Last night I attended a memorial service. I’m always reminded at these occasions of just how human we are. Funerals and memorial services remind us that their really is no rich and poor, attractive and unattractive, old and young, there is only us and we are all headed for the same end. Solomon was right.

It’s been difficult to post lately not because of time constraints but because of inspiration constraints. As a preacher I know inspiration comes in spurts and is not on demand. You study, read, work, pray and when it comes you love it but when it doesn’t it drives you nuts.

Hope springs eternal.

Written by Garrison Keillor by way of my niece,
As Frost might have written, ''The woods are lovely, dark and thick. But I have many butts to kick and some to poke and just one stick.''
If this isn't the way you feel about the church your not paying attention.

Two weeks ago my High School class gathered for a 30-year reunion. While I didn’t attend one friend who did commented that there were more lines then a road map. Yes we the class of 1976 have grown older. I haven’t been to a High School reunion since my tenth and don’t plan on going to any. I keep in touch with the people I want to keep in touch with but thinking about this reunion and my High School days does make for some interesting thinking.

I’ve been out of High School for thirty years, that’s almost twice as long as the 18 years it took me to get to and through High School. I’ve been in my present job 17 years and I can honestly say I think the four years I spent in High School have more to do with who I am then my 17 years here. I have more memories, good and bad, from those four years then my 17 years here. I was scarred more, laughed more, learned more and lived more in those four years then any other time in my life including college.

Why is it that those four short years mean so much?

Here’s another piece of what may or may not be a book some day.

I’ll be the first to admit that what God says is true beyond question but figuring out what God says is pretty difficult at times. What we need are some fundamentals that we can all agree on and leave the rest up for debate. Again we run into the problem of who gets to decide what’s fundamental and what’s up for debate and no matter who gets to make the choice they are subject to being wrong. I don’t know about you but it makes me want to walk away and forget all of it. If I can’t be sure of much of anything why try?

Maybe being sure is not the issue. Maybe getting everything just right is not the issue. Maybe trusting is the issue.

As a child I didn’t worry about much. I was never concerned about who was paying for supper. I never doubted the light bill was going to get paid. I can’t remember being concerned about being evicted from the house because the rent wasn’t paid. Now that I’m an adult those things tend to pass through my head on occasion but as a child I was happy and carefree.

Is it possible to deal with God on this level? Can we seek to know Christ with a child like approach and not worry about crossing all the t’s and dotting all the I’s. On one level this sounds like sacrilege but on another it’s kind of exciting. How about having a relationship with God that’s not based on performance, understanding or doctrine but based on the fact I’m adopted into the family.

As I said this is frightening one hand. Who’s in and who’s out. What’s acceptable and what’s not? How can we be sure we’re doing things the way God wants? We’ll the fact is I’m not sure we can know. We can do our best and leave it in the hands of God. If your honest I think you’ll find out the stuff we worry about really isn’t the stuff we can do anything about any way. We tend to worry about what’s not our responsibility. Who’s in and who’s out is not my responsibility. I can accept anyone who calls Christ his or her Lord and savior, brother or sister. I don’t think doing it right is near as important as doing it with the right heart. While I’m all for seeking the truth I’m more for seeking to let Christ dwell in me and have his way.