The Journey

Someone once said of our Memorial Day celebration and Memorial Day worship that it sounded like we were celebrating war. One thing is for sure; no one in their right mind will celebrate war, except perhaps those who love it. I am appalled at the words attributed to Generals George Patton and Douglas MacArthur… especially MacArther. General Patton said: “God help me, I love it so.” but MacArthur went way beyond the pale to say of the outbreak of the Korean War: “It was a gift from God for this old soldier.” I can’t even comprehend the amount of hubris it takes to even think of a statement like that, much less voice it.Imagin that God would allow (cause) millions of people to suffer and die just so an old General could have one more swing of the bat? Insane!!!

Anyone who has been in a war will not want to be in another. The human psyche was not meant to see or endure all the evil that war brings. I spent a short time in Vietnam before being wounded and taken to Japan. But it didn’t take me long to realize that war is not the way people and countries need to settle conflicts. It might be fine for the people who sit at desks or make the command decisions from country villas, but the ones who pay the price are the civilians and the pawns of war known as the average everyday dogface, mud Marine and those who fall from the sky. It has long been my contention that everyone comes home from war wounded to some degree or another. For some… they fight their battles most every night when they once again see the sights, hear the sounds and smell the stench of war.

Yesterday James reminded us of the mercy and grace that took place on Christmas Day during WWI. The silence of the morning is broken by a German soldier singing Silent Night. Then, across no man’s land and into the trench of the enemy, came a rum cake. Back across that battle area came a bottle of wine. After a while one soldier came out of the trench to meet his enemy on the battlefield not with a gun but with a handshake and a smile. All day more and more soldiers from both sides joined in the games, laughter and peace.

A miracle happened in the hearts of those men that day. The next day when ordered to attack many of them did not. Matter of fact many of these men had to be transferred to other places in order for the war to continue in that place. Could that possibly be God’s way of saying that if we take the time to meet and greet, to get to really know our enemy they no longer remain our enemy?

I weep for all the people on all sides of wars who died in battle because it didn’t have to be that way… they didn’t need to die… to leave wives, mothers, children without a husband, son or father. But we go to war because we are told we have to go. Somehow, someway, sometime, someone must stand up and say NO MORE! THERE IS A BETTER WAY!

May God’s profound peace touch the souls and surround all the families of all the people who gave their last full measure of devotion.

Grace and Peace

Steve

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The struggles of the church are many, most complicated, and fraught with political factions from all sides. We have just returned from General Conference which many people describe as “so nasty that they must have left Jesus at the door.” Is that wonderful words for a delegate to use in describing the meeting of the church which stressed “Holy Conferencing.” It is amazing to me that we in the church keep Jesus at the door while we discuss His Bride with words that should not be used in reference to the church.

It is amazing to me that 12 million people in the United Methodist Church all have a different take on what the church should be doing and what is most important in our calling as the church. We have our own agendas and many will do everything they can to see that their agenda comes out on top. Either my way or the highway. Either my way or I will make you pay. That is a very sad indictment against the church and those called to serve and lead.

In the fourth century a little monk named Telemachus from Asia (modern day Turkey comprises the Roman province of Asia; or perhaps Asia Minor is meant), was led by an inner voice to go to Rome without knowing why. He followed the crowds to the Coliseum. Two gladiators were fighting, and Telemachus tried to get between them to stop them, shouting three times, “In the name of Christ, forbear!” Telemachus was killed by being run through with the sword of one of the gladiators. When the crowd saw the little monk lying dead in a pool of blood, they fell silent, leaving the stadium, one by one. Because of Telemachus’ death, three days later, the Emperor by decree ended the Games.

One person can make a difference if we are willing to give our lives in the service of the love, grace and mercy of Jesus Christ. Our calling, as the church, is not to decide who is worthy. Our job and only job… our calling and only calling is to love without qualification, without questions, without excuse. Love no matter what. Love no matter who. Love no matter how.

Don’t get all caught up in the trivial matters of faith, the words used to describe your faith, the name of your denomination or anything else. Will you love as Jesus loved.

Back in college in the 1970’s we were taking a New Testament course from my friend Dr. Horace Maness… a man I dearly loved and respected. Dr. Maness had given his lecture on beliefs. At the end we asked: “Never mind what you teach, tells us what you personally believe.” Dr. Maness thought for a moment and finally answered: “In the end love will win against all evil!” We thought it was a cop out on his part. However, the older I become, the more complicated the world becomes, the more difficult and personal the issues are which face the church, the more I realize how very profound were the words of this PhD. in religion. The last hope of all belief and hope is will God win in the end. If not all this is for nothing. If God wins then we are part of that victory. When all else fails or is in question this is what really matters.

So are we contributing to the love of Christ in this world or are we contributing to the division which finds no place for the Jesus of the Cross and the Jesus of the Basin? Where are the words of the Spirit taking you. I pray that we are joining hands and hearts to love and lift the lives of ALL humanity.

Grace and Peace
Steve

My Books on Amazon (Click Here)

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I am not sure what is going on in this old world, but it appears to be coming apart at the seams. I believe most of us are suffering from the old “ME” syndrome, where we have to have things our way and we will do whatever it takes to get our way. It is as if we have lost our maturity and have turned into children once again…not the cute, cuddly children we love and adore, but the ones who throw tantrums if we don’t get our way. Our tantrums are not in the play pen when we throw our toys out on the floor. No, we have guns, knives, road rage… our stones are much bigger and much more deadly. And it is growing more deadly as the days go by.

The Bible reminds us of what is in the human soul when Cain kills Able… brother against brother. We see the deceitfulness when Jacob steals Esau’s birthright by tricking his blind father. We see a King named David so coveted another man’s wife that he sends him to his death so that Bathsheba can become his. Peter denies he knows Jesus out of fear for his own life. Judas sells out Jesus thinking it would force him to take on the Romans with earthly powers.

The human soul has both the powers

• to create and to destroy…
• to build up and tear down…
• to love and to hate…
• to heal and to kill…
• to welcome and to exclude…
• to forgive and to accuse…
• to restrain and to strike out…
• to forget and to seek revenge…
• to give and to steal…

There seems to be an opposite bad response for every good intention. There is a choice to some degree between how highly or how lowly we will respond or react to our brothers and sisters who seem to be acting in accordance with something that doesn’t meet our high and lofty standards… standards which are substantially relaxed when applied to our own actions.

One of my favorite children’s books is The Velveteen Rabbit. I think I love it so because in very simple terms it shares some of the deepest wisdom of how to live life. I think (in its words) we have stopped “becoming” real. We stopped short somewhere perhaps when we thought we had life all figured out and it became comfortable to just stay in that spot forever. Haven’t we become the people who have to be carefully kept, with sharp edges… people who break easily? We most certainly are not the people who have become real… for to become real we have to love so much that most of our hair is loved off…

As I write this during a night when I must write or wrestle sleeplessly with this message all night, I am reminded that many times… many more than I would like to admit… I am part of the group I can’t stand. I have the sharp edges and age don’t help them get any softer. I have to be carefully kept… hearing the compliments no matter how false they are or else I will break. Too many times I walk the lower path and not the path that is part of the High Country… part of God’s heart, God’s plan, God’s calling upon my life. There is so much of my life that is not REAL… where I am not REAL.

I do a lot of ancestry work looking for the kings and horse thieves in my family tree… hoping that I find all good things. But if I am realistic I know that I am not perfect and I will not find perfection in my tree. Shake that tree and there is no telling what might fall out. One person in my tree was named “Theobald the Cheat.” That might have been ok if we could keep it hidden in the closet where no one would see. The problem is they made him put up a shingle outside his business that read in big, bold letters: “Theobald the Cheat.”

Tonight on the 11:00 news channel two had a segment about ancestry. This anthropologist did the math which stated that if we go back to the 12th century (good old Theobald) we will find that there is a cross section to where there are more people alive now than then… In other words we are all cousins several generations removed – we are all related. SURPRISE! SURPRISE!

Help me apply this principle: What would I do if the person I hate because of the way they live their lives… the persons I exclude, deny and defame because of what they have done… the person who asks me to look at them as real people… were actually my brother or sister or cousin, aunt or uncle, father or mother, son or daughter, granddaughter or grandson? Would we be as quick to condemn them? Would we disown them… ban them from our presence never to be heard from again? That is a test to see how real we are. Before we vote, protest, or cast aside run our thoughts through the family test. Will it hold water? Will you still hate, kill or destroy if it is a family member?

“Does it hurt? “

“Yes it does!”

“You are becoming real and being real hurts.”

Back in college our philosophy professor gave us a very haunting thought to consider. Every time you think you have your philosophy of life all figured out… when the circle is complete… watch out… that is just the time when God will break into your philosophical circle and say: “It is not big enough to include all my children.” That is one of those becoming real times… do you include all God’s children? Will you seek to love them all as he does? SURPRISE, they are family!

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Many of you have known for some time now that I have been dealing with increasing heart problems, diabetes II, stage III kidney disease and neuropathy. All of this stuff is on the presumptive list that Vietnam veterans fought years to convince the government that vets were coming back from Vietnam with all kinds of health problems. Finally the government realized that Agent Orange which was sprayed all over Vietnam was the cause of so much illness. I remember seeing the planes flying over us spraying this stuff even to the point of getting our shoulders wet with this stuff.

I saw a tee shirt recently which read: “I was killed in Vietnam. I just haven’t died yet.” Another one read: “We came home from Vietnam and brought death with us.”

I put off for years registering with the Veteran’s Administration. I just din’t think I was having any problems. In August of 1995 I had a severe heart attack and by-pass surgery. Still I didn’t think this was a Vietnam issue. I continued to have problems with my heart for years, some good and some not good at all.

Finally in 2010 I went to the VA and received a 60% disability rating. In 2013 after I retired I filed again after being diagnosed with Diabetes II and received 20% more disability – which is 70% in VA math. This past summer something happened – not really sure what – where my heart pumping function was reduced to 25%-30%. This was a big drop from the last echocardiogram. My cardiologist wrote a letter to the VA to support the diagnosis that I now had Ischemic Myopathy… reduced blood and oxygen to the heart.

Because of this letter and exams by the VA as of March 11, 2016 I am now rated at 100% disability. The rating is good because it allows me greater benefits from the VA and from the state. The bad part of it is that since last summer I have felt increasingly worse. It is all I can do to stay awake during the day. I have very little energy, and there is very little I can do without extreme fatigue. I am hoping that there is something I can do to strengthen my heart. My cardiologist will let me know about that soon… I hope.

The good news is the increased benefits. My hearing is getting worse, especially in my married ear. 100% disabled vets can get audiological, dental and eye care from VA Medical Centers. So I should be able to get hearing aids and hear better again. Shirley and I can now get Military I.D. cards which will allow us to get on any military base and use their commissary and PX. I have wanted to visit Parris Island for years. With this card we will be able to get on base.

I must take this opportunity to make a declaration which I believe to be very important. I know there are a lot of decent among veterans and others these days speaking very harshly of the VA and their treatment. In all my research I found one word of great advice: “Act like you want to be treated.” Now I didn’t find that until this last claim. However, I always made it  policy to treat those working at the VA as people who were there to try to help me. I didn’t go in with a chip on my shoulder. I didn’t expect them to try to cheat me. I treaded them with kindness and respect.

I remember very clearly going to the clinic in Winston Salem to get an x-ray. The lady behind the window, after seeing my VA ID card got up from a seated position, stood at attention and said in a very convincing and sincere voice: “Thank you for your service.” Every time I went to the VA in Winston and Salisbury I experienced the same treatment: respect and kindness. It was clear to me that they were trying to make my time there as pleasing as it possible could be, given the circumstances.

I don’t know what happened to the other people… I just know that I am very thankful to the people at the VA Clinic in Winston Salem. They made me feel like I mattered and that my service was appreciated by someone. On the Vietnam Facebook group they say to all new people registering: “Welcome home.” Well, the VA made me feel the same way… not with just words but with their actions. Semper Fi to all my friends at the VA.

Hope you will read my books….

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Today’s Greensboro Daily News supported the headlines “Broken Hearted” referring to the very dejected appearance of Cam Newton at the end of last night’s Super Bowl game. I think all of us pulling for the Panthers were a little dejected. We bought into the hype… Newton was good. He was the MVP of the NFL this year. His arm was a gun that fired those beautiful bullet passes right on target. This team had a 17-1 overall record this year and were carrying our hopes and dreams to the Super Bowl. We thought that today we would be celebrating bringing the Lombardy Trophy back to the Carolinas. However, that was not to be.

Was Cam not really that good? Were the Panthers really not as good as the Broncos? Was our hope and trust misplaced? The pundits and arm-chair quarterbacks are making all kinds of excuses today… coming up with their own interpretation… spin on what took place in that game. Many are saying what happened was the defense smacked the Panthers in the face and they never got back up. Certainly the first quarter blown call concerning the 30 yard pass reception took away momentum which the Panthers were about to seize. Whatever it was the Panthers never got on track… they kept getting knocked down… sacked at every turn. They simply were not up to the task last night.

I remember back in the sixth grade when I played my first year of little league baseball. I happened to be pretty good. I was the MVP short-stop of the league with 14 home runs. We won almost every game and came out champions in the Burlington little league.

Now it was off to Thomasville and a division playoff game. I remember to this day..as clear as if it were today… what I said as we entered the Thomasville field that night. I looked at the outfield fence and remarked: “Wow, that sure is a close fence. I won’t have any problems hitting the ball over that fence.” I just knew we were going to win that game… cause I was going to hit every pitch out-a-there.

Sure I was good in Burlington among the teams we faced there. What I had never faced before was a pitcher with a very mean curve ball. I kept jumping back to keep from getting hit with a ball which I was sure was coming straight at me… then it would curve in over the plate for a strike. The only time this clean-up batter got on base that night was when I got hit on the thumb by a pitch. The coach was even considering taking me out. Needless to say, I was broken hearted, embarrassed by my lack of performance and letting myself and my team down. It was a very bad feeling.

I am glad there were no full page, front page pictures of me after that game. It would have been much like the pictures we see today of Cam or Josh Norman… broken hearted indeed.

I think what can happen from this defeat is that we learn from it, mature with it, and come back next year wiser and more ready mentally to deal with a game in such a distracting time. Look at what happen to Payton Manning and the Broncos two years ago. They even had memes of Manning saying: “I was going to throw in the towel but they would have intercepted that too.” They were blown out BIG TIME!!! This year they came back more mature and wiser at what to expect and their defense pulled off a win.

So, just perhaps, “Keep Pounding” will come in handy for next year? Perhaps keep pounding, keep pushing forward is for those who are in a broken hearted situation rather than just for those who have a winning record? Maybe that is part of being a disciple… a learner… who never stops learning from the Master but takes every opportunity to learn, grow and become more like the master. We know that we not only get knocked down once… we are getting knocked down every day… but we keep moving forward, striving for that upward goal of knowing Christ Jesus.

Dear Lord, give us the strength to keep pounding even, or maybe especially, when our hearts are broken. In and through Jesus. Amen.

I Hope you will take the opportunity to check out my books.

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Today Shirley and I went to Target to pick up some items. As usual, I sit in the car while she flits up and down isles looking for her items and scouting out any new items that just may happen to be on sale. Sitting in the car I do the same thing I do at the beach – People Watch.

People watching is such fun. I see people who think that they must be the queen of something by the way they walk. Others, I want to get out and help them into the store – they can barely make it. Some kids are exited to be going in the store while others must believe they are going to their death. Driving and parking is both a LOL and a WTH? Some people drive through a parking lot like they were in a 45 mile per hour speed zone. Still others are passed by walkers.

Today I noticed one older lady (yes, older than me) who pulled into the parking space close to me. Her daughter was in the passenger seat but did not have room enough to get out of the car. Therefore, the older lady backed out to adjust her parking and pulled back into the parking space in the very same tracks. The daughter looked over at her and for some reason she backs out again… I think she is going to give it one more try but, instead of correcting her path and pulling back in, she goes around behind me to get this big handicapped parking space. I just sat there and smiled. My parking has become very poor. Sometimes I have to back up and pull back in two or three times… but I think I change my tracks a little… I don’t come back in the very same tracks.

I am reminded of the church and how we remain in the same tracks. We think we are changing but we follow the exact same track that has failed before. I wonder what we need to do in order to make sure that change is taking place. Some church people think that if it is not contemporary worship it is not change and will not last. I participate in worship every Sunday morning with Myers Park UMC in Charlotte. They have three services every Sunday (one contemporary and two very traditional). I participate in the 11:00 traditional service. This service is packed every Sunday. Even on this snow day, when the organist is stuck in the ice and snow north of Charlotte, and most people can’t get there, the church is almost full. It is traditional at its best and I do love it so.

I believe what makes this church work so well is that the pastor has been there thirteen years and relationships have been developed and are cherished. It is a relationship that says very clearly: the pastor loves this church, loves these people, wants to be there, and works very hard to offer these people his very, very best… they KNOW it…. They FEEL it. The pastor knows he is loved… he feels it. The staff knows they are loved and supported by the pastor and the congregation… they KNOW it… They FEEL it. I think this is part and parcel of a healthy church, one that allows the Spirit of God to move in and  through the lives of the pastor, staff, congregation, programs and ministries. People actually seek to love, respect and care for one another. I hear so much of private agendas from pastors and people in the congregation which are the downfall of the church family – splitting the church into many different factions. Oh God, I pray that Your Church would come together in love, forgiveness and fellowship.

It is my prayer that more of our churches would experience this kind of presence of the Spirit of God where everyone knows, loves and supports one another in their lives, faith journey and work-a-day world.

I close this blog with what I consider a beautiful and very touching prayer for all of us, especially for those who are servant leaders in the church:

Come, Holy Spirit, I need You, Come

1. Come as a wisdom to children, Come as new sight to the blind,
Come, Lord, as strength to my weakness, Take me: soul, body and mind.

Refrain:
Come, Holy Spirit, I need You, Come, sweet Spirit, I pray;
Come in Your strength and Your power, Come in Your own gentle way.

2. Come as a rest to the weary, Come as a balm for the sore,
Come as a dew to my dryness: Fill me with joy evermore.

Refrain:
Come, Holy Spirit, I need You, Come, sweet Spirit, I pray;
Come in Your strength and Your power, Come in Your own gentle way.

3. Come like a spring in the desert, Come to the withered of soul;O let Your sweet healing power Touch me and make me whole.

Refrain:
Come, Holy Spirit, I need You, Come, sweet Spirit, I pray;
Come in Your strength and Your power, Come in Your own gentle way.

This song is by Bryan Duncan and can be found for 99 cents on iTunes

– Check it out. It will touch your heart  –

Check out my books. I pray they encourage and uplift your spirit

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Today I went to the VA Clinic in Winston Salem for an examination concerning my Ischemic Heart Condition that has grown worse. My appointment was at 3:00pm so that meant we got there by 2:45. We checked in and was sent to the C & P waiting area for a second check in and to see the doctor. I really didn’t know what to expect. I have never met this Dr.

Soon she came out and called my name and told me her name which sounded nothing like the word printed on my appointment sheet. Still not understanding her name we went back to her office. There she asked me tons of questions about the paperwork I had submitted to the VA on line. All of it had to do with my heart condition and the different stages it has gone through. For instances; heart attack in 1995, by-pass in 1995, atrial fibrillation in early 1996, cardio-version in 1996 and 1999, heart cath with two stents done in 2008, flutter ablation in 2008, Atrial Fibrillation at Duke in 2009, heart cath in 2015, and echo-cardiogram in 2015. All of which showed that my heart pumping function was reduced from 40% to 30%.

My cardiologist states it like this: “Mr. Martin has established coronary artery disease as well as diabetes mellitus. In 1995 he underwent CABG revascularization surgery. He also has a history of significant cardiac arrhythmias and has required ablation procedures. He has developed significant left ventricular  dysfunction leading to increasing shortness of breath. He has documented renal insufficiency. He has undergone recent right and left heart cardiac catheterization, and has severe native coronary artery disease with total occlusion of the LAD, total occlusion of the proximal RCA with both antegrade bridging collaterals and retrograde collaterals and circumflex disease. He has a patent LIMA graft to his mid LAD and has progressive disease with now total occlusion of the proximal vein graft which supplied the RCA. He also has a recurrent atrial fibrillation which is now permanent. He was found to have at least moderate pulmonary hypertension with a PA pressure at 50/32. He has become significantly disabled with reference to development of significant dyspnea.”

WOW… sounds worse when the doc explains it in terms the average person cannot understand. All I know is that I had a CABG, and something is wrong with my LAD that affects my RCA and something is happening with my LIMA. All of this is making me feel bad and taking away my energy.

We went through all these questions. I had an EKG and a chest x-ray. I had to walk with her around the complex to see how long it took for me to get short of breath. It was a quick hour and 1/2 consultation/exam/interview. She was nice even though I could not understand a lot of what she was saying. Now, you have to take into consideration that I was listening to her with my 68 year old “Married” ear. And, as I have been told repeatedly, it don’t hear too well.

As we were leaving and she was handing me off to the lady at the window, from about ten feet away, I heard her say: “Next time I hope you will be brand new.” And replied: “I sure do hope so.” I turned to Shirley who asked me what she said and I repeated that she said: “Next time maybe you will be brand new.” The lady behind the window broke in and said:  “Honey, she didn’t say you would be brand new. She said Next time I see you it will be in Kernersville.” (They are moving to the new Kernersville clinic in February.) I snickered and said: “I really prefer to take it like I heard it… Next time maybe I will be brand new.”

It is fun to get old and hard of hearing… it makes everyday an adventure. I imagine people saying all kinds of weird stuff to me… and I remark: “I am sure they didn’t say what I thought they said.” Laugh or cry? We prefer to laugh.

It reminds me of the old story that goes around the District Committee on Ordained Ministry – which tried to help persons to understand and develop their call to ministry. One day a young farmer boy appears before the Dcom saying that he saw a cloud formation in the sky that clearly read G P. He took it to mean that God was saying “Go Preach.” But the committee could not find any gifts or graces that would warrant them to encourage him to pursue a call to ministry. Finally one of the committee members spoke us and said: “Maybe God is saying Go Plow?”

The doc I met at the VA was Indian. She spoke quickly… much quicker than I listened. On her wall she had this huge picture of the Taj Mahal. It made me think about Ghandi and how we Christians didn’t hear the call or obey the call to be Christian in his midst. Gandhi told missionaries, “I like your Christ; I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.” When asked why he did not embrace Christianity, Gandhi said it offered nothing he could not get from his own religion, observing, “…to be a good Hindu also meant that I would be a good Christian. There is no need for me to join your creed to be a believer in the beauty of the teachings of Jesus or try to follow His example.”

Ghandi was given the name Mahatma, which means “High-Souled.” I wonder, are we high-souled? Do we know that we have been called to live on a higher plane… to allow others to be attracted to the teaching of Jesus by the way we live our daily lives among everyone we meet? We are called to be new creatures in Christ. “Next time I see you, I hope we will be brand new.”

Lord, take these old, tired, unhearing ears of mine and let me truly hear your call for me to be brand new. Amen.

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Today at church our thoughts were directed towards the renewal of our Baptism and the Martin Luther words: “Remember your Baptism and be thankful.” In our worship we were introduce to this unfamiliar hymn. I share it with you as a moment of devotion….

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I know how we are… we are always dreaming of what we will do if… what we will do when. That is ESPECIALLY since Saturday the NC “Education” Lottery payoff will be around 700 Million dollars. It is expected that many, many more people will be buying tickets for this drawing. I know the chances are very, very, very remote of winning. I also know that I am assured of not having a chance if I don’t buy one ticket.

Isn’t this the way it works: You get a card with all the numbers on it, pick your numbers, buy your ticket… and then the dreaming (I think which has already started) continues in all ernest. We turn to our spouse and utter these words: “If we win the lottery we will…” and then we go through the list we have in our written in our mind.

Early on in the process we would say:

• Pay off all my bills
• Pay my children out of debt
• Buy a new house
• Buy our kids a new house
• Buy a new car (my cousin is a car dealer – see him for a car)
• Pay for grandkids education (Yes, they still need to go to college)
• Give all my relatives a percentage
• Give the church 10% (Bargaining tool)
• Get a place at the beach
• Quit work

Does that sound about right? All of that has to do with making the lives better for ourselves and our family… the ones we love and care about. In the process some sort of epiphany happens to you. Somewhere along the way you expand that circle of caring to include all sorts of people and ideas. It is not a way of soothing the lottery gods, but a way of expanding our philosophical circle of concern… where it more aligns itself with the thoughts of Jesus.

What has touched my heart in this Epiphany season, with its winter blasts of sub-zero temperatures are who is really caring for the homeless in our town, county, state, country? I know there are people called by God to care for them all… and they do a very good job with what they have. But it is not yet a community-wide, citizen driven, government supported, top down, heart-felt concern. We are more concerned about where the money will come from, and the not in my neighborhood worries, than we are about really joining hearts and hands to do something about EVERY HUNGRY, HOMELESS CHILD.

When I mentioned that recently: “If I won the lottery I would do away with homelessness and hunger in Guilford County” the first response I received from several people was: “But what about all those people who make homelessness a business… stand on the street corners and beg while their BMW is parked down the street?” For me that is an excuse that we must deal with and get beyond in a compassionate way.

My thoughts are that to really do away with hunger and homelessness in Guilford County one would have to gather the forces of people in the know who could make a difference from all walks of life… government, community health ministries, finance people, food bank ministries, homeless representatives, and others as needed. It must cover all the areas of concern these people are facing on a daily basis. The second thing is that for this to work I believe it must be financially self-sustaining. We must find a way to generate funds to replenish the funds we are using… or it would run out before long… yes, even 700 million dollars.

I know I don’t know everything… or even all I need to know to do this in a sustainable way. But I do know that something MUST be done if we are to be the compassionate people and civilized society we say we are. What would you do… If you won the lottery? Would you care just for your own or expand your care to include the untouchables and the invisibles in our society?

Reach Out And Touch Someone… That is what Dr. James Howell asked us to do in his sermon on January 3rd, 2016. Here is our chance… lottery or not, we can do away with hunger and homelessness… if we have the heart to do so.

Lord Jesus, give us a touchable, reachable heart… so that we may reach out and touch all your children. Amen.

I Hope You Will Take A Look At My Books

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I haven’t been sleeping all that well lately. I have this heart thing that causes me to run fast, slow down, wobble and skip through the night. I get hot… real hot and cold… real cold. Most of my dreams seem to correspond with my heart rhythm. I am either in a race, running to or from something or in a demolition derby where I am getting knocked around.

So last night was a welcomed relief. I basically (best as I can remember) had two dreams which seemed to come from the same vault. The first one was like a slide show and a collage of old, old pictures – say in the teens or twenties and even back into the previous century. It was a very interesting  walk through the past. I didn’t remember much of what I saw but I kept looking for our story – history of who we are and how we progressed through the years. It was very peaceful as I looked, with anticipation, for the next slide to appear.

Apparently in the first slide show dream I ran across a slide about positive thinking. In this dream this church put out a newsletter, pamphlet or curriculum item which helped people who wanted help to become or stay positive in their thinking and living. This pamphlet had all kinds of different resources to help with our outlook. It even had creative crafts for adults and children to get us in the right frame of mind. I could feel myself smiling as I was warmly drawn to this resource.

I must have loved it so much that I took this little course where a leader would take us through the pamphlet and demonstrate several of the ways to remain positive. We were sitting around these tables and the class leader was starting a new phase of teaching. She would mention a word and we were to write down words from our lives that related to her word. I had this lady sitting beside me who would, when given a word, repeat her word out loud… which really disrupted the class. As we started doing this session she moved closer to me – taking up the space I was using. I moved over a little to give her more space and she moved on it taking that space as well. Finally, I stood up and said: “Well, I guess you need more room.” Before I could completely move out of my seat she said: “I sure do!” and moved into my spot.

I moved t0 the other side of the room and finished the class. It was still a good experience for me but it would have been more positive had there not been this arrogant, selfish person in the room spreading her negative feelings to everyone in the class. I must admit that I let her get to me but I just wasn’t going to return negative for negative. I felt that would defeat what I was trying to experience and learn.

Perhaps the lesson for us all is there is negative all around us and how we respond to it will tell the story if we are positive or if we let the negative drag us down to its level. Sometimes we need to confront the negative in a positive way. At times it may mean that we simply moved to another seat. At others it may mean we need to say a positive word to those who are filling the room with the negative. Do what you can to stay up and positive. You will make a difference being positive.

Happy 2016

Hope you will take a look at my books.

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