Politics

What, me write about politics? Well, sort of maybe. What I won't do here is try to start a debate, but if that happens the onus will be on someone else. I hope.

Just a few comments. Like a lot of other people in this country I have been watching some of the debates by both republicans and democrats. In a way its interesting, in another way quite boring. I am interested in who becomes the next president of this country, but somehow the path to that position seems to have gotten quite complicated and at times down right nasty.

Sometimes I need a correction in my thinking to keep me from getting bogged down in all the political jargon that is getting thrown around. I assume that my mention of a blog site I like to read for that purpose, among other purposes, will give away my political views, but so be it. If you want to shoot away at me go right ahead. I'm committed to give first allegiance to God's kingdom so I don't think you will harm my "political" views on that.

That's all for this time. Hope you weren't expecting more from me on this subject, but though I could write much more about my personal political views or of the political situation in this country, I'm choosing not to do that here. I think you understand why. So, I remain just a -

Pilgrim on the way

Red

Since I haven't gotten into the red discussion on the "Simply Living" blog, I thought I would add my two bits worth here.

But first, to tie this in with the afore mentioned blog, here's a picture of the afore mentioned dress (on a wonderful lady of course). This was taken as part of our 40th wedding anniversary way back in 1994. My conclusion about all this is that red is indeed a very nice color, especially when it is worn by very nice people.

But just for the record red also has many negative connotations, perhaps even more than positive ones. Let me name just a few, not in any particular order. There are phrases like "red neck," "seeing red," finances "in the red," and some perhaps negative things, like "red eye flights," "red capes" such as worn by madators to intimidate the bulls, and the debatable idea that red cars go faster. There may perhaps be someone who could identify with that.

Need I say more? Oh well, I'm not quite sure why I got into this at all except that I thought the number of comments on the other blog was about enough. I'm not asking for comments here mind you, but if you so choose, so be it. Before I get myself into more trouble I'll just stop and continue my journey elsewhere, and I'll remain in the black as -

Pilgrim on the way

sports

I've been a sports fan for quite some time now, probably since about 1945 when I was a freshman in high school. I started listening to Cub games on the radio as there was no such thing as television at that time (sounds weird doesn't it). I played some sports in high school, tried football and didn't see the sense of being knocked around, so quite. I played basketball in grade and high school, quite a bit in high school, and wasn't too bad at it.

But baseball, and softball, were my best sports for playing and watching. I pitched fast pitch softball for about 20 years or so, starting in Arthur, IL with our church softball team, and eventually playing in a tough-nosed league in Morton, IL at the ripe old age of 40. That last stint didn't go too well, but at least I found out I could still play. I think though that baseball was what I really wanted to play, and the only time I had that opportunity was at Hesston College when I pitched for the varsity team. In high school we didn't have baseball and the only opportunity then was a teenage baseball league in the summer, which I was not allowed to play in because they played on Sunday afternoon, and that was not allowed in my family.

After the arrival of television I finally was able to watch my favorite sport once in awhile. It wasn't until after I was married that I finally was able to go to Wrigley Field in Chicago and watch the Cubs play. What a beautiful sight that was to me! I became hooked for good after being able to go to Wrigley for a few games.

As time went along I was able to see more games on TV but mostly needed to be a fan just by keeping up reading about the Cubs in the papers. When we moved to New York City I was told that I would need to become a Mets fan. How disgusting of an idea! The Mets were not liked in Chicago because they put the Cubs out of the playoffs in 1969. Good Cub fans remember that, so no way was I going to become a Mets fan. I did go to Shea stadium while living in NYC as it was only about a 30 minute walk from our home, but I only went when the Cubs were in town.

Now in 2008 I'm still a Cub fan. And no world series title since 1908! That's the year Granny Mast was born, believe it or not. But this year's the year! It would make a real nice 100th anniversary gift to all the fans who have been faithful for many, many years. I have gone to Phoenix several times to watch the Cubs in spring training, but I guess that won't happen this year. I will need to purchase the MLB extra innings package again this year if I want to see many Cubs games, which I would like to do.

Well that's my sports blog. I have always needed to put sports in its proper place in my life, because while it is important to me, my first and foremost commitment is to the Lord Who has saved and redeemed me and given me the hope of life with Him eternally. That's what really brings me the inner joy and peace that other things like sports aren't able to do. And so I remain -

Pilgrim on the way

commercials/ads

This is going to be a gripe session, so if you don't want to read further you can quit now. I suppose some prompting was given to my thoughts here by my niece's blog last week. While the commercial she talked about is a bit weird, it isn't as offensive as many are.

Ads and commercials are part of who we are as a culture, and somehow I need to just get used to it. I agree, but nevertheless, I get so disgusted when I'm watching a program or movie and the commercials keep running so often that it becomes a temptation to look at something else. Also when I'm watching a sports event I like to have a secondary program to switch to during timeouts, between innings, etc. to avoid having to watch the commercials. Invariably when I do that anymore they're running a commercial on the other channel as well. And there's also the occasional ad that pops up on the bottom of the screen, or somewhere, while the program is running. Is this a consumeristic society or what?

Then there's ads on the computer. One needs to have a spam blocker for email, an ad blocker for web surfing, and still sometimes the ads find a way to appear on the computer screen. What really gets to me is when an ad pops up right in the middle of the screen and there's no way to click it off - you just have to wait until its finished. What a bummer!

I find it interesting that some people like commercials and ads. There's even a contest after a major sporting event like the super bowl to see which commercial the viewers thought was the best. That's one for the books! Judging commercials for the best one leaves me wondering what "best" is in the minds of the people who like them. Granted some are funny to a point, such as some of the Sonic ones where two people are sitting in a car at the drive in. But for the most part I mute them when they come on and do something else for the next 5 minutes or so. I could turn the TV off too, but its sort of like the old cliche that used to be said about men and their relationship with women - "you can't get along with them and you can't get along without them." I guess that's where the responsibility for all this falls onto me. So I guess I'll just keep on keeping on with things the way they are. Not much I can, or want, to do to change it. I just wanted to gripe a little. Amen.

Pilgrim on the way

Who am I?

I think I know who I am, really, but sometimes I still wonder. I'm not trying to "find myself," like I used to hear some people say. But sometimes it helps just to stop and think about who I am. I'm going to list some of the different roles I fill in life, because that's what determines who I am, I guess. So here goes.

1. First of all I'm a seeker, seeking to follow Jesus in my life on a daily basis. That's the bottom line.

2. I'm the son of Henry and Anna, the grandson of Joe and Susan, and of Mary and Christian K. Plus many other ancestors.

3. I'm the husband of Clara, the father of Carol, Gordon, Ron, Lynne, the grandfather of nine granddaughters and two grandsons, and the great grandfather of two little boys.

4. I'm an anabaptist - not anti-baptist - one of those who are neither Catholic or Protestant, just Anabaptists. I have some beliefs which are peculiar to anabaptists, which I'll not go into here, but perhaps sometime.

5. I'm a retired pastor, ordained in the Mennonite Church by my father in 1958. I'm very happy to have been able to serve Christ and the church in this way for 40 years.

6. I'm a member of Hesston Mennonite Church and one of six elders in our church. This is a different role for me but one which has given me a way to serve this congregation.

7. I'm a neighbor and friend. I seek to find ways to relate to those I live near and those with whom I come in contact here at Schowalter Villa.

8. I'm a woodworker of sorts, using talents I have learned through the years to make a variety of things in the shop, mostly to give away or sell, a few to keep around the house.

9. I'm a physical person, still, for who knows how long, dealing with some of the results of aging and of being subject to physical deficiencies that cause problems. I'm thankful for a healing God and for modern medical people and the things they use to help us get better.

10. I'm a spiritual person, looking forward to being with the Lord throughout eternity in the place He is preparing for me.

There, that's quite a list, but somehow it helps me just to sit and think about who I am in this way. Perhaps it will help me be better at all the different roles I find myself involved in. Do you know who you are?

And by the way, I'm a -

Pilgrim on the way

Its Friday, but Sunday's comin'

There's just something about the weekend, isn't there? For me "weekend" means Sunday. Saturday's o.k. but I think Sunday's the best day of the week for me. And that in the face of many changes that I have seen in what we do with Sunday.

For instance, when I was growing up, and well into my ministry years, Sunday meant going to church at least twice, sometimes more. Missing church, either morning or evening, was not even considered. There were strict rules for Sunday observance, like no ball playing, not even listening to games on the radio, and obviously no work was done outside of in the kitchen. I don't remember for sure but we probably left our "church clothes" on all day, because we were going to church in the evening. As our culture and the church changed and Sunday evening services were not held much, or at all anymore, I confess that it was hard for me to get used to not going there on Sunday evenings. And its still just pricks me a little bit when I miss church on Sunday morning, which is not often, but sometimes we travel then or miss for other reasons.

Sometimes Sunday afternoons and evenings can get pretty long when there's nothing special to do. Occasionally there are Sunday afternoon, or evening, events at our church, sometimes we go somewhere else for a special program of some kind, but most of the time we need to find something to do around home. Of course there's the daily nap time, and we like to walk in the arboretum or somewhere when we can, sometimes we have friends over, or go to visit with friends somewhere. In the summer time I like to watch the Cubbies when they play on Sunday, but I'm not into football or pro basketball too much, and there's usually not much else of interest on the tube Sunday afternoons, or evenings for that matter.

But even with all of that, I like Sundays. I like being with other believers in our Sunday School (a misnomer for sure) even if I get frustrated with the content at times. And I especially enjoy the worship times. We almost always have good music of one kind or another - organ, piano, flute, drums, guitars, trumpet - and of course good singing. Now we don't have all those instruments at one time, but a good mix most of the time. Worship style and the type of music is still an issue to some degree in our church, as I have found it to be a lot of places around the country. I happen to like a variety of music types and can enjoy most of what we have in our church.

Well, enough said on this I guess. Unlike a lot of what I hear about Monday from some people who are involved in the working world, I don't mind Mondays at all, or the other days of the week for that matter. But Sunday's still my favorite. It helps me keep going on my journey. How about you?

Pilgrim on the way

Peaceable Kingdom

"The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will like down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them" (Isaiah 11:6).

This verse from the Bible, and a couple more following it, is one of the indications we have that God intends for his creation to live peaceably. The painting done by Edward Hicks of the Peaceable Kingdom (copyright laws prohibit duplication here) is one of the most prominent ones based on this verse from Isaiah.

In our home we have several different lion and lamb creations sitting atop our entertainment center with this theme, and an applique wall hanging made by my wife done in the same format as Hicks' painting hangs on our living room wall as well. It took her quite some time to make this in her spare time, but its beautiful and draws a lot of comments from people who visit our living room. We also have a picture of a lion and lamb, and a numbered cross stitch which Clara did, hanging on our living room wall. I guess you would have to say its a theme in our house.

We do like what this verse projects, even after it was brought to our attention that the popular peace symbol of the lion and lamb was not biblical. A reading of the verse above indicates that, to be sure. But we still like the lion and lamb idea. For us it represents the peace that God would have us as his creatures show in all our human relationships. This idea stands in stark contrast to so much of what we see being done in our world.

Its somewhat easy to pray for peace where there's war and strife and encourage national leaders to work for peaceful solutions, which is all well and good. But its another thing to find peaceful ways of settling disputes with family, friends, and neighbors. We are part of what is often called a "peace church," meaning that part of our heritage and belief system calls for actions that are in harmony with the teachings of Jesus, in the sermon on the mount specifically, and in other places as well. My personal belief system calls me to "follow Christ in life," which in many every day life experiences means finding ways to be a peacemaker instead of engaging in actions of retaliation and/or other such ways of settling disputes.

In our world today this position is not necessarily the most popular. But more and more, it seems, those who have not been taught this from little up as I was are finding their way to accept the concept of peace as taught and lived by Jesus. An example of this is Greg Boyd, founder and pastor of Woodland Hills Church in St. Paul, MN. He has authored several books, one being The Myth of a Christian Nation, in which his views on this subject are the projected focus. Check out his blog site also for some interesting comments on various subjects.

Whether you believe that God intends for us to live in peace now or if that is to wait until some later time, it is obvious that the Peaceable Kingdom is somehow in God's plan for our world. I pray that the words, "your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven," will become a reality for all of us. I remain -

Pilgrim on the way

My New Year's Pledge

My New Year's pledge is in the form of a song, "I Bind My Heart This Tide," text by Lauchlan M. Watt, "A Book of the Soul," 1907, alt. Music: J. Randall Zercher, 1965, The Mennonite Hymnal," 1965. Tune: UNION

1. I bind my heart this tide to the Galilean's side,
to the wounds of Calvary, to the Christ who died for me.

2. I bind my soul this day to the neighbor far away,
and the stranger near at hand, in this town, and in this land.

3. I bind my heart in thrall to the God, the Lord of all,
to the God, the poor one's friend, and the Christ whom he did send.

4. I bind myself to peace, to make strife and envy cease.
God, knit thou sure the cord of my thralldom to my Lord. Amen.

Note: "thrall, thralldom" refer to service, serving.

Pilgrim on the way