Pastor Don's Ponderings

'FAMILY' IS THE VISION OF WHAT EVERYONE BECOMES WHEN WE ENTER THE KINGDOM. I AM ETERNALLY GRATEFUL THAT YOU AND I ARE PRIVILEGED TO EXPERIENCE THE VISION OF FAMILY HERE ON EARTH, A FORETASTE OF WHAT IS TO COME IN CHRIST. "On earth as it is in Heaven."

OUR WORLD WOULD DO WELL TO REMEMBER THAT ASCENDING TO THE KINGDOM IS NOT ACCOMPLISHED BY STANDING ON THE SHOULDERS OF OTHERS, BUT BY BOWING DOWN BEFORE OTHERS IN HUMBLE SERVICE, EVEN WHEN YOU KNOW THEY WILL BETRAY YOU. STILL YOU HAVE FAITH, STILL YOU BOW DOWN, STILL YOU SERVE. ALLOW GOD TO TAKE CARE OF THE REST. (c)dcw2020

I love the photography of my friend and colleague, Fr. Jerry Schweitzer, who resides in Northern Indiana. He publishes a daily meditation which includes his photographs and, truth be told, most days I find myself just looking into the pictures he provides and imagining my place in each setting. Jerry, and so many others like him, have the God-given capacity to see with God's eyes, to intuitively capture a moment, an event or an environment, and then invite others to marvel with them at the sight. This scene holds me fast . . . On the shoreline of Lake Michigan, at a place where once someone sat and took in its beauty and power, where a fence divides the land to the place where the waters cannot be divided, and where under snow and blustery winds there still resides the vestiges of summers past: The windswept grasses tell their tales and shifting sands reveal their secrets. Here we meet ourselves. Here we see our reflections. Here we tremble, not for Winter's wind, but fo...

There is an old saying out there about our pets and, most particularly, our dogs, "To you your dog is part of your life, but to your dog you are their whole life." This has really been true for our two dogs, Mulligan and Birdie, who had been apparently dumped along the road by a nearby cemetery at the age of about eight weeks. Wandering the nearby field, they found me along the road where I had stopped to visit with my Aunt Verna as she made her way to the cemetery I was just leaving. They came running out of the standing soybeans and just jumped on my legs, so happy to see somebody, anybody, who might take care of them. I guessed they had run away from a neighbors home, so I put them in my truck and drove them to the home, knocked on the door and asked the gentleman if they were his. He just laughed and said, "No, they are yours!" He then went on to say that there had been five of these puppies dumped near the flooded creek just below us and his son had found ...

And so it happened . . . I received a text from our son, Ray, concerning our grandson, Holden, and his upcoming Cub Scout Pinewood Derby car, "Dad, would you mind coming out of retirement and giving Holden a hand on his car? The derby is at the end of the week." Just the request made me smile, as I remembered back to all of the cars our three sons and I had made in my basement shop over the years. Though I am not certain of the final number, it would have to be around 15 cars . . . sometime I will have to count them, for they are all up on a rail on display in my shop in our home. Each car reflects a bit of the personality of the son who imagined it, worked on it, raced it and cherished it. Each car held a place of high value and esteem in their lives - until they left home and the car was left with Mom and Dad for 'safe-keeping'. Each car now resides near me as I work on other projects and, now, each car looks on as the next generation begins th...

Every once in a while I have to take the time to walk in the pastures of our family farm. This old cottonwood tree is in our East pasture and has stood the test of time longer than I have been alive. I know it has been struck by lightning numerous times, has had multiple honeybee swarms make their home in its branches and trunk, been rubbed against by hundreds of cows satisfying an itch against its bark, and has had the land around it shaped and reshaped numerous times over the decades as our family has striven to manage the large amount of water which flows in that area of the farm. This tree is a survivor . . . and the cows still love it and the shade it provides on a warm Summer day. Coming back to blogging is a bit like walking the pasture towards this tree: It is nice to return to the places and things which are solid and standing the test of time. So much of our technological age is transitory, including the social media sites which tantalizingly draw our attention for a mom...