I don’t read as much as I should.
Not sure why that is. I read a lot as a kid. Won a prize in second grade for reading 100 books.
I used to inhale science fiction voraciously. Robert Heinlein. Isaac Asimov. Arthur C. Clarke.
Ray Bradbury. Fahrenheit 451. The Illustrated Man.
But I no longer read as much as I should.
Not sure why that is, but I have a few theories.
For one, I grew up in an age where color TV was just past the novelty stage. I loved it! And I spent much of my discretionary time in front of the TV rather than reading.
Which leads to another theory.
I’m something of an impatient person. (Cue the eye roll!) Hence I often prefer a two-hour movie to reading the book.
I’ve also come to realize as I get older that sitting or laying still and reading a book often puts me to sleep. Probably some sort of disorder I should get checked out.
Of course, I read the sports page.
And I have a stack of books at home purchased with every intention of reading them. It just seems I never get around to it. For whatever reason, I just don’t make time.
I did listen to an audio book once on a long car trip. Tom Clancy’s Red Rabbit. (I’m a big Clancy fan, too, by the way. The Hunt for Red October is one of my all-time favorite books. And movies.)
I may pick an audio book this morning as I head out on the road to Pittsburg, Kansas for my aunt’s funeral.
Which leads to another admission. I don’t read the Bible as much as I should.
One good thing about being the Director of Communications at First United Methodist Church Garland is that I’m more or less ‘forced’ to read at least two Bible passages each week – the scripture lesson and the message text for Sunday’s worship service.
I’m reminded of my aunt – Geraldine Buford – as I read Luke 10:38-42, the lesson preceding Senior Pastor Valarie Englert‘s message “Little Icons” this coming Sunday:
Now as they went on their way, [Jesus] entered a village, where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. She had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to what he was saying.
But Martha was distracted by her many tasks; so she came to [Jesus] and asked, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work myself? Tell her then to help me.”
But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her.”
In many ways the Martha in this story is me. Absorbed and engrossed in, preoccupied and distracted by the many things I have to do.
On the other hand my Aunt Gerry was the epitome of Mary.
She was not worried about or distracted by the things of this life. Her “one thing,” her focus on “the better part” – a deep, abiding love for Christ.
Like my Uncle Charles, who passed in 2013, Aunt Gerry was unequivocal, unwavering in her faith and her love for the Lord.
She never missed an opportunity to share the story of God’s grace with anyone who would listen, nor did she ever tire of sharing it.
Aunt Gerry and Uncle Charles loved to sing. They would strike up an old, traditional hymn at a moment’s notice.
And as my cousins, myself and many more family and friends whose lives she touched gather to celebrate her homegoing, we are secure in the knowledge that she and Uncle Charles are leading the heavenly choir.
First Reflections 