Chaplains on the River

NO…ABSOLUTELY NOT…the phrase in the title is not going to end with the word “S**t”!!!!!

During a church service last Sunday morning, a young boy was participating in the part of the service where the children were sharing from their lessons in Children’s Church.  He was holding up a large card with words printed on it that the audience could read, and he was reading the same words aloud from the back of the card as the children’s ministry leader held a microphone for him.  Pretty heady stuff for a young boy.  He spoke clearly and plainly as he read the words from the card:  “The World Is Full of Good.”  But what he said was “The world is full of God…of good!”  He received applause despite his mistake.

But did he really make a mistake…or from the mouth of a child did we receive an important reminder of a powerful truth?  The world IS full of good - because the world is full of God!  A call and response litany was born in the African American church tradition and has found great popularity in many churches.  It goes like this:  “God is good…all the time!  All the time…God is good!” 

Too often we would finish the phrase in the title with a four letter word, and it would not be “love.”  There is something about negative attitudes and outlooks that are contagious and difficult to expell.  How are you looking at life?  How would you finish the phrase?

Please understand that negativity and bitterness are poisons that only serve to hurt us and those around us, both at work and at home.  What is your life - your world - full of these days?  Jesus said, “I have come that you might have abundant life!” (John 10:10, paraphrase).

The world is full of God!  And God is good…all the time!

Until I see you on the river, may you be blessed and be a blessing!

Chaplain Mike

Posted: September 22nd, 2009 under Towboaters.
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Last Sunday I had the opportunity to preach in two United Methodist churches in the New Orleans metro area.  After the second service, before going to lunch, I was engaged in a very interesting discussion.  Growing out of some thoughts from my sermon earlier, I was asked what I thought were the two greatest needs of people.  The man asking the question felt that one’s vocation should be the intersection of what one loves to do with those needs, in order to live a life of service.

My first answer was CONNECTION.  I believe that while we communicate with many people in many different high-tech ways we often fail to really connect with other people.  A case in point is blogging, texting, e-mail and twitters.  These are great tools for quick communication - but they are not a substitute for connection…for really getting to know someone…for communication at deeper levels, involving eye contct, expression, bidy language and nuance of voice and language.  I use these tools as appropriate, but nothing substitutes to conversation over coffee…on the bow…in the wheelhouse.

My second answer was IDENTITY.  I believe that people have a tendency to identify themselves by what they do…what they possess…what their social status might be.  Somehow the basic concepts of human dignity and self-worth have become lost.  When working as a minister in a local church and teaching confirmation classes, I would try to instill in sixth grade youth that they were beloved children of God.  They were each inherently valuable despite skin color, clothing worn, neighborhood lived in, or amount of money in the bank.  Most adults need to learn this lesson as well!

As I have reflected on this question, and my answers, in the days since, I have come to realize that these two needs are easily met!  Each one of us can help be part of the solution.  You and I can truely connect with those we work with and our family members.  We can go beyond the superficial - as made too easy with tech glitz and gadgets - and “be there” for and with others.  As we do this, I see it also addressing the second need.  If we are willing to take the time and expend the energy to really connect with other people. then they  will see that they are a valuable and worthy person.  What goes around comes around, and we all benefit.

Some things in this world are so big that they are far beyond the ability of any one person to make a difference.  But in meeting these two fundamental needs of those around you (and yourself), YOU CAN MAKE THE DIFFERENCE!  Just as every crew member plays a vital part in ensuring the safe and efficient operation of the boat, so each one of us has a crucial role in meeting needs. 

See you on the river!  We’ll connect…and remind each other that we are important just for who we are!

Chaplain Mike

Posted: September 16th, 2009 under Towboaters.
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Labor Day weekend is upon us.  The first Labor Day in the United States was in September 1882 in New York City.  It was intended to celerate the contributions of organized labor groups to the economy.  President Grover Cleveland made Labor Day a Federal holiday after violence and deaths during the 1894 Pullman Strike.  The national celebration was hoped to foster a sense of reconciliation and help restore peace and order.  In recent years, Labor Day weekend is recognized as the end of summer, which began on Memorial Day.

As I continue visiting with boat crews and shoreside staff in this hard-working and productive towboat industry, I am very aware that many of us do not feel a sense of reconciliation, peace, and order.  Our fast-paced and increasingly demanding society does not seem to be making life less stressful, but more stressful.  This stress manifests itself in physical ilness, depression and anxiety, bad personal care habits (too much food, alcohol, and tobacco - and not enough exercise and rest), and stressed if not broken relationships. 

So this Labor Day weekend, I want to invite each of us to consider having not just the summer season end, but putting an end to unproductive seasons in our personal lives as well.  Be brave in taking stock of unresolved conflicts in your life, and dealing with them.  In some cases, you may need to deal with another to end the situation. Often, we just need to let go and let some things end.  Like a wound on your skin will not heal if you keep picking at the scab…so it is in our emotional lives.

Summer is ending, and fall is beginning.  Even down here in the South - where our seasons go from hot to hotter to bearable - you can feel a refreshing coolness in the morning and evening air.  As the seasons change, I invite you to join me in allowing a sense of harmony into your life as change is embraced and the past allowed to drift away.  The view on the bank always changes as the boat travels steadily along the river.  Let your life move forward and enjoy the new landscape!

In the Holy Bible, we are told that King Solomon of Israel was the wisest man who ever lived.  In his old age, he wrote a book called “Ecclesiastes” found in the Old Testament.  It contains the reflections of this wise old man as he considers the question of meaning in life.  All of the book is well worth reading, but I especially want to call these words to our attention:

“For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:  a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; a time to tear, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace.” (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8, English Standard Version)

So what time is it for you?  On this weekend originally meant to symbolize reconciliation and that now marks the changing of the seasons, will you embrace harmony and peace in your own life instead of conflict and dis-ease?  Will you shed the old unwanted things from your life as leaves will soon be falling from the trees?

For those working this weekend…may your labor be safe.  Know that your work is appreciated.

For those off this weekend…may you enjoy life and not take it for granted.

To all…see you on the river!

Chaplain Mike

Posted: September 3rd, 2009 under Towboaters.
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