Given two roads diverging in a yellow wood, I am almost certain to take the one more traveled by.  With apologies to Robert Frost, there are children and grandchildren waiting at the end of this road.  Pennsylvania Turnpike (ten minute stop at the Sideling Hill Service Plaza) to the Ohio Turnpike (lunch at the Great Lakes Service Plaza south of Cleveland – Panera Bakery, with an optional stop at the Blue Heron Plaza near Toledo) then to Exit 121 off the Indiana Toll Road and five miles north into Michigan.  Ten hours door to door if all goes well. We really don’t want to waste time on the road less traveled by. Continue reading →

I’ve spent a bit of the early part of the day reading some of the reactions to President Obama’s executive action on immigration. I have read opinion pieces by Paul Krugman, Peggy Noonan, and several others.  I, too, have opinions, for whatever they are worth – which is not much.  I am uneasy about what some call presidential overreach. I am saddened by the inability of our system of government as framed by the Constitution to respond to the need for a new immigration policy.  Our president and the congress have failed us. The president’s decision to act unilaterally does not bode well for the life of the body politic. Obstruction by the opposition only obstructs in a time that demands leadership. Continue reading →

Many of you know that Becky and I are on the road. Today we will be heading south through the Virginia’s Blue Ridge mountains and then tomorrow west across Tennessee all the way to Memphis for our youngest daughter’s wedding on Saturday. Continue reading →

It’s not been a good week for the President.  Tuesday’s election results were not encouraging, and even some of his once most ardent supporters have turned on him. And now, to top it all off, the E-pistle takes issue with a comment from his post-election news conference.

One of the reporters at the news conference asked the President, “Is the clock ticking? Are you running out of time? How much time do you have left? And what do you make of the notion that you’re now a lame duck?” Continue reading →

This coming week LPC members and friends of the congregation will be receiving another Stewardship mailing from the church. In this final letter for the season we will be reminded of the grace of giving, the call to generosity, and the amazing things God continues to do in and through our life together.  Also, we will be given a pledge card to prayerfully complete and bring to worship for Pledge Dedication Sunday on November 9.  I completely and joyfully affirm all that the letter says, and Becky and I will join so many others in bringing our completed card forward on November 9.  In fact, learning to tithe and embracing the discipline of thanksgiving has been a wonderful gift to Becky and me in each of our own spiritual lives and in the life of our marriage.   Continue reading →