" ... THE GREATEST OF THESE IS LOVE"

He came to visit my mother in the hospital not long after she was transferred from Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center to Iredell Memorial Hospital. He has always considered her his “second mother.” The evening of his visit wasn’t a good one for Mom. She slept throughout his visit. He finally walked over to her bed and whispered, “I love you.” She slurred, “I love you, too. I always have.” He left before she finished what she had to say to him.  Just after "I always have" came the words, “I always will.”

He came back to visit a week later. Mom was sitting in a recliner and being fed a little something akin to ice cream. She was given a thickened cranberry juice and, at her request, a thickened Dr. Pepper. She talked to him and listened as he told her about his upcoming trip to the Holy Land. She pointed at him and said, “Safe travels. I will pray.” And again, he told her that he loved her … and she said, “I love you, too.”

Sunday, as she listened to the live-stream of Broad Street UMC’s worship service, she sang the “Gloria Patri” and “Jesus Loves Me” when she heard to congregation sing. Her eyes were closed, but she sang her love and praise. “Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost.”

Last night, my brother called me from Mom’s hospital room so that I could say “Good Night” to her and give her a phone kiss. Steve told me of how Mom had said earlier in the day, “Let’s pray for Jimmy.” So, Steve and Mom prayed for safe travels to the Holy Land and a good trip for the one who calls Mom his “second mother.”

And as she grew weary during my phone call, I said, “Let me give you a phone kiss, Mom. HMMMMMMWAH.” I heard a soft “’HMMMMMMMWAH” coming from her.

In the midst of all that Mom is going through following her massive stroke on Dec. 4th, she continues to example to me that “the greatest of these is love.”

"SHEMA ... HEAR!" (Day 4. Deuteronomy 6)

Day 4. Deuteronomy 6.  Broad Street UMC / Statesville, NC chapter-a-day reading

In a recent sermon, Dr. Ken Broman-Fulks, Sr. Pastor of First Presbyterian Church in High Point, NC, quoted the words, “Prepare the child for the road, not the road for the child.”

Life has its potholes. How will children cope if the road has always been prepared for them? Shema (“hear”), is the first word of the most important prayer in Judaism and is found in our chapter-a-day reading for today. SHEMA… HEAR, O Israel: The LORD is our God, the LORD alone. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. SHEMA… HEAR. Keep these words in your heart. Recite them to your children. Talk about them with your children wherever you might be, whenever you can. Bind them to your hand, in your mind, and in your home. SHEMA … HEAR. “Prepare the child for the road, not the road for the child” by telling them of the LORD our God, the LORD alone.

"If Only ..." (Deuteronomy 5)

Day 3. Deuteronomy 5 is the reading from Broad Street UMC/Statesville, NC's Chapter-A-Day Bible reading.

IF ONLY. Yes, that is what the LORD said. The LORD said to Moses, “If only they had such a mind as this, to fear me and to keep all my commandments always, so that it might go well with them and with their children forever!”

Too often, we read the 10 Commandments in a check-off manner. On a scale of 1-10, how good am I (or how bad am I)? IF ONLY … if only we would see that when the LORD our God says, “You shall have no other gods before me,” the other commandments will fall into place as a means to a relationship with the one God. IF ONLY we would see that this one and only God, in placing these commandments before us, is removing the stumbling blocks that turn our eyes and hearts from his Holy Presence. There is joy in knowing that.

As you read Deuteronomy 5, know that these words are not from an oppressive god but from the One who IS love.

"Take Up Your Ministry With Courage" (Day 2 ... Exodus 1)

Day 2 from the Broad Street UMC/Statesville, NC Chapter-A-Day Bible reading is Exodus 1.

A pastor and friend of mine sends out the congregation of the church where he serves with a benediction each Sunday that includes the words “Take up your ministry with courage.” As I read today’s Bible chapter selection, I can’t help but think of these words. Shiphrah and Puah, the Hebrew midwives, took up their tasks with courage.

It wasn’t easy for the task that these women were given to do became the PLAN B of the king of Egypt. Kill all Hebrew male babies. Unbeknownst to the king, Shiphrah and Puah chose not to become a part of the king’s PLAN B. They chose to stand in the ever-lasting Covenant between God and Abraham and in the Presence of God Almighty.

Shiphrah and Puah, and their courage to silently refuse to become active participants in this powerful king’s PLAN B, is a reminder to us all that we too can stand and act with courage in the midst of a Plan A, B, or C that is not of God. When standing in this world where an agenda becomes PLAN A, fear becomes PLAN B, or power becomes PLAN C, may we remember God’s promises and presence … may we too take up our ministry with courage.

"In the Beginning ... God's Lavish Love" (Genesis 1-2:3 Day 1 reading)

Welcome to the fourth month of Broad Street UMC’s Chapter-A-Day Bible reading! During the month of December, I will be offering the introduction reflections to the day's chapter-a-day selections that have been chosen by Dr. Mary John Dye, Sr. Pastor of Broad Street UMC in Statesville, NC

Day 1.     Genesis 1-2:3

If you haven’t noticed in your previous readings of these scriptures, Genesis 1-2:3 is beautiful poetry that tells of Creation, beginning with the very breath of God Almighty sweeping over the face of the waters. Each moment of Creation sustains the next. Slowly read these words aloud. Out of darkness and chaos, we step into the daylight of God’s Presence and Love. The story of Creation and Sabbath is just the beginning of the Bible’s account of God’s lavish love for all of creation, including God’s lavish love for each one of us. Perhaps once we read the chapter today, we should break into song. “For the beauty of the earth, for the glory of the skies, for the love which from our birth over and around us lies; LORD of all to thee we raise this our hymn of grateful praise!”

"MY EARS HAVE HEARD OF YOU, BUT NOW ... "

(An offering based on this week's lectionary scriptures: Job 42:1-6, 10-17 and Mark 10:46-52).

We can be found

along life’s road …

disciples who have seen,

followers who rebuke, 

one of many in a 

muttering crowd,

overlooking (or stepping over)

the one, the beggar,

whose only possessions

are faith and hope

and a name 

that is covered

with the dust 

of his or her days.

A dusty faith whispers,

“My ears have heard of you, O LORD …

my ears have heard of you.”

How many cries 

from the roadside

have been the cries

heard that day …

“JESUS, SON OF DAVID,

HAVE MERCY ON ME …

SON OF GOD, 

HAVE MERCY ON ME!”

A stepped-over hope whispers, 

“My ears have heard of you, O LORD..

my ears have heard of you.”

There is no contentment 

in hearing alone.

The implications are great

and costly for us all

in the one answered question …

“What would I have you do for me?

I WANT TO SEE!”

And the one 

who has answered the question

declares,

“My ears had heard of you, O LORD,

but now my eyes have seen you!”

Let those who have sight

be beggars no more

for there is great wealth 

to be found 

in such witness.

"A Life Reduced to a Piece of Paper?" (I think not)

It would do us all good to celebrate the plain, quietly courageous, doing-the-best-they-can sort of people more often.  Sarah M. Johnston is one such person. 

She was the third wife of my paternal great-great grandfather. Sarah Mathilde Jones (born 1863) and Henry Talley Johnston (born 1840) had corresponded for a while before she arrived on a train and married him just one day after they met face to face for the first time. He was much older, a Civil War veteran, a father of 11 children, and a widower. She was a writer from Alabama (she wrote for the Atlanta Constitution at a time when women columnists were few and far between); she had never married and was very alone …her immediate family had died around her. After Henry’s death and having lived with his daughter (Anna, after whom I was named) and other members of his in the family, she quietly and secretly made arrangements to move into the Confederate Women’s Home in Fayetteville, NC. Even though all in the family seemed to have a soft place in their hearts for Sarah, she felt it was the loving thing to do.

The Confederate Women's Home is no more … torn down … reduced to a cemetery and 6 boxes of papers in the North Carolina Archives. In the boxes are notations of complaints by the residents of sub-standard food, poor nutrition and miserably cold rooms. I have letters in my possession from Sarah voicing these same complaints. In one of the boxes in the Archives is also confirmation of such issues found in a report written by the Home Administrator during Sarah’s years there. How sad for these women.

My Great-Great Grandmother Sarah’s end- of-life was reduced to a few words found on a piece of paper in one of these boxes in Raleigh … “Sarah M. Johnston: Died October 8, 1949 3:00AM”

She was much more than a few words on a piece of paper in a box in the North Carolina Archives . She was a writer … a risk-taker … a wise and gentle woman. Sarah was one who was immediately received into the family and one who found love to offer this man and his children. I would have loved knowing this woman.

So, on this date of her death, October 8th, I think of Sarah M. Johnston, a woman who was much, much more than a piece of paper in this world.