Maine is just around the corner. September 1st is here. God is in his Heaven and all is right with the world. I received a request from my friend Kathy today as to whether I would like to read scripture publically in our Sunday Worship Service…and I said yes without reservation. Faith and church and the study of Christ’s teachings have been my compelling passion for well over 50 years. When I was at the doorstep of retiring, I told my replacement that I had endeavored to conduct myself as a manager/administrator…as a Christian. I am not referring to the hard-nosed…John Wayne wannabes who believe that exclusion is the controlling precept of Jesus’ teaching…but simply put…love…forgiveness, and inclusion were the admonishments of the Carpenter that I sought to emulate in my conduct with my colleagues.

Fall allows me to reset my direction and what I want to accomplish with the remainder of my life. I almost never volunteer and I think it comes from my mother’s admonishment to not push myself forward where I may not be wanted. However when I am invited…I am compelled to accept the invitation. I have always been a bit of a rebel. Not a rebel without a cause but rather a seeker of truth and of following my heart and soul. When I read of my blogger and good friends’ struggles with blindness and being, by and large, confined to a wheelchair, and yet her insurmountable spirit…I think that I should do more to help others.

Our world is full of suffering and loneliness and religious/political confusion.,..we should be a lighthouse in the fog of war. We are entering the time of year when we take stock of where we have been and where we are going. We slow down a bit and we reflect on what our year has brought us…our accomplishments and what has yet to be done.

Life is a conundrum and the twists and turns that it can take…suddenly…can change your entire reality. So…we need an anchor in the waves of change and the swells of the Ocean we all are sailing on. Writing serves as an anchor for me. Through writing, I reflect upon and organize what I truly think and believe about the many challenges of our world. Writing is a mission and calling and a concrete expression of my journey back to Jerusalem.

I want to watch the Jerry Lewis Muscular Dystrophy Telethon this Labor Day Weekend…but Jerry is gone. MJ and I and baby Aaron were attending a church convention in Des Moines, Iowa many years ago. We were lodging at the local Howard Johnsons Hotel. They were famous for their seafood and were considered an upscale Hotel. I felt somewhat alone and out of place until I saw that they were hosting the Jerry Lewis Telethon. I had watched the Telethon since I was a child…now…I felt at home.

Aaron was born in November…I recall with great joy carrying him into our little four-room home in Elkville. I knew that a new chapter in MJ and my Story was in my arms…and I was overjoyed…