Most people need to talk, and the holiday season makes that more pronounced than the rest of the year, for a variety of reasons. It is a time of memories and creating memories and, if you are content to sit and listen, it is a time of gaining great insight.

In this blog, I want to focus on two such individuals. Very similar backgrounds, Spiritually, financially and physically. When I say 'physically,' I mean growing up in the same area. This involves a woman and a man who are both seventy four years old. They grew up attending the same type of churches and both have very fond memories of those times. Their fathers both earned roughly the same money and provided well for their families. And, finally, they grew up less than five miles from each other, but went to different school systems and never crossed paths. They are both financially secure, money is not a problem and they both live alone. In the last week I have sat down with both of them and listened to them share their lives.

The woman has no friends here at our senior apartments. This is not just her statement, either. This is truth. As far as I have seen, I am the only person who ever says hello or who will engage her in conversation. This does not say that the folks who live here are snobbish. Most of the people who are here are very friendly and love to interact. People maintain their distance from this woman because she makes it clear that she doesn't want to talk to anyone. She only talks with me because I am persistent and she has become used to me. In fact, we have a set time to sit and talk now every week. For her, it is a chance to vent about how everything has been wrong with her life and how everyone she has known has done her wrong. For me, it is a counseling time to try and get to the root of her problem and help her deal with it. It is a depressing time for me, but it is something I have done a lot of over the years. She is such a negative person that some of the folks here wonder why I am bothering.

The man in question is the exact opposite. From what I can see, he has yet to meet someone who doesn't like him. Apparently, then, he and the woman in question have never met, which is entirely possible here. He is active in his church, attends a regular Saturday morning men's Bible study and loves to sit and talk and listen. Our chat this week came about because we are working up a special worship service of remembrance for everyone in the complex. (Interesting point; when I came here there was no interest by the management of having any kind of religious gathering. Now we can do pretty much what we want. Moral of that story is, Prayer, Don't Leave Home Without It.) We sat at the kitchen table and ate peach pie and drank coffee and worked out the odds and ends. And told stories. And laughed. He has never done anything like what we are doing with this service, and I have, but I want it to be his. My ideas tend to be, "We always did it like this..." because I have done this while his ideas are fresh and really interesting because it is new to him. We had a very pleasant and productive time.

The lives of these two people really did mirror one another until they got into their early twenties. Then their life paths began to diverge until they got to the point where they are now. Anyone who met them would wonder why God would create two such different people. But I know the background and I know what happened to these two people.

After high school (they graduated the same year) they both went to college. Away from the immediate influence of their parents, they embarked on their life journeys. They both naturally gravitated to churches, but here is where it began to differ. For the woman, church cut into studying time and soon her attendance became more sporadic. Finally, it ended all together. Oh, she still believed, but while Christ was her Savior, He was not her Lord. There is a difference. The man, on the other hand, felt he needed that anchor in his life. Christ was his Savior, but He also became the man's Lord. And this defined their lives until now, when the woman is miserable and the man is exuberant. 

I have seen a lot of miserable Christians. Nothing to do in life but grumble and complain and do the whole 'woe is me thing.' But I have also seen a few Christians who relish their faith, who face life's bricks and just keep on with a song and a prayer and a smile. 1 Thessalonians 5:12-22 says this, 12 We ask you, brothers, to respect those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you, 13 and to esteem them very highly in love because of their work. Be at peace among yourselves. 14 And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all. 15 See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone. 16 Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 19 Do not quench the Spirit. 20 Do not despise prophecies, 21 but test everything; hold fast what is good. 22 Abstain from every form of evil. The church at Thessalonica was the most persecuted church that Paul wrote to in the New Testament. Here he tells the beleaguered people to be the best Christians they can be, regardless of what they face. Verse 18, specifically, tells us to always give thanks and verse 22 ends the thought by telling us to avoid evil things. I am certain that this means not evil things in our eyes, but evil things in God's eyes. The woman in question has lived a life void of any of Paul's words while the man has made them his very life.

I believe most of the folks who read my blog have taken Christ as Savior. Otherwise, why would you read my writings? I know my own limitations. But how many of you have taken Jesus as Lord in your lives. It makes a huge difference.

Blessings.

It didn't really occur to me until much later. I woke up on November 6 achy all over. I mean, we all have our aches and pains, but this was different. I just hurt everywhere. This went on for a few days and then, Saturday night, the 9th of November, I got extremely nauseous. I was so sick I had to cancel worship on Sunday morning. (We have no Elders or deacons to call on, so we called it off.) Sunday and then into Monday I was terribly sick. When that abated, I became congested and started living on NyQuil. This past Sunday came and we had worship, but I didn't allow anyone near me. Monday I went to the store, but that little activity just about killed me. I had a regular doctor's visit on Tuesday morning and I thought about canceling. But on Tuesday morning, after almost two weeks, I felt a little better. So, off to the doctor I went.

Halfway there, the thought popped into my mind, 'maybe this was COVID!' As I thought about it, I remembered Christmas last year. I did have COVID then with the same symptoms and for about the same amount of time. Immunity and inoculations do not work because they tell us the virus mutates. Whatever. But I realized I needed to tell them at the office of the symptoms.

I got to the doctor's office and went to the counter and announced I was there for my appointment. The girl behind the desk asked the standard question, HAVE YOU HAD ANY COVID SYMPTOMS OVER THE LAST TWO WEEKS? So, I told her my tale. I mean, I was standing there wiping my nose. Hard to lie in that circumstance. When I was done, this bright, young lady stared at me for a second or two, and then said, "Well, we aren't going to make a big deal out of that."

I went and sat down and an older gentleman, who had heard the exchange, laughed and said, "Four and a half years ago someone in a haz-mat suit would have slapped you on a gurney and shoved a swab up your nose while someone else warmed up a respirator! Times have changed!" We sat there and talked for about ten minutes about how things have changed. Some of it was laughable, most of it was sad and some of it, like the COVID scare, was just silly.

On the way home I worked it over in my mind again. Donald Trump was elected in 2016 and immediately upon taking office, he set about putting people back to work. The economy had been sputtering, but within two years people were working. African-Americans reached their highest employment rate in decades. There was a real pride. America was working. Detractors made up stories about Mr. Trump, which were later debunked. But there was nothing else to attack with. 

And then COVID came. No one knew how to react, so the extremists won the day. The country was shut down. Many of those new jobs were in start-up companies, and they didn't have the financial ability to wait out the shut down, so many, many closed up. Jobs were lost, the economy crashed. Government began issuing stimulus checks. Mr. Trump was blamed and he lost his re-election bid in 2020. A huge segment of society reverted to letting government sustain them and pride in country dwindled.

Another political blog? Not at all. The above is just a listing of facts. I really do pray the country rights itself. But there is something here for all of us, as well. The doctor's office is in Willoughby, Ohio. As I drove out of Willoughby, I passed a church I had once served as an interim pastor at during my time at the funeral home. It was a church in trouble. Right on the main drag in a bustling town, it was in danger of closing due to people leaving. The big argument was traditional/contemporary music. And, do we put the songs and announcements on the big screen. It was getting pretty heated. So, in the time I was there, we had many meetings. My answer was always the same; if you want to grow, you have to actually get out and witness. Share the Gospel. Don't expect your 90 minute Sunday morning to grow the church. The government was in the same malaise then that we have seen the last four years, and I compared the government to the church and the people. Most people will take anything the government will hand out to them and they are satisfied. And, if the church can grow without any effort coming from the people, they will take it. The arguments in that church all ended with, "if we do this, folks will come!"

Praying with a co-worker, slipping someone a $20 dollar bill so they can put gas in the car to get to work, cutting someone's grass when thy cannot. And, of course, telling someone about the saving power of Jesus. If you tell the story, the Spirit will begin to work.

As I passed this church, I thought about what I had recently heard. By selling off some property, they had bought some time. Their denomination was helping some. They dropped the name of their denomination because they figured the bad press of the denomination was to blame. They finally settled on music, and half the church left. They had done everything the way the new growth books said to do them. And the church is still gasping for life.

Over the last year I have seen so many pictures of grandkids! Yes, here, see my grandson! I am so proud of him! And that is all good. But there needs to be a renewal of pride in our Savior.

Be proud and tell the story.

         I have a fascination with cemeteries. No, that isn’t really normal. I like to wander around and read the headstones. Here will be a little grouping of a husband, his wife and their child. Maybe 100 years old. The child might have died on the same day of birth and the mother three days later. The father twenty-five years later. That tells a story. Youngish couple, she is pregnant and has a child. The child is either stillborn or dies quickly. The mother was apparently having problems with the pregnancy and, in three days, it takes her. Because there is no second wife or other children in the grouping, I would assume the husband never remarries. Since he dies in his forties, I envision him carrying his grief for the rest of his life and dying, in his time, of a broken heart. Of course, I am probably wrong on several counts, but I like to wonder as I wander.

          Many, many hours have been spent in different cemeteries in a number of different states. Walking in the day is a joy, but walking in the night is more interesting. In Florida I encountered an armadillo. I think it is fair to say that we both screamed in our own language. On another night in the same cemetery I came across two young men standing and talking. Since the armadillo thing I had taken to carrying a flashlight. I didn’t have it on as I walked and nearly bumped into the two teens. “Who are you,” one of the young men snapped. “I pastor this church! Who are you and what are you doing in my cemetery at one in the morning?” Hey, humans I can deal with. Armadillos can scare the daylights out of me, but humans in the dark in my cemetery at one in the morning better have an excuse. “Uh, well, sir, were visiting Granny’s grave.” “Uh, yeah. Granny’s grave.” They both took off their hats folded their hands in front of their ragged jeans and looked down, as if they were in prayer. “You boys must miss her a great deal, to be out here so late.” “Oh, yes sir. It is just killing us.” I played my light over the headstone and said, “Well, I would have thought that after 75 years it would be getting a little better. Why don’t you fellas leave.” “Uh, yes sir!”

          I was at McKinley Community Church in Warren, Ohio for ten years. There were a number of small cemeteries scattered around the area. The community had originally been settled by pioneers from Connecticut. When they came to the area, they brought their own pastor, a Presbyterian minister. Many of those first settlers are buried together in a small cemetery just outside of the current city. On the pastor’s headstone, in worn letters, are the words, “Still serving my Savior.” Probably more than any headstone ever, that one really got to me.

          Working at a funeral home gave me ample time to explore cemeteries. Some of those wanderings were not good. Once a lady and I were looking for her husband’s grave, who had just been buried the day before. There was no headstone yet and his was the first grave in the new section and it was winter and a lot of snow had fallen overnight, so finding the grave was a problem. I found it by the unlucky happenstance of stepping into it. The dirt was very loose and very soaked and I sank like I had stepped into a swimming pool. I went down until my foot hit the top of the vault that the casket was in. I was seriously in some deep trouble (pun intended). Another time, with the cemetery full of people and about a foot and a half of fresh snow, I disappeared from sight because I stepped into a hole where the cemetery workers had dug out a tree a couple of days before and had not filled the hole in. I walked into the hole on one side and walked out of the hole on the other. Now that I think of it, the armadillo wasn’t so bad.

          But it is the story on the headstones that captures my imagination. I had read about the Presbyterian minister in Warren, so I knew something of him. And I have visited the graves of several presidents and other notables, but the regular folks in the regular graves……

          I didn’t realize it until I was an adult, but my mother shared the same fascination as I. She and Marsha’s mother came to Florida for my ordination. This was at the church with the cemetery with the armadillo. Mom wanted me to walk her around the cemetery and we spent several hours reading headstones. She did the same thing I had done, working up a story of the lives based on the little information on the headstone. It was surprising how close our stories were. One section was given over to a family with the somewhat unfortunate name of Butts. In this section there were the older stones from the time of burial but also a much newer stone detailing that particular family. The father, Mr. Butts, was born in the 1700s. He married a native American named Lehey. For some reason, Mom saw the Lehey and thought it was Leathery. She said Leathery Butts just wasn’t a good name. My mother didn’t have a real refined sense of humor, but when she saw it was Lehey, she got tickled at herself. Anyway, the stone said they had 18 children. Then it listed their names in their birth order. The first child and the last child had the same name. When Mom saw all the names on that stone, she said, “Well, I don’t think I have ever seen so many Butts in one place.” So, there we were, two adults standing in a cemetery laughing like a couple of loons. When we had settled down, I pointed out the same name for the first and the last. “Do you suppose they just ran out of names and started over?” She sobered quickly and explained to me that the first one probably died shortly after birth. Lehey had many more, but probably always missed the first born. So, she gave the same name to the last as a way of remembering the first. She had a whole scenario created and she was probably pretty close to the truth.

          Our time here is limited. In a hundred years someone will wander through your cemetery and observe your grave. They will not know who you were or how you lived your life. But maybe, if we are faithful, it might be that their life was affected for the Lord by someone who was affected for the Lord by someone who was affected for the Lord by someone and going back until it gets to you. Or me. We have no other more important job.

          Our pastorate at Park Street Christian Church in Geneva, Ohio was an example of all the right puzzle pieces coming together and making an awesome ministry. I pray all of you will experience that someday. But I knew that within a few years of my departure I would be mostly forgotten. I never cared about that, but I wanted to leave my stamp on the Spiritual aspect of that church so that for generations to come the Word would be preached. On my last Sunday there I asked the choir to sing a song by Steve Green, “Find Us Faithful”.

We're pilgrims on the journey
Of the narrow road
And those who've gone before us line the way
Cheering on the faithful, encouraging the weary
Their lives a stirring testament to God's sustaining grace!

CHORUS

Oh may all who come behind us find us faithful
May the fire of our devotion light their way
May the footprints that we leave
Lead them to believe
And the lives we live inspire them to obey
Oh may all who come behind us find us faithful

Surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses
Let us run the race not only for the prize
But as those who've gone before us
Let us leave to those behind us
The heritage of faithfulness passed on through godly lives
CHORUS
Oh may all who come behind us find us faithful
May the fire of our devotion light their way
May the footprints that we leave
Lead them to believe
And the lives we live inspire them to obey
Oh may all who come behind us find us faithful

          The only footprint we leave behind that really has importance is the footprint that blazes the trail that leads to Christ. Just like that Presbyterian minister, “Still serving my Savior.” 

I have no idea.

As I write this, I have no idea as to who the next president of the United States will be. I have no idea of who the winner of the Senate seat of my state is. I have no idea of the outcome of the ballot issues of my state and county. I just have no idea.

We may not have the answers to these questions for some time yet. It may be that as you read this, you have the answers to all the questions because it is Wednesday or Thursday. You may feel pain, or you may feel joy. Frustration or justification. Fear or confidence. 

However, I do know that the evil and hateful political ads we have been treated to are over by the closing of polls tonight. The yard signs and billboards will soon disappear. Thanksgiving is coming and Christmas is on the way. Life is just about to go on.

We all feel we are right and the 'opposition' is wrong. We have been told that there has never been an election as critical as this one. And we are told that the nation has never been this divided. However, I have lived through thirteen presidents (Really? That doesn't seem possible, even to me!) and I have to admit I have been surprised at times. I have heard over and before every presidential election that there has never been a more important election. And the nation has been more divided. After all, we did have a civil war.

So, for a bit, let's put the hyperbole aside and look at something else.

How would Jesus vote?

If you support former president Trump, you are a conservative and you would say conservative values are all about Jesus, so Jesus would wear a MAGA hat. If you support vice president Harris, you are a liberal and you would say that liberalism is all about love and that Jesus was all about love and so Jesus would vote Harris. But what does the Bible say?

I know what some of you are thinking. "Here he goes again, always using the Bible to connect the dots." Good! That is the way I want to be remembered! That is good! So again, what does the Bible say?

Romans 13:1-7, 1 Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. 2 Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. 3 For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and you will be commended. 4 For the one in authority is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for rulers do not bear the sword for no reason. They are God’s servants, agents of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. 5 Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also as a matter of conscience. 6 This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, who give their full time to governing. 7 Give to everyone what you owe them: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.

Wow! This creates all sorts of questions! What do you do if the government is unjust? What if the government bans Christianity? What if..... Well, those questions certainly deserve study. But let's look at the time this was written. Rome was unjust. Rome did ban both Judaism and Christianity for a time. And yet Paul tells these people to follow the laws and the rulers. What goes on here?!!?

IF Christians did their job, people would be turning to the Lord and accepting Christ and the governments would change. It is not government's job to cater to Christian concepts, it is the job of Christians to bring all to Jesus. When persecution against Christians was at its highest, the church in Jerusalem and Rome and all the others began to grow and grow. When the Catholic church persecuted true believers, the underground church blossomed. When communism tightened down on Christianity in China and the Soviet Union and places like Cuba, the underground church thrived. Christianity gets better and better when the persecution gets tougher and tougher. 

How would Jesus vote? 

Clearly, He has. Verse one in the above passage tells us that God gives the authority. Not man. God. God, and therefore Jesus, desires us to be a fruitful people, to share the Gospel and to be a light to the world. Since human nature has shown us that when times are good, we get weak, God has allowed the hard times to come so that we would be stronger. The parade of presidents and prime ministers and kings and all the rest have served the purpose of the Lord.

So, if it is all in His hands, why vote at all? Well, He allowed this democratic republic to be created. He has blessed us to live here in the safety of this democratic republic. He gave us the way to be involved. We do the citizen thing.

But our ultimate citizenship lies elsewhere. We have a responsibility far greater to the Kingdom of the Lord's than our little earthly home and we have been given a job.....bring the light to the lost.

I took a call this evening from a dear friend, a person who has walk along my rough roads with me as I have walked along her rough roads. She asked who I thought would win. My answer was, I have no idea. But just tell me your gut reaction! I have no idea. And I don't. But I do know that Christians need to wake up and start acting the way they talk. Change will only come through Jesus and the world will only hear of Jesus if we tell them.

The Lord is in total control.