In later years, I may wonder why I'm not writing more about the events of yesterday: bombs on Iran and Ayatollah Khamenei dead. Maybe later readers will wonder why I didn't analyze Trump's decision to go ahead without consulting Congress or maybe they will have knowledge I don't. I will say that U.S. presidents have been moving forward with war plans, asking for forgiveness rather than permission, for my whole life regardless of political persuasions.
I didn't pay close attention to the news yesterday. I was working on both taxes and my sermon. I didn't even hear about the death of Khamenei until evening. At the end of the day, I wrote this Facebook post: "Doing some sermon revisions, thinking about Nicodemus who comes to Jesus, two men who likely see the world very differently but take the time to talk. I'm thinking about how Nicodemus is perplexed in the third chapter of John (tomorrow's reading) but by the end of the Gospel of John, he's buying an astonishing amount of burial spices for Jesus, a public declaration of Jesus' importance. I'm thinking and revising and flipping to news reports and my sermon seems even more relevant, about the necessity of talking and understanding and being born again for new possibilities in this life."
In a week of good time management, I have my sermon written before Saturday, and my spouse offers suggestions. This week, I got my sermon draft done by Thursday, and I was proud of that. Yesterday, as we were going over his notes, I realized that I had printed out not the sermon for today, but one for two years ago.
In a way, I was relieved. The fact that the sermon was so unfamiliar just two days after I had written it had me worried before I checked the date on the sermon. In a way, no harm done. I made the discovery while my spouse still had time to read the correct sermon yesterday, and I had time to make the sermon stronger. My spouse wasn't upset that he read two sermons this week.
And yet, it reminds me that although I may think I have all the parts of my life moving smoothly, there are some indications that it may be more tenuous than I want to think. I thought of this again in the afternoon, as the phone rang, and I realized that the afternoon was later than I thought, and I hadn't called my parents, as we had arranged on Friday. Again, no harm done, except . . . I thought of this idea again as afternoon faded into dusk, as we looked in the recycling bin for the draft of the correct sermon with my spouse's notes on it.
It was a productive day, despite the mishaps. I got the first draft of our taxes done, and now we have decisions to make about how to pay them. Happily, we have the resources. I got the finished draft of my sermon done. Now let me get ready to preach and preside at Faith Lutheran in Bristol, Tennessee--worship starts at 10 a.m., and all are welcome.
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