My records tell me that it has been a bit over four months since I corralled all of my mental squirrels into a Random Access Musings column. My brain tells me the same; I can practically hear them up there chewing the wiring. So here goes.
One: I absolutely love God’s creation, but I must confess that, even in its fallen state, I have a hard time wrapping my mind around it from time to time. This past Saturday, Dana, Karis and I took a beekeeping class, with the intention of beginning to maintain a colony or two. It was eye-opening. The males seem to have exactly one task in life: mate, then die. The girls do all the work, but they get to live. The queen murders any other potential queens, and then the colony later murders her. Basically, bee colonies are a bug soap opera and should not be used as guides for human behavior.
Two: As stated above, I love God’s creation. And yet, I am over winter. I mean that in the most strident way possible. I am tired of constantly being cold. I am tired of ice causing us to miss services, and I am tired of the darkness. If this were the dark ages, I would hold a proper, pre-decided trial, and burn winter at the stake.
Three: I did not watch the Super Bowl halftime show (or the alternate Kid Rock TPUSA show). Before you accuse me of racism, you should be aware that my father was full-blooded Puerto Rican, just like the featured performer, who goes by the stage name Bad Bunny. The reason I refused to watch had nothing to do with the skin color of the man whose tan matches my own. It had everything to do with the fact that, though he gave a somewhat sanitized version on that stage, his lyrics are so unbelievably filthy and sexually demeaning toward women that if I tried to print them in this column, the editor would rightly and immediately reject the column and refuse to run it.
Four: I received a message on a recent Saturday asking for a meeting in my office early Sunday morning. Any pastor knows how terrifying such a thing is, and how one immediately begins to assume all of the worst possible scenarios. Believe me, I did. My mind conjured up the most horrifying, apocalyptic probabilities. In one, I had weeks of emergency counseling laid out and ready. In another, I could see the grave and me standing by it, delivering the final words. Other calamities flitted in between those two main thoughts.
You likely know how this goes. It was nothing like any of that, and relatively easy to address. I worried for nothing. I well know Philippians 4:6; “Be careful (from the Greek Merimnao, to be anxious or worried) for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” And yet, though we Christians know that passage, we do not normally act on it when it comes right down to it.
I’m just glad I have now failed at that for the final time and will never make that mistake again.
Five: A sweet lady in our church is battling breast cancer for the second time. Her first bout was 16 years ago, and now she is facing it again. He name is Vicki. Would you be so kind as to put her on your prayer list? She is like human sunshine, and we need her around for a great while longer.
Six: If you stay at it, marriage progresses from day one, where you do not understand each other at all, to a point years later at which your wife says something like “the these thingies,” and you know exactly what she means without even having to ask for clarification.
Seven: I am receiving regular emails from people who have purchased “Fitness And Faith,” telling me of their progress toward a stronger, healthier life, and even showing me pictures of the bathroom scales as their weight decreases. I love this. It lets me know that a lot of people are benefitting from it. But I also, from time to time, get a message that goes something like “I’m a failure, I can’t do it.” In kindness, let me remind you that you do reap what you sow, Galatians 6:7-8. Every decision you make about what you put in your mouth and what you do with your time has an impact. Your family and friends need you, and you can do it, so go get healthy.
Eight: Dana and I got to go watch our first-ever professional hockey game recently, the Carolina Hurricanes versus the Chicago Blackhawks. It was amazing, a great experience all the way around. Predictably, in the midst of the game, there was a fight. A Blackhawk picked out what seemed to be the biggest Hurricane on the ice — I believe his name is Alexander Nikishin — and picked a fight with him. Nikishin, who I have been reliably informed by die-hard fans is nicknamed Boom, lived up to his name, and the fight did not go well for the other guy.
This seems to be a testimony to biblically proportioned bad decision-making. There has never been a day when I thought, “You know, I should put on skates and go out onto the slipperiest surface on earth and take a swing at a huge guy called ‘Boom.'”
Bo Wagner is pastor of Cornerstone Baptist Church of Mooresboro, North Carolina, a widely traveled evangelist and the author of several books available on Amazon and wordofhismouth.com. Email him at 2knowhim@cbc-web.org.