01/20/2019 Eugene Roop

Roll on, No one goes alone:

Our past follows us:

Those who formed our culture,

Those who built our houses,

Those who sewed our clothes,

Those who grew our food.

The one who gave us birth,

The ones who nurtured our life,

The ones who lifted us up or pushed us

down,

The ones who loved us and left;

God who creates and sustains us.

Roll on: No one goes alone.

Roll on; No one goes alone;

Our present accompanies us:

Those leading our institutions,

Those victimized by our way of life.

Those who invent the new,

Those who protect the precious.

The ones we see every day,

The ones we meet on occasion,

The ones who love us,

The ones we don’t know:

The Spirit who trusts and empowers.

Roll on; No one goes alone.

Roll on; No one goes alone;

Our future beckons us:

The inventors whose result we’ll see,

The physicians who will manage our

health,

Those leaders yet to be chosen,

Those who will solve the problems

we made.

The youth who draw from our

genes,

The youth we’ve helped to

nourish,

The friends we’ve yet to

make,

The ones we love and will

lose;

The Risen Lord who goes before us.

Roll on; No one goes alone.

Roll on.

01/13/2019

The start of the New Year make it obvious how much of our life is governed by our habits.  For twelve months we have been writing 2018 on dated material like checks and letters.  It will take three to six weeks for some of us to consistently remember to write 2019.  That amount of time is said to be the amount of time required to develop a new habit.  This explains, in part, why New Year’s Resolutions fail.  If we could sustain the resolution for a month or six weeks, the new habit would take over.  Unfortunately, this idea applies to both good and bad habits.  Our intentions are often good but our habits may greatly influence how those intentions are carried out.  Traveling down Lindberg Road from our house toward the PayLess store on Cross Street, I turned into the street to the church without even thinking about what I was doing.  All this makes me wonder about my habits.  Do I need to think more about how I might shape better, more efficient habits?  Are my practices in touch with my best values?  Do they match my faith commitments?  Are they the practices which are guided by my relationship with God and other people?  Do they strengthen my family ties?  Are they the best practices for my own health, physically, mentally and spiritually?  Too much focus on such things could become obsessive, but the New Year is a good time to think a bit about my best habits.

01/06/2019

Our grandson, Glen, when he was just a little guy was fascinated by the manger scene.  He liked to arrange the figures with a shepherd looking in the window of the stable.  He was especially interested in the baby, Jesus, in the manger.  For a long time afterward, when he saw a baby in the mall, he would tell his Mom, “Look another Baby Jesus.” Wisemen came from the East, Matthew’s Gospel states, bringing gifts to the Christ child.  Wouldn’t it be wonderful if wise ones from the west would bring gifts to all the little Baby Jesus’ of the world?  The gift of food so that no child would go hungry, the gift of health so that no child was without medical care, the gift of shelter so no child would be homeless, the gift of peace so there were no more child soldiers or child victims, the gift of love so that no child would be unwanted.  God gave us the matchless gift of his son.  What more appropriate gift could we give than to bless the sons and daughters of this world with loving gifts.  We give Christmas gifts because God gave us a gift in Jesus that can never be repaid.  It can only be paid forward.  Perhaps, this Christmas season we can broaden our gifts beyond our beloved family to gift the children of our world in the name of and to honor the Christ child of Bethlehem.

12/30/2018

For many cultures the New Year is the premium holiday.  Our month, January is named for the Roman god, Janus, who was often portrayed with two faces, one facing the past year and the other facing the year ahead.  We are here again at the transition from the old year into the new.  In one sense nothing has changed by the year marking on the calendar.  It will take us some time to get used to 2019 on our checks and deposit slips, but very little day to day change will be noted.  Symbolically, the change is more profound.  We have the sense that this is a new beginning.  Perhaps, this new year will be better, more hopeful, kinder.  We might even make some of those personal changes for our health and well being that we have been contemplating.  Maybe there could be less strife in our homes, and country, and world.  We feel like we can close the books on the past year and anticipate some new beginnings.  Perhaps New Years is only one day, but it could be a day of new beginnings.  Jewish believers still celebrate Rosh Hoshanah, literally the Head of the Year, perhaps with the hope that the head will influence for good the whole body of the year.  May our celebration of the New Year reach out in faith to God for a wonderful set of new beginnings.

12/23/2018

The Church of Scotland Kirk at Dunino, Scotland, where I preached a number of times had been a church since the 1200s. It was located on what had been a Druid religious site.  On the far wall were stones taken from the Druid shrine, incised with crosses and baptized into Christian use.  In the history of the faith we have many things which have been baptized into Christian practice.  Such things as Christmas trees, wreaths, yule logs had pagan origins but have now become Christian symbols.  Even in scripture we find materials from other religious sources which have been adopted into Judeo – Christian literatures.  This “baptism” has enriched the faith.  It has its parallel in the lives of human beings.  Many are the stories of pagan, ancient and modern, who have been baptized into the faith and transformed into a new usefulness in the Kingdom of God.  How rich their inclusion has been for all of us.  All we Gentiles are part of that group originally, although many of us are some generations away from those first converts.  We have all, however, been changed and baptized into a new usefulness in the Kingdom of God.  Whether first generation or later generations, our baptism demonstrates that we are all part of the great wall of the church, marked by the cross and baptized into the church’s very foundation.

12/16/2018

My stepmother, Marie, was one of the sweetest people I have ever known.  At her funeral I acknowledged that she had been a mother to me in nearly every way, but giving me birth.  It was no surprise that she and my sweet mother-in-law, Gertie, became instant friends.  Among the things that endeared Mom to my brother and I were her Christmas cookies.  The variety in taste, texture, and appearance was unsurpassed.  I could list my favorites, but I fear that I would have to wipe the drool off the page just thinking about them.  They were artistic and culinary gems, but more than that they were gifts of love to two hungry and sugar addicted boys.  I don’t think we realized at the time that we were even more hungry for the love Mom provided than the sweet sugar treats.  I was blessed by those who have been mother to me. First, my mother, Wilma; my stepmother, Marie; my mother-in-law, Gertie; my grandmothers, Lydia and Elise; and a host of women who have been my teachers, mentors, and friends.  Now in later years, I have the benefit of the wisdom and grace of my daughters, Gwen and Christy.  Perhaps, that is why I have always been so impressed by Mary, the mother of Jesus.  She loved him from his birth all the way through his difficult death.  She was witness to his resurrection and has been a model through the ages.  Praise God for the gifts he brings us through his faithful women!

12/09/2018

During a recent Thanksgiving visit, our older daughter indicated that she is always moved emotionally by her first hearing of “The Little Drummer Boy”, but by the end of the Christmas season she has heard it so many times that it has lost its luster.  The old adage has it, “Familiarity breeds contempt.”  There is a certain truth to the statement, but on the other hand the familiar can bring comfort.  Little people may sleep better with their own pillow beneath their heads.  As in many things, balance is significant.  I notice that congregations sing better when the songs are familiar.  I believe that this year is the 200th anniversary of the composition “Silent Night.”  Now it is so very familiar that even secular singers know the tune and lyrics.  200 years ago it was a new song.  What a loss it would have been if it had stayed in the realm of the unfamiliar.  We still offer praise to God with the ancient doxology when we present our offerings, but we also sing the new Advent hymn, “People Look East” to celebrate Jesus’ Advent in a new way.  The mix of the familiar and the unfamiliar gives us an exciting mix that both comforts and inspires.

12/02/2018

I have always liked facts, especially random, scientific bits of information like:  the speed of light is over 186,000 miles per second.  “It is actually 186,282.397 miles per second, but 186,000 miles per second is close enough for a trip to the grocery store.  Denver is 5280 feet high, although I have not measured it to the second story of my daughter’s house.  I have always liked keeping those facts in my head.  Now, however, the dullest student can punch information into their cell phones and have the facts instantly.  With so much information floating around, how does a student know what information is really significant? Is there real evidence for an internet “fact”, like the scientific measurement of the speed of light or the U.S. geological survey of the elevation of Denver?  We need to be able to evaluate the information we receive.  If an advertiser claims, “our light bulbs increase the speed of light.”  We are right to be dismissive.  If someone claims Indianapolis is located higher than Denver because they like Indianapolis but despise Denver, we know that that opinion is contrary to fact.  Facts should be more than opinion; they should be based on real evidence that can be verified.  Not all important things can be factually verified, for example certainly love can’t be, but where we can we should let the facts speak for themselves.

11/25/2018

We are spending Thanksgiving this year with our family in Centennial, Colorado (a suburb of Denver).  We wish our Florida family could be there as well.  Maybe we can all gather at Christmas time.  But all of us near and far will be giving thanks this Thanksgiving.  After my wife’s medical scares this year, we are grateful that we and our children and grandchildren are well and happy.  We will all be enjoying good meals and pleasant conversation.  After the first helping of Thanksgiving fare with a bit of everything first as is our tradition.  We can then fill up the corners with a bit more of our favorite dishes.  We will pat our tummies and watch parades and sports and maybe a family style movie on the TV, but most of all we will be together.  When scripture references the Messianic banquet, I am quite caught up by the imagery.  The vision of the greater family of God gathered around a table of bounty in the presence of God and his messiah is beautiful in my mind.  Strangely enough, I envision not the lovely foods, but the joy of being in the presence of God and our brothers and sisters.  It is captured by the many songs like “An Unclouded Day”.  “Oh, they tell me of a home where my friends have gone, Oh, they tell me of the land far away…Oh, they tell me of an unclouded day.”

11/18/2018

I am a bit ambivalent about change.  At times I am quite resistant and wish to stick by the old ways.  At other times, I am among those pushing for change.  Early on I was convinced that we didn’t need a microwave in our kitchen.  So it’s faster, but what is the rush.  Finally, we got a microwave and now hardly a meal goes by that we don’t use it.  Warming leftovers without over cooking them, thawing meat quickly, melting butter, all are much easier now.  We recently added an Instapot to our kitchen.  Now one pot meals are a breeze.  Perfect and nice in 15 minutes, pulled pork in less than 60 minutes are just a couple of examples.  I still think hot dogs cookers are ridiculous, but my verdict is pending on airfryers.  In spite of my resistance some changes end up converting me from skeptic to champion.  Others areas of life bring changes as well.  Somethings I resisted turn out to be positive as I learn to live with them.  Perhaps I ought more often to reserve judgment until I see how the changes play out over the long run.  Changes in religious life can often bring out the most resistance.  In part, this is because it matter so much to us.  God initiated the greatest of changes when he sent us Jesus and look how that turned out!

11/11/2018

There are many things which make me thankful to be a citizen of the United States.  I am thankful that I get to vote.  Changing things with a ballot rather than a bullet is, I believe, a great thing.  My vote doesn’t always turn out as I wish, but I do get to cast my vote.  I want that privilege for everyone even when I do not agree with their vote.  I am appreciative of other good things that are part of our country.  In comparison with other parts of the world we have an abundance of food and water.  In many places in the larger world people stand in long lines to carry off a small amount of water for their families.  Every time I forget to turn off the faucet when I am shaving or brushing my teeth, I think about how blessed I am.  Recent droughts in the west of our country have made me conscious of being more careful in my use of water.  I know even in our country there are still hungry and thirsty people, but the abundance is there if we can figure out how to better share it.  In the drier land of Jesus’ upbringing water could be a symbol of blessing and life.  Jesus’ comment to the Samaritan woman about living water utilizes the water image to allude to a spiritual truth.  Human beings can survive for quite a while without food, but water is critical.  In as little as three days we can die without water.  Water as a spiritual image is less obvious, but doubtless just as critical for our spiritual survival.  It would be grand if everyone had it in abundance.