Today’s Word from Pastor Jim…
“A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” Chinese Proverb
Our youngest grandchild, little Molly, took her first steps in July. This milestone event celebrated by her family was reached eleven months after her birth. A single step, the first of millions that will follow, a single step launched a journey that will cover thousands of miles and the better part of a century.
July: A month of first steps.
On the 10th day of July 1982, I walked down the aisle at First Lutheran Church in DeKalb, Illinois a single man. My brother was by my side as he had been all my life. To my left, my groomsmen, men now, we had once been boys together. My 20-year-old bride walked down the aisle escorted by her father, wearing the same wedding dress that my mother had worn in 1951. Standing together before the altar we exchanged sacred vows, we held hands, sealed the deal with a kiss and took our first step toward an uncertain future. We had no idea what we had signed up for. In the 44 years that have followed, there have been seasons of poverty and plenty, weddings and divorces, three births and a miscarriage, surgeries and suicide, joyful celebrations and sleepless nights. We have loved each other even when we did not like each other, cried at graveside and experienced our childhood again with the six little rascals that we call grandchildren. It all began with that first step.
On July 27th, 1986, I found myself once again standing before the altar at First Lutheran Church. This time a Bishop and an array of pastors draped in red were gathered around me. I dropped to my knees before God and took sacred vows. The vows of ordination are not to be taken lightly; the vows are for life. There were no vows of poverty or chastity, just obedience. The sacred promise to be obedient to the teachings of Jesus, to faithfully preach, teach and care for those that God would entrust to me. The Bishop read each daunting vow with clarity and to each I responded, “I do and I ask God to help and guide me.” Rising to my feet with the slight weight of a red stole around my neck, I took the first step that day, the first step of journey now spanning 40 years. As we had four years earlier, Felicia and I walked out those doors hand in hand. We had no idea what we had just signed up for. What a journey it has been. There have been wars and terror attacks, preschool graduations and pilgrimages, a seminary crisis and the closing of a church college, threats of physical violence and painful betrayals, suicides and baptisms, natural disasters and shocking deaths, natural disasters and sexuality battles, deathbeds and funerals, carrying dead bodies and changing diapers, lawsuits and recessions, and of course the pandemic that closed our campus. Twice I took vows for life and in both cases, I had no idea what I was doing.
“A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.”
Through it all, good times and bad, at Trinity Lutheran Church we have continued to focus on Jesus, we have worshiped, dreamed, laughed, cried, sacrificed and served side by side. We have been through a lot together and by the grace of God we are still standing. The world seems unsettled right now. It seems different this time, but it is really not that different; it is life in a beautiful but fallen world. It is more of the same all over again. Every generation thinks it is different but in fact it is mostly the same. The Civil War, the great depression of 1873, the influenza pandemic of 1918, world wars, cold wars, assassinations and civil rights struggles. This is the human journey and no land, culture, race or generation in all of history has escaped unscathed. There is a lot of anxiety among us right now. I can assure you that when today’s anxieties fade into obscurity there will be other worries to take their place. One single step. Each day the journey before us begins with one single step. Trust God, put your faith in something greater, don’t let your life and your energy be consumed by bad news. Take one single step. Take that step with intention. Do what you can in this moment. Love God, learn to love yourself and learn to love your neighbor. That should be enough for today, for tomorrow, for a lifetime.
“Let not your hearts be troubled…” Jesus
“Cast all your anxiety on God, because God cares for you.” I Peter 5:7.
“Be still, and know that I am God.” Psalm 46:10.
One beggar, telling another beggar where to find bread, I am your,
Pastor Jim
