Now that the summer travel season is upon us … Let’s review a bit before I give you today’s timely travel tip.

The Rules
1. Generally, the time traveled is less than or equal to the time stayed.
2. Always live in the time zone you are in.
3. Pack what you will use and use what you pack… ordinarily

How did we do today…?
#1- No problem for this trip. Today was a long stinkin’ day, but a good one!
#2- Maybe the rule should be embrace the time zone you are in. We left the house early this morning and after eight hours of travel arrived at our destination before noon! Love the time zones!
#3- Shouldn’t have a problem with this one unless the temp drops!

Now for a timely, travel tip. When staying at a motel, sometimes it’s hard to remember the room number. Do what we do. Associate the room number with its corresponding number in the gray Psalter Hymnal. For example, room 620 = “By the Sea of Crystal.” Today’s room number is ”When Moses Raised the Serpent Up.” If you want to know what the number is, I guess you’ll have to look it up.

It’s funny how things work out sometimes what with… the bloody nose… branting … “Who me? Sing with the choir.”… a big hug… I’m telling you, my mind is just spinning. I don’t know where to start, but I’ll try…

I really didn’t need to go, but I did and it’s a good thing! I like a good choir and the Grand Rapids Choir of Men and Boys, a great choir, sang in our church tonight.

So there I was enjoying the concert when suddenly one of the boys, about age 8, went down in the middle of a song! Actually, he went up… up the aisle pinching his bloody nose. A perfect branting situation I thought.

There are only a few people, my immediate family to be exact, who know about branting, the origin of which I’ll save for another time. Anyway, branting is a sudden, unexpected substitution for… say, a performer with a bloody nose, by another…say, me, who is sitting there ready and able to jump in and save the day.

Imagine this… The director, seeing the kid go ‘down’ and realizing that the song is now in jeopardy, turns and catches my eye. I give him a quizzical, ‘Who me?’ kind of look, then a little nod. Without missing a beat, he points with his left hand to the now empty spot into which I coolly slide and seamlessly continue the song, singing the once vacant soprano part. That’s branting. It didn’t go down that way, though. I was asked to sing a hymn with the choir, along with the other 250 people there…. Not exactly branting.

It was a great concert. Afterwards, as I was heading up the aisle, heading out, a much more remarkable thing happened… Outa the blue, a mom of one of the boys, Michelle, former student, East Christian 8th grade class of ’88, zipped across the sanctuary and gave me a huge hug! We had a great time reminiscing and catching up! Michelle is doing well. So am I thanks to a fine concert and a wonderful reunion. Funny how things work out. I didn’t need to go tonight, but I’m glad I did.

Let’s just get this out of the way first thing – my confession. Here it is. I really didn’t want to visit my mother Saturday afternoon. There, I said it. She lives in a nursing home walking distance from where I live. We try to stop by a couple of times a week. However, this week, for whatever reason it didn’t happen. So, come Saturday afternoon, the right thing to do was to go see Mom… and I didn’t want to … but I did, being the dutiful son and all. So, instead of washing the cars, I walked to the ‘home.’

I found Mom in the big room in her usual recliner, feet up, deep into an afternoon nap. The warm room was crowded with residents none of whom we’re watching ‘The Lion King’ blasting away from the big screen TV at the end of the room. Sitting next to Mom was Alice, in her wheelchair, chin on her chest, wrapped in a blanket, sleeping. Alice had two black eyes that looked like the black grease a ball player might wear. Mom said that Alice fell out of bed. This was where I learned my least-of-these lesson.

Jesus taught the original least-of-these lessons in a parable in which a group was commended for feeding the hungry, clothing the poor and visiting the imprisoned. Jesus said that when they did these things it was doing it for him. They were surprised to hear that, I think. I get the impression that these folks figured they were just doing what they do.

I think these ‘least-of-these’ moments happen often. It’s not always the big ones of feeding the hungry, clothing the poor and visiting prisoners, either. Every day there are occasions where people, for some reason, are genuinely in need of something – in need of encouragement, kindness, friendship. I’ve been that person … the ‘least.’ In small ways, God’s work of grace and love gets done in significant ways by people putting other’s needs before their own … just doing what they do. No big deal, just taking care of the least-of-these without even realizing it.

So there we were, Mom and I, chatting, the Lion King roaring from the TV, when Alice opened her eyes and cried out, “Evelyn!” And again, “Evelyn!” My Mom reached over, lifted the blanket covering Alice’s arm and gave it a little rub. Mom’s smile and words told Alice that everything was OK. Alice responded with a relieved smile of her own and nodded off again, content.

It was a small thing really. Alice needed a bit of comfort and my mom was there to give it. No one noticed… except me… and Jesus, for whom Mom was doing this without realizing it no doubt… just doing what she does.

I’m here to humbly confess that this was the place I needed to be on Saturday afternoon. I was the needy one that afternoon. God … just doing what he does … taught me an important lesson, this time about the least-of-these. Thanks, God. Thanks, Mom.

Matthew 25:40 – “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.'”

Mondays in my classroom are unique. First of all, it’s wall-to-wall Monday. What that means in my teaching world is I have only a few breaks until the end of the day. I’m with students most of the time. Not all bad, but….

It’s also Prayer Request Monday. What I do first thing in the morning is gather from my students prayer items – concerns, things of thanks, things like that. Then we pray. This has been the routine for the year. It flows rather nicely – review the requests then pray and then begin the day… over and over again… until this Monday.

I don’t think anyone noticed, but there was just a small pause before I began praying, a slight hesitation. The first words stuck in my throat. They couldn’t quite make it out. It was like a pause for a punctuation mark at the end of the sentence, except this was at the beginning. I bit my lip and continued, holding back the emotions. I knew before I started that there might be trouble with this prayer this morning.

You see, at our faculty devotions for the week we were given an update on a colleague’s husband who is dying of cancer. Maybe just a few days left. Tough stuff. She and her husband have been on our prayer list all year. So here I am in my class taking prayer requests from students – my babysitter is having a baby soon, my dog might need to be put to sleep, the softball game went well, getting a new dog in July… Piddly stuff really compared to the horror of cancer and watching a loved one slowly, painfully pass from life into glory.

But here’s the catch… in my throat that is. Strangely, to God Almighty, creator of the universe, it’s all important – sick dogs, pregnant babysitters, dying husbands – all of it, nothing piddly about it! That’s what I realized as I began my prayer that morning. God has it covered, big or little… before we even ask… or know how or what to ask.

That was Monday… Wall-to-Wall and Prayer Request Monday. What the Spirit helped me realize once again is that for God it’s Wall-to-Wall Everyday – no breaks from his children. Doing what’s best for us. All good… Thank you, God.

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Philippians 4:6,7 – Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Friday morning I heard from a friend that the sheep were out! Not escaped ‘out,’ but out it the pasture! So… after school on Friday a decision had to be made. Sit behind my desk and attack the pile of papers that I had collected that day … OR… grab the camera and go. The following photos show what I decided… And there ain’t one picture of a corrected paper, either!

(Click on the individual picture to get the full size version.)

I have to admit that I’ve been out of sorts pretty much since spring vacation ended a couple of weeks go. I figured that it had to do with not really wanting to go back to work after a fun week with family and friends. You know how that goes. My past experience has shown that as time moves on the post-vacation blahs usually go away. Not this time, and I didn’t know why.

Last Wednesday I discovered the answer. As I was getting my clothes ready for the next day, Thursday, I looked in my closet for my Lee’s Classic-Fit No-Iron Navy Blue pants, the next one in the wardrobe lineup for the week. You know, Monday the black pants, Tuesday the tan ones and Wednesday the gray Lee’s; then, of course, Thursday,the navy blue pants and then flexible Friday when anything goes.

Something was amiss, as it apparently was the week before and who knows how many weeks prior to that. I was missing, you guessed it, my Lee’s Classic-Fit No-Iron Navy Blue pants, an integral part of the wardrobe rotation. It was no wonder I’d been a bit ‘off’ since spring break. Unbeknownst to me my whole wardrobe rotation was as mixed up as I felt.

So, I searched the whole house. No sign of the pants. Where could they be? How does one go about losing one’s pants? Mentally, I retraced my whereabouts over the last weeks. AHA! Lost in Boston? Missing in Massachusetts, perhaps? One quick phone call confirmed that the missing pair of pants had been left behind, hanging in a closet, at my daughter’s house in Massachusetts. Whew! Mystery solved…

Right now, as I write, I’m on the train, heading home from New York after a delightful family reunion. The train is pretty much on time. The car I’m in is pretty much empty. No big hairy guy got on in Cleveland to sit next to me. Once again, somewhere the sun is rising, as it always does. Things are pretty good…plus… the Lee’s Classic-Fit No-Iron Navy Blue pants are on their way to their rightful place in the rotation. All is well. Life is good. Things are once again set right …and now next week should be a better week. That’s a good thing:)

So then… where did I put that Arrow Permanent Press light blue shirt that goes with the Lee’s Classic Fit…?

A Toledo Sunday Morning