My Birthday, 2010

Early this morning I drove east into the sun. As I did I thought of the book a friend gave me in 1987--West With the Night by Beryl Markham. The NPR news pulled my thoughts back to the task at hand. I had to pay attention to the road because I would be driving for the next 2 1/2 hours to reach a meeting in Jefferson City.

Public radio out of Pittsburgh, KS, kept me company the first part of my journey with a report on public restrooms being eliminated in Arizona due to budget cuts, then an interview with a Jesuit priest discussing vows of poverty and chastity. The last interview before I lost the station was a champion boxer who was going to fight smart and have his mind when he retired.

When I drove out of the range of the radio station I began to scan for reception of the next public radio station. Instead I found "Believers Bluegrass" and settled in for several songs. The Bluegrass immediately transported me back to my Hospice days in Appalachia in the late '90s. One family especially came to mind. More than once I had heard the extended family gather around the bed of their loved one singing Bluegrass gospel. One daughter later told me that as their mother was dying one of the other daughters stood at the foot of their mother's bed and sang her into heaven with a song especially given for the occasion in a heavenly language.

When I finally found the next public radio station the banter and laughter of the Car Talk guys enlivened the rest of my journey.

In Jeff' City I joined about a dozen other ministers from the region assigned to interview applicants for ordination or ministers from other denominations requesting that their ordinations be recognized by Disciples. The responsibility continues to be an invigorating and hopeful experience and I am grateful to be involved in the process. Being productive on my birthday is a good gift directly from the Lord. Having my memories jogged of days past was serendipity.

On the way home Garrison Keillor kept me company, but the show was disappointing. It was the Big Joke Extravaganza with one bad joke after another--a series of forgettable jokes, to borrow a phrase from one of the judges on American Idol . Only one joke stuck in my memory:

What did one fly say to the other fly?
I don't know, what?
Hey, Fly your dude is open!

The Lord has given me a good day in spite of the bad jokes.