Cold…chilly…fall-ish, I am not sure if that is a word or not but Bill Gates didn’t auto-correct or redline me so I leave it as written. As I have shared with you in past ponders on the back porch, one of my main goals is to take some time to clear my mind a bit. To be frank about just what I mean… to release or dump the things that agitate me. Today’s ponder is not so much about those things and is best described as a WHY?  I have encountered this in other places but never in the church…well that I knew of. When I was working it was considered almost a religious experience and folks were very serious about it. Now some of you might not go back this far. To the best of my memory and don’t hold me to it, it started with the ladies mostly those who had factory jobs, then became a part of Union Agreements and spread from there. When and where and why? I don’t really know. For the ladies at least twice a day, time varied. Wasn’t long before the men followed and expected as much also. If you haven’t guessed yet I writing about that sacred thing known as the break. Picture in your mind, Ross from the Friends TV Show, who thought he was on a break, but wasn’t. Now I see the value of such a thing…a moment to rest and gather your senses, a good thing. Now you had to earn your break and that’s the difference between it and a ponder. All you have to do to take a ponder is do it! So…the ponder of the day. 

First thing is a disclaimer. I am not criticizing but I am asking why? Most of my life has always included Sunday Church and Sunday School. That would be followed by Wednesday evening at church for a worship time of some sort. Now understand this…I did not always make the mid-week service but I did do my best to be there. The trend over the last few years has been the demise of the mid-week service across many denominations and more a time of fellowship, meals and special events within the church. No problem here. But now there is something new, at least in my view and it has been around for a while now. Spring and Fall Break. Give me a beak…good transition there on my part. Now I am just pondering here and that gives me a bit of leeway. You see I feel we need as individuals and society as much of the God Stuff we can get. Let me be clear here…heard that somewhere a while back…These fall and Spring Breaks usually occur during the school year. In some areas the church suspends temporarily, Wednesday evenings activities. Not all churches do this, where I attend we do it. So I do ponder does this help my Blog of a while back that it seems faith has become a convenience thing a little more palatable? I base this on the biblical verse Matthew 22:37-38  Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment… Consider this…please note that this is a personal position or thought. Remember the Ponder…WHY? I have always just thought that the character of Ross justifying what he did because “they were on a break!”kinda said to me that Rachael made him a better person when he was with her. Do you think we might be little better person when we are closer to God? Nuff said…Ponder on that for awhile.

Kurt