ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, contributions, stewardship, church, fund raising

According to the ALS website today August 27, 94.3 million dollars has been contributed through the “ice bucket challenge.” This interests me because my grandkid has called me out to do the challenge, and who would ever want to let a grandkid down? Not me. Do I know about ALS? Yes, it has brought about a horrible demise to a good friend’s dad, ravaging the body and the mind as it progressed. Have I ever contributed to ALS causes? No, not until this challenge. And I tend to respond with contributions when personally asked, no one has ever asked me for this cause. At the same time my local church is struggling to meet it’s budget this year and actually for the last couple of years. Since I am the pastor naturally this concerns me. And I know from my reading that our church is not alone. We are all good folks. Our church members are involved in over thirty different causes around our community. Has the church been replaced on everyone’s list for causes that come up with unique challenges like the “ice bucket”? I’ve just started reading an interesting book, Not Your Parents Offering Plate, where J.Clif Christopher challenges most everything I have been taught about the offering and church. Also I have observed that many entrepreneurs and artists are fund raising for their projects on social media. I even contributed to one artist and received a free mp3 copy of their cd online when it was released. That was kinda cool. Perhaps that is something I should think about when I retire and turn my energy toward song writing and other hobbies. In the mean time I suppose I will keep trying to find ways to inspire folks to live for something greater than themselves and keep passing the plate at church on Sunday mornings. And I expect to get a really cold shower in a few hours. My plan is to hand out water to folks out exercising on the local trail system by my church, and then to take the ice bucket challenge with the ice used to cool the bottled water… With a song in my heart, SoulSongWriter

Tears,

It seems I weep a lot lately. A LOT. That should be no surprise, as my siblings tell me that they would sing to me in my crib, "poor lil lamb has lost his way..." just to watch me cry. I remember once on the edge of a race riot in high school I stood watching the fighting and violence and crying. Coach Willie (wrestling) came up to me and said, "Man, why cry? You can't change everything in this world." Last week I wept over the death of Robin Williams, then the death of a young black man in Missouri, then over the police officer and his family who had made the fatal, fateful decision to use his weapon. Last week I wept over the closing of a program in my local church because it is labor intensive and we folks who have grown older and tireder are simply worn out. Last week I fell off a ladder, it hurt, but I cried more when the call came that my grand daughter had fallen and was being taken to the E.R. to have her elbow x-rayed (no broken bones thankfully). And the news continues of violence in Missouri, and I weep. I watch my grand girls start school and I weep. Coach Willie's words still echo in my mind, "you can't change everything" and still forty plus years later, I weep. Can my words, my actions change ANYthing? I've reached out to folks with that horrible inner illness, just like Robin Williams, and then I've said words at their graveside, and gone home to weep. Racism is still rampant. I suppose tears are the price I pay for living and caring. I think I'll go home now, put on some music. Pray for our world, and hope I don't leak too much down my cheek. Where is that cd of John Lennon, Imagine? Yes that's the one. And then Eric Clapton, no tears in heaven... ... poor lil lamb has lost his way, bah, bah, bah... SoulSongWriter