by Greg | Dec 16, 2014 | Blog Posts, Uncategorized
In part as a personal discipline as well as a need to better organize my reflections on books I have read, I will be sharing periodic book reviews. Books connect us, frustrate us, compel us and sometimes disgust us. Thank goodness for books because they give us something to talk about and give us something to think about. Below is a book I just finished and now wish to share a little bit with you. If you have read it, please tell me what you think. The End of Your Life Book Club By Will Schwalbe A good book enriches the self. A good book enriches our friendships when we share them. I want to share with you a good book – The End of Your Life Book Club. Yes, it what you think, but do not let the title mislead you that this book is a sad, morbid tale. It is filled with hope, joy, and love between a son and his mother and we are given the opportunity to share with them in their journey. I first came across this book listed in the New York Times as a bestseller. That does not necessarily make a book a good book, yet it never fails to get my attention. Nevertheless I passed over this book many times in bookstores as well as its steady presence on “the list.” A church member – recently widowed and a critical reader whose opinion I respect – passed along a copy for me to read. Fearing I would be “tested” on its contents I set to work on reading the...
by Greg | Dec 3, 2014 | Blog Posts, Uncategorized
Are you ready for Christmas? I have fond recollections from childhood of my grandmother readying for Christmas by weeks and weeks of baking, boiling and kneading her way to December 25th. The kitchen and spare bedroom of her simple house would be stacked high with Tupperware containers filled with high calorie treats. Each year we could expect lady fingers, date nut balls, divinity, and my favorite – peanut butter fudge. Just before Christmas day she would buy a few coconuts (we never could grow any in Putnam County) and grate them for a homemade coconut cake. One year my brothers and I decided to help grate the coconuts but failed to properly wash up before plunging into the task at hand. Instead of a pearly white color, the cake looked more like a mud hut on the side of the creek. Needless to say the cake never made it to the table. Another year my grandmother was inspired to try something new. She had read a recipe in a magazine for rum balls. Like any good southern lady of her era, my grandmother was a staunch tee-totaler, but she had heard you can cook the alcohol out. She dispatched my father to go in the dark of night, so no one would see, and purchase a bottle of rum to make rum balls. Like most grandmothers, she did not always work with measurements so she added rum to the mixture according to what she thought looked right. Take my word for it – minors had no business eating those rum balls! When we took the lid off of...
by Greg | Nov 25, 2014 | Blog Posts, Uncategorized
Peace. What an elusive word. In this season of giving thanks it can be difficult to be grateful when you are not experiencing peace. Peace. It is sometimes difficult to imagine it. Just look to Ferguson, MO. Not much peace there. Not with the Brown family who had to bury their child. I cannot imagine their grief. Not with Officer Williams and his family. I cannot imagine their fear. Not with the residents in the national spotlight. I cannot imagine their division. Peace. It can be hard to come by. Ask the child frightened by gunfire in Gaza. Look at the housewife weary with abuse. Consider the alcoholic just trying to hang on. Peace. When Jesus was born the angels sang about peace (Luke 2:9). When Jesus grew up he preached about peace, saying “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God,” (Matthew 5:9). When he was resurrected he appeared to the disciples and said, “Peace be with you,” (John 20:19). Peace. It is a lovely word and it is a lovely thought and deep within us all is the longing for peace; to be whole; to be complete. Just imagine that things could be different; that you and I do not have to go on living divided against others or divided against ourselves. Just imagine that wherever you are in the tension between peace and conflict God is present. The Great Story in scripture is the reminder that no matter how un-peaceful things may be in this world or in your life, it does not negate the...
by Greg | Nov 19, 2014 | Blog Posts, Uncategorized
Like clockwork I can look at those Maples just to the side of the church, the ones that are near the welcome center, and know that Thanksgiving is near. These trees just blaze, like flares signaling that the time of giving thanks is near. Are you good at giving thanks? I am not talking about saying thank you to the server who brings your food or the teller that cash’s your check – although it is important to say thank you. Saying thank you is simply a matter of good manners. Giving thanks, however, is something more. Giving thanks is a way of life that is lived gratefully. One person shared the following line with me: what if you woke up today and you only had those things you thanked God for yesterday? I rarely pause and say “Thank you God for good health.” I know many people who are in poor health and say regretfully they did not realize how precious good health was until they no longer have it. While I do thank God for my family, I doubt I share that gratitude often enough with God. Maybe I do not say thanks that often because over time I have come to expect these things in my life: a hot cup of coffee in the morning; energy to get out of bed; my family safe and sound; friends I can call on; a roof over my head and a pantry full of food; a loving church just waiting on me. I suspect that deep down I think that I deserve all of this and therefore...
by Greg | Nov 5, 2014 | Blog Posts, Uncategorized
As far as demographic monikers go, we frequently read and hear about Baby Boomers (those born 1945-1964) and Millennials (1985-1994). Baby Boomers were at one time the largest demographic, but Millennials are a close second. Advertisers, marketers and churches have spent the last several decades scrambling to reach these two sizeable generations. Somewhere along the way a generation was labeled, but soon forgotten – Generation X (those born 1965-84). You guessed it – this is my generation. We are not sizeable enough to warrant the attention of marketers, or anybody else for that matter. At one time my generation was labeled the “Slacker Generation” which is now considered ironic because Generation X statistically holds the highest education levels among other age groups. The Pew Research Center has described my generation as America’s neglected “middle child.” Oh well, in time all generations will be forgotten. I guess my generation has a head start. As a people of faith our motivation is not to “target” one generation above another. We are here, to put it simply, to love one another. It is a faith issue. It is a justice issue. It is religion at its most basic. As I write this article, mid-term elections have just finished and now we will see if the victors will live into the promises. Here is my hope for my generation as well as all generations: That every life be valued. This includes the citizen who holds membership with the Daughters of the American Revolution as well as the immigrant trying to start over; the Native American living in poverty on...
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