It’s a joke with a thousand variations. Mine will be, “How many retired pastors does it take to change a light bulb?” And the answer is, “One, so long as he has good WIFI.”

We’ve lived in our new house for four years now and are facing the first round of repairs and replacements. The battery in one of the smoke detectors began chirping incessantly a few weeks ago and one of the ceiling lights in the kitchen began flickering earlier this week. Battery and bulb replacement time.

Some of you know that I do not score high on mechanical aptitude tests and what is so simple as to hardly give it a second thought for some is a dreaded test of personhood and masculine worth for me.

Thank goodness for YouTube. Continue reading →

The Bible is full of signs given by God to point to his creative power, redeeming love, and providential care.  We think of Noah’s bow in the cloud and Cana’s water turned to wine. And, of course, the sign given Bethlehem’s shepherd, a babe wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.  The Westminster Confession reminds us that the created order itself is a sign of “the goodness, wisdom, and power of God.”  Summer sunsets and crashing waves on a rocky coast.

Our world is still filled with God-given signs, but as signs they only point to a reality.  The rainbow and the sunset do not deserve our worship, the God who gave them does.

Echoing Hebrews 1, the Confession reminds us that “at sundry times and in diverse manners” God revealed himself to us. He sometimes gave us signs to reveal his will and his way. Our “signs and wonders” Pentecostal friends notwithstanding, the Confession tells us that these former ways of revelation have now ceased and that we have now been given the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments as the “whole counsel of God concerning all things necessary for His own glory, man’s salvation, faith, and life.” (WCF 1)

By conviction and confession, then, I am what theologians call a cessationist.  It’s not that I am not reminded of God’s love when I see a rainbow in the sky or his love of beauty when I see a summer sunset, it’s just that such things point to a reality greater than themselves.  They remind me of stories told and truth revealed in the whole counsel of God. Continue reading →

Becky and I have just finished streaming the most recent season in one of our favorite British television dramas.  The sixth and final episode of the season ends with unexpected sorrow and tragedy.  It is devasting.  And though we knew we were watching scripted actors who got on with their ordinary lives when that last scene was finally shot, our hearts were heavy and our emotions drained when the credits began to roll.

I won’t tell you the name of the series for fear of anything resembling a spoiler.  But this is not the first time especially a British series has so played with our emotions.  The ending to episode six was as unexpected as it was wrenching. It was effective because it brought to mind the reality of unexpected sorrow and tragedy in our own ordinary and unscripted lives.  Unspeakable grief sometimes comes our way.

I have been thinking about sorrow and sadness recently. One friend has received a medical diagnosis that is not good.  Another friend found a long anticipated and planned adventure suddenly and permanently canceled.  Sad and tragic things unexpectedly attack our lives, demolish our plans. Continue reading →

Our grandchild marathon continued this week with two delightful granddaughters spending the week with us. Such fun!

The best toys at our house are those their parents played with when they were their age.  LEGOs and Playmobil sets and well-loved stuff animals. We also have a few new games and toys which we haul out, including a Plug & Play Puzzler. The Puzzler is a flexible vinyl cube with eight colored plugs which played correctly form the desired design. There are at least 48 variations requiring skill levels ranging from starter to wizard with junior, expert, and master in between. Our 11-year-old granddaughter is especially good with the Plug & Play Puzzler.  Me not so much so.

Earlier in the week, having solved a starter and junior challenge in mediocre time, I decided to attempt the solution to the final wizard problem. Three days later, my answer has yet to be made. And I’m not going to look at the answer section at the back of the instructions booklet. I may get it some day.

I’m better at word games than at puzzles that demand spatial awareness and would prefer Trivial Pursuit to a game that requires even the most basic mechanical ability. Problem solving of the Play and Plug sort is not my strong suit, to use a game metaphor of a different sort. Continue reading →

A little Boomer nostalgia here. We used to play the license plate game on road trips. You remember, looking for a car from every state as we drove along.  It was easier back then because every state had just one license plate – two colors, either a dark background with light letters and numerals or a light background with dark letters and numerals. Rumor had it that the states had their license plates cut and stamped by the inmates in their penitentiaries.

Advanced players in the license plate game could also cite the state motto that was stamped onto many of the state plates. We knew exactly where we were if we traveled across America’s Dairyland to 10,000 Lakes, from the Empire State to the Keystone State, the Heart of Dixie to the Peach State, or the Evergreen State to Famous Potatoes.

Wyoming did not have a state motto on its license plate, but they had that famous cowboy on his bucking bronco. Was there one inmate whose job it was to stamp that cowboy onto every plate? Continue reading →