A ROCKY FOUNDATION

  After the usual hymns, the pastor slowly walked over to the pulpit. Before he gave his sermon he briefly introduced a guest minister who was in the service that evening. In the introduction, the pastor told the congregation that the guest minister was one of his dearest childhood friends and that he wanted him to greet the church and share whatever he felt would be appropriate for the service.  With that, an elderly man stepped up to the pulpit and began to speak. "A father, his son and a friend of his son were sailing off the Pacific coast when a fast-approaching storm blocked any attempt to get back to the shore." He began, “The waves were so high, that even though the father was an experienced sailor, he could not keep the boat upright and the three were swept into the ocean as the boat capsized. Grabbing a rescue line, the father had to make the most excruciating decision of his life: to which boy would he throw the other end of the life line? He only had seconds ...

        Hanging in the US National Gallery of Art is a series of four paintings by Thomas Cole called “The Voyage of Life”. Each painting depicts a stage of life. The first painting is of childhood. It shows a mountain with a dark cave at its base and a river flowing out of the cave. A beautiful boat glides out of the cave into a world of lush vegetation, flowers in bloom and peaceful water. Inside the boat is a laughing baby with a Guardian Spirit standing right behind. The painting shows childhood as a time of wonder and joy.  The second painting is called “youth”. We see the same boat now traveled further downstream. The baby has grown into a teenage boy. He stands in the rear, confidently steering the boat towards a majestic white castle off in the distance. The Guardian Spirit stands on the banks, watching the young man boldly chart his course. The painting shows youth as a time of dreaming and absolute self confidence. In the third painting the you...

  When I was a student chaplain at a hospital in Philadelphia, I spent a great deal of my time in the geriatric wing. The general routine was to start the shift by checking in with all the patients on the floor to see if anyone needed to talk or pray about things. The men were so predictable. On the first day we would have some small chat and I would be ushered out to, "help someone in greater need". On the second day I would get the wave, "Doing alright son, have a good day." Then, on the third day things would be different. By this time the men had taken the tests they came in for and had been given "the news" by their doctors, which usually was very bad news. On the third day I always knew the visit was going to be a long one. I would say hello and the response was always the same – silence. Usually, they would be looking out the window or looking at nothing at all. I would pull up a chair and just wait; in a few moments they would start talking. ...

                                  A patient was in the doctor’s office for his annual check up. As part of the exam the doctor looked in his eyes. Noticing how serious his astigmatism was, he said half jokingly to him “you are about blind, man. You better get your prescription for your glasses checked on to make sure it is up to date. So he made an appointment to see his ophthalmologist. The doctor had him sit in the chair, take off the glasses and read the chart at the end of the room. If you have been to the doctor’s office and read the chart a few times you know you can squint and fake your way through at least part of the test. The doctor asked him “can you read the top letter? Yes he said “it is an A. Can you read the next row down? Yes it says CZY. Can you read the next row? Yes I think it reads KNSCV. Finally the doctor said “OK...