NCAA is in town

The city of Bridgeport has excitement today with the NCAA women's tournament in our city. The local People's Bank is sponsoring a sports fest for the kids giving them an opportunity to get sports equipment, safety instructions and have fun interacting with the mascots of the local sports teams. It is a big change from 6 years ago when there was no local interaction with sports which makes the the city a beacon of hope for the future.
The life of a sportsman is one of challenge. The 60 minutes takes over 2 hours, but in it is a lot of drama and excitement as the whistles blow, the sneakers squeak against the floor and calls are made quickly from the sidelines. I experienced it from the sidelines when I was active as a manager for my local high school team in the early 80's. Hanging onto the ticking of the clock overhead and the horns of the officials for replacements in the game causes a bit of anticipation for what is to come. But the excitement of seeing the organge basketball go through the hoop-swoosh and 2 points appearing afterward!!!! May the game live on and be a source of excitement for all who watch it and scream at the t.v. for why calls are made that are not agreed upon. and for the patience in awaiting the officials words on the answer to a questionable call.

Shuffling the cards of life

Shuffling the cards of life.
Dining room table has been cleared off and after dinner, Dad asks if I want to play a few rounds of gin rummy. 10 cards are dealt to each other. one, one;two, two; three,three;...ten, ten. The face card is finally turned over next to the virgin deck of cards.
Pensive looks cross each other as the cards are arrnaged by suit for the correct assortment of possible hands. The silence of the room is sliced by the ringing of the phone. 3 rings later, my mom answers the phone. It is my brother who calls to let us know the latest news of an editing job and news of how Abby is doing with her adventures.
The dishwasher whirs in the distance. Mom asks for help with the daily crostic for a clue to help unlock the clue to the quote. I know how hard it can be to find the right word to squeeze within those dashes. Many possible words but only the right one for the author of the puzzle. this life is a puzzle at times-finding the right words to say or deeds to do. But nonetheless satisfying when the pen can be put down. Oh, my mom is amazed I can do it in ink but a few scribbles is no problem for me. They can stay on the page-for life has made enough scratch marks on me. I am not afraid for others to see those.
Back to the game at hand, arranging and rearranging the cards for the perfect chance for gin. In my mind, I am looking for the right combination to spark a high hand at gin. My mom gets up from her puzzle for a few crackers and takes a glance my way and says "interesting cards" Not that I need immediate help. I just shuffle and arrange and see where some moves take me.
Oh, my turn. I just discarded the king of hearts and spades. Not that I want those high cards in my hand. Too many times giving a score of 60 away. NExt I draw the king of diamonds. yet, I struggle to fix the hand to a satisfaction that has all the cards lined up right.
a final score of 40 and just in time before all the other cards are used.
I shuffle 4 more times and Dad cuts the deck for another round of dealing the right 10 cards, I hope. Dealing those 10 cards and then awaiting the sound of silence and the sound of encouragement of how Bridgeport and Cartright Towers is doing.
Being present with each other dates back to the times at Newington Childrens Hospital during the 5th grade. a good activity for a father and son to spend in time and place from Connecticut, Maine, Minnesota and Arizona.
Thanks for that chance to do something so simple yet so profound -to await our fate with the conclusion of the hand. Scores are evenly matched at the end. the final score never matters. just numbers scored carefully on a folded shopping list in life. To be mingled with a silent but constant reassuring love of a father to his son. thanks for the hands.

By Immersion

This week, our men's study discussed the act of baptism. About 20 years ago, I had that experience as I joined my church body in June of 1986. It was an immersion into a warm body of water. I was so eager to get dunked that I beat my pastor's questions and got right to the answer of YES, I accepted Christ and the work that He did for me on the cross.
Lately, I have been thinking of how beneficial it is to be immersed into life. As a result, I immersed myself into the writing of a letter to a former cell mate of one of our church members since he needed an encouragement and voice from the outside world. Being away from physical walls that enclose is easy, but we all are enclosed my walls of oursselves that are hard to oppen and find freedom from.
The spanish have a term for life which is in the feminine form, la Vida, which is a strong word evoking growth and change and almost has the rhythmn of a dance to it. The other bookend to life is the spanish word, for death, la muerte. It is between the beginning and end of our life that we can dance and flow thorough life. especially through the immersion of ourselves into the experiences of others-being a part of other lives in community through the beginning of water.
For the first 9 months of our existence, we are surrounded by water of the womb nourishing our lives from the start. Life on earth began with that key ingredient of La Agua. so let us swim through La Agua , the dance of life and the journey of time.
So remember the mundane acts of washng the dishes and reading a book or writing a note or thoughts are all ways to immerse oneself into life and not be afraid since we have God and others to hold onto and to life us out of the waters of death into life. May HIs grace be upon the reader.

Impending snow

For almost half this winter, snow has been absent=a nice welcome relief!!! But winter comes back with a bang this evening as we approach a foot for the first time in a while.
Snow plows will be out in force and boots and shovels are going to get a workout. Along with gloves and mittens.
Snow adds a lot to the natural world to look at. and to reflect upon as the water overflows rocks that are covered by the snow. The slow gurgling of the rushing water is a gentle sound that is soothing as it is a continual force and presence of nature.
So as the classic song goes, let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!!!!

A lesson plan from space

20 years ago, a young teacher Christa McCauliffe, ventured to the world of space to give lessons to her students of what is out in space. She never got to give those lectures, but today in over 50 Challenger learning centers in the United States, students are conducting missions to the planets and galaxies. For a young woman to have a grand dream of flying in outer space and have it denied in her lifetime is frustrating to those who are left to endure the loss. That is where working as a team is required. To come alongside those to whom dreams are denied and to pursue those dreams anyway without the initiators of those dreams.
Moses had to endure a delay when he could not enter the promised land but had to wander.
Many times in life, we are faced with delays.
Delays are not fun. Whether it is a delay in giving a talk, getting a raise or just a delay in finding the special friend that God assigns is not easy since we can not see the cards that God is dealing into our lives.
we need to have courage and be the initators and finishers of those dreams just as coaches take off where others have left off and pastors take over the work of other pastors. Dream on.

Sunday school on the road

How we have to be flexible when we look at our lives. This morning, the normal routine of sunday school was broken into pieces. When my friend called and said that his ride did not show up, I went with a friend and we picked him up.
While we were heading on the highway I reflected on how I handled a new visitor in not being sensitive to the hurt within this person. I knew there was hurt within but was not sensitive in dealing with a situation and tried to make sure we conformed to the way the room is set up. I learned I need to be flexible and God really doesn't care where the teacher sits. We are all the teachers of His word.

New Beginnings

Today is the start for our memoir writing for 2006 with a new facilitator. It will be hard without our old reliable professor, but Mary and Gilligan will be alongside the new professor. Changes are difficult to take at times. But just as the seasons change from one to the next, it is always good to get a new flow of ideas into life.
The wood carver sits down and spreads out his apron and lays down his sanding blocks and knives with which he is going to cut the wood into a sculpture. He moves deliberately along the piece of wood and finds the groove to carve along. He has a white beard and a warm smile. He laughs as he carves and finds great joy in doing this activity.
The wood shavings accumulate and the aroma of freshly carved wood fill the workshop. He stands up and stretches his long arms and grabs a few more tools to fine tune this piece of wood. He looks around to clear cobwebs hanging from lamps in the ceiling that are full of dust.
He moves again to open the window to air his workshop out during this humid day. He hears a mourning dove outside his window and sees a group of children outside playing. He looks at the sky and gains inspiration to continue his work.
Carving wood is a lot like writing. Just touching the piece of wood and creating a structure as you go along. Just like with writing-bringing about the flow of ideas to communicate a meaning and blessing for the reader.

competition

Having only been on the hardwood floor as an assistant to the coach during my last two years of my high school years, I have learned much on how much perseverence it takes for players on a team. Seeing them do wind-sprints down the length of the floor to doing the stretching and boxing out and various offensive and defensive drills helps prepare the team for the challenges that are ahead during the actual game time.
Being on the actual courtside seeing the close action on a day to day basis is something that I will never forget. A lot of times when an observer looks at a game from the distance, they do not understand all the hard work that must go on behind the scenes.
Never being an athlete myself, I will never know first-hand the effects of the day to day competition. But being part of a close-knit community over two winters was very special when being present amongst teams of local high schools.
Now just being able to scream at the television screen that a college player should have done better is a favorite way to spend an afternoon or evening.
Thanks, Abe for giving me the chance to experience a part of life that I would not have otherwise being a fan in the stands.

A new year@!!!

It is a little bit like school today since a talk that I was planning to give was cancelled due to bad weather. It gives me another 2 weeks to prepare for it. It will focus on how christians are supposed to be aware of the cloud of witnesses that have gone before them. These people such as Moses and Abraham had many challenges to face. In light of the themes from the book of Romans 8 on the role of glory and suffering and the importance to have perseverence in the middle of the suffering. Noah had to endure the scorn of others as he built the ark and Jesus had to endure the suffering on the cross for three hours. Peace to those who read these first words of 2o06 from me.

Forging ahead with the new year

We are at the corner of the new year going from 2005 to 2006. Much has happened on the landscape of the earth since the beginning of the year from earthquakes and hurricanes. What happens on the inside of these storms is understood a little by the scientists and much of the activity happens at a very frantic pace.
What may appear as disorder within is part of the plan that the Creator has done. I do not fully understand the suffering that these storms bring and the long-term suffering which results. Yet it does allow some people to trust and lean on others for their help.
Nature demonstrates awesome strength and it requires citizens of earth to wrestle with the elements. May the struggle go on.