Friday, January 25, 2008

Grace & Peace, y'all

At EFM the other night we were doing Theological Reflection on the passage from Matthew 13:44-46 (you know, about the Hidden Treasure in the field and the Pearl of great price).

I have long heard this parable preached as relating to our discovery of The Kingdom. However, the thought process within our EFM group is sometimes unconventional, to say the least. Anyway, one of our Mentors, in referring to John Claypool's take on this parable blew me away. He offered up Claypool's thought that possibly the field with the hidden treasure and the pearl referred to us, ourselves; while the man finding the treasure/pearl was God. To me, yet another description of Grace.

I've heard it said "all preachers only have three sermons" and that each time they speak is only a conceptual modification of one of those three sermons previously given. Were I "of the cloth," I suppose one of my sermons must would be on Grace. Having come to know the concept it seems I now see God's Grace everywhere and focus on it, often to the exclusion of other facets of the Faith. Perhaps that's why I was so taken with Claypool's image. But then, conservative as I am, I've never been accused of being conventional.

Grace & Peace, y'all.

Friday, January 11, 2008

Good Bad & Ugly

Let's see; on Sunday past the wife went to the Clinic and found she had an infected finger; no great big deal but the medico did need to deaden it to open it up and then put her on antibiotics. Later that day she took the son back to Houston so he could get ready for second semester of Law School, year one. Jr. was a little nervous because he was awaiting first semester grades. I believe it was Wednesday that all the grades finally made it in and (no surprise to a proud papa) he made Dean's List. His sister called from NOLA that same afternoon with the news that she had been asked to shoot (photograph) a friend for a small article in Bon Appetite (proud papa speaking again). It would have been her first time to be published nationally. Yesterday, I was asked to allow myself be nominated to our Parish's Exec. Committee (even more snaps). About 3:30 pm I was feeling more than a little satisfied with how the week was going. Following a Finance Committee meeting at Church I made it home by 7:00. Whereupon, I found out that the daughter's shoot was cancelled about 30 minutes before it was scheduled. Also, that afternoon, the wife had accidentally bumped (hard) her foot (that was operated on 5 months prior) into a chair leg and it looks like she might have broken a bone. Finally, daughter called later that evening saying a good friend of her's was miscarrying at something like 4 1/2 months. Very quickly, the week had gone from good, to bad, to ugly.

But such is the way of life, isn't it? Wouldn't suggest our week was much worse than any other's, but you might have had a hard time arguing that point with us last night. One minute you're on the mountain top and the next you're deep in the valley.

Not really sure of the point I'm going for here; but just perhaps, it's enjoy to the utmost your time on the plains.

Wednesday, January 02, 2008

Serendipity

Was talking to the daughter last afternoon and she told me about a serendipitous moment she had just experienced while online. Goes like this:
It seems that she had just gotten a notification from one of the airline companies that some 40,000 of her miles were due to expire due to inactivity on the account. Obviously not wanting that to happen she went online to donate 1,000 or so of the miles to cause activity and keep her mileage current. While doing so she was also surfing around some photography sites (have I mentioned she's a starving professional photographer?) and found that a free workshop was being offered, on how to establish your photography business, to the first respondent. So, she popped off an email. As fate would have it she was the first to reply, thus receiving a scholarship to a workshop she was really interested in.
I've long said that "No good deed goes unpunished." I guess this time that's inaccurate. In blessing others she also was blessed.

Have I mentioned that the name of the website was, in part: "Pay It Forward?" He works in mysterious ways, No?

Y'all have a happy & prosperous New Year.