Category: Blog

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.

 

Holly Jolly Christmas was written by Johnny Marks. The song was popularized by Beryl Ives.

Have a holly, jolly Christmas
It’s the best time of the year
I don’t know if there’ll be snow
But have a cup of cheer
Have a holly, jolly Christmas
And when you walk down the street
Say hello to friends you know
And everyone you meet

I don’t see holly much in Wisconsin. It is widely used in New England. When I was younger, my family and I lived on HIghland Street in South Middleboro, Mass. Growing along the wood line were some of Holly trees. Near Christmas we would go and harvest some Holly with its colorful red berries. We had readymade Christmas decorations. But look out for the sharp points on the leaves.

Johnny Marks wrote have a holly, jolly Christmas. Okay so you have holly for Christmas where is the jolly? The meaning of jolly is a little illusive. Its meaning can be found in a popular dictionary. Look it up in https://www.dictionary.com/browse/jolly and you discover that jolly can be in good spirits; lively; merry: cheerfully festive or convivial: joyous; happy: Christmas is a jolly season.

Jolly can be understood as happiness. Happiness is a game. The game evolves. If you are the winner, you laugh and have fun. If you are the loser, well that brings it own rewards. How many people invest in the lottery when the odds of winning are so enormous that your chances are nil.

Happiness is external. It is dependent on what is won or received. The presents are received. The wrapping paper is torn away. The gist is revealed. The game is played, the clothes are worn. In time the game is put in a closet or donated to a charity. The clothes wear out and may be used for rags. What is won or received is temporary.

Joy is internal. Joy is not developed from what is received, but from what is given. The most valuable gift that you can give is yourself. The last three lines of the song quoted above are:
And when you walk down the street
Say hello to friends you know
And everyone you meet

Saying hello is giving of yourself. A smile is giving of yourself. When you are thoughtfully giving someone a present you are giving something of yourself. Giving creates an inner warmth and peaceful joy.

I will not wish you a happy Christmas, I will wish you a joyous Christmas.

It is a peaceful scene. The new fallen snow has covered the brown of earth and its grass. The falling snow creates a quietness that seems to speak to the hot trembling of mind and body. All is at rest until the scene of broken by the sounds of popular Christmas music.

Winter Wonderland[1]

Sleigh bells ring, are you listening?
In the lane, snow is glistening
A beautiful sight
We’re happy tonight
Walking in a winter wonderland . . .

Later on, we’ll conspire
As we dream by the fire
To face unafraid
The plans that we’ve made
Walking in a winter wonderland

Now the meadow is full of singing, the neighing of the horse, and the tracks of sleigh runners. The peace that was initially experienced is overcome. We can still have peace, even during the Christmas coconaphy of sounds.

The story is told about an art competition awarded a prize for the best expression of peace. One painting depicted a deer and a fawn grazing at the skirt of a mountain meadow rimmed with pines and cedars stretching heavenward. Another showed a cat curled up in a basket, resting with all its being, as only cats can do.

But the first prize went to the painting of a tumultuous waterfall. Torrents rushed downward, crashing on the rocks below, sending spray high above. A tree branch extended just above the mist, with a bird’s nest in a fork. Safely within were the mother bird and two babies.

That’s tranquility. The ability to relax in the most rushed circumstances. Serene surroundings don’t produce peace. The absence of animosity doesn’t. If peace depended on the setting, many could never find serenity.

Peace is being in harmony, allowing God to fit all the pieces of our lives together. As we cultivate the presence of the Holy Spirit deep down, he brings peace.[2]

Great story. Enough said.

[1] Richard Bernhard Smith and Felix Bernard
[2] Tim Riter, Deep Down (Wheaton, Ill.: Tyndale House, 1995), 72.

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas[1]
Everywhere you go
Take a look at the five and ten, it’s glistening once again
With candy canes and silver lanes that glow
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas
Toys in every store
But the prettiest sight to see is the holly that will be
On your own front door

This is an old song. There are few if any five and dime stores left. There are toys in almost every store. The bargains are advertised in all the media with loud and enticing commercials.

Its beginning. It is the season of Christmas. The rush to buy a reduced-price present takes over even good judgement on Black Friday. The Monday after Thanksgiving is Cyber Monday when the internet will be crowded with Christmas shoppers.

Its beginning to look a lot like Christmas reminds us that Christmas is coming, and it is not about presents purchased with credit cards or cash. Christmas is coming and the greatest gift of all will be presented. It will be a child in a manger in Bethlehem.

Amid all the commercialism it is difficult to hear the bleating of sheep and goats that existed in the manger. The cries of a newborn boy are overwhelmed by popular Christmas songs. It is beginning to look a lot like Christmas. It is coming, but only if we pay attention to what will take place and not be overwhelmed by the present and the presents.

[1] Songwriters: Meredith Wilson It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.

It’s been said that the world can be divided into two groups, those who say, “Thank You” and those who don’t.

An elderly New England clergyman who touched upon the various degrees of gratitude in his prayer: “Oh Lord, as you know very well, here we are again. We are here to do one of the hardest things any mortal can do–to give thanks and really mean it.”

What do you have to be thankful for?

Pastor Alan Smith tells the story of two old friends who bumped into one another on the street one day. One of them looked forlorn, almost on the verge of tears.

His friend asked, “What has the world done to you, my old friend?”

The sad fellow said, “Let me tell you. Three weeks ago, an uncle died and left me forty thousand dollars.”

“That’s a lot of money.”

“But you see, two weeks ago, a cousin I never even knew died, and left me eighty-five thousand free and clear.”

“Sounds like you’ve been blessed.”

“You don’t understand!” he interrupted. “Last week my great-aunt passed away. I inherited almost a quarter of a million.”

Now he was really confused. “Then, why do you look so glum?”

“This week . . . nothing!”

Blessings come in many guises,

Blessings that are taken for granted

Blessings that are experienced and not recognized.

Blessing we recognize and appreciate.

The blessings of God are received daily.

Do we take similar attitudes towards our blessings?

This week, O Hum!

We can be thankful in all the conditions and circumstances of our lives.

Though David was only four years old, he often asked the blessing before family meals, and this year he was asked to return thanks before Thanksgiving dinner. The family members bowed their heads in expectation.

He began his prayer, thanking God for all his friends, naming them one by one.

Then he thanked God for Mommy, Daddy, brother, sister, Grandma, Grandpa, and all his aunts and uncles.

Then he began to thank God for the food.

He gave thanks for the turkey, the dressing, the fruit salad, the cranberry sauce, the pies, the cakes, even the Cool Whip.

Then he paused, and everyone waited — and waited.

After a long silence, the little David looked up at his mother and asked, “If I thank God for the broccoli, won’t He know that I’m lying?”

Conditions and circumstances are pet expression of mine.

We do not thank God for the conditions and circumstances.

These are the result of living.

You cannot escape them, whatever them is.

We can be thankful during the conditions and the circumstances.

Praise, Gratitude, Thankfulness is the antidote for the holiday blues, and the dark days that come to us.

Obviously, you must work at it.

I was listening to a sermon by Dr. Arthur Caliandro, Senior Minister, Marble Collegiate Church, New York City.

He used an illustration that strongly makes this point.

He discovered this story of a Cherokee elder teaching his grandchildren some important lessons they would need to understand in order to have a good life.

“A fight is going on inside me. It is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves. One wolf is evil — he is fear, anger, envy, sorrow, greed, regret, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, competition, superiority and ego. The other is good — he is love, peace, benevolence, joy, generosity, hope, humility, serenity, kindness, friendship, empathy, truth, sharing, compassion and faith.”

“This same fight is going on inside you, and inside every other person, too.”

[The grandchildren] thought about it for a minute and then one child asked his grandfather, “Which wolf will win?”

The old Cherokee simply replied, “The one you feed.”

Wonderful picture… Which of the wolves will win — the good one or the evil one? The one that you feed.

I will give thanks with a grateful heart.

This feeds the good wolf.

This feeds the right spirit.