Thanksgiving

A couple of pictures . . .

With my Dad earlier in the day.

Around our table just before we dug in.

And if you're interested, a link to the sermon I preached for Thanksgiving Eve.

Hope you are yours had as nice a day as we did!

Tired. Sore. Done!

This was my project that I completed yesterday:

I've been trying to improve the drainage around our house. Many of the downspouts simply go into the ground and I never knew where they came out! One day, I found one that didn't - it just dead-ended into dirt! So I fixed that one. Then I checked out this one and found it going into a "T," which I realized is the output of the sump pump, which I never knew where it actually went. (Was glad to find it!) Sadly, though, when I dug a little more, I found this section of pipe severely compromised. Some by roots (the culprits of which I dug up), but also but careless contractors who had crushed sections with their spades when they were digging. Argh! The section below the picture also has a spade intrusion into it, but I wasn't going to go digging that far, and the water seemed to flow okay past it. I think there may also be one farther up the line, but chose to leave that one as well for now. Hopefully, this will do the trick and all the water will happily flow away from our house. :-)

Retraction

mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa

I apologize. I was wrong.

I wrote a rather snarky post yesterday about a news article on the doors at the new Museum of the Bible. The journalist wrote that they were "the first 80 lines of Genesis written in Latin in reverse," which I thought was an absurd thing to say. I thought a better explanation was that they were probably Hebrew, the original language of Genesis, which does read "in reverse," or right-to-left.

But they ARE, in fact, Latin written in reverse. They are supposed to be replicas of the printing plates  of the Gutenberg Bible.

So it turns out I am the stupid one.
I am the one who should have spent a little more time checking.
I am the one indicted.

I have deleted my snarky post and herewith take my shame. Hopefully I have learned something and will do better in the future.

And my apology to that journalist.

An Open Letter to My Brother Pastors

Dear Brother Pastors,

I heard some stories again this week of pastors being (overly) critical of their brother pastors. I am sure that I have fallen into this as well, and for when I have, I ask your forgiveness.

I am kinda dense, so it has taken me a while to learn this, but brothers, we need each other! It's not easy being a pastor. You have demands, struggles, failures, get pulled in all different directions, and more, and who else can understand that best but your brothers in the office? We should be able to count on each other when we struggle - not have the added burden of worrying about what will my brothers think of me or say to me! And those critical words you spoke to your brother the other day? You might think them justified or not so bad, but they might have hurt worse than you imagine. 

I know we have disagreement about theology and practice. Those are important and I don't think we should minimize them. But why can't I love and support my brother that I have disagreements with? Why can't I help him through a rough patch? Why can't I be there for him when no one else will? I can. I need to. He needs me. I need him. And you know what? Maybe, just maybe, that kind of support will enable us to talk about the other stuff better.

So please, I plead: be there for your brothers in the office. Support them in their struggles, absolve them when their failures are weighing heavy on them, sympathize with them, be a friend. We can't afford not to, brothers. 

Please.

The Day Before . . .

Our congregation is having a joint Divine Service with Immanuel Lutheran Church in Alexandria this coming Sunday, so I do not believe I will be preaching. Nevertheless, I had some thoughts about this Sunday's pericope, the Parable of the Talents (Matthew 25:14-30). What do you think?

What do you think the three servants were doing the day before the master called them and gave them those talents? Going about their business, doing their work, all the regular things of life, right?

But the master interrupted all that with His gift. A divine interruption of their lives. Were the servants glad to be so interrupted? I don't know about you, but I usually don't like interruptions!

Well, the first two servants did what the master had gifted them to do. Didn't they have to stop what they were doing before, their regular life and work, to do something new and different? But, apparently, they saw the gift as an opportunity, and when the master returned, were glad to tell him the new things that they had done.

It was the third servant who did not want to be interrupted - and he let the master know it! He did not see what he had been given as a gift, but as a burden and an obligation. So he didn't do what his master had gifted him to do, but continued doing the old.

What is God gifting you with? How is He interrupting your life with something new and different, in order to bless you? Maybe it doesn't seem like a gift but more like an obligation. Are you resisting? Are you missing out on blessing because you aren't receiving what He's giving as a gift and with joy?

I think there's some good preaching stuff here. Maybe I'll get to use this in three years when the reading comes back again . . .

From Last Night . . .

Our Jack-o-lantern from last night. Not bad, eh?

More Tuesday Morning Coffee . . .

Well, it's been a while again. So what's been going on?

Well, our big news, I guess, is that my son got a job! He is in his senior year at Western New England University in Springfield, MA and so beginning the whole applying and interviewing process. Last week he had an interview at BAE Systems in nearby Manassas, VA. So he took the train down on Monday, had his interview on Tuesday, and took the train back to school on Wednesday. He said the interview went well and they really liked his experience both in and out of the classroom. Well, by the end of the week, he got the job! So now he can relax and enjoy his senior year without having to worry about a job after he graduates. And we get the bonus of having him close by - at least for a few years. We'll see where his career takes him after that.

Before getting that job, my son asked us if we were interested in selling him our Honda Civic - he would need a car to go on his job interviews. Well, we weren't in the car market and I really like my Civic, but as we thought about it, it made sense. He needs a car and was willing to pay more than what we would get trading it in. We could sell it to him for less than what he could buy a similar car for in the market. And we had some money saved . . . so we went ahead and got a new car - a 2017 Toyota Corolla. We have a Toyota minivan and really like it. It's been pretty dependable. And we got a good deal on a 2017 closeout. So now we have a new car and my son has a car to go on job interviews he doesn't need to go on anymore! :-)

The third thing is that my father took a rather large step down the last few days. He is noticeably weaker and spends less time awake and alert. It happened rather suddenly. I guess that's the way things go at his age. So we're keeping a little closer eye on him now. To the right is the latest picture I have of us together. He's been doing pretty well of late - I guess he's just starting to wear out. He's having trouble even getting through a whole devotion with us now.

Finally, I have a question for anyone who has read this far: When Luther wrote in his hymn A Mighty Fortress "one little word can fell him," what is that one little word? I have heard a number of suggestions from a number of people: Jesus, Christ, grace, forgiveness, tetelestai (Greek for "it is finished"), gegraptai (Greek for "it is written"), just to name a few. As far as I know, Luther never specified in his writings what that word was for him. What do you think? What do you think it is? :-)

Have a great Tuesday - officially the 500th Anniversary of the Reformation today!