How to find Home

Remember the prodigal.  He knew where to find love and hope and home.

In his father’s embrace.  In his father’s home.

Trust that God is extending his love, is reaching out.  It welcoming you.

Let God’s love for you be your central reality.

And then do one thing more.

Share it with others.

You will be glad you did.

Centering our lives on Christ

 Christ did not say "I will show you the way," 
Christ says; "I am the way."

 Christ did not say, "I have the truth," 
Christ says: "I am the truth."

 Christ did not say, "I lead unto life," 
Christ says: "I am life…

No wonder we are

centering our lives on Christ.

Christ is Safety

Christ is safety.  How will you offer Christ’s safety to those around you?  Will you tell them?  Show them?  Take them by the hand and lead them?

Speaking with him daily, even when we come as we are, faltering steps, with perplexities, with the bumps and bruises of life.  We still trust his word:

“I will never leave you, nor forsake you." Will you help others through their trials of life with the assurance: "We are more than conquerors through him that loved us."

Climb the Mountain

Christ brought Peter, James, and John up the mountain, as a new beginning.  To point them in the direction of their heroic responsibilities.  To spread the news.  They were the people who would turn the world upside down.

That was their present moment.

I firmly believe that you are called for this moment.  That you have been set apart for service.  That you understand, from some moment of transfiguration of your own, that everything you do is surrounded and guided by the wonders of Christian living.

And I also firmly believe that it is not a simple task.  That your reality has as many mountains to climb as Moses and Elijah, and Peter, James and John. 

One of the great things about your mountains, is that you accept the challenge.  You climb eagerly.  And willingly. 

The Greatest Good

You have probably enjoyed, as I have, the documentary “Won’t you be my Neighbor” about everyone’s favorite Pittsburgh Presbyterian Pastor, Fred Rogers.  I had a chance to see it again, recently.  Each time I see it, I cherish certain moments, and I discover new ones.

One discover, this most recent time, was Fred saying this:

I think that those who would try to make you feel less than you are, that’s the greatest evil.

          We understand.  And we know that turning his words to the positive side – is in keeping with what Jesus says to us this day:

          I think that those who would try to make you feel greater than you are, that is the greatest good.

          I know that you are going out into a big and sometimes cold world, today.  And this week.  And parts of the world are not very welcoming or safe.  I also know that you are making that world less grim.  More caring.  More loving. I know that your goal is to love those who at first seem unlovable.  And I know that you will reach that goal.

Worship With Us on Sunday Mornings at 11 a.m.

Worship With Us on Sunday Mornings at 11 a.m.

You will enjoy being part of the warm and welcoming congregation here at Shadyside Presbyterian Church.  Here you will find wonderful people who join together to worship, know, and serve our Living Lord Jesus Christ.  After worship, enjoy fellowship and a chance to meet and visit with one another.  We look forward to greeting you here.

Listen to our live webcast, if you cannot be with us in person:

www.shadysidepres.org/live

As Your Dear Friend Once Welcomed You - A New Hymn

As Shadyside Presbyterian Church's Director of Music Ministry, Mark A. Anderson, and I were planning worship during this Lenten Season, back on February 21, we were not finding a hymn that we were happy with, to conclude worship on Sunday April 7.  The Gospel lectionary reading for that morning was John 12:1-8, when Jesus shared a meal at Bethany with his treasured friends Martha, Lazarus, and Mary.  

I said to Mark, "Why don't we sing a hymn that you have written?"  His reply, "John, the other option for the first Sunday in April for a closing hymn would be for you to write a text and for me to write the tune. That might be too much, with everything else on your plate, but keep it in mind for future Sundays. It would be great fun to see what we could do."  

What a gracious and great idea!  

So, that is what we did.  I wrote the words; Mark wrote the music.  And the congregation sang our brand new hymn on Sunday, April 7th.  It was a joy to work on the hymn with Mark, and a joy to hear the congregation sing it.  Here's to more collaborations!

Go to this link to the Shadyside Presbyterian Church blog to read more and to listen to the hymn:

New Hymn

Please contact me regarding use in worship.

Do Dogs Go To Heaven?

Do Dogs Go to Heaven?

Recently Pope Francis told a young boy whose dog has died that paradise is open to all of God's creatures.

This is a compassionate response to that boy.  It is also a word of assurance to anyone who has had a pet – particularly a dog – who wonders what happens when that pet dies.

Our dog, Brantley, died this past month, at age 11 ½ and left a big empty hole in our hearts.  We have been grieving for him the way we would grieve for a dear friend and family member.  Anyone who has had a companionable dog who has died, knows exactly how that feels. 

Brantley picked us out, not the other way around.

We had lost our beloved Yorkie, Tuppence, after 17 ½ years.  As she grew into old age, we had agreed together that when the time came, and she died, we would not get another dog.  The reasons were very practical. We both worked, she spent a fair amount of time at home alone.  We liked to travel.  She didn’t travel with us which meant kennels and boarding and the costs that went with it.  Life would be simpler without another dog – when the time came.

And then, sweet Tuppence died.  We reminded ourselves of what we had agreed.  But the house seemed very empty indeed.  We missed that smiling little presence.

I was the weak link.  I lasted a week. And then insisted that we get another dog.  We agreed that it would be either another Yorkie or a Miniature Schnauzer - since both do not shed. We looked at several pet stores and shelters.  We ended up at one particular pet store with lots of puppies, and at least 6 Yorkie puppies.  They were in kennel cages along a long wall, with some at the right end and some at the left end. Lots of other dogs in the cages in-between.

As I walked from one end of the pet shop to the other, a small face with bright eyes and a sweet smile watched me walk by and walk back.  His gaze was locked on my face.  I asked one of the attendants in the shop what kind of a dog it was.  “A Yochon,” was the reply.  Half Yorkshire Terrier and half Bichon Frise.  “We need to see that dog.” Indeed we did.  

The attendant brought him to the get-to-know-you enclosure, he nuzzled his head under Judy’s chin, and that was all it took.  She looked at me and said, “Do they have two of them?”

Our dog Brantley received love and care, affection and attention, treats and trips, from us.  And yet: If we were to try to balance that with what he gave, the scales would tip heavily in his direction.  Because in addition to the love and care and affection and attention he gave us, he served as an example of unconditional love and pure empathy.  I often referred to him as love bundled up in fur.

The Bible is not encouraging when you look in a concordance and are asking what it says about dogs.  It seems the Biblical writers did not have a fondness for them, and even Jesus speaks disparagingly of dogs.  When dog lovers who are also faithful Christians read these passages, they tend to wince.  Maybe there were more stray, rabid, and dangerous dogs in Bible times?  Maybe people then were adverse to dogs, in the same way that they were averse to recreational swimming?  No matter. 

God watches over all of God’s creation.  They experience. They suffer. They grieve. They love.

All things bright and beautiful,

All creatures great and small,

All things wise and wonderful,

The lord god made them all.

God took such infinite pains to make them, one must feel certain that they will somehow inhabit God’s eternal kingdom.  Even as the animals were drawn to St Francis, so too, we will be surrounded by these good and gentle creatures.  

Edward Hicks’ many paintings of The Peaceable Kingdom – an eschatological state inferred from texts such as the Book of Isaiah, the Book of Hosea, and the Sermon on the Mount – will one day become the everlasting reality.  Dogs will be in heaven.  It warms my heart to trust it to be true. 

"The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together; and a little child shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall graze; their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. The nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder’s den. They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea."

—Isaiah 11:6–9

Morning at the Phipps

Monday we spent the morning at Phipps Conservatory, one of the loveliest places to visit if you love gorgeous gardens.  Here is a small sampling of what we saw when we were there.

Pittsburgh at Dusk

Here is another look at Downtown Pittsburgh from Mt. Washington, taken from roughly the same spot as the previous post.  In this photo, the sun has gone down, and the city is starting to light up the night. 

Mt. Washington has long been a magnet for those who want a great view of the city.  Perhaps the second best view - the best being when the whole Downtown bursts into sight as you emerge from the Ft. Pitt Tunnel.

Do people who get to have this view every day ever get tired of it?  I doubt it.  I certainly don't. 

Pittsburgh Afternoon

One of the joys of being back in my hometown is seeing it in all of its glory, which we had a chance to do this past weekend.  

From high atop Mt. Washington, you get a good look at the city, and can talk about everything from its early origins at the Point, with the footprint of Fort Duquesne and Fort Pitt, to the modern landmarks such as PNC Park and Heinz Field.  All of them, spread out before you like the very best train layout ever.  

I was glad to be able to catch the city on a blue sky afternoon, with sunshine and clouds behaving very well indeed.  If you love this city as I do, you will want to zoom the photo and look at some of the details.  

If you are a friend and follower who is not familiar with Pittsburgh, suffice to say that if you follow the Allegheny River (the river to the left of the photo) as it recedes into the background, we are living "upriver" and to the left, in Indiana Township.  And Shadyside Presbyterian Church is also upriver but to the right - slightly - of the water tower you see on the tallest nearby hillside (the water tower is in the the Garfield neighborhood).