miss it.  – Pastor Randy Wall    

Prayer:    O God,  thank you for the gift of life.  Help me to live it as the precious gift it is;  through Christ our Lord.  Amen.