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One of our church furnaces has been sounding - too much "sounding."  The noise became quite obvious these last few days - even with the furnace room door closed. Apparently the furnace fan motor finally burned out.  The repairman found that!  Along with a shaft on the fan that appears to be a bit off center. As he explained - the motor goes at quite a speed in order to power the fan.  When the fan goes even slightly off, or the cage for the fan is not quite fastened tightly - the fan can start to shake.  After a bit of shaking, it rattles and then it rolls (vestiges of a song here!!).  Soon the motor is fighting the fan.  The fight ended today with the motor burning out.  Now we will get a new fan and fan cage.  And a motor.  And all should be well. At least, well enough that I won't be listening for that horrible screeching that I heard so loudly the last while!!

There are days when we read something and it strikes us in a totally different way. Yesterday I was reading about the matter of the great three of Christianity - at least as set forth in I Corinthians 13 - at the very end of the chapter.  Faith, hope and love.  Having memorized this chapter as a teen (although 40 years later my memory is not as good), I remembered the next part of this verse. And the greatest of these is love. A group of people have just come back from a short term missions project in Romania.  There life is very minimal - with little money or prospects for the future.  One of the team mentioned that the great need was for hope. I have found myself involved in seeking for greater faith.  Both in our church life and in my personal life.  I want more than ever to believe for all that God has for us. So how does love trump these two very strong impulses?  What makes love greater than faith and hope?  When an old thought hits me in a new way, I begin to gather my thoughts and to think.  If you have some thoughts, please comment!

There are some days when ministry - the vocational type - tips various balance points in the minister's life. Today I was a little late to arise.  I felt the need to rejuvenate so I wasn't up until shortly after 8:00.  I only had to brush up on my sermon, along with attending a funeral.  Until I found that one of my parishioners was in the hospital.  And another parishioner, whom I had not spent time with for some time, invited me out to lunch.  As the afternoon completed, I found that I was energized by Jesus.  Not a bad thing. For all the best plans, sometimes there are other plans.  And I need to be ready to flow with where God is headed.

Am I young or am I old? I'm am 60 (almost).  I have always considered myself to be the next year's age - which is always just around the corner. So, I have been in a dilemma trying to figure out what 60 means for me.  Mostly the conundrum comes from those who talk to me with varying degrees of advice. On the one side, yesterday someone called me into the category of the seniors (of which she was one).  "We older people can now speak our minds.  We can do what we want to do.  We are mature."  I like living on this side of being a senior! On the other side, I am being told I am young.  I like that thought, especially when I look in the mirror!  OK, most are not referring to my looks.  Most are referring to my seeking out a new wife.  My first wife, Jill, would have been in total agreement - get to it!!  Others figure the best years of life are still ahead for a "senior just turning 60."  I agree and am on that journey with intention and intensity! So, today I am ready to begin the day.  I think I have solved the dilemma.  I will suspend time and just get on with living!!