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Cal's Pastoral Epistles
"Are You Wearing Ruby Red Slippers?"
April 17, 2008
I woke up and had to think twice about where I was. It was Thursday
morning. I was in my own bed and Misty, my cat, was lying at my feet.
No, I had not been out partying the night before. I was waking up on the
first day after returning from a week long mission trip to Mexicali, Mexico
with a group from the two Baptist churches in town.
We worked side by side with the Pastors Alma and Ramon and members
of their congregation for six days. We put cement siding on the church and
conducted children's ministries for the youth in the neighborhood. We got
to experience life in Mexico by living at the Dios Con Nostros (God with
Us) Seminary and working with the local people. Every night we went to
bed with the smell of burning rubbish in the air. We awoke at dawn to the
sound of the rooster crowing. Showers were short and lukewarm. No
television was available. We couldn't speak the language very well. It was
an experience that we will never forget.
As I opened my eyes on that first day back, I simply looked around my
room and said "Thank you, Lord." Like Dorothy in Frank Baum's classic
story, The Wizard of Oz, I was so grateful to be home. The things I had
taken for granted suddenly seemed extraordinarily special. A hot shower, a
clean towel, carpet under my feet and ESPN on television don't seem like
much. Yet these are the things that we take for granted.
I drove through town and looked at all the beautiful homes and green
lawns. Trees are just beginning to bud in our front yards. I saw a robin
sitting at a bird feeder outside someone's window. What a sharp contrast
these sights were to what I saw in Mexico. In the middle class
neighborhood around the church we worked with, there were rows of box
shaped cement homes with dirt yards. Every home was secured with a
high chain link fence that was locked at night to protect the families
meager assets.
We complain about our downtown but I looked at the sidewalks that were
mostly litter free and the clean storefronts as I drove through Norwich. I
thought how the people in Mexicali would have seen it. Their world has
graffiti strewn plywood covering many storefronts and garbage is
everywhere. They would look at Norwich and think they were in Disney
World. We are more fortunate than we will ever know.
It is sad but sometimes you have to leave home to realize just how many
blessings you have. It took a tornado, a wicked witch and an epic journey
for Dorothy to come to the realization that "there is no place like home."
Maybe we don't have to go that far. Take a walk down to St. Vincent De
Paul Place and then think about what you had for dinner last night. Drive
over to the TVCCA Homeless shelter and then think about that place you
where you and your family will be tonight. Check out the thrift store in the
basement of the Greenville Congregational Church and that favorite
sweater of yours will bring a smile to your face.
We are blessed. Sometimes we just forget. So now that you are thinking
about it, say "thank you" to God. Then go enjoy your blessings. Make it a
practice to name them, one by one, each day. Before long you will develop
a grateful heart and before you realize it you will be singing a song of
thanksgiving and joy.
God bless! See you in church. Cal
April 17, 2008
I woke up and had to think twice about where I was. It was Thursday
morning. I was in my own bed and Misty, my cat, was lying at my feet.
No, I had not been out partying the night before. I was waking up on the
first day after returning from a week long mission trip to Mexicali, Mexico
with a group from the two Baptist churches in town.
We worked side by side with the Pastors Alma and Ramon and members
of their congregation for six days. We put cement siding on the church and
conducted children's ministries for the youth in the neighborhood. We got
to experience life in Mexico by living at the Dios Con Nostros (God with
Us) Seminary and working with the local people. Every night we went to
bed with the smell of burning rubbish in the air. We awoke at dawn to the
sound of the rooster crowing. Showers were short and lukewarm. No
television was available. We couldn't speak the language very well. It was
an experience that we will never forget.
As I opened my eyes on that first day back, I simply looked around my
room and said "Thank you, Lord." Like Dorothy in Frank Baum's classic
story, The Wizard of Oz, I was so grateful to be home. The things I had
taken for granted suddenly seemed extraordinarily special. A hot shower, a
clean towel, carpet under my feet and ESPN on television don't seem like
much. Yet these are the things that we take for granted.
I drove through town and looked at all the beautiful homes and green
lawns. Trees are just beginning to bud in our front yards. I saw a robin
sitting at a bird feeder outside someone's window. What a sharp contrast
these sights were to what I saw in Mexico. In the middle class
neighborhood around the church we worked with, there were rows of box
shaped cement homes with dirt yards. Every home was secured with a
high chain link fence that was locked at night to protect the families
meager assets.
We complain about our downtown but I looked at the sidewalks that were
mostly litter free and the clean storefronts as I drove through Norwich. I
thought how the people in Mexicali would have seen it. Their world has
graffiti strewn plywood covering many storefronts and garbage is
everywhere. They would look at Norwich and think they were in Disney
World. We are more fortunate than we will ever know.
It is sad but sometimes you have to leave home to realize just how many
blessings you have. It took a tornado, a wicked witch and an epic journey
for Dorothy to come to the realization that "there is no place like home."
Maybe we don't have to go that far. Take a walk down to St. Vincent De
Paul Place and then think about what you had for dinner last night. Drive
over to the TVCCA Homeless shelter and then think about that place you
where you and your family will be tonight. Check out the thrift store in the
basement of the Greenville Congregational Church and that favorite
sweater of yours will bring a smile to your face.
We are blessed. Sometimes we just forget. So now that you are thinking
about it, say "thank you" to God. Then go enjoy your blessings. Make it a
practice to name them, one by one, each day. Before long you will develop
a grateful heart and before you realize it you will be singing a song of
thanksgiving and joy.
God bless! See you in church. Cal
Pastor Cal Lord writes these weekly epistles to
help us see God in every day things.
help us see God in every day things.
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