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Cal's Pastoral Epistles
Come and Get Your Crown
January 24, 2008
I was watching Miss America's Reality Check on TLC the other night
when it hit me, "I know Dana Daunis, Miss Connecticut 2007." Then I
chuckled to myself and thought, "I know the last five Miss Connecticuts.
As a matter of fact, two years ago I was there in Las Vegas at the Pageant
rooting for Diana Baitinger, Miss Connecticut 2005. How lucky can a guy
get?"
Miss America was larger than life when I was growing up. I remember
watching it on television with Bert Parks as the host. These were the most
beautiful women in the world. They were like movie stars. They were
glamorous, charming and talented. I remember wondering where these
women came from. They certainly didn't live in my neighborhood.
My involvement with the pageant contestants began in 2002 when I was
drafted by Luis Pabon, the Executive Director of the Miss Connecticut
Scholarship Program, to help with transportation. He needed a chauffeur
to drive the contestants back and forth between the dorms at Connecticut
College and the Garde Arts Theater. At first I was flattered that he thought
of me. Then I realized that it was the church van he really wanted. It didn't
matter to me though because I was living a dream.
I remember driving up to the dorm that first morning. I don't know what I
was expecting but it wasn't what I found. As I got out of the van I came
face to face with seventeen very excited young women. They reminded
me of my own daughters. They came out in curlers and sweat pants
carrying garment bags, and suitcases. These were real girls, not movie
stars or beauty queens.
As the week wore on I watched as they practiced their individual routines
and group dance numbers. I saw tears and heard laughter. Friendships
were being forged and confidence was building. For many of them it was
truly a week to remember. I was blessed to be along for the ride. I was
just the driver but the girls treated me as though I was someone special.
What a role reversal that was?
Life is filled with those moments where everything we believe is turned
upside down. I was wrong about those women. I did know girls who
could have been the next Miss America. I just didn't recognize them. The
same is true with God. Some people picture God as being Holy and
unapproachable. He is depicted as an angry God who has a problem with
sinners and makes it his goal to destroy them all. Those of us in the
church haven't helped. Sometimes we perpetuate that image and scare
people away.
The truth is that when we read the scriptures we find a God who loved
you and me so much that he willingly sacrificed His only begotten Son for
us. God didn't see us as we are, He saw us for what we could become,
much like the women in the pageant. We may look at ourselves as ordinary
men and women, but God sees us as people of promise. He doesn't see us
with curlers in our hair or flab around our midsection. He doesn't see us as
a driver or a waitress. God sees us as a beautiful possibility. All God asks
is that we embrace Him and strive to be our best and then go out and find
ways to live and share His love.
At 8:00 p.m. on Saturday, January 26 the 2008 Pageant will be aired on
TLC (Channel 33 with Comcast in Norwich.) You will get to see who is
crowned the next Miss America. If you think that is going to be good, then
you will want to be in your church on Sunday. Bert Parks won't be there
but God will be there to anoint you with His Spirit and send you out into
the world as His beloved.
God bless. See you in Church. Cal.
January 24, 2008
I was watching Miss America's Reality Check on TLC the other night
when it hit me, "I know Dana Daunis, Miss Connecticut 2007." Then I
chuckled to myself and thought, "I know the last five Miss Connecticuts.
As a matter of fact, two years ago I was there in Las Vegas at the Pageant
rooting for Diana Baitinger, Miss Connecticut 2005. How lucky can a guy
get?"
Miss America was larger than life when I was growing up. I remember
watching it on television with Bert Parks as the host. These were the most
beautiful women in the world. They were like movie stars. They were
glamorous, charming and talented. I remember wondering where these
women came from. They certainly didn't live in my neighborhood.
My involvement with the pageant contestants began in 2002 when I was
drafted by Luis Pabon, the Executive Director of the Miss Connecticut
Scholarship Program, to help with transportation. He needed a chauffeur
to drive the contestants back and forth between the dorms at Connecticut
College and the Garde Arts Theater. At first I was flattered that he thought
of me. Then I realized that it was the church van he really wanted. It didn't
matter to me though because I was living a dream.
I remember driving up to the dorm that first morning. I don't know what I
was expecting but it wasn't what I found. As I got out of the van I came
face to face with seventeen very excited young women. They reminded
me of my own daughters. They came out in curlers and sweat pants
carrying garment bags, and suitcases. These were real girls, not movie
stars or beauty queens.
As the week wore on I watched as they practiced their individual routines
and group dance numbers. I saw tears and heard laughter. Friendships
were being forged and confidence was building. For many of them it was
truly a week to remember. I was blessed to be along for the ride. I was
just the driver but the girls treated me as though I was someone special.
What a role reversal that was?
Life is filled with those moments where everything we believe is turned
upside down. I was wrong about those women. I did know girls who
could have been the next Miss America. I just didn't recognize them. The
same is true with God. Some people picture God as being Holy and
unapproachable. He is depicted as an angry God who has a problem with
sinners and makes it his goal to destroy them all. Those of us in the
church haven't helped. Sometimes we perpetuate that image and scare
people away.
The truth is that when we read the scriptures we find a God who loved
you and me so much that he willingly sacrificed His only begotten Son for
us. God didn't see us as we are, He saw us for what we could become,
much like the women in the pageant. We may look at ourselves as ordinary
men and women, but God sees us as people of promise. He doesn't see us
with curlers in our hair or flab around our midsection. He doesn't see us as
a driver or a waitress. God sees us as a beautiful possibility. All God asks
is that we embrace Him and strive to be our best and then go out and find
ways to live and share His love.
At 8:00 p.m. on Saturday, January 26 the 2008 Pageant will be aired on
TLC (Channel 33 with Comcast in Norwich.) You will get to see who is
crowned the next Miss America. If you think that is going to be good, then
you will want to be in your church on Sunday. Bert Parks won't be there
but God will be there to anoint you with His Spirit and send you out into
the world as His beloved.
God bless. See you in Church. Cal.
Pastor Cal Lord writes these weekly epistles to
help us see God in every day things.
help us see God in every day things.
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