We will be sharing in the Fun and later Celebrate with you there

Letters from Texas -- David style.

I never have been a great one to write the letters, for it was an expenditure of time, and often it was easier to pick up the telephone and chit chat with the person with whom you wanted to communicate. I found that my letters were stodgy, long-winded, and somehow not exactly what I wanted to communicate. In today's world, stodgy, long-winded, and off-the-wall seems to be the order of the day. With that, I encourage you to to try your hand at writing, and I will try mine here on the blog.

I have not entered this adventure in Texas alone. There has always been someone, or some family that has accompanied me through these 20 years. These past 10 years have not been an exception. My good friend Ann and I, have traveled all over the midsections of United States, have struggled through several illnesses and hospitalizations, have shared friends and family, but mostly have encouraged each other in our daily lives. A friend of mine, who was the dear friend of my late brother in law, calls on a fairly regular basis. She often asks, "What did you do this week?" There have been some weeks that I have been at a loss to answer her. We get up in the morning, have breakfast (consisting of the same old thing), watch the same cooking shows and financial shows on the telly, have dinner, take a nap, came together for teatime, watch the news and have supper, watch the usual television shows, and go to bed. How do you make something exciting out of that schedule?

Before the economy began to slump, we added as many as eight to ten months of traveling from the West Coast to the East. We would be gone from home for 2 to 3 weeks at a time, and when we arrived back at our home in Texas, we had lawns to mow, mail to answer, medical appointments to keep, and throw in the servicing of the automobile or general housekeeping chores. There has been a part of me that has welcomed the slower pace, while another large part of me looks for the next adventure.

Some years ago, in conversation with members of my family, the question was raised concerning my retirement years after I had finished bluing guns. I fantasized the possibility of purchasing an recreational vehicle of some nature, and striking out into the wild blue yonder. I have observed those who have chosen traveling as an activity for their retirement years. I was envious as they purchased the RV of their dreams. They retired, loaded their suitcases into their vehicles, and were gone to see the grandchildren, the national parks, the mountains, and perhaps the seashore. In a couple of years the recreational vehicle was parked in the backyard, and the grass was cut around it. Mom and Dad settle down into a sedate lifestyle that often ends prematurely. I have been so pleased to travel, and continue to travel as our retirement lifestyle. For those who wonder where we will be next, let me tell you that we will have fun and celebrate together in the Midwest early this summer. We will see you there. Bye for now.

First of all, thank you to all of you who have been loyal through this past several months. I have written many articles, but they are not the kind of articles that would be conducive to a blog such as this. In the last couple weeks I have come closer to our style, and so I want to share again with you on a regular basis. I have recently read an article that spoke to the attributes of a successful church. (This is still a Christian Bible study, isn't it?) I'm reminded of the church that I was assigned, that had low self-esteem, and the church attendance was disappointing at best.

My philosophy concerning the parish ministry forces me to believe that the best possible work must be done on Sunday morning. I have had only one church where the previous minister was absolutely fabulous as a parish worker, but quite limited in his Sunday morning worship skills. That church was a success, but went on to be a greater success when the Sunday service began to attract those that had been a part of that church in the years gone by. The Sunday service, in my opinion, had to sail over the trees, and into the clouds. People needed to feel as though they had been in the presence of God and all the angels.

Several things were mentioned in the article that I read, but all of them were things that we knew and practiced. If the Sunday worship was one great infomercial, with its desired target being that of raising money, we were doomed for failure. Other things mentioned were such things as Biblically based service and sermon, friendliness of the people, which included making sure that everyone was included and if need be, prompted as to the practices of the congregation, the need for fellowship after the service, and a need for inclusiveness from the time the family car was parked in the parking lot until the family was loaded and headed for home.

I mentioned the church where I was assigned, to suggest three things that happened during our ministry there that were very helpful. In the days when parish newsletters were just an added expense that large city churches indulged in, we started a parish newsletter. The days of Bible studies were just beginning nationally, and we started a weekly Bible study. Because there were two churches in this parish assignment, we soon had a Bible study at each of the churches. A third thing that started was a fellowship time after the morning worship. Our morning worship times were 11 AM to 12 PM. The village fire whistle blew at 12 o'clock, and I was assured that nothing good ever happened after 12. I asked the ladies to fix our coffee pot so that we could have a cup of hot coffee, and perhaps a cookie between 12 and 12:30 PM. You people from that church surprised me by not only stopping for coffee, and visiting with one another, but by increasing our church attendance well over 50%.

I'm going to share with you a secret that helped me in every parish that I served, and with this secret increased my influence and the churches presence in the community by untold numbers. For want of a better term I called this, "The power of the silent church." What I discovered happening started in the very first church that I served in Wisconsin. A family, whose church would not receive them, because of inactivity perhaps, as happened in those days, whose father passed away and they were looking for a pastor to perform their funeral. I had only been in the state, much less the parish of this church less than three days when the undertaker called and asked if I would do the funeral. Of course I did, and that began a relationship with this local community that flourished for the three years that I was there. I did weddings and funerals for this neighborhood, as well as relating to the Headstart community, nursing homes, and other organizations outside of the local church setting. I did that in every church community that I was in. In the last church I served, I was greeted by families and communities to such an extent that the hall in which we were holding our farewell party could not hold them.

My pastor friend and I used to tease each other as to how many of our church folks attended our Sunday services. Our comment was if all of the people who are members of our churches showed up on any one Sunday morning we would need to rent the high school football field. If I had 20 to 30% of my membership, I felt as though I had been a roaring success. I saw most of my membership from time to time in hospitals, nursing homes, grocery stores, different civic organizations, and even as I was called to their homes as an emergency medical technician. Could one ask why the local church is not successfully calling its people to worship? This may be a project worth looking at in our weeks to come. Thank you for stopping by, and may God bless.

There is no way that I can pretend to be an expert in human relationships, or to know what is going on in your life, today as well as yesterday. My great great, great, grandfather (many generations ago), came to America as an immigrant from Europe. He was as legal as you could be in those days. As a boy of 15, or 16 he worked on a farm, doing chores, milking cows, and other such tasks as a hired hand would do. He worked for room and board. I was not aware of the situation on the plantations until I studied American history, and the time spent in that period of time was minimal. I studied the civil war, briefly, from the standpoint of a northerner. I have little to offer in terms of empathy, or solution. However, something that was said at one of the memorials at Dallas this middle of July 2016, rings a bell. These words were spoken by a man of color, whose great, great, (how many generations), grandfather and grandmother may have been slaves. I sensed the fact that if there was a person who had earned the right to be resentful, it might be this man.

He was addressing a crowd of men and women, of both races, where there were descendents of slaves, recent immigrants, descendents of white (as well as other races) plantation owners, and a large number of persons with a cause. His comment went along the lines of, there will never be healing until there is forgiveness. He then went on to something else.

It was enough to make me ask," how long can one hold a grudge?" Unless someone in that crowd was over 150 years old, they had never been an official slave, nor a slave owner. Nobody in the crowd would have remembered what it was like (firsthand) to be at a slave auction. No one in that crowd knew what it was like to live and work on a plantation. Everything we know we have learned from our families, our friends, our schoolteachers, our pastors and priests, and what we conjure up in our imaginations. We can imagine what it would be like for our families to be separated at the auction, and members of the family being sold to different plantations. We can also imagine what it would be like for the government to come to our front door and announce that the investment we have in our plantation had been diminished because our workforce was being freed. I think I can establish the fact that nobody in today's world has experienced slavery, either side, and yet we have a lot to say about it. There is a lot of feeling about it, and that's called, "carrying a grudge."

Grudges are solved, or at least resolved when those who carry them forgive those who have wronged us, or at least those who are perceived to have been on the other side. No amount of restitution or sorrow can pay for the injustice that was perpetrated on those who were loaded into slave ships in West Africa. Not all of the persons involved in the slave trade, however, were Europeans. History tells us that there were those African tribes, of the faith, that taught exclusivity, who invaded and captured people from the neighboring tribes. They were marched to the coast and loaded onto slave boats bound for such places as Western Europe, the Middle East, the Far East, America, and other points around the globe. It was not the prettiest of pictures, and the problem was widespread. To say a black descendent has the right to hold a grudge, may be accurate. So here we are, with the descendents of slaves who were wronged, throwing stones and protesting against white Europeans, for the most part.

Now we're back to the man who was speaking at the memorial services for five policemen who were shot by a sniper in Dallas. Let's play the child's game, "Pretend." Pretend with me what the response would be in a small and limited setting if those we have described in the paragraphs above would say to the other side, "I forgive you for the atrocities that were perpetrated against my ancestors." I'm sorry but I suggest that you and I would say something even to ourselves that would make us choke to say the words out loud. I would much prefer to hear that sentiment being said silently, than to hear it often said with insincere lips.

In all likelihood, this short article will be read by very few. There will be some who read it and unfriend me and this thought, in disgust. I don't want to start a movement. I want us to move closer to a place where the peace and safety of each and every one of us need not be called into question by what our ancestors may or may not have done. I don't like favoritism, whether it's someone who gets first chair in the band because they are friends of the director, gets special treatment in the court because they have paid a bribe to the judge (yes, this happens in our wonderful modern America), artificial glass ceilings placed upon us in the workplace because of the station in life from which we came, or any of the other perceived injustices that we bump against everyday. The sad thing about grudges is that they start as a mental exercise, and end up as thoughts so insanely angry that persons take action. It was Jesus who rebuked the apostle Peter for drawing the sword and cutting off the ear of the emperor's guard. I'm sure Peter's disgust for the guard came from somewhat the same place as grudges held in today's society. The Bible says, for he that has forgiven much, much shall be forgiven.

If you liked what I said, or at least the sentiment that I'm trying to say; Act #I: forgive; act #2, forward to your list. Who knows, you might save a life, maybe even mine.

    Have you ever dreamed of all the things you would put in a website? This is my chance to share some of the ideas and projects that I have played with for way-too-many years.

    One of them is the web blog, and you have come back to read new things as I have written them. You are even at liberty to copy or forward them if the idea struck your fancy. Just leave the by-line.

    There is a section where I have seen something (a book or product) that I would like to share with you.I can leave a link for you to see for yourself. You don't buy something from me as such, but if you act on gettings whatever for yourself, I get a finder's fee for suggesting it to you.

    I hope you enjoy what I have put up, and come back often to see what's new. As always, I will not just put something in your lap and stand back insisting that you accept all I write and share. If you like something, follow through and you make up your mind. As usual, this section is also under construction, and changing regularly. Help me help you by letting me know what you would like to see on such pages. Dave 

P.s. I have some ebooks for you on the next page. They are short, easy reads, (about 30-40 pages. You will download them from Dropbox with a link that I have furnished. For now I an offering them as a public service. There will be some as we go along that will be offered by other writers for a price. More about that later. Enjoy for now. D