Prairie Pastoral

November 5, 2024 | Leave a Comment

A few final thoughts on this Election Day…

Jesus will still be Lord after the election ends, after the vote is certified, and after Inauguration Day. Still. Always
Your neighbors will still be your neighbors, regardless of how they voted, who wins, and how they react, so the ties that bind us to one another in friendship and care matter more than the election results.
You are a follower of Jesus. That identity is more important than being a Republican, Democrat, Independent, or none of the above.
Your vote counts: It matters to the outcome for elected office and ballot issues. It matters A LOT to your soul. Be at peace with how you voted.
Our job is to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength, and love our neighbors as we love ourselves. The rest is God’s job. Trust Him to do it.

September 17, 2024 | Leave a Comment

The PWDL

Let’s talk about the People We Don’t Like. Let’s call them the PWDL for short.

I’m not talking about enemies, i.e. people who have actually done harm to us or to people we love or to projects or work that matters to us. I’m talking about the PWDL. We just don’t like them. They don’t share our faith, or our politics, or our lifestyles, or our commitment to the Broncos. They’ve made decisions we don’t like: sending their kids out of district or consistently mowing their lawn on Saturday at 6 a.m. They innocently annoy us. They just are not our cup of tea.

“Not my cup of tea” is actually my favorite way to describe these folks. It goes light. It casts no judgment. It declares definitively that the “not liking” part of the situation is my responsibility only. The other cup of tea has done nothing wrong.

Instead of PWDL, perhaps I should call these folks about whom I’m writing today the NMCOTs. Or maybe not. Let’s stick to the PWDL.

The first thing worth noting about thy PWDL is that we can’t avoid them. Oh, we can try. The larger the community in which we live, the easier time we may have segregating ourselves. Here in our small town, though, it’s almost impossible. It’s tough to hide from someone when there are only two grocery stores in town and one post office. We work with them. We sit next to them in the bleachers during the JV volleyball game. We (gulp) go to church with them. [Read more…]

September 1, 2024 | Leave a Comment

Names matter

We have two major party candidates for President of the United States: Donald Trump and Kamala Harris.

Donald Trump’s name is easy enough to pronounce. I’ve been watching Donald Duck cartoons since I was a kid, and who hasn’t wanted to play the trump card?

But Kamala Harris? Well, her name is a little tougher. Fair enough if we stumble, but too often I’m hearing people (a) not even try or (b) mispronounce her name intentionally in ways that are unintentionally racist. Friends, “I just call her ‘Caramel’ since she’s brown” is not okay.

Making a joke of someone’s racial and ethnic background or skin color is not okay in the community, and it’s really not okay in the body of Christ where we know ourselves–all of ourselves–made precious in the image of God.

Besides, names matter. Names mean something.

All throughout our scriptures, God gets particular about names.

Abram became Abraham, meaning “father of many” (Genesis 17:5). Pharaoh’s daughter gave Moses his name, meaning “draw out,” after drawing him out of the water (Exodus 2:10). Poor Naomi, whose name means “pleasant,” changes her name to “Mara,” meaning “bitter” (Ruth 1:20).

Jesus, name above all names, means “God saves” (Luke 1:31).

Behind every name is a story, and every story is of people who love and care about the child they are naming. I don’t know Kamala Harris’ mom, but I suspect she and her husband chose the name with all the excitement and joy of all expectant parents.

So, I get it. Names are hard to remember sometimes and even harder to pronounce and spell. I’m a pastor, and I struggle all the time with names. Do you know how many ways there are to spell Hailey, Hayley, Haylee, Hayleigh…you get the idea?

And I get that there are really valid reasons not to vote for Ms. Harris, but there’s no excuse for mockery. As an American, I want to respect the Office of the Presidency. As a citizen of the Kingdom, I want to respect the image of God in her.

Here’s the easiest way I’ve found to remember how to pronounce Ms. Harris’ first name:

“Comma-la.” It’s the punctuation mark, plus a la. Or, as Fraulein Maria would say, the punctuation mark plus “a note to follow so.”

Kamala. Comma-la. It’s her name, and it’s not that hard. For the sake of God-Saves, we can try.

Bible Verse of the Day