RICK’S BLOG

February 2026
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WHEN ONE RESTS WHILE DOING HARD WORK by Ken Rickett

“Come unto me ye who are heavy laden, and take my well-fitted yoke upon you, and learn of me, and I will give you rest.”

“Love your neighbor as yourself.”

Labor Day is a day, like Sunday, when one “rests from their labors.” Of course, there are those institutions and persons who must labor anyway because their labor is often of necessity. Hospitals and nursing staff, farmers and the care of their livestock, public safety personnel, etc. are just mere examples of a rather long list of people who work on Sundays and Labor Day.

Part of the issue we face on Labor Day is the cultural understanding of “rest” as “time off”, “a day of leisure”, a “vacation”, or any time away from the jobs from which we earn our income. We who follow Jesus are definitely “missing something” when rest is primarily “a day off from our jobs.” For one, the biblical meaning of “rest” is lost, and secondly, if “rest” is obscured, then so is the meaning of the biblical word “love.”

When Moses received the Ten Commandments, one of which says, “remember the Sabbath, to keep it holy” (ie, a day of rest), work of necessity still had to be done. The sick needed care on the Sabbath, livestock needed fed on the Sabbath, public well-being needed protection on the Sabbath, etc. Back in those days, even a day of rest, the Sabbath, could be interrupted by emergencies, requiring physical work. In other words, the ox can fall into a miry ditch, and hard work must be undertaken quickly to remove the animal from danger. Who hasn’t seen videos of animals trapped in a flood or a deer that has broken through the thin ice over a pond? The animals’ efforts to free themselves from such danger are so quickly tiring; they will perish without help.

Labor Day implies time off from work. What if the biblical understanding of rest did not refer to the absence of physical labor? For me, it is not physical work that makes me “tired to my very bones” or “weary unto the very depths of my soul.” I can work all day in my yard with flowers and lawn upkeep and get quite tired–which is easily fixed by a good meal and a snooze in my recliner. It’s amazing how fast energy is restored!

So, let me talk about some really hard work! For a college midterm, the assignment was to write a paper and hand it in on the due date. I finished my paper a couple of days early. A friend (on the same floor in the dorm in which I was living) had been struggling with his paper, and so I let him read mine. He disappeared briefly–and unknown to me, xeroxed a copy. Imagine the anger when I got a “D” with the notation that 4 or 5 papers were exceptionally similar! Upon confrontation with my friend, he admitted that he had a copy and let “a couple of others see it, too.” Talk about anger and betrayal! Even though I had “said my piece” to him, I had the hard work of letting go and moving on. Every tiny bit of progress was REST. The hardest job, however, was not with the friend, it was restoring a sense of integrity with the professor. The final exam was writing several essays, using creative, colorful language and we had a week to write them. O, how I struggled to get this “job” right, how I worried that my professor’s assumptions would cloud his grading of my papers! I had to find “rest” with every sentence I wrote, that is, I had to feel that I had done my utmost on one sentence before would I even dare write the next sentence. The work of waiting several days to get my grade was tough; my self-talk went haywire, and each time I could calm myself down, it was rest. To my relief, my grade was top-notch, with a notation that said, “a joy to read.” Full rest at last! And a mistake I didn’t allow to happen again!

One needs rest while doing hard work. Run this thinking out. One doesn’t just forgive someone, and it’s over in a second or two. No, forgiveness is hard work. It is hard work to avoid making a situation worse. It is hard work to decide what to say, if anything. It is hard work to get the relationship back to its previous level of trust. Each step forward brings its measure of rest.

One needs rest while doing hard work.Coping with a serious illness of ourselves or our loved ones is hard work, and every tiny bit of acceptance and coping is rest. Grieving is hard work from which we need rest, and every tiny bit of coming to terms with the loss we feel is rest.

One needs rest while doing hard work. The tortuous journey from losing a job to finding another job is hard work, and every bit of relief from the self-denigration or the unfairness of company policies and actions is rest.

Let’s face it. Most of the really hard work we do has very little to do with physical work. The “renewing of our minds” and the softening of hardened hearts is constant work foisted upon us all throughout life, but yoked with Christ, there is rest while doing hard work..

It is when we work the hardest on such life experiences that we who are yoked with Christ, can find rest. Not rest from the cessation of physical labor but rest that comes in the midst of working hard with life itself. Only when we experience rest in the midst of hard work do we find the deeper meaning of being human in the way that God created us. In fact, it is in this hard labor that we “learn of Jesus” who gives rest to those “heavy laden”. Not just any rest, but a rest that results in loving oneself and our neighbor as ourselves.

It’s possible that many have never heard of Herb & Dorothy Vogel. Herb was a Postal Worker in Manhatten (he passed away in 2012), and Dorothy a reference librarian in Brooklyn. They were a quiet, cute couple (as described by friends) she was “bookish” and he “cuddly”. They lived for 50 years in a 450-square-foot apartment in NYC, Herb never made any more than $23k-a-year. And they never used any of his income to live off of…just hers, which was less…minimal. They lived simply, ate TV Dinners, didn’t indulge in much except for some pets and one other hobby, which they were passionate about…art.

Herb had some training in Art History/Appreciation, as a young man, and introduced Dorothy to the art world (she was a theatre-music gal) on their honeymoon in Washington, DC (1962). Through the years they slowly, carefully, bought art pieces they loved. They were not investors nor art dealers, they simply found pieces they both enjoyed and made sure that they purchased them at a “good price”. Along the way they made friends with several of the artists from whom they purchased: twentieth century painters in need of money…for the most part…thus, the “good deals”. They only purchased things that they would want up on their walls and could transport on the subway. They also went about their hobby with a plan, they educated themselves along the way, they enjoyed their friendships with the artists…and continued to live quiet, frugal, unassuming lives.

It was in the ‘80’s that they realized their lifelong passion of collecting could not be housed in their apartment…so they decided to donate. Herb had already retired, and when Dorothy retired in 1990 they gave their collection to the National Gallery (strikingly, where Herb had first introduced Dorothy to art appreciation) because the gallery was free to the public and has a policy against “deaccessioning”, meaning their art would never be sold.

Workers from the National Gallery came to NYC and unloaded an unbelievable 2400 works from the Vogel apartment in 5 40-foot trucks. When the gallery realized that the Vogels had not invested, they paid the Vogels an annuity as a “thank you” for their donation…which the Vogels promptly used to purchase more art…they couldn’t help it, it was their passion.

“If we wanted to make money, we would have invested in the stock market.” said Dorothy.

Their collection is now considered to be the most important collection of 20-century art in the United States…and what the curator of the National Gallery calls, irreplaceable, and priceless.

I found this story incredible on many levels, as an artist and a BELIEVER & FOLLOWER.

The VOGELS followed their God-given passion. Although I know nothing of their spiritual lives except that they were/are by ethnicity, Jewish. Their story shows that God gave them a passion that they followed – against the odds. They were not the “type” of people others in the world might view as “art collectors” – they didn’t care. They did what they believed in and let others think what they would.

The VOGELS made a plan and worked the plan. They didn’t just jump in “willy-nilly”. They educated themselves in their passion. They methodically, economically, and prudently enjoyed the fruit of their love of art. So many BELIEVERS & FOLLOWERS seem to think that God does NOT work hand-in-hand with our minds and heart – that once a passion (a sermon idea, a song, a project) is planted by Him in our hearts that we then just sit back and listen to His instructions and become robots to His suggestions, which is not evident in ANY place in the scripture or ANY life illustration we see today.

God implants a vision/passion and asks us to partner with Him, to hone our skills, to learn and use our brains, as together we polish and construct what He has given us.

The VOGELS left a legacy of beauty – even though THAT was not necessarily a part of THEIR plan. In the end they were shocked to hear their small apartment housed the greatest gift of 20^th-Century art anywhere in the United States – a gift to be enjoyed by millions for years to come. Did they understand that their belief in artists who were NOT getting the attention of critics at the time, inspired those artists to more greatness? Did they write that down as part of their methodical plan…no. But God-given passion*…

(*the LOVE/PASSION for all things beautiful, good and true, ALWAYS comes from God – to the Believer & Follower, AND the Non-Believer, alike…God does NOT discriminate…even when some of His children do.)

…is like all energy, power that does not dissipate.

The Kingdom Principle of a seed becoming a tree is evident in this story as well. What does this mean for me? It reminds me to: Follow my God-Given passion, use my God-given mind to carve and polish, and know that love of what is good, beautiful, and true is never wasted once I’m gone.

“What is the kingdom of God like, and what can I compare it to? It’s like a mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his garden. It grew and became a tree, and the birds of the sky nested in its branches.” LUKE 13:18-19

“Don’t be fooled, my much-loved brothers & sisters; EVERY generous act and EVERY perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights; with Him there is no variation or shadow cast by turning.” JAMES 1:16-17

by Pastor KEN RICKETT

Do Signs Tell Us All We Need To Know?

Matthew 16: 2-3: He (Jesus) said unto them (Pharisees), “When it is evening you say, it will be fair weather because the sky is red, and in the morning, it will be foul weather today for the sky is red and lowering. O ye hypocrites! You can discern the face of the sky, but you cannot discern the signs of the times!

Signs from the physical world are all around us. If not around us, then signs are under or over us. No escaping these signs. Here! There! Everywhere we look, signs are there.

For example, signs of autumn’s approach will soon be seen. In the mountains of Western North Carolina, near the Great Smokies, two signs of autumn appear in late July and early August, namely, the leaves of sourwood trees (from which we get sourwood honey!) and the leaves of poison ivy vines (the “untouchable”!) that grow up to the tops of trees are fiery red long before September’s goldenrod begins to bloom. After almost 30 years of living in Indiana, I have observed even while corn stalks and leaves are still green, the full grown ears of corn stand up straight like a minute hand on a clock at the top of the hour, and by the time the corn stalk and leaves are brown, the ears of corn have slowly descended 180 degrees, like a minute hand that reaches the half hour mark. I see the ears of corn in a slow descent long before the green stalk dies.

Evergreen leaves of rhododendron or mountain laurel can tell the astute observer the temperature on very cold mornings. If the temperature gets around zero degrees, rhododendron leaves are curled up like a little pipe. As a resident of Indiana, it is the appearance of the red winged blackbird rather than the robin that signals the arrival of spring.

Signs are also under us. Did you know that the ash from the huge explosion of Yellowstone volcano thousands of years ago have been found in archeological digs as far East as Illinois and western Indiana? Signs of old events that can’t be found in history books.

Signs are over us and the heavens reveal their glory. Black holes, comets that return after several decades or generations, and the likely extension of space forever with many galaxies and stars awe us, and these things are a sign of something incredible!

Many years ago I was in a shop in which a man repaired watches, clocks (including grandfather clocks and other antique timepieces) and he would sell repaired and cleaned clocks from estate sales. He was busy with a customer when I first entered so I walked around. When that customer left and I went to the counter to give him a watch to repair, the man said to me,
“You have seen a lot of pain and grief in your childhood.”
I was shocked. He was right. I lost both parents when I was quite young. When stunned by such a statement as that one, it took me a few seconds to ask the obvious:
“How did you know?”
He said, “when I saw you walking around, your manner of walk told me that you had a lot of childhood stories, even happy stories, but some stories would most definitely be tragic.”
Talk about “signs” that tell all about me! I had no idea! Naturally, I told him a couple of stories that substantiated his observation. But my own intuition surfaced, and I then asked him,
“what is such an astute observer of humanity doing in a watch shop?”
Ah! His story emerged! He was once a professor of medicine in a major university. His philosophy was that doctors needed to hone their skills of observation. But as medical doctors, by insurance rules, etc., were forced to use medical test after expensive medical test to diagnose what should be obvious to an observant eye, he rebelled. Eventually he resigned. He then told me about a customer who came in the shop, and he said,
“I took a good look at him and I told him, ‘your body is fighting a cancer.’”
The customer said, “I just had a physical last month, and all was fine”
to which the watch repairman said, “go back and ask your doctor to check out this and this.”
A few days later, that customer returned and asked,
“how did you know…..? But we caught it early, and I will be fine.”
This “watchman” saw signs of far more than the red sky at night. . .He saw signs of . . Life.

We know signs–like signs of approaching seasons, or even approaching storms. We know signs–like the red sky at sunset promises fair weather, but red clouds in the morning forebodes foul weather. But Jesus said, “O ye hypocrites, you can discern the face of the sky, but you cannot discern the signs of the times.” People begged Jesus to tell them “the signs of his second coming.” Jesus refused.

What signs did Jesus want us to see? I think I have a hunch. Jesus wanted us to see signs of human hope and human struggle. Jesus wanted us to see signs of human injustice and signs of righteousness. Jesus wanted us to see signs, not of the physical world per se, but signs of the world in which a Just and Holy God also has a Heart of forgiveness and redemption is present among all peoples.

Jesus spent his lifetime on earth, but few really knew who He was. They missed the signs. . . .signs that you and I must not miss. . . .of a God, revealed in Jesus, who shows us not only the true meaning of Love, but surrounds us with the deepest experience of Love. Signs that beg to be seen, heard, experienced, celebrated!

Time moves on, and CHANCEL CHOIR rehearsals begin once again – THIS MONTH! I have been singing in a church choir, or playing the piano, or doing plays in church, for as long as I have memories. Some churches were small, some churches were so big that Christmas productions would last for several performances for several thousand people.

In any situation, as a musician, it’s good for me to step back and remember that musical talent is a gift, but it needs to be paired with “craft”; a craft that requires several levels of learning and, most of all, constant practice.

In music, there is of course the learning of the notes: making sure the notes being played or sung (as far as tones & melody) correspond exactly to the notes written on the page. Once those are in place it is time to look at how the notes are played or sung: loud, soft, slow, fast, etc.

Once the notes are learned, along with the way they are to be performed, it is a matter of “detailing”; making sure that we are not ONLY singing or playing the correct notes at the correct time and with the correct dynamic range, but that we are communicating the mood and message of the song.

All of this learning is part of a craft which pairs with natural talent under the direction of a trained ear and trained teacher, like our own John Huntoon. It is the job of the DIRECTOR/TEACHER/COACH to listen not only to the individual artist but to a group, as in the case of a choir or instrumental ensemble. The director determines exactly what type of practice is required at what time; to make sure that the performance is as musical, as communicative and as precise as possible.

We, in the choir, don’t start the first rehearsal knowing everything or giving a perfect performance, it takes time, energy, heart & soul.

It takes practice.

We don’t start making music well simply because we are labeled as members of the choir or handbell choir.

God, our Father, has called us and brought us to a place where we are His children. We are His children because He calls us His children. He “creates” by speaking the words. When He “says” we are His children…we are. But becoming (or, a better word might be, “realizing”) who we are, and living like the people He says we are takes time, energy, heart & soul; it takes practice. A common mistake for a person of God is to believe that once the choice has been made to BELIEVE & FOLLOW, there is nothing more to be done.

That is partially true. There is much about being in the Kingdom that is out of our hands, God is the “Decider”. But for us, being named by God is not the end, it is only the beginning of the life-journey. We realize what it means to truly be a member of a musical group when our individual notes not only fall into place with the other members so that together we play beautiful music, but also when we begin breathing together and thinking together; when we race together and when we rest together.

After much practice we can perform together without need to concentrate so much on the technical things we’ve been doing over and over, perfecting, polishing…and we start thinking on the true message and the true music. At that point we begin to understand what it means to truly carry the label, “member of the choir” or “member of the orchestra”. When we walk with God, together with those around us who also believe and follow (not looking at our feet and path as much as we used to when we first started, but looking up and seeing those around us, enjoying the view, and listening intently to the One who leads us) then we trust the Voice and understand what it means to BE a Child of God.

It is up to the Director (with a capital “D”) to listen and watch US, determining what type of practice would best lead us to that place. And it takes patient practice to become that disciple with a depth of faith to experience the indescribable peace of the believer. It doesn’t happen immediately, any more than a musician starts off with perfection. The notes have to be learned first, then the appropriate dynamic. Then the details…even then, one can’t take their eyes off of the Director/Father…for He alone is in charge of the performance.

So, let us practice, let us be willing to fail, be willing to accept the failure of others, and be willing to go back and do it again. Let’s get the “notes” into our voices before moving on to something else. The message of the music is important to those watching our every move and listening to the song we sing.

OK, fair warning: This BLOG is probably not what you think it’s going to be about.

Today I moved our beautiful sanctuary piano from the “pulpit side” to the “lectern side” so that the band can use it for this coming JAZZ SUNDAY. As I did I remembered some years back when we made a significant “shift” in our pianos and organs…we “evolved” the musical use of the building because WE had evolved.

Since 2007 we have used Schuster Chapel more and more: weddings, funerals, Lenten Meditations, Good Friday, Easter Sunrise, and a Bible Studies (before we “evolved” into using the Theatre Lounge, which didn’t exist at that time.)

For a while, early on – when I was just a young child-pastor – I brought in my little keyboard into the Chapel to use for music. Some people asked, “Why don’t we just use the organ that is in here?” (Remember, we USED to have an organ in there?)

Yes, we did have an organ in the chapel. The organ was not the original, but still an antique. Unfortunately, it had gotten to the point of “un-fixability” as many of the stops “stopped” working, some keys, along with half of the pedals, didn’t play…and at one time while Dr. Randy was playing, the organ reared up like a stallion (musically) and started playing much louder than Dr. Randy intended. Although amusing to watch, it was yet another sign that it was time to say good-bye to what was probably a donation from a friend or member of the Church Family.

Shortly after that incident, we received a new, beautiful, Concert Grand piano for the Sanctuary. That meant moving the grand piano that had been in the Sanctuary downstairs to the Choir Rehearsal Room and moving the still very good spinet piano from the Choir Room to the Fellowship Hall to await its purpose. THEN, eventually, that piano moved to Schuster Chapel to replace the organ that was there….whew! (That organ, by the way, was donated to a local music store and repair shop – for parts.)

Times change. Needs change. The old Chapel organ, which probably fulfilled many needs in several places, went “home” to its “reward”, and is now parts of it are in other organs being used around the midwest. A grand piano brought new life to our Sanctuary, an older piano is moving from leading worship to accompanying the choir downstairs, and the piano that accompanied the choir will now be leading in worship and providing beautiful music for weddings and services…all because the Kingdom of God doesn’t stand still or move back – it always moves forward.

Like these pianos and organs we, as humans, get stuck in one place. In the Kingdom and in the Church, the ultimate reason for spiritual gifts and talents is to build the Kingdom, to support one another, and to BE the Body of Christ. As needs change, as congregations grow, we evolve. We also remember that God will redesign, or “evolve” us to fit best in the place needed for a specific time and place.

Some of you have taught Sunday School, but don’t anymore. Some of you sing but have never sung in the choir. Some of you have served as Elders and now serve as Deacons, some of you have served as Deacons and now serve as Elders. We all move upward and outward as the Kingdom of God changes, and that is how it should be.

Sometimes that growth is painful. We humans tend to like staying where we are, doing what we’ve always done, it’s comfortable there. The older we get, in body, the less likely we are going to want to do anything that requires change. But the Kingdom and Central Christian is constantly changing; we aren’t the same church as we were almost 15 years ago when I first stepped to the pulpit, or what we were 163 years ago. We have different needs and challenges, and some of us have had to step into new places within the church, outside of our comfort zones. But remember: God never calls us to a new place without going there first, equipping us and teaching us.

As we step into a new church year, next month, I urge you to once again ask God where He would like you, in this family-community we call Central. He may confirm your place, He may urge you, through a compelling passion, to move to something new, serve the church in a different way. Whatever you hear, act upon it. Listen closely and look around. Connect with one another and feel that “hunger & thirst” for the right thing.

And let us thank God that while many other churches struggle with attendance and apathy, we have a growing, thriving, joyful, changing and challenging community of faith, decorated with the many, many voices and colors that make the blue domes of Central Christian Church a fresh voice and vision of God in a city and county that is hungry and thirsty for love.

It’s “Back To School” time again. Of course, with every system on a seemingly different schedule, “back to school” could almost be ANY time – and especially with the craziness of last year, some are STILL IN school…or not…anyway…

I always loved new classes and teachers, even though a day or two into a new school year brought the horror of how much homework is possible so early in the year – AND how lost one can become in a new subject with just a couple of lessons! Ah, the joys of learning.

One of my favorite quotes, and I collect many, is Michelangelo’s “ancora imparo” (“always/still learning”). I’ve always enjoyed learning, knowing things and gathering information. Yet I remember a time (not so long ago, really) when I asked my Mom and Dad when I’d be through “learning” (I think I was in First Grade). My Mom good-naturedly, or sarcastically, laughing and saying that she had just learned something new that day, and HER mother (a teacher) always said that learning was a life-long lesson. I believe that, and I look forward to “learning” more every day.

A friend of mine in another congregation, Rollie, was diagnosed with a cancer which eventually took his life. He was young and his kids were only in College when he left us. He was a great man and especially fond of new experiences; he had been a missionary in Cairo. He preached, sang beautifully, and lived life in a big way. His son told me that on his Dad’s last morning on earth he looked over at his son and said, “Well…this ought to be interesting.” A few hours later he was gone…to another new and exciting, and “interesting”, experience.

Doctors say that people who have given up on learning, or accepting new things, actually “shut down” parts of the brain that keep the brain healthy…sometimes even warding off Alzheimer’s disease.

Think about how it feels inside when you learn something new, or something “dawns on you” as you have never seen it before…don’t you feel freer, livelier, more awake? Of course, because the process of learning gives life, causes you to grow, literally.

Learning about God, in a faith community, in private study, and in observation, is really only helpful if it leads to the behavioral changes. Those changes lead to YOUR happiness as you connect more closely to your Creator. But learning in and of itself is also a “rejuvenation process”, even when the answers can’t always be found.

The GOOD NEWS of today is that a part of the “full life” Jesus offers is LEARNING. In the Jewish society where Jesus walked, the “questioner” was always looked at as a “wise” person – questions were encouraged – teaching, by the Rabbis, always involved a question/question debate because it activates the brain of the student to think for him/her-self. Jesus understands the importance of seeking out answers. His teaching continuously looks us in the face and says, “What is the core of the law?”, “Why is this important?”, and “You yourself know the answer.”

The wonderful thing about our Heavenly Father and the GOOD NEWS of today is that we can never know Him in His fullness – but the facets of His personality are always there to be observed; in His children, in the scripture, and in His created world. We can always learn something more about Him, about each other, and about ourselves.

Learning is what we were made to do. Learning is growth. Learning is life.

So get those backpacks on and fill your LONE RANGER lunch box…because, in the Kingdom of God, every day is the first day of school.

Ancora Imparo “Still Learning.” Michelangelo

I had the pleasure and privilege to see some long-time friends this last weekend; some whom I haven’t seen and chatted with, face-to-face, since early college.

Maybe it’s my age, maybe it’s something else, but lately I’ve been thinking about the places my life would’ve/could’ve gone if I knew THEN what I know NOW. I’ve been imagining what it would be like to know everything I know now, including my life as it has played out, and go back into my early 20’s body & brain with my 63-year-old mind AND know my future, as it played out once.

Think of the confidence, wisdom, and knowledge that would come from the years of experience that wasn’t there when I actually WAS in High School.

Imagine the differences, and how much better I’d play out my life, framed in of my knowledge and experiences now:

My friendship with God would be much improved, and my confidence in HIS love and sacrifice for ME would be stronger…which would affect everything, and every choice…and chisel my identity.
I would give my parents a break. I wasn’t a bad kid, but I sure would appreciate them more. I’d love my Mom more, I’d build things with Dad. I’d “help”.
I’d love my friends more, and adjust my life to make them happy. Having no siblings (which I would NOT change, by the way) I counted on my friends too much, without allowing them the ability to count on me. As I’ve aged I have realized that “relationships are EVERYTHING”.
I would do less “church” stuff and more “school” stuff. I realize now that I allowed my home church to “sequester” me, when Jesus really would’ve had me BE the church myself: to my friends, “salt” and “light”, if you will…as opposed to using the church as a “club” of “haves” and viewing those outside of my church as the “have-nots”. There is a balance. I was younger and needed “discipling”, HOWEVER, Church was used as a “safety net” and not a “charging station” back then. I know, a strange thing even for THIS Pastor (who is known for his strangeness) to say, but I would’ve gone to church less, and gone to football games and dances more. At the same time, I would cultivate my personal doctrine, practice my faith and recognize Jesus when I see Him, personally.
I would’ve found one adult, who wasn’t a parent, to trust and open up to. I wanted to be honest about what I felt, and who I was, with someone who was old enough to listen and wise enough to know they didn’t need to fix it…just so that SOMEONE would know me, and hear me talk it out.
I would start lifting weights at age 14, and not stop…wow, I’d look good by this point! But I’d also not shy away from eating the great junk food that crowds into a teenager’s life…bacon always has, and always will be, a part of my life.
I would learn more instruments and read more books.
I would still buy my first car. (1972 Plymouth Duster, Army Green…slant six, four-on-the-floor).
I would’ve used more hair product (if even humanly possible), grown it longer…and worn my puca shells in my Senior Picture, despite my mom’s warning that it “would make my Senior look too dated, years from then”
I would fall in love more, and allow my heart to break more. I now know that love is everything and heartbreaks heal. (“It is better to have loved and lost….” and all that)

…and then I got to:

I would make different choices…

Hmmm…would I really? And that’s the point where THIS epiphany happened.

Different choices would mean different consequences, which would lead to different paths, which would lead to a different future, and lead to a different “me”.

Of course.

The choices I was thinking of were things like:

I wouldn’t have jumped into that parking lot fight, to help a buddy, in college (where I walked away bloody and should’ve gone to the campus doctor, but was afraid to because the fight was about something less than legal and we would’ve ALL been suspended) …or…

…I shouldn’t have hooked up with my friend, Mitch, who led me and some others into a world where we were constantly dodging “the law”…

…I wouldn’t have chosen the first college I attended, but rather spent all my years at the college I graduated from…

…I would’ve chosen to be honest about myself and lived my life for God alone to judge.

HOWEVER…It is precisely through (not BECAUSE) of those choices that I am where I am today…which is a GOOD place.

It was THROUGH my choice of colleges that I not only gained much needed “transition-from-home-to-my-own-life” education, but where I discovered God in other denominations, other people, and other ways, and made lifetime friends.
It was precisely BECAUSE of my first school that I landed an acceptance into the Music Institute from which I graduated.

IN FACT, looking at my entire life, even my poor choices (ones that led me to disaster, failure, or at the least, bumpy roads) brought me…

…here.

Here, on the other side of the journey, there is knowledge to be gained, beauty to be appreciated and love to express. The Spirit never abandoned me, always protected me, and always turned my “straw to gold”. There are many, many parts of my life I would not wish on anyone, and decisions I would hope no one else would make…but the place I am NOW is a destination I would wish for everyone. And the Spirit of God has used every person, every moment, and the consequence of every good and bad decision…to get me here and now.

And so, though there are things I wish I knew then, and confidence, knowledge and wisdom I wish I had…the blessings I have received, the life that I have, I would not trade for all the bacon in the mid-west…or all the bourbon in Tennessee.

Again, I say what the Spirit has taught me:

Every moment has its time.
Every person has their place.
Do not brush away either.
In doing so, you may brush away God’s wish for you
to either ENJOY,
or BE the miracle.

WHAT??!! I have to learn a NEW song?! Don’t get me wrong, I like new things, especially songs…but as much as a learning-lover as I am, starting with something completely new, foreign and unfamiliar and trying to LEARN it gets less easy as time goes by.

So one time, as a guest singer in our local community, at a retirement home, I arrived without any knowledge of what the music or worship plan was. On that day there was, for the first time in my memory, a hymn chosen that I was COMPLETELY unfamiliar with. I stood to lead and asked if anyone there knew the song…blank stares and shaking heads. I turned to the pianist, she also said she did not know it either. I turned back to the congregation looking at me, searching for leadership.

“Let’s embark on a journey together,” I said, “and see how well we do…it’s always good to sing a new song.”

Now, I can read music but do NOT have perfect pitch, NOR do I have perfect eyesight. To get the notes with the words (both being new to me) and assuming leadership (along with the pianist) to lead a group…all of whom are relying on the two of us to teach and lead…well, let’s just say it was a fun time. We finished all four verses, getting louder and more confident with each repetition. We, (deservedly) applauded ourselves afterward. Then everyone settled in for a short nap…as I preached.

Seriously…as I was singing I thought of the wonderful lesson the Spirit was teaching in the process: singing a new song (starting a new way of life, beginning a new job, etc.) may be joyful…but there are things to observe about the process and NOT take for granted.

Sometimes it’s good to start slowly and carefully. I find myself, at times, leading a group of actor/singers as we rehearse music, dance and drama for an up-coming production of some sort. Some people are familiar with the music (they’ve HEARD it before), and a few people usually have performed the show before…but all together, this is NEW stuff and we all need to start slowly.

As BELIEVERS & FOLLOWERS, the Spirit is leading/teaching us into all truth constantly. We don’t need to SEEK to learn. Our daily lives, if we indeed are “following”, will present us with scenarios where our behavior and choices will “teach” us; life itself becomes both the lesson and the test. We never cease to learn, no matter how old we are or how long we have been endeavoring to BELIEVE & FOLLOW. So, when a “new thing” happens (a new leadership position or life-situation for us, etc.) sometimes we need to take it slowly the first time, and step carefully. It’s that way with relationships at first, and with jobs at first. No wise person steps into a new position, pulpit, or relationship, believing that they already know everything they need to about that “new song.” Or, perhaps they do, and learn very quickly that they don’t.

Over-confidence leads to mistakes. The one thing every musician/artist wants to do is learn it the right way/practice the right way. If one learns a song with wrong notes and keeps practicing the wrong notes instead of the right ones, then the song is still being played or sung inaccurately. One way to avoid that, at the beginning of the learning process, is to proceed with caution even the second and third repetition. I noticed that the second verse of that new hymn I was leading yesterday sounded a bit louder, more confident. As I approached musical phrases I had sung in the verse before, I didn’t look as closely, I relaxed…and I made mistakes. And as I made mistakes, I led the congregation into those same mistakes.

Any new endeavor we try, any new thing/truth the Spirit leads us to, needs practice and attention. Just because it’s going well doesn’t mean we can let our guard down TOO much. My piano teacher always taught me that if I played a piece perfectly once, then instead of moving on to something else, I needed to play it perfectly twice more…three times through, without mistakes, was needed to get it into my head and hands.

The journey IS the joy. We didn’t sing that new hymn perfectly, that day, but we sure sang the fourth verse better than the first. And the JOY wasn’t that we got to the end, but that we sang the whole thing together, wrong notes/words and all, and arrived at the end together. And when all was done, we had learned a new song. The youngest person there was in their forties, and the oldest was one-hundred-and-one…and it was new for all of us. The “journey” transcended our ages, and bound us together.

Learning/doing something new takes individual fortitude and concentration. But when the Spirit leads us to Truth, and to that “new thing” together, the entire community (the Church) is made stronger, more joyful, and progressive.

“Singing a new song” isn’t always easy, nor is it something that is required of us every day…but it would be ridiculous to think that the “God who makes all things new” would have us going along the same paths, to the same places in the same ways as we’ve always gone.

So, be prepared, whether we want to or not, if we are BELIEVERS & FOLLOWERS, we will all be learning “new songs”.

As I walked around our beautiful sanctuary and building this we, I thanked God not only for all who work so hard to repair, restore, and maintain our 121-year-old building (the older part), but also thought about maintenance in general.

I sincerely doubt that any of our wise old members and Property Committee, at Central in 1900, believed that once the building was finished it would never have to be tended to. I think they all realized that every-once-in-a-while some maintenance would need to be done…repairs and painting, up-dating, etc. Probably no one said,

“There, it’s finished, and we’ll never have to touch it again, it’s perfect and will stay that way without any work!”

No, in fact, our 1900 building is a marvel, BECAUSE throughout the last 121 years it has been lovingly cared for and maintained. Other buildings of a similar age, size and of similar use, are not doing so well. The stewardship of OUR building has kept it beautiful.

In a similar way, no reasonable person says,

“I’m perfectly and wonderfully made, and therefore I’m finished, I don’t have to do anything to maintain my body.”

That sounds ridiculous when we hear it. OF COURSE one has to take care of themselves; there is eating the correct food, getting enough rest, exercise – not to mention mental growth and maturity. All this helps to keep us in the best shape possible.

How about our SPIRITUAL life? Many people make the decision and take the step to BELIEVE Jesus is who He says He is, and FOLLOW Him: to become His disciple. Many choose to join a church family like ours at Central. Then they think they’re done. After all, they say, I’ve chosen to join a church and be called a “Christian” what more is there?

Regular maintenance of one’s spiritual life is vital, if one is going to remain strong, healthy and grow to that “abundant life” that Jesus talks so often about. After all, once we had some damage just under the big blue dome in our sanctuary; some leaks that went unfound and unchecked. What would happen to YOU if a storm of life hits? If your spiritual roof is in need of repair, some irreparable damage to your life could occur. If you didn’t do a regular check to see how your “spiritual body” was progressing, you’d be surprised at how weak your soul would be when disaster strikes.

SO HOW ABOUT A CHECKLIST?

FOUNDATION – How is your prayer life? Do you recite words by rote or do you actually chat with, and listen to God? Do you talk to Him only when you are in need, or regularly each day and moment? (How would you keep up communication with your friends? Do THAT with God.)

INTERIOR & WALLS – How is your heart? You know, it’s difficult to have a good relationship with anyone when you’re lying to them, ignoring them or disrespecting them. How can anyone expect that God would have any respect for you if you don’t treat God with the respect He deserves? Also, if you’re going to CALL yourself a BELIEVER & FOLLOWER, then “clean out your closet” of all the garbage (hate, malice toward another…harbored grudges…petty whining) and do what Jesus asks. (“If you love Me, you’ll keep my commandments.”)

ROOF – God is a shelter in time of the storm. Don’t get me wrong, Christians experience storms just like everyone else – but our roof SHOULD be in better shape than most, when we continually remember WHO has build (and continues to build) the house, WHO is our Provider and Protector – we do that by living in a continual state of thanks.

And speaking of: I give MY thanks to our current PROPERTY COMMITTEE and all those who have served in that capacity before them. God bless all of you, as you continue to maintain your “Spiritual House & Home” – your person “Temple of Faith”, the storms are sure to come!

I am so blessed and happy to live in a country that makes it relatively easy to be a Believer & Follower of Jesus the Christ. I am thankful every day, as a Pastor, that I do not face the persecution and unfathomable struggles that many of my brothers and sisters throughout the world face daily. We are truly blessed, in the United States, to be allowed to “live and let live”…though some of us could use a little more practice.

We, as a nation, have rarely had to face what other Christians around the world face, as tension between the church and the government. Throughout the nations governments and non-Christians resent the fact that a Christian’s allegiance is FIRST given to God, and THEN to the nation. Here in the U.S.A., although it has turned to a more politicized moniker, being a “Christian” is a label with some influence in the greatest circles of power, or at least a relative comfort level within those circles. The same cannot be said for many countries outside of the U.S.

Does that make this a “Christian” country? Although, for some reason, many believe that this nation is a “new Isreal”-type, the nation of the USA is no more “Christian” than Portugal or Australia (as illustrative examples only). There is a flawed belief there were MORE Christians in political leadership at the dawn of this nation than there are now. But all one needs to do is read a little history to find the percentage was probably the same as it is now. And what some of those leaders defined as Christ-like-behavior would shock us today. But there WAS an eager tolerance, in that time, to allow the people of this new country to choose where, when, how or not to worship (unlike the countries from which our colonists came, where religion was forced upon the populace).

Was this nation founded on Christian principals? It would seem so, as many would define Christianity and as many interpret scriptures then and now. But looking at the way some Christians have historically used their faith to justify slavery and aggressive war against other nations, one wonders what the difference is between patriotism and faith. Again, Tzarist Russia (as an example) and Nazi Germany (as another) would have claimed, and DID claim, that theirs were Christian nations: their concepts about government and “who was in and who was out” were argued using the scripture AND the belief that God blessed their efforts and was “on their side”.

This belief in a “Christian” United States has, unfortunately, given some Christians pause. Sometimes the Supreme Court of the United States hands down decisions that make some Christians (not all) shudder. These decisions about marriage, about life before birth, etc. are reminders that this country is simply that…a country. It is not a nation set aside from any other nation, by God, for special “anointing”. It is a country filled with God’s children…like all of the other countries of the world.

And AS God’s children, we understand that our allegiance to God dictates that we pray for, but not worship, our respective countries and their leaders. We realize that our leaders and lawmakers will do things we agree with and some things we don’t agree with. We will agree and disagree with our own Christian brothers and sisters also. As children of God we realize that God and God alone will define what life is, what marriage is, what love is, and who has residency in His Kingdom…many of us would be surprised at His decisions about precisely those things.

Even in the Kingdom, the searching and re-searching of the scripture may lead YOU to define God and other things in ways which might be different from the way I see God. How then can we expect our nation to always agree with what we individually define as “Christian”?

The laws of this country and the laws of God may at times connect, intersect, run parallel and/or conflict. That is the reality of life in this Age. We are promised, however, that in the Age-To-Come, there will be no boundaries, no war, no strangers. There will be One King, one law, and one peace. We’re not there yet, but we will be soon…and for now we need to practice not looking shocked at who else is sitting at God’s table (and not being offended when they are shocked to see us.)

We, as Believers and Followers of the One True God, manifested in Jesus the Promised One, have one agenda: to KNOW God. We have a primary allegiance: to the Almighty Father and His Only Son…and we have one command from Him to follow: love one another as I have loved you.

I love this country, where we celebrate the freedom to worship as we please, we define our faith as we please, we agree or disagree with our country’s leaders as we please. God help me to remember the millions that don’t have this freedom…and help me love the ones who have not chosen the ultimate freedom that comes from knowing God and His Son.

America! America!
May God thy gold refine,
Till all success be nobleness,
And every gain divine!
(Katherine Bates)

The kingdom of the world has become
The kingdom of our Lord and of His Anointed King,
and He will reign forever and ever!
(Revelation 11:15)

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