Pastor Don's Ponderings

It appeared this morning on today's edition of Sunday Morning on the local CBS network, a segment about the banning of books in our school systems and, by extension, in our local libraries. Much of the segment gave credit for the bans to an organization ironically named, 'Moms for Liberty'. Liberty must certainly have a different meaning today from when I grew up, but I digress. As I viewed the segment and the related story concerning the backlash from others across the country committed to making books, all kinds of books, available to anyone who wants to read them, it occurred to me that if we do not take this kind of oppressive authoritarian behavior seriously now and try to stop it, the next thing you know they will be trying to ban lascivious flowers and their colors, wherever they may be found - because, you know, flowers include the colors of the rainbow - and so much more. Having just received some absolutely stunning pictures of Spring flowers at Diamond Valley La...

 At one of our son's home the other morning I happened to step out the front door and look up in time to see this: Three jets on divergent paths, each with a vapor trail marking their route away from the others. In the cold morning sunshine it took me a few moments to recognize what was happening above me, then a few moments more to open my cell phone for a couple of pictures. After looking into the sun shining brightly in my screen and hoping upon hope the camera had captured the action in the skies over my head, I stepped back and watched all three aircraft go their own way and wondered where they were going and from whence they had come. When first I spotted them, they appeared so close that it fleetingly crossed my mind that they might have each just appeared there, then started from a mutually agreed upon point in the sky. That is what made me stop and watch them. Yes, I know it was all an optical illusion, that in reality they had thousands of feet, maybe even miles between t...

 Attending a volleyball match the other evening, I was in an excellent position to capture a few photos of our granddaughter, Norah, on the court throughout the sets. After arriving home and taking some time to sort through the photos which, earlier, I had only seen through the cell phone lens, I realized that many of the images captured Norah soaring through the air, flying in such a manner as to meet the volleyball and command its return to the hinterlands on the other side of the net. Looking through the photos time and time again, it occurred to me . . .  Superman has children - and the oldest of them is named Norah. Oh, I have observed this mild mannered young lady since first she was born and, to be perfectly candid, I didn't realize how obvious her superpowers are. So on this day, it was as though she arrived at the gym as a normal young lady, hanging with her teammates, making jokes, assessing the other team, warming up, getting ready. Yet, somewhere in the midst of th...

 I stepped out of our home early this morning just to breathe in the dawning moments of the day when, unexpectedly, it struck me, 'Spring!' There was something about the very smell of the air, whether in something which is budding or blooming, something in the nearing weather system that my arthritis is pinging on, or something of the very day itself, my mind just instantly nearly yelled the word, 'Spring!', and I was transported back to when I was a kid growing up on our family dairy farm. As I stood outside our home this morning, my heart transported me to the twelve year old boy standing at the water hydrant waiting for a five gallon bucket to fill with water to be carried to the calves. It was there this morning's air was first consciously thought of as 'Spring!', overflowing with the sound of robins, cardinals, redwings, finches and blackbirds singing at the top of their lungs, layered with nearby wheat fields greening and pastures rising out of dormanc...

 "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few." Matthew 9:37 I was blessed to spend yesterday at the farm helping with harvest. As equipment changes and becomes more complex, so are reduced the number of farming operations I am prepared to step into on a moment's notice or on the chance day off from ministry. Hauling grain, either to the elevator or to the farm for storage, is something I still know how to do, so haul grain I did. Corn in the morning, soybeans in the afternoon. You couldn't ask for a better day. Late afternoon, as the sun was winding its way down towards the western horizon and the dust from the combine was hanging in that lazy lingering fashion like a shroud covering the land for a half mile or so, I caught this picture of my brother, Larry, as he was maneuvering the combine through the field. Less than one percent of the total American population is actively engaged in farming, an even lesser amount are on true family farms. Larry, along with...

Sometimes it seems that our American culture has become so obsessed with rooting out the worst seen in each other that we have lost our own sense of the good God has placed in each one of God's own children. It is as if the Kingdom can only be that which we approve it as being. When Jesus speaks in parables concerning the Kingdom of God in the Gospel according to Matthew, He teaches about the tiny mustard seed, the beautiful pearl, the hidden treasure, the yeast . . . and of a Sower who casts seeds about willy-nilly, and of a Landowner willing to allow the weeds to grow up along with the wheat until the day of harvest. In telling His parables, I wonder if Jesus ever took into account the possibility that the created would one day weary of searching for the plantings of the Creator? That rather than seek the mustard seed we would only be happy with the full-grown bush? That instead of treasuring the found pearl we would insist on the full jewelry store? That instead of committing ou...

What are the chances the ashes make a difference, a real difference in the heart of the one receiving them? What truly is the power of the words, "Remember, from dust you were made and to dust you shall return"? Is it possible this day that folk will rend their hearts before God, rather than just make an appearance to receive a cross of ash? Will the liturgy of the moment speak to the mounting apathy of the culture? Only God knows, and God does know. So it is that we gather, so it is we worship, so it is that we listen to the Word Made Flesh, so it is that we wait on the Spirit, so it is that we humbly bow before God. God does not care about church membership or frequency of attendance. God wants to be in relationship with you, with me, with us all. God calls us to live as the community of the blessed in the midst of creation. Ashes remind us that we are here but for a few short days, so we make the most of our days. Today, the first day of Lent, Ash Wednesday, we r...

I have learned a few things from the land, not everything, but a few things, enough that just looking at this picture taken during a moment's reprieve from Fall tillage while overlooking the pasture and creek just to the South at sunset, causes me to mull over a couple of those things: If you are so busy making a living you don't have time to occasionally enjoy a beautiful sunrise or sunset, you need to stop what you are doing and start making a life which savors such gifts. No one knows when the sunset we observe becomes the sunset of which we are a part. Watch how beautifully and majestically creation does it, then try to do the same each day on your journey. The most beautiful of sunrises and sunsets often includes a variety of clouds which reflect both light and color, so why are we surprised when clouds come into our lives? Perhaps they are the necessary precursors of memorable new beginnings just waiting to happen. From where I am in life, crossing the creek in ...