Good morning on this cloudy, wet, but quasi-warm Wednesday morning. It is fifty degrees and a bit foggy yet. For whatever reason, I associate mornings like this to Carolina springtime mornings. We lived in Fayetteville North Carolina for a couple of years and many mornings during the spring time of the year were like this. It is peaceful and the world, just like me, is slowly waking up and ready to start the day. The temperature is supposed to climb maybe another ten degrees today and even higher tomorrow before the bottom drops out once again, and we are then predicted for rain, freezing rain and sleet followed by measureable snow fall for Friday and Saturday. No wonder the doctor’s offices and hospitals are full of patients with colds and the flu.

I have lots of small birds at the buffet this morning; finches, wrens, junkos and sparrows mostly. One red-headed woodpecker is out there pecking away at the bark-butter feeder. Perhaps the cardinals have already been here for their first round but there are none at the moment. Nor are there any squirrels or starlings, not that they are missed. Oops, I just noticed there is one squirrel just beyond the door eating off of the ground.

I had a morning clergy meeting yesterday and I never got around to writing my blog. There were interesting conversations being held  at the meeting concerning the direction and re-organization of our denomination conference. It is a fact that “The Church” of 2018 is not the church of the 1960’s. The parishioners and clergy from that era are having a problem with the change and the “New Church” seems to be having an identity crisis and lack of direction and or leadership. In my humble, or not so humble opinion, the modern parishioner could care less about “where we came from” or what has made us the church we are today. And we have for the most part lost our sense of Covenant with one another. We come to church, do our worshiping with no sense of belonging to a larger worshiping community. True, we can exist as a church like that —- but can we survive with a sense of purpose? It is a transition period that we are going to have to go through because society continues to move on. With God’s help we will make it.

While I was sitting here writing that last paragraph, I suddenly had three or four blue birds come in for a quick snack. So, that was my extra helping of blessings for today. And now, on schedule, the cardinals are arriving. God is great and life is good. Have a blessed day.