Morning Moments

I came across a newspaper artical in my files that I think is worth “passing on.” It was written by George R. Plagenz for the newspaper Enterprise Association. I have no idea of the date, but I think it is relevant for all of us, especially those who are busy pastors. I have in no way altered this article.

“Americans have lost faith in organized religion. – CNN News Poll

Could it be that the trouble with organized religion is that it is too organized? That it is run too much like a business – and not enough like your grandmother’s kitchen?

Is it possible that the retired parson who spends his mornings walking through the malls “striking up conversations with people in need of prayer and direction in their lives” is doing more of the Lord’s work that the “organization Man” with a D.D. after his name who is senior pastor of Old First Church downtown?

When I wrote recently that ministers should be more available for people who want to drop into the church without an appointment and have a chat with their clergyman (or woman), one pastor wrote back that I was out of touch with the reality of modern church life.

Rev. David Seymour of the St. John’s United Church of Christ in Orwigsburg, Pa., said the reason he doesn’t encourage his church members to stop in unexpectedly and “while away a half hour or so talking about whatever might be on their minds” is that there is all that correspondence on his desk awaiting a reply, phone calls to make (“32 yesterday”), committees to oversee and meetings to attend (“an average of 46 a month”), a sermon to prepare, visits to hospitals and nursing homes.

The list of things that must be done is endless.

As a former parish minister, I know that all this pastor says is true. Yet somebody is going to have to make time for the growing number of people who feel the need to talk to somebody now and to cry on somebody’s shoulder now, not after getting an appointment. This wasn’t a problem a generation or two ago.

When Mollie Goldberg- the beloved radio character of the 1930s and ‘40s – needed to talk to somebody, she would throw up the window of her apartment in the Bronx and call out across the courtyard, “Yoo-hoo, Mrs. Bloom.”

You can save your voice today. Mrs. Bloom doesn’t live there anymore. It’s not only Mrs. Bloom. The whole neighborhood has moved away.

There is no one to tell our troubles to. If we were all as lucky as Mollie Goldberg and had a good neighbor like Mrs. Bloom, our country’s mental health might be much better.

Nevertheless, we all probably do more kitchen counseling than we realize – maybe not in the kitchen but at the office, on the phone or elsewhere.
It’s what our grandmothers would have done.”

I find it intersting that although the disciples tried to protect Jesus, He always had time for people. He may have prayer all night, but his day was often filled with touching lives, teaching people, preaching the Word. Maybe we are just too busy.

PRAYER: O God, help us to see that your are more concerned people than you are about golf games, family time, personal time or sermon preparation. Help us to understand that if we do not love and serve people, we are as a sounding brass and a tinkliing cymbol. Help us to understand that there are others who can do all the needful things as the disciples did for Jesus, who was always available to people.