334 SE Tecumseh Road  P.O. Box 5  Tecumseh, Kansas 66542  (785) 379-5005  Fax - (785) 379-5061                  Josh Gooding, Pastor

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A little cloud Hebrews 11:29 – 12:2  Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses. (12:1)  Neither my father nor my mother had much in the way of formal education. Papa went to work at 13, Mama at age 10. My father did much to educate himself, and for much of his life was a voracious reader. He studied violin as a boy, sang high tenor in the community choir (where he met my mother), learned to know and love classical music and opera. As a young man, he was ardent about labor rights and about trade unions, and he passed that fervor on to his oldest son. No doubt my father had great fantasies and dreams, as most of us do. When at age 45 he made the decision to leave The Netherlands and emigrate to the USA (a decision which proved to be so devastating for my mother), part of his dream was that his three children might have opportunities he never had. I don’t know, really, if Papa was pleased with how it all turned out. His oldest daughter eventually wound up being a United Methodist pastor. His oldest son earned a PH.D in theatre, taught and directed for years before becoming (yet another) United Methodist pastor. And the youngest son took up the violin Papa loved, earned an MA in music and plays professionally, teaches, conducts, plays in orchestras for the Central City Opera. My father himself never got to do any of the things which his kids have done and are doing. Never. He just got to work for more than 50 years at hard, manual labor jobs which were often thankless and seldom if ever utilized the wonderful intellectual gifts which my father possessed. All the while, Papa struggled with faith, wrestled with God and with the church. No, he was not persecuted or flogged for his faith. Then again, maybe he was.  Papa, in all of his imperfection and all of his humanity, in all of his doubts and his fears, is a part of my cloud of witnesses. He was not one of the great figures of the faith, but then again neither am I. In his way, my father did what he could to run the race that was set before him, and he stumbled often on the way to the finish line. I can easily render judgment on my father, and take him to task for all of the things he did not or would not or could not do. And at the same time I can also thank God for that man, who gave of himself so that I and others could follow our own paths, making our own mistakes along the way while living some of the dreams Papa never fulfilled for himself.  Perhaps there’s a parable in all of that. Making sacrifices for the good of others, even at one’s own expense. There’s a concept. I think it’s a concept to which we, as Christians, subscribe – do we not? - Pastor Piet – August 19, 2007