It's Been Far too Long

It's been far too long since I sat down long enough to compose some thoughts and to send them to the keyboard. I suppose I could cliche' my way through all the excuses, but the fact of the matter is that blogging just didn't work its way up on my "to do" list until today. There were always more important things to do--some of them important and some of them pretty trivial. So, no excuses, just a mea culpa, and some new thoughts for you to ponder.

Thought No. 1: Why am I drinking this cold coffee? Every morning, on the way to church I stop and get a large black coffee to get me through the morning. I put it in my special Methodist thermal cup when I arrive and have just a little left over which I drink right away. Then I start to work, and the next thing I know, I pick up the mug and swallow cold coffee. And even sillier, I keep on drinking it the rest of the morning.
Today it struck me. That coffee is like my faith journey. It starts out with lots of steam, and it really feels good, but as we get into the work of it all, it soon cools off, and becomes the slightly bitter taste of something put off. The only choice is to continue to accept the cold, or re-heat. With coffee that's easy. We call it a microwave. With my faith journey its a whole lot more work. I am working on a sermon about the spiritual disciplines that help us keep faithful, and I hope that by the time it is done, I will have re-commited myself to each of them. Ah!! Hot coffee; hot faith!

Thought No. 2: What will life by like without Harry Potter? One of the really great connections I have had with my eldest granddaughter has been the Harry Potter phenomena. She is 11, and has read every book in the series, as have I. We have discussions about the books, and she has instructed me on the intracacies of wizardy and their world. When a new Harry Potter movie comes out, I take her to the movie, just the two of us, and then to lunch. We were recently discussing the fact that there will be no more books to discuss, when she emphatically stated, "But, Grampy, we still have two more movie dates." I guess that there is life after Harry after all, and I can hardly wait for that next movie (Sept. of 2008 I hear.)

Final Thought: I have been cleaning my desk drawers and desk top today, and trying to throw away the things I really don't need to keep. I have always prided myself on keeping a clean desk, and found it a real mess today. In the process, I discovered a couple of items I thought were long lost and gone. Now they are in their proper place and ready for their intended purposes. Again there is a faith lesson here.
Often we acquire some bit of faith along the way, and lay it aside until it might be needed. By the time it is, so many things have piled up on top of it that we can't find it. And so much of the time, the stuff on top is irrelevant or even counterproductive of our faith. I am going to try to do with my faith what I do with my desk "stuff." I will look at when it comes and if it isn't going anywhere I will get rid of it before it becomes clutter. That way the good stuff will always be available when the right time comes.

Well, thanks for reading my ramblings. And let me know What ya'Thinkin'.

Pastor Realff