It’s my birthday today, so happy birthday to me. And thanks to those who have or will wish me well on the day. Now, in most ways this is not a big deal birthday – not a decade milestone or a year to be marked with precious metals or stones. But it is my RMD birthday and my life will never be quite the same.

As some of you know and understand better than I do, RMD stands for Required Minimum Distribution, and it has to do with how the IRS gets at that money you put in a tax-deferred retirement account over the years. Deferred no more. Starting with today’s birthday, I am required to withdraw a certain minimum amount from a little tax-deferred nest egg that’s been happily protected from the taxman all these years. The IRS says I will have to take out at least so much every year for as long as I live, and that the “so much” will be subject to income tax – the tax that was deferred back then. I can put the money in the bank, take a trip, buy a toy, or give it to my favorite mission cause. I have to take it. Absolutely fair even if a bit annoying.

So how much is “so much”?  It has to do with how long the IRS thinks I am going to live.  I know, it is a little more complicated than that when you factor in designated beneficiaries and so forth, but, yes, the IRS thinks it knows how long I am going to live. They publish a table with just such information. Turns out, they say I will live to be 90. And if I live to be 90, they’ll tax me as if I am going to live to be 96. The life-expectancy table runs to age 99 (when they’ll tax me as if I am going to live to be 101). One of their tables goes to age 120. The taxman cometh. Ben Franklin was right about death and taxes. Continue reading →

In Proverbs 12:15 Solomon tells us that a wise person listens to advice. In 11:14 he has told us there is safety in an abundance of counselors. Life tells us that advice is often easier to give than receive.

I have been thinking about the giving and receiving of advice. I am reading a fascinating book on Harry Truman’s – yes, another Truman book – first term as president (Ascent to Power, David L. Roll, 2024). To be sure, the book presents Truman in a positive light, but not without acknowledging his weaknesses and shortcomings. Eighty years later I am left longing for as decent a person and able a leader as Truman to ascend to power. I don’t think my longings will be satisfied any time soon.

Harry Truman faced as many difficult decisions as any modern president. Almost immediately after Franklin Roosevelt’s death, he had to decide about the use of the atomic bomb to end World War II. In time he was confronted with decisions to be made about the rebuilding of Europe and the rebuilding of the American economy from its war footing to being able to satisfy pent up consumer demands. He would have to decide about programs for returning G.I.s and the assurance of civil rights to all Americans, especially to Black Americans.

Some of the most important decisions Harry Truman made had to do with the people who would serve the nation during his presidency. He made some great choices and some really poor choices. Continue reading →

Becky and I recently watched a three-part British television series, MaryLand, and liked it very much. I’ll try to avoid any spoilers in case you wish to watch it yourself, so here is the description you will find at the PBS website:

MaryLand follows two estranged sisters who reunite to unearth the truth about their mother’s sudden death and her double life on the Isle of Man. This is not so much a murder mystery as a compelling tale of two siblings opening up to each other as they work out a string of family secrets. The Guardian (UK) hails MaryLand as “joyful and incredibly affecting.”

In fact, the heart of the series is the “compelling tale of two siblings opening up to each other.” But, as the teaser suggests, there is a mystery to be solved concerning the sudden death of Mary, the two sisters’ mother. Again, no spoilers, but Mary’s death and the mystery surrounding it is more than just a screenwriter’s device to get at the emotional and relational drama of the estranged sisters reconciliation. Neither the sisters nor the viewer will be reconciled to Mary’s death. Death wins. Enough said. Continue reading →

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 →