ContemplativeJourney

  Why worship? It's popular today for folks to say, "I can worship just as easily on the golf course as I can in the church...." or, "I can worship God better taking a walk in the woods than I ever did in church." Maybe so.  Perhaps you can.  Sometimes I believe these things may be true, at least for certain times and occasions.  In the months following my Mom's death, I found the idea of being in church more than I could bear.  I'm not suggesting that my feelings were right, or wrong.  But I would be lying if I said my feelings were anything other than what they really were.  One of my life's challenges has always been to manage the degree to which my feelings run my life and behavior.  I feel things very intensely, and often act on my feelings when those feelings aren't necessarily pointing me in the right direction.  Still, when it came to the subject of worship and church attendance during the months after Mom died, my f...

Sometimes there is nothing to do but stay the course.   When a canopy of beauty becomes something that blocks the light on your path, stay the course. Do you see these majestic trees?  Such beauty demands deep roots, and healthy ones too. It takes time to create such depth. Scripture warns us to never let the root of bitterness take hold.   Just a little bitterness can bring it all down. No matter your anger, no matter your hurt.  Forgive and keep moving. God in His time will give beauty for ashes, but you? You, stay the course. Jesus is the vine, we are the branches. He says to always, no matter what happens, stay connected to Him.  Stay the course. The Proverbs teach us: Godliness is like a well-watered tree that bears fruit in its season.  Remember this teaching; persevere in times of drought, and don't quit.  It bears saying again:  stay the course. Take care the fruit of your life, and discern between the bitte...

This morning I happened upon a blog entitled, "You Went to a Funeral and then You Went Home."  It was a powerful blog, and spoke to the separation of experience and feelings between those of us who attend funerals, and those who are the closest loved ones of the person who has passed. As it happened, I went to a funeral today for the father of a very dear friend of mine: Pop.  Pop was more officially known as Conrad Corley, and his daughter has been a treasured and faithful friend to me for the past 23 years.  This was only the second funeral I've attended in the 4 years since my Mom passed away in 2010, and I was struck in both cases by the impact these men had on their families and all the people whose lives they touched.  I knew Pop, "Mr. Corley" to me, and my most enduring memory of him was his love for the Texas Rangers and his retirement job as a Ballpark Usher.  They shared today that his pay for ushering was probably less than what it cost him to get...

I was driving to a New Year's Eve celebration last week...a low key affair, just a small get together with family members.  While channel surfing for some nice music, I stopped momentarily on a church service being broadcast...I remember these New Year's Eve services being called Watch Night Services, and I have never been to one in my life. The pastor was talking about how much fun we can have playing Monopoly...hours of fun.   I enjoy Monopoly, so the topic caught my interest enough to leave the radio dial alone.  I was curious where this discussion of Monopoly was headed as the centerpiece of a New Year's Eve sermon.  I confess that the ending caught me by surprise! Monopoly isn't everyone's favorite game, in part because of the competition...in part because it's one of those games that usually takes hours to play.  I can remember many times when we didn't really finish at all...we got tired after a while and just quit.  But there were...

And so it begins! 2015 is off and rolling. Every year at this time I love the process of reflection that accompanies my personal celebration of the New Year's holiday. Perhaps I was born old, or simply born without a "party hardy" gene, but for whatever reason, I lean more toward the philosophical than the party animal, so I relish the chance to ponder what has passed in my life and what is yet to come.  It has been difficult this year to choose a topic for my New Year's blog.  I intended to blog on New Year's Eve...and then on New Year's Day...but there were so many things on my mind, nothing seemed just right to share, and I knew I had too many things on my mind to fit into a single blog.  For those of us who enjoy writing, choosing the limits of what we want to say is the most difficult task...and after that, editing down the length of content to that which will be of most interest to the reader.  I confess to being full to overflowing with words th...