It is 5:45 am and I am glad to be up early! Audrey is up to check on
the weather, and we just heard the live report that Springfield Public Schools (SPS) has cancelled school for
today. Walking out to get the paper, the current weather is fine. But the radar
and forecast calls for wintery mix to begin falling in the next couple of hours
and to do so throughout the day. I am surprised that school is cancelled. And,
just as I write this, I begin to hear precipitation hitting the skylight. My
practice is to never cancel based on predictions, because this creates such
uncertainty for the future. But there are exceptions, and the superintendent of
SPS has made this call based on “dire” forecast. I was planning to take most of
today off, in preparation for a busy weekend. This developing weather might
curtail some of the weekend activity such as Upward and maybe the transition team.
My goal and hope is to be careful during December
with my schedule and energy, as on more than one occasion I have fallen sick on
or before Christmas Eve. The busyness of the month sneaks up on me, and throw
in a couple of funerals and other crisis ministry and then I physically have no
reserve, because I had no margin in my calendar. So, I try to build in margin.
A couple of years I simply blocked off Thursdays, in addition to Mondays. This
was not possible this year, but these snow days have effectively punched the
holes into schedule that have allowed for me to get a breather.
I Chronicles 22-23
David makes preparations for the temple that Solomon
will build. The materials and the people are put into place before David dies.
The Levites are counted and number 38,000. They are assigned various duties and
tasks related to the temple – administrative, ministerial, service, financial,
artistic, and protective with some unique additional individual key roles. I
recognize the similarity with the nation of Israel under David and Solomon, and
the “Christian” nation of the USA during certain eras. The church has been an
institution, with its ministers and staff serving in ways similar to the
priests and Levites. Now that we are in a post-modern, post-Christian culture,
the church behaves both as an institution (which is declining) and a movement
(the nondenominational and newer expressions of faith).
It is so important to pay attention to the shifting
cultural climate and to be daily open to how God’s Spirit is moving among us. I
have discovered that there are many people in the church, who grew up in a “churched”
culture, and who do not want to accept that our culture has changed. But
ignoring it doesn’t change the reality. Wishing it were different does not make
it so. My goal is to be faithful, obedient, take risks, identify opportunities
and pursue the advancement of the kingdom of God in my generation.
Guide me today, Holy Lord on this icy uncertain
Friday. May my work of preparation, planning, and shepherding be focused as You
direct and lead me.
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