Month: February 2025

Thoughts from here and There…Learning to say I Love You!

I had the fortunate experience to conduct worship on the first Thursday of the month at Greenway Manor. Greenway Manor is a skilled nursing facility in Spring Green Wisconsin.

It was a challenge to find material that will interest the residents. I thought it might be beneficial to speak about love

Christina Rossetti’s poem. Love Came Down at Christmas made a deep and lasting impression me. I had used it for a Christmas Eve Service and used it at Greenway

Love came down at Christmas,

Love all lovely, love divine;
Love was born at Christmas,
Star and angels gave the sign.

Worship we the Godhead,
Love incarnate, love divine;
Worship we our Jesus:
But wherewith for sacred sign?

Love shall be our token,
Love shall be yours and love be mine,
Love to God and to all men,
Love for plea and gift and sign.

What was impressed on me is that without love coming down at Christmas, I would not love, nor know how to love, nor would any one else.

For the Writer’s Almanac of December 22, 2009, Garrison Keillor read “Susanna” by Anne Porter, from Living Things: Collected Poems.

It is a beautiful poem that also emphasizes love. I quote it here because of the depth of meaning that it communicates.

Nobody in the hospital
Could tell the age
Of the old woman who
Was called Susanna

I knew she spoke some English
And that she was an immigrant
Out of a little country
Trampled by armies

Because she had no visitors
I would stop by to see her
But she was always sleeping

All I could do
Was to get out her comb
And carefully untangle
The tangles in her hair

One day I was beside her
When she woke up
Opening small dark eyes
Of a surprising clearness

She looked at me and said
You want to know the truth?
I answered Yes

She said it’s something that
My mother told me

There’s not a single inch
Of our whole body
That the Lord does not love

She then went back to sleep.

There is not a single inch of our whole body that the Lord does not love. The old woman went back to sleep. She could sleep the sleep of deep peace because she recognized that she was loved.

Some people find it hard to say “I love you.” I do not. I met a friend of the family at our Christmas dinner. I told him that we were a huging people. He reached over and gave me a hug, and I said, “I love you.” He appeared to be startled by my action. We are also a family that freely says, “I love you.”

Love is one of the major themes promoted during February. What the world calls love is not what God calls love. Love comes down at Christmas. This is love.

With sincere practice it is not hard to say “I love you.”

Thoughts from here and there…Are You Jesus?

A few years ago a group of salesmen went to a regional sales convention in Chicago. They had assured their wives that they would be home in plenty of time for Friday night’s dinner. In their rush, with tickets and briefcases, one of these salesmen inadvertently kicked over a table which held a display of baskets of apples. Apples flew everywhere.

Without stopping or looking back, they all continued their sprint to reach the plane in time for their nearly missed boarding. All but one.

He paused, and experienced a twinge of compassion for the girl whose apple stand that had been overturned.

He yelled to his friends to go on without him, and to please explain to his wife that he would be taking a later flight.

Then he turned around where the apples were all over the terminal floor. He was glad he did. The 16 year old girl was totally blind! She was softly crying, tears running down her cheeks in frustration, and at the same time helplessly groping for her spilled produce as the crowd swirled about her, no one stopping, and no one to care.

The salesman knelt on the floor with her, gathered up the apples, put them into the baskets, and helped set the display up once more. As he did this, he noticed that many of them had become battered and bruised; these he set aside in another basket. When he had finished, he pulled out his wallet and said to the girl, “Here, please take this $20 for the damage we did. Are you okay?” She nodded through her tears. He continued on with, “I hope we didn’t spoil your day too badly.”

As the salesman started to walk away, the bewildered blind girl called out to him, “Mister….” He paused and turned to look back into those blind eyes.

She continued, “Are you Jesus?”

He stopped in mid-stride. Then slowly he made his way to catch the later flight with that question burning and bouncing about in his soul: “Are you Jesus?”

Dare I ask the question? Yes. “What would you do?”

Thoughts from here and there…Load the Wagon!

Life is full of obstacles. Some of them are minor and cause you little concern, these are the mole hills. But there are mountains which have to be climbed. There are valleys that have to be crossed. And there are bridges which have to be negotiated. Sometimes you stand for a moment and survey the scene and the obstacle appears so great that there does not seem to be a way to deal with it. We might listen to the words of a former NFL coach and broadcaster.

John Madden was the color commentator for Monday Night Football, and he was a professional football coach. He was once asked what words of encouragement he gave to his team at half-time.

He replied: “Don’t worry about going blind! Just load the wagon!” He confessed later that he didn’t have the vaguest idea of what this meant but, it appeared to work!

Well he misquoted the expression. I looked it up and it ought to read: “Don’t worry about the horse going blind, just load the wagon.” Still, you have to ask what such an expression might mean.

The sentence came from a paraphrase of the quotation that is to be found in a sermon by Bishop Robert Spain of KY as quoted by Dr. John Bardsley.

What it really means is this. A blind horse guided by a sighted driver will always make the trip successfully. For us the conclusion is rather obvious: “Get on with it! (The work of Christ!) There’s no place for defeatism or negativism.

Does this appear to be too harsh a way of stating the obvious? I do not believe so. As Paul writes, “I can do all things through him (that is Christ) who strengthens me,” (Philippians 4:13, NRSVA). Perhaps he could, but if he could so can you and me.

This promise is all-inclusive. We may be blind, but Jesus is the light. We may be weak, Jesus offers strength. We may be ignorant, Jesus offers truth. Whatever our need there is a remedy in Christ. So take heart. Load the wagon.

Thoughts from here and There…Love Never Burns Out

Love is power. Love is Joy! Love is the source of individual vitality and hopefulness. Love creates the capacity in life to prevent “burn–out.” This thought occurred to me as I was sitting in conversation with a student in the Lay Ministry Training Program whom I was mentoring.

In response to his comment I made a audacious statement. “I will not burn–out!” This is something that I had not said before that moment. “Love is the source of power that prevents “burn–out.” It is true! Let me explain.

Love begins with God. We love because God first loved us(1 John 4:19). God is the one who defines God’s love (1 John 4:8). God is the one who illustrates love (1 John 4:9). God is the one who demonstrates the actions and attitudes of love (Jeremiah 3:3). One can only learn love through knowing God (1 John 3:14-18). God is love, unlimited and unconditional, though not necessarily approving. This kind of love, generally, cannot be readily observed in the world, or, generally, discovered in the life of the common citizen of the world.

Jesus as God’s representative illustrates love, in his thoughts, in his attitudes, and in his actions. Jesus commands us to love God, ourselves, and our neighbor/enemy. Loving one’s self means accepting one’s self for who and what you are. There may be things that you do not like, that is okay. You can always change, if change is what you want.

Loving one’s self means that the individual takes the time to develop the necessary order in one’s life so that it may be lived optimally. That is you get enough rest, the necessary food, not only for the body, but also for the mind, the spirit. A person who has come to love his or her self is at peace. There is great restfulness in love. Love does not reduce activity, but it is the great antidote for worry. Love helps to keep life in balance. Love helps us to realize what is important and necessary.

Once you have come to the place where you can love, and forgive yourself, you are ready to apply this principle to all your relationships. When you encounter frustration you will find the means to cope. When you face losses, you will discover the energy and wisdom necessary to see the situation through to a positive conclusion. It makes no difference what happens to you, you will be optimistic and up–beat, creative and hopeful.

In this way you will never burn–out. Love is energizing. You will have all the energy of the Energizer Rabbit. You will keep going, and going, and going. God gives us every opportunity to understand and grow in love. The best place to observe love and to grow love and to participate in a loving relationship is in the community of the faithful. We call this the Church. It comes as close to the ideal that God and humans can make it.