Today's Opinions

I love talking with people in their 80s and 90s about life and how to live it. When you find someone that has that much experience, then you better take the opportunity to seek them out. I do. Their answers to my questions sometimes surprise me, never bore me, and always inspire me.

The other day I was fortunate enough to talk for an hour to a beautiful 87-year-old great grandmother. She and her husband are celebrating 68 years of marriage this year.

My gosh, think about it!

I had heard the complaint before in other places, at other times. “I struggle with wanting my child to participate in summer Little League baseball and still have time for our family events, not to mention participation in church,” the concerned mother told me over the phone. “It just seems like we can’t do it all.” In her particular situation, baseball games were being scheduled not only on Sundays, but on Sunday mornings, a definite conflict for Christians who want their family to worship together. As a parent, and as a pastor, I understood.

It’s hot. We are in the middle of the hottest summer since they started keeping records in 1880. And to think that only a few months ago we were complaining about the cold weather.

We tramped out of an unusually cold winter, only to find ourselves trudging through a scorching summer. It has proponents on both sides of the global warming issue shouting at each other. The most convinced are the most strident.