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    • In Memory of a Great Dog

    April 30, 2009

    My dog Sheba died suddenly last Sunday.    Here are some pictures of her:

     

     It is hard to describe how much our pets can impact our souls.

      Many people would say that a dog has no place in a conversation about the spiritual life.  But all I know is that my life has been deeper and richer because of Sheba and that I have experienced God in her presence.   She helped me to be more faithful. 

    I miss her.

    Lord Byron had a Newfoundland dog like Sheba who also died young.  This is what he said:

    Near this spot
    Are deposited the Remains of one
    Who possessed Beauty without Vanity,
    Strength without Insolence,
    Courage without Ferocity,
    And all the Virtues of Man without his Vices.
    This Praise, which would be unmeaning Flattery
    If inscribed over human ashes,
    Is but a just tribute to the Memory of
    BOATSWAIN, a DOG
    Who was born at Newfoundland, May, 1803,

    And died at Newstead, Nov 18th, 1808.

     

     

     

    A Memorial to Boatswain
    by
    Lord Byron
    Newstead Abbey, November 30, 1808.

     

     

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    Seeing Jesus is not Enough

    April 21, 2009

     

    We live in a time when the experience is everything.  We want to have a shopping experience; we want to have a coffee experience.  We want to experience worship, we want to experience God. 

    But this past Sunday my pastor, Rev. Cindy Maddox, (King Street United Church of Christ www.ksucc.com ) made an excellent point in her sermon.  I have been thinking about it ever since.  She was talking about how the disciples waited in the upper room after the resurrection of Jesus, apparently just waiting to see him again.   And she said “The disciples were missing the point.  It is not enough to just see Jesus – the point is to be changed by him.”

     

    Jesus brings change.  For those of us that long for comfort and strength from him, it is easy to forget that his comfort and strength means change for us.  In the Gospels, we see that no one who met him leaves unchanged.   We see it today – no one who meets Jesus is the same as they were before.

     

    Why then do churches think that they can get by without changing?

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