Easter joy! May all of you who read this column have a joyous Easter season. The day of Easter 1993 may be history, but the joy of that first Easter and the joy of every Easter sunrise service and every Easter celebration since that first Easter will live on and on. In my last column I shared some warm thoughts about Bethlehem and the plight to the Holy Land. If it were not for Easter, the season of Christmas would not be a celebration. Easter is truly a celebration of life.
Episode 185: Ascension Day →
Today is Ascension Day. Some churches throughout the world observe this church festival day with special services. Ascension Day is on Thursday, forty days after Easter. It commemorates Christ's ascension which took place by tradition at the Mount of Olives near Bethany in the Holy Land.
Episode 175: An Ode to Good Friends →
It was five years ago that I wrote the first Warm Thoughts column over a cup of tea. I can remember the moment as if it happened yesterday. The first day of spring in 1993 was a beautiful springy day. Surprise, surprise! On Sunday morning, following that first day of spring, I awoke to a winter wonderland and a real South Dakota prairie blizzard. However, my pioneer spirit urged me to go to church that morning. Surprise, surprise! I was the only parishioner in church that morning. I was not aware that weather conditions were that severe to call off church services. What a lonely feeling. I later joked that the pastor went through the entire message and even shook my hand as I left the services! That afternoon, as the north winds blew and the snow covered the plains, I sat down at my old typewriter and typed the very first column of Warm Thoughts as I sipped a cup of tea. And I had many warm feelings as I appreciated a warm and safe home as the winds blew.
Episode 157: God Bless You →
The month of October has been designated as "Clergy Appreciation Month." Many congregations throughout the country have expressed special thanks to their pastor and given honor to the pastoral ministry during this month. We have become more aware that the pastoral ministry makes great demands upon the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual wellbeing of the individuals that we call pastor. An unknown author has expressed as thanks in the following warm thoughts. "To our Pastor: God bless you for the work you've done in the service of our Lord. May His constant blessing be your well deserved reward as you meet the challenge of the tasks God gives to you. May faith and hope and happiness be yours in all you do."
Episode 96: The Mother of Father's Day →
Have you ever wondered who was the mother of Father's Day? It was Sonora Louise Dodd and the thought for Father's Day came to her in church, as she listened to her pastor extol the virtues of motherhood in his Mother's Day message. Sonora felt he failed to mention the value and importance of fathers. She felt fathers deserved equal credit and praise.
Episode 89: Heartland Surprises →
Throughout the years, the last week of March has brought to the heartland some surprises weather wise. This year, 1995 was no exception. Rain, blowing winds, and blankets of snow covered many areas of the heartland country. It was two years ago, the last Sunday afternoon in March that I wrote my first Warm Thoughts column. Early that morning flakes of snow covered the roads and prairie country. As a descendant of pioneers, I never dreamed the church would be canceled that morning, but I was mistaken, and appeared in church, as the lone parishioner. A first experience in my life. That afternoon in the solitude of that little home on the prairie, and over a cup of tea, I wrote my first Warm Thoughts column. Yes, I feel like celebrating, as I now share with you a few thoughts from that column. As I write these lines, I am also listening to my grandchildren who are here on their spring retreat from their studies in Colorado. In that first column, I stress how important it is to listen to the children. Reading to the children, and listening to them, can teach us many things. We learn so much from them and their needs are so great to have us really listen to them. I will never forget when I was reading to my grandson, a book about the tree houses and squirrels, and he interrupted me and said, "I don't want to dream about squirrels." And what would you like to dream about? "My grandma," he replied. What a warm and precious thought!
Episode 77: A Church on Fire →
In last week's column I shared with you many warm thoughts on accepting challenges in life, with a heart filled with thanks. Each day brings us new challenges and changes in our lives. And sometimes it seems unbelievable in our way of thinking about challenges.
Episode 67: A Mouse in the House →
"Grandma, I want to go to the farm!" This had been an earnest plea of my two year old granddaughter, each time I would visit her in her home in Vermillion. So this past weekend, it was her special time to spend at the farm and I was getting myself ready for sharpening my communication - listening skills. With great anticipation, Trina looked forward to her retreat on the farm. As we traveled along by highway, she often asked, "When will we be there?"
Episode 36: Bigger than Challenges →
This is the season to be thankful. But really isn't every day, a day to give thanks for our many challenges and blessings. It was many years ago that a dear friend taught me to always be thankful, no matter what happens, one day after listening to her, I stated that it seemed to me that she was being one day after listening to her I stated that it seemed to me that she was really being tried and tested her reply left an indelible impression on me. Her face was radiant and her eyes sparkled as she spoke, and fat ugly. I love God so much and I just can't look at all these troubles as problems.
Episode 35: Liberty →
November. The month of Remembrance Day, also known as Veterans Day, and Thanksgiving Day, how thankful we are to live in our America, liberty, so precious a gift for each of us. It is so special that we can enjoy our liberty every day here in America and our country we have the freedom to vote to participate and free enterprise, and to worship as we are lead. We need to be reminded often of their value. And the words of our national anthem by Francis Scott Key, the price of our liberty is made quite clear, a great price was paid by our forefathers. And that price is still being paid in our country today.
Episode 34: Learning from the Birds →
This is the time of year when some folks leave the prairie winds and go south for the winter. Folks down south who have permanent residents there will say, “The snowbirds are coming!”
About the same time, the northern geese are going south too. Recently I read that these geese are not going as far south as they used to go in past years. These geese flap their wings and fly south in a V formation. In the spring, they fly north, and it is always a special time for us to learn some lessons from the geese. We can learn about sharing leadership from the geese. When the goose in the lead gets tired, it rotates back into the formation and another goose takes over at the point position. We can also learn from the geese, to be interdependent and take turns and doing the hard tasks in a caring and sharing way.