AUGUST 12, 2007

The following Pastor's Corner was written by my mentor, Fr. Ed Miller, Pastor of St. Bernadine in Baltimore. I liked it so much, I thought I would share it with you (instead of writing my own. To quote Fr. Miller's favorite phrase "It beats the heck out of working!")

I'm willing to bet that the words you heard the most this week were, "Hot enough for you?" Misery loves company! Water, soda and snowball sales are booming, air conditioners have long disappeared from the shelves, the Ravens are deserving of our pity as they began training camp in record heat, and the electricity is going off neighborhood to neighborhood. We had our turn here on Wednesday night, as the electricity went off a little after 9:00 p.m., and there is nothing you can do about it but sweat and bear it - which I did!

We become so dependent on all that we have built into our lives, that their absence short term or long term, becomes a series of problems. We assume that we will always be able to do what we want. Then the electricity goes off, and all your plans are in limbo. Air, computer, TV? How long will the juice be off? It is hotter outside than inside, so I dare not think that I can open the window to get some relief inside a house that is getting warmer and warmer with the air off. Things go bump in the dark, mostly YOU, as you try to remember where you put the flashlight from the last time the electricity went off. Darn, you mean to replace the batteries the last time the power went off, and now the flashlight almost mockingly gives a flicker. You try to find a candle or two, and then get upset with yourself because you burned the candles one night watching videos into the wee hours with the lights off. So much for the need for atmosphere, you tell yourself. And you get warmer. You try to find the BGE outage reporting number in the dark, and then remember that your phone system does not work when the electricity goes off. And you were going to recharge your cell phone before you went to bed. Your battery is low. Save it for a possible emergency, or risk running it down as you are put on hold by BGE as they field hundreds of similar calls? You would just be telling them what they already know, right, that your electricity is off, and their recorded message will cheerfully tell you what YOU already know, that they are aware of the outage and expect to have service restored "as soon as possible". Comforting!

So, you find your way to the kitchen, for some comfort food. It's getting warmer. Ah, ice cream! You open the freezer, and the blast of cold air gives longed-for relief. But then that little voice says, "The electricity was off for 5 or 6 days in Queens, New York and in St. Louis last month. What if that happens here now? Shut the door, fool!". Your ice cream, succumbing to the heat in the house, melts too quickly and becomes soup-like. You do with the ice cream what you often do while eating soup, except you can't see in the dark how much you have spilled on yourself. And only ten minutes have passed! Experience says to get prepared for the long haul. Grabbing the portable radio, you realize you should have replaced the batteries when you came home from vacation last month. And hadn't you just heard the word "hurricane" in the news this week? And only fifteen minutes have passed!

Isn't it great to know that we have absolutely dependable and always available God! God never has an energy shortage nor puts anyone on hold. We can always pray in the dark, in the heat, or in any adversity! AND, our God is pleasant coolness in the heat, which I was reminded of a t11:30 p.m., when the electricity came on and woke me up with a welcome AC. So I did what you all would have done, I am sure. I went downstairs and finished the ice cream, and I didn't spill a drop!