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Cal's Pastoral Epistles
God Knows
August 17, 2006
I was on television the other day. I was standing right behind Hall of Fame
pitcher Dennis Eckersly and sportscaster John Rich. Did you see me? I
was in Boston for the Tiger- Red Sox game and part of a large crowd that
had gathered on Lansdowne Street in Boston for the NESN Pregame
show. Unfortunately there was a teenager standing in front of me who
started jumping up and down and waving his arms every time the camera
went on.
I moved to his left but was bumped by a dad carrying a toddler on his
shoulders. He stepped right in front of me and unwittingly pushed me out
of camera range. I squeezed back in between the two of them but you
would have had to look under the dad's arm and to the left of the jumping
boy to see me. Of course there were two cute girls standing next to the
dad and they were waving like crazy too. Three times I was bumped by a
man standing behind me. People were crunching in and when I peered at
the monitor to see if I could see myself in the picture, it looked pretty
much like a sea of indistinguishable faces.
The truth is that whether or not you saw me, I was there and on TV and
part of what was happening at Fenway Park that night. The Tigers went
on to win the game and I came home happy. I owe it all to my friend,
Brian, who invited me to go with him to the game. If I had turned him
down, I would have missed being part of a memorable evening.
The next morning I was thinking about the series of events that took place
in Boston and it struck me that it was like the walk of faith many of us
take. God invites us to be part of an exciting mission and we accept the
call and go. Unfortunately when the spotlight is shining, there is always
somebody else who steps in front of us and gets the recognition. Most of
us faithfully follow the Lord without any fanfare. We are part of that great
cloud of witnesses that simply do our part. We take joy from the fact that
we can celebrate God's victory whenever justice is served or a heart is
won over to faith.
In all reality no one may even know that we walked with the Lord because
it will never make the front page of the newspaper or an update on the
local news. But that's OK because the most important person knows that
we were there. That person is God. Like my friend Brian, who invited me
to the game and saw me in the crowd as the cameras were rolling, God
rejoices that we have answered his call and are now reaching out with his
love and compassion to the people around us.
So if you have been discouraged lately, thinking no one knows and
appreciates what you are doing for the Lord, then take heart. For God
knows. He sees what you are doing and he's giving you the thumbs up
today. Keep it up. The world needs you and me to be there even when the
cameras aren't rolling.
God Bless. See You In Church. Cal
August 17, 2006
I was on television the other day. I was standing right behind Hall of Fame
pitcher Dennis Eckersly and sportscaster John Rich. Did you see me? I
was in Boston for the Tiger- Red Sox game and part of a large crowd that
had gathered on Lansdowne Street in Boston for the NESN Pregame
show. Unfortunately there was a teenager standing in front of me who
started jumping up and down and waving his arms every time the camera
went on.
I moved to his left but was bumped by a dad carrying a toddler on his
shoulders. He stepped right in front of me and unwittingly pushed me out
of camera range. I squeezed back in between the two of them but you
would have had to look under the dad's arm and to the left of the jumping
boy to see me. Of course there were two cute girls standing next to the
dad and they were waving like crazy too. Three times I was bumped by a
man standing behind me. People were crunching in and when I peered at
the monitor to see if I could see myself in the picture, it looked pretty
much like a sea of indistinguishable faces.
The truth is that whether or not you saw me, I was there and on TV and
part of what was happening at Fenway Park that night. The Tigers went
on to win the game and I came home happy. I owe it all to my friend,
Brian, who invited me to go with him to the game. If I had turned him
down, I would have missed being part of a memorable evening.
The next morning I was thinking about the series of events that took place
in Boston and it struck me that it was like the walk of faith many of us
take. God invites us to be part of an exciting mission and we accept the
call and go. Unfortunately when the spotlight is shining, there is always
somebody else who steps in front of us and gets the recognition. Most of
us faithfully follow the Lord without any fanfare. We are part of that great
cloud of witnesses that simply do our part. We take joy from the fact that
we can celebrate God's victory whenever justice is served or a heart is
won over to faith.
In all reality no one may even know that we walked with the Lord because
it will never make the front page of the newspaper or an update on the
local news. But that's OK because the most important person knows that
we were there. That person is God. Like my friend Brian, who invited me
to the game and saw me in the crowd as the cameras were rolling, God
rejoices that we have answered his call and are now reaching out with his
love and compassion to the people around us.
So if you have been discouraged lately, thinking no one knows and
appreciates what you are doing for the Lord, then take heart. For God
knows. He sees what you are doing and he's giving you the thumbs up
today. Keep it up. The world needs you and me to be there even when the
cameras aren't rolling.
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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