We have so many good reasons to have fearful hearts. Let me just rattle off a few of those reasons and I think you’ll agree with me just how tempting it is to have a fearful heart.
Imagine, if you will, all the stumps of all the Christmas trees that have been cut down in the past few weeks and transported to every corner of our country and placed in many of our homes for the brief seasons of Advent and Christmas.
For me, this is perhaps the most jarring Sunday of our liturgical year. About this time last week, our Gospel held us in the last earthly moments of our Savior Christ’s life, as He hung on the cross – even then delivering the confessing thief into Paradise. We celebrated Christ the King Sunday – one of the High Holy Days of the year – the last victorious Sunday of our Church Year.
There is a billboard on US Highway 27, north of Dundee, which reads, "245 Acres of Eden 14 Miles Ahead." It's referring, of course, to Historic Bok Sanctuary, which includes the singing tower, the gardens and the estate, located on the highest point of the Florida peninsula.
As many of you know, Dickie and I have 4 wonderful children. Mary is our youngest, and our only daughter. She was sometimes called “Firecracker” by her Daddy. This nickname is not undeserved! One afternoon, when Mary was perhaps 4-5 years old, she and I were in a bit of a power struggle. My unwavering “No” to her repeated “YES” was tiring both of us.
In the latest issue of Newsweek, reporter Roxana Popescu has written an article entitled, "Keepsakes - Thinking Outside the Urn." She begins by telling us about Patty Gorman-Bishop, who kept her mother's cremains in a drawer for nine years, not sure how to display them. She didn't want just a traditional urn.
My father grew up on a quiet estuary of the Chesapeake Bay. From his earliest days he loved playing on his parents’ sailboat. By the time he was 10, he could handle that sailboat quite well in his calm tidal basin.
The last time you searched for a rector, you prayed for someone who would provide leadership in three areas: stewardship, evangelism and youth ministry. You called me to be your rector because you believed I was an answer to your prayer.
When my nephew was perhaps 3-4 yrs old, he disliked bedtime. He really disliked bedtime. He hated the darkness, and hated being alone in it. That moment when his Mom disappeared behind the closing, creaking bedroom door was terrifying. Each night, my sister and John would get down on their hands and knees and shine his trusty Batman flashlight over every inch of the carpet under his bed.
