MORGAN'S MOMENT...
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The first day of summer…
so said the calendar
but it didn’t seem true.
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Quiet waters ruffled…
blue sky clouded
thunder in the distance.
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Strong winds from the north
raised growing waves
hail followed by hard rain.
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Sailboat “Say Yay!” bucked…
wallowed at its anchor…
strained on its mooring line.
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“Grandpa! Look at the boat!
The anchor’s dragging!”
My grandson was right.
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I put on a life jacket…
launched the little dinghy
bounced off into high seas.
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Is it worth my life
to secure a sailboat
or is this just adventure?
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Emergency anchor out…
half sunk dinghy to shore…
I welcomed summer.
- Art Morgan
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BOOK CORNER
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No historical novels,
or any other kind, so far this summer. I try to read a better variety of
books, but I’ve been sort of stuck on God books lately. Not my favorite reading,
but after all, I’m in the business I guess. The latest is by Chris
Hedges with a good writing background and research skills. I always check
to see bibliography and references.
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The book is “America’s
New Fundamentalists – WHEN ATHEISM BECOMES RELIGION.” I don’t think
the title is as good as the book. It’s a good antidote to the various books
on atheism out lately. He offers perspective and depth and some powerful
insights, if this is a subject that interests you.
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THE MEANING OF LIFE
–
In a 1000 Words or Less
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I’ve been invited to offer an essay on
the subject of the meaning of life, along with a number of other retired clergy.
The author-editor hopes to compile a book that someone might publish. I’d
be suspicious of a book on that subject by clergy.
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The invitation came from Hap Lyda, who
is known to some of the clergy on my list. He thought that some older
clergy might have gained wisdom worth sharing. That’s a compliment of dubious
merit.
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I thought about this subject off and
on for a couple of days. Maybe I’m out of the loop, but as I go through the
things I’ve thought about, the meaning of life doesn’t show up. I just never
ask myself, “What is the meaning of life?”
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I wonder how Michael Jackson might have
answered that question. Or Gandhi, or Bill Gates. Or anyone. Purpose or value
for myself, or things that are meaningful to me, are not quite the same. Jesus
brushes against the question in the teaching that asks “Is not life more
than food, and the body more than clothing?”
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Different folks find meaning in different
things. I might be able to come up with some of the things that give my life
meaning. I’m not quite sure I could make the leap to say whether my life is
meaningful in any cosmic sense. Do many – or any people – really have perspective
regarding their own lives to say in what way they are meaningful? Paul Newman
gained fame and wealth as an actor, became a race car driver and is best
known by the present generation for his salad dressings. Perhaps it is his
philanthropic work from the profits from salad dressings that gives him
meaning. Is doing for others the meaning of life?
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Which takes me back to oysters. (When
pondering major theological questions I always go back to oysters) They are
part of life. I am known to have talked to them. I can ask them what they
think about the meaning of life. If life has meaning and I have meaning, then
oysters share that meaning. They never answer out loud. They just stay planted
on the tidelands trying to survive and occasionally doing what oysters do
to make other oysters. They remind me of a bumper sticker that says: “The
Meaning of Life is to Live.” I’ll leave meaning to God. It’s beyond me.
Anyone have a better idea?
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