February 15, 2013

My meeting yesterday in Columbia with the Mission Council of the Annual Conference went well, and provided a good reason to ride the Kawasaki 360 miles. It was chilly, but my heated gloves and other gear kept me reasonably comfortable. Bishop Schnase and I met before the Council meeting about Board of Ordained Ministry matters. In addition to the business of the Annual Conference, it was good to catch up with various friends around the table. Bishop Schnase opened with devotional thoughts gleaned from a radio broadcast “Ted” which referred to the sinking of the whaling ship Essex in 1820 and the options the crew had of heading for an island rumored to be inhabited by cannibals, or for South America. They chose the latter, and ended up becoming cannibals in order to survive. The point of the devotion was that we use our imagination to turn our fears into stories, and usually we fear the most spectacular, but it is the ordinary that we should really be concerned about. He applied this to life in the church.

Today I will devote myself to writing Sunday’s sermon, to developing my Wednesday life group, and to preparing for tomorrow’s wedding at Wesley, including tonight’s rehearsal. Last night Audrey and I exchanged cards, shared some candy, and enjoyed a movie at home from a Jane Austen novel called Mansfield Park. Even though I dosed through the movie, Audrey kept me informed of the important elements, and I was awake for the ending. 

Job 28- 30

Job’s final reply, and this is hard to read with all that he recounts about his life, his previous joys, his present pains. He describes the technology of his day which enables men to dig mineshafts and mine ore unseen to the birds, and he describes God as the source of wisdom. Reading chapters from Job each day in my devotions has caused me to consider his plight and to consider suffering. My life is similar to Job’s before he was stricken. I have not suffered in the ways he did. I appreciate that my life could be stricken on any day, and I trust that I would respond with faith and hope in God.

Guide me today, most holy Lord as I serve you faithfully as a pastor in Springfield. Guide me thoughts, my preparation, my interactions, my choices. Use me today as Your servant, sensitive to the leading of Your Spirit. I anticipate that Your hand will guide my every effort, and that You are even now preparing the way of this day. In Jesus precious name I pray, amen.