Perspectives From South Dakota!

Recent events have left many of us considering what the aftermath of a hurricane may bring for other people's lives. It occurred to me that many people are waking up on the backside of this disaster in places they would never have considered themselves before. One family in particular is living right behind our place(next street over)in a home donated for their use through a television show and a national promotion for dreams. Amy Grant hosts the show(or so I'm told, I don't watch television much, too much violence, if I want to see that stuff I work the streets). Theirs is only one story, and I haven't got all of the information needed for a real article on them, as yet. A real life view would have to come from getting to know them a little more in depth than the media has time for these days. You know what I mean when it comes to really getting to know people, you have to be "inside" their lives sharing bits and pieces to really know them. Our society is so accustomed to things being fast and easy that we often do not allow ourselves the neccessary time to know folks. Growing up in a farm community in South Dakota at a time before television was the major entertainment source gave many of us an opportunity to deal with relationships, even if we would have chosen otherwise. The thing is, we didn't really have a choice. There were so few people around that we either got to know them or we didn't go out. Sunday in church we would get together with the same faces that we saw in school, on the ball diamond, at the elevator, or the gas station. Of the 386 people living in Andover when I was growing up there was not a single one that didn't know every other person in town, and in the surrounding county for at least 30 miles in every direction. This is not about telling everybody how great things were "back when," it's simply an opportunity to point out that life has changed and that is neither good nor bad, it's just different than it was. For some in our country life has changed completely from what they knew before. Many are thankful just to be alive, and still others are bent on complaining at the top of their voices that things didn't go the way they think they should have. Lol.....Does everything always go the way you would like it to go? Just between me and you and Bill Gates I would venture that it doesn't. That's where our faith perspectives enter in. At those times when life is totally out of control we know that there is one single element that remains unchanging, God. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit together as one are the same yesterday, today, and forever. How well we deal with the changes and circumstances that life hands us is directly proportionate to the amount of faith we are willing to invest in God. Remember, "If you don't put nothin' in, you don't get nothin' out!" (When I write this I have a tendency to hear in the back of my mind all of the places that it could be relevant, but for the moment it applies to only one, faith) My prayer today is that everyone would have the opportunity to gather and give thanks, worship God in truth and love with friends and neighbors, and be readily accepting of the stranger in their midst. Some being unaware have entertained angels. Everyday is a new opportunity to share life. Share it with everyone and give thanks to God for the lives we have! In Christ's Love, Preacher.