An Uneasy Comfort

Tim Riter December 21, 2015

After 36 years of marriage, Sheila and I have settled into relaxed comfort. In our first days, we'd talk until 2 in the morning, avidly learning about each other. Now we head for bed at different times. In early years, we'd cuddle in bed and discuss our days. Now we read books. Separate ones. In early years we'd eagerly listen to the other's words. Now we finish their sentences. Life is like that, even the spiritual one. We begin with passion and fervor, and settle into an uneasy comfort. We love, we commit, we serve, but the spark is gone. Should it be?

The Worth of a Person

Tim Riter December 14, 2015

The time arrived to sell my first car, a yellow 1964 Falcon Futura, much like the one above, so to save every cent for the next vehicle I consulted a friend in the car business. I wanted a dollar figure on its worth, but he surprised me, "Tim, the car is worth as much, and no more, than you can get a person to pay for it." The implications of that concept have followed me for decades, and they directly impact the level of our intimacy with God. Our intimacy directly connects to the depth of our connection.

image courtesy of San Bernardino Police Department

The Evil in Here

Tim Riter December 7, 2015

Just last week, a husband and wife used the above SUV in killing 14 and wounding 21 people in San Bernardino. ISIL, or ISIS, or the Islamic State, or Daesh, who "inspired" these two, for all of its faults, establishes the reality that evil exists, and abounds. Charlie Hebdo. The France train attack. Paris. San Bernardino. And more. Much more. Yet we face a greater temptation than that presented by terrorism...

Out of Darkness

Tim Riter November 30, 2015

OK, it's time! A few weeks ago I did a humorous tongue in cheek rant about how early some began to celebrate Christmas. Two weeks before Thanksgiving is too soon for outside lights and Facebook posts! So now that we've finished the Thanksgiving weekend, it's time for Christmas to begin. But why now? I mean, why do we celebrate thebirth of Jesus on December 25? Most of us know ...

Hard Times

Tim Riter November 23, 2015

The pic above looks serene, two nice looking bikes in the California redwoods on an early morning. September 2015. Yet the surface appearance never reveals a clue to the hard times those bikes and one other experienced on that trip. Nor the difficulties of the riders. Look at ...

Purposeful Balance

Tim Riter November 16, 2015

True confession time, annoyance is growing in me. Already, in EARLY November, two Christmas Facebook posts have made the rounds. Yes, I chastised both posters--one a writing friend, the other my wife. NOVEMBER! Next, on Saturday November 14, the neighbor across the street began hanging his Christmas lights. In mid November! Have people no sense of timing? OK, it's not as elaborate as the pic above, but...

Brevity

Tim Riter November 9, 2015

130 years ago, this gravestone of my great great grandfather was fresh and clear. Now, the information about his life can only be read with difficulty. Not long ago my wife and I traveled to Park City Utah, near the birthplace of my father, to combine a week's vacation and a family heritage tour. Thomas Jefferson Thurston pioneered a valley east of Ogden, accumulated a number of worthwhile accomplishments, and passed away in St. George UT in 1885. But outside his family and a few historians, few have heard of him. But seeing his gravestone struck me with

Walk Wisely

Tim Riter November 2, 2015

This last summer my grandson Josh and I took off to climb Mt. Whitney, the tallest peak in the lower 48. His success, and my failure, were recounted in an earlier post, so we'll not repeat my embarrassment. But the Whitney ascent begins with a nice, fairly moderate wooded trail. In my ignorance, I assumed the rest of the trail would be as easy. But like the pic of the trail shows, relatively soon the timberline took over, an altitude too high for trees to grow, and few plants of any kind. The woods gave way to ...

Unconventional

Old Faith, New Following