Column from the Middletown Journal
by Pastor Dave Kepple January 1, 2000 |
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It was 1967. I can remember as a 13-year-old boy, walking in my
Hometown of Greensburg, Pa., looking up at the night sky, and wondering
where I'd be and what my life would be like come the year 2000. I knew
I'd be unfathomably old, nearly 46, when that strange moment in time came
to pass. Already filled with teen-age angst and pessimism, I could hardly Have imagined that anything good would have come from my life. I probably pictured myself alone, homeless and destitute -- as I might well be today, but for the grace of God. It was only later that I would learn just how sweet life can be, and what a precious gift each new day is. Never in a thousand years would I have dreamed that I would be the pastor of a church, or that I would spend the last night of the 20th century hosting the "Millennium Bug Ball," the gala affair we held at Union Chapel last night. God is full of surprises! Around that same year, 1967, singer Paul Simon (of Simon & Garfunkel fame) was absorbed with the passage of time in many of his song-writing themes. For one tune, he penned words about time "tapping on his forehead" and "rattling the teacups." It seems that with the advent of the new millennium, time has been rattling the teacups for a lot of us lately. At our household, we encountered a poignant pair of milestones in Early December, developments which made all the fuss about "Y2K" seem kind of irrelevant. My much-loved stepfather, Ed Brinker, died suddenly and unexpectedly the afternoon of Dec. 8, prompting a return to Greensburg to gather with family and share our grief. Five days later, our first grandchild, Emily Nicole, was born in Dayton. My wife and I received a call from our son with the happy news, while we were enroute to the funeral home. Ed was born in 1910. Emily was born on the cusp of the new millennium, and she has the potential -- if blessed with a long life -- of living into the 22nd century. They missed each other by a few days, but it has been my good fortune to be included in both their lives, as time marches on. Apart from human time, however, is God's time, where the Present Moment and the Eternal intersect. As a follower of Jesus Christ, it's important for me to remember that I serve an awesome God, for whom a thousand years is like a single day. And no matter what the calendar or the culture may say, Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever. That's a comforting thought in a rapidly-changing world that often seems to be spinning out of control into the future -- a world where God is often treated as an anachronism. The decisions and choices we make in our "present moments" do make a difference in the eternal scheme of things. The issues facing us today may seem more complex than the ones which faced those who came before us, but they really aren't. It still boils down to whether we're going to serve the Lord, or whether we're going to insist on being our own gods. Each 24 hours bring us a brand new set of Present Moments, none of which should be taken for granted. Each is an opportunity to choose the light of God's love, and run from the shadows of evil. There is a darkness in this world that wants to swallow us whole, but the words of the Messiah still shine like a beacon across an ocean of 2000 years: "Be of good cheer! I have overcome the world." May all of us in the human family be compliant with God's Holy Spirit in this new year and beyond. Isn't it about time? |