There must surely come the time when my life’s high point will have been reached. It’s hard to pin down the exact moment or description of when that will occur, but right now it feels honest to admit that I am no longer at my peak. Some after-apex thoughts follow…. It’s also truthful to acknowledge gratefully the years when much of my life felt like an ascending path, reaching towards increasedMORE...
Today’s entry continues in the tradition of Latinate aphorisms for daily life—e.g., * Soli Deo gloria, Carpe diem or Ubi est mea anaticula cumminosa? These time-honored insights may far outweigh the value of this blog’s new maxim: Perguado religuias! You be the judge…. As the years of my life add up and the tidbits of foods in our refrigerator gather together to form inviting aggregations, I amMORE...
I don’t feel that way right now, but one of these days I could… Feel guilty, sad or remorseful for somehow not living up to your expectations or hopes. Not meeting my obligations or fulfilling my promises to you. Again, not something that comes up that often, but I expect that it will eventually happen. To be sure, others can disappoint me, but that seems just to be a part of life. NoneMORE...
Looking for things to gross me out—a questionable luxury of retired guy-ness—I recently came upon a story prepping readers for news about the annual contest sponsored by Nathan’s Famous Hot Dogs. Because the idea of “competitive eating”—the term favored by *Major League Eating (MLE)—struck me as just bit more than odd, I kept reading. What I found seemed to be emblematic about any of us who haveMORE...
That’s what you’ll read here today, and almost every other time one of these entries comes your way. About 300 words—the length in feet of a football field—that take about two minutes to read—the amount of time it takes to run that far. (Mixing metaphors is still an enjoyable part of my writing.) Why that length? I don’t want to be one of the chatterati, a class of writers or talkers who alwaysMORE...
There’s a lot of “deserving” talk going around these days. Apparently many of us feel that we are owed something for all the troubles we’ve encountered over the past months. That past injustices make us primary candidates for recompense. Or perhaps we even think that our exemplary lives make us worthy for other rewards. “Not so,” says Martin Luther. In his Small Catechism, he frames the meaningMORE...
A worship concept that’s helped me during difficult times is called “the ongoing alleluia.” The idea is both simple and profound: When worshippers gather together, their alleluias are part of something that spans the world endlessly, that involves them and like the wind of the Spirit, passes through on its way to others, present in all time and space. Many of these alleluias are offered inMORE...
Lately I’ve been swatting away a foreboding that whirs around me like a mosquito looking for more than a good meal. To be direct, the ongoing drought out West has gotten to my spirit. Various swatting-maneuvers—corporate worship, devotional reading, conversations, prayer—have helped for awhile, but then the pesky facts keep buzzing back: Californians will run out of water by August, part of theMORE...
Schools are out, so this may be the time of year when your grandparenting kicks into high gear. A good share of that honored relationship could be summarized in the phrase, “Blessed assurance.” (Yes, I am aware that some readers may accuse me of stealing words from a beloved hymn writer. In my defense, though, let’s just say that I’m singing them differently….) Much of your work withMORE...
A few nights ago, I dreamed about being part of a meditative evening service at our church, with some post-COVID perils still lingering in worshipers’ minds. We ended the service by singing a canticle whose melody was framed around the evocative chordal structures of ancient modes/key signatures. (Those musical elements continue as reminders of the sturdiness of our faith practices over theMORE...
BOB SITZE has filled the many years of his lifework in diverse settings around the United States. His calling has included careers as a teacher/principal, church musician, writer/author, denominational executive staff member and meat worker. Bob lives in Wheaton, IL.