A quick trip to Asheville

It's time to start saying my good-byes to friends. Moving dates approach like old age (quicker than you think). I drove to Asheville on Thursday night to see my friend, Tom Swift. Tom was my first "boss" in ministry. We've been friends ever since.

The drive to Asheville reminded me how fortunate I am to live in such a beautiful place. The trip over Sam's Gap was filled with clouds that were able to appear menacing and playful all at once.

Tom was doing fine. We had supper. We laughed about the ministry (and about ministers). He gave me a copy of his DMin project. As a hospice chaplain he is writing a devotional that might be of some use to people who have accepted their final diagnosis. The devotional is based on the Psalms. The problem he's running into is that once people accept they are going to die, they tend to decline so fast that there is not much time for contemplation. Too soon their mental faculty isn't suited for devotions.

We should be more like the old monks who kept skulls in sight to remind them they are mortal. In the ministry, I've noticed that if you wait for necessity to move you to an assisted living facility, then you've waited too long. You have to go before you have to go.

The same goes when it comes to preparing ourselves for ultimate realities. That's one of the reasons I put silence in most of the Sunday morning services. I know it isn't a lot of silence, but it's a start. Pray. Read the Psalms. Rejoice in the life that we've been given.