I don’t recall many titles, but I do know I was read to as a young child. There wasn’t the plethora of options kids have today. It might have been The Little Engine That Could, the Watty Piper version, which I just learned is a pen name for Arnold Munk. It was probably a go-to back in the late 50s, early 60s, and before, but one we read to our kids, too. It wasn’t a bad message to instill.
Tag: dailyprompt
Leaving A Mark
- The Bible— a book of books I’m still wrestling with, wondering if it’s the inspired Word of God or merely a collection of good stories.
- Sapiens, by Juval Noah Harari. Still wrestling with this one, too, because it largely refutes or at least brings into question No. 1 above.
- To Kill A Mockingbird (Harper Lee), or A Separate Peace (John Knowles)– a couple of books I read in high school and still think about, because of the characters, twists and turns, and inspired, inspiring writing.
Practice and Experience
The one that emerges is offering words before a crowd. My internship while at seminary was at a large congregation that worshiped hundreds at multiple services on a Sunday, and I had to help lead worship every week and preach once a month.
The difference for me was that, when I preached, I never tried to speak without a manuscript. I knew what I wanted to say and had the words in front of me. And I had a pulpit to stand behind, though I did eventually leave it every once in a while.
I had no desire to stand before hundreds of people with a sermon insufficiently memorized. I never wanted to put that kind of pressure on myself– even if, for some, this would make the sermon more authentic and personal.
Other than that, I still have fears to conquer.
Happy Face
Daily writing prompt
Describe one simple thing you do that brings joy to your life.
I make a batch of cold brew coffee every few days. I break out my Toddy system– the same one I’ve had since I started writing in WordPress eight years ago– and whip up a batch of the heavenly concentrate that ends up lasting four or five days, depending on how many end up using it. More often than not, it’s just me.
A Break From the Noise
Daily writing prompt
How do you know when it’s time to unplug? What do you do to make it happen?
I know when I need a break from the news feeds, or being available. It all becomes too much, for a time– sensory overload or mere distraction– and I realize all I need to do is put the device down and walk away. The phone or the tablet go on a shelf, or my bureau, and I do something else– read, play the piano, take a walk, head to the Y, work in the yard for a bit, start supper.
Warts And All
When I think of someone, besides my wife or siblings or collegial relationships, who I would consider a friend, only a couple people come to mind, and they are old college buddies who live halfway across the country. There aren’t many people in my life who fit in the category of friend, but those who do, it seems, have always accepted me for who I am, and we still make the occasional effort to keep in touch and visit.
I have a number of acquaintances by virtue of serving as a pastor in a couple of congregations, none of whom I’d consider a friend or confidant, but kind and decent people, just the same, with whom I golf or can still strike up an occasional conversation.
Now that I think about it, the only true, through-thick-and-thin, brutally honest friendship I’ve had in my life was probably with a classmate throughout most of the grade school years, but we drifted apart during the college years and after. Life took us in different directions.
Vocations and Occupations
Early on in high school, I worked on a farm for a summer, doing odd jobs and mowing grass. I vaguely remember the first paycheck– a relative pittance, but it was my first legitimate paycheck. Then it was on to a restaurant part time through the later high school years and for summers during college– dishwashing, short order cook, prep work, occasional busboy. I also started working at a corrugated container manufacturer towards the end of college.
I substitute taught for a year or so after college graduation, then it was back to the corrugated container factory, working various shifts, including the “graveyard” shift (11-7), which I did for ten months before deciding it was an assault on circadian rhythms and wasn’t gonna work for me.
The closure of the container factory precipitated a bit of downtime, i.e unemployment, so I got into a bench assembly training program and was able to get a job at a company that made high-powered CO2 lasers. It was probably the best job I’ve had– fascinating technology, interesting work and people to work with.
In the early 90s, I left the laser company and we headed to seminary in Gettysburg, PA. I spent the next 26 years after graduation as an employee of the church, pastoring a total of three congregations, technically speaking, during that time (my first call became a consolidation of two congregations that ended up staying in the building and changing its name).
Since retiring, I’ve occasionally helped my son with his landscaping business.
And once a parent, always a parent.
Inertia
I used to. Not so much anymore. I guess maybe I’m a late-onset agnostic. I want to believe, but I’ve always been something of a skeptic, wondered about a closed canon, read Sapiens, dared to listen to people like Sam Harris, and simply looked around, which has all contributed to the current spinning of wheels when it comes to actively looking for a worshiping community.
Faith is faith, and reason is reason, and it’s always been a matter of finding a workable melding of the two. I guess I haven’t found that yet.
Less noise, more in-the-flesh
Yes. We seem to have gotten by just fine. Probably spent more time either outside or in front of the television, or just talking to people face to face. News came from the Big 3 networks– ABC, CBS, NBC– and maybe CNN or Fox. If we needed a fact, we looked it up in a book, an encyclopedia, or were more likely to head to the library. If we needed to talk to someone, we called them on a landline or dropped them a note in the mail. It’s not like we weren’t without options– just not as many.
I don’t think I’d want to go back, though.
Nondescript
I’ve been told I have a certain acumen for putting pen to paper, words on a page. Other than that, I’m not sure.
I could throw a baseball pretty hard for a while. I have some patience for doing painstaking work. I take good care of our yard, compose a decent photograph, play the accordion, sit at a piano and play songs by ear, none of which is particularly significant or lucrative, but provide some enjoyment. I have a knack for remembering dates and other little known facts of lesser known value, though that’s starting to fade a bit. When I was a pastor, people sometimes told me I had a non-anxious presence, which helped in certain situations.
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