Weird Weather

What is with the weather? One day it's beautiful, sunny and warm, the next day it's snowing, cold and miserable.  Didn't Old Man Winter get the memo?  Spring is supposed to be here!  It's hard to believe that just a week ago we had August Temperatures in March.

I have discovered in my travels that all over the world the weather is the same as it is in Nova Scotia. It's either too hot or too cold, too wet or too dry.  And some people are never happy with whatever the weather is doing right now.

Unfortunately it’s not just the weather some people are dissatisfied with.  They're dissatisfied with their job, their family, the government, television, traffic and the general state of the world. Nothing is every right for them. And I don’t know what would or could make a difference for them, if anything.

Each of us has a choice. We can be content with our life or we can be discontent with our life.  At the very least, if we are going to be discontent let’s try to make things better instead of simply whining and complaining about things we can’t change.  Have a great week and remember: To see what is really possible, you will have to attempt the impossible.

Please Pray Again

Who are Gordon C. Gladden and Ethel Thomas, and why does someone want me to pray for them?  Are they sick?  Do they need Jesus? What’s the story?  Last week we received a letter from the US, hand addressed to: Cornerstone Wesleyan Church, 1215 Hammonds Plains Rd. Halifax Regional Municipality Canada.  No postal code and no province.  Inside was a half sheet of lined paper and hand printed it said: Pray for Ethel Thomas and signed by Gordon C. Gladden.  So I did.  And then I did what any sane person would do, I Googled their names.   I was amazed to discover the number of times their names came up in the first 9 pages of Google results.
Churches across the United States have been receiving identical requests for prayer since 2004 and Gordon and Ethel have appeared on prayer list in Catholic, Methodist, Baptist, and Anglican churches as well as Temple Beth Shalom, which is a Conservative Jewish Congregation in New York City.
Is there anyone in your life who you would ask strangers all over North America to pray for?  Just think of the cost of stamps and envelopes. 
I don’t know what Gordon and Ethel’s needs are, but when they cross my mind I will whisper a prayer. Have a great week and remember: To see what is really possible, you will have to attempt the impossible.

Please Play Again

Well, it’s that time of year again.  The time of year that Canadians from coast to coast look forward to with wonder and longing.  No not spring, that’s right it’s time for, a drum roll please, r-r-r-roll up the r-r-rim.

All over our fair country, Canadians are finishing their coffee and with baited breath rolling up the rim of their cups, to see if they are the newest winner of a car, a camera or a donut.  And I’ve been doing all right this year because I have won not one but four. . . coffees. 

But it took a while, after my fourth or fifth “Please Play Again” of the season, I was thinking, “I don’t have any luck at all.” 

Suddenly I realized that I had just spent more money on a cup of coffee than most of the world would spend on food for the day. I live in a beautiful home, have a wonderful family, pastor a great church and I was cursing my luck.

But isn’t that really human nature?  So maybe now, before I roll up a rim, I will try to remember how lucky I am, whether I win a coffee, a car or a “Play Again.”   Have a great week and remember: To see what is really possible, you will have to attempt the impossible.

Give Me the Moon and Stars and

Darn, I wish I had of thought of that.  Quebec resident Sylvio Langevin has filed a lawsuit claiming sole ownership of the Earth.  Not to mention all the other planets in our solar system, several of the moons and all of the space that separates them.  Langevin’s explanation was that he wanted to collect planets “like others collect hockey cards.”  That sounds valid, in some bizarre way.

And really,  who are we, collectors of stuff, to criticize Sylvio’s desire to own the solar system? It’s just a matter of degree.

You might wonder what he would do with the Solar System but the vast majority of the world would wonder what we could possible do with the stuff that we have.  I remember hearing a story years ago about a visitor from Africa asking his Canadian host,  Who lives in that house?” They were pointing at the garden shed.  When they explained it was for storing things he couldn’t get over that they would provide a “house” for their stuff. 

It’s not that I’m opposed to stuff, I own a lot of it myself. It’s just another warning for us to be careful about what we “need”.  And I’m kind of bummed that now I won’t get a chance to own the solar system.  Have a great week and remember: To see what is really possible, you will have to attempt the impossible.