 Pastor’s
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Okay,
I’ll admit it ... I have been staying up later than usual, watching the
Rockies’ games. You need to know that I am not normally a baseball fan. I do
enjoy football, plus an occasional basketball game (if one of my favorite
teams is playing), and even a hockey game from time to time (although I
really prefer my hockey live rather than televised). In contrast, I have
always found baseball profoundly boring. Even so, I got caught up in
“Rocktober” just the way that I know many of you have!
It seems that when the “home team” is in the play-offs for as big an event
as the World Series, you almost have to watch. And it has been fun — some
amazing pitching, remarkable catches just as the catcher smashes into the
back wall of the stadium, and incredible hits! It’s also been tiring ...
some of those games have gone a very long time, and it’s meant significantly
less sleep some nights than usual.
Which — okay, I’m a minister, I do this — has caused me to pause and reflect
why is it that we can fairly easily stay up an extra hour, or two, or more,
to watch a sporting event, whether it’s the Rockies’ play-offs, or our
grandchild’s soccer game that ran late ... but find it so hard to sit in
church even an extra 10 minutes on the Sundays that we are sharing
Communion? Why is it that we’re so willing to spend huge amounts of money
(the radio just reported that seats for Game #3 in Denver are
ticket-face-priced at $65-$250 per seat, and will probably actually sell for
several times those amounts), but find it so hard to put more than a few
dollars in the offering plate?
And so, while you watch the Series, I encourage you to use at least one
commercial break to give some consideration to this humorous piece that I
ran across, which offers us both chuckles, and perhaps some food for
thought:
10 Reasons Why a Local Pastor Stopped Attending Sporting Events
1. Every time I went, they asked me for money.
2. The people with whom I had to sit didn’t seem very friendly.
3. The seats were really hard.
4. The coach never came to call on me.
5. The referee made a decision with which I could not agree.
6. Some games went into overtime and I was late getting home.
7. The band played some songs I had never heard before.
8. The games are always scheduled when I want to do other things.
9. My parents took me to too many games when I was growing up.
10. Since I read a book on sports, I feel that I know more than the coaches,
anyhow.
(From “Holy Humor,” Cal & Rose Samra, Portage, MI: Fellowship of Merry
Christians, 1996, pp. 185-86.) Pastor Sharyl
A Few Thanksgiving Suggestions:
* Be thankful that you don’t already have everything you want. If you did,
what would there be to
look forward to?
* Be thankful when you don’t know something. This gives you the opportunity
to learn.
* Be thankful for the difficult times. During those times you grow.
* Be thankful for your limitations. They give you opportunities for
improvement.
* Be thankful for each new challenge. It will build strength and character.
* Be thankful for your mistakes. They will teach you valuable lessons.
* Be thankful when you’re tired and weary. It means you’ve made a
difference.
It’s easy to be thankful for the good things. But, a life of true
fulfillment can come to those who are also thankful for the setbacks. As
hard as it may be, find a way to be thankful for your troubles, and they can
become your blessings. As we look around us at the land of plenty that we
live in, it is my prayer that we will see through new eyes each day, the
ways that God has blessed us.
(From RUMORS e-zine, 10-14-07; it is from a sermon by Joel Lohr, of
Woodriver, IL)
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