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Cal's Pastoral Epistles
God Is Our Rock
February 21, 2006
Forgive me if I seem a little unsettled this week but my world has rolled
off its axis. C & C Bagel has closed. For the last eight and a half years I
went there religiously to get my coffee and bagel. My daily routine has
included saying hello to Sue, Dot and the gang and trying to guess the daily
question for so long that I'm feeling a little lost. This morning I had to go
to Dunkin Donuts. They greeted me with smiling faces. Yesterday I went
to Dixie Donuts. Vinnie and the ladies made me feel right at home. The fact
that there are other great places to go assures me that I will be OK. Yet
today I am keenly aware of how little control I actually have over the
world around me.
Change is an inevitable part of life but we do all we can to minimize it.
Most of us look at the world around us and try to shape it so that we can
carve out our own niche. After we become adults we settle down with
family and choose a place to live. We establish a network of friends. We
choose a school for our kids, a church or synagogue we like, and an
assortment of stores and merchants to serve our needs. Despite a myriad
of choices, we search out and settle on one barber or hairdresser. We
regularly go to the same gas station and shop at the same grocery store.
Although we have more choices available to us then we can imagine, we
choose to limit then to a comfortable few.
I am also finding that change is more difficult to accept as I get older.
There is a greater sense of loss every time something happens. People and
places come and go in our lives and no matter how hard we try to cling to
them, there is a rhythm to life that keeps on moving. Nothing ever seems
to stay the same. Just look at one of Bill Stanley's books and you can see
how much our community has changed over the last few years. There
have been improvements and there has been some great losses. One thing
is true. It can be very depressing when everything around us keeps
changing.
Isaiah, the great Prophet of Israel, understood the anxiety that change
produced for people who were undergoing tremendous social upheaval. In
divinely inspired words he spoke to the people and reminded them that one
thing never changes. He says, "All men are like grass, and all their glory is
like the flowers of the field... The grass withers and the flowers fall but the
Word of our God stands forever." (Is 40) In other words change is a part
of life. Everything changes except God. He is the one constant in our
world. He was there at our birth. He witnessed our growing up. He was
there the day we got married as well as the week when we began our first
job. He was present to witness the birth of our children. And God will be
there through every transition in life. God is the rock that August Toplady
spoke of in his hymn "Rock of Ages." He is the strong foundation upon
which our life can be built. He is our present hope and our glorious future.
Once we understand this, life becomes a little easier. I like to think of life
as a pilgrimage now. We are on a journey and along the way we meet
some pretty special people. As they come and go we are enriched by them.
But as we travel on, we are never alone. God is always with us. So God
and I are going to be trying some new breakfast places. So don't be
surprised if you see us come through the door in the next few weeks.
God bless. See you in church. Cal
February 21, 2006
Forgive me if I seem a little unsettled this week but my world has rolled
off its axis. C & C Bagel has closed. For the last eight and a half years I
went there religiously to get my coffee and bagel. My daily routine has
included saying hello to Sue, Dot and the gang and trying to guess the daily
question for so long that I'm feeling a little lost. This morning I had to go
to Dunkin Donuts. They greeted me with smiling faces. Yesterday I went
to Dixie Donuts. Vinnie and the ladies made me feel right at home. The fact
that there are other great places to go assures me that I will be OK. Yet
today I am keenly aware of how little control I actually have over the
world around me.
Change is an inevitable part of life but we do all we can to minimize it.
Most of us look at the world around us and try to shape it so that we can
carve out our own niche. After we become adults we settle down with
family and choose a place to live. We establish a network of friends. We
choose a school for our kids, a church or synagogue we like, and an
assortment of stores and merchants to serve our needs. Despite a myriad
of choices, we search out and settle on one barber or hairdresser. We
regularly go to the same gas station and shop at the same grocery store.
Although we have more choices available to us then we can imagine, we
choose to limit then to a comfortable few.
I am also finding that change is more difficult to accept as I get older.
There is a greater sense of loss every time something happens. People and
places come and go in our lives and no matter how hard we try to cling to
them, there is a rhythm to life that keeps on moving. Nothing ever seems
to stay the same. Just look at one of Bill Stanley's books and you can see
how much our community has changed over the last few years. There
have been improvements and there has been some great losses. One thing
is true. It can be very depressing when everything around us keeps
changing.
Isaiah, the great Prophet of Israel, understood the anxiety that change
produced for people who were undergoing tremendous social upheaval. In
divinely inspired words he spoke to the people and reminded them that one
thing never changes. He says, "All men are like grass, and all their glory is
like the flowers of the field... The grass withers and the flowers fall but the
Word of our God stands forever." (Is 40) In other words change is a part
of life. Everything changes except God. He is the one constant in our
world. He was there at our birth. He witnessed our growing up. He was
there the day we got married as well as the week when we began our first
job. He was present to witness the birth of our children. And God will be
there through every transition in life. God is the rock that August Toplady
spoke of in his hymn "Rock of Ages." He is the strong foundation upon
which our life can be built. He is our present hope and our glorious future.
Once we understand this, life becomes a little easier. I like to think of life
as a pilgrimage now. We are on a journey and along the way we meet
some pretty special people. As they come and go we are enriched by them.
But as we travel on, we are never alone. God is always with us. So God
and I are going to be trying some new breakfast places. So don't be
surprised if you see us come through the door in the next few weeks.
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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