A Matter of Taste

My friend’s husband is a farmer-type person and a huge fan of auctions, antique farm machinery, and all things John Deere. His wife is part of the professional community, and her tastes happen to run along other lines. The man complained to his buddy, “I don’t know how to get my wife to like tractors.”

The short answer, my friend, is, “You can’t.” You may expose her to the countless green behemoths you love and she may admire them for your sake, but you cannot make her as fond of them as you are!

It’s that way with a lot of things. Personal tastes sometimes coexist uncomfortably—even in church. If you have been attending church for many years, and if your place of worship is anything like mine, you may have noticed some changes in the last few years. Maybe the music is different; it’s faster and louder. And you don’t even use the hymn books nowadays; the words are projected up on those big glaring screens. Perhaps some of the leaders are not the people (usually men) who held those positions earlier for ten, twenty, thirty years. There may not be a library any more, or a choir. The Sunday evening service may have disappeared, and the nursery has taken over what used to be classroom space. And let’s not talk about what people wear now! Where has my church gone anyway?

It has not gone far away. It is just wearing a different fashion. My church, and perhaps yours, has a younger congregation than it used to have or it would like to attract a younger crowd. That group probably doesn’t want to sing “Rock of Ages” with their noses in a book, and in many congregations those twenty- and thirty- and even forty-year-olds outnumber those who would be quite comfortable doing just that! They would rather hear guitars and drums than a choir and they don’t even own a Sunday suit.

And if you are one of that crowd, I personally am glad for younger and stronger folks to take on the responsibilities and sheer hard work of serving God through the church. What doesn’t make sense is for an older group to insist—even in their own minds—“but I want you to do it this way. Sing this music, emphasize these ministries, and use these leaders.”

Church people’s tastes are not the same, just like green tractors don’t hold appeal for everyone. That does not mean someone has to be wrong.

MaryMartha
 
Art from http://www.sxc.hu//

 9/11

A solemn day,

A day for remembering

Cross at Ground Zero

     although we can't forget. 



 Not afraid, only sad
That life was crushed,

     hope forever changed.

Proud too. Proud that sacrifice
     and heroism won
O’er evil intent and hate.

And even when no duty called,
Some loved neighbor more
        than they loved themselves.

Fountains flow with tears that never dry,
Trees reach up their hands into the sky.
Twin lights pierce heaven, a prayer and a sigh.


A cross of beams, a tattered flag,

     remind us of our call. 

We still believe.

MaryMartha



Art from http:www.sxc/hu.com





Labor Day

This is Labor Day in the U.S., observed with a Monday holiday, making a welcome three-day weekend for working people.

There are some people who believe work is part of the curse laid on mankind for Adam’s part in disobedience to God in the Garden of Eden. They don’t like the fact that we have to work; it is bad. But there’s good evidence against this.

If you think about the “bad” things that are personally carried out, you come to the conclusion that they’re done by people when they are not working, at least, not working honestly. The death rate for people who stop doing anything productive, particularly after early retirement, is alarming. Work is a good thing!

Work was invented by God. Adam and Eve tended the Garden He had planted, and took some responsibility for the animals; that is, they worked. This was while they were still in their perfect sinless environment, not as a result of sin. It was part of God’s plan. God did not curse Adam, but the ground itself so that it would be productive only through difficulty. Most of us no longer make our living directly from the earth; by extension, this hardship means, for many, keeping a distasteful job that they hate but have to maintain.

This would be a good day to thank God for inventing work as a way to guard and guide us. It would be a good day for gratitude if you have a job. It would be a good day to pray for the unemployed who would labor if they could.

MaryMartha

Art from http://www.sxc.hu/

The Happiness of Pursuit

Many of us long ago attended some class in civics or American government and learned that Thomas Jefferson penned a statement in the Declaration of Independence which has since become famous. “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” Note that this document does not guarantee to this country’s citizens their personal happiness, but only recognizes that we have the right to pursue it.

Many people have geared their whole life toward attaining happiness. It is elusive, particularly when that is what a person is seeking. It tends, rather than the end of one’s search, to be the by-product of some other mind-set. It follows after purpose, creativity, self-giving, achievement, and similar outgoing activities.

The other day I came across a book titled, The Happiness of Pursuit. Ah, I thought, that is it. Instead of a search centered on one’s own satisfaction, happiness comes to us while we pursue a better goal. While there are numerous things the Bible tells us to seek, it specifically mentions one goal worthy of our pursuit. “Seek peace and pursue it.” (Psalm 34:14, and quoted by the apostle in I Peter 3:11)

If we would be happy, it’s the journey that counts!

MaryMartha

Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®. NIV®. Copyright©1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.

Art from http://www.sxc.hu/