5 Star Doorknob Friday

Some years ago when we lived in Charleston and when my 3 sons were small and their stomachs smaller, we would celebrate what I called "5 star Doorknob Friday." To the boys, it was "5 star Doughnut Friday"; they were correct, of course, for it was the school day when we dropped by Krispy-Kreme Doughnuts on the way to school. There was a certain criteria for this: getting up and going to school with no hassles from Monday through Thursday. My oldest two went with me as I took them to elementary school. On the way there, I would kid them about the "chocolate covered doorknobs" and the cream filled doorknobs they used when they took the lock out. The boys corrected me time and again, but the silliness continued. It became an "event," a time to be with Dad and for me to be with the boys.

Fast forward to 2007 in Rock Hill, SC. After a year or two off, the 5 star doorknob Friday tradition is back. We took the time away for two reasons---no Krispy Kreme Doughnut place in Rock Hill (Krispy Kreme vs. Dunkin' Donuts is a great debate for many people) and the doughnut place was not on the way to the school as in Charleston. My youngest son (who missed most of the fun at the Charleston Krispy Kreme since he was in pre-school at the time) is now in 5th grade; he and I carry on the 5 star doorknob tradition each Friday now. The other two boys could go, but they opt for more sleep time and dad bringing home the sugary treats home for when they get up (oh, I pity the teachers on Fridays!). The youngest and I sit in the Dunkin Donuts at 630am on Fridays talking about his new safety patrol assignment or Harry Potter or whatever else is on his mind. We laugh and plan and imagine and sing songs together--- this morning, we alternated between James Brown's "Living in America" with Weird Al's "Living with a Hernia."

I guess it could be bagels or Waffle House or anything really. But the important thing is the time together. I can remember time with my dad fishing on the lakes of Santee Cooper and going to Furman football games. Catching a fish was nice, winning the game was good, too. But the time together with my dad was even better. I guess when the youngest moves to middle school next year we will look for other traditions and occasions to be together... to laugh and talk or be silly...to be fully present with one another...and find moments of special memory for the life ahead.

Peace,
Joseph

We Would See Jesus

Sunday night through this morning, I spent time selecting scriptures and doing some preliminary work on the sermons I will deliver from the first Sunday of December through the end of May. I went to Spartanburg and stayed at a hotel there. I took what seems like every commentary I own plus enough legal pads to make a paper trail between Rock Hill and Spartanburg. What usually happens is that I sequester myself in the room, and work as long as I want until I need a break.

This time, I bought food to eat lunch in the room and used the hotel's free breakfast and dinner at other times. I didn't need to leave the quiet of the room for much. That worked well. But by Tuesday morning, I needed a change of scenery. I decided I would go to the hotel lobby and work there for an hour or so. I grabbed a couple of commentaries, legal pads and a bible and walked to the hotel lobby.

That time of day the hotel lobby was being cleaned, but as a father of three boys, I am accustomed to working with some distractions. As it turned out, I was working on the Emmaus passage for next March or April. I poured over the commentaries and pondered and reflected on a theme or two for that passage. All of a sudden one of the ladies cleaning the lobby area, starting singing. She had not seen me or what I was doing, and she sang the chorus of several Gospel hymns, and then, a verse from "We Would See Jesus." It was beautiful singing, fit for any church choir. I listened as she proclaimed the Word in her own way.

I pondered what she sang and what I was studying: the road to Emmaus, the disciples forlorn and searching and "We would See Jesus"--- hmmmmmmm. Sometimes the Spirit comes to us in the breaking of the bread, the sharing of the Word, and the singing of the chorus. In that holy ground moment in a hotel in Spartanburg, it was nice to remember that life comes to the Word as certainly as the Word comes to life.

Peace,
Joseph

A Week to Remember, part 2

The fullback (who played left guard this week) and I just got back from watching Wofford defeat Appalachian State, 42-31. Appalachian is ranked number 1 in the country for FCS football this week and this was a great win for the terriers as they begin Southern Conference play.

This week I am going on a sermon retreat for a couple of days starting tomorrow afternoon. I'll be back Wednesday.

Peace and first down Wofford,
Joseph

A Week to Remember

A few years ago, Malcolm Gladwell wrote a great book (pictured right). I have been thinking about that book in light of this week at India Hook. This week the trustees met on Tuesday, the special charge conference was Wednesday, and the staff parish relations committee met on Thursday ( it was a busy week!).

On Tuesday and Wednesday, the groups dealt with the property issues that I wrote about earlier. Last night, the SPRC made the first tentative steps in hiring a program director for the church. It is the only the beginning of a process that will take a couple of months, but it was an exciting start.

Gladwell writes of the moments and events that mark the change in a system or process. With this week's decisions, India Hook is nearing the tipping point (if we aren't already there) toward being a church that responds to the growing community around the church. I think what I saw in these meetings is people responding not to letting fear of change, expense or conflict stop them from doing what is needed. That response is not always present in churches these days. Of course, there may be points ahead where we are tempted to settle or turn back. My hope is that these actions will lead us toward a bright future for the ministry of Christ Jesus through the people of India Hook UMC.

Transforming Heritage

At a called charge conference tonight, the leaders of India Hook UMC approved a plan to convey a small section of property plus some rights of way for the new highway widening project. This project is needed in order to make access to the new India Hook Elementary School as safe as possible. The state offered the church $11,000 for this transaction. Although the money will help fund a new toddler playground and nursery renovations at the church, we will lose several trees in the process, including one of our "heritage trees" next to the sanctuary.

We call this special tree a heritage tree because it was planted by "Miss Sherwood" shortly after this sanctuary was built in the early 1980s. Sherwood is in her 90s now and has been on the roll of India Hook since the early 1910s. She kept the church going during the difficult years of the Depression and World War II by visiting members on horseback. When she planted that tree, she hoped that it would shade the building on sunny Sunday mornings for several decades to come. Miss Sherwood and her tree have been connection to the church's past even as India Hook looked to the future.

Now that 50 foot water oak planted by Sherwood will come down. That heritage tree has seen its last spring day. But that is not the end of the story. The people of India Hook UMC have decided to work with the highway department to take the heritage tree down gently, and transport it to a saw mill and then to a woodworker. With the wood from Miss Sherwood's heritage tree, a 10ft by 5ft cross will be built. The church plans on hanging the cross from the rafters in the window above the pulpit. In a beautiful sanctuary, this suspended cross will become central to that worship space.

As I consider this ongoing journey of the heritage oak that will become a cross, the deep and descriptive word "redemption" comes to mind. There are plenty of times that we see a relationship, a job, or a way of life as a loss or at an end. We see and focus on the failure, the finality of that which stares us in the face. Surely, the disciples saw that as Christ hung on His Cross. But God had something else in mind; death, loss, failure were not the final words of Christ's ministry. God had a new beginning in mind for humanity through the Resurrection of Christ.

Maybe in the transforming heritage of Miss Sherwood's tree there is a reminder of what God can still do with our broken relationships, our desperate lives, and this hurting world. May India Hook live out Sherwood's hope and God's vision as we remind the community around us that redemption continues one moment and one life at a time.

Peace,
Joseph

Sometimes a cupcake acts like a cupcake and the seasons do still change

After an evening of listening to the radio feed of the Wofford game via the internet last night, I still have my religion. I listened as Wofford lost to the Wolfpack, 38-17. Wofford made some silly mistakes with ball control and penalties, but NC State was indeed a little much for the puppies. Oh well, we back to the world of I-AA or FCS (as it is now called). The check for $250,000 that Wofford got for playing will help the program.

This morning I went to lead the Lakeside service down at Ebenezer Park on Lake Wylie. There was a definite chill in the air; I decided to go back and get a light jacket. It's hard to preach with your teeth chattering! It was a good thing I got it, because there was a wind coming off the lake and the temperature was probably in the mid 50s.

The Lakeside services are winding down for the summer and next week is our last week there. Leading worship at the lake is a challenge. We meet under a picnic shelter with anywhere from 50 to 70 in attendance, plus some vultures, gulls, ducks and geese. I have not decided whether I will count the vultures and ducks on my charge conference forms concerning worship attendance. Probably not, because who wants to admit that the vultures circle whenever you preach? At the lakeside service, we have folks from India Hook there as well as people from the nearby campground and residents from around that side of Lake Wylie. It is a recreation spot with people putting in boats, fishing and enjoying the early morning beauty of sunlight and water from their RVs.

At the Lakeside Service, we also claim that Picnic shelter at that time as a Re-Creation place. in those moments, God's grace is displayed in the beauty of creation and we witness the care of the One who reaches out to us. We experience the love of the One who is making all things new. Our last Lakeside Service for 2007 meets at the main Picnic shelter at Ebenezer Park off Mount Gallant Road next Sunday morning at 8:30am. Bring a jacket, just in case!

We got rain!

Tonight it rained a nice, slow soaking rain. Amen.

School Daze

Tonight and this past Monday night, I attended the Open House nights at the schools of two of my sons. My oldest son, Cadet Airman WE (as his friends call him) attends Northwestern High School while my middle son, the Fullback (at least that is the position he is playing this week) attends Sullivan Middle School.

Monday night, I went to Northwestern High. Every time I go to that campus it is like going to a college. Northwestern has twice as many students as Wofford has now and four to five times as many as Hemingway High School where I graduated. Regardless, the night's visit brought back memories/nightmares of my own high school experience. There was something disconcerting about sitting there in that geometry class listening to the teacher speak about the tests, the work, the theorems. I remembered my own struggles in math. I was the kind of student that wanted to know why that pie thingie equals 3.14. Says who?

Chemistry class was next. As I walked through the door, there was the smell of the lab/classroom (you remember... gas and something strong). That funny smell brought back memories of balancing equations and listening to my teacher talking about the chemical formula for Crisco (no, I cannot remember the chemical name for lard). I was awaken from my flashback when the Airman's teacher gave me a formula study sheet that my son had missed picking up that day. It looked like Cyrillic to me. Did I know that stuff at some point in my life? Was the memory of those formulas purged from my mind when I stepped on a child's Lego in a darkened room on the night of February 24, 1998? I went to Sullivan tonight; the middle school was a marginally better experience. The school is still huge and my son is learning in 8th grade what I learned in 10th. My days of homework assistance are almost over. It will be tougher to bluff my way through it.

Of course, my discomfort was short-lived as I discovered that both of my sons do very well in school (even in chemistry class). All three of my sons are thriving in a superior learning environment...I guess they got something from their Mom!

Old Time Religion

This afternoon I visited a couple from India Hook who are in their 80s. Bit and Mary Jane have seen depression, war, and prosperity. In all of that they have been guided by a solid work ethic and their faith in God. Their home is paid for (it probably was when it was built following World War II) and up until recently, they grew some of the best tomatoes in York County. Health issues have caught up with both of them, but their bedrock faith has not diminished.

One of the things Bit talked about today was the "old time religion" of his mother. One of the guiding aspects of that "religion" was the Sabbath rest. "No fishing, baseball, cards, or cooking on Sunday, " Bit said. Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy, was something she believed and instilled in her children.

Bit and Mary Jane have seen not only the technological changes around them, but the changes in how we live and worship as a people. The Sabbath does not have the same level of celebration as it did long ago. We are so busy with business ( and ironically, recreation) that we don't let God have time to re-create us or take time to be still before God. Perhaps we should not totally abstain from all activity for that might lead too many of us into an arrogant legalism. But we do need a Sabbath. A time to be still, a time to recognize that the world does not turn by the sweat of our brow or the strength of our investment portfolio. We could all use time to be with family and to enjoy creation around us.

Some things shouldn't change: a religion that recognizes a healthy sabbath leads the way. Summer with a couple of Bit's fresh tomatoes would not be too far behind in my unchanging world.

Cupcake the terrier

In 2003, our family decided to get a dog to help us with our transition to Rock Hill. While scanning the online newspapers, I found a Boston Terrier puppy for sale near Spartanburg. Wofford College, where I went to college, is in Spartanburg. The mascot for Wofford is the terrier--- more about that choice of mascot another time.

We wanted an indoor dog, and a Boston terrier seemed a good fit. On the way over to Spartanburg from Rock Hill to get the puppy, my sons and I are "informed" that momma wants a girl dog, since momma is the only female in the house. Okay, that's great; I guess there are penalties to leaving the seat up after all. On the way back home, we are discussing names for this new pet. For some reason, Cupcake is chosen. I think Momma had some input on that too.

Cupcake is not your typical house dog. She is hyper and loves to chase the ball and jump all over you--- not a cupcake, lying around taking it easy.

So here we are in the James home, with Cupcake the terrier. As I scour football message boards and plan on my treks to Wofford games, Cupcake is right here beside me. The Wofford Terriers play in the Southern Conference, not the ACC or Southeastern Conference of Clemson or USC, but a tough league nonetheless. However, when schools like USC or North Carolina State schedule teams like Wofford, they are called "cupcake" games, because they are supposed to be easy wins for the big schools. Sometimes these schools choke on a cupcake (see App. State and Michigan). It is rare, but it does happen.

This weekend Wofford travels to Raleigh to play NC State. I hope they find the cupcake Wofford Terriers just as lively and difficult to handle as I find my cupcake terrier!

Why the name sacramental dude?

I thought for at least 10 minutes for a name for this blog. How do you come up with something like that? Do you base it on a hobby or career, literature or something random? The sacraments, Holy Communion and Baptism within the United Methodist Church, are an important part of what I do as an elder in the church. I enjoy administering the sacraments, within my ministry.

But there are other things that are to me sacramental-- time with friends and family, even time spent watching the motion of clouds. Another word or phrase for sacrament is a "holy moment", or a moment or motion God can use to reach us. I guess there are many sacraments in life-- we just have to claim them.

I search for sacramental moments with my three growing sons. I realize that before I know it, they will be grown and gone and these days of sacramental opportunity will be gone---or at least transformed into other chances to claim God's work in their lives as they become fathers themselves.

Peace,
Joseph

Testing One, Two, Four

Well, let's start this thing. I see lots of my friends and even my wife doing this blogging thing, so why not me?

In the cosmic scheme of things, I probably don't have that much to offer. But I do get up in front of folks on a weekly basis and talk, so self expression has never been a problem. We will see.

Perhaps we'll talk preacher stuff, family happenings, observations or even Wofford football.

Yes, I am one of the 200 people in the state of South Carolina that go to Wofford football games. That is only slightly exaggerated but being a Terrier fan in a sea of Gamecocks and Tigers in this state is like being a palm tree in the arctic--- kind of lonely.

Here's hoping this is the start of something!