Dear Members and Friends of St.
John,
Charles Dickens begins his book, “A Tale of Two Cities”,
with an oft-quoted assertion about the time of the French Revolution. “It was the best of times. It was the worst of times.” Well, to a lesser degree, I had a Monday like
that last week.
I was fishing on the Little Susitna River with my
daughter, Mary, on June 28. The river
had recently been opened to fishing for king salmon. While on the river I talked with fishing
guide, Andy Couch. Andy saw me early in
the day, and then much later. So, he asked
me if I had been fishing in a specific hole way upstream. Well, the answer was, “No.” But Andy’s question got me to thinking, and
dreaming. I had caught my first salmon,
my first king salmon in that fishing hole in 1991. But, the spot was indeed a long way upstream,
so I had not fished there since 1997. However,
Andy’s question put the idea in my mind.
I wanted to get back there again.
Sunday afternoon, June 30, not being able to find anyone
else to go with me, I put my boat in the water at the Little Su. I had 3 goals. I wanted to find that fishing hole again. I wanted to camp at that hole. And I wanted to catch a king salmon. Well, it took me a while, but I did finally find
the fishing hole again, arriving a little after 11:00 p.m. I set up camp and actually enjoyed the sleep
I got. Fishing is only allowed between 6:00
a.m. and 11:00 p.m., so I got up around 5:30 and made some coffee on the Coleman
stove. Then I started fishing. I actually caught a small king salmon around
6:15 a.m.
That was the best of times.
But, the fish I caught was relatively small for a king
salmon, only about the size of a silver.
I never took the fish out of the water, removed the hook, and let the
salmon swim away. I did have 2 more
bites, but I never did actually catch another fish.
It had still been a pretty good day, so I started the
boat downstream, fishing and taking care of business on the way. I got back to the Burma Landing boat ramp
around 12:30 p.m. As I climbed out of
the boat. I reached into my pocket for my cell phone, with pictures from on it
from my trip. But, my phone was not in
my back pocket. I had tripped in the
boat, so I checked out that location. I
looked everywhere I could think, but I still could not find the phone. Then I remembered using the bathroom about an
hour upstream, not far from that fishing hole.
Could my phone be there? Unfortunately,
I had already used a lot of gas on my trip and I didn’t think I had enough fuel
to go that far upstream again.
That was the worst of times
Another fishing guide had seen me up the river. We began
talking. In our conversation I shared that
I had lost my phone, and I thought that I knew where it was. I thought my phone was way upstream, and I
would need to go get some more gas to look for it. We talked some more and this other guide,
whom I had never met before, told me he had 5 gallons of gas and offered it to
me. But, I had used my last check paying
launch fee. I had $5.00 cash in my
pocket, but not enough to pay for 5 gallons of gas. I told him my predicament and he said, “No,
I’ll give you the gas.”
I gratefully accepted his offer for the gas and ran my
boat upstream for an hour looking for the place I had stopped. I found where I had gone to the bathroom, and
there was the phone laying on the ground right beside the toilet paper. Whew!
My good day, turned bad, now turned good again!
Do you know how much this act of kindness helped me? Can you understand how thankful I was? A number of years ago there was a book that
became popular, entitled, “Random Acts of Kindness.” I have personally tried to be kind to others,
to show kindness. But, this kindness was
shown to me and made a difference for
good in my life.
In Ephesians 4:32, God moved Paul to write, “Be kind and compassionate to one another,
forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.” Kindness from a Christian shows the love of Jesus to the other person. Kindness received by a Christian reminds us
of Jesus’ undeserved love. Our rebellious
and sinful lives call for God’s judgement.
But, Jesus willingly sacrificed himself so that we might have
forgiveness. Jesus died on the cross for
us, and rose again, so that we might have the treasures of eternal life. When someone shows us unexpected, undeserved
kindness, those acts of mercy remind us of Jesus’ saving kindness.
You might ask, “But, Pastor,
that Bible verse talks about “forgiving each other.” Why did you need forgiving?” Well, I had not done something hurtful
against the guide who gave me the gas.
But, my carelessness caused me to lose my phone. I felt pretty foolish. (Of course, this is not the first time I’ve
done something foolish.) The reason the
guide had to help me was my careless behavior.
But, the guide heard my story. He
saw my need. And, he gave me just what I
needed at that moment in spite of my foolish actions. And, again, we had not even met each other
before this incident.
Have you helped
someone with a random act of kindness?
Or, has someone ever unexpectedly helped you? Did that kindness remind you of Jesus’
love? Thank you, Lord, for kind
people! Thank you even more for Your kindness
that You gave us forgiveness and eternal life in Jesus.
A Child of God, Reminded of Jesus’ Love by the Kindness
of Another,
Pastor Jonathan
P.S. St. John has a weekly hiking fellowship and ministry
during the summer months. Here are
pictures from the hikes from the last two weeks. https://photos.app.goo.gl/oAq93chzwNJUyLav5
P.P.S. Our garden
and flowers continue to do well. Here
are some recent pictures. https://photos.app.goo.gl/WHoJR3amcdkgPzEx9
P.P.P.S. Here are some pictures from a Family outing on
July 4. https://photos.app.goo.gl/b45HZ6UU2HoxnmNr8
P.P.P.P.S. Kathy and I are in Minneapolis with 22,000
people registered for the National Youth Gathering, and thousands of
volunteers. Nineteen members of St. John
are in Minneapolis for the Gathering.
Here are some pictures. https://photos.app.goo.gl/QrHZNG1XEN3j63mq9
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ABOUT ‘THOUGHTS FROM THE PASTOR’ - I am
sending these e-mail messages, hopefully weekly, to all St. John members and
friends whose e-mails I have. (I am regularly adding new names of friends
and members – in case you are just receiving this e-mail for the first
time.) However, if you do not want to receive this e-mail, please let me
know, and I’ll gladly leave your name off my list for this message.
******
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