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A lady once asked John Wesley that suppose he were to know that he would die at 12:00 mid-night tomorrow, how would he spend the intervening time. His reply: "Why madam, just as I intend to spend it now. I would preach this evening at Gloucester, and again at five tomorrow morning; after that I would ride to Tewkesbury, preach in the afternoon, and meet the societies in the evening. I would then go to Rev. Martin's house, who expects to entertain me, talk and pray with he family as usual, retire to my room at 10 o'clock, commend myself to my heavenly Father, liedown to rest, and wake up in Glory."

Spurgeon said that the greatest compliment ever paid him was spoken by one of his outspoken enemies who said: "Here is a man who has not moved an inch forward in all his ministry. At the close of the nineteenth century he is teaching the theology of the first century, and is proclaiming doctrine current in Nazareth and Jerusalem in the first century!"

St. Francis of Assisi, hoeing his garden, was asked what he would do if he were suddenly to learn that he was to die at sunset that day. He said: "I would finish hoeing my garden."

Disturb us, Lord.

Disturb us, Lord, when we are too pleased with ourselves,

When our dreams have come true because we dreamed too little;

When we arrive safely because we sailed too close to the shore.

Disturb us, Lord, when with the abundance of things we possess, we have lost our thirst for the waters of life;

having fallen in love with life, we have ceased to dream of eternity, and in our efforts to build a new earth, we have allowed our vision of the new heaven to dim.

Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly, to venture on wider seas, where storms will show your mastery; where losing sight of land, we shall find the stars.

We ask you to push back the horizons of our hopes and to push us in the future in strength, courage, hope and love.

This we ask in the name of our Captain, Who is Jesus Christ.

Amen.

-Wesley Taylor, Tualatin, Oregon.

Friends, it has been many years since I was somewhere that there was no light from any house, city, vehicle. In-other-words, pitch black. Where you could not even see your hand in front of you. Yet, just look up and see the Milky Way, the beautiful clusters of stars and galaxies, and the “shooting stars” that are pieces of space debris burning up in our atmosphere.

Can you imagine the creation narrative: God speaks and the world is formed; the sky and water, and all living creatures. What I liked about the poem by Wesley Taylor, is that section in red about losing sight of land and finding stars. Not an original: Great ships are not meant to stay in the harbor.

God has created you as that “Great Ship.”

Go and venture. Blessings form Pottsboro, Pastor Frank (alegria@lakewayumc.org)