The Meaning of Life: ‘Try and be nice to people, avoid eating fat, read a good book every now and then, get some walking in and try and live together in peace and harmony with people of all creeds and nations.’

I was noticing patterns everywhere.  There was a pattern to the tides, a pattern to birds’ migration, to their singing and their nesting.  There was a pattern to the fences of the pastures and to the plants in the garden.  There was a pattern in the trees, patterns in the rocks and patterns in the waves. There was a pattern in the quilt on my bed, in the planks of wood on the floor, and the cobblestones on the path.  And there was a pattern to my day.

I could see the great movement of the water in the current, immense and unremitting.  It spoke to me something of God.  Vast and restless...a little intimidating.

After two or three days, I expanded the search.  I looked between the seats in the car, under the sofa cushions, in pockets of clothing…it was nowhere to be found.   I emptied the contents of my brief case…turned it upside down and shook it over the kitchen table.  Loose change spilled out, some breath mints, an Advil tablet…

I think it was my mom, who said to me on one of those very expensive international cell phone calls, “Well, God knew you needed a longer rest.”  And when I hung up from talking to her, I thought, “God knew I needed a longer rest so he blew the top off a mountain in Iceland?”

And so the chase went…upstairs, downstairs…to curtain rods and picture frames, and back to the ceiling fan. The cats thought I was on their team.  They were wrong.

I’ve always had trouble with the “T” and “L” of Calvin's T.U.L.I.P.  Does this make me a heretic?

The word “holy” is overused and has become meaningless in most situations.  Batman’s sidekick Robin used “holy” in just about every imaginable expression: “Holy Smokes,”  “Holy Guacamole,” and “Holy Molars.” I confess that I’ve let “holy cow” slip past my lips too many times to count.

One of my favorite texts from the bible is a song about time – it was popular long before the Byrds made it famous in the 60s.

I have often wished that God would provide a great, neon sign, pointing in the direction I should go...  

I am glad that there are people in the world who can build skyscrapers.  I am an admirer of such people. And not just builders of buildings, but also people who change the world with big ideas — big thinkers who have vision and the ability to see the future.

I was close enough to see the whites of his eyes, if he had them.

Lately my thoughts have been less heavenly-minded and more creation-bound.  This has led me to consider evolution more thoroughly.  In a blog that’s ostensibly about birding and theology, it just figures I would have to go there eventually.

Though it only took six weeks, my impending departure dragged on — feeling more like a trans-Atlantic cruise ship that takes forever to pull away from the pier while family and friends wave goodbye and throw streamers from the shore.   

“Dissolving the relationship” between a church and a pastor sounds like a grim task, but it’s not really.  It’s a necessary formality that allows the church and pastor to move forward with mutual blessing.  And it gave us one last opportunity to do things decently and in good order. 

As I’ve talked about it with friends, more than one has made the comment that “God usually calls us toward something — not away from something.”  That’s mostly true, I think, especially if you’re already serving God in some capacity.

There’s something about leaving home, leaving routines and familiar places and faces, and my own bed — leaving it all behind to strike out and discover something new.