God Exists

June 22, 2014
Weekly Message

Sometimes we get spiritually-valuable messages from the oddest places. This one came to me as an internet message and instead of sitting and writing a regular homilly on this beautiful, first full day of summer, I have chosen to instead, offer the following. Be blessed by it. 

Tom

DOES GOD EXIST?     

    

This is one of the best explanations on the

nature of God that I have ever seen... 

A man went to a barbershop to have his hair

cut and his beard trimmed. As the barber began

to work, they began to have a good conversation.

They talked about so many things and various subjects.

 

When they eventually touched on the subject of God, the  barber said: 'I don't believe that God exists.'    

 

'Why do you say that?' asked the customer.

'Well, you just have to go out in the street to

realize that God doesn't exist. Tell me, if God exists, would there be so many sick people; would there be abandoned children?

   

If God existed, there would be neither suffering nor pain. I can't imagine a loving God who would

allow all of these things.' 
The customer thought for a moment, but didn't respond because he didn't want to start an argument.
 
The barber finished his job and the customer

left the shop.  

Just after he left the barbershop, he saw a man in the street with long, stringy, dirty hair and an untrimmed beard. He looked dirty and unkempt.

The customer turned back and entered the barbershop again and he said to the barber: 
'You know what? Barbers do not exist.'    

 

'How can you say that?' asked the surprised

barber. 'I am here, and I am a barber. And I

just worked on you!'

 

'No!' the customer exclaimed. 'Barbers don't

exist, because if they did, there would be no

people with dirty long hair and untrimmed

beards, like that man outside.'

'Ah, but barbers DO exist! That's what happens

when people do not come to me.' 
'Exactly!' affirmed the customer. 'That's the point! God, too, DOES exist!

That's what happens when people do not go to Him and don't look to Him for help.    
That's why there's so much pain and suffering in

the world.'

Saying Goodbye

Weekly Message

June 15, 2014

Saying Goodbye

My long-time friend Leo died recently and tomorrow, I preach at his service. My thoughts are fragmented and disconnected. Leo was not a churchgoer and he was, at times, irreverent. But he was not an unbeliever, either, and he lived a life of service to others.

So what do I preach? I Have decided to preach God’s love. I know that while God might have wished for Leo to give praise and worship, I’m also convinced that the Lord was pleased with Leo’s goodness and selfless attitude.

Leo looked out for others. He saw needs when others averted their eyes. And Leo did his best to fulfill those needs. Leo lived by the “Golden Rule,” that is, he treated others as he wanted others to treat him.

Leo loved little dogs. To him, these were innocent, sweet creatures. When a dog yipped and barked, Leo would yip and bark with them, to the point that both he and the dog were communicating in love.

James said in James 1, 27: Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world. This Leo did.

So now my thoughts have coalesced. In writing this message, I have found what I need to say for my friend’s service. That’s how God works. 

May the Lord of peace and love comfort all who mourn; may they receive grace from on high and find that Jesus, who sends his peace, brings a light burden and an easy yoke. 

Morning In The Garden

Weekly Message

Tom Seymour

June 8, 2014

Morning In The Garden

This morning broke still, calm and warm. After doing some daily chores, I sat outside under the shade of a flowering crabapple tree, next to a stand of dame’s rocket, a fragrant, phlox-like plant. Both were in full bloom.

As the sun grew stronger and cast its rays on the apple blossoms, honeybees and other bees began foraging for pollen. The bees were not present until the sunlight hit the blossoms.

Hummingbirds buzzed around a nearby nectar feeder and moths and butterflies flitted about, all part of this special morning in nature.

I know God made the world, created it by divine fiat. And I often wonder what the Garden of Eden was like. We today can’t possibly imagine the stunning beauty that was on the earth prior to the original sin. But spending some early-morning time in a garden, watching the natural world come to life, can give us a partial idea of the original glory.

As the apostle Paul said, “Now we see as through a glass, darkly, but then we will see fully.” He was remarking on how we really have no conception of the full glory of heaven. But in time, we will know it in truth.

But for now, if you can take some early-morning time and spend it quietly in a garden, you just might see a tiny glimmer of the wonders to come. 

Our Lives Are Like A Day In June

Weekly Message

Tom Seymour

June 1, 2014

Every Day is Special

Poet James Russell Lowell once asked, “What is so rare as a day in June?” I read this as a child and every June, Lowell’s classic verse comes back to me. Let’s dig into it a little bit and see what makes a day in June so special.

Today, June 1, brings us to a special place on the calendar of natural events. It’s still spring and not yet summer. June heralds a season of change. By observing closely, we can see this change occurring on a daily basis. The grass on our lawns grows so rapidly now that we say, “I can’t believe it. I just mowed it two days ago and it needs mowing again.”

Likewise, songbirds show changes too. Birds that were very much in evidence a month earlier are now conspicuously absent because they are nesting, waiting for their eggs to hatch.

Even the weeds in our garden demonstrate the fast-paced nature of the sixth month of the year. So Lowell had a point and his point was that if we don’t absorb this wonderful month of June, if we don’t immerse ourselves in it and enjoy every beautiful, life-filled, even sensual moment of it, June will slip away before we know it.

Our lives are like the month of June. Sure some things are tough, difficult, even bad. But not everything is bad. Most of all, we need to focus on today, what we might do to contribute to the better good, the common weal, how we might enjoy and appreciate every precious moment on this earth.

Know this. Every year is different for us, every month is different in our lives, every day is special and every minute is another minute that we never had before and will never have again.

God gives us this life and he wants for us to enjoy it. But it’s our choice whether to smile or frown. We can also choose to look deeper into the workings of each day and to benefit from our time here. Our lives are indeed like a day in June.

To paraphrase Lowell, let me ask this. What’s so rare as a day in our lives? The answer is nothing. Each day in our lives is special and nothing can compare. So thank God for each morning, whether the sun shines or rain falls. It’s our special sun-filled day and it’s our rainy day. Taste. Examine. Exhault. And enjoy.