The Return of Saturn

"Out of touch with the weather and the wind direction,
with the sunrise and the phases of the moon"
--Rush, "Earthshine"

This morning I was up early and outside to pray, a place and time I have not found much chance to pray in/at. I saw Orion and then quickly found Jupiter and Saturn, remembering how for quite a few years I did not go to bed until I found them. I got used to where they were in the sky.

Today was Barb Bryant's funeral, and I guess that's why I was restless this morning. When we got to First Church, one of the hymns was "Great is Thy Faithfulness:"
"Summer and winter and springtime and harvest,
Sun moon and stars in their course above
Join with all nature in manifold witness
To thy great faithfulness, mercy and love."

Melissa went with me to the funeral. She loved Barb and her children, and so I figured she would go. But I was not sure what to think; Barb lost a long fight with cancer, and I knew that was weighing on Melissa. But a good funeral preaches the gospel in the face of death, and if you listen closely, you understand that indeed, it is a war, and finally there must be great courage to stick with Christ to the end.

Tonight, I was probably calmer than I have been in a while, and so had more patience with the boys. We even survived bath time. We read one of their current favorite stories, The Tale of the Three Trees. Joe lets me read it then he retells it. I like his version better.

I talked to the boys a little bit about baptism. I take on all challengers who don't like infant baptism, and I was feeling the need to teach the boys why they were baptized, what it means, etc. And as I have said, theologically I have not moved much past the 4th century. So imagine my pride when I told the boys that baptism by water was the promise of God, the sign of entry into the fellowship of believers, and Joe says, "Just like Noah." St. Peter says, "In it [the Ark] only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water, and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also..." (I Peter 3:20-21)

The letters of Peter and John don't get near enough attention. All week, 1 Peter 1:1-9 has been on my heart. Carol Sparks said, "Maybe it's because of Barb?" 1 Peter 1:1-9 is a reminder that we don't belong here, and that "you greatly rejoice, even though for a little while you have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials (1 Peter 1:6)