Giving It Away: 40 Years Later

 

Today I donated and gifted my US Air Force issued duffle bag. I have owned it since November 1981, and it has sat neatly folded in numerous rooms of several of my homes. I offered it to family, but to be honest, no one wanted it and I certainly understand that. Yet, when I brought it and freely donated it to the thrift store where folks can buy and donate myriad items a grateful receiver encountered me. The gentleman said he would like to keep it for himself and then asked me, gently, “Did you serve?” I said, yes. He thanked me for my service, but he then asked me my name and if it was mine. I said, yes, again, with a tear or two welling up in my eyes. I was very touched that he was grateful to receive it. It has my name stenciled in white and I showed him where my name is stenciled. Several thoughts have entered my mind since this morning, and I want to share how this event has touched me.

First, it was amazing to encounter someone so grateful. Even more so, I was thankful that someone could use it. It is in good condition, and it has weathered the years well. He asked about the metal hooks and clip that are used to close the bag once it is full. Another man and I showed him how it works. Duffle bags were new to him. Most importantly, it just felt good to know that the old duffle bag still had life and it could be used. Most importantly, I did not want it to rot away on a shelf in my house. I am grateful that he can use it. Yay.

Second, I am going to give away “everything” one day. I do not have a death wish but I do know that we cannot take anything with us to heaven. So, this was a good lesson on “giving things away” for me. I feel blessed to have the memories of the old duffle bag while he has received something that he feels he can use.

Third, less is more. My son in law, Cooper, recently told me and complimented me on my home. He said, “Your place looks like a Google webpage.” That is high praise from good son in law, for sure. He said that my place looked very uncluttered, crisp and spacious, I think. I appreciated his heartfelt words. All this to say, less is more. Less clutter means crisper looking place, and I cannot keep things forever. Everything must go, as the super-duper salesperson shares on big sale days. All my stuff will be given away one day. I had the blessing of giving and receiving today. More is less and encountering a grateful receiver is a blessing beyond words and measure.

Corona Chronicles Part IX: Survivors: Two-Years Later

 Part IX is dedicated to all of the health care workers, first responders, and mental health care givers who have worked on the front lines and behind the lines these past 2 years. I want to acknowledge the 2-year mark and anniversary of the COVID-19 health emergency (March 13, 2020) and all who have endured this most difficult and challenging time. I mark this time and 2 year anniversary because it has a way of helping remember how far I have come and how far you have come in two years. I know that almost everyone has been touched by COVID-19 and almost everyone knows someone who died from it. We remember them too.

So, let us remember and reflect on these two years. I know that time and distance can help me and you to see more clearly at times. So, we may need time, looking back one day, to see where we have been. Even so, I look back and feel a sense of appropriate satisfaction that I have helped and continue to help those who are ill and those who are suffering with the physical, emotional, and spiritual illness and distress. Thank you, too, for your hard work and your dedication. May you be able to just stop a minute and give thanks for your life and the honor of helping at a critical juncture in our nation's history. We are survivors. You are surviving and so am I. We will go forward, albeit tired and worn out, yet knowing that a better day may hopefully arrive. That's my hope for you and me.

Now, may the God of love, truth, justice and mercy bless you and keep you. May a double portion of love be returned to you as you give your best to help the most vulnerable. May the LORD bless your children and grandchildren. May peace be with you and across the globe. Where there is hate, may sensibilities and goodness win the day. May evil be blotted out and may children and the aged have their needs met and may we give boldly, and even receive boldly, all that comes our way. Finally, may our faith grow as we suffer and sacrifice and may we be as good to ourselves as we are good to all those we know and help. Amen.

The More Things Change, The More They Stay the Same

This is not your everything is changing, COVID-19 blog. No, things really do stay the same. Yes, you are still you and I am still me. Our names have not changed, our birthdays are still the same, and you probably still have a favorite ice cream. My favorites are butter pecan, mint chocolate chip, and cookie dough. I know I said favorite but it's hard to just have one favorite ice cream!

So, back to change and things staying the same. I know that COVID is causing radical change, but it doesn't mean everything has permanently changed.

Christmas is December 25 just like it has always been. Christmas Eve is December 24. You love your family and so do I. Grass goes dormant in the wintertime. The sky is still blue. Mondays are still tough days to get moving into. Time still works as it has worked and there are 60 minutes in an hour. This is beginning to sound ridiculous, but truth can be that way. Simplicity can be rather mundane, and it is.

So, the world is changing all around you and me, every day. But the things that last are eternal. Let me mention the most unchanging thing in life: It is love. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things (1 Cor. 13:7). I pray that the unchanging power of love will continue to empower you to be who you were created to be. I hope that same love will empower you to care and love those in your circles. I wish you the unchanging deep love of God will fill your greatest void and your deepest yearnings. Finally, I hope that this blog will remind you that you are unique, gifted, and sometimes you don't need to change. Just keep being the good, loving, and kind person that you choose to be.

Home Base: Peace, Comfort, Serenity

I wish I had a dollar for every time I have been asked the following question: Do you mean that you drive back and forth from Columbia to Charleston? Simple answer: Yes. More complex answer, I love HOME. Home is where the heart is. So trite yet so true. I love going home. It's home base. It's where my people live and where my loved ones need me and I need them.

I am writing about HOME. It's a physical space and a spiritual space. Home in the Midlands has been such a blessing these past 22 years . Hard to believe I moved, with my family, to Columbia in 1999. There is Lake Murray, there is open space. There is deep tradition and community. There is less transitional movement of residents than some places I have lived. There are interstates; lots of them: I-26 and I-20 and I-77 and I-95 not far away.. Access to the mountains and the beach is 2 hours each way. It's the hub of the Palmetto State.

So, going home after work has been my want and my desire. It gets me away. It takes me to a place of comfort and grace. It almost feels like church. You know, that feeling of peace, fellowship, stillness that is priceless. That sense of contentment that can't be bought.

The sunny and warm to hot weather doesn't hurt either. I believe the number of sunny days each calendar year is calculated on the high side. It's seasonal: beautiful falls and springs, short moderate winters, and hot summers; famously hot as the slogan goes. Most importantly home is that destination where I can slow down, dial back life's RPMs, and catch my breath. Home is a place but it is also a state of mind. May you and I have that special place called home, even amidst the challenges of work, parenting, grandparenting, raking leaves and cutting grass, and doing chores around the house. Home is where God dwells. May God's goodness fill your home with all that you need. So, going home is a good thing. Home. It's right here. Amen.

The Long Way Home

Supertramp’s 1979 album titled, “Breakfast in America” was a smashing success. I saw them in concert. One of the singles from the album is titled, “Long Way Home.” Both the album and this song are beyond good. Give them a listen if you are not familiar with them. I promise you won’t be let down.

Today is my 40th high school reunion, being held in Wayne, PA, not far from King of Prussia where Upper Merion HS is located. Forty years. Hard to believe. I won’t be there but you can bet that my fellow students are on my mind.

Two days ago, I took the long way home to Columbia from Charleston. I took the back roads. They were less congested on Thanksgiving Eve. Plus, the farmland filled with post-harvested cotton, pecans, and peanuts are brilliantly colorful and grand. I am never disappointed.

On my way home and since, I pondered the term, “long way home.” Isn’t that a good summary of life? For me, finding my faith in God has been the most profound journey. I found my way to the LORD and have never turned back. Even so, life has a way of making days and weeks and months of what should be shorter and briefer experiences. Instead, through the “will of God,” “human free will,” and good and bad choices it is not hard to get off the right path. Sometimes it takes awhile to find a better, more level, easier path. The backroads can be bumpy and more dangerous, especially the two-lane ones where trucks are traveling with cut lumber carefully tied to the flatbed.

So, slowing down to ponder the “long way home” may be worth one’s time and my time. I think so. I think of what if’s, what could be, what should have been, what might be, etc. The list could go on and on. Yet, life is a journey. It is the long way home.

The long way can be filled with great joy and devastating heartbreak. The long way home may be the arduous journey of finishing high school, a graduate degree, or waiting on a much-needed trip overseas. The long way home can be the death of a dearly loved one, job loss, home loss, or even death of a beloved pet. The long way home may be long, but I know firsthand, that the road is never monochrome. For me the colors of life are bright, full of life, even in the darkest of days. For the human being, you and me, is so full of creativity, goodness, love, and mercy. Humans help humans on the long road home. We offer a meal, a friendly email, a long-needed phone call, or even a word of apology.

So, Supertramp says, “take the long way home.” For me, I would not want it any other way.

"COVID-19, Grief, and Golden Leaves"

Reds, Yellows, Golden leaves fall from tree limbs, ever so delicately, moved by the light wind in a South Carolina fall morning.

Grief. Loss. Yes, so real.

COVID has happened and continues.

People have died.

Lives have changed. Churches have changed. Work has changed.

Leaves shined upon by the bright morning eastern sun.

Light from God, even in the darkest of times. Times of loss, change, major interruptions. Plans diverted.

Family and children are in spin cycle. Masks. Vaccines. Who says so?

Light bursts through the garnet and orange leaves. Light breaks forth. The grass knows that growth will halt for a time and a season. Halt.

Lives stopped. Plane flights cancelled. Loved ones critically ill.

Golden. Yes, Golden. Color as bright as ever possible. Bright.

Hope. Hope is there. In my soul. In your soul. Even as loss is all around.

Hope is Golden. May it shine ever so brightly and golden today for you and me.

Corona Chronicles VIII: "It's Not Over: Facing a New Round of COVID-19"

I wish it were not so. I really hoped and believed that the numbers of COVID positives and deaths would be declining and not increasing, but that is not so. I was like many who hoped a “must wear a mask” policy would be gone--soon! I was hoping that innocent and good people were no longer dying from the effects of COVID-19. I can still hope. But, before that hope becomes reality there appears to be another challenge and phase of the pandemic that is squarely facing all of us, in the USA and around the world.

In the book of Isaiah 40:31, the prophet talks about walking and not fainting. He was talking about going onward even as we face challenges in life. Some are battling cancer. Some are battling COVID-19. Some have had stroke happen. Some need knee surgery. Some have children who need daily medical care due to chronic illness. We all have our paths and walks. We each have a journey. Yours is yours. Mine in mine. Yet, we all need each other. 

Sometimes we need help from a friend, physician, counselor, lawyer, painter, car mechanic and the list goes on. It’s a community. Communities and countries suffer. Just look at what is happening in Haiti and Afghanistan. Just look in the mirror and across the street. We all have needs. Sometimes we need an extra push, more inspiration, more energy to face a task or challenge we didn’t see coming. What can we do to go onward and upward to a life of joy, satisfaction, peace, and wholeness. I have three fast ideas. Number 1: Be good to yourself. Take inventory of your needs, wishes, and hopes. Take time to follow your dreams and hopes. Be mindful that grief is normal for all, including the loss caused by COVID-19. Feel the losses. Grieve. Feel. Look inward and find ways to flesh out the feelings and thoughts. Sometimes, a counselor can help us do that. Number 2: Let this time of great challenge be a time to grow spiritually and religiously. Use your faith to grow, change, find comfort, and find peace. Make plans for spiritual growth. Talk to those who are spiritual and religious. Find a group that will help you live thoughtfully, peacefully, on purpose and on mission. Number 3: Think about your season of life. Are you in a growing season? A fallow-ground season? A rainy season? A joyful season? A bountiful season? There are times in life when we transition and grow. What is your season? It is good to pay attention to growth transitions. For me those seasons happened at varying times. Some seasons for me included: Leaving home at 18; having my first child; graduating from seminary; getting laid off as a prison chaplain in 2001; my parents dying; and the list goes on. 

A closing prayer: Gracious God, be with all of us in this unexpected and seemingly unending season of COVID-19. Help us to walk and not faint. May your will be done. Amen.