Hi everyone,

So the mornings are getting cooler and the sun is setting ever so earlier. School has been on for a couple of weeks now. The calendar on my wall in my office says that tomorrow is the Fall Equinox (not sure if I was supposed to capitalize that or not). All of this points to one thing: I have to prep our lawn for winter.

And by “prep our lawn”, I mean it needs to be cut, maybe weeded a bit, and lay down some new seed to take care of those bare patches.

This is actually something I wanted to do for weeks now. But do you think I’ve been able to eek out 4-5 hours not including clean up in a day to do this? The sad part is that the longer I leave it, the more insurmountable it seems. And the more insurmountable, the less I want to do it. And the less I want to do it, the further I put it off. And the cycle continues.

I know, it’s just a lawn, but sometime we have to take life by the horns and just do what needs to be done. It’s not easy, of course, or it would have been done already. But it is rewarding and in the end, worth it.

Here are the readings for next Sunday:
Amos 6:1a, 4-7
Psalm 146
1 Timothy 6:6-19
Luke 16:19-31
And a video of those readings being read:

You may be wondering what on earth these readings have to do with lawn maintenance. Well, they don’t on the most part. But the thing that caught my eye through my reading is the “chasm” that separated the rich man and Lazarus. I know it’s just a story and not a road map of what the afterlife looks like, but I found it interesting that this un-crossable chasm could easily carry a conversation over it. And again, while it’s just a story, it made me wonder what this chasm even looked like and why it was there.

And because of the rich man’s attitude that he was still owed so much, like a drip off of Lazarus’ finger or a solid favour in warning his brothers, I’m led to believe that this chasm is more a demise of his own making. In that, he couldn’t get over himself and his entitled attitude of entitlement.

To be honest, I can totally understand it because he was portrayed as a man who lived in the lap of luxury and not really knowing any kind of want. And so he’d be out of practice, so to speak, when he finally faces hardship. So this chasm was dug ever so deep. It would have been ever so wide. It was felt to be ever so insurmountable.

But crossing it would have been the right thing to do. Tearing down that wall would have allowed him to better see Lazarus and those less fortunate than him. Erasing the lines drawn between him and others would have opened his heart to see, to feel, and to have compassion.

I know, it’s not easy. But sometimes we have to take life by the horns. And thanks be to God, we aren’t alone in it and are given the prophets and God’s Word to guide us, strengthen us, and empower us to be God’s faithful people.

Have a great week, everyone!