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Cal's Pastoral Epistles
"Faith Like A Child"
May 21, 2008
You'll never believe what I did last night. I made myself a fluffernutter
sandwich! I went grocery shopping yesterday. As I turned the corner at
the store and headed up the aisle, I stood face to face with some
marshmallow fluff. I was looking for peanut butter but in an instant I was
transported back in time nearly forty years.
It's funny how you grow out of things. It sort of happens over time. I was
never really into peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. But put some fluff in
front of me and I became a sandwich eating machine. Something magical
happens when you put fluff and peanut butter together. As I sat there last
night I began to wonder what other special joys I had left behind in my
childhood.
I came up with a list of ten. Call them my top ten list of forgotten
childhood treasures. I'll go into them in more depth in my blog but for
simplicity sake, here they are; 10. Watching Saturday morning cartoons. 9.
Riding my bicycle. 8. Hiking through the woods. 7. Playing king of the raft
at the lake. 6. Camping out in my back yard. 5. Collecting fireflies. 4.
Eating fluffernutter sandwiches. 3. Sleeping over my best friend's house.
2. Collecting matchbox cars. 1. Letting my imagination go free and
becoming a baseball star, a superhero, a rock guitar player, a race car
driver or a grown up.
I don't know when I crossed that imaginary line and stopped doing most of
these things. I think it happened when I started wanting to be an adult. I
began to put away all the fun and simple pleasures of life and took on a
more serious approach. I think I lost something in the process.
Jesus said that if you want to see the kingdom of God "you must be born
again." I know this phrase has been interpreted and used in many ways. If
you couple it with Jesus' suggestion that you need to become like a child to
inherit the kingdom, you get a wonderful picture of a faith that is open to
receiving God without hesitation.
As adults we ask too many questions. We don't take things at face value
anymore. We look for rational explanations where there aren't any. We
look at a car engine, a television set, a microwave oven and need to know
how it works instead of just enjoying the "wow!" of it. God is the ultimate
"wow!" and although He is the source of all reason and understanding God
is also beyond description.
So next time you are eating a fluffernutter sandwich, or riding your bike
and enjoying the wind in your face, don't think about it too much. Just
enjoy it and give thanks to God. Let the child in you come out and you will
see God everywhere. Life will be more fun too!
God bless. See you in church. Cal
May 21, 2008
You'll never believe what I did last night. I made myself a fluffernutter
sandwich! I went grocery shopping yesterday. As I turned the corner at
the store and headed up the aisle, I stood face to face with some
marshmallow fluff. I was looking for peanut butter but in an instant I was
transported back in time nearly forty years.
It's funny how you grow out of things. It sort of happens over time. I was
never really into peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. But put some fluff in
front of me and I became a sandwich eating machine. Something magical
happens when you put fluff and peanut butter together. As I sat there last
night I began to wonder what other special joys I had left behind in my
childhood.
I came up with a list of ten. Call them my top ten list of forgotten
childhood treasures. I'll go into them in more depth in my blog but for
simplicity sake, here they are; 10. Watching Saturday morning cartoons. 9.
Riding my bicycle. 8. Hiking through the woods. 7. Playing king of the raft
at the lake. 6. Camping out in my back yard. 5. Collecting fireflies. 4.
Eating fluffernutter sandwiches. 3. Sleeping over my best friend's house.
2. Collecting matchbox cars. 1. Letting my imagination go free and
becoming a baseball star, a superhero, a rock guitar player, a race car
driver or a grown up.
I don't know when I crossed that imaginary line and stopped doing most of
these things. I think it happened when I started wanting to be an adult. I
began to put away all the fun and simple pleasures of life and took on a
more serious approach. I think I lost something in the process.
Jesus said that if you want to see the kingdom of God "you must be born
again." I know this phrase has been interpreted and used in many ways. If
you couple it with Jesus' suggestion that you need to become like a child to
inherit the kingdom, you get a wonderful picture of a faith that is open to
receiving God without hesitation.
As adults we ask too many questions. We don't take things at face value
anymore. We look for rational explanations where there aren't any. We
look at a car engine, a television set, a microwave oven and need to know
how it works instead of just enjoying the "wow!" of it. God is the ultimate
"wow!" and although He is the source of all reason and understanding God
is also beyond description.
So next time you are eating a fluffernutter sandwich, or riding your bike
and enjoying the wind in your face, don't think about it too much. Just
enjoy it and give thanks to God. Let the child in you come out and you will
see God everywhere. Life will be more fun too!
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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