Monday, May 31, 2010

In Memoriam

Somehow it seems fitting that today is the one year anniversary of the final worship service of Westminster Presbyterian Church, Beaumont, TX. Admittedly, Memorial Day is a day when we remember those who have given their lives in service to the United States that we might live in freedom. We've not figured it out perfectly yet, but I'm grateful that we have the opportunity to work toward that goal.

The life and ministry of Westminster was an expression of our faith in Jesus Christ, one of those freedoms we have, and the ministry of healing the sick, helping the poor, and working for justice for those in need. She was a grand old lady, who touched many lives in her 129 year ministry.

I drove by the building today. It seemed appropriate. It hasn't changed a whole lot in a year, but then, it wasn't the exterior of the building that was weak. What was truly surreal was that the signs on the building haven't changed a bit. Worship services are still prominently posted and my name is still listed as pastor.

In some sense, I guess I am. I will always be the last pastor of Westminster. There won't be anyone else to take my place, to minister with her members, to share their lives as Westminsterites.

It has been a truly strange day. One whole year. Hard to believe it's been that long. Hard to believe it hasn't been forever.

Rest in peace, Westminster. Your work is finished, and it has just begun. I'm so glad you were a part of my life!

Saturday, May 29, 2010

Of Language

For the umpteenth time, I've heard this commercial for something that I simply haven't the interest in remembering. But there's this one line that catches my ear each time it's on. The commercial insists that the edible product is "made with real ingredients". Well, yeah! Whatever it is it's made of, they're ingredients. And if you're going to put them in your mouth, chew them up, and swallow them, they're real.

Oh! I'm not totally dense. I know what they're trying to say. Yet my brain wanders off into the real vs. fake ingredient tangent, so I'm not sure I've ever heard the name of the product being hawked.

Then, to amble off in the direction of accents, The Penster and I were taking our evening stroll in the cool(?) of the day. With it being a holiday weekend and somewhat reasonable temperatures, there were quite a few people outside visiting with each other and sharing transient pleasantries with passersby.

On the back leg of our circuit, we crossed paths with a gentleman headed to his car. I asked how he was doing. He said he would be much happier if it was cooler. I agreed. On the basis of about 8 words, he asked me if I was from Texas. !!!

Now I've lived huge hunks of my life in Texas. We moved here from Ohio when I was 2 and I didn't move to Oklahoma until I was 40. I only sojourned in Oklahoma for about 7 years, so you'd think there'd be a heavy dose of Texas in my accent. Those very early years, plus the fact that my parents grew up in Ohio/Pennsylvania/West Virgina, must have had a lasting effect on my accent.

I wonder just what it is that doesn't sound Texan to them?

Friday, May 28, 2010

Appeasement?

It's that time of year again. Mother's Day has come and gone. Graduates are graduating. Students are applauding the end of school and dreaming up summer antics. Memorial Day weekend is happening.

I dig back into my memories and recall the annual disturbing pattern: day by day, sometimes hour by hour, once you get past Mother's Day, gasoline prices sneak upward. A penny here. A nickel there, and before you know it, gasoline prices are poised to reach their summer peaks and profits.

Sure, the companies take advantage of the least little bump or nudge or gallop of potential fiscal chaos throughout the year, whether caused by someone dampening a spigot in a foreign country or the natural calamity of a hurricane. But generally, regular as clockwork, you know when summer's about to start and the companies get ready for people to spend bucks for vacations.

But not this year.

Over the past week, ten days, it has seeped into my consciousness that gasoline prices haven't been tracing their usual trajectories. Two weekends ago, when I traveled to preach in other cities, I was thrilled to find a couple of stations where the price was less than $2.70/gallon. (Ok - I'm aware that that's really cheap in some parts of the world, and cheaper than it was during 'the great gas price crisis', but for my purposes at the moment, $2.75+ was the norm.)

I've been economizing by not driving unless I absolutely have to, so my encounters with gasoline prices have been somewhat intermittent. Over the past two weeks, though, my forays through the community have brought an odd phenomenon to my attention: gasoline prices have actually been headed downward. I went past one of my usual stops yesterday and the price was below $2.60/gallon! The day before the Memorial Day weekend starts? What's going on here?!

Seems to me that someone's trying to appease the driving community and keep them from thinking about things like the massive impact of the Deepwater Horizon explosion and oil spill, and potential outrage leading to a desire to develop alternative sources for energy and many of our products made of petrochemicals today. Guess they figure if they take a bit of a hit financially right now, it'll keep us addicted to the petrochemicals that inhabit huge chunks of our lives and ensure their own futures once the immediacy of the ecological catastrophe has slipped from our awareness.

Problem is - petrochemicals are not a renewable resource. We're going to be at the end of our ropes someday, even if it isn't within the next 50-100 years (just guessing at a timeline). Yet isn't this the perfect time to seriously refocus our creative resources to develop alternatives to the way we do so much today?

Lost jobs in the petrochemical industry? Well, yes. But there will be new jobs in whatever field evolves from research into alternatives to petrochemicals. I truly cannot imagine that whatever the alternative is will ultimately slice the number of jobs available to virtually nothing. New technologies tend to open new opportunities.

Don't quite know how to get large numbers of people onto the alternatives bandwagon, but did want to raise for consideration the question of who's to benefit from the recent slippage in gasoline prices and what we might do to avoid similar catastrophes in the future.

Wednesday, May 05, 2010

Ahhhhhhh, Spring!

This morning is quite a beautiful day!

The sun is shining. The temperature is just perfect. And, in spite of future repercussions sinusally and insectally, I opened my unscreened patio door, just to enjoy the Spring-ness of the day.

The birds are tweeting. The idiot nearby woodpecker has once again decided that my aluminum patio cover has juicy bugs hidden in it. Quite the peaceful moment.

Then, what to my wondering ear should resound? The wafting music of ... no! it can't be! ... a marching band!

Awwwwwwww, c'mon! A marching band? The nearest marching band is two miles away over a busy freeway. I can't be hearing a marching band! Yes, I know. The sound carries well. My son was in a marching band. But at that distance, at absolute best, about all I'd hear would be drums. I had to be imagining things!

But wait! It's getting closer! Have to go check this out!

When I opened the front door, a car went by, then a school bus, obscuring the wafting notes. Hmmmmmmmm ... must have been imagining things. Then there was quiet. Well, the relative quiet of before, and, sure enough, the brass ... the drums ... they were indeed coming closer.

Scratching my head, I crossed the street and looked down toward the elementary school at the end of the block. There were brightly colored bodies lining the school side of the street. And, yes! The music was coming closer!

Soon, to join the wonderful sounds of a marching band, came a line of flag corps flags, then a line of tubas, then several more perfectly straight lines of brass, then drums, then cheerleaders, and several groups of children, and a car, and a policeman on a motorcycle at the end of the parade.

Looks like the elementary school had some sort of springtime parade this morning. So glad I got to enjoy it too!

Sunday, May 02, 2010

Jesus Is Coming

Well, that's what the decal in the back of the car's window said, and I'm in agreement with that thought. Don't know precisely when he'll get here, but he said he'd come back and I trust that.

Then there was the second line of that decal:

Look busy

Uh ... no!

You see, I believe Jesus looks for substance over appearances. If anything, appearances really seem to irritate him.

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus tells his disciples and all who were listening to him, "Beware of practicing your piety before others in order to be seen by them; for then you have no reward from your Father in heaven. So whenever you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be praised by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your alms may be done in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you. And whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, so that they may be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But whenever you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you." (Matthew 6:1-6 NRSV)

So I take issue with that "look busy" part of the decal.

Stop and think about it. Jesus was interested in the essence, the motivations, the depth of why one does things. From his perspective, doing good things so other people will think you're a good person, even if that other person is Jesus, is not sufficient.

"Looks" aren't important.

Is your heart one that truly cares for the welfare of others? Are the actions you take intended to further the work Jesus began when he was among us? Do you love your neighbors as yourselves? Do you "love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you" (Matthew 5:44 NRSV)? Tough stuff that Jesus asks us to do! And we're asked to do them not for appearances sake, but with hearts that seek the will of God and the betterment of those around us because it is the right and true thing to do.

So I'd change that second line of the decal:

Jesus Is Coming
Get Busy