Today we thank you, O God, for my colleagues’ senses of humor. When I heard I’d need a sleeping bag for this weekend’s congregation visit, I jokingly asked if it was a 4-star hotel. He responded, “No, a million stars,” and sent this photo. What have I gotten myself into? Amen.
Today we thank you, O God, for the gift of sunscreen. After all, it’s the middle of summer in a tropical latitude here. Just because it’s chilly in the mountains, doesn’t mean I won’t get a sunburn. Maybe someday I’ll learn. Amen.
Today we give you thanks, O God, that even if it takes a long time, the most overpowering fears can be overcome. After 13 months, Moses came and sat on my lap, and it’s lovely. Amen.
Today we thank you, O God, for Kathy Holm’s strawberry preserves. They’re even good in Michigan. Amen.
Today we thank you, O God, for my brother and my sister-in-law, and the chance to spend some time with them as adults. If I worked as hard as them, in their jobs and in their homes, I’d be no fun to be around. But instead, I find them to be really wonderful people that I’d like, even if they weren’t my family. Amen.
Today we thank you, O God, for the gift of washing machines. They make it much easier to clean a two year-old’s poop out of a bathroom rug. Amen.
Today we thank you, O God, for the gift of toilets. Not only do they do their job well, but my cat seems to think that if he goes behind them, he becomes invisible. A multipurpose tool indeed. Amen.
Today I thank you, O God, for the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory. Especially the question in the middle of the test that asks, “True or false: You feel like you’re being tested often.” It made me laugh out loud. Amen.
Today we thank you, O God, for the wasp that appeared in the bathroom while I was taking a shower. That makes twice in three years. But seriously though, there has to be a better way to show your love to me than sending sharp, flying things when I’m not wearing clothing?
Today we thank you, O God, as this year draws to a close, for the season that is also ending at my home congregation. Pastor Bruce Osterhout has faithfully cared for the people God has placed in his charge for five and a half years. He has often done so bearing the pain of the systemic challenges that, like many congregations, have been part of our story for decades. And he has always done so with a focus on the gospel as articulated in Matthew 25: Feeding the hungry, quenching thirst, welcoming the stranger, clothing the naked, caring for the sick, and visiting the imprisoned. Pastors are human, and none is perfect; but Bruce’s passion for the needs of the world has brought much to this community of faith and helped us to grow incredibly. He will be deeply missed at Zion’s. And I am glad that, as a colleague, I don’t have to miss him too much. Grant him discernment for the future, God, and confidence in work well-done. Amen.
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