Shade Tree Wisdom 11/20/12

              “The Lord hath helped me hitherto,
               With His surpassing favor.
               His mercies every morn are new,
               His kindness doth not waver.”

          That is one way of sort of sums up how I feel at age 92. People do ask and I have never been here before, so what can I say? But here are some vignettes of the years. Sort of “I remember”.

          Like the late winter evening when we were getting ready to retire and the phone rang. Message, “We took Grandpa to Bixby, he had a fall and broke his hip, we think. Can you come?” A glance out of the window showed it had started to snow, so I drove over, checked at the desk, and she pointed to the family across the lobby waiting for the doctor’s verdict. I joined them for a prayer and some quiet conversation. The doctor came, said he had set his leg and was now sleeping under sedation. He advised the family to go home to rest since he wouldn’t wake till morning. But he said, “Things look good for healing.”

          Or meeting Dan and Ruth at the pancake House for an Apple pancake on Friday nights. A nice treat on a cold night, and a nice visit.

          For many years I kept a Common place book. In it I wrote snatches of sentences that caught my eye or were well put, often entire paragraphs that made a statement worth keeping, thoughts gathered in quiet moments, anything to help in my use of the language. I used it in sermon construction, and in writing the weekly bulletin. I aimed for an offering people would read and remember.

          My parish, St. John’s Lutheran, in Mexico, Missouri was the only Lutheran Church in the county. So, when we planned a monthly newsletter, the title “One Lutheran Voice” was a natural. selection. I took that Title along to Michigan, and I believe it is still in use.

          There are so many events, some major some not so, but each woven into a life that has always been richly blessed. And that is the one event that I cling to, my hope is in Christ, who lived, died, and rose again to pay for my sins, so that I am His. I thank God for that, and pray the same for each of you.”

GPD 11/20/12