Thin Places

My twelve year-old next door neighbor, Josh died of leukemia on Friday, May 18th. I officiated his funeral last Thursday. As one might expect, it was very emotional - probably one of the most difficult funerals I've conducted in my 25 years of ministry.  Josh's parents are handling their loss as well as can be expected. They're great people - very brave and very grateful for the outpouring of support from the community.  This has hit me hard.

     I felt strangely torn some time ago as I watched the crew of workers remove the 5,280-pound granite monument of the Ten Commandments from the rotunda of the Alabama State Judicial Building in Montgomery, Alabama.  To the dismay of Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore and scores of protestors, Federal Court Judge Myron Thompson ruled that the monument was in violation of the United States Constitution and ordered the monument to be removed.  A USA Today/ CNN/Gallup Poll revealed that 77 percent of Americans did not approve of the ruling, 19 percent approved of it, and 4 percent had no opinion on the matter.

     People sometimes talk about the sweet taste of revenge.  Human nature leads us to believe that there is something very satisfying about settling a score and getting even with someone who has wronged us.

     Do you ever feel a twinge of guilt when someone quotes the passage: “Be still, and know that I am God”? (Psalm 46:10).  I’m confident you would love to find a quiet space today.  Maybe you are even planning for it.  Wonderful things happen in times of solitude, stillness, and silence before God.  But “stillness” is often hard to come by — and simply isn’t available on some days or in certain life experiences.

     Christian psychologist Merle Jordan writes about standing on the edge of the ocean and watching a young man and an older man row a small boat out to a larger boat that was anchored in the harbor. The older man climbed aboard, went to the wheel and started up the engine.

     In the Christmas story, I like how Luke used the phrase, "All who heard the shepherd's story were astonished, but Mary quietly treasured those things in heart and thought about them often." (Luke 2:19)

     The KJV says, "Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart."

     My family and I began decorating our home for Christmas yesterday morning.  My wife, Marisa surprises all of us in the family each year with a special new ornament for our Christmas tree.  She bought me a gorgeous miniature bulldog – which delighted and warmed my heart.  I also listened to a few selections of my favorite Christmas album, “A Charlie Brown Christmas” on my iPod.  With Christmas a little less than four weeks away, my seasonal sentiments were buoyant.

     Ozzie Guillen, the manager of the Chicago White Sox was recently reprimanded, fined, and ordered to undergo “sensitivity training” by Major League Baseball.  All this came about after an obscenity-laced tirade he unleashed against a newspaper columnist.

     During the Thanksgiving and Christmas seasons in America, a person can actually call the Butterball Turkey Hotline.  And yes, you can get an answer to whatever question you may have about preparing a festive and delicious turkey dinner.  Technical support for turkeys - only in America!

     Haider Sediqi didn't give much thought to the zippered pouch that a passenger left in his taxicab when he got out at Los Angeles International Airport.  Sediqi stashed the brown bag in the front, where it remained as he took his cab to the car wash, drove a passenger to Long Beach, and met a fellow cabbie for lunch.