Over a month ago I was at Staples.  I had a $5 coupon that could be spent on anything; even sale and clearance items.  I know $5 isn't a lot of money nor is it a significant discount.  I am well aware Staples wants me in the store in hopes I'll spend considerably more than $5.  I never know what I'll find at Staples that will catch my eye.  I wander the aisles and peruse the clearance shelves.  Not a single item cries out to be bought.  Then, along an aisle I'd been down before, there it was.  The 2018 appointment/date book I couldn't resist.  I buy just such a book every year.  I always buy it at Staples.  It's not even July.  I could wait a couple of more months.  But that $5 coupon was in my hand and it had an expiration date on it.  It was a done deal.  Now, almost a month later, I'm amazed at how many 2018 dates are already penciled in.  A wedding, a gathering of clergy, my next physical...  How quickly we schedule our time when not one second of it is guaranteed. Could buying a 2018 appointment/date book be an act of faith more than a $5 savings at Staples?  I'll wait and see.  It could be both.

People are funny creatures.  We are full of contradictions and even a few paradoxes.  We're never as consistent in our thinking as we would like to believe.  Take the two images above, for example.  The "COEXIST" image is a bumper sticker. It is a compilation of religious symbols.  It says, at least to me, "Let's all of us just get along."  It's both a statement and a prayer.  I never know which takes priority.  I see it as a "consummation, devoutly to be wished."  The last time I saw the "COEXIST" sticker it was on the bumper of a car ahead of me. It was not the only one on the vehicle.  The "DON'T TREAD ON ME" bumper sticker was also affixed to that car.  I was confused.  Does the driver want us to get along or does he want to be left alone?  Both messages bear the weight of some passionate political emotion.  I don't know how to do both at the same time.  Perhaps there is a Kingdom-of-God-choice for us to make? But, isn't that always the case?

Two years ago yesterday, the 10th of July, found me sitting on the main office floor laughing.  I reached the floor by falling.  Gravity will do it every time.  Lose your step and down you will go.  My right femur broke just below the ball of my hip.  By 4pm I was on my way to the emergency room and by 7pm I was being told I would need surgery.  An hour or so later the decision was made for a complete right hip replacement and the procedure was scheduled for 10am the next morning.  The surgery went well and by 2pm (just 22 hours after the fall) I was walking on my new hip.  That was two years ago.  I'm due for a hip x-ray next week to see how well things are progressing.  The time has slipped by almost without notice.  I don't run anymore.  Well, I didn't do too much running before my fall.  But when my orthopedist told me never to run or jog again (except to save my life) I wanted to place gold, frankincense, and myrrh at his feet.  More welcomed news could hardly have come my way.  Joint replacement is just one more daily occurrence in medical treatment.  I am the beneficiary of an incredibly talented and skillful surgeon, dedicated nurses, and other staff; at the hospital and the rehab nursing home. I walk and stand among you because they chose to do what they do.  And, because your prayers and God's hand were ever present.  And Julia.  All my love to her.

Marge Bailey died yesterday; on the Fourth of July.  She was 92.  She was one of those women who taught me and scores of other kids the faith.  She knew me since I was four years old.  She knew all those baby boomer children of the '50s and '60s who populated Main Street United Methodist Church in Kokomo,Indiana.  My family began attending Main Street when we moved to Kokomo in 1957.  Mrs. Bailey was one of those women who taught Sunday School and Bible School and chaperoned school field trips.  She moved right up the grades with us.  I don't  remember when she wasn't my Sunday School teacher.   Along with others, she taught me the faith.  She modeled it with her life.  I remember her as patient and kind.  And she always had a smile for the children.  There are at least seven United Methodist pastors from Main Street in that group of baby boomers.  Our pictures hang along the corridor that leads from the offices into the sanctuary.  They wouldn't be hanging on that wall without the love and grace and faith of Marge Bailey.  God bless you Marge Bailey.  Rest In Peace.  And Rise In Glory.