Pastoral Thought

 Recently I was looking for a gift from an old friend, and I was having a hard time finding it. 

A long time ago my roommate in college, Dan, gave me a leather-bound pocket size Bible that snaps shut. Over the years I have used that Bible for private devotional times when I am away from my office and wanted to spend time in God’s word. While I do have a bible app on my iPhone, I often prefer the feel of the pages of a Bible when I want to draw close to God. 

Well this Bible is missing. I know where it should be, but sadly it is not there and I wonder where I have put it. I looked high and low though my office and still the Bible has not been recovered. While that I a bit frustrating, I know that the Bible will turn up eventually. So I stopped worrying about it and noticed the mess that I was making.  As I searched for the Bible  I unearthed some other stuff that I forgot about. 

Buried deep in my desk drawers I found things that I completely forget about it. One by one, I brought them forth from the darkness of the lower drawers of my desk. I held them in my hand and remembered where they came from. Here are a few. . .

An advent wreath that my mom and JonMark made while I served my first church as a craft. I have a second one that I use each Advent season; this one I save.

An old electric chess set from Radio Shack that my dad purchased for me for Christmas. I learned to play chess on it when I was a boy. 

I found some material from a retreat that I lead and participated in before: The Walk to Emmaus. 

There was a glass cross laying on its side back there.

A bright yellow and red photo album from an old Disney trip was also in that drawer. 

Finally, I found a brown fabric book cover that held a prayer book. On the cover was a cross made of ribbons that marked the fabric as different. Inside were a number of prayers and worship items that I could use when I was not with the church physically. When I was in college I used that book a lot. It was my companion when I had private communion in the college dining hall or walked to class alone on a cold Ashland morning. 

Each item told a story. I paused to consider each story and each memory that accompanied those stories.  Then I wondered: what stories do things like this have to tell me today that will help shape my life? 

We seek new learning as often as we can, and I value that as much as the next pastor. What would happen to our thought process, and our ministry, if we returned to things that were foundational to our live? 

That brown prayer book is so important to my faith story but I have forgotten it over the years. Perhaps I will rediscover something from God, if I stop and spend more time with it. . . 

Blessings

Rev. Derek