three heroes

wow! how long has it been since i've posted something on this blog? ages and ages. ok, maybe not that long, but it seems that long. why? because they (whoever they are) say things come in threes. and so it has. my mother passed away about five weeks ago. then the brother of a man that is in the church i serve was killed in iraq about two weeks ago. then the father of another person in the church i serve passed away serveral days ago. man, does that ever make you think and ask lots of questions. like why? especially the 19 year old marine. where did they go? can they see us? what would they tell us if they could about life after death? are they a part of that great cloud of witnesses? are the streets really gold? what does God look like? i know my mom is in heaven because she had a personal relationship with Jesus, and i'm told the others did, too. so, do they know each other now? think about that, my mom, who is a hero in my eyes, and a young marine who is also a hero for giving his life for what he believed in - this country and us, and a father from long island, who is a hero to his daughter all hanging out together. talk about three's company! but, i must admit, it's been real draining for me. a friend of mine called the other day to see if i was ok with it all. they may be dancing on streets that are golden, but it's a little tough down here for the near future. but, hey, some day i'll be dancing on those same streets. i hope to see you there.

stuff, more stuff and stuffed

have you ever walked into a lowe's or home depot or some other super hardware store? wow! talk about stuff. cool stuff. plumbing stuff. electrical stuff. bathroom stuff. seasonal stuff. storage stuff. more cool stuff. appliance stuff. radical stuff. lawn care stuff. sweet stuff. i mean stuff and stuff and stuff - everywhere you look. start in aisle one and go all the way to aisle 32 - stuff everywhere. enough stuff to keep you busy for months and years and decades - and you're still in the store. kind of reminds me of life in general. stuff everywhere. food stuff. friend stuff. work stuff. play stuff. eating stuff. sleeping stuff. exercise stuff. car stuff. hang out stuff. reading stuff. all kinds of stuff to keep us busy and to provide us everything as quickly as a microwave. but, man, at the end of the day it's easy to feel, well, stuffed. it almost becomes overwhelming - like a heavy load that we have to carry and keep doing just so we use all the stuff that we have acquired from lowes and home depot and sears and kohl's and saks and the neighborhood garage sale. what a burden! is there not a light load. what? what was that? who said "come unto me all you who labor and are heavy laden,"and "my yoke is easy and my burden is light?" who said that? we can live life peacefully through Jesus.