Tools to Use
During my early years in ministry I came across explanation as to why people respond, react and at time overreact to events in their lives. It had seemed a man was lamenting the damage that was done by the local fire department to his property. In his view they had called way more damage than what the situation called. In response to his lament a friend replied, " you need to remember a fireman has two main tools at his disposal: a hose and an axe. When you call them they are going to use one or the other."
As I ponder the way people treat one another in our culture today I have come to the conclusion that we as people often treat one another with the tools we have at our disposal. So if all we have at our disposal are words that are intended to damage or harm one another (words that we have learned because they have been used on us) then that is the tool we will use.
While traveling back home after visiting my parents in Arkansas the car I was driving just stopped dead in its tracks. Since it had happened on another occasion there was a small inexpensive part bolted on the fire wall that needed changing. It took a wrench or a pair of pliers to change the part. As I looked through the car the only tool I had besides the tire changing equipment was a hammer. No matter how I used the hammer it would not get the job done because it was not the right tool for the job. I made sure the next time we took a trip to have the right tools in the car in case something happened.
Likewise in our relationships we need to use the right tools our own lives if we are going to build relationships that last. A good place to start is with what the Apostle Paul calls the fruit of the Spirit: Love, Joy , Peace, Patience, Kindness, Generosity, Faithfulness, and Self-Control. When these tools are kept close and available their use will make a difference in our lives when building lasting relationships.

Forty Years and Counting

The first weekend of August I had the opportunity to attend my 40th High School Reunion. Up until this year the only reunion I had attended was my ten year and for a while until the development of Facebook I had lost touch with the class of 71 from Marengo Community High School.
I missed some reunions because people had no idea where I was living (being in ministry one moves every few years) and my family (parents and brothers) were no longer living in my hometown.
I feel fortunate to grow up in the community in which I did. I went to small grade school with only 17 in my 8th grade class. Five schools fed into my high school making my senior class 141 students. I look back on that class as being a great size because you could know everyone and I had opportunities to play sports and get involved in activities I would not have been involved in larger schools.
For the first two years of my high school education I focused on non-college prep courses and then I made the decision to switch to college prep classes. I have to admit I was not the best student and the only reason I kept my grades up was I wanted to play sports and my parents were more strict than the school policies for academic eligibility. It was only when I got to college when I realized I needed to really study in order to make the grades needed to graduate.
As I chatted with the other alumni from our class and their spouses at the reunion, I began to appreciate how much we meant to one another at our school even though we would never admit it at the time. There were people in attendance I had not seen since graduation. Most I had lost track of and some were doing some amazing things. Over the years and with the maturity those years have brought to our lives I sensed a tremendous amount of respect and caring for each other.
A majority of students in my class were not aware of my faith transformation since it happened a couple of years after high school and were surprised at my call to ministry and my chosen profession of the pastorate these past 30 years. I had an opportunity to listen to several faith journeys that have developed over the past 40 years in various fashions.
There are some in my class (9) who have died and I will miss them and the opportunity I have missed to let them know how much they meant to me. There were others who chose not to attend the reunion for various reasons. It was great to share some time together and I just wanted to say to the MCHS class of 1971 you made a difference my life.

I am the one not looking at the camera