January 07th, 2018

After a week of cold and rain, yesterday was a gorgeous day. You couldn't ask for a more perfect day for a motorcycle ride so that is what Ruby and I did. When riding, all of your senses are heightened. In the absence of a steel and glass enclosure, your sight is enhanced and you notice things as never before. Colors are brighter and details stand out. You also get the experience of smell; some good and some not so good. Gas fumes from an ill-running old car or diesel smoke from a city bus are always going to exist, but there is always the unexpected pleasure of passing a restaurant when there is something on the grill or a bakery when the bread is in the oven. The aroma of jasmine, flowers in bloom, and fresh grass clippings also make the olfactory happy. You can also feel sudden, ever so slight changes of temperature as your machine glides over different elevations or enters a change in the topography. Trying not to sound like a cheap cliché', you become one with your surroundings. I believe that as we live our lives in this fast paced world, it is easy to lose touch with our surroundings. Day in and day out we go about our business with such a routine that we don't even notice those that God has placed around us. Our cell phone becomes the only object of our attention. There is a hurting and dying world out there and we are mostly oblivious to them. "But I say, wake up and look around. The fields are already ripe for harvest." John 4:35 Not only do we need to be more aware of those around us, but we need to be aware of their needs as well. You already have what they need and quite possibly you are the one that Jesus has sent to meet those needs. Wake up!
​                                                                                           Pastor Frank Dodson