A picture, it is said, is worth a thousand words. Take pride, America, in your military. They are the best in the world! 

Preparing "Try Again" and this time "Stay Out Of The Way!"

"Trying Again" is the title of this coming Sunday's sermon. "Stay Out Of The Way," is the subtitle I have given it to remind myself why I'm here. The photo below is a great shot of one of our planet's mysteries. I guess I've been looking at Stonehenge as a place I'd like to visit for 45 years now. It's intriguing, mind bloggling, and at the exact same moment, makes perfect sense. Some kids from another planet were here on a field trip. They got busy with their lasers and cut out some crude blocks to play with. Four years old and already over 60 feet tall, they picked this spot to put up a building. Called away before they were finished with their afternoon project they sped back into the universe with the other children on the space bus, leaving behind their toy blocks for us to ponder. Another group of these space "children" carved people heads on one of their visits and stuck them in the ground over on Easter Island. You see, everything has an explanation! Not all explanations are fact, though, and I'm supposed to deal in truths that are supportable and irrefutable. That makes the job I'm tackling this week tougher, simply because all of the answers to be garnered must be taken on faith, trust, and conviction found within the sentient being. It would be easier to convince some folks of the truth of my idiom concerning the extraterrestrial "space kids" building Stonehenge than it would be to get them to "try" believing in God. It's all a matter of one's perspective on "facts." I believe that people believe what they want to believe, and that's pretty much all there is to it. I believe that if you believe in anything hard enough, it might work! Shades of philosophers past, present, and future, forgive me, I pray thee! Holy smoking skydivers, Batman, where will this take us? You may consider yourself invited! Drop in this coming Sunday morning at 1st Baptist here in Brookings around 10:15 in the morning. The airport is close by, you can walk from there to the church in less than ten minutes, we can talk. In Christ's Love, Preacher.

Not To Be Facetious, But My Grand Daughter Was Playing With Blocks Yesterday, And Left A Bunch Looking Very Similar To This On The Patio!  

If We Truly Open Ourselves To The Endless Possibilities Dreams Can Come True! 

Good Morning! Welcome to Tuesday!

I've been waiting with great expectation for news concerning the publishing of the novel. Today I am ecstatic over my first official "rejection." I knew it was coming eventually, and today is the day! Actually it is a first that I shall not forget soon even though I might like to. I've read the horror stories about authors getting rejected dozens of times before finding the right connection to get their work off the ground. The "encouragement," if I may call it that, comes from the rather simple knowledge that "Chicken Soup For The Soul" was rejected over thirty times before being picked up as a possible book to be published. That idea fostered an entire genre of literature all by itself, and continues to sell sequels as quickly as they are in print! It's just after 7 in the am, much earlier than I stirred yesterday. Monday was always the day I took off when I was serving as pastor to rural congregations here in SD(everything is "rural" here). Things are picking up on the net, the second reject just came in. I wonder what people did back when there was no E-mail? I can only imagine the wait for the mail, day after day, for weeks. What a wonderful world we live in, one can be rejected, dejected, and feel completely alone and miserable in a matter of minutes! That's only tapped out with a great deal of "tongue in cheek." In all things there is an answer, though. Our Savior never rejects us. He is always there to pick us up, plant us solidly on our feet, and point us back in the right direction, no matter how often we fall. Comfort in many guises can be found through faith, that and another cup of coffee and I'll be prepared for however much "rejection" comes my way today! God bless, Preacher.

Whether Built To Keep The World Out Or Keep It In, These Walls Have Never Worked! 

Memorial Day 2005!

It's almost noon and I'm still in my robe. This is a good thing! It means, for the most part, I'm very relaxed. I've got that 2nd or 3rd cup of coffee sitting next to me and the day is shaping up outside my window quite nicely. Really early morning is my favorite time of the day, when the world is asleep and there are few, if any, sounds emanating from our neighborhood. The entire backyard is fenced(redwood six feet high)and that helps to block a lot of the regular noises and the wayward animals. It's not unusual to see deer in the back, they go over the fence as if it weren't even there. I've got a pair of wood ducks living in the hollow tree next to the patio. This is their third year here. What a hoot they are! They come in full bore, skimming the treetops and angling between the surrounding branches, braking at the very last possible moment to stop on the edge of their doorway, and then step inside. Last year mama raised five little wood ducks in the back yard! Their chosen habitat is one picked for safety. Like the fence around my yard, it is there for safety. And that wall pictured below was built a very long time ago for the sake of safety. To keep someone or something, at an acceptable distance. The "Great Wall of China" is in disrepair. One of the "Wonders of the World," but no longer necessary. One cannot "keep" the world out. Never could! We might delay it a bit, forestalling the eventual encroachment it makes, but the world will not stop at our borders, at the "great" walls, or even my fences. The world will eventually find a way to get in.
We build defenses within the confines of our lives also, to keep the world at bay, but, inevitably, an unguarded entrance is found. The "crack" in the wall, a "board" which should have been nailed back in place last year, that unseen "hidden" place in the heart that has been protected so carefully for so long is breached by a feeling, an emotion, a forgotten sentiment, and there we are
in the midst of a full scale attack on what we believed in our hearts was "safe" space! Life affords us no truly "safe" space, other than that which we can choose to share with God. That space will not crumble with age, get loose boards in it, or leave us unprotected. It is the "Secret Garden" of our lives into which, when invited, God enters in to become for us the defender against whom even the most formidable of foes will find the fortifications unscaleable. Looking for a bit of peace, a place of safety? He's available 24\7, for each of us! Check out whatever or whoever you got guardin' your garden, and get back to me! In Christ's Love, Preacher.