Becky and I have been home from our trip to Brazil for nearly a week now. Things are falling back into our normal routine and fewer Portuguese phrases are coming to mind when we are out and about.

But what a trip it was. Thank you to those of you who commented on our photos posted on social media and here at “Observations” (email version) the past two Fridays.

It was, as I suggested before we left, a tale of two trips. The first trip took us to the breathtaking beauty of Iguaçu Falls in southern Brazil (with a couple of side trips into Argentina), and the second trip took us to the neighborhoods of Jardim América, Belo Horizonte, in southeastern Brazil, where we have spent so many days over the past 25 years. Continue reading →

In anticipation of our trip to Brazil, Becky and I recently (re)watched “The Mission,” one of our favorite movies and filmed where we will be for the first half of our journey.  We are staying at Iguaçu Falls as depicted in the movie poster and will travel into Argentina to visit the ruins of one of the Jesuit missions that are important in the story “The Mission” tells.

In the film Robert De Niro plays Rodrigo Mendoza, a slave trader and murderer whose penance for one of his many crimes is to join Brother Gabriel (Jeremy Irons) in the work of the mission being built in the jungle above the falls.  While not a “Christian” movie, the story told is the story of Mendoza’s slow conversion to Christian faith. Mendoza studies Scripture – we hear him citing 1 Corinthians 13 on more than one occasion. The former slave trader comes to understand the power of faith, hope, and love through the community at the mission – the Jesuits and, especially, the Guarani people who have found shelter and meaning at the mission. Continue reading →

Becky and I were at the county fair last weekend. A warm Saturday afternoon with our daughter and her family – what could be better? Midwest Americana. Our granddaughters tested some of the carnival rides and all of us rode the Ferris wheel to high above the midway.  There was even a trained sea lion show – what else would you expect in Saint Joseph County, Michigan? And, of course, the 4H kids with their displays of rabbits, pigs, sheep, goats, and cows.

We dined on corndogs and Polish sausages with sauerkraut, but declined the deep-fried delicacies – elephant ears, funnel cakes, cookie dough, cheesecake, Oreos, and Twinkies.

In a week we head off on a long-anticipated trip to Brazil where, among other things, we will spend time with good friends we have known for many years. We can hardly wait. We test as intermediate Portuguese speakers and will be able not only to make our way through airports, but enjoy good, even deep, conversation with our friends. We will talk about life and faith and tell stories as we catch up with one another.

I am not sure we will be able to talk about the deep-fried Twinkies at the county fair. Google Translate says we could say “Twinkies fritos.” But how might we explain this American phenomenon? Continue reading →

Earlier this week I went to our local pharmacy for a tetanus vaccine booster. All went well, and I am good for another ten years. Bring on the rusty nails.

By the time I arrived home fifteen minutes later, an email from the pharmacy asking for some feedback on my experience was in my inbox. How likely am I, they wanted to know, to recommend the pharmacy to a friend or family member? Probably very unlikely. Not that there were any problems. It’s just that, first, I can’t recall a time when I have recommended a pharmacy to a friend or family member, and I can’t imagine such a time coming any time soon. Second, I don’t think my opinion matters much.

Of course, we all know the ratings game. It’s big business. Freelancers make good money writing 5-star (or 1-star!) Amazon reviews for products they’ll never use. This past week we’ve seen businesses and professional practices on the wrong side of the partisan divide inundated with negative Google ratings. Christians were called to leave their church based on whether or not the pastor gave sufficient sermon time (or too much sermon time) to the events of the week.

Everyone has an opinion, and CVS wants mine. Everyone has an opinion and thinks they need to post it, podcast it, TikTok it, scream it to passing traffic, or hit those with an opposite opinion over the head with it. Continue reading →

St Sebastian, Pietro Perugino (1446/1452 – 1523), Borghese, Rome

In preparation for some presbytery work, I recently came across a form used in the process of receiving new pastors into our denomination. The form is to be signed by a physician who must examine the candidate and then certify that they “will be able to sustain the physical and emotional demands of full-time professional ministry.” As it should be, we don’t see blood pressure or cholesterol numbers, just the certification that the candidate is good to go. But to help the physician in making the determination of fitness for ministry, the form provides eight points to consider:

1. The average pastor works 50-plus hours per week.
2. He/she normally works at least part of every day each week, at least one full day every weekend, and usually at least two evenings per week.
3. The average pastor trains and manages the responsibilities of numerous volunteers and, in most cases, at least some paid staff.
4. A ministry professional’s capacity to fulfill his/her ministry responsibilities is dependent in part upon his/her physical condition, and his/her body’s ability to handle stress and long hours of ministry.
5. It is common for a ministry professional to place a higher priority on the health of others, rather than on his/her own health.
6. The average pastor deals with constant gossip, regular conflict, higher unrealistic expectations than almost any other profession, and is often underpaid for his/her education and experience.
7. Every person who attends a church — whether they contribute financially or not — considers himself an expert on the pastor’s “performance” and usually expresses that opinion to others … but not to the pastor.
8. The emotional stress of being responsible for the satisfaction and well-being of anywhere from one hundred to several thousand people is much like your medical profession, except a pastor has to socialize with all of them after work.

Continue reading →