St. Luke's Blogs

I used to be a broadcaster. I read the news on the radio. I never saw my audience, but I knew thousands were listening. I can still remember my first newscast in the mid 1970’s and the feeling in the pit of my stomach. I knew that no matter what, I had to keep reading. If I made a mistake, keep going. If you stop talking, you have “dead air” and in radio, that is a cardinal sin. Keep going until you reach a commercial. When I entered ministry years later, I began to preach. I knew that like radio, once in the pulpit, I had to keep going. Only there were no commercial breaks to let you catch your breath. We all have fears in life. How do we deal with the fear of failure?

The disciples had followed Jesus for three years. They listened to Him as He taught. They watched as He performed miracles. They shared in the same work as Jesus sent them out into the world. When they first met Jesus, they were simple tradesmen. They fished, collected taxes, and were business owners. They left everything behind to follow Jesus and become His students, His apprentices.  At the end of three years, they were not the same…

When I get on Facebook, the very first thing that pops up is always a photo from the past, smiling faces of my children, years younger. Every August, it may be a photo of Noel’s first day of kindergarten or Madeline’s teeny tiny self at a soccer game, eyes gleaming, front teeth missing. On other days it may be the beautiful blue of the ocean and our family standing on a sandy beach on a fabulous vacation. Every single time I scroll through these photos I am overcome with a salty mixture of gratitude and sadness for the passing of time. How can my cuddly baby be 11 years old?

Andrew was the brother of Jesus. Like Peter, Andrew was a fisherman. He would have spent his life on the sea of Galilee, working to provide for his family and to provide food for the community. Andrew was not simply a fisherman. It would seem his heart looked to the world of faith. Unlike Peter, who seemed to find his foundation doing the work of fishing, Andrew looked to the spiritual world, as well. That is why he first becomes a disciple of John the Baptist. It is his time with John that prepares him to be one of the first followers of Jesus. John also tells us that he is the first to declare Jesus was the Messiah (John 1:41). John’s gospel also reminds us that it is Andrew who tells Peter about Jesus. Because Andrew followed Jesus first, the early Byzantine church called him the Protoklete, or “The First Called.”

Rejoice, ye pure in heart;
rejoice, give thanks, and sing;
your glorious banner wave on high,
the cross of Christ your King.

 Yes, on through life’s long path,
still chanting as ye go;
from youth to age, by night and day,
in gladness and in woe.

 Praise God who reigns on high,
the Lord whom we adore,
the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost,
one God forevermore.

 Rejoice, rejoice, rejoice,
give thanks and sing.

Edward H. Plumptre, 1865
(Psalm 20:4; Psalm 147:1; Philippians 4:4)

After this Jesus went to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias. And a multitude followed him, because they saw the signs which he did on those who were diseased.  Jesus went up on the mountain, and there sat down with his disciples. Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was at hand. Lifting up his eyes, then, and seeing that a multitude was coming to him, Jesus said to Philip, “How are we to buy bread, so that these people may eat?” This he said to test him, for he himself knew what he would do. Philip answered him, “Two hundred denarii would not buy enough bread for each of them to get a little.” One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him, “There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two fish; but what are they among so many?”

In Fred Pratt Green’s hymn about the Upper Room he makes a distinct reference to John 14:2 Jesus says, “My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you?” This familiar passage is readat many memorial or funeral services. When reading the story about the Upper Room, I also recalled how Jesus asked the disciples inMark 14:12 to “go and prepare” a place for eating the Passover. What really struck me in these passages is that Jesus focused on preparation. What does it mean that Jesus would prepare for a special meal with His disciples, or that God the Father would prepare a place for us (in Heaven)?

It was the beginning of the spring semester of my sophomore year in college.  I was a member of the Chi Omega Sorority and mentoring a younger pledge member, a “little.”  I loved getting to know her and our friendship was getting stronger every day. She was everything a freshman in college should be: kind, excited, giggly, and motivated…

It was back in 1991 and Marsha and I had a wonderful life in Houston. Her parents and mine lived in the area as well as other family members. Our children, Kelly and Paul, were in a good school and had lots of friends. We had built our own home and loved the area it was in. But we received a phone call from our Bishop asking us to visit a church in Oklahoma. Marsha and I traveled to Oklahoma with no intention of accepting the appointment…

Some of the best movies in the 1990’s included Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan.  The two had great chemistry.  My favorite may have been You’ve Got Mail.  It was released in 1998 when online chat rooms and email were in their infancy.  Hanks plays Joe Fox. His family owns a chain of large bookstores.  Meg Ryan is Kathleen Kelly and she owns a small independent bookstore in Manhattan called, The Shop around the Corner. The two initially meet in an “over 30’s” chatroom and form an online friendship…