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.