One Old Dog to Another

Lisa and I are old dogs.  For those who do not know Lisa, she is the princess of the house.  She outranks me.  I have often said that if the house vote ever had to be between me and Lisa,  I am toast!  Lisa is about seventeen years old.  I am not sure what that translate into dog age but it is old.

Over the past few years, Lisa has lost her hearing.  Sometimes I think she is fooling us and hears more than we think.  Her eyes are glazed with cataracts.  She takes as much medicine as I do now.  But she gets a treat with her meds.  We give her meds to her when she is most excited about getting something.  

I am amazed at how much Lisa comes alive!  Yesterday evening Mandy and I went walking in the park and decided to take Lisa.  The sight of her pink leash brings her to life!  The newness of the park was overwhelming to her!  New smells.  New trees.  She missed half the people that passed by.  The other dogs barked at her and she did not even hear them.  When I stopped sometimes, she was pulling at the leash to keep going!  Her tongue hanging out but yet her tail just wagging.  

When she got home, she was exhausted.  I still have not seen or heard her this morning.   

I chuckled sometimes at how old dogs like me could learn some really good lessons from old dogs like Lisa.  Let me share a few.

Always be ready for the journey!  

When the leash comes out, go!  I have to admit that some journeys that God has put before me are not ones that I would have chosen.  I am sometimes a reluctant traveler.  Okay, sometimes God has to drag me, pull me--you get the picture.  I am the reluctant Israelite that sees bondage as a better option than the pillar that goes before me.

Learn to wag your tail more.

Old dogs still wag their tail.  It is a way of hospitality and welcome.  No one, or at least most people do not like to be greeted by grumpy old men or old women that complain.  One of my clergy friends had an interesting sermon title for the story of Mary and Martha.  You remember the story.  Martha is complaining about Mary not doing her part.  He called it "Bitchin' in the Kitchen!"  In dog terms, Mary is wagging her tail.  Martha has an old bone that she has been chewing on for a long time!

Maybe we should all wag our tails more.  (I hear those chuckles out there!)

When life is over people miss old dogs.

Maybe they will even miss grumpy old men too!

Pray for me as I pray for you.

In the Master's Name,

Dr. M. Jack O'Dell

www.midweekmanna.com

www.stlukesimpson.org

Get in the Game!

So it is fantasy football time.  For those who do not know it is a computer league that enables you to pick professional players/teams and compete against one another.  It has become an alternative world for some.  I have to admit that it is a great place to have some "friendly" competition.

You have to draft your team.

You pick your team based upon their abilities and effectiveness.

United Methodist churches are in the process now of drafting their teams.  It is amazing to me how many of our leaders do not make themselves available.  I hear the whole gamut of responses.  "I do not have time."  "I have already done that."  I am always urging people in the church to realize that God needs the best to step forward and say "Here Am I!"  Surely the body of Christ deserves your attention and time!

You draft according to abilities and effectiveness.

There are some who really should not attempt to sing in the choir.  Likewise there are some who should not be in charge of some areas.  They are better following than leading.  Then there are others who need to be working with children or youth.  

I have tried to urge all to run to their passion.  I believe that if all would work diligently in their ministry of passion that the work of the church would be done effectively and adequately.    Now some will say "I don't know my passion!"  To those I would encourage looking at some of the tests that are online for gifts of the Spirit.  I would urge them to have a serious conversation with their pastor or mentor.  You can discover what has given you great energy in ministry.  Then jump in!

Each team/player has a bye week.

Everyone needs a break for a short while.   Give yourself time to rest.  But notice that it is only for a short while.  It is not a disconnect.  Rest is a good thing.

There are times when I spend a few days away and rest.  It is hard to "unplug" as a pastor.  But the truth is that I am a better pastor if I take good care of myself.  Work hard!  Play hard!  

The season is on!   Enjoy!  Have fun!  Get in the game!    The faith is not a spectator sport.

Pray for me as I pray for you.

In the Master's Name,

Dr. M. Jack O'Dell

www.midweekmanna.com

www.stlukesimpson.org

The Hidden Self

A few weeks ago I mentioned the annoying sounds in our life of sin.  I told the story of the smoke alarm constantly buzzing.  I tried to fix where I thought the noise was coming from.  As Paul Harvey used to say, "Here's the rest of the story...."

Wrong smoke alarm.   Duh.

I kept changing the battery on the smoke alarm in the kitchen as it gets the most workout when Mandy cooks!  Now let me be clear, she is not a bad cook.  I think the location of the alarm has alot to do with it going off.  So anyway, I am taking the alarm down, changing the batteries, and checking it again and again.  About to lose what little patience I have.  Then Mandy says, "It's the alarm upon the staircase."

So sometimes the annoying sounds of our life---sin--can come from places that we forget to look.  We know they are there but rarely do we go there.  It is that "hidden self".    The prophet, Nathan, helped David confront the "hidden self."  David thought that his little shindig with Bathsheba (did he call her "Bathy" for short?)  was well hidden from everyone.  But it wasn't.   Ever how good he looked on the outside did not make up for the inside story.  Isn't it interesting that when David was chosen the prophet, Samuel, was told to look at the inside?  When David had all the power, the inside was consumed.  

What about you?  Yes!  You!  The one you look at in the mirror.  The one you spend so much time grooming for public consumption.  What's on the inside?  Do you hear that annoying sound of sin or have you simply covered it with the makeup of the world?  One of my friends put it this way.  I used to think that most of the problems were in the people I met.  Then I realized that the problem came when I showed up!!  I found I could not escape ME!

It is also significant to me that I had to have Mandy point out the origin of my annoying sounds.  She does that pretty regular with gentleness and love.  Now I must admit that sometimes I really do not like her observations.  But I would have continued to be annoyed and look at the wrong place.  

We all need the Nathans in our life that will confront us.  The confrontation is not about destroying us but inviting us to redemption.  With no confession of sin, there can be little or no redemption.  

So the annoying sounds in the house have been silenced for now.  But I am sure they will return.   I will be sure and look upstairs first!!!

Pray for me as I pray for you.

In the Master's Name,

Dr. M. Jack O'Dell

www.midweekmanna.com

www.stlukesimpson.org 

We ALL Are Difficult

I chuckle and smile when I remember her.  As you read this, read this with only the best of thoughts and a sense of gift.  For she was a gift to me and the church.

It is hard sometimes to love difficult people.  It is harder to define difficult people for there are more times than we want to admit that we ARE difficult people.

When I met her she and her family had been told by many churches they were not welcome to come back.  They were too disruptive or too difficult.  And the truth be told in many ways it was true.  But somehow it did not seem appropriate to say you are not welcome.  So we welcomed them.

She was the first to get to church on Sunday.  I actually had to tell her that she had to come later as I needed some time alone in the church before worship.  When she came, she demanded your attention one way or another.  So she reluctantly came later. 

I gave her a job.  She put the registration envelope and sermon sheets on the chairs—every other chair.  When someone came into the room and saw her doing her job, she made sure that they knew she was doing it exactly as the preacher had told her.  When she was done, she waited for me to give her a word of praise. 

Mandy gave her some dresses that her mom had passed along.  Again, you would have thought she had gotten them from Saks Fifth Avenue.  She wore the dresses with so much pride.  I think she enjoyed the fact that the preacher’s wife had thought of her in the gift.

During the songs of worship, she danced.  She sat at the back of the sanctuary but she danced.  There was no doubt that the dance before the Lord was authentic.  I think in her younger days she must have enjoyed dancing. 

She brought the preacher pies.  Now few of them were edible.  But she was so proud of her pies.  I would take them and thank her for her gift.    The food she brought to our fellowship dinners was not edible so we would quietly remove them.  When she asked, I would tell her that it was already gone!!!  She would laugh.

She confronted people in a nasty way sometimes.  I would have to tell her that her words were not appropriate.  I would tell her to be nice.  There were times when I would have to gently move her away physically.    When guests came to church, we would smile and tell them to understand that she would say some things that were not appropriate.  I would tell many she was a special gift from God requiring us to love.   Her discussions ended with the line, “the preacher said…”  Trust me I never said most of what she reported.

She dated Elvis, owned the Saints, and was filled with more stories than life could have ever imagined.  There is a part of me that always wondered if some of what she said was true.  I think all of it was true for her.  You never can tell where people have been! 

When I visited her in the hospital, she thought she was always being abused.  She was not a hospital friendly person.   I do not think she liked being cooped up!  But she would settle down when I would tell her that she had to do what they said.  They were helping her to be able to go home.  The nurses loved to see me coming!!

She loved her church.  She knew that the church loved her.  Oh that the church could love like this more and more!  Oh that the church could be loved like this more and more.

She is now dancing in heaven I am sure.  She gave me more than I want to admit.  She gave me a glimpse of how God loves difficult people right where we are.  

Remembering her I cannot do anything but chuckle and smile.

Pray for me as I pray for you!

In the Master's Name,

Dr. M. Jack O'Dell

www.midweekmanna.com

www.stlukesimpson.org