Andy's Blog: A Personal Word

September 2008 Archive

September 30, 2008

Sep. 30, 2008

The warnings have been ominous. For the first time in my lifetime, the word “depression” is being used in connection to the economic uncertainty we are facing as a nation. Foreclosures are skyrocketing, stocks plummeting and unemployment rising. It is hard not to get caught up in the cycle of bad news. Uncertainty and fear have us wanting to duck for cover.

What a time for us to be in – our Fall Stewardship program! How can we ask for commitments from people for next year when we are so worried about right now?

I went back and did a little checking on Trinity’s history. This church was founded in 1926. It first met at Edgewood School. Land was purchased on Oxmoor Road and a building was completed by March, 1928. Remember what happened the next year? “Black Thursday,” the collapse of the stock market struck on October 24, 1929. In Jefferson County, 123,000 jobs were lost as the iron and steel industry closed down. Birmingham was considered one of the hardest hit cities in the nation. 

More than half the cost of Trinity’s first building had been borrowed! How was it ever going to be paid back? What did the people of Trinity do? They didn’t duck for cover. They rolled up their sleeves and went to work to insure the survival of their church. The women baked pies and sold them at the Alabama State Fair. They sold handmade children’s clothing, linens and crafts. On many Saturdays, the women gathered in the church kitchen (behind the John Wesley Sunday School class) and cooked donuts to sell in the community. It is reported that the smell of donuts lingered during Sunday services after a “donut Saturday.”

Well, you know the rest of the story because you are a part of that story. We are here today as a vital, growing congregation because those brave souls decided to act on their faith instead of their fears. They didn’t leave, duck for cover, or wash their hands of the responsibilities to be the church. They did what it took. They remained faithful. 

The call to us is the same. In the face of the uncertainty we all feel, we can respond out of faith or fear. Hopefully, it will be said of us, “They remained faithful.”
...I always liked the smell of donuts cooking. 

There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear.  I John 1:18

September 23, 2008

Sep. 23, 2008

When I was 8 years old I got a new bike for my birthday. It was summer, so I spent most of the day finding places to ride my new bike. At the end of the block, there was a hill that intersected on our street. One afternoon, I decided to give the hill a try. I pushed my bike to the top, hopped on, and with a couple of pumps I was off – coasting down the hill, picking up speed by the second. It was an exhilarating feeling. Wind blowing in my face, adrenaline pumping – why spoil it with putting on the brakes? As I came near the end of the hill, I decided to make the turn onto my street without applying the brakes. I didn’t quite make it. I lost my balance, ended up in the ditch – bruised, scratched and bleeding. My balance was the victim of my speed. 

I learned a painful but valuable lesson that day. You need to maintain balance, even if it means giving up some speed. 

I don’t have to tell you how fast paced our lives are today. Between work, family, community, church – there are not enough hours in the day. But we don’t always know how to put on the brakes. What is the proper role on these arenas in our lives? Instead of just trying to go faster and faster, how do we strike a vital balance? Unless we find that balance, we are likely to crash. 

The Book of Ecclesiastes says that “for everything there is a season and a time for every matter under heaven (3:1).” Balance is about learning the proper rhythm in life –
mastering our time instead of allowing it to master us. Finding the right relationship for the things that matter. 

On Sunday, I will begin a new sermons series on “Finding Balance.”

September 16, 2008

Sep. 16, 2008

Faye Moskowitz wrote a magazine piece a few years back with the title “Adding Up The Good Things.” She recalls as a child, sitting at the dinner table, staring at a plate of food she did not like, saying, “Mama, I hate this. I’m not going to eat it.” Her mother would look at her and say, “Count your blessings. Don’t you know babies are starving in Europe?”

Her mother was raised to believe that no matter how bad things were, someone, somewhere was in even worse shape. That same attitude was evident in her cousin Leah. At a family reunion, Leah, who was 90, talked about the village in Russia from which her family had emigrated. 

“It was quiet with a beautiful river full of fish. We had a big house with all our relatives nearby.” Her Uncle Phil muttered, “She is dreaming. There was mud everywhere. We never had enough to eat. And the Cossacks murdered her father.”

A few months later, Faye saw her cousin, who was undergoing chemotherapy.  She was lying on a sofa, weak from her treatments. She raised herself up, reached for her cane and hobbled for a few steps. She said, “It could be worse.  Thank God I’m not an invalid.” Leah refused to be defeated by life.

Faye confesses that for years, she was one of the defeated. She allowed events to get the best of her and was unable to enjoy the blessings that were available. It took her a long time to begin to realize that she could look at life from another angle. When faced with adversity, she could ask, “What’s the good in it?”

Her cousin Leah helped teach her an important lesson - to add up the good things even when the pile seems meager. Maybe there’s a lesson here for all of us in these times of high fuel prices and economic uncertainties. Even in the midst of hard time, we are still blessed. It may even be that these difficulties will present us with new opportunities. 

“Remember the lilies of the field…” Jesus once said.

September 9, 2008

Sep. 9, 2008

Lisa Elliott, on our staff, shared an unusual obituary she found. These things are usually filled with nice things about the deceased. This one was brutally honest.

Delores had no hobbies, made no contributions to society and rarely shared a kind word or deed in her life. I speak for the majority of her family when I say her presence will not be missed by many, very few tears will be shed, and there will be no lamenting her passing.
Her family will remember Delores and amongst ourselves we will remember her in our own way, which were mostly sad and troubling times throughout the years…I truly believe at the end of the day ALL of us will really only miss what we never had, a good and kind mother, grandmother and great-grandmother. I hope she is finally at peace with herself.
As for the rest of us left behind, I hope this is the beginning of a time of healing and learning to be a family again. There will be no services, no prayers, no closure for the family she spent a lifetime tearing apart.

Makes you wonder what people will say or think when you’re gone! All of us are building a legacy of one sort or another. All of us leave something behind. 

I don’t know how many funerals I have done through the years, but I know some are easier to do than others. Some people preach their own funeral, but others need a little help. Whether we know it or not, we are all writing our obituaries as we live. 

I think of wonderful teachers, pastors, coaches, family members, and friends whose lives touched mine and who gave without thought. Their lives had purpose beyond themselves. All that needs to be said for them is, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”

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