One of the skills I learned in the Boy Scouts was how to read a map and use a compass. It was way back in the 60's, before the Global Positioning System; GPS from here on.  Off we'd be in some kind of wilderness and we had to find certain landmarks and bring back items our Scoutmasters left on the trail.  That was to prove we actually followed the map.  We were, after all, learning skills necessary for advancing toward our next award, be it a Second Class or First Class Scout.  Remember road maps and how it took a genius to refold them once they were used?  I remember my dad trying to read a road map while driving and my mom telling him it wasn't safe.  He'd hand her the map and keep driving.  I'm sure we were lost once in a while, but i never remember not getting where we were going.  Now we have Garmins and TomToms and cell phones with GPS tracking capabilities.  We can go anywhere from wherever we are and needing to read a map seems an antiquated skill.  I don't even know if the Boy Scouts teach using a map and compass anymore.  Once in a while I'll read of someone being "misdirected" while following their GPS devise.  They would find themselves either simply off road or in a lake.  That would be tragic, of course.  There are other kinds of "map reading" which has nothing whatsoever to do with knowing North and South or miles or the terrain.  For example, navigating a career or a tragedy or a betrothal.  What map helps when traversing the dilemma of choosing the correct decision when conflicting ethical demands are at odds?  Like some elections when we think none of the candidates should be considered for sainthood?  In closing, just remember this: Jesus not only invites us to follow him, He not only knows the way, He is The Way.  And He can't be folded up and stuffed back in the glove compartment.

I want to apologize for miss-leading our congregation Sunday.  Near the beginning of the service I quoted the 8th Commandment "Thou shalt not steal."  I should have known that would be a jarring statement.  And it was, as I have heard.  My attempt at a very inside joke was inappropriate.  I am sorry for the concerns it generated.  I can assure all of you we do not have a theft problem at Calvary.  I know of no incidents that would give us reason to be worried about theft.  Our offerings are safe.  Our property is safe.  Our offices are safe.  No one should believe we are at risk for theft.  No accusations have been made.  I was too flippant Sunday morning and I regret it deeply.  I am available to anyone who wishes to discuss this further. 

Pastor’s Memo… Most humans have a tolerance level beyond which they cannot function.  It's as if they've come the end of the rope and all they can do is hang on.  It's not a comfortable place to be; at the end of one's rope.  The choices there are few.  So we just hang on.  We hope to recover some strength and either pull ourselves up, or receive a helping hand, or take a chance the fall isn't fatal.  I wonder if our nation doesn't feel that way; at the end of our rope.  Hurricanes and flooding and mass shootings and North Korea (still) and civil unrest in Spain and 1500% inflation in Venezuela and yet more hurricanes...I could go on.  We all have our list of events that take hold of us and preoccupy our living.   The list of events that traumatize entire communities and cause us to wonder about the sanity of life seem never to abate.  It's in times like these the Church must show forth a witness that both understands the world and offers hope for its reconciliation.  We must remember the Gospel is not just a story in four parts lived and written about twenty centuries ago.  The Gospel is a promise; a divine promise.  It is THE promise "sine qua non" (that which is absolutely necessary, or beyond which nothing is greater).  However confused one can be about our world, the Church can be a beacon of life and strength and hope.  The Church never reaches the end of its rope.  When we give blood or donate blankets or fund relief efforts or say our prayers we are in league with the God who is ever faithful and loving.  We can be in no better company.

How many times can the human family absorb the shock of deadly violence?  How many times can a community have its heart broken?  How many times can a person survive malevolent atrocities?  Is there a limit?  Is there a boundary beyond which there is no way back?  Our human condition is too often saturated with sights of death and destruction.  We can find such depictions almost every day on any electronic platform; television, Facebook, Twitter, especially our telephones.  Being so regularly inundated with the sordid side of living so often and so graphically must surely take its toll.  Where can we go for relief?  Where can we turn to be safe?  Where is the oasis in which we can swim to wash away the grit which tatters our living?  Nearly three score dead and over five hundred wounded in Las Vegas not only grabs our attention, they maul us.  Even though we are not actual casualties, every community in our nation will bear a share of the burden of that murderous nightmare.  We will not be able to escape the reports and the pictures.  We will not be allowed to put it behind us.  That is, not until the next monstrous event.  And that is the issue.  We seem to be pushed along a path of one tragedy then the next and the next and the next, ad nauseam.  My word to you is this: Remember your baptism; remember to whom you belong; remember to be faithful.  Help where you can and pray wherever you are.