​On Sunday mornings I have to ride the bus from our community to get to church as I have no one to get the wheelchair or scooter out of the car.  This past Sunday it had snowed about an inch as we were leaving, and we drove past the wooded area.  Since the leaves are down the snow highlighted the many fallen trees in the woods.  Normally we don't notice them, even with the leaves down, but the snow brought them to our attention, and they were the topic of conversation for a few minutes.  I have been attending worship using a wheelchair to get around but Sunday I arrived using my new mobility scooter.  No one said a word.  I even mentioned it to someone, and they stepped back and looked carefully before offering their congratulations.  All through the morning no one said anything.  I'm still wondering if they didn't say anything because they don't want to draw attention to the machine, or if they are truly paying so much attention to the person in the machine that it becomes superfluous.  I choose to believe the latter.

We don't always notice things that are right in front of us.  Jesus asked a crowd once to consider the lilies of the field and the birds of the air.  He either assumed that they were items people usually noticed, or they were in the field in which the people were sitting.  I wonder how many people, when he called these items to their attention were surprised to see them all around.  Some people can walk through downtown areas and not see the persons all around them who have no shelter.  My challenge to us in the next few days is to be more alert to what is around us, the positive, the negative, so that we might enjoy the positive and begin to find ways to alleviate the negative.


Creator God, you have filled the world with amazing things, and yet we are so often wrapped up in our own issues and activities that we might miss what is right in front of us.  We also have a tendency to not see the people around us, or to not notice the challenges making their lives more difficult.  If we don't see them we cannot work to alleviate them, so open our eyes that we might see what is before us.  Open our hearts to respond, and grant us the courage we may need to do so......Amen

​In Portmouth, Virginia there is a large downtown church.   It's founding was in 1772.  Francis Asbury was one of the first preachers.  He was also their first Bishop, followed by Wm. McKendree.  The building has gone through at least three changes over it's many years, but in its current form you enter the sanctuary in the back, under the huge u-shaped balcony, and the sanctuary stretches out more than half a city block, a shining beacon of the name she was given early: Monumental.  The choir sits behind the chancel, and the ranks and ranks of pipes hang over their heads.  If you were to walk down the center aisle and sit in the third-from-the-front pew on the right side you would be following in the footsteps of multiple generations of the Watts family.  My sister, my brother, and I were all baptized there, and I considered taking my boys back for theirs, as well.  I have not attended since 1975, when we returned to clean out my Grandmother's house.  It was the kind of place where the men wore their best suits and ties, the women wore dresses, hats, and gloves, and everybody wore their Sunday Shoes.  Over the years, like many huge downtown churches, it faltered and nearly failed, but has rediscovered its mission and ministry to downtown Portsmouth and the nearby Naval personnel and families, (and is not as formal).  Needing a lot of shoring-up in both the sanctuary and in the steeple standing above the narthex they gathered their funds and began with the narthex/steeple.  When we were there in November for my Aunt's burial we were unable to go in due to massive scaffolding.

It was 11:30 Wednesday morning, just two days ago.  Inside the scaffolding, on the back side of the steeple:  A small spark, a whiff of smoke, a door was opened, and the steeple went up like a candle.  Fire trucks from Portsmouth, Norfolk and the Portsmouth Naval Station did their best as huge wooden beams aflame, and fiery embers fell all around, many setting neighboring businesses and the sanctuary roof afire.  By 4 they had it out, but around 6:30, as these things are wont to do it reflamed.  The rekindling was discovered by TV crews doing a location shoot ahead of the big snow storm.  (My Jr Hi Sunday School teacher would have called that a God-incidence).  The steel beams of the steeple still stand, like arms upstretched to heaven.  The sanctuary was saved, but is water-logged.  The only good news there is that insurance may pay for the needed construction.  Even now I can't look at the pictures, or even write these words without tears.  Their young Pastor, Megan, has brought together all the needed committees, who are already at work, and other downtown churches are offering their spaces for worship.  Like a phoenix rising from the ashes she will return, but is in need of ongoing prayers for Megan, the congregation, and those with whom they minister.


God of our past, our present, and our future we know that there are times in our lives when we pass through fire and floods.  We know that in those times you do not leave us alone to face our struggles, but walk with us through them until we come out on the other side.  Today we pray for all those facing the weirdness of this winter weather that is dry where it should be wet, wet where it should be dry, warm where it should be cold, and cold where it should be warm.  We also pray for Megan and the congregation at Monumental UMC as they have walked through the fire and water, and now seek your guiding on how to proceed.  In the midst of this trauma keep before them the needs of those to whom they minister that they may not become self-absorbed.  A firm foundation has been laid for them, let them build upon it, and be an example for their Conference, and for all of us in the Connection...Amen

​We buried my aunt last week.  Her death was somewhat unexpected, even though she was 94.5.  She had been a DCE serving multiple churches in Virginia, and one in Chattanooga, TN.  She also worked as an interpreter at Colonial Williamsburg after finishing with churches.  She was a Diaconal Minister, and was my dad's sister.

I was going to write this week about how sad it is to outlive everyone who knew you.  My cousin, her nephew, planned just a graveside service because he didn't really expect anyone to be there.  It had been 30 years since she had been employed by a church, and at least 10 since she had attended Annual Conference, but I and her Pastor sent her info to the Conference Office, who sent it out by email.  To my everlasting surprise, and my cousin's complete shock, there were in the neighborhood of 30 people (including a retired Bishop) who came out in the cold rain to bear witness to her life.  We shared stories and told of the ways she had touched and changed our lives.  It truly was a holy moment.

I think about the disciples.  Most were fisherfolk.  They expected to live their lives fishing.  Even after meeting Jesus they never would have expected that more than 2000 years later we would still remember their names.  They were just living their lives as faithfully and authentically as they could.  We never know the impact we are having on the people around us.  Most of the time we just go day by day living our lives as best we can, and do not expect to leave any sort of lasting legacy.  Why are we here?  What is the purpose of our lives?  These are questions we really cannot answer for ourselves.  It is up to the people we touch to make those determinations.  All we can do is live faithfully, and try to be a blessing to those we meet.  But in the end it is nice to know that some of those people we touched will remember...


Loving God, you were there to hear our borning cry, you were there as we grew.  In the middle ages of our lives, as we age, and when we reach the end you will still be with us.  In all those ages and stages we pray for your guiding presence as we strive to live faithfully, with honesty, integrity, and authenticity.  May we touch those who cross our paths with the same love and compassion you would show them.  May we see your face in all those we meet, so that their memories of us will be strong and positive..........Amen

Photographs used to be called snapshots.  I think we should return to that.  As we've been unpacking and doing even more downsizing I found myself looking through pictorial directories from my home church in Ohio, and from virtually all the churches we've served.  I looked through the '87 directory of my parents' church, followed by the '94 version.  I noticed the changes in those 7 years, but more than that the '94 one brought so vividly to mind the precipice upon which these people stood.  They had no idea at the time, but in just a few short years so very many of them would have moved on to Life Eternal.  Some would have life-altering accidents and illnesses.  Children would have grand children, even great grands would appear.  And even the Pastor, way too young, would soon succumb to cancer.  But in 1994, as they sat for these photos, these snapshots of their lives, they had no idea what lay ahead.

All things considered I believe it's a good thing we can't look into the future and see what's coming.  The best we can do is live our lives faithfully and well day by day.  We are often reminded that life is short, so we should take every advantage to tell those close to us that we love them.  I believe that's true.  But we also should live our lives in every moment as though we might not wake up tomorrow.  What changes might we make in the way we live, in the way we interact, in the way we reach out?  Jesus' followers often asked when "the time" would come when God's Kingdom would be realized, when Jesus would return, when the oppression would be lifted.  In each case Jesus would respond that no one knows.  Well, occasionally he'd tell them to watch the signs, but then he didn't tell them what signs to watch for.  Ultimately the Gospels tell us that Jesus admonished his followers to live faithfully, and in unity.  The same is asked of us.

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 Faithful God, we don't know what tomorrow my bring.  We don't even know what the next hour may bring, but still we make plans.  We make plans knowing that in truth they may or may not actually happen.  We make plans assuming that they will come to fruition.  We make plans, trusting our lives into your hands to hold us and to guide us, and ultimately to receive us.  May we continue to be faithful in our call to be your people in our world and in your time, feeding, clothing, visiting, giving water, and helping to release the captives from their chains....Amen.

Chaos.  There seems to be chaos all around.  In my own life we are just under 3 weeks from finally moving into our new place, my 94 year old aunt with Alzheimer's needs to be moved from Virginia to Arizona, 1/3 of the money I need to pay for our new place seems to be lost in cyberspace, and I am facing surgery on a dislocated ankle that will lay me up for 3-6 months.  And yet that pales when I look around.  Hurricanes, floods, monsoons, complete destruction, multiple deaths, fires, a refusal of the Federal Government to respond to the needs of those in (so far) Montana and Oregon, and the US and Korea playing "chicken" with nuclear bombs.  Good God!


There are days, and nights, where I am sure the stress and pain of all the chaos will simply overwhelm me, and then I remember Genesis.  In the beginning there was nothing but chaos, and then...God.  God stepped into the chaos.  God took the chaos and began creating.  In the midst of the creative process things can often look worse than before (you might think about the last time you cleaned out a closet), but eventually order begins to take shape.  We don't know what kind of creativity God will bring to the chaos that is all around us, but I, for one, cannot face the chaos without a belief that God will use this as a way to make things better than before.  It is what gets me through the day-to-day, and I hope and pray that it helps others who are in the midst of the chaos.  In the meantime, for all those in chaos, let us pray.




O God, we know you in so many ways, and right now, around the world so very many people need your presence in different ways.  Some need the Mighty Fortress.  Some need the mother hen gathering her chicks under her wings for protection. Some need for dry land to appear, others need the rain/snow to quench the fires.  Some need guidance, discernment, and courage, others just need a calming spirit to wash over them so they can rest.  We all need your creative spirit to move among us and bring a new creation out of the chaos.  Reassure us that you are there, that we are not alone, and that you will go before us into the breech.....Amen.

I've been watching a Peter, Paul, and Mary retrospective.  It is part of the song-tapestry of my life, and I'm enjoying listening to them sing together again.  Mary Travers died a few years ago, so their singing together is now impossible.    Music affects us in ways nothing else does.  When I hear a song, a hymn, or a piece of music that I know, I am instantly transported to another time and place, and am surrounded by people I haven't seen in many years.  I think this is one of the reasons that Pastors are often criticized for not picking the hymns that people know.  They want to be transported.  They want mom or dad or grandma standing beside them again. They want to be in a time and place in which their lives were simpler, and they felt safe and protected.  They want to feel what they felt the first time they sang this or that hymn.  Never mind that every song was once new, they want to feel the old feels.
Jesus told his followers that he didn't come to make them feel good, but he came to bring dissension and division.  He came to shake things up.  He came to challenge the powers that be.  He came to upset the status quo.  He came not to abolish the law and the prophets, but to fulfill them.  To fulfill means to bring a thing to its conclusion.  Once it has concluded it is time to move on to something different.  Different is hard.  Different is scary.  Different sometimes makes people angry.  Different doesn't feel as good as same feels.  Whether it is our hymnody, our theology, or any others of the multitude of changes that occur in our lives, sometimes we just must step out in faith and go where the Spirit calls.




Loving God, we often experience you as a loving parent, pulling us onto your lap and holding us close when life becomes too difficult for us.  In our hymns we talk about a rock of ages that clefts for us that we may hide, a mighty fortress that protects us from our enemies, or an eagle lifting us up and carrying us when we are unable to fly on our own.  Life is hard sometimes.  Change is hard sometimes.  Different is hard sometimes.  Wrap your loving arms around us and give us grace to face the days ahead, no matter what they may bring.....Amen.

"A wandering Aramean is my mother (and my father)."  That's the comment from my sons as they learned about how we're living right now.  Most of our stuff is sitting in a truck waiting to be delivered to us the end of September. Some is with us in this tiny little duplex (some in boxes, some in suitcases) in which we currently find ourselves living.  It's a nice, tidy little home, not the tent or groups of tents, Jacob, Leah and Rachel would have been in.  But it is so small.  Two little bedrooms, a very narrow galley kitchen, a living/eating room, and a bathroom so small that when sitting on the commode your right elbow is against the shower curtain, and on the left side the tp roll, attached to the vanity, is jabbing into your rib cage!  It is very quiet.  We never hear our neighbor, and she never hears us. The furniture they found for us to use is cozy, but I get why so many southern conferences are moving away from furnished parsonages.  It's just not our stuff, and it's hard to get comfortable.


It feels like we've gone on a 3 month vacation and are living in a hotel suite.  So I guess in many ways we are like Leah, Rachel, and Jacob, except when they moved from place to place they didn't need to change banks, and doctors, and dentists, and auto mechanics, and find new grocery stores, and meet a couple hundred new people all at once.  Rachel, Jacob, and Leah, however had to move servants, flocks, herds, and tents.  They had to be aware of the areas into which they were moving so they didn't encroach upon someone else's land or grazing space or water rights.  But I do find myself spending hours at night gazing up at the heavens and watching the stars and clouds (and planes) go by, as I suspect they did, as well.  And when they, without Rachel, finally went down into Egypt, they must have felt as much a stranger in a strange land as do I.


Loving God, when we consider the heavens, the moon and the stars, what are we humans that you care for us? The universe is so vast, and it astounds us that you do care about us and what happens to us.  We do pray this day for all who are making their way in new places, who are discovering new paths, who are wondering which way to go next.  We pray for your Spirit's guidance in times of decision-making, for comfort in times of dis-ease, and for enough challenges to keep us busy in your name.  We thank you for those who welcome us, who make our paths easier, who even lead us to places of physical and spiritual cool water.  Remind us always to be thankful for your presence, and that you care for us in all of our lives............Amen

Stuff.  Stacks, piles, boxes, bags, dumpsters full of stuff.  George Carlin once did a whole skit on stuff: how much we have, what we need for storage, etc.  As we are preparing to move I have become acutely aware of how much stuff we have or have had.  Over the past 9 years I thought I had given away a lot of it, but we're still filling boxes and bags to give away.  We're filling a dumpster and still taking out basic trash.  And still the boxes mount. Stuff.  Some of it purchased for just a one-time use, some of it is well-worn.  Some comes from my parents' house that I haven't been able to go through, some I have gone through and just can't give up, yet.  There are lots and lots of pictures, and actually a minimum of furniture (if you don't count the grand piano).  Boxes of tapes & DVDs, boxes of toys and books so the grandkids (who do not yet exist) will have something to do when they visit.  We're not downsizing too much: moving to a three bedroom apartment, but it just seems we're drowning in stuff, even though we've tried to live rather simply.
Luke records Jesus telling a story about a rich man whose land produced abundant crops and he was faced with a choice: give some of it away, or build more barns so he could keep it for himself.  He chose the latter, and prepared to sit back, relax, eat, drink, and be merry.  But that very night his soul was required of him, and all that stuff he had accumulated would then go to others.  Having recently cleaned out my parents' house I am also acutely aware that all the stuff we accumulate is not ours.  So we will continue to give away as much as possible so we are not defined by our stuff, and so our stuff does not get in the way of our relationship with God and with other people.


Loving God, we really don't need all the stuff with which we surround ourselves.  But some of it brings back good memories, some of it reminds us of when we and our families were younger, and some of it we have kept because we are certain we will use it some day.  Help us to be willing to let go of our stuff when it is needed by someone else, or when it begins to separate us from you or from others.  Help us remember that all the stuff we have is not ours, but comes from you, and that we must not be wasteful.  And when the time comes for our stuff to pass to other generations, may they be both generous with it and respectful of it.......Amen

Friends of mine put out a huge garden every year, but they usually live pretty far north, so they start the seeds in those peat pots.  Trays and trays of peat pots will be on the floor in a sunny location, waiting for the soil and air to be warm enough for outside planting.  Each row or tray has a little flag, like a popsicle stick, that identifies it as this or that plant-to-be.  Well, one year their two year old thought those little flags looked like they would be fun to play with, so she took them all out, across the room, and played with them on the floor.  By the time her parents discovered what had happened there was absolutely no way to know which row or tray had given up which flags. They didn't know it at the time, but she had also moved some of the pots around.  When the time came they planted the pots, and waited with more anticipation than usual to see what would come up in each space.  I was thinking about this the other day as I drove through the countryside, watching little leaves pop their heads above the soil and head to the sun.  Now, I've been around here long enough to have a reasonable expectation of what those little leaves will be, but for a few weeks, when they are just the barest hint of green, it is fun to wonder what they might become.

I think the same thing when I see little babies.  We don't know what they will become.  It's fun to watch them as they grow and begin to assert themselves and their own interests.  As that happens we can begin to see the possibilities of who they will be in the years to come.  We will soon be leaving a community in which we have lived for 9 years.  In my entire life that is the longest I've ever lived anywhere.  Four young people who will be entering their Senior year in High School were entering 3rd grade when we arrived.  Their siblings  are two years behind.  Babies are finishing elementary school.  Over the years we and their parents have entrusted the school, the community, and the church to assist them as they grew, and I will be interested to see what happens in the years to come.  We, and these young people, have one more resource to get us through and help us become the best we can.  God in Jesus Christ, through the leading of the Holy Spirit will be with us all, even when we turn away, even when we are unaware, even when that leading goes in directions we never expected. And in that we can relax and move into our own futures
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Loving God, you birth us, you nurture us, you teach us, you challenge us, you lead us, you help us find our way out of sticky situations we've gotten ourselves into.  You send your Spirit to console us, to encourage us, to show us the path, and lead us to your saving grace.  As we continue to walk through our lives reassure us that no matter what happens we are never alone, and that you will help us to grow into the people you need and want us to be.......Amen.

I am profoundly sorry for being quiet for so long.  We were surprised by my spouse's church asking him to leave in June, when we had anticipated his retirement the end of the year.  That meant getting the packing done much more quickly than I expected. The biggest problem has been finding a moving company that would actually come up to us in the middle of nowhere, and move us while storing our stuff for 3 months until our apartment complex is ready to be inhabited.  The first estimate I got was for $17,000.  Seriously!!  I have since found some that are much more reasonable, and in the line of where I thought it would be.  But with the mover issue, the packing with boxes everywhere, the person who cleaned the house and was going to help me pack and took care of my cats when we were gone has died.  My chiropractor is still fighting cancer and I've had to go to another one.  And, and, and.....

I find myself relating to God as introduced at the beginning of Genesis.  All was chaos.  Nothing seemed to make sense.  Nothing seemed to be coming together.  And God felt a need to bring order out of the chaos.  God needed a place to stand, and water to drink, and the sun to shine, and the stars to twinkle.  It wasn't going to happen on its own, so God got started bringing it into being.  And day by day, piece by piece the chaos gave way to order.  The sun and moon and stars came into being.  There was water and land, vegetation, fish and animals, and even people made in God's image.  And it was good.  What is missing is how to stay sane when the chaos is happening, and before it all works out.  I just keep looking to September and thinking, even though we will have boxes to unpack, we will finally be where we're going.  And after all the days/weeks/months of working to bring order out of chaos, I, like God, will look forward to a time of Sabbath.



Creator God, things don't always go as we expected or anticipated.  Curves are thrown, chaos ensues, legalities, rules, and bureaucratic nonsense confuse and confound.  In the midst of our chaos and confusion we look to you, not only to help bring order, but also to keep our heads above water when we feel we are drowning. The hymn says, "Out of the depths I cry to you, Lord hear me, I implore you."  And we know that even in the depths of whatever we are experiencing you are there, walking with us, lifting us up when we are too tired to keep going on our own power.  Go with us, O God.  Go before us to lift up the valleys, bring down the mountains, and make the paths straight........Amen.