Serve by Design

My family and I have been eating black-eyed peas with ham and corn bread on New Years Day since January 1, 1978. We had moved to Granbury, Texas, four months before and quickly began learning the culinary ways of Southerners. On that first New Years Day in the Lone Star State, some close friends invited us to dinner and introduced us to the tradition of eating black-eyed peas. We soon learned the reason behind this perceived good luck and prosperity! Photo: Compliments of our Texas son, Marc! This tradition is thought to have had its roots in the post-Civil War era when African American slaves celebrated the Emancipation Proclamation with hopes for freedom and a new beginning. While many northerners would consider black-eyed peas to be nothing more than animal feed, Southerners knew that these peas with ham hock had kept them from starvation during Sherman’s march. I cannot imagine the great suffering and loss behind the tradition that emerged from those awful days in our country’s his...

I recently had a meltdown! No, not exactly the kind you are imagining. This one was a literal melting down of a part on the engine of my new riding lawn mower. In late fall, the mower had unexpectedly been delivered about a month before promised. I was so excited to get on it and take it on a trial spin around the yard. I had only intended to mow and mulch leaves around the grass area adjacent to the circle driveway. I knew that our teenage grandson would enjoy using the new machine during the next official mow. Oops! I Forgot!! The backstory to this “meltdown” is that on the day the mower was delivered by the implement dealer, I thought I would compare the air filter on this new engine with the one that I used on my previous mower. These engines were similar, and I had a couple of expensive filters left over that I hoped I could use on the new rider’s engine. The issue occurred when I failed to secure the filter’s plastic cover. On the next day’s trial run, I had only been mowing fo...

I recently received a sympathy card with a meaningful note on the side page. It has had me thinking since I read it. Among other comforting words written, there was an especially touching sentence that simply said, “It’s difficult to speak to a pastor about the loss of their loved one, but the loss is still the same.” Those phrases “difficult to speak to a pastor” and “the loss is still the same” are still swirling around in my mind. I was so appreciative of these sentiments that I immediately called these friends. I wanted to express my thanks to them for taking the time to write those candid and hope-filled thoughts down for my comfort. Comfort One Another Credit: clipart-library.com After decades of service as a pastor in a half dozen churches from Texas to Illinois, I have often wondered how pastors sometimes make it difficult for their members to share comfort with them. Without intending to do this, I think we can build barriers by saying, “We’re doing okay. We have a lot of supp...