Three Beautiful Things 07/21/15: Snug and David, Preaching in my Youth, Spiderman Hoodie

1. Even after my Hard Drive Crash of 2012, I still have nearly four hundred pictures of Snug, but after he died in 2011, I couldn't bear to look at them very often.  That changed today. I uploaded tons of pictures of Snug into my flickr account today and looked at many of these pictures and enjoyed what a handsome dog he was and, I think, the love he inspired in me, as seen in the pictures. I'm not sure I have the original file of this picture any longer, but I remembered I had posted in on this blog six years ago (June 2009), and it remains one of my favorites.  It's Snug sitting in our Eugene living room with the Deke's brother, David, who died fewer than six months later:

2.  Sister Christy sent me a text message wondering if Mom was correct in remembering that I had preached a sermon at the Presbyterian church in Omak. She was right and that single text stirred memories of a short-lived time, in my early twenties, when I would get occasional preaching jobs, through the church relations office at Whitworth, in churches near Spokane. Mostly these were one time fill the pulpit jobs, made possible by a woman named Dawn who worked in the church relations office and would contact me when a church called the college looking for a one Sunday preacher. I preached in Sandpoint, Post Falls, Omak, and, for about 4-6 Sundays, in Spangle when the pastor at the Christian Church there had to be away because of surgery.  I often think about those times when I sit in the congregation now and listen to sermons.  I marvel at the naive innocence of my youth when I had total confidence that I had something to say.  Sometimes, when at worship these days, I try to imagine what I'd say if I were ever asked to preach again. Mostly, I think about how, as I've grown older, I face spiritual and sacred matters with humility and, often, silence.

3.  When the Deke and I arrived at the Diazes this evening for dinner, David greeted us enthusiastically because his mom had just bought him a Spiderman hoodie and when he pulled the hood up over his head, a Spiderman mask dropped over his face.

Me:  Can you see with the mask over your face?
David:  Yes.  The mask has lots of little holes and I can see right through them.