Going About Doing Good

 Good morning.

 While I am well aware of the political events of this past Saturday and the ongoing events this week regarding political conventions, I have said my piece on these topics on social media, and have decided it’s time to go on to other things.  The only thing I would say now is to repeat what so many have already said:  Regardless of one’s political views, there is no place in this nation for the kind of tragic events such as the attempted assassination last Saturday.  I’ll let this go now and go on to other things.

Most of the time, our days at RiverWalk Church are rather routine.  We get the usual phone calls asking about one of our ministries, or someone wanting to sell us something…or maybe wanting some kind of benevolent help.  We get people at our office door sometimes as well.  Either they are part of a group that is meeting here and need inside the building, or they are some kind of delivery…UPS, Postal Service, and so on.  Maybe they are a member needing access, or perhaps someone who has some kind of other need.  Those encounters at the door don’t come often…maybe two or three times a day.  But most of the time, we as staff are usually free to do what we need to do to carry out our respective ministries.

Yesterday, shortly after lunch, the buzzer on the office door went off.  We have a phone buzzer system outside the door that someone can activate and visit with whoever answers on the inside.  Our office manager was ill that day, so I answered.

“I need an ambulance,” was the reply I received after answering the buzzer.  I couldn’t make out a lot of the rest of what he was saying, so I said I would be right there.  He sounded like he was in distress.

I asked Curtis, who was also in the office, to accompany me to the door, as I was unsure what I would find there.  I answered the door, and a disheveled, unkempt man of about 55 years old was bent over and could barely talk.  He had bad body odor, and appeared to not have been clean in many days or weeks.  He repeated that he needed an ambulance, and we let him in to sit in the cool office area.  He said he had been poisoned, and appeared to have severe abdominal pain.

I called 911 and requested an ambulance while Curtis watched him in the outer office area.  He seemed to be cognizant of where he was, and answered our questions as best he could.  The fire department squad and the ambulance came within a few minutes, and I ushered them inside to where the man was sitting.

They did their due diligence, and in their questioning appeared to elicit from him the fact that he ingested meth a couple days ago, and thought it had been adulterated with something that was making him sick.  They checked him further and loaded him to the ambulance to be taken to St Francis emergency room.

We don’t often get something like that at our door.  But neither is it unheard of.  I have contacted 911 for ambulance services several times during my time here.  We never hear the outcome of our intervention.  We just know that someone needed help and stopped here to try to access it.

I am glad we staff the building during the week, if for no other reason…than for this kind of thing.  I have to wonder sometimes where people would go for help if we were not here.  I recognize that many churches don’t have anyone at their building during the weekday, and some can’t afford to provide staff.  However, it seems to me that if a church is in the people business, what better way to interact with people than to have someone at the building at least some of the time during the week who is willing and able to answer the door.

And by far most of the time, those at our door are not members of our congregation.  Most probably have no church home.  And most are in some kind of need.  What better service could a church offer than to be a place where one could get some water in the heat, use the phone, access a restroom, have a place to cool off for a few minutes, ask directions to some place, or access the help of the ambulance or police?

In case you haven’t noticed, it’s a rather rough world out there on the street.  And it can be equally rough even if one has a roof over their head.  A big part of Jesus’ ministry was “going about doing good,” as Peter’s sermon to Cornelius in Acts 10 states.  Although it shouldn’t be the sum total of our ministry, just as it wasn’t the sum total of Jesus’ ministry, we…the church…today…need to be more cognizant of the need to “go about doing good,” in our sphere of influence.  One way we can do that is to be more available to those on the outside…to remove the barriers between us and them…to open ourselves to the kinds of service that sometimes are not pleasant or require us to make a sacrifice.

May God encourage and empower His people to selfless acts of service, wherever and however those opportunities may present.

 

Blessings,

Some Time Away

    Good afternoon.  For those two or three of you who follow me, you know I didn’t post anything last Thursday.  That’s because, if you didn’t see it on social media, we were celebrating our 50^th wedding anniversary the weekend before…then went to a Plank family reunion in Illinois along with thirty-some other Planks.  Our anniversary celebration followed the obligatory meet-&-greet reception on Saturday, and consisted of three nights at a Bed & Breakfast…not an AIR B&B, but a real Bed and Breakfast…in the Flint Hills of Central Kansas.

Far from urban areas and definitely in the country, the place had been built specifically for a bed and breakfast.  There was a 15 or so acre lake just off of the back patio, and we were the only ones there besides our hosts.  I really enjoyed watching the sun set, hearing the birds of the area, cattle mooing off in the distance, and taking in the rural flavor of Kansas.

Of course, we also visited some nearby places such as the Eisenhower Museum in Abilene, the Tallgrass National Preserve, and other attractions that befit an older couple NOT looking for a lot of noisy nightlife.  We spent some time just passing through some of the smaller towns in the area, just to look around a bit.  All in all, it was a good time of rest and renewal.

Our family reunions are, I think, somewhat unusual in these times.  The six of us siblings are the matriarch/patriarchs of the family, and started the reunions decades ago following the passing of our parents.  We meet pretty much every year at a place that can accommodate 30 to 50 people, including children, and where we can have meals served to us.  Usually, that’s a camp of some kind such as a YMCA or 4 H Camp, or in this case, a church camp site that also has motel-style rooms they rent.

A couple of things that make this somewhat unusual are that we make a special effort to include all who choose to come to the reunion, and an equally special effort to get along and not cause waves of trouble.  There is no alcohol allowed, and we don’t discuss politics or religion because we are all over the spectrum when it comes to those two topics.  Yet we have plenty to talk about and listen to…and are grateful for the family time.

Second, the kids…the nieces, nephews, grand kids and others LIKE to come to the reunions.  They make a special effort to be there, and have said how much they enjoy the time together.  One of these days not long from now, those will be the ones who decide whether, when, and where to hold family gatherings, as we siblings are all of retirement age or more.  It is our hope that they will decide to continue, and will also be able to continue to hold these gatherings.

On the way back from Illinois, we stopped at Dyersville, Iowa, a smaller town about an hour north of I-80.  If that name doesn’t ring a bell, perhaps the movie “Field of Dreams” will.  The movie set baseball diamond and farm house are there in their original location, along with a corn field all around.  They now also have several other buildings, including a gift shop and a couple of places where one can get a burger or drink.  And, they have built a regulation baseball field a short distance from the movie field where major league teams can and do occasionally play ball.

The Field of Dreams field is well-kept and is accessible at no cost, although they ask for a donation.  Of course, given the number of people there, one can’t spend an hour hitting baseballs from home plate…just a few are a reasonable number.  Everyone was respectful of others and didn’t overdo it when it came to occupying home plate or the pitcher’s mound.  And, one can spend some time in the outfield “having a catch,” as the movie puts it, or running the bases, or just soaking it in.  The corn field is roped off, and there are harsh penalties for anyone found in there.

While we were there two teams of 11 year olds…some kind of summer rec or travel teams had a game scheduled on the Field of Dreams.  They prepared the field for that event after asking everyone to finish what they were doing and get off the field.  We stayed to watch a couple innings of the game.  I have to imagine that it was a special thrill, if not for the boys, for the coaches and officials to play a regulation game in that special place.

It was back to work this week after taking a little over a week off.  Our friends (and almost family) Michael and Bridget, watched the house for us, watered the plants, and even cut the grass and trimmed.  Work had piled up some, and I’m still trying to get out from under it.  So, it’s back to a normal life…one that is both fulfilling and enjoyable.  But it’s good to have a break, and even better to take that break with someone I love and who loves me.

May God bless you the remainder of this week as you continue in life and living.