Author: Les Shultz

Count Your Blessings

White Christmas with Bing and Rosemary, Vera and Danny have all been put rest for another year. The story is compelling. The conclusion is foregone. Everyone lives happy ever-after. The music is timeless, but there is one song that Bob Wallace sings to Betty Haynes that is good at any time.

Count Your Blessings Instead of Sheep
When I’m worried and I can’t sleep
I count my blessings instead of sheep
And I fall asleep counting my blessings

When my bankroll is getting small
I think of when I had none at all
And I fall asleep counting my blessings

I think about a nursery and I picture curly heads
And one by one I count them as they slumber in their beds

If you’re worried and you can’t sleep
Just count your blessings instead of sheep
And you’ll fall asleep counting your blessings

I think about a nursery and I picture curly heads
And one by one I count them as they slumber in their beds

If you’re worried and you can’t sleep
Just count your blessings instead of sheep
And you’ll fall asleep counting your blessings

Count your blessings instead of sheep is an excellent bit of advice. We have so much for which to be thankful.

“If you can read this message…”
Had a long, hard day? Here’s some perspective.

“If you have food in your fridge, clothes on your back, a roof over your head and a place to sleep you are richer than 75% of the world.

If you have money in the bank, your wallet, and some spare change you are .among the top 8% of the world’s wealthy.
I

f you woke up this morning with more health than illness you are more blessed than the million people who will not survive this week.

If you have never experienced the danger of battle, the agony of imprisonment or torture, or the horrible pangs of starvation you are luckier than 500 million people alive and suffering.

If you can read this message you are more fortunate than 3 billion people in the world who cannot read it at all.” ~ Unknown

In addition to the material think about the spiritual. Jesus spoke a number of sayings that are called the Beatitudes. Each of them begins with the word “Blessed.” They are worth contemplating for the blessings they offer.

Count your blessings!

Dick, Roy, Bob, and I teed off early at the Edgewood Golf Course on a Monday morning in Big Bend, WI. We hoped to get our 18 holes of golf in before the Lutheran Brotherhood outing was to start. We did not make it. We came up to the 17^th tee and there was a foursome in the fairway and another foursome waiting on the tee. So, it is going to be a long wait before we could tee off.

Coming up behind us was another foursome. I turned to one of the men and said, “Wow, playing today requires a lot of patience.” The golfer looked at me and said, “I am @#%&***not a doctor!” It was obvious that he did not have a lot of patience. He stomped around, drank his drink, and loudly complained of the delay.

I have learned that the situations and circumstances that we may encounter in life require a lot of patience. This is so true as we live with the threat of this Covid-19. States are in a process of gradually opening. Many people cannot wait for to State to reopen all venues. What is wanted is wanted immediately. This is a state of impatience. Impatience is a state of being selfish. Selfish people do not observe distancing; they congregate in crowds sharing air space and possible condemnation. Selfish people do not wear a face mask.

Selfish people only care about their own conditions and needs. The coronavirus demonstrates that people not only need to be concerned with their own needs and activities, but also with the needs and activities of other. A person may have the virus and not know it. In selfishly playing the game the virus may be transmitted to others.

Not only is patience required in dealing with the present conditions we face; it also requires endurance. We might consider that patience and endurance contain the same qualities in the ability to sustain life even when it is irksome or difficult. Patience and endurance are not glamorous. Patience and endurance may become boring. This is the underlying situation that is faced when you are required to observe, “Safer at Home.”

Phyllis Mielke wrote an opinion column “In my opinion: Kids should be taught to live with boredom,” in the Milwaukee Journal (July 21, 1998). In part it reads:

“But boredom is reality! As technology advances, so does boredom. Its much less challenging to turn out a perfect letter on a word processor than on a typewriter. It’s less challenging to press the buttons on an automatic washer than to keep the socks from becoming tangled in the wringer. Many jobs outside of the home and most housekeeping chores have become incredibly boring. Small wonder that many young mothers think they need to work outside the home to feel fulfilled.

“Instead of implying to children that they must never be bored, -and knocking ourselves out to ensure that they are never bored, we must tell them how boring much of life will be and give them many chances to learn how to handle boredom in a positive way.

“We must stop supplying activities for every waking moment, stop supplying playmates and ready-made teams, stop supplying a more challenging toy before the older one is really outgrown and stop supplying the next textbook, workbook or computer disc without missing a beat. We must encourage them to daydream during monotonous chores, to create their own games, projects and entertainment and to rely on their own brains to deal constructively with the inevitable frustrations of boredom.”

Dealing with Covid-19 it is important to follow the rules of survival. Violating them may lead to infection and even death.

https://moreofles.com/index.php/category/blog/

Research shows that laughter plays an important role in both physical and mental health. Laughter releases endorphins, chemicals in your body that produce an overall feel good sensation. Families that laugh together feel closer to each other and overcome disagreements and frustrations faster. Use these ideas to have some belly-rolling laughter and fun as a family.

Act Silly. Tell goofy stories about make-believe characters. Let kids tell stories, too.

Joke Around. Kids love to tell jokes, so let them share their latest after dinner or on trips to sports practice or music rehearsals.

Shake up the Routine. Make usual routines unusual, such as eating dessert first at dinner or watching TV upside down.

Supply Comic Relief. Wake your kids for school in a zany costume, or playa game after dinner that’s sure to result in laughter

Children’s Ministry Magazine, January/February 2008. p 142 Copyright © Group Publishing, Inc. Okay to copy.

Undercover Kindness

At the beginning of each week, place each family member’s name in a hat and pass the hat around the dinner table, letting each person draw a name. During the week, family members secretly serve that person. People can secretly do the family member’s chores, write a note, leave a small gift, or do anything to show that person love.

At the weekend, let family members guess who served them. It’s fun to love someone on purpose, and your family will be humbled by others’ actions that bless their week.

Contributed by Julie White Loveland, Colorado, Ibid

When things get tight and the world appears full of trouble; keep laughing.

In his last joke book, Steve Allen’s Private Joke File (Random House), the multi-talented comedian reprinted several of his favorite jokes from “The Joyful Noiseletter” in a section on religious humor. (Note: I subscribe to the Joyful Noiseletter and find the humor exceptional and the laughs very healthy. Pastor Shultz)

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Excerpts from a “Then and Now” checklist for aging baby boomers:

Then: Long hair.

Now: Longing for hair.

Then: Acid rock.

Now: Acid reflux.

Then: Getting out to a new, hip joint.

Now: Getting a new hip joint.

Then: Trying to look like Marlon Brando or Elizabeth Taylor.

Now: Trying not to look like Marlon Brando or Elizabeth Taylor.

☺

A bishop attended a banquet and a clumsy waiter dropped a plate of hot soup in his lap. The anguished clergyman glanced around and exclaimed: “Will some layman please say something appropriate?”

☺

DAUGHTER: “I can’t marry him, Mother. He’s an atheist and doesn’t believe there’s a hell.”

MOTHER: “Marry him, my dear, and between us we may convince him that he’s wrong.”

☺

A young minister, arriving at the church where he was to preach, was asked by the sexton if he had brought a surplice. “Dear me, no”, was the reply. “Unfortunately, we have had nothing but deficits for the past five years.”

☺

A young minister told his flock that he had a “call” to go to another church. One of the deacons asked how much more he was being offered. “Three hundred dollars” was the reply. “Well, I don’t blame you for going”, remarked the deacon, “but you should be more exact in your language, pastor. That isn’t a ‘call’. That’s a’raise.’”

 

Love, Love, Love, That’s What It’s All About

By Herbert Brokering

Love, Love, Love, That’s What It’s All About

Love, love, love, That’s what it’s all about.

‘Cause God loves us we love each other

Mother, Father, Sister, Brother

Everybody sing and shout!

‘Cause that’s what it’s all about.

It’s about love, love, love.

It’s about love, love, love.

It is about love.

We demonstrate our love for God by listening to what God says to us. We demonstrate our love for God by accepting what God offers to each of us in our own need. We demonstrate our love for God by doing what God asks of us. We show our love for God by obeying his commandments, and they are not hard to follow (1 John 5.3, CEV).

We reveal our love for others by the ways in which they are treated. We are invited to feed the hungry, satisfy the thirst of those in need of water, to welcome the strangers, to provide clothing for those who are in need, to help care for those who are sick, and to comfort those who are in prison. This is what is needed especially in these time when were confronted with the limitations created by coping wit the coronavirus.

We exhibit our love for ourselves by following the “Safer at Home,” suggestions that help us to resist the damage caused by Covid-19

Avoid social gatherings with people of all ages (including playdates and sleepovers, parties, large family dinners, visitors in your home, non-essential workers in your house);

Frequent and thorough hand washing with soap and water;

Covering coughs and sneezes;

Avoiding touching your face; and

Staying home.

Love, Love, Love, That’s What It’s All About

Love, love, love, That’s what it’s all about.

It is true, isn’t it, its about love

There was a farmer who sold a pound of butter to the baker. One day the baker decided to weigh the butter to see if he was getting a pound and he found that he was not. This angered him and he took the farmer to court. The judge asked the farmer if he was using any measure. The farmer replied, your Honor, I am primitive. I don’t have a proper measure, but I do have a scale.” The judge asked, “Then how do you weigh the butter?” The farmer replied “Your Honor, long before the baker started buying butter from me, I have been buying a pound loaf of bread from him. Every day when the baker brings the bread, I put it on the scale and give him the same weight in butter. If anyone is to be blamed, it is the baker.”

The baker was weighed in the balances and found wanting. His loaf of bread was short-weighted. It did not weigh the pound that the baker claimed that it did. It was only when the baker decided to sue the farmer that his deception was discovered.

I remember a song that came out in 1967. It was sung by Ed Ames. The song is “Who Will Answer.”

It was originally written in Spanish by Luis Eduardo Aute, it was adapted into an English-language version with new lyrics by songwriter Sheila Davis.

From the canyons of the mind
We wander on and stumble blindly
Through the often tangled maze
Of starless nights and sunless days
While asking for some kind of clue
Or road to lead us to the truth
But who will answer?. . . .

Is our hope in walnut shells
Worn ’round the neck with temple bells
Or deep within some cloistered walls
Where hooded figures pray in halls?
Or crumbled books on dusty shelves
Or in our stars, or in ourselves
Who will answer?

If the soul is darkened
By a fear it cannot name
If the mind is baffled
When the rules don’t fit the game
Who will answer? Who will answer? Who will answer?

The song seems so appropriate because we find ourselves facing a pandemic of Covid-19. The life and death statistics are staggering. The economics are devastating. We all have multiple questions. Where are we going to find answers?

DR. Anthony S. Fauci appears to be one of the experts that can be trusted to explain the circumstances and tell the truth. At time he is at odds with the President. At times it appears that the President is operating from a faulty set of scales. This is not a bread or butter issue; it is a life and death issue that affects us all.

We learn to be patient, to stay in and stay well, or as well as we can be.

Politicians are like the Pied Piper in the story of the Pied Piper of Hamlin. The politician pipes the tune and encourages people to follow him or her. If you look up the story on the Internet you will find the details of the encounter of the piper with the citizens of Hamlin.

“For those unfamiliar with the tale, it is set in 1284 in the town of Hamelin, Lower Saxony, Germany. This town was facing a rat infestation, and a piper, dressed in a coat of many coloured, bright cloth, appeared. This piper promised to get rid of the rats in return for a payment, to which the townspeople agreed too. Although the piper got rid of the rats by leading them away with his music, the people of Hamelin reneged on their promise. The furious piper left, vowing revenge. On the 26th of July of that same year, the piper returned and led the children away, never to be seen again, just as he did the rats. Nevertheless, one or three children were left behind, depending on which version is being told. One of these children was lame, and could not keep up, another was deaf and could not hear the music, while the third one was blind and could not see where he was going.”

We listen to the piper and follow the tune. Some tunes are positive and very helpful and lead to the development of the great society with health care and higher minimum wage, greater opportunities for personal development and society growth. Some tunes prove to be negative and harmful. The music is sweet and says what people want to hear or propose legislation that people desire.

Sometimes it is very hard to sell the difference in the music, but there are those who would help us understand the dissonance. There was an article in Christianity Today that offered some insight to help us differentiate.

“Trump Should Be Removed from Office: It’s time to say what we said 20 years ago when a president’s character was revealed for what it was. By Mark Galli, Editor, Christianity Today, December 19, 2019

“To the many evangelicals who continue to support Mr. Trump in spite of his blackened moral record, we might say this: Remember who you are and whom you serve. Consider how your justification of Mr. Trump influences your witness to your Lord and Savior. Consider what an unbelieving world will say if you continue to brush off Mr. Trump’s immoral words and behavior in the cause of political expediency. If we don’t reverse course now, will anyone take anything we say about justice and righteousness with any seriousness for decades to come? Can we say with a straight face that abortion is a great evil that cannot be tolerated and, with the same straight face, say that the bent and broken character of our nation’s leader doesn’t really matter in the end?”

Mr. Galli’s observation does not seem to make any difference. President Trump has been called, a “god,” a “savior,” Evangelicals follow him. He is the pied piper of Washington. It is vital to remember the story of what happened to the children of Hamlin. It could happen here.

When, lo! as they reached the mountain-side,
A wondrous portal opened wide,
As if a cavern was suddenly hollowed;
And the Piper advanced and the children followed,
And when all were in to the very last,
The door in the mountain-side shut fast

Robert Browning, The Pied Piper of Hamelin: A Child’s Story

Quantum Leap was a television series that that aired from March 1989 to May 1993. Quantum Leap starred Scott Bakula as Dr. Sam Beckett, a physicist who leaps through spacetime during an experiment in time travel, by temporarily taking the place of other people to correct historical mistakes. In one of the episodes Sam leaps into the body of Ray Hutton, a working actor in the touring company of Man of La Mancha. He’s the understudy to a renowned actor, John O’Malley, who’s a bit of lush. His task is to keep the man from suffering a tragic fall during an upcoming performance. Taking over the lead roll Sam sings “The Impossible Dream.”

The Impossible Dream
Songwriters: Joe Darion / Mitchell Leigh

To dream the impossible dream
To fight the unbeatable foe
To bear with unbearable sorrow
To run where the brave dare not go

To right the unrightable wrong
To love pure and chaste from afar
To try when your arms are too weary
To reach the unreachable star

This is my quest, to follow that star
No matter how hopeless, no matter how far
To fight for the right
Without question or pause
To be willing to march
Into hell for a heavenly cause

And I know if I’ll only be true
To this glorious quest
That my heart will lay peaceful and calm
When I’m laid to my rest

And the world will be better for this
That one man scorned and covered with scars
Still strove with his last ounce of courage
To fight the unbeatable foe
To reach the unreachable star

It is the first time that I heard the song and was immediately impressed with the lyrics and the meaning and import of them. It led to my reading Don Quixote. Recently Garrison Keillor in the Thursday, January 16, 2020, edition of “The Writer’s Almanac,” noted it was the birthday of Cervantes and wrote the following:

“Book One of Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes (books by this author) was published on this date in 1605. It’s considered to be the first modern novel. It’s about a middle-aged landowner from a village in La Mancha who stays awake at night reading books about chivalry, forgets to eat and sleep, insanely believes the tales to be true, and sets off on a skinny nag in a heroic quest to resurrect old-fashioned chivalry and heroism in the modern world.

“From an English translation of Don Quixote: ‘All I know is that while I’m asleep, I’m never afraid, and I have no hopes, no struggles, no glories — and bless the man who invented sleep, a cloak over all human thought, food that drives away hunger, water that banishes thirst, fire that heats up cold, chill that moderates passion, and, finally, universal currency with which all things can be bought, weight and balance that brings the shepherd and the king, the fool and the wise, to the same level.’”

We all wind up on the same level. It is something not only to ponder, but also to see in the ultimate end a sense of satisfaction. No one is immune.

There was a time in my life as a Congregational pastor that I would sit down and plan sermons and activities for a year or more. The more I planned the less it seems that the plan worked. There were always interruptions of one kind or another. Then I read in a long-forgotten publication that goals no longer worked, but that goals required tactics. It isn’t that you don’t have goals; you still do. What do you do when your goal for the day or for the week needs to be revised or changed?

William Arthur Ward observed: We can choose to throw stones, to stumble on them, to climb over them, or to build with them. The stones are the obstacles that we meet in every-day life.

Dealing with stones is the understanding of Scott Adams who writes the Dilbert strip[1]. He writes especially about tough choices. That’s tactics.

“What’s the future look like? I’ll tell you: It’s about tough choices. For example, this morning I noticed that my electric razor had spilled its entire collection of whiskers all over the inside of my fashionable leather toiletry bag. I had two choices. I could laboriously remove those whiskers, individually cleaning each of the other contents of the bag, thus missing at least an hour of useful work, or I could say to myself, “If I didn’t mind having those whiskers on my face, why should I mind them on my little traveling aspirin bottle?”

“I chose the latter. After all, I already got used to the toothpaste all over everything in that bag. How bad could a few hairs be?

“That’s what the future looks like — a bag filled with toothpaste, whiskers and unidentified containers. We’re entering an age when the things we need to do and want to do are absorbed and overwhelmed by other things we need to do and want to do. We’ll make random, often stupid choices because we don’t have the brains or the time to do better.”

So, we plan but with our planning we realize that circumstances may change and so must the plan.

[1] Scott Adams, The Dilbert Future: Thriving on Business Stupidity in the 21st Century (New York: HarperBusiness, 1998), 89.

Santa Claus Is Coming to Town[1]

Written by: J. F. Coots /H. Gillespie Sung by Justin Bieber

You better watch out
You better not cry
Better not pout
I’m telling you why
Santa Claus is coming to town

He’s making a list
He’s checking it twice
He’s gonna find out
Who’s naughty and nice
Santa Claus is coming to town

He sees you when you’re sleeping
He knows when you’re awake
He knows when you’ve been bad or good
So be good for goodness sake

We know that Santa Claus is coming to town. With slightly revised lyrics it can be said that there is another one who is coming to town.

You’d better be aware
No need to worry
The day has no care
No reason to be sorry
You want to know why?
Jesus Christ has come to town.

He’s opened his arms
To welcome his child
There are gifts to share
He brought a smile
You want to know why?
Jesus Christ has come to town.

He’s there in your sleeping
He’s there is you day
He knows all your grief
He provides for your needs
You want to know why?
Jesus Christ has come to town.

What a contrast between Santa and Jesus.

Santa brings happiness; Jesus brings joy.

Santa brings presents; Jesus brings life.

Santa rewards everyone; Jesus offers forgiveness.

Santa is nocturnal

In one of Pastor Tim’s “Today’s CleanLaugh,” he writes about a boy who says to his mom, “I Know about Santa.”[i]

I figured that at age seven it was inevitable for my son to begin having doubts about Santa Claus. Sure enough, one day he said, “Mom, I know something about Santa Claus, the Bunny, and the Tooth Fairy.”

Taking a deep breath, I asked him, “What is that?”

He replied, “They’re all nocturnal.”

Santa is nocturnal, he comes during the night. Jesus comes in the daytime. Jesus is the light.

Santa is coming to town; Jesus is coming to town.

Which one would you rather have to provide for your happiness or joy?

[1] Sung by Justin Bieber: Songwriters: J. F. COOTS / H GILLESPIE: Santa Claus Is Coming to Town lyrics © Emi Feist Catalog Inc., Emi Music Publishing France, UNIVERSAL

[i] Pastor Tim <posts@cybersaltlists.org>

The song I’ve Got My Love to Keep Me Warm[i]  was written by Irving Berlin, and popularized by Billie Holiday

The snow is snowing
The wind is blowing
But I can weather the storm
Why do I care how much it may storm
I’ve got my love to keep me warm

Off with my overcoat
Off with gloves
I need no overcoat
I’m burning with love

My heart’s on fire
The flame grows higher
So I will weather the storm
Why do I care how much it may storm
I’ve got my love to keep me warm

Billie Holiday sings that she has her love to keep her warm. What is she singing about? Perhaps it is a lover that keeps one warm. It also might be a spouse. The question arises, “What is love?”

Here are some things that love is not.

Love is not. . .. falling in “love.”: “We fall in love only when we are consciously or unconsciously sexually motivated.”

Love is not dependency.: “Love is the free exercise of choice. Two people love each other only when they are quite capable of living without each other but choose to live with each other.”

Love is not Self-Sacrifice: “He had to learn that not giving at the right time was more compassionate than giving at the wrong time, and that fostering independence was more loving than taking care of people who could otherwise take care of themselves. He also had to learn that expressing his own needs, anger, resentments and expectations was every bit as necessary to the mental health of his family as his self-sacrifice, and therefore that love must be demonstrated in confrontation as much as in beatific acceptance.”

Love is not a feeling: “The common tendency to confuse love with the feeling of love allows people all manner of self-deception. An alcoholic man, whose wife and children are desperately in need of his attention at that very moment, may be sitting in a bar with tears in his eyes, telling the bartender, “I really love my family.” People who neglect their children in the grossest of ways often will consider themselves the most loving of parents. There may be a self-serving quality in this tendency to confuse love with the feeling of love; it is easy and not at all unpleasant to find evidence of love in one’s feelings. It may be difficult and painful to search for evidence of love in one’s actions. But because true love is an act of will that often transcends short-lived feelings of love or cathexis, it is correct to say, “Love is as love does.” Love and non-love, as good and evil, are objective and not purely subjective phenomena.”

“I define love thus: The will to extend one’s self for the purpose of nurturing one’s own or another’s spiritual growth.”[ii]

In The Vision, the United Methodist Church NY Annual Conference newsletter the question is asked, “What Is Love?”[iii]

It’s silence when your words would hurt;
It’s patience when another is curt;
It’s deafness when some gossip flows;
It’s compassion for another’s woes;
It’s courage when misfortune falls;
It’s firmness when one’s duty calls;
It’s restitution made when due;
It’s forgiving when asked of you.

What we probably less likely to hear is that love is work. Love demands that we work at it.

The birth of a child in Bethlehem makes this all possible. It is love that came down on Christmas. This child becomes and adult who teaches us love, what it means and how to achieve it. He demonstrated love successfully. We love because he first loved us.

[i] Source: LyricFind: I’ve Got My Love to Keep Me Warm lyrics © Concord Music Publishing LLC

[ii] M. Scott Peck, The Road Less Traveled

[iii] The Vision, NY Annual Conference newsletter, Pentecost 1992.