Memorial Day 2026

 Good morning!

 It was a pleasant Memorial Day weekend overall for the Plank family this year.  In addition to the traditional placing of flowers and plants on the graves of loved ones, remembering them as we did so, we also gathered together on Saturday afternoon to celebrate Gabe’s graduation from high school.  There was good conversation and not a small amount of food at Scott & Laura’s.  They can put on a pretty good scene at times.

Then that evening we all gathered for a hot-dog roast at our place.  The kids played outside and in the park behind us, and us old folks mostly sat and visited, catching up on times past as well as looking ahead to the future.  We especially enjoyed watching the smaller kids manage to cook hot dogs and marshmallows over the open fire, and Zach kept the fire pit stoked with lumber from time to time as the evening got cooler.

Sunday was the normal worship services, with a moment of silence to remember those who had gone before, and especially those who gave their lives in service.  Sunday evening some of us went to Sterling to swim and indulge in homemade ice cream at one of Pat’s relatives.  This gathering at Bob and Lynn’s is quickly becoming a tradition…one that the kids especially like, as the pool is heated and there’s a slide as well.

And Monday we helped Laura clean up the graduation stuff, taking the borrowed tables and chairs back to where they came from.  That afternoon, we went to Harper to pick up the flowers and plants at the cemetery.

Monday evening, we were called regarding Pat’s sister-in-law, who was in hospice care.  She had taken a turn for the worse, and we went to be with her and with Pat’s brother.  We stayed for awhile and visited with others in the family.  Becky passed away about 1am the following morning.  Services will be held Saturday.

It’s been a full weekend.

Becky had been admitted to Hospice House, an inpatient facility in Hutchinson.  It’s visually similar to a small hospital in many ways, but has an entirely different purpose.  The layout of the facility is geared to families and those who are visiting loved ones.  Those who work there have a special heart for the work, and care for the families as much as they do the patient.  At Hospice House, there’s no such thing as a nurse that is too busy to stop and visit for a few minutes.  There are no loud noises, clanking of medical machinery, or noisy carts going down halls.  There’s no, “We don’t allow that here.”

Yes, there are indeed rules.  But there is also compassion and a true desire to serve…at least on the part of those I encountered there.  I don’t know who the nurse is who was assigned to Becky.  But I do know from my experiences in health care and Pat’s work in hospice in the past that this woman knew exactly what she was doing.  She knew exactly what we were thinking.  And she knew exactly what to say, how & when to say it, what to do, and how & when to do it.  If ever I saw a health care provider who combined the art of medicine with the equally important art of compassion and care, it was her.  And I’m speculating that everyone else who works there is equally compassionate, caring, and professional.

So, looking ahead because of Becky’s passing, I see family gatherings, a memorial service, some travel, and a lot of visiting.  As an In-law, even though we consider ourselves all family, I pretty much stay on the sidelines unless invited or asked.  It’s the only appropriate thing to do.  Anything else would be inserting myself into a place where I shouldn’t be.

Going to a cemetery where loved ones are buried can be an humbling and yes, even emotional experience.  The one we go to for the Plank family…the church of my childhood’s cemetery…has both relatives and friends of mine.  Aunts, grandparents, parents, uncles, shirt tail cousins, and friends are there.  People I’ve known, especially in my young days in the church are there.  And those friends of mine who are there…many of those friends were my age or even younger when they passed.

There are some in that church cemetery I don’t know.  And there are some there who were very young…infants and small children who possibly had been caught up in some epidemic of some kind in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s.  It is good, I think, to just walk the rows of stones and remember again that person whose remains are a few feet underground.

I also remember having to mow the cemetery as a boy.  Although it’s only three or so miles out of town, it felt like the middle of nowhere in the summer heat for a boy of 10 or 11 years old.  There was no water, no phone, no buildings, and no shade.  I had an 18 inch mower, and my older brother, who mowed with me, had a 20 inch mower.  We didn’t cut a very wide swath.  It took most of a half day to get it all cut.  The stones at that time had no concrete base, so we had to trim around the stones with hand trimmers once we were finished mowing.

I’m not complaining.  Although I didn’t enjoy the work then, I know now it “built character,” as my Dad would say, and as I now say to my grand kids from time to time.

 

Thanks for listening.  I trust your next days will be fruitful and pleasant.

 

Blessings.

Read & Re-read

 Good morning!

 One of my social media friends recently said, in response to a re-post I did of Farmer Girl’s take on Psalm 22, “Scripture is truly amazing sometimes.  We just need to read and reread both the Old and New Testament.”  Side note here:  Farmer Girl, if you don’t know, is a woman in Washington State whose job is caring for newborn Jersey calves.  She doesn’t own them…it’s her job to care for them.  She also writes prolifically, many times regarding some portion of Scripture.  She has, get this, over a quarter of a million followers.  I “found” her several months ago.  Since then, several of my friends have also begun to follow her on social media.

However, I want to concentrate today on my friend’s comment rather than Farmer Girl’s post.  Her amazement, I believe, came about because of the specific wording in Psalm 22 having to do with Jesus being crucified centuries later than the Psalm was written.  The Psalm speaks of people gambling for clothing, pierced hands and feet, bones out of joint (not broken, dislocated), and extreme thirst.  Jesus quotes a portion of the Psalm on the cross.  The religious leaders also, unknowingly, quote a portion.  The Psalm, written dozens of generations before crucifixion was even a thing, is uncanny in it’s similarity with the reality of the crucifixion.  That is what my friend was referring to in her comment.

But, why does she advocate a reading and re-reading of Scripture?  Why take the time to read Scripture in the first place?  And why would someone want to read something a second time?  Or a third time?  Why, perhaps, re-read something that one may have memorized long ago and can still quote verbatim?  Why is it that people the world over recommend reading and also re-reading Scripture?

First, if one doesn’t initially read Scripture…that is, read it the first time…that person won’t know what is there.  Oh, someone may hear snippets and portions of the Bible in sermons, classes, or in conversation with others.  But to really know what is there means to be reading it in some way.  Reading can consist of the normal way of reading.  It can also be audio Bibles or other means of absorbing what is in the text.  How foolish it is to think one knows the content of a book…any book…not having read it.  And, that needs to be virtually a cover-to-cover reading…not just here and there reading.  Not just a Cliff’s Notes reading.

Second, why re-read?  Like much good literature, the Bible is a book that, when read a second, third, or tenth time, spills out additional information and truth that a first reading just doesn’t allow.  A first time read is one that allows a general, overall view of the material.  It takes a re-read, or several re-reads, to absorb much of the content that is overlooked on first read.  Farmer Girl, when reading Psalm 22, already knew what was in the Gospel accounts of the crucifixion, and could easily compare the two.  She also knows something of the history of the text…that the Psalm was written centuries before there was even such a thing as crucifixion…that it was written by King David…that it foretold in exact detail the happenings of centuries later.

But perhaps most of all, Scripture needs to be read, re-read and read yet again because of its source.  All Scripture, Paul the great Apostle said, is inspired by God.  We believe, on good authority by Paul as well as untold thousands of other sources, ways, and means, that God is the ultimate author of the Bible.  Yes, humans wrote the text.  Those humans, we believe, were guided in their writing by God Himself as they set down the words, phrases, and books of the Bible.

You may say, “Well, that’s really a hard line to swallow.  I just can’t buy that.”  And many people say exactly that.  But, what if it’s really true that God inspired humans to write the words that became the Bible?  What if it really is that way?  Are you willing to take a chance and turn your back on what may just be God’s message to humanity?  Are you willing to gamble your life and your relationship with the God of the universe on the fact that you find it really difficult to accept the notion that God is the ultimate author?

It seems to me that’s like playing Russian roulette.  Only one bullet in the magazine.  Six possibilities.  Surely, it won’t fire this time.  But what if it does?  Are you willing to take that chance?

I hope and trust you will see the Bible for what it is…God-breathed truth.  The more you read…the more you study…the more you compare various texts of the Bible…the more you understand its history and the times referred to in it…the more you see the overall, overarching story of God’s love for His creation…you’ll become, I believe, one who is knowledgeable enough of it that you can put together a story of love, forgiveness and redemption…God reaching out to His creation in order to reconcile it…mankind included…to Himself.  May you receive blessing today as you read, study, and ponder God’s word.

Varied Thoughts

 Good morning.  It has been a couple of weeks since I’ve posted a Thought.  This past weekend, RiverWalk hosted Keith and Sharon Lancaster, founders of Acappella Ministries and creators of the several vocal groups who sing Christian songs acappella, or without the use of instruments.  Acappella Ministries has several other arms to it…one of them being the Songfest weekends that take place in churches around the country.  Keith and Sharon travel to the churches and host times of learning new Christian songs and singing the old hymns, all in four-part harmony without instruments.  We hosted such an event this past weekend.

I was the coordinator and point person for the event, so was preoccupied for the last few weeks getting everything organized.  We also had many volunteers helping us, as these events attract people not from our church.  We had folks from central Kansas, Oklahoma, and other areas…over 250 gathered to sing songs of faith and praise to God, using only our voices, both Saturday and Sunday.

In our faith tradition, we normally never use instruments to accompany our singing.  We also normally use music arranged in four-part harmony.  Some other faith traditions, usually in the more conservative realm, also sing without accompaniment.  Some of those folks were with us Saturday, and possibly Sunday for the singing and services.

These past weeks have also been tough regarding benevolence.  We’ve had many requests for gasoline…many more than normal due to the price of fuel.  Things are getting harder for those who were barely making a go of it in the past.  My concern is that some of those who have been able to keep a roof over their family’s head are now at a point that they may no longer be able to do so, and we’ll have more in the street than we’ve had in the past.

The issue (I don’t refer to homelessness and poverty as “problems,”) is incredibly complex, requiring much more than slick, one-line answers that easily roll out of one’s mouth.  Everyone has to be on board.  Government can’t do it alone.  Non-profits and faith communities can’t do it alone.  Individuals can’t do it alone.  It takes us all working together, understanding the issues first, then working collaboratively with each other and with the homeless and poverty communities on solutions.  If we try something that isn’t working, we need to back out and go down a different path.  It may take some time, effort, and failed attempts to get it right.  However, when push comes to shove, we really have no other options long-term.

On a more positive note, this is the time of the year for graduations, for celebrations, and especially in June, weddings and anniversary celebrations.  School is (or will be) out for the summer.  Teens will have summer jobs.  The pools and splash pads will be open.  And for those who can afford to do so, it’s vacation time.  The Planks are planning yet another annual reunion which we plan to attend.  We’ll leave a couple of days early and take in a few things at Branson before heading to Illinois for the reunion.  Beyond that this year, I don’t know if or where we may travel.

Last year, we made a week out of traveling in Western and Northern Kansas, visiting places we knew or knew about, since we both have lived in those areas in the past.  It was a time of relaxed travel on sparsely-traveled Western Kansas roads, and visiting some places we hadn’t taken the time to see when we lived in the area.  We enjoyed seeing those places, and visiting with one or two friends along the way whom we hadn’t seen in quite some time.  We are grateful we can do those things during this time in our lives.

This Thought has been kind of a combination of thoughts from the past couple of weeks.  I know it isn’t what you usually find in this space, but it’s what is on my mind now.  Thank you for listening, and thank you also for your generosity and willingness to help when and however you can to make your corner of the world a better place.

 Blessings.