Big stuff, small stuff, here comes space stuff (Asteroid)!

 Good morning,

I pray the day finds you well.

I was at my Oncologist's office this morning. Yes, cancer the gift that keeps on giving.

As we talked about stuff, and the shape of the world we currently live in, I talked about my friends on the Dairy Farm, my doctor likes the fact that I call Chemo the Dairy Farm, "It makes it feel better somehow", says he. 

I talked about big stuff verses small stuff and how just about everything is small stuff. How we try to make small stuff into big stuff because somehow it makes us more important, or something. How people are getting upset and angry about things they really shouldn't get upset or angry about.

I am reminded of a story Tolstoy wrote. In the story there were two farmers. who lived next to one another. One day a farmer went to his chicken coop and found an egg missing. He assumed his neighbor stole it and accused his neighbor of stealing an egg. 

Two things about this story that always caused me pause:

1. How did the farmer know that an egg was missing and that his chicken just had not laid an egg that day?

2. Why did he assume his neighbor had stolen an egg in the first place?

Anyway, this caused a feud that ended when one farmer lit the other farmers house on fire only to have the flames catch his house on fire too thus burning his own house down in the process. 

"One match burns two houses"

Big stuff, small stuff here comes space stuff.

If we just sit back a moment and ask the question what is truly BIG verses what is truly small we have new eyes to see things through. 

According to an internet search evidently there is an asteroid that is going to hit the earth on election night. 

Big stuff, small stuff, here comes space stuff (Asteroid)!

Now if you want BIG stuff that would be right up there. After all the last time a large asteroid hit the earth it was an extinction event.

Upon further research however I found that alas this was not true, thus the Asteroid story became small stuff pretty quickly. 

I guess what I am trying to say is the next time you think you have BIG stuff do a little research to verify that it is truly BIG, chances are it too will become small.

Something to ponder.

Blessings,

Roger  

"If you want to walk on water, you’ve got to get out of the boat."

 Good morning,
I pray the day finds you well.

I got up this morning thinking about a book I read almost twenty years ago. The book was "If you want to walk on water, you have to get out of the boat." by John Ortberg. 

I have thought about this book when it came to mind over the years and always causes me pause. In the book John uses the analogy of Peter walking on the water to greet Jesus. He talks bout being daring, getting out of your comfort zone. Doing something new and different for Christ. 

He says, "If you want to walk on water, you’ve got to get out of the boat."

Meaning that if you want to see change and do things that will get new results you have to stop what you are doing and take a chance. If you want to do something truly amazing like walk on water, you have to get out of the boat. 

Over the years I have wondered whether I have truly gotten out of the boat? That is the thought that haunts me.

He goes on to say, "here is a deep truth about water-walking: the fear never goes away."

Meaning, that when you go into the great unknown, totally trusting Christ, it will be a bit scary, The fear of sinking will never go away. Walk on water anyway!

Laurie (my wife) and I have felt this fear. She has expressed it in terms like, "We are going to have to eat cat food or live under a bridge.

He goes on to say, "the worst failure is not to sink in the waves. The worst failure is to never get out of the boat.

I hope I have not committed this failure. Never taking a chance. Always remaining safely in the process or business that is known and not making a real impact but keeping comfortable is the worst failure, you never got out of the boat. 

He finishes with, "I believe there are many good reasons to get out of the boat.  But there is one that trumps them all: The water is where Jesus is."

You can stay in the boat and talk about the things of God or you can emulate Peter and actually go do the things God would have you do. 

You can walk on water, you can walk toward Christ. Sure the fear of sinking will be there but God has you in His hands. 

Something to Ponder.

Blessings,

Roger

---

I will try not to make small stuff, big stuff.

 Good morning,

I pray the day finds you well.

I have been a bit cranky lately. I have been feeling a bit down as my "post chemo" body has been dealing with the effects of having been filled with poison for seven months. 

I was busy lamenting to someone (I do not even know who) about this when God reminded me, "Aren't you the guy who spent time on the dairy farm (chemo room)? Aren't you the guy who spent time with people a lot farther down their journey with cancer than your place in the journey? What did you learn from these people?"

I stopped in my tracks. I remembered how we talked about big stuff and little stuff, both large and small. I remembered how we talked about not sweating the small stuff and how the more we talked the less big stuff there was in our lives, in fact unless we made it big stuff it was all small stuff!

We talked about not knowing how many days we had, and making the most out of the day that was in front of us. 

As I ruminated on my conversations on the dairy farm I remembered something someone had once said. Someone whose words remained after they themselves had been forgotten. 

This is what they said:

This is the beginning of a new day.

God has given me this day to use as I will.

I can waste it or use it for good.

What I do today is important,

Because I’m exchanging a day of my life for it.

When tomorrow comes, this day will be gone forever,

Leaving in it’s place something that I have traded for it.

I want it to be gain, not loss;

Good, not evil; Success, not failure,

In order that I shall not regret the price I paid for it.

Anonymous

I will try and remember these words. 

I will try not to make small stuff, big stuff.

My post Chemo Body is small stuff. I will have fun working on it 

What stuff are you making "big stuff" today, is it really big stuff? If you are unsure, ask someone who is looking eternity directly in its face, they will tell you what big stuff is, and what isn't.

Something to ponder.

Blessings,

Roger

Come on people now smile on your brother,

 Good morning,

I pray the day finds you well.

The Youngbloods wrote this song in 1967. 

Love is but a song to sing
Fear's the way we die
You can make the mountains ring
Or make the angels cry
Though the bird is on the wing
And you may not know why

Come on people now
Smile on your brother
Everybody get together
Try to love one another
Right now

Some may come and some may go
We shall surely pass
When the one that left us here
Returns for us at last
We are but a moment's sunlight
Fading in the grass

Come on people now
Smile on your brother
Everybody get together
Try to love one another
Right now

Come on people now
Smile on your brother
Everybody get together
Try to love one another
Right now

Come on people now
Smile on your brother
Everybody get together
Try to love one another
Right now

If you hear the song I sing
You will understand (listen!)
You hold the key to love and fear
All in your trembling hand
Just one key unlocks them both
It's there at your command

Come on people now
Smile on your brother
Everybody get together
Try to love one another
Right now

Come on people now
Smile on your brother
Everybody get together
Try to love one another
Right now

I said, come on people now
Smile on your brother
Everybody get together
Try to love one another
Right now

Right now
Right now

It says it all!

I believe we should be practicing this today.

Something to ponder.

Blessings,

Roger

Enough about that.

 Good morning,

I pray the day finds you well.

Did you see the debate last night? All I can say is "wow" I wasn't sure if I was seeing a debate or a middle school argument. In fact, I am sure I didn't see a debate and I did see a middle school argument.

Enough about that.

Well maybe a little more. I would have liked to see an actual plan. A way to help us be a better country, a better people.

I teach a worldviews class at a university and in the very first class of the session I tell my students, "Do not tell me what you believe, your actions will tell me what your core commitment is."

Parker Palmer says it even better, he says, "Before you tell your life what you intend to do with it, listen for what it intends to do with you.  Before you tell your life what truths and values you have decided to live up to, let you life tell you what truths you embody, what values you represent."[1]

I wish that the moderator had said that to the debaters/middle school arguers last night. 

As we go through our days may we be more diligent on our actions and not our words. Let us be the hands and feet of Christ and not his mouth.

If our actions do not match our words maybe we need to check our core commitment and see if this is who we want to be, if not we should work on being better.

Something to ponder,

Blessings,

Roger

---

[1]Parker Palmer, Let Your Life Speak, (San Francisco: John Wiley & Sons, 2000), 3..

Dancing with God Redux

 Good morning. 

I pray that the day finds you well.

This is an old bread, but I thought it was relevant for what we seem to be going through at the moment. 

Enjoy and ponder.

The wind was blowing the other day, and I noticed a leaf being

carried along. It blew one way, then another.

I watched as it went back and forth, tumbling over its stem, then

over its tips. I sat for quite a while observing this leaf.

At first I was amused by the back-and-forth action, and thought

about how the wind changed direction, causing the leaf to change with it.

I thought about how the leaf had no say in where it wanted to go.

The wind was in control.

It occurred to me that most of us live and work at the whim of

others. If someone decides to go in another direction or the economy

takes a dip, our jobs might go away, and we will have about as much

say in it as the leaf does with the wind.

Then God said, “Relax and watch the leaf.”

I sat silently and did as He asked.

After a while, my heart began to change. I began to see the leaf

differently.

I began to see it dance.

It no longer was an out-of-control leaf pushed here and there. The

leaf was dancing.

A still small voice said, “This leaf makes Me smile. It is dancing

with Me.”

I watched the leaf for quite a while.

In the end, I was no longer thinking in a negative fashion. My

thoughts turned to all the blessings and small miracles that happen

every day. I just need to have eyes to see, ears to hear, and a heart to

accept.

My prayer is that we all choose to see the beauty in God’s creation,

to see a leaf dance, and to ask, are we dancing with God or merely

allowing ourselves to be blown out of control?

It is a matter of perspective.

Blessings,

Roger

Hydroplaning can be fun I suppose, but I have never found it to be so.

 Good morning,

I pray the day finds you well.

It was raining again today as I left the house on the river to drive to the "Y". 

It wasn't an easy rain, but one that could make you hydroplane if you were not focused. I was focused. Hydroplaning can be fun I suppose, but I have never found it to be so.

As I drove along the Columbia River God reminded me what a beautiful day it was. 

I have often said, "If you can see God in the puffy clouds of a beautiful sunny blue sky day, then you can also see Him in the mudpuddles of a rainy one." 

I hadn't always realized that, but found it later in my walk with Him. In fact I had spent a good amount of time in my early years saying things like, "God where are you? or  I wish you would come back." It wasn't until much later that I truly grasped the concept and understanding that God is always here and it is I that leaves Him or ignores Him.

When you get to the point where you see God at work in His creation you get the opportunity to see Him working in places you would never expect. He even works with Nihilists.

Ernest Hemmingway is one of my favorite authors. His writing style intrigues me. I was reading one of his books many years ago and this is what he wrote: 

"He had always known what I did not know and what, when I learned it, I was always able to forget.  But I did not know that then, although I learned it later."[1]

I love this quote. It reminds me of how big God is and how small I am. 

Seeing God in mudpuddles is fun, if you haven't tried it you should give it a go. You just might be surprised at what you find.

Something to ponder.

Blessings,

Roger 

---

[1]Ernest Hemmingway, Farewell to Arms, (New York: Scribner, 1929), 14.

God just wants to talk with us.

 Good morning,

I pray the day finds you well.

Today the sun was just rising as I drove to the "Y". The fact that I could see the sun meant that it was not raining. 

The sun is shining today. 

I spent my drive to the "Y" talking with God.

Trevvvvvvvvvvvvvvvor our CEO has mentioned that I tend to drone on. I am glad I can drone to God and He doesn't seem to mind, at least He has never said anything about my droning yet.

I like talking with God, I like to hear what He has to say. When I say I hear from God people say, "You hear God? Are you sure your not just crazy?" I respond, "Well if being crazy means I hear, Love that neighbor that is hard to love. Help that homeless person. I know it is hard but listen more intently to that hurting person. Then I do not mind being crazy."

When I talk to people about prayer I get a variety of responses:

• I pray all the time
• I don't pray
• I don't know how
• I am not any good at it

When I ask if they listen for a response I get:

• What do you mean
• No
• God doesn't talk to me

What I find funny is prayer is just a conversation with God. There isn't a magic formula to prayer, you don't have to have the right words or say certain things. You just need to talk to God like you would to your friend and leave room for God to talk back, just like you would for your friend.

God just wants to talk with us.

Richard Foster says in Prayer: Finding the Heart’s True Home:

We today yearn for prayer and hide from prayer.  We are attracted to it and repelled by it.  We believe prayer is something we should do, even something we want to do, but it seems like a chasm stands between us and actually praying.  We experience the agony of prayerlessness.[1] 

He goes on to say:

The truth of the matter is, we all come to prayer with a tangled mass of motives—altruistic and selfish, merciful and hateful, loving and bitter.  Frankly, this side of eternity we will never unravel that good from the bad, the pure from the impure.  But what I have come to see is that God is big enough to receive us with all our mixture.  We do not have to be bright, or pure, or filled with faith, or anything.  That is what grace means, and not only are we saved by grace, we live by it as well.  And we pray by it.[2] 

He finishes with:

What I am trying to say is that God receives us just as we are and accepts our prayers just as they are.  In the same way that a small child cannot draw a bad picture so a child of God cannot offer a bad prayer.[3]

If you already pray, awesome keep it up, if you haven't yet give it a try, you might be surprised how easy it is. 

Something to ponder.

Blessings,

Roger

---

[1]Richard Foster, Prayer: Finding the Heart’s True Home, (San Francisco: HarperCollins Publishing Company, 1992), 7.

[2]Richard Foster, Prayer: Finding the Heart’s True Home, (San Francisco: HarperCollins Publishing Company, 1992), 8.

[3]Richard Foster, Prayer: Finding the Heart’s True Home, (San Francisco: HarperCollins Publishing Company, 1992), 8-9.

The more I learn about God, the more I realize I do not know.

 Good morning,

I pray the day finds you well.

It was raining today when I got up. I actually enjoy the rain as much as I enjoy the sun. I do however enjoy fall as my favorite season, the colors, hot days but cool nights. The woods seem more alive somehow. I see salmon swimming upstream when I take my walks by the river. 

My walks give me time to think, they give me pause. 

This morning I was ruminating on something Richard Foster wrote twelve years ago. I had been thinking of "chaos" and why people are the way they are. I teach  a worldviews class for a university and I have an understanding of differing worldviews. I know that they think differently (thus the "different" in our worldviews). When I give instruction on Christian Theism I talk about what a "Life with God" looks like.

I am also a Spiritual Director. 

When people come to me for a Spiritual Direction Experience (which by the way is different than Discipleship, although there is an aspect of this in Spiritual Direction) I direct them in ways of having a better relationship with God.

Anyway, I was ruminating on Foster this morning. 

Foster said:

The source of the problem is rooted in the two most common objectives people have for studying the Bible.  The first is the practice of studying the Bible for information or knowledge alone.  This may include information about particular facts or historical events, or knowledge of general truths or doctrines, or even knowledge of how others are mistaken in their religious views, beliefs, and practices.[1]

He went on to say:

The second common objective people often have for studying the Bible is to find some formula that will solve the pressing need of the moment.  Thus we seek out lists of specific passages that speak to particular needs rather than seeking whole-life discipleship to Jesus.[2]

And he finished with this:

If we want to receive from the Bible the life “with God” that is portrayed in the Bible, we must be prepared to have our dearest and most fundamental assumptions about ourselves and our associations called into question.  We must humbly and in a constant attitude of repentance.[3]

So often I have conversations with people that seem to think they have it all figured out. When the beginning began, when the end will come. How they are right and others are wrong.

The more I learn about God, the  more I realize I do not know. 

I focus on my relationship with Him, and how that is going. I do not focus on others and how theirs is not going. 

How about we all try to focus on our relationship with God, come to Him in humble humility and let Him guide us and comfort us, allowing us to then help others and love on them.

Something to ponder.

Blessings,

---

[1]Richard Foster, Life With God. (San Francisco: HarperCollins Publishing Company, 2008), 4.

[2]Richard Foster, Life With God. (San Francisco: HarperCollins Publishing Company, 2008), 5.

[3]Richard Foster, Life With God. (San Francisco: HarperCollins Publishing Company, 2008), 5.

I would have liked to hear the tree's story, but alas, I cannot talk to trees.

 Good morning,

I pray the day finds you well.

Laurie and I live by a river. 

Every so often, usually in the winter when the water is high and running fast, we watch as things go down the river to eventually be deposited in the ocean.

Every year we see at least one huge tree floating down the river, we had one the other day.

I sat and watched this tree go by. As I watched this tree I began to ponder (I like to ponder) about this tree. It was obviously old and now dead as it floated down the river, but it was once alive and vibrant. I thought about how it sprang to life as a seedling somewhere up in the mountains. How this tree had fought the deep snows of its early years, lived through rain and drought, heat and cold, summers and winters. I thought how it had seen so many things. 

I had no idea of how old this tree was (It is hard to count tree rings as a tree floats by in the river) but I knew it was at least 60 years old. 

It is funny when I stop to think that I am as old as a tree.

As I thought about this tree and the life that it lived. I thought how it dodged the loggers, averted catastrophe in its youth. 

I do not know how or why it died, and what brought it down the river. Its roots were intact and it was not cut. 

I would have liked to hear the tree's story, but alas, I cannot talk to trees. 

I am also a people watcher. I like to watch people.

I especially like to watch people when I am at the airport. People going to and fro. Some smiling, others not so much. Couples holding hands, parents chasing kids. 

As I watched the tree I thought about the airport. People going by like a tree in a river and all I know is they have a story, a story that I do not know.   

We have a saying in the YMCA, "You may know my name, but you do not know me." meaning you may know my name but you do not know my story. We try really hard to get to know people.

When we know a person's story we have a better understanding of who they are and what makes them, well them. 

As I pondered on this tree I thought about how if we actually took the time to get to know one another there might not be so much fighting, arguing, strife.

If we got to know each other and truly worked on loving each other the world would be a better place.

Maybe Heaven could even reach down and touch earth?

Something to ponder.

Blessings,

Roger

Oh the fires have been a burning, and the people have been a protesting.

 

Good morning,

I pray the day finds you well.

Oh the fires have been a burning, and the people have been a protesting. 

One of the questions that I continually ask myself is, "How do I lead effectively through chaos?" 

Leading when times are good is easy.

Leading when times are hard is a bit more difficult

Leading in Chaos is the hardest of all. 

We are in a pandemic.

We have political tension that brings people to a place of, "Does one wear a mask or not?"

We have a media that screams at people for gathering at events and not wearing masks, yet at the same time cover protests with hundreds of people not wearing masks and not a peep from the network.

We have wildfires burning homes and communities and people laying blame and others making excuses.

Chaos is defined as, "Complete disorder and confusion." According to Webster's anyway.

We supposedly live in a free country, but as Viktor Frankl writes in Man's search for Meaning, "Freedom is only part of the story and half the truth…That is why I recommend that the Statue of Liberty on the East Coast be supplanted by a Statue of Responsibility on the West Coast."[1]

Laurie and I have gotten into the habit of watching old gameshows, we find them on YouTube.

We watch them because we are old. 

We watch them because they remind us of days gone by. 

We watch them because we find how people treat each other and the way they speak is so foreign to the way people treat each other and speak to each of today.

This chaos we live in did not happen overnight.

It did not happen after the last election.

No, it was a much slower process. A process no-one really noticed. 

Somewhere along the line it became everyone else's fault. 

Everyone is the victim.

Chaos.

Chaos happens when we take our eyes off our neighbor's well being and place it on ourselves.

Jesus told us about the good Samaritan.

He also told us to love our neighbor as we love ourselves. 

Chaos happens when we do not help our neighbor

Chaos happens when we do not love our neighbor.

If the Statue of Responsibility encompassed being responsible for our neighbor's well being along with the planet God entrusted us with, then we just might have something.

Something to ponder.

Blessings,

Roger  

---

[1]Viktor Frankl, Man’s Search for Meaning, (New York: Touchstone Books, 1984), 134.

The times are a changing.

 Good morning,

I pray the day finds you well.

The wind keeps blowing.

The times keep changing.

The winds of change have been and are upon us. 

We had what the weather people call a "wind event" last night, in fact the wind is still blowing this morning. 

There are trees down in our neck of the woods. 

The "event" got me to thinking. 

How often when times are good we fail to take a moment and soak them in. Instead, we start to think that this is the way things will be and do not think about change. 

The only constant that I know of is change. 

We have been living through Covid-19, the killing of George Floyd; in Portland we have just surpassed 100 days of continuous protest. 

The times are a changing. 

The thing about a wind event is the wind tends to clean out the weak and the dead. the tree that cannot bend to the wind will snap. 

Jesus when He talked of change He talked of "Stiff necked people." People that would not bend to the winds of change that God was asking them to do in their lives. 

Pharaoh (Ramesses 2)  was stiff necked and would not see the change in front of him and would not let the Hebrew slaves go.  Look how well things went for him. 

The times are a changing, let us be pliable enough to change with them and not become a tree blown to the ground. 

Let Christ do His will in us and let us love one another.

Something to ponder.

Blessings,

Roger

Everything is relative.

 Good morning,

I pray the day finds you well.

We have a heat wave coming, well a heat wave by Pacific Northwest terms, it will be above 90  degrees for a few days. Phoenix would call it balmy, Kansas would call it nice, up here in the upper left of the country we call that a heat wave. 

Everything is relative. 

Some of my day is made up of working with people that are in real pain:

• Cancer
• Chronic physical pain
• Mental anguish

Most of my day is made up of working with people who are upset when something does not go their way.

• The pool is full.
• They have to wear a mask.
• They can't park their expensive car in three parking spots to avoid a door ding.

These people are truly upset. their whole day is now off kilter.

Everything is relative.

The people who are upset about the pool, mask, or parking spot are not dealing with the more dire of diagnoses. I have found on my time on the Dairy Farm (Chemo) that these people don't sweat the small stuff. I learned the same thing from my time on the farm. 

Another thing I learned was just about everything is small stuff.

I was reading a book the other day and it talked about Christians being thrown to the lions in Rome. 

The last time I looked nobody was being eaten by lions in any of our football stadiums.

Everything is relative. 

I guess when you are not running from a lion a parking space is important. 

I guess when you don't have a lion chomping on your leg, not getting into the pool is important.

I guess when you are not worried about a lion, a person has time to think about whether to wear a mask or not.  

Everything is relative.

What about the family down the street that needs food, can we worry about that?

What about the kid that needs help in school, when will this child become important?

What if we took the focus off of ourselves and looked to help others.

Jesus said:

"I was hungry and you fed me,

I was thirsty and you gave me a drink,

I was homeless and you gave me a room,

I was shivering and you gave me clothes,

I was sick and you stopped to visit,

I was in prison and you came to me."

Then the people said, "When did we ever see you hungry and feed you, thirsty and give you a drink? When did we every see you sick or in prison and come to you? Jesus said, "I am telling you the truth whenever you did one these things to someone overlooked or ignored, that was me-you did it to me."

What if we all took a deep breath, relaxed and did that? 

I wonder what the world would look like then?

Something to ponder.

Blessings,

Roger

Sometimes things go kaput and you throw a hissy fit

 Good morning,

I pray the day finds you well.

Sometimes things just go kaput. 

I had said my goodbyes to the staff and was off to our corporate headquarters for yet another meeting, at least this one was  in person so I did not have to ZOOM. ZOOMing around gets tiring. 

I had been on the road for about 5-minutes when all of a sudden I noticed something.  I noticed that my motorcycle wasn't running anymore. Uggggggg, I coasted to the side of the rode; called the staff at corporate told them I would miss the meeting as I was on the side of the road broken down. I called my "Y", Eddie and Norm were in a meeting so Jennifer got the short straw to come get me. 

It is good to have family, just sayin. 

It is better to have family that likes you, just sayin.

It is best to have family who will come and get you when you are broken down on the side of the road, just sayin. 

The team at Corporate made a Team meeting so I could ZOOM from the side of the road. 

I was too busy being broken down, talking with the tow truck driver, dodging cars that tried their very best to kill us. Frankly, I was not in my best place at the moment.

Yes, it is true, even chaplains have bad days. 

Later, someone asked me, "What do you think God is trying to teach you in all of this?" 

Good thing I am well trained. 

Inside my head my mind is screaming, "Bad theology, bad theology, My bike died. things happen. God did not cause my bike to die so He could teach me a lesson. that is right up there with 'God needed your baby more than you did." 

On the outside I said, "I don't know."

Sometimes things just go kaput.

Here is what I do know, "While God did not cause my bike to die, He can use it to help others if I allow Him to." 

I will learn how to trust in Him even more. I will know that He was there with me in the moment, even though I did not feel Him at the moment. 

I know He loves me and cares for me, even when I am throwing a hissy fit, which by the way I was. Just ask Jennifer. See she even took a video!

As you can plainly see I was not being my best at that moment. 

God understands.

Sometimes things go kaput and you throw a hissy fit 

I am glad that God is big enough to watch me throw a hissy fit and then give me comforting words when I am done.

Have you ever thrown a hissy fit with God?

Something to ponder.

Blessings,

Roger

 

The Check Engine Light of Life

 Good morning,

I pray the day finds you well.

I was driving along just fine the other day when my check engine light came on. I drive a 1999 Jeep Cherokee classic, it has over 300,000 miles on it so having the check engine light come on is not uncommon. The car has been paid off for almost 20 years and I have grown accustom to making a car payment in the form of a mechanical bill every so often. 

So when the check engine light comes on I take my jeep to my mechanic. 

The funny thing about a check engine light is that it does not tell you what is wrong, it just tells you something is not as it should be. 

It could be a big thing or a little thing.

You just do not know.

You have a choice you could ignore the check engine light much like Penny did.

Or you could take it in and have it checked.

As I drove my jeep to the mechanic I began to think, "How often our check engine lights come on in us." We have the option of ignoring our check engine light or paying attention to it.

The funny thing about our check engine light is that it doesn't say what is wrong with us. It just says that something is wrong and we better get it checked. 

Sometimes we need a medical doctor.

Sometimes we need a psychological doctor.

Sometimes we need a spiritual doctor.

When our check engine light comes on it could be any of those things, we do not know.

The most important part of this is to even notice that the check engine light is on. 

Take a quick moment and look, if you see 

Oh sure you can ignore your check engine light, much like Penny did. But the problem won't go away just because you ignored it. In fact a small thing can become a big thing if you don't do something about it. 

You should get it checked.

Just sayin

Something to ponder.

Blessings,

Roger

Old McDonald had a farm e-i-e-i-oh.

Good morning,

I pray the day finds you well.

Old McDonald had a farm e-i-e-i-oh, and on this farm he had a ZOOM e-i-e-i-oh.
Here a ZOOM, there a ZOOM, everywhere a ZOOM, ZOOM.
Old McDonald had a farm e-i-e-i-oh.

Am I the only one, or is there anyone else out there that is getting tired of ZOOMing?

It seems as if all we do is ZOOM meetings. Now don't get me wrong, I love the people that I work with and enjoy our time together, but do we really need all these meetings? 

I remember when I was a kid and watched space movies, or better yet Star Trek. Captain Kirk would talk to somebody from the Gamma quadrant on his big screen on the bridge. I thought that was pretty cool. 

Captain Kirk on yet another call from the Gamma Quadrant.

Now we do the same thing, all the time, from our phones, computers, in our offices, at home, from the car...

It doesn't feel so cool anymore. 

Maybe if I had a big captains chair and an entire star ship bridge in front of me it might be a bit cooler, I bet that even that would get old after a while; I don't know, I will have to ask my wife if I can have one, just to be sure. 

Maybe it is the whole wherever I am I am available thing. 

Actually, I am just being human. God reminded me of this in the middle of my star ship captain Kirk rant.

If I am to help people I need to be available. Not only do I need to be available, I need to be present to them as well. Not only do I need to available and present, I must also be in my new creation self and be Jesus' hands and feet. 

So if you're serious about living this new resurrection life with Christ, act like it. Pursue the things over which Christ presides. Don't shuffle along, eyes to the ground, absorbed with the things right in front of you. look up, and be alert to what is going on around Christ-that's where the action is. See things from His perspective. (Col 3:1-2 The Message)

Time for another meeting.

I guess I will live on Old McDonald's farm  a while longer.

Here a ZOOM, there a ZOOM, everywhere a ZOOM, ZOOM.
Old McDonald had a farm e-i-e-i-oh.

How are you ZOOMing?

Something to ponder.

Blessings,

Roger

The Grace of the Mind

 Good morning,

I pray the day finds you well.

Words are important, so is proper phrasing.

I was talking with one of my work mates the other day. She has a kid in college and she was telling me about the dorm her daughter was going to go into this fall. She said, "The kitchen is so big it has a dorm in it."

I said, "That must be quite a kitchen."

She replied, "What?"

I responded, "You said, the kitchen was so big it had a dorm in it." 

She gruffed, "You know what I meant."

I laughed, I did know what she meant. But then I began to think, "How often do we say something backwards, or inside out, or incomplete."

I remember taking a reading test a long time ago and the test showed how our brains will actually correct misspellings and grammatical errors as we read.

I call that the Grace of the Mind.

I often wonder how many arguments or broken relationships have occurred because of a misunderstanding based on how we said something.

Instead of asking a clarifying question such as, "This is what I heard, is that what you meant?"

We instead believe the worst in the person and end the relationship, or at least tarnish it by not getting a clarifying thought. 

Why can't we give verbal communication the same grace we give written communication?

If we kna corrcet inn r minds waht we read wyh can't we corrcet what we here?

smothing to pnoder   

Blessings,

Roger 

Don't fall asleep with an 8-year old granddaughter in the room

 Good morning,

I pray the day finds you well. 

Laurie and I had the grand kids spend the weekend with us. We had a blast.

We:

Played in the river that is behind our house.

Hiked around round lake.

Went to garage sales and bought stuff. 

Stopped off at the local hamburger spot and got milk shakes.

Watched movies.

Painted rocks.

I fell asleep on the couch and woke up to:

Don't fall asleep with an 8-year old granddaughter in the room!

BTW-those are not my toes! Esmeralda took the picture and those are her toes. Mine are a deeper shade of pink, just sayin. 

Laurie and I had fun with our grand-kids. I was too tired to take the finger nail polish off last night and so I went to the "Y" with them painted.

I am reminded of a couple of things:

First something Paul said:

to the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some. (1 Corinthians 9:22)

Then something Jesus said:

then litlle children were brought to Him that He might put His hands on them and pray, but  the disciples rebuked them. But Jesus said, "Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of heaven." And He laid His hands on them and departed from there. (Matthew 19:13-15)

As I ruminated on their words, I became less focused on me and more focused on those I can help. If letting a grandchild paint my nails makes her happy then so be it.

If helping a homeless person makes me late for a meeting, then so be it.

Something cancer has taught me.

I don't know how much time I have so I will make it count.

Do you know how much time you have?

Something to ponder.

Blessings,

Roger

Don't be a Cowboy hat and an African basket

Good morning,

I pray the day finds you well.

You have heard me say this before, but I will say it again, "Oh these are tough times to be a shrubbier."

These are also tough times to be a lot of things. Here at the "Y" we are busy having conversation after conversation about what "offerings" we should have. 

A few years ago my motorcycle buddy and I were riding through central Oregon. As we rode through a small town (when I say small I mean city limits sign on both sides of the sign post small) and we came across this sign in front of the only store in town. 

Now if you are the only store around for 200 miles I guess having such a wide / eclectic offering might just work.

Kind of like being home alone and running around the house dressed in boxer shorts and a dress shirt, or a tank top and swimming trunks. But go outside the house or go to a store dressed like that and you just might get some sideways looks.

I am not really sure what Cowboy hats have with African baskets. I wasn't in the market for either so I didn't check them out. 

I worry about the same thing with the "Y" If we try to be all things to all people and have more offerings than Wally World we might water ourselves down to the point of people saying, "I'm not in the market for a Cowboy hat." or Alice telling Fred, "Honey we already have 3-African Baskets at home, we don't need another one."

Another way to put this is, "If you don't have a strategic plan you might end up selling Cowboy hats and African baskets.

Where am I going with all of this? 

Worldviews, that is where I am going. 

If you say you believe one thing but your actions say you believe something else, at the very least you are a confused individual. At the most, well you get it. 

Don't be that person.

Don't be a Cowboy hat and an African basket.

Something to Ponder.

Blessings,

I should have taken a left at Albuquerque!

Good morning,

I pray the day finds you well.

Trevvvvvvvvvvvvvvvor is on a road trip!

He is headed to Florida. Trevvvvvvvvvvvvvvvor being Trevvvvvvvvvvvvvvvor I totally expect a call stating he is lost.

The funny thing is that most of us go through life being randomly impacted by things, or that is what we think. 

I often hear in my counselings, "I didn't think that would happen or I didn't see that one coming."

When in fact if they had thought about the possible outcomes at all they surely could have expected the result in one of the options. 

The when they are faced with the outcome they get all goofy and do and say silly things. 

I teach a world religions class at a university and on the first day of class, as we are getting to know each other, I say, "Don't say what you believe. Your actions will tell me what you believe."

It is our core commitments that drive our actions. Our outward actions will tell what we feel inside. 

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also (Mat 6:21)

While it may be funny to hear Bugs Bunny say, "I should have taken a left at Albuquerque."

Not paying attention to our life's road map may not work out so well.

Here at the "Y" we are trying to figure out just how we are going to look going forward. It is my prayer that we pay special attention to this process. I would hate to get to the end of this process and have Trevvvvvvvvvvvvvvvor say, "I think we should have taken a left at Albuquerque."

In your personal life how are you in relation to Abeuquerque?

Something to ponder.

Blessings,

Roger

Everything was good, until it wasn't.

Good morning,
I pray the day finds you well.

5 Build houses and dwell in them; plant gardens and eat their fruit. 6 Take wives and beget sons and daughters; and take wives for your sons and give your daughters to husbands, so that they may bear sons and daughters—that you may be increased there, and not diminished. (Jeremiah 29:5-6)

I have been ruminating on the words of Jeremiah, which if you know the story are the words of God ever since God touched his mouth when he was young. I actually used these words in an opening thought for a meeting yesterday.

Back in the day the Israelites had heard of trouble to the northeast. They had heard of Nebuchadnezzar and his army. They were just glad that he was far away and didn't affect them.

Everything was good, until it wasn't.

One day Nebuchadnezzar brought his army to Israel, conquered the land and took the Israelites back in captivity to Babylon.

Of course the Israelites were not happy, many said, we have been following God's instructions why has this happened to me?

God through Jeremiah told them, "Build houses and dwell in them; plant gardens and eat their fruit. Take wives and beget sons and daughters; and take wives for your sons and give your daughters to husbands, so that they may bear sons and daughters—that you may be increased there, and not diminished."

While this may not feel good, nor seem good at all, eventually it will end. You will go home, and life will go on, maybe not like it did before but it will go on.

Some 2,600 years later another group of people heard some rumblings.

They heard of an epidemic half a world away.

While they watched with idle fascination they were just glad it was half a world away.

Everything was good, until it wasn't.

Then one day the epidemic came to them. It crossed an ocean and came to them becoming a pandemic.

And the people said, "What is this, why is it here?"

People started to die and the people said, "He/she didn't do anything wrong why are they dying?"

5 Build houses and dwell in them; plant gardens and eat their fruit. 6 Take wives and beget sons and daughters; and take wives for your sons and give your daughters to husbands, so that they may bear sons and daughters—that you may be increased there, and not diminished. (Jeremiah 29:5-6)

The words of Jeremiah are poignant.

With all the trouble around us it is easy to become a doomsday-er, A chicken little, "The sky is falling." mentality can develop.

While this may not feel good, nor seem good at all, eventually it will end.

My prayer is, "Lord, help me take my eyes off of me and place them on someone else, someone who needs help. Let me live not out of fear or intimidation but out of love, respect and responsibility; let me be loving and honest and help me have the energy to serve."

This too shall end, I wonder what we will look like when it does.

Something to ponder.

Blessings,

Roger

Trevvvvvvvvvvvvvvvor said, "You know I’m not gonna let this go for a while, right?"

Good morning,
I pray the day finds you well.

Another day, another hospital visit.

My ongoing issues and adventures with food continue as I fight lymphoma.

We had thought, and when I say we I mean me, my wife, my doctor teams all thought that I could start to add different foods to my diet, so I did.

Laurie and I like Mediterranean food and I wanted to lose some weight so we thought the Mediterranean diet would by a good one. My doctors all agreed that this would be a good diet. the only place I did not check was my small intestine.

As you can plainly see the carrot did not make it through and I ended up back in the hospital, Uggggggg.

I am always amazed by my hospital visits. I should bring a sign with me that reads, "The chaplain is in.", hang it above my door, and take appointments.

"Bloom here you are planted." I have heard this often during my lifetime.

Lately it seems that I get planted in hospitals quite a bit. This last time I was able to talk with and hopefully help a number of nurses and even a few doctors.

Covid-19 is getting to them.

They come into my room just like a carrot. All you see on the surface is the bushy green top. The real problems lay a bit deeper under the ground, just like a carrot.

I don't know if I am ever going to eat another carrot. I know Trevvvvvvvvvvvvvvvor is thinking this is all a bit funny that I can be brought down by a tuber, a root.

I guess we got to the root of the problem.

All I know is no matter where you end up, God is there with you, and if you let Him He will work through you to help others.

So don't ask God, "What about me Lord?" Rather ask, "What about them?"

Bloom where you are planted.

Something to ponder.

Blessings,

The Aquatics walk of shame

Good morning,
I pray the day finds you well.

I guess yesterday was just my day.

After getting a call from 1988 wanting its socks back. I was going to go lap swimming.

Another innovation brought on by Covid-19 is the development of registering for a lane in the lap pool.

I actually love this addition. I can register for a 30-min time slot in the lap pool and I am guaranteed a lane being available for when I swim. Before Covid-19 it was every person for themselves and honestly sometimes the experience wasn't pleasant. Being able to have a lane dedicated to you for a certain amount of time is really a nice thing, at least I think so.

All you have to do is go on the website, select the day and the time you would like to swim and if there is an open lane register yourself and walla you have a lane.

I was registered for the 2pm time slot and had a 30-min swim window. I got to the pool at 1:55pm so I could get in right at 2pm and maximize my swim.

I stood on the pool deck dripping wet from my shower, the clock hit 2pm and every lane was still full and people did not look like they were getting out.

2:05pm I am still standing on the pool deck waiting, and beginning to dry off.

2:08pm still on the pool deck drying off and heating up!

I go to the Aquatics Director and ask, "When are they getting out? I am scheduled form 2pm-2:30pm."

Matt (the Aquatics Director) looks at the registration sheet and says, "Chappy (that is what I get called thanks to Liz) you aren't on the registration."

I say, "Yes, I am I have a confirmation email."

Matt says, "Let's see it."

We go to my office (yes, I am still in my swim suit) and we pull up the email.

Matt says, "Oh, I see the problem."

I say, "And what is that."

Matt says, "You registered for tomorrow at 2pm."

Oh how wearing socks from 1988 can mess you up!

We are developing a Chaplain Services that came out of the "Y" Cares program we started at Clark. One of the services is to help seniors with the budding Tele-health services that the Doctors are using.

Evidently seniors are having a hard time with the ZOOM meeting portion of the Tele-health platform.

One of our services is to help seniors navigate the Tele-health platform.

I am thinking maybe we should add helping chaplains navigate registering for the lap pool, just say-in.

I got up from my chair in my office (that now is wet from my suit) and made the walk of shame back through the Aquatics department to the changing area, got dressed, walked back through the aquatics department and back to my office.

I sure could have used the Chaplain Services yesterday.

Covid-19 is making us innovate and rethink how we do things.

While the disease is horrible there are good things coming out of it.

I wonder what the "Y" will think of tomorrow?

Something to ponder.

Blessings,

1988 called it wants its socks back

Good morning,
I pray the day finds you well.

It has been very warm lately, some would say hot.

Typically I wear long pants, a dress shirt, you know business attire.

In this new Covid-19 environment, along with the heat, I decided to wear shorts.

I arrived at the "Y", went through the Covid-19 protocol/gauntlet to get in. I put my lunch in the fridge, sat down at my desk and the phone rang.

The voice on the other end said, "This is 1988. I have been looking for my socks and I see that you are wearing them! I want my socks back!!!"

I said, "Good morning Norm."

He just laughed.

It is funny how we present ourselves.

The clothes we wear.
The way we talk.
The way we react to things.

I love how we are all different. I like to say, "As wonderful and amazing as I am, a world made of just me would be astoundingly boring."

It is true, I will speak for only me. I need diversity in my world.

I like vanilla ice cream.
I like chocolate ice cream.
I love Neapolitan ice cream.

As I do my walk with cancer, and spend time on the dairy farm with my cancer buddies, I notice that cancer is an equal opportunity disease.

On the farm there is:
Old and young.
Women and men.
Fat and skinny.
All colors.
All worldviews.

Cancer doesn't care.

On the farm we:
Talk together.
Cry together.
Laugh together.

On the farm we don't care where we came from or what we believe. We don't care about the color of our skin or our sexual orientation.

On the farm we:
Love on one another.
Lift each other up.

I am always amazed by my friends on the farm.

I am troubled by the thought of, "If a bunch of people that look mortality square in the face can love on one another why can't the rest of us do the same? After all we are dying of something."

Something to ponder.

Blessings,
Roger

God Took me on a walk

Good morning,
I pray the day finds you well.

We had a Town Hall the other night. It was a ZOOM Town Hall. There were over twenty people present and we had amazing moderators that kept the conversation flowing.

The Town Hall was on Bias, Racism, and how people feel with-in the YMCA. Do people feel safe, do people feel included or excluded.

My job was to listen, or so I thought.

I am an internal processor.

What is an internal processor you ask? An internal processor is a person who processes the information internally before being able to give an adequate external answer. We are the people that have great comebacks to people's remarks, the only problem is we have them 3-days later. We are the opposite of external processors that process information on the fly verbally.

When I listen, I listen with the intent to listen and not the intent to respond.

The Town Hall was going along swimmingly and we were at the end of the Town Hall when Trevvvvvvvvvvvvvvvor said, "Roger, we need to hear from you. You have been quite throughout the meeting."

What I should have said was, "I am an internal processor so I have not formulated a proper response yet, but I am amazed at what I have been hearing and am truly grateful to be part of this group." Of course I thought of this 2-days later.

What I did say was how I too felt excluded from the YMCA and then told them examples of my exclusion.

I was not happy with my response. It was not well formulated nor thoughtful. I realized that I had things to address. So I did what I always do when presented with something that I cannot work out on my own.

I took a walk with God.

I took an 8-mile, 3,400 elevation gain walk hike though some of the most beautiful country God has created. If you have ever hiked the Gorge you know what I mean.

God basically walked me into the ground and then we had our conversation.

God in His gentle way showed me that while yes I may have had some tough times, and been through some stuff. I still did not go through what others have gone through.

I responded, "Father you know I love everyone and I feed people, I cloth them, I visit them when they are sick..."

God said, "It isn't about that. It is about letting them tell you how they hurt and how they feel. It is about being their ally and their advocate. This is not about you."

Did I mention that I am an old, balding, fat, white guy? At least that is how I present.

Actually I am a mutt. My family on both sides have been here since the early 1600's.

I have in my lineage:
Native American
African American
Euro American

I present white.

God knows I am a mutt, He loves mutts.

I came home from my walk with God, my adopted daughter was there to greet me.

She is a mutt too.

She has in her lineage:
Native American
African American
Euro American

She is also part of the LGBTQ community.

I told her about my walk with God. I apologized to her if I had ever said anything that she took as offensive. She said thank you, and no I had not.

I want to apologize to you if I had said anything that you took as offensive. It was not my intent to offend.

My wife looked at our daughter and said, "Roger never wanted people to say, 'That was a good sermon.' What he liked hearing was, 'Your sermon made me uncomfortable."

True self reflection is hard, it is also awesome.

Something to ponder.

Blessings,
Roger

Leave Yesterday Behind

Good morning,
I pray the day finds you well.

That was then, this is now.
This is the first day of the rest of your life.
I fell down and can't get up.

I have been thinking a lot lately.
I have been thinking about possible Simon and Garfunkel songs.
This just goes to show you that while I may be thinking a lot it does not mean I have been thinking deep life changing thoughts.

Leave yesterday behind.
If I want to make a change it is up to me.
Pandemics are a lonely place.

Oh, the possible songs they could have sang.

I have been part of many meetings as we have gone through this Pandemic, especially with-in the "Y".

So often as we talked of "Emerging" into our "New", we would get bogged down by the "In the past" discussion.

Finally Trevvvvvvvvvvvvvvvor just yelled out, "Leave yesterday behind."

This got me to thinking, mostly about possible titles to Simon and Garfunkel songs, but also about how am I stuck in "past thinking"?

I cannot help thinking about Simon and Garfunkel songs. I just like the way they sang.

I also cannot help but think about the past as I have Context in my top 5 of my StrengthFinders. I do like to look forward though.

If the "Y" is a change agent and I am a change agent with-in the "Y" then I must look forward as I look to transform peoples lives for the better.

Leave Yesterday Behind.

It is more than a possible Simon and Garfunkel song, it is a mindset that we will have to adopt if we want the transformation that we truly say we desire.

Something to ponder.

Blessings,
Roger

My wife said, "What are you doing?" I said, "I don't know!"

Good morning,
I pray the day finds you well.

My friend Gregg (not his real name...) called. I had not talked with him for a while and it was good to catch up.

I updated him on where I was with my treatments and what will be coming next.

He told me what was going on in his life.

Of course we talked about Corona, no not the beer, although that has come up in the past with us. Having a get together with past graduates at John Barleycorn's has always been a great time, listening to how their lives have changed for the better since their degree.

The other Corona.

Covid-19 sure has changed things; how we do everything in fact, I will save that for later though.

Gregg asked what I had been up to and I said, "Oh the usual, driving my wife nuts."

I told me how everyone says stay home and she says, "Go to work."

I do a lot of puttering, puttering is where you walk around your yard and work on stuff that may need work, or not, depending on the level of puttering you are doing.

Yesterday I was puttering on our stone patio. It is made of large 2"-minus (Landscaping term) stone with pea gravel in between. I removed all the furniture and stuff (stuff is that other crap on the patio that is not furniture, stuff). Took the blower and cleaned off all the debri (leaves, sticks...debri). Then sent Laurie to the store to buy pea gravel and we redid the patio.

After the patio I started in on an old brick retaining wall that was in disrepair.

Laurie said, "What are you doing now?"

I replied, "I don't know."

Puttering.

I get a lot of thinking done when I putter.

I get a lot of listening to God done when I putter.

It is the puttering time that God says things like, "You should feed kids."

Or

"That homeless guy on the that corner by the "Y" needs a friend."

Puttering, if you don't want to hear what God has to say I recommend that you don't putter.

Something to ponder.

Blessings,

I am glad that God saw this little farm kid from Kansas and said, "I will use that one."

Good morning,
I pray the day finds you well.

It is morning, barely. It is around 12:15am and I am awake.

It has been a couple of days since I have talked with you.

It is Chemo week.

This week turned out to be a bit different than was originally planned.

Monday is normally my long day between 6-8 hours of poison dripping in my arm, depending on how fast the stuff can drip on that particular day.

Tuesday is my short day around 4 hours of the drip.

This week was different.

Monday turned out to be test day and a longer consult day.

My Oncologist wanted to take a good look at my numbers and after doing so he made the decision that this may well be my last treatment. He went ahead and scheduled my 6th treatment for the end of July, but also scheduled my Pet-scan for the week before. If my Pet-scan comes back clean we won't do any more treatments and I go on maintenance.

The consult as usual was a two-way consult. He consulted me about my cancer and the treatment he thought would be best. I did a lot of listening (chaplains have to be good at listening) and talked with him about his anxiety that Covid-19 is causing. My nurse was in tears as she talked about how frightened she was that she would give one of their patients Covid. She is not positive and is hyper vigilant, but lives in fear of bringing the disease into the clinic. They both fear for me, that is one reason they want to cut the treatment short if they can. My immune system is a wreck. I told them both how much I appreciated them and that they were saving my life.

So Monday was testing and consulting day.

Tuesday turned into my long day. The "Y" had a board meeting on Tuesday that I was going to ZOOM in on. One of my cocktails that they feed me makes me very tired and I fell asleep. When I awoke the meeting was over. Hopefully Daryl will catch me up on the goings ons (a Kansas phrase, yes I know it is not grammatically correct).

The long day cocktail gives me insomnia, thus the late night conversation. Look at that Jennifer I got to use the word "thus".

Wednesday will be a long day. Wednesday will go like this.
-Early morning prayer call.
-a 9am conference call with my sister and her care team; she has stage 4 breast cancer and is a lot farther down the road than I am. I will be helping her with medical decisions from here on out.
-Check in with the Summer lunch team we have served 223 meals in the first 6 days, well done team. I am honestly glad that I have a truly autonomous, successful team that I can rely on during this time.
-Go to the Dairy farm.
-I will end my day with my prayer team call at 6pm. At least that is how I think I will end my day. God will tell. Literally God will tell, He is in charge and I am not.

I am reminded of when I was in the hospital last January. We were doubled up because of the flu. I was rooming with Jerry. Jerry was dying. He only had a short time left. I had the honor and privilege to help him during that time. Jerry was a talker and he talked a lot. I listened a lot. We talked end of life stuff. I would take walks around the floor with his wife. I would listen to and talk with his daughter and her husband. End of life is hard. I was glad that I was there to help.

My friend Matt (he is the pastor of Rhapsody church, the church at the "Y") came to visit me during this time. I had done a training with the church on "Care Ministry" that included hospital visits. Matt said he was practicing on me. Anyway, as we were talking Jerry was taken down to get a blood transfusion and a nurse came in.

She said, "Being a chaplain is hard. you don't even get a break when you are sick and in the hospital."

Matt just looked at her and replied, "How do you take a break from yourself, from who you are? This is who Roger is, it is more than what he does."

I told Matt his hospital visit was going great until he chastised a nurse. Keep working on it my friend you will get it.

When I go to the Dairy Farm I get to listen to people who are a long way down the road.
-Some are tired.
-Some are scared.
-Some are angry.
I do a lot of listening. I am glad I can help.

I am glad that God saw this little farm kid from Kansas and said, "I will use that one."

How is God using you?

Something to ponder.

Blessings,
Roger

I am currently not responding to emails that will increase my workload.

Good morning,
I pray the day finds you well.

We emerge Monday June 29th!!!!!

The "Y" is abuzz with activity. We are doing our final preparations for our emergence.

We are doing our final cleaning.

We are training our staff on the new procedures and realities of providing services to our community.

Even our Executive Director Daryl has gotten into the act. For those of you who do not remember Daryl, he is quite the star. He has even been seen on T.V. most notably with Flo in the Progressive commercials. Here is a picture of Daryl.



As we emerge from our cocoon so has Daryl.



Daryl got a haircut and a shave, or more the way Trevvvvvvvvvvvvvvvor would have said it.

Shave and a haircut two bits:


I am not sure how to respond to the new Daryl. It is like having a boss who is 14 years old.

In all seriousness Daryl is amazing. He has a high E.Q. and an MBA. These two qualities are rarely seen together, just say-in. Although since the "Shave and a haircut, two bits" he some funny new quirks.

One of Daryl's peers, Kelly (not her real name but a story always goes better with a name attached) emailed Daryl about doing some more work, this was his reply.

"I am currently not responding to emails that will increase my workload. If this inquiry has potential to do so you can expect communication between 2027 and 2030.

I appreciate your email and look forward to talking at some point of time in the near or potentially very distant future."

Have a great day,
Daryl

Personally I love that email.

As I mentioned earlier, we are conducting staff training's. One of the exercises we have the staff doing is, "Why we do, what we do."

As Trevvvvvvvvvvvvvvvor is fond of saying, "We save lives."

We may use a pool, a set of weights or cardio equipment.

We may use youth sports or enrichment camps.

But we use them to help us get to a place where we can truly influence people into changing behavior and save their lives.

It is impossible to measure:
-How many kids didn't drown.
-How many people didn't do drugs.
-How many people didn't...

I am reminded of the starfish analogy, "It mattered to that one."

We are emerging Monday June 29th.

Let's go save some lives.

Blessings,
Roger

The butterfly is about to emerge.

Good morning,
I pray the day finds you well.

The cocoon is breaking open.

The butterfly is about to emerge.

I know you haven't been able to see all the hard work the staff has been doing during this time of transformation and transition, but you will soon see the result.

Just as a butterfly emerges from the cocoon, we could not see the transformation and transition that went on inside that white fibrous shell, we can only see the end result, a beautiful butterfly.

The butterfly emerges, takes a moment to look around, spreads its wings and flies away. It doesn't hurry or flit about in an apparent panic. No, it more floats and glides gracefully than it flits.

Our "Y" is emerging in a few days. Our hope is that we emerge gracefully just like the butterfly.

We will look different than we did before the pandemic, I think we will look better.

Come and see what we did!

Blessings,
Roger

Now I know how God must feel.

Good morning,
I pray the day finds you well.

I opened my reading this morning with this, the reading for June 24th.

I have most invariably found that the very feeling which has seemed to me most private, most personal and, hence, most incomprehensible by others, has turned out to be an expression for which here is a resonance in many people. It has led me to believe that what is most personal and unique in each of us is probably the very element which would, if it were shared and expressed, speak most deeply to others.
Carl Rogers
Northumbria Community, Celtic Daily Prayer, (San Francisco: HarperCollins Publishing Company, 2002), 698.

God nudged me as I read this quote by Carl Rogers.

We live in turbulent times; I have often said, "These are tough times to be a shrubbier." In case your wondering it is a quote from Monte Pythons "Search for the Holy Grail" more specifically it is a quote from Roger who is a shrubbier.

It seems as if people don't want to talk anymore. Oh don't get me wrong there are plenty of words going around, mostly shouting and yelling, diatribes and pontifications. But there isn't a lot of talking.

When I say talking I mean true conversation and communication, which takes a listening component.

Now I know how God must feel.

Prayer has turned into the current mode of communication.

People make a list of demands and or wishes, tell them to God and when they are done they say "Amen" and hang up their "God phone". They do not wait around to hear what God has to say. Heck, many times they do not even express what is most personal and unique in them which is probably the very element which would, if it were shared and expressed, speak most deeply to God.

I am on the "Y" DIG committee. DIG is an acronym for "Diversity Inclusion Global". Many of our meetings, which by the way, are made up of well meaning, loving people who are trying to make the world a better place, are taken up with diatribes and pontifications. If we could only get to the place where we share what is most personal and unique in each of us, the very element which would, if it were shared and expressed, speak most deeply to others.

We are taking a good hard look at ourselves and want to listen to others share their experience, their hurts, their frustrations, hopes and desires.

My prayer is, "Lord, help us to listen. Help us to listen to your nudgings and whisperings so that we may become better listeners to others. Help us become the people you want us to be."

Maybe if we become good enough at listening, we can create a safe enough place where people feel safe enough to share that what is most personal and unique in them and is probably the very element which would, if it were shared and expressed, speak most deeply to others.

Something to ponder.

Blessings,
Roger