The Bungee Cord  10-19-20

Hello,

 

Yesterday afternoon, the Rector from a nearby Episcopal church and I gathered with a varied group in the town park.  I say “varied” because the group was not only comprised of people, it was also comprised of pets (all dogs and one brave cat).  The reason for the gathering was to continue a long held tradition of “The Blessing of the Animals” around the day that we remember St. Francis, an animal lover and blesser.

 

Some of the people and their pets were from our two respective churches, but others had come because they saw the announcement in the local newspapers.  One such person brought her aged Bulldog, who in talking with her I found out that he was dealing with an inoperable tumor and his days were limited.  Another family, mom and dad and a elementary son,  brought their German Shepherd mix dog who had just undergone significant surgery. An older couple brought a smaller dog of unknown breeds who they had recently rescued from a shelter.  Others brought their dogs who had been wonderful companions and friends.  And one person brought her cat, secured by a leash, who had become part of her life this spring.

 

After a general service of blessing, each animal was escorted to the Rector or myself, and when they arrived the animal was individually blessed.  Always asking the name of the animal, and making sure it would welcome a stranger to pet it, I would put my hand on the animals head and say, “Lord God, watch over “Charlie” with your grace and mercy, and watch over those who care for him.”

 

As you can imagine by my description of our crowd, some of the blessings were met with tears.  And smiles.  

 

As I participated in this blessing event, I couldn’t help but see that even in the midst of all of the chaos and turmoil, isolation and dismay God slides blessings into our lives. Blessings that come from the companionship of animals who often exhibit unconditional love better than humans.  

 

In these Covid days where the big and grand blessings have had to take cover for a while, I have found the manifold smaller blessings from God to come out from under the leaves. Pets.  A call from a friend.  A walk in the woods.  A song. Sunsets.  Gentle winds and falling leaves.

 

This morning I woke up before my wife and went down to our lower level where our dog, MacMahon sleeps (we tried having him sleep upstairs with us, which proved to be no sleep for us). As usual, he is patiently waiting for one of us to take down the gate that guards the stairs.  His patience is not long lived, though.  Springing to exuberance, he bounds up the stairs, heads to the front door, and makes circles as if chasing his tail until I can reach the door. I can barely get the door cracked open when he lurches out the door and in one leap flies down the 5 stairs, and heads off full steam to the front of our hill top (where he is met by the underground fence).  Then he abruptly turns around and sprints around our detached garage, and before you know it he is back at the front door, more than ready to eat his breakfast and take on the day.

 

If there was a reminder of the verse from Scripture, “This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it!”, more vivid than exhibited by my dog, MacMahon, I have seen few.  Thanks be to God during these days of Covid drudgery for the blessing of MacMahon’s witness to me today!

 

Have a great week.

God’s grace and peace, (ggap)

Pastor Jerry Nuernberger  

 Hello,

 

So, I don’t know about you, but I am ready for a little humor…with an emphasis on “little”. Today, I thought I would sprinkle some riddles into your life.  The answers are on the bottom, so cover them up and only reveal one at a time….no cheating, remember, God is watching!

 

1.    What do you call a cow that doesn’t give milk?

 

2.    How do you know that there’s been an elephant in the refrigerator?

 

3.    Why did Tigger go to the bathroom?

 

4.    What’s green and hops from bed to bed?

 

5.    Where do cows go to dance?

 

6.    Why don’t zombies eat popcorn with their fingers?

 

7.    What happened when the rubber duckie fell into the bathtub?

 

8.    How do you clean a dirty tuba?

 

9.    What snacks do you serve at a robot party?

 

10.  What is the best way to escape the inside of a whale?

 

I suspect that you have had enough….either from your ribs being laughing sore, or your tired of saying, “Boy, was that dumb.”  But either way, I hope that you had a giggle or two with these riddles.

 

Sometimes life seems like a riddle, and not a funny one.  These days seem to be one of those times where we riddle questions like, “Why is this happening?”, “How can we know what to do?”, “When will things get back to normal?”, “Where will all of this take us?”

 

Yesterday in worship we heard a word from Scripture that unriddles life and turns life into an adventure that is guided by the one who created the universe, died on a cross and killed death by walking out of an Easter tomb, who has called you his own and will let nothing separate you from him…not even your wandering off, and who has prepared a place for you in his eternal home so that where he is you will also be.  Listen to this Word:

4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. ⁵Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. ⁶Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. ⁷And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. 

“The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding”…when the riddles ring in you head, “Why?”, “What?”, “How?”, “When?”, and “Who?”  God speaks his unriddling word, “I, the Lord, am here.”  And like a lost child in a department store who is finally found by her mom, you will find joy exploding from your heart in the embrace of God.  Rejoicing!

 

Although my riddles might bring a small sparkle to you day, God’s word has the power to change your day.

 

Have a great week, 

God’s grace and peace, (GGAP)

Pastor Jerry Nuernberger

 

Answers: (no cheating!)

 

1.    A milk dud.

2.    By the footprints in the jello.

3.    To find his friend, Pooh.

4.    A prosti-toad.  (ooh….maybe a little too racy)

5.    The meatball.

6.    They prefer to eat their fingers separately.

7.    It quacked up.

8.    With a tube ‘a toothpaste.

9.    Assorted nuts.

10.  Run around until you get pooped out.

 The Bungee Cord    10-5-20

Hello,

 

Fall has arrived in Western Pennsylvania, and in my mind this is the most beautiful time of the year to live here.  The ridges are ablaze in color and the air is crisp.  But with the arrival of fall, something also leaves.  The songbirds.

 

In the summer the trees that surround our house host all sorts of birds making all sorts of songs.  In the morning they comprise a choir that brings a delightful start to the day.  As the day goes on they keep on tweeting (the original use of the word!), and when dusk arrives their songs bid the day farewell.

 

But they are gone, now. Quiet has settled in.  I miss their songs.

 

In these Covid days other quiet has also settled in.  The chatter of friends around a dinner table.  The shuffling of shoes in a busy store.  The cheers from stadiums.  Even songs filling the church.

 

When people come to our house, one of the things that they say is, “My, it is quiet out here.”  Out in the country, shielded from most road noise, distant from commerce and industry.  It is a good quiet, a peaceful quiet, a healing quiet.  A quiet for which I am thankful.

 

But the quiet that has settled in with the advent of fall and the dampering of Covid is, for me, an unwanted quiet.  It is a lonesome quiet.  A heavy quiet.

 

I long for noise, good noise.  The songbirds, friends and family, bouncing balls, and bellowed hymns.  I could try and make a bunch of noise to diminish the quiet, but no matter how much noise I make, the current quiet always seems louder.

 

So, in the wearisome quiet of these days, I hear a word from Scripture break into my mind, (Psalm 46:10) “¹⁰ ‘Be still, and know that I am God!
   I am exalted among the nations,
   I am exalted in the earth.’ 

 

This verse might be a soft whisper in my mind, but it is a whisper that comes from God Almighty.  In the quiet of these days, God greets us with powerful words of hope.  “Rest in this quiet.  You don’t have to overcome the quiet.  I am God, and the quiet has never been a challenge to me.  Out of the quietness of nothing, I spoke my word and brought forth creation  Out of the quiet of the Good Friday tomb, I spoke my Word (the living Word, Jesus) and brought forth life that has no end.  Out of the quiet of silent waters, I spoke my word and sealed you in my care. And when the day comes that the quiet of death embraces you , I will speak my word and embrace you as I welcome you into the place that I have prepared for you.  Be still and know that I am God.”

 

And so I pray God to give me the grace to do just that.  Be still and know that God is God.  And as I rest in that grace, I have confidence and hope that soon the birds will return with their songs, and the day will come when other good noise fills my ears.  

 

“Be still, and know that I am God.”

 

Have a great week.

God’s grace and peace, (ggap)

Pastor Jerry Nuernberger