As the Associate Pastor of Trinity United Methodist Church in Hutchinson, KS, I write a weekly article for the newsletter article. I invite both members of the church and other visitors to my blog to share their thoughts!

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My office looks out on the edge of the courtyard on the south side of the sanctuary.  As I write this, Trinity Treasures, our after school program, is having a party out there.  No special occasion, but why you do you need one to have a party?  There are two of those big, blow-up “bouncy” things…  One of them is a huge obstacle course for kids to quite literally bounce through– complete with tunnels, giant bowling pins, and a slide.  They are running and screaming and having such a good time!

I love watching kids play, totally oblivious to the cares of the world.  It’s not that they don’t have problems in their lives, of course, it’s that they’re able to set them aside so easily and so completely to simply enjoy life.

When do we loose that ability, do you suppose?  I know I have to work hard just to escape the things I think are important for a even a few precious moments.  Personally I don’t think we loose the ability, we just get “rusty.”

When was the last time you set aside your cares and just played?  Children help, and I’ll bet grandchildren help even more.  It’s a beautiful gift God’s given us to be able to play.  We can play with each other, but I think we can also play with God.  What could be more wonderful than just setting aside everything around us to simply laugh and run with God?

Take a moment this week to laugh and run and scream– it’s good for the soul!

At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”  He called a child, whom he put among them, and said, “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.  Whoever becomes humble like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
- Matthew 18:1-4

As always I welcome your comments at http://ministrygeek.net.

As the Associate Pastor of Trinity United Methodist Church in Hutchinson, KS, I write a weekly article for the newsletter article. I invite both members of the church and other visitors to my blog to share their thoughts!

———-

I thought I would give you update on my hair.  You may remember that about a year ago I decided to grow it out for the Locks of Love charity, or perhaps for another charity like it (I have a while to make up my mind!)  The donated hair goes to make wigs for children who have lost their hair due to disease– can you even imagine the dignity, the hope, and the simple sense of “normalcy” such a gift gives?  It seems a simple way to give a gift more precious than I can imagine.

To donate, the hair needs to be in a pony tail, ten inches long.  Right now I have about 3, but the hair from the front isn’t quite long enough to reach the pony tail yet (so I can’t pull it back day-to-day just yet).  It will probably be at least a year before I can donate, but it will be valuable when I do…  The retail cost of such a hairpiece is $3,500 to $6,000!

Many of you will laugh at this (I know I am), but I made a fascinating discovery about a week ago.  Until recently, I had been using a comb– a trusted comb I had used for ages.  One day my wife saw me laboriously combing through the tangles, and asks me why I don’t use a brush.  I stared at her dumbfounded.  After she showed me the right type of brush for my hair, it was amazing!  I couldn’t even feel the tangles any more– the brush just goes right through, and the hair looks better, too!

Naturally, it made me think about faith.  When we pray, read the Bible, etc., there are times when the way we’ve always don’t work any more.  Sometimes life has gotten too long and tangled, and we’re in need of a new spiritual practice, or a new way of going about life.  Maybe it’s silence, maybe it’s a service like Evensong, maybe it’s focusing on a different part of the Bible than we usually do, maybe it’s finding a new way to be generous.

Any workman or cook or craftsperson of any type can tell you that much depends on using the right tool for the job.  Why should our faith be any different?

I welcome your thoughts at http://ministrygeek.net.