Who is More Powerful?

I was having coffee with a couple of members this morning at Buon Giournos Coffee Shop. Many interesting persons pass through those doors for good coffee, tea, conversation, atmosphere. One man coming through engaged us in conversation, and before I knew it he was telling us how the current nuclear strategy of the Iranians is no longer missiles but nuclear suicide bombers with lead-coated backpacks to conceal enriched uranium from detection. This way, instead of blowing up and killing a handful of people a bomber might, theoretically, blow up thousands of people and do far more damage than with a conventional bomb. What a nice happy thought.

But it got me to wondering who was truly more powerful in this world: a person with a nuclear bomb strapped to his or her back, or a person with a heart that is full of gratitude? I would argue that it is the latter--that a heart that is full of gratitude is a very powerful force indeed--more powerful than an arsenal of nuclear weapons. A truly grateful people is a truly powerful people. Amen, and Happy Thanksgiving to one and all. RS

A New Day 2

As you know, a day can last for more than 24 hours. When older persons say, 'back in my day...' they are not talking about one particular day, but a period of time. Likewise the new day that began officially at FUMC on November 1st is still with us; it is still a new day, at both campuses, and will be for a while. So, what to talk about in the new day?

I read a story last week about some disputed land--both Navaho and Pueblo tribes claimed it--and during the many years the land was in dispute it was basically closed to both tribes. The thing that most interested me was the tradition, practiced by one or both tribes (I can't rembmeber), that when a baby is born, its umbilical cord is buried in the earth where the birth occured, the idea being that that place was one's home, the place one belonged to and could return to and know one was connected with the souce of one's being. Because of the dispute, many could not return to their homeplace, to the place where their connection to their source of life was buried, to build an actual physical home, as they had done for generations.

This story got me to thinking about where home is for me, and for us. In what land are our umbilical cords buried? For me that land is more of a verb than a noun, an event more than a place: the praise and enjoyment of God in the worshipping community. For we are born out of that loving, life-giving, joy-filled community that is Father, Son and Holy Spirit; to that community we are bound to return. In the praising congregation our umbilical cords are buried, and in the worship of God we are truly at home. In a new day, worship is the fertile land to return to, and upon which to build our house. RS

A New Day

It is a new day at Heritage, and a new day for the Heritage pastor who has spent this morning setting up his very first blog! Blogging is new territory for me, although not totally new, thanks to Ken Deihm, who has invited me to do his daily devotional blog--10 + 10--while he is away.

So, I set out today. And we set out. It feels good to be on the road. And I know from experience that, while you can imagine what things might be like on the road, thinking about being on the road is not the same as being on the road; something awakens in us once we finally get going, get moving. A quote from Mark Twain comes to mind: 'A man who grabs a cat by the tail learns something he can learn in no other way!' Somethings you can't learn or experience until you get on the road!

We are now a campus, the Heritage Campus of FUMC Grapevine, and there is much that is good about thinking about ourselves in that way, it seems to me. For one thing, Methodism got its energetic start on a campus--the Oxford campus in John Wesley's England. May being a campus help get us back to our roots; and may we grow in all good ways, but especially in grace and in the knowledge of our friend, brother and Lord, Jesus Christ. RS