Three Years

Two remarkable things happened in my life this past weekend: card games and a choir rehearsal. Now, in and of themselves, playing cards and singing with others are not unusual activities for me. But the specific things we were doing? Those were noteworthy to me:

On Saturday evening, we played euchre in our church’s fellowship hall. On Sunday evening, we had the first rehearsal for the upcoming “Lamb of God” choral/orchestral production.

The last time both of those things happened was three years ago, immediately before the covid-19 pandemic began.

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Transitions

“You know, it’s like I always said… the more things change, the more they stay the same.”

These were the final words spoken in my favorite television series of all time, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. After seven years of stories, conflicts, battles, and drama, the space station called “Deep Space Nine” comes to a place of peace and stability. The local bartender (a Ferengi named Quark) finds himself tending to his shop there once again as he had done for many years. And as the final episode draws to a close, Quark speaks the above words, which has become a favorite quote of mine over the years.

Life is full of transitions and adjustments. We leave one place or situation in life, and we move on to other challenges. One relationship ends, and another begins. Sometimes, when we’re experiencing many changes, we can feel a little out of sorts – as if the world is somehow unstable or unpredictable. For some people, this kind of unpredictability can be invigorating and exciting. For others (like me), big changes are a bit stressful. Continue reading →

Change in the Church of God

Real, substantive, meaningful change. That’s what we are hoping for, and that’s what we began to see in the Church of God Convention last week in Oklahoma City.

This was the second year in a row that the major CHOG Convention was held outside of our home base in Anderson, Indiana. Attendance was up, excitement was up, unity was up. Mean attitudes or doubting spirits were less present this year, compared to last year when the change was still fresh and not well understood. Continue reading →

Time Changes

This past weekend, we experienced our annual blessing of an extra hour – perhaps for sleep! – as we turned our clocks back because of the end of Daylight Saving Time.  It’s the yearly payback for that less pleasurable experience in the spring, when we set our clocks ahead and consequently show up an hour late for church on Sunday!  But have you ever stopped to think about the significance of this time change?

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