Sunday Homily, February 24, 2008, 3rd Lent
Readings: Exodus 17, 3-7; Psalm 95; Romans 5, 1-8; John 4, 5-42
Exodus: After two weeks in the first book of the Bible, today we move to the second. The book basically tells the heroic struggle of Moses to get the Hebrew people out of Egypt, where they had gone because of the drought in their land some decades or centuries before. Moses is considered the author.
Today’s reading makes an enormous jump from the story in Genesis about Abraham’s call to an episode after the exodus where the people are angry with Moses for taking them out of Egypt into the drought of the desert. See how Yahweh saves the people and Moses.
Whatt?? You Want a Date??!!
Decades ago when my younger sister Kathey & I were little kids, we used to love Saturday nights. On those nights we had fun harassing poor young baby sitters. Or, later as we grew older, we had fun causing mischief by ourselves. Because every Saturday night our parents went out to have fun.
This is one of my most favorite memories & stories that I have mentioned to people getting married for the past 30 plus years I’ve been doing weddings. I remember a time when I must have been around second or third grade. The second world war was over and my dad was probably going bankrupt. He had worked before the war in paper products. When the war broke out and paper was scarce he opened a coffee & donut shop on Ervay St. in down town Dallas. The Mercantile Bank was being built and he was doing well. When the bank finally opened his business went in the hole because all the workmen moved elsewhere.
I had started school at University Park Elementary, then moved to Christ the King when they built a school. I remember being anxious that I was going to have to return to University Park, because we could not afford the Catholic school. I actually never did return.
All during this time I can remember my folks going out on Saturday nights. They had a lot of friends, of all sorts of religions, something odd for those days, thinking back on it. Occasionally the group would come to our house those Saturdays and I enjoyed that just as much. The people were accepting and fun to hang around.
I think this was part of what kept my parents going. They had fun and they had fun at least once a week. I often tell married couple, "You have fun once a week, and you won’t have to end up in Stack’s therapy office."
One of the fun things my parent’s loved, I heard mentioned yesterday morning on The People’s Pharmacy, 6:00 A.M., Saturday (note credit). A doctor describing how to live a long & healthy life suggested dancing as an excellent form of exercise. My mom & dad, especially my dad, loved to dance. I wish I could see how they did swing dancing, which was popular during their time.
I often ask couples who come to my office when was the last time they had fun. They look at me like I am loco. This is Dallas. People work and work. There is no time for fun. Fun will come when we retire. In Dallas people lose their health to make money, then lose their money to restore their health.
Consequently, the fourth suggestion for having a great marriage is to have a weekly date. Get some friends together, go out, go dancing. Date! Once a week! Good times, bad times.
When was your last date, the next?
AUDIO: http://mysite.verizon.net/reso7rjy/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/2008-02-24.mp3