Have you received a sportsmanship trophy lately?

In my mom’s attic, I recently came across my baseball cap from when I played pee wee baseball at Glenwood Hills park in Decatur, GA. At the age of 7, I played rec league for the first time. I was on the White Sox.

We didn’t have a very good team and lost most of our games. But at the end of the year, the coach presented us with a trophy from the entire league saying we had been voted the team with the best sportsmanship throughout the year.

This coming Sunday, November 1st, is Fall Back Sunday. We move our clocks back one hour.

For most of us this time change is celebrated by either staying up an extra hour on Saturday night or gaining an extra hour of sleep on Sunday morning.

What happens as we move back to standard time is the sunrise initially starts earlier but we also find the day closing quicker with the sun setting before 6:00 pm. Day by day we move toward the shortest day of the year on December 21st.

For some, the winter season, with shorter daylight hours, becomes a very depressing time.

Let me encourage you to create a new rhythm of life this winter by seizing the sunrise as a time of prayer and praise. You see, how we start the day goes a long way in shaping our mindset throughout the day.

Have you experienced that awkwardness lately when you encounter a close friend?

How do we greet one another?

In the past we would naturally extend the hand for a handshake or give a quick friendly hug. Now a days, we find ourselves teetering between how we used to live life pre-covid and how we now live with certain health precautions for ourselves and for those we meet.

In the spring and summer, the early days of Covid, we saw creative responses such as a distant two-handed wave, which I suppose two hands conveys more sincerity and a deeper love than a one-handed wave. And then others began expressing their love by giving air hugs from 6 feet apart.

Disappointment. Have you had enough disappointment this year?

It would be a mild understatement to say that this year has not gone as planned.

• Trips canceled

• Celebrations postponed

• Jobs lost

• Funerals and weddings by zoom

• Loved ones sick and dying

As I heard stories of people’s disappointments, I began asking, what causes disappointment?

I have your back. 

Have you ever told someone you had their back?

Has anyone ever told you that he or she had your back?

This phrase, “I have your back,” expresses a pledge to be there for a person not only in good times but most definitely in challenging situations, when the attacks are coming.

You see it’s easy to say these words during the peaceful, calm days of life, but it’s much more difficult to live them on the battlefield where arrows and bullets fly ever so close.

Have you noticed how looking at something from a different angle can give an entirely fresh perspective?

I experience the same new and freshness when I read a familiar bible passage from a different translation.

Did you know that Monday, September 21st was the International Day of Peace?

I didn’t realize every year September 21st is set aside as the International Day of Peace. This past Monday, September 21st, I was invited to give the prayer at a Peace and Unity meeting of Georgia Rotarians in Lawrenceville.

As I prepared to give this prayer, I reflected on the current happenings in our country: Covid-19, protest, riots, marches, people yelling, property destroyed, people killed.

Added to that, here we are in the midst of an election year where campaigning attempts to demean and destroy the opposing candidate, usually with deceptive advertisements.

I thought about the Church, those who define themselves as followers of Christ. With Christians voicing support for different candidates, I’m seeing us act more like the unchurched rather than as brothers and sisters in the same eternal family.

I took my mom to her doctor’s appointment yesterday. Over the past couple of years her health has declined along with her memory. Over and over she comments about her frustration of not being able to remember things as well as she did a few years ago.

So, at this doctor’s appointment, we mentioned mom’s concern about memory loss. In response, the doctor pulled out a one sheet quick memory assessment.

After asking her a few basic questions about current date and home address, the doctor then told her she was going to say the names of three objects for mom to tell them back to her. Mom correctly listed the three objects back to her. She then said I’m going to ask you for those same three objects after a couple of more questions. When she came back to those objects for mom to name, my mother was blank. In a matter of 45 seconds, she could not name one of the objects.

As I ponder my mom’s memory loss, I’m reminded of an even greater memory loss that we all often experience – forgetting God’s goodness and faithfulness to us.

New Song!

Sing to the Lord a new song!

Several times the psalmist calls for us to sing a new song to the Lord.

Why not just sing a song or sing an old familiar song?

Why this emphasis on singing a new song to the Lord?

We need a superhero.

We need someone to intervene, to bring relief, to bring unity to our cities, states and country.

With the recent death of actor Chadwick Boseman, who played the black panther, the whole superhero theme has been making headlines again. Evidently, this actor not only played a superhero, but he also lived a pretty remarkable life.