Post 21/2023 Saturday 10 June . . . I’ve been reading a crop of religion-related magazines friends have passed on to us. The latest post-Cornwall bundle (for the winter/spring months we spent in the UK) includes Anabaptist World, Canadian Mennonite, Christian Century and a few more. Thank you, Willard and Alice for upping our interest and pace in reading!

(I’m writing this blog in the quiet, retreat-like setting at the home of niece Jan and her husband John on Perrin Lake in Michigan. They left early this morning for one of their grandchildren’s baseball games; Marty is a delegate to Indiana-Michigan Mennonite Conference meeting last evening and today at nearby Amigo Centre. Our walks have been shorter, mindful of the smoke caution from forest fires in Canada.)

One winner

Catching up on recent news and views in the cited publications has been kind of like the Indianapolis 500: zoom zoom zoom speed-reading of printed pages.

Some articles, covering the publication calendar since January, I read in depth, others I skimmed, some I had read online, some I skipped. Reminds me of advice to an editor I read about 50 years ago: an editor should edit a publication so that readers can easily find what they want to read.

In dealing with the current crop, one winner stands out: obituaries. Obituaries slowed me down. Made me pause. Reflect. Ponder. Some names were familiar. A good number I knew personally. All of the obits gave pertinent details of the life of the deceased.

The obituaries, with photos, revealed the person’s positive qualities, family relations, education, work, service, church and community roles, interests–in short, highlights of their life. One, notably, shared how a church leader had been guilty of abuse, the issues redemptively resolved, new ministry made possible.

From the group I gained a sense of lives well lived, service rendered, life paths guided by their faith in God, care for others and creation–sometimes in resistance to war and popular culture. They left legacies of meaning and hope beyond the material world.

The readings led me to reflect on the lives of my friends and family who have died in recent and longer ago decades. These dear people remind me of bedrock relationships, good times, too few together times, faith that led to sight, God present then, now and for eternity.

As a teenager, my church’s youth group in each meeting repeated a motto from the Old Testament proverbs of King Solomon, son of David, king of Israel. In the King James Version, Proverbs 3:6 says, “In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” In the New Revised Standard Version it says, “In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.” In this instance, I like the KJV best.

The verse is preceded by: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own insight,” (3:5, NRSV). Thanks, Solomon.

More proverbs

For anyhow, here are a few picks from Proverbs chapter 10:

“A child who gathers in summer is prudent, but a child who sleeps in harvest brings shame.” (5)

“The memory of the righteous is a blessing, but the name of the wicked will rot.” (7)

“Doing wrong is like sport to a fool, but wise conduct is pleasure to a person of understanding.” (23)

“Like vinegar to the teeth, and smoke to the eyes, so are the lazy to their employers.” (26)

“The hope of the righteous ends in gladness, but the expectation of the wicked comes to nothing.” (28)

For me, what matters in giving meaning to life–the thing that nurtures my spiritual soul as well as guides my human self–is relationships, relationships with myself, other people, creatures, the created order, God.

Creating and nurturing these relationships fills my cup to overflowing. It makes me think of my paternal grandfather, Solomon, yes Solomon, whom we called Pop. Thanks, Solomon “Pop,” and ever gracious, welcoming granny Rachel for your love and forbearance in all our doings as children.

I’m thinking of the people fighting forest fires, those who were evacuated, those who face exasperating health conditions, of wildlife and charred land, all those who can do our part to slow down climate change. As in this concluding verse: “In all toil there is profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty.” Proverbs 14:23

-John