December 16, 2021
Bonnie and I went to a pancake supper at church which also doubled as the annual ugly sweater contest (I came in second, Pastor Sarge won – last year I was first with the same sweater but his had twinkling lights, so I bow to the superior ugly sweater). It was around 5:30 as I was driving down Washington Road and glanced up into the evening sky to see the moon, almost full, hanging in a pale, bluish sky, and for reasons I could never explain, my first thought was “Twelve men have walked there, and it’s been far too long since Neil Armstrong was the first and Gene Cernan was the last.”
Maybe Elon Musk will get us there before this decade is out. No single space project in this period will be more impressive to mankind, or more important for the long range exploration of space. And none will be so difficult or expensive to accomplish.
Four of those Apollo astronauts who walked on the moon are still alive:
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| Buzz Aldrin (Apollo 11) |
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| David Scott (Apollo 15) |
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| Charles Duke (Apollo 16) |
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| Harrison Schmitt (Apollo 17) |
In all, 24 American astronauts made the trip from the Earth to the Moon between 1968 and 1972. Three astronauts made the journey from the Earth to the Moon twice.
** One of our favorite parts of QB is “Signs of the Times,” those quirky, funny, punny combinations of our 26 letters into something memorable, or at least for a moment, gives us a smile. Perhaps no one is better at it on a consistent basis than the Tex-Mex restaurant El Arroyo, in Austin, Texas and Indian Hills Community Center in Indian Hills, Colorado (closed circuit to KW and CJ – while you are close, why don’t you ask Tour Guide to drive over there and see what they are saying today).
“They had a little, tiny sign and asked me to build a bigger one” Rozmiarek said.
So he did. And for awhile he kept it straight and posted the usual wedding, birthday and veteran events the community center hosts.
That all changed, however, on April Fool's Day, when Rozmiarek decided to craft a sign that read: “Indian Hills annexed by Morrison slow down.”
Understandably, it took the community by surprise. Indian Hills, on Colorado Route 120, isn’t exactly a city. It is a census-designated place, a concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. But the concentration is 1,280 souls. By comparison, Morrison, just off of Interstate 70, is an incorporated two of 428. So you see the confusion, and the fun.
Well, with that introduction, we have to look at some Indian Hills Community Center signs. Here is a two minute video of some good laughs and some real groaners.
** We can’t mention El Arroyo and not put up at least one of their signs:
Or two:
** Before we close today, here are some incredible photographs I found on YouTube, posted by “Mystery Scoop.” They are part of a series of videos, and if you want to see more, just go to YouTube and search for them.
If you enjoyed these, the photographer, Pablo Iglesias Maurer, has a website with more. Take your time and watch as the old fades into the new, and then back again.
** Today’s close, “Dangerous Summons,” is from Celebrating Abundance, by Walter Brueggemann.
From that time, Jesus began to proclaim, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”
As he walked by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea – for they were fishermen. And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fish for people.” Immediately they left their nets and followed him (Matthew 4:17-20).
The picture we are given in this text concerns the one who is a danger to the status quo and a threat to establishment powers; he comes in an intensely powerful way. When he gets there, he says three things that are characteristic slogans of the gospel movement:
1. The Kingdom of Heaven is near.
Jesus is a revolutionary because he announces a takeover, a new regime. Some of his first hearers no doubt understood that he would displace Roman governance, which was an occupying force in Palestine that they hated. And so, they welcomed him. Since then, some have heard his coming and his announcement of a new regime as an overthrow of oppressive political powers, oppressions such as slavery and poverty and state violence, for Jesus challenges all such power arrangements. Since then some have heard his statement in more personal ways, a new regime to combat addictions and guilts, old resentments that drain us and old hurts that nag at us and keep us from well-being. And now some may hear this as an invitation to break the endless rounds of greed and acquisitiveness, all that consumerism that destroys our society. Every old power of darkness and destructiveness is now on notice, because God’s light is in the world in Jesus.
2. Repent.
Just one word, a word too much tied up with our little moralisms. But in fact it is a very large word. It is an imperative word, change: change directions, change loyalty, change from guilt to compassion, change from self to neighbor, change from despair to buoyancy, change to the new governance. And they found that his very saying it empowered them to do it. The term is an imperative, but it is also an authorization. We are now authorized to quit serving the old governance, old systems, old fears, old guilts, old debts, freed by the coming of the light into the land of contempt and distress.
3. Follow Me.
Jesus is looking for associates and assistants and comrades in the new governance that will displace the old. But to sign up and join in requires breaking loyalty to old patterns and old regimes. He did not nag or coerce. He expected that there was real readiness to leave what was for what is now coming to be. The light itself draws people out of their different darknesses, like insects drawn to the light.
Jesus the light is God’s gift of new power for being human. Those fishermen by the Sea of Galilee went immediately into his new world. So might we!
God of a new day, you come to us in this season with the message of the kingdom and summon us to repent and follow. Draw us out of hopelessness into the gift of new power for a new life. Amen.
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