It's Anniversary Time!

     

We were married January 28, 1961. One of our first dates started under a harvest moon in Louisville. She was the most beautiful girl I had ever seen---still feel that way. The night we were married there were ten inches of snow on the ground. Still out there in the semi-darkness more people came than I thought could  possbly get there. After the reception we got into my old green Plyouth and headed for  a three- honeymoon at French Lick, Indiana. But the roads were terrible and we had to stop somewhere. So across the river from Louisville we stopped at the first motel we saw. Not exactly a honeymoon suite, but we were desperate. My wife still remembers the hole in the bedspread on our bed. She laughed many times and said, "Was this a foretaste of things to come?" The next day we found our way to French Lick. An old beautiful inn. Looking back I think our room and board for those two nights and three days was less than sixty dollars.

Three days later we came back to reality. I had one semester of Seminary to  finish--she had one semester of  college left. We did not know what the future would hold. First church smack dab in Western Kentucky tobacco country. Two city slickers didn't know what we had gotten ourselves into. Newither did they. But there in that hard internship I don't know if I taught them much--but I learned a lot about church and preaching. We had a little red-headed girl born while were there. Not long after that I took a church in Southside, Virginia. where our red-headed son was born. And from there we moved to Georgetown, Kentucky one of our Camelots. And then to Clemson and after thirteen years to Memphis and finally ended my full-time ministry in Birmingham, Alabama.  

Gayle was a trooper even though some of those places she had to leave friends anmd places she loved.  She is a great musician--some years she taught 40 piano students And cooked supper every night--and kept two kids our of prison. And kept her husband from going completely crazy. No wonder her kids still love her fiercely.

I thought when I retired in 2000 this was over.  My wife could finally breathe a sigh of relief--we were finished. Well, not exactly. This was followed by eight churches as Interim. Most lasted a year. But standing with me at every juncture--sometimes very hard places--sometimes wonderful--was the girl that said yes that snowy night in Louisville. No one could be a better partner. She has been the best Pastor's wife I know because she was just herself always. And if some church member did not think she lived up to their job description--too bad.

And so here we are some 59 years later. Looking back I say: "Whew." One day Gayle said:"I am tired of living in a condo or an apartment or some church's empty parsonage. I got the message. So we moved back to Clermson about seven years ago surrounded by memories and friends that we have loved for years.

Music sometimes says it better than any words can. And if I could sing--this is what I would sing today:

"I'll be loving you Always

With a love that's true Always...

Days might not be fair Always

That's when I'll be there Always

Not for just an hour

Not for just a day

Not for just a year

But Always."

Always...

Always...

Always...    

--Roger Lovette / rogerlovette.blogspot.com

Dr. King: Second Stanza

photo courtesy United States Mission Geneva / flickr

E.J. Dionne, wise columnist writes on the eve of Dr. King's birthday these words. "We can't give up on  King's promised land." And we can't. Dr. King surely must have read the Book again and again. Moses, flawed as we are, left Egypt and led a very reluctant little band. Some days those stragglers  did not have a shred of hope There were revolts, fights and the longing to go back to the safety of terrible Egypt. But Moses kept at it even those days when he wondered too.But God bless him Moses dragged them along. It was a long and circutuous journey. Somebody has said, "Why did it take them so long to get there? It was only 400 miles and it took them forty years?"

It isn't only black folk that still ask that question. But here and there are those who keep the flame of hope still burning. I am deeply troubled as many people are at the climate of cruelty and hate that seems to settle over us all. But deep in his heart Dr. King believed that one day we really would overcome. So we have to do what little band of the scary and frightful did? They just kept going. And so must we.

Someone asked Dick Gregory who marched in countless civil rights marched why he did that. He was beaten up, life threatened, thrown into many Southern jails. Perople would ask: Why in the world did you do this? And he answered, "When my little granddaughter comes and sits on my lap and watches on TV the old tapes of the abuse of Rosa Parks in Montgomery and the hatred spewed when little black children had to march through screaming adults just to go to school in Little Rock" Dick Gregory told her Honey,  I did what I could."

And in this strange time of families living in cages and racism on the rise ad such a toxic climate I think we all have to answer this hard question" What did we do." I wonder what I will say and what you will say?

And so on Dr. King's birthday it would be good to think of our answer to this question.

"On Jordan's stormy banks I stand 

And cast a wishful eye 

To Canaan's fair and happy land,

Where my possessions lie.

I am bound for the promised land,

 I am bound for the promised land;

O who will come and go with me?

I am bound for the promised land."

There is one thing we know we can't make the journey alone- We have to go with a whole lot of others--Even with some people we do not know.

photo by Mobilus in Mobile  / flickr

--Roger Lovette / rogerlovette.blogspot.com

We have overcome...some

Next Monday is the Birthday of Martin Luther King. Many will go on their way as usual going to work, doing laundry, wondering what they will have for supper, half-listening to the droning on the TV: Impeachment. When will the trial begin?  Good or rigged?And across this United States the divide worsens. Why so much hatred between Democrats ansd Republicans?And the middle of it all the calendar says it is Martin Luther King's birthday.

The great King caused quite a stir. He had this dream "that one day my four little children will one day live on a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character. I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave-owners will be able to sit down together at a table of brotherhood."

 He had a dream...and after all these years the dream is still with us. I see its evidence in my health club where African Americans work out in safety. And tonight our team plays for the National Foorball Championship. Take the black players off any team. Why we'd have to shut down college football and the NFL. We cheer like crazy when our team runs down the field. It doesn't matter what color the players are. Dr. King surely must smile. In our South Carolina Wal Mart and in other stores color does not seen to matter.And through the doors come black and white couples who feel no fear or abuse because they are shopping. Of course, a few folks still look at themour brotherd and sisters with displeasure but not many. We have black professors teaching at our schools--not because they are black but because they are good. Who would have believed that this country would elect a black man as President twice. And we are told that his beautiful wife is one of the most admired women in the world.

We have overcome some...but we still have a long way to go. Racism we thought was long dead rears its urgly head today. White supremacists murder worshippers in their pews. Confederate flags wave from trucks and cars. Almost every church, synagogue and mosque has someone standing at the door making sure that those who comer will be safe. And we built walls and close our entrance doors to all those desperate hurting people who leave terror and fear only to be turned away at the country they thought they could count on. White supremacists fill important positions and flood Twitter, and Facebook and biased journalism and many unthinking Christians ignore the hatred so near.

We have overcome...some. And we should be proud. And hopefully we will pause tomorrow  and remember that dream is not dead. And we will not turn the clock back for long. We will commit ourselves where we are to make sure the dream continues in our hearts. The Statue of Liberty stil burns as a promise to all those out there that need a home and safety. Long ago it was Micah's dream:  "Where all shall sit under own vines and under our own fig trees, and no one shall make any  (of us) afraid..." We have overcome...some.

So let us stop tomorrow and thank God for his lovingkindness over us all...and for those like Dr. King and so many others who remind us of the dream that is at the heart of our faith and the bedrock of this nation. Maybe we will do more than overcome just some.

photo courtesy of NASA Goddard Space Flight Center / flickr

Roger Lovette / rogerlovette.blogspot.com

Everybody Needs a Good Laugh

photo by David Bergin / flickr

The book of Proverbs says it best: “A merry heart doeth good like a medicine.” (Proverbs 17.22) This may be good advice for a people going through a hard time. Who doesn’t need a good laugh these days? Democrats and Republicans and those who don’t vote and just about everybody I know. Nobody should be left out.

I have a fine friend who, day after day keeps a record of some of the funnies her kids have said during the year. I’ve shared some of these in years past. Here's her children's 2019 offerings. Seems that the beginning of a new year it is time to sit and think and have a good laugh.

Here are some of the things her kids said:

Should I let my towel dry before I put it in the washing machine?

See that TV in the corner of the restaurant; aren’t the picture inappropriate?

Did you know that if hotels believe in Jesus they have a Bible in the drawer?

When I am grown up, do I have to make my kids take piano lessons, too?

I’m not hungry. Can I have 2 waffles, 3 pieces of bacon and a scrambled egg?

Wouldn’t it make more sense to put the $ sign afterwards since we say 30 dollars instead of dollars thirty?

Now that I am 4’7” doesn’t that mean that I’m almost as tall as you, Mommy?

If I am the tallest person in my class, does that mean everyone else is growing slowly?

Wouldn’t it be cool if, when Daddy’s truck is old and broken, if we rent a tank, run over the truck, and put it on YouTube?

Can you tell my brother to stop breathing near me?

photo by Roey Ahram / flickr

--Roger Lovette / rogerlovette.blogspot.com

Epiphany Time: This Little Light...

photo courtesy of Medill DC / flickr

I have been thinking a lot about Fred Rogers since I saw the movie, "Want You Be My Neighbor?" For 33 years kids would sit on the floor in front of their TV and watch and listen Mr. Rogers. Both of my children loved his program and loved him. Underneath all Mr. Rogers said or did on that program was the idea that every child is important. And every child ought to have the truth embedded in their hearts that they are loved and they are important. For millions of kids he lit a candle and turned on their lights. His was no little light. Story after story told us of his love ansd care not only for children but for us all.

He spoke at a lot of Graduations. I was very moved when I read the ending of his address
to the Graduates at Marquette University in 2001. Those gathered report those parting words brought tears to many eyes there that day.  His word are as true today as they were then:

"Before I say goodbye and bow again to the eternal within you, I'd like to give you the words of one of my favorite neighborhood songs. This song is called It's You I Like.

It's you I like,
It's not the things you wear.
It's not the way you do your hair,
But it's you I like.
The way you are right now
The way down deep inside you
Not the things that hide you
Not your diplomas...
They're just beside you.
But it's you I like,
Every part of you,
Your skin, your eyes, your feelings,
Whether old or new.
I hope that you'll remember
Even when you're feeling blue,
That it's you I like,
It's you yourself, it's you
It's you I like!.
Congratulations to you all."

In this hard time with divisions in our country and around the world these words of Mr. Rogers may sound simplistic. But all of us have this little light. "If we let shine...and shine...and shine..." the world might not change but we will. Knowing that what we do and say matters and counts. And we keep on going, some of us with enormous obstacles, because the writer John said it best: "the light has  come into the world and the darkness cannot put it out."

And thia is what I have been thinking about this Epiphany time.

photo by Joe Brusky / flickr


--Roger Lovette / rogerlovette.blogspot.com

Mr. Rogers Meets Donald Trump

photo by Spooky Mama / flickr

photo courtesy of Epoch Times / flickr

  Just before Christmas I turned off all the ranting on the telly. Whew! Then my wife and I drove to the local theatre so see the new movie about Mr. Rogers, “Won’t You want to be My Neighbor?” I was a blown away by his kindness and care not only about children but people everywhere. He helped change lives wherever he went.*

I came home and turned on the TV. The President was on per usual. And I began to think: I’d like Mr. Rogers and Mr. Trump to have a conversation. Wonder how that would go? Maybe something like this…

Mr. Rogers: Mr. President I am so honored to finally meet you. With all you pressures and decisions I can’t believe I am sitting in the Oval Office talking to you.

President Trump: Well, yeah I do have a country to run. And leaders from all over the world see my Hotels with my name in large letters  But people everywhere know my name—even in Antarctica. Nobody else has ever had this kind of influence. Some even say I am probably the best President since Lincoln. Everybody says this.

Mr. Rogers: Mr. President—you are right. Everyone seems to know your name. But I have been wondering about those pictures behind your desk. Who are those people?

President Trump: Well I could have a lot more pictures out there of people who think I may be the greatest person they know.

Mr Rogers: I am intrigued with the pictures behind your desk. Turn around and look at your pictures. Who are these people?

The President: I don’t want to talk about them—it would take up too much time and I’m probably the busiest person in the world. Everybody says this.

Mr. Rogers: I know you must have enormous pressures but tell me a little about those pictures.

The President: Hmm, close by is my mother. Really my father ought to be the first person you see. Maybe even Ivanka—but those people that dust the office—and they could do a better job—you know that most of them come from foreign countries. Some don’t even speak English.You’d think they would know how to arrange my pictures. But you know how it is.

 Mr. Rogers: Tell me about those pictures. How you feel about those in those frames. They must mean a lot to you to have them so close by,

The President: Well I told you I don’t have much time. Me and Melanie are flying to Mara Lago this afternoon on Air Force One. I need a break—everybody tells me I work much too hard.

Mr. Rogers:  About your photographs.

The President: Hmm, close by is my Mother’s picture.  Behind me and second in line in is my Father. Fred Trump was one of the most amazing business men in the world. Everybody said this. He had apartments everywhere and made gobs of money and taught me a few things along the way. Not as handsome as me and not nearly as  successful—he didn’t own any hotels and he never made Man of the Year which I have done numerous times. If I put just some of those framed pictures from Time up there there would be so many they would just fall off the desk. And there would be no room for those pictures back there. 

Mr. Rogers: Which pictures there tell about some of those people that shaped your life.

The President—Well, I am a self-made man—everybody says so—but of  course my father helped some. And Ivanka, one of the sexiest women anywhere—I taught her how to make money and she has done well. But I guess before I go I ought to tell you about my sister, a big-time Judge. I taught her a lot too. There is a picture of my children—all of them: Ivanka of course at the front first and then there is  my son, Don Jr. who is named after me and Eric.  And there is Barron in the back standing next to Tiffany. Everybody says they are the most beautiful pictures of anybody’s family. Over on the side is Melania who is my wife, of course. I took her out of Slovenia where she was a model and gave it up when I married her. Some of the pictures of her modeling days are just wow! But that’s about my picturers. No more room.

Mr Rogers: You may not know it but I have two children who are the light of my life, They keep me going l I wouldn’t have done the things I have done without them and my wife. 

The President—And what is that? 

TheRogers: Well I have had this TV program mostly for children and have been doing it for 33 years. I call it: “Won’t you be my Neighbor?” I tried to help just as many children I could—especially those that don’t feel good about themselves. And sometimes I learned a lot of things from their parents. They have all taught me so much.

Mr. President: You have a TV show? I never heard of it. You know that when “The Apprentice” was on it got the highest ratings of any program on TV. Maybe ever. I had to give it up when I started running for president, And the show just sagged after I left,. That loser Arnold Schwarzenegger ran it in the ground. But everybody said it was the best TV series they had ever seen. You wouldn’t believe all the awards I still get.

Mr Rogers: Your schedule must be monstrous. I don’t see how you do it. But I was wondering how you start your day. What keeps you going? 

The President: Well, I don’t need much sleep maybe four hours. But when I get up about nine or ten  I eat a good breakfast that the kitchen prepares just according to my specifications. And I put on my bathrobe and get the headlines from the paper the staff has provided—and I turn on Fox News to see what is happening and see how many stories they have of me. And of course there is Hannity and that new guy Tucker somebody I listen to just about every day. Fox News is a great media outfit. Not much fake news—sometimes it slips in even for them—but most of the time they stand behind me and I help make their ratings just go out the top. 

They give me ideas and I Tweet about what’s going on. Speaking of children did you see that girl from that foreign country won Person of the Year. I couldn’tt believe they picked her instead of me. Just ignored what I have done! But people read my Tweets every day and no other President has had such a communication tool. After my Tweets I put on my custom-made suits and have my hair done. Do you know that the President that has a Hair stylist on call to fix their hair. What about that? 

And then I open the door and solve all the world’s  problems. I gotta go. I have already given you more time than I should have. But thanks for coming. And remember next year we gotta still keep America great.

Mr. Rogers: Mr. President I have ideas how you might deal some of the children in the world. I want you to know that every morning I am going to pray for you and your family. Your wife and daughters and sons. God bless you in your work.

The President: I gotta go—thanks for coming. I bet you learned a lot about me that nobody else really knows. I bet you could get some pointers for your TV show. 

*One of the many books about Fred Rogers that moves me is Tim Madigan’s book, I’m Proud of You. It tells there moving story of how Mr. Rogers helped change this Reporter’s life. Great book.

—Roger Lovette / rogerlovette.blogspot.com