April 14 – “Honor Guard Academy 2017”

The Honor Guard Academy has been taking place once again in Galveston this week.  Four Galveston fire fighters were enrolled.  I haven’t been able to go as often as I did last year, but Nathan has been one of the local department liaisons again.  He and Dustin Burnett from our Galveston Fire Department Honor Guard have arranged for venues, provided water for the classes, arranged for a rental car for the instructors, and even set up a closing party for the class.  Lots of work, but the results make for some well-trained and procedurally consistent honor guards across the region. 

I did manage to join the group yesterday for the mock line of duty death funeral scenario held at the old cemetery on Broadway here in Galveston.  It’s a pretty elaborate training setup.  Our local union loaned out their fire truck to use to deliver the coffin, which was included in a supply training trailer loaned to us for the occasion by the Texas Line of Duty Death Task Force.  There was a bugle for playing taps, a ceremonial ax and rifle as well as flags for the color guard, and James Short, one of our Galveston fire fighters, agreed to be there to play his bagpipes.  Fabulous job, by the way, James.  I was recruited to play the part of … the chaplain performing the ceremony. 

We did have a light-hearted moment or two amidst the intensity of folding flags just so and keeping in step and remembering commands.  During the first run-through everyone was in place around the casket.  It was time for the graveside ceremony to begin.  The instructor turned to me and said, “Chaplain, it’s all yours.”  I waited silently for about a three count, just long enough for him to walk solemnly away from the casket, step down onto the pathway, and turn to face me again.  Then I said, “Amen,” and nodded back to him.  He was surprised, and it took him a second or two to realize that “the service” was over, but he recovered quickly.  He returned to the casket area and called the trainees to begin removing the flag, folding it, and making the presentation to the family.  Finally the instructor re-entered his funeral role and made his final mock announcement along the lines of, “The family thanks you for coming and there will be a reception over at the Elk’s Lodge.”  One the second run-through, he exited the staging area with, “It’s all yours, Padre.”  Well, since he changed his approach, I guess I had to change as well.  So this time I said, “Get right with God now.  It’ll make things a lot easier then.  Amen.”  Apparently this time it was more than he expected.  He actually laughed out loud before coming up to make his concluding remarks to the crowd about the reception.  I was going to interrupt him during his speech this time.  Had it all planned.  “The Elk’s Lodge was currently involved in a four alarm fire and there was a hostage situation at the high school next door.  All personnel were being called in immediately.  No exceptions.”  He was too quick for me, though.  Also, it was getting hot.  I knew the students were ready for a water break at least. 

Today is the graduation ceremony.  I’m going in for that as well.  I think I’m doing the invocation and benediction.  Honor Guard Academy.  Fire fighters and police officers, put it on your bucket list to attend and take the information back to your departments.  Well worth the effort.  And special kudos once again to Galveston Honor Guard liaisons Nathan Vaughan and Dustin Burnett.  Well done.

Titus 3:4-7 says, “But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.”

Father, walk with these men and women as they return to their departments and shifts.  Keep them and their brothers and sisters safe.  Amen.

April 13 – “Something wrong with your meter …”

So we had a power outage the other day.  There had already been several obvious surges over the course of the storm system that was blowing through the Island.  The lights had flickered three or four times, so we weren’t surprised when it did happen. 

We had just returned home from picking up Cailyn at school.  That was kind of fun in itself, by the way.  I had an umbrella, but she insisted that she didn’t need one.  It would only hamper her style.  Needless to say, by the time we arrived at the truck her shoes, and much of her body, were drenched.  But how can you expect to stay dry when you are busy leaping into and sloshing through puddles?  That’s just … silly.

The power went out within minutes after we got back to the house.  I went ahead and called it in to the power company, just to be sure they had a record of the outage.  Silly me.  Apparently the computer couldn’t understand my Island dialect.  It kept asking me if I needed more time to formulate my response.  All I had to do was read off some numbers.  But apparently that particular set of numbers just wasn’t among those deemed recognizable by the computer powers that be.  I was finally transferred to a human being.  Imagine that.

The lady who took my call was actually very nice.  It took her a few minutes, but whatever she was looking at on her computer finally let her know that there was, indeed, an area wide outage in our area.  It was scheduled to be repaired “no later than 1700 hours.  That’s military time, you know.  It means … um … let’s see … um … I think that would be something like … um … five o’clock.” 

I thanked her and started to hang up when she stopped me.  Well, I guess she didn’t actually stop me.  I could have hung up.  But she asked if I could hold on a second while she checked one other screen.  Foolishly, I agreed.  Sure enough, something on her second screen gave her this information: “Um … I’m sorry, sir, but this screen is telling me that there is something wrong with your meter.  It shows that it is off.  Now, there could be trouble on your end of the meter.  We’re going to have to send out a technician to check it out.  And if the problem is on your end it will cost $50.” 

OK.  Is it just me?  Did I miss something?  Was there some other information that I just didn’t hear?  Was I interpreting what I had heard correctly?  Correct me if I’m wrong.  She had just told me that there was an area wide power outage.  No power was reaching the houses in our neighborhood.  Wouldn’t that, by definition, mean that the meter that records power usage as it enters the house would not be receiving any power, either?  I told her to feel free to send out a technician if she felt that she must, but I didn’t see how something on our side of the meter could cause the meter itself to lose power. 

We were in the dark for about another hour.  Cailyn treated us to an afternoon’s worth of powerless card games by flashlight.  We didn’t actually need the flashlight.  It was still daylight outside, but the flashlight did make the adventure a lot more fun.  Reminded me of some of the hurricane adventures we enjoyed as kids.  The power finally came back on, though.  Oh, and we never saw hide nor hair of a repair technician.

Titus 3:1-2 says, “Remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready to do whatever is good, to slander no one, to be peaceable and considerate, and to show true humility toward all men.”

Father, thank you that your power never goes off.  We always have access to it.  Amen.

April 12 – “Interesting encounter”

Chris and I had another of our “interesting encounters” yesterday.  This one came as we were sitting together in the office.  Chris was reading the newspaper.  Yes, we still read the newspaper.  Of course its value has somewhat deteriorated from information to entertainment, but we remain loyal to the concept, nonetheless.  I was working at the computer. 

Suddenly we heard the tell-tale thud that ordinarily results in the discovery of an errant avian who had tried unsuccessfully to take a shortcut from the back yard to the front through our glass back doors.  Our closed glass back doors.  It happens more than you might imagine.  Chris got up to investigate, to see if there was anything she could do.  Ever the diligent nurse, you know.  And within seconds I heard, “Kelley, where’s Freddy?  Get her.  I got her.  Oh.  Oh.  It’s … Come here.  Come in here.”  Now how can anyone concentrate after an appeal like that?  I quickly left my post and made my way into the den, where Chris stood sort of hunching over, grasping tightly to a confused Freddy.  She pointed just as I noticed movement out of the corner of my eye.  A bird had indeed struck the back door, but this one was now inside the house. 

Leaping into action, I raced over and opened the back door to give it an escape route.  On my way I queried, “How did it get in?  Did you remember to close all the windows when you washed them?”  Yes, Chris does do windows.  They look fabulous, by the way.  Of course she had remembered, so that avenue of entry was rapidly tossed aside.  My next thought, as I followed the little sparrow into the office, was perhaps it had flapped its wings at such an incredibly fast rate that the vibrations had enabled him to actually pass through the molecules of the glass door unharmed.  The noise we heard was simply the result of a lack of concentration during his attempt to make the return trip.  Hey, it works for The Flash.  I actually used to have the comic book where he taught Superman how to do that.  I never mentioned that possibility out loud, though.  Some secrets are better left unrevealed.  The only other possibility was that he had somehow made his way through the flap on the dog’s door.  Not unheard of, I suppose.  But I still lean toward the super speed explanation myself. 

By that time our visitor had decided to take a break, and I knew right then that all would be well.  See, he was an Astros fan.  He landed on one of my Astros hats and rested while I made my way to prop open the front door.  I saluted him as I cleared his escape route, and he nodded almost imperceptibly at me as he flew directly out the door.  Hey, us Astros fans of all shapes and sizes … and species … have to stick together.  Oh, and Freddy?  She still has no idea what was going on.  She did enjoy cuddling with Mommy, though.

Titus 2:11-14 says, “For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men.  It teaches us to say ‘No’ to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope — the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.”

Father, thank you for all of your creatures, fast and slow.  Amen.

April 11 – “List-maker Life”

Easter week is officially in full swing.  Monday was dedicated to the computer for the most part.  I had to get rolling on the two worship services coming up on Sunday.  That meant two teachings (Can’t use the same one.  Some people go to both services.  Wouldn’t want anybody who has already been awake since 4:30 a.m. to get too bored).  Before I could start on those, though, I had to get my weekly to-do list organized. 

Now that’s something about me that you may not know.  I am an incessant list-maker.  That’s how I start my Mondays every week.  In fact I even have a file saved on the computer so I can just print out the weekly stuff and add things that come up at the bottom.  Oh, I’ve tried putting it all on my phone’s Notes App, but there’s a problem.  I have to open the phone.  Then scroll to the right app.  Then open the app.  Then locate the right page of notes.  There’s just something to be said in favor of good ol’ dead tree paper notes.  I do recycle, though.  I save and use the backs of old sermon notes.  I know, I know.  I still use paper there, too.  I don’t have a fancy iPad, though.  Maybe some day I’ll enter the 20^th century.  Oh, wait.  Or would that be the 21^st century?  See how far behind I actually am?  So I guess in the meantime I will remain slow and happy and hang onto my paper lists. 

I just looked around on my desk.  There is my weekly to do list, the one I print off every Monday.  Then there is a list entitled “Sunday List.”  That’s the one so I won’t forget anything when we have to leave the house around 4:30 a.m. or so to get to the Sunrise Service.  At that hour one might forget something.  Then there is one that just says “milk crates.”  Nathan called yesterday and asked if the Honor Guard Academy could borrow some milk crates that we have here at the house.  Oh, and there is one other list here.  It is more of a phone message type hodgepodge of stuff.  People in the hospital.  Various events at the Honor Guard Academy that I would like to go see.  Those kinds of things.  I do need to add a shopping list somewhere in there.  We are almost out of fruit and we’re getting low on dog food.  Sigh.  The life of a list maker is never ending.

Titus 2:6-8 says, “Similarly, encourage the young men to be self-controlled.  In everything set them an example by doing what is good. In your teaching show integrity, seriousness and soundness of speech that cannot be condemned, so that those who oppose you may be ashamed because they have nothing bad to say about us.”

Father, thank you for the chance to be involved in so many things that I have to have a list to stay organized.  Sure makes life fun.  Amen.

April 10 – “Praisin’ is fun”

Well … Palm Sunday.  That’s one of my favorite days of the church year.  That’s because it is all about praise, and praise can have so many different looks.  This year we started out by giving everyone who arrived a palm frond to represent their praise.  They were all different sizes and shapes and conditions.  Application? 

• Some long, some short – The ways we praise can look very different - But they’re all from the same tree! - as long as we’re praising the same Jesus!
• Some frayed at the end – Sometimes we come to praise and worship with a frayed attitude.  And your attitude is often the reason you “don’t get anything out of it”
• Some look dead – There are times when you come to worship and just feel … nothing.  The reasons might be varied, but the result is the same.  You just can’t wait to get home.  Your praise is dead.
• A lot more are in the box than are in people’s hands – Sometimes we come to church and never get around to picking up the praise frond.  Oh, we listen.  We smile.  We may even be quite cordial.  But we never get around to actually praising Jesus!

The day started out with a very solemn song, Pilate’s Song from Jesus Christ Superstar.  All the lights were dimmed as Jim sang it, and he had really captured everyone’s attention.  Just as he finished, I was standing in the back of the room with a megaphone.  I shouted through it, “Hosannah!” several times as I made my way to the front.  Chris said the entire section nearest to me nearly jumped out of their seats.  I would call that effective, I guess. 

As we worked through the passage in Luke 19:28-47, we came across mention of the towns Bethphage and Bethany, meaning House of Figs and House of Dates, respectively.  At this point we passed around plates full of Fig Newtons and dates for everyone to try.  There were a few turned up noses, but there were more than a few who were pleasantly surprised by the sweetness of the dates in particular.

Later on I managed to get one guy to agree to walk on my coat.  I think he might have enjoyed it a little too much, though.  He was willing to dance on it fi I wanted him to.  And no, I did not compare him to the donkey in the story that walked across the coats of the people.  He was more in the category of a king who was receiving homage. 

The commitment time was a four parter.  First, everyone brought his palm frond to the cross in the front of the room and placed it on the ground.  Then they picked up a cross made from a palm frond instead.  A little symbolism for Luke 9:23, If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. 

Next they had to trade the cross they had with someone else … as many times as they wanted to, introducing themselves or just saying, “Hosannah.”  Once that was accomplished we debriefed about the palm crosses. 

• Some are double-thick.  Some are long and skinny.  None look exactly the same.  Neither is the cross you carry - your individual sacrifice to God – exactly the same as the one I carry.  But they are both crosses.  It’s the same Jesus!
• What did you think about having to give up/trade off the one you picked out?  You can’t always pick the way you will serve Jesus.  That is determined by what those around you need.

The last charge was more like homework.  As a symbol of their understanding that praise is powerful … as a means for them to remember that if they don’t offer praise because of their relationship with Jesus, then the rocks and stones will … they were encouraged to find or create their own Palm Sunday symbol.  Color a picture with kids or grandkids.  Pick up a rock.  Put a handful of sand in a baggies.  Set aside a seashell. 

And remember, any of those things could suddenly break out in praise to Jesus … if you don’t. 

Psalms 69:30 says, “I will praise the name of God with song and magnify Him with thanksgiving.”

Father, thank you for fun praise days like Palm Sunday.  Please visit our Easter Sunrise and later the communion service next week.  Amen.

April 9 – “Finished”

We are finished.   Done.  Absolutely nothing left to do.  It is over.  I for one never want to even go there again.  No, I’m not talking about our marriage.  As far as I can tell we are still OK on that front.  I’m talking about painting the house.  Yesterday we spent the entire day outside doing tag team duty on the painting and yardwork.  Chris started out painting while I mowed the lawn, another task that we have been putting off while we worked on the house.  Well, not just mowing.  I mean yardwork in general.  Chris has slowly cleared out flower beds, but we hadn’t done our yearly weed ‘n’ feed drop … until Chris accomplished it during her turn off the ladder yesterday. 

So, after I mowed, it worked out where Chris was just about finished with what she could reach on the eaves.  So we switched out.  She took over the weed eating and weed ‘n’ feeding.  I crammed the ladder up against the hedges and perched precariously to reach the final stretch of white-paint-needing trim.  But that was not all.  Oh, no.  I still had to do all the touch up – the punch-out list of tiny little specs of blue/gray on white and white on blue/gray.  That, my friends, could be a never-ending battle.  I finally declared the paint kitchen closed for the next fifteen years or so, barring hurricanes and floods and grandchildren and other natural disasters.  I quickly put away the ladders and paint brushes and cans of leftover paint so Chris couldn’t see them and think of another project.  She was pretty tired herself, though, so I was safe for at least another 24 hours.  And we didn’t even have a kid’s baseball game to go to.

Speaking of which, we did go out to see one of our Seaside kiddos play the other night.  Brennan is in machine pitch.  He’s also the smallest kid on his team.  Not sure about the ages, but on top of everything else, he has never played before this year.  I gotta say, that kid was amazing.  He hit the ball every time he batted, and I think he even scored every time a swell.  I was especially impressed by his speed, though.  And it was not just an optical illusion brought on by how short his legs are.  Those short legs were rockets between the basepaths.  His team won the game handily.  Nice job Brennan and the Indians.

Titus 2:1-2 says, “You must teach what is in accord with sound doctrine.  Teach the older men to be temperate, worthy of respect, self-controlled, and sound in faith, in love and in endurance.”

Father, thank you for finished projects and speedy youngsters.  Amen.

April 8 – “Noatic Words of Wisdom”

Just a few words of wisdom from that up and coming young sage who is “almost four years old, Noa.  With the Easter season approaching, her family was apparently having a discussion about important details of the original special days.  Good Friday was one point of inquiry.  It began with, “Why did Jesus wear a diaper when he was on the cross?”  Thank you artists from centuries past for that one.  The answer, of course, is simply that Hanes and Fruit of the Loom hadn’t quite gotten their companies expansion efforts to include Israel yet. 

But the biggest point of concern was specific to the Easter morning scenario.  She understood that Jesus’ clothes had been left behind in the tomb when he rose from the dead, “’cause they were all folded up.”  So much for the cross diaper.  But here’s the thing.  Jesus didn’t appear to anybody with no clothes, so where did Jesus’ new clothes come from after he rose from the dead?  Ah, ponder that one for a moment or two …

Well between Noa and her brothers and I guess her Mom as well, they came up with a few answers.  One sounded very guy-like.  Perhaps he took some of clothes off of one of the guards.  After all they were all passed out outside the tomb.  That one makes perfect sense on a practical level.  The next one involved the supernatural.  Maybe the angels brought him some clothes when they came to move the stone out of the way so Jesus could get out.  Again, that makes all kinds of sense to me.  But my absolute favorite came from the realm of the Wisdom of Noa, chapter three-and-almost-four.  She gave me this detailed description:

“See, there was this hole in the back of the tomb.  And when Jesus got up, he went to the back to that hole.  And there was a dresser there in that hole.  And he got some clothes out of that and put them on.” 

There you have it, ladies and gentlemen of the archaeological community.  Want to find the exact tome that belonged to Joseph of Arimathea that he loaned out to Jesus for three days?  Look for the one with the dresser hidden in a hole in the back. 

2 Timothy 4:7-8 says, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.  Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day — and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.”

Father, thank you for theological discussions among children.  They really help the kids solidify the historical background of their faith.  Amen.