Author: Stan Escott

The Haircut and Other Memories

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Recently I re-published an essay about my mother that I had written some two years before.  I had as hard time getting started with that essay because of my relationship with her was difficult on occasion, but then resistance faded away and there was my essay, my tribute to my mother.

On the other hand, my relationship with Dad was different.  Tucked away are many  memories of the two of us.  The time he built a sand box in the backyard and those times he would sit there with me playing cars, and roads, etc.  We would walk to the nearby hallow, and follow the trail down to the stream below. I was aware that people looked up to him and I know I was proud to be with him. Continue reading

Is It Me? Is It You?

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For more than ten years my church has struggled, mostly trying to catch up to and match those halcyon years of the past that we seem to hold out as the “golden age”, a time when everything seemed to be going right.  It is hard to realize that those specific years, and those specific elements are not coming back. What we can’t seem to get through our thick skulls is that those wonderful and creative years occurred because of US, the members of my congregation!

It was this same group that willingly served on committees, that participated with energy in “each one reach one” projects, that visited the sick and the homebound, that brainstormed fresh new ideas through Future Ministries, that warmly welcomed the visitor, that were instrumental in the forming of the Lutheran Cursillo movement in the state of Indiana, that aspired to become the mission center for our County, that aspired to be the “heart of town” and we did not view worshiping on Sunday as our only “obligation” as a Christian, each one of us saw a missional purpose throughout the week.

But, we have waited.  For however many years it has been.  We wait for a pastor who will work magic and lead us.  We wait for the inspiration to hit us.  We wait for something miraculous to happen.  We wait, and the years have gone by and our congregation has simply gotten older. Continue reading

Deception

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I can hardly wait for the polls to come out!  Are we gaining on “them”?  Are they gaining on “us”?  Last time we gained a whole point, now we are only 17 points behind.  Is that a trend?  I can hardly wait for the polls to be announced!  Silly?

Have you read Ann Herbert’s short essay about “The Snake”?  She spins a tale about God creating not one man and one woman, but God creating a whole bunch of humans and putting them in the Garden of Eden.  He instructed them to play and have fun.  And they did.  They ran and frolicked.  Climbed trees and rolled down hills.  They waded in the streams and played hide and seek in the forests.  They had fun until they were exhausted and went to sleep.  In the morning the fun started all over again and the humans were happy and carefree. This was Paradise. Continue reading

Apolitical Fantasy

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For those of us who have binged on the speeches and talking heads of the Republican Convention, my sympathies go out to all of us.  Maybe it was fatigue, maybe it was a little outrage, maybe it was a carryover from my study of Revelation, but last night, at some point in the final session, waiting for DJT to accept the nomination, I had this fantasy.  My apologies in advance should I offend anyone. Continue reading

A Grief Experienced

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Many years ago, as a college dean, I sought to comfort an older student who had witnessed the accidental death of her 7 year-old son.  As I stood in line at the funeral home, I wondered what could I possibly say to this grieving mother?  In front of me was the Campus Pastor who did and said all the right things. The hug, the quite murmurs of sympathy, and then, to my surprise, he began to speak of the young boy and what a blessing he had been in her life.  He didn’t avoid the subject. The elephant was in the room but it didn’t matter!  Her son was honored by the remembering conversation.  The brief conversation did not ally her grief, but it mattered to her. Continue reading

God’s Purpose, God’s Church

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I’ve been a member of the same men’s Bible study group for over 30 years.  During that time someone will, on occasion, raise the question of studying the Book of Revelation? Just this spring we committed ourselves to that study, trying to be thorough, taking one verse at a time, digging deep, using at least 7 commentaries and trying to understand the vision and the message.

Revelation is best tackled with a rich, creative imagination.  It is a book filled with images and symbols, but at its very core, Revelation is a book of hope!  But Revelation is also a book of warning.  Things are not as they should be in the churches. Christ calls the churches to commit to living in righteousness, and we need to understand what that commitment means for it is the key to determining God’s purpose for the church, specifically, your church. Continue reading

Annoying Grace?

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Not long ago, Philip Gulley, author and theologian, spoke in our church on the topic of grace, God’s grace.  His talk was engaging, humourous, and filled with both current and ancient examples of grace in action.  While I will not quote specifics of Gulley’s talk, I did have a visceral reaction that caused me to consider a negative side of grace when applied to our self-centered society. Continue reading

Life as It Comes

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Sir William Gilbert (of Gilbert and Sullivan fame) in his treatise on “Patience” offers this bit of advice:  “Life’s a pudding full of plums;  Care’s a canker that benumbs, therefore waste our elocution on impossible solution?  Let us take it as it comes!” Take it as it comes, bumps, bruises and all.

“One morning, months ago, I visited a good friend who had been ill for some time. He was a man that exuded energy and goodness and talking with him was such a treat for he had a knack of putting his friends at ease and engaged. Each time we visited, the conversation included a nice dose of teasing and catching up, and often it turned to matters of health. Shortly after that visit, at 89 years of age, he played 9 holes of golf with his wife and enjoyed the day, without having to pay with aching joints or fatigue. He told me then that he would play in our summer golf league, and he did, for the first few weeks! Continue reading

Simple Generosity!

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Soon a new year will begin, full of hope and opportunities. As my wife and I put a difficult year behind us, our thoughts turn with gratitude to what it really means to be generous, for the giver and receiver.

I believe it takes a certain amount of grace to be the recipient of the generosity of others. Having been on the receiving end of so much generosity this year, we know that the tiniest gesture is so very large and helpful. Continue reading

Talking Prayers with My Dog

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We all go through rough times in our lives, times when it is hard to imagine how to handle a problem, or work through grief, or make an extremely difficult and painful decision. As a much younger man my strategy, often, was to deny or ignore, but, most of the time, I would simply isolate myself by taking a walk in the woods or around the lake that was several miles from my home.

I was accompanied on those walks by my dog, Mandy. Just a mixed breed, part Lab, part mongrel and 100% loyal.  She was a wonderful companion and a very good listener. She would often run ahead, maybe chase a rabbit, and return and walk along with me. During those times, I would tell Mandy why we were on this walk and I would explain my problem or why I was hurting. Often these conversations with my dog came out very much like prayers. Continue reading

Pray Without Ceasing?

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Pray without ceasing?  Hmm.

A number of years ago, I ran a little experiment.  I was teaching a course in Adolescent Psychology at a midwest college, and because of circumstances in my life and in the classroom, I decided to explore the power of prayer through a very simple exercise.  Over a period of 14 class meetings, I alternated each class period.  On the first day I prayed about the lesson, about being at peace, and asking God to be present and give that peace to the students.  On the second day, I did not pray about the lesson, the students or myself.  On the third day, I prayed, and on the fourth I did not.  I continued this through all 14 class meetings. Continue reading