Some fun for the day, on which many people return to work after the ironically named Labor Day weekend. Have you noticed how we have s t r e t c h e d it into a four-day weekend? We had to run an out-of-town errand Thursday afternoon and were concerned not only with 5:00 traffic but holiday weekender traffic. Yes, even during this time of pandemic.

Having already digressed too much…I DID mention fun!…I love history – and trivia.  Today in history, in 1903, my grandmother was born. So were Bernie Sanders, Sid Caesar, Patsy Cline, and Pink. Also on this date, in 1974, President Ford granted an unconditional pardon to Richard Nixon. Groan. It probably sealed Gerald R. Ford’s fate for re-election two years later, as well as any legacy he may have hoped for. It was a brave, audacious thing to do. I think there was sufficient Christian faith in our 38^th President to be aware of the unconditional pardon he continually received as a child of God – and to give a modicum of that to the 37^th President. They will both go down in history, just like Rudolph. More irony: that’s President’s middle name, Rudolph (ahem). Don’t unfriend me…

We do not know the exact date that we received our unconditional pardon. I suppose our baptism date suffices, but I think it was when God declared and granted it when His Son died for our salvation on the cross. It gave us an unlimited, unending pass and delivered us from what we truly deserved. As much as we thought “Tricky Dick” deserved jail time, he was spared that indignation. There was a semblance of national healing, for a while. It came just six years after what can be considered one of the darkest years in American history. Again, more irony – the year Nixon was elected President. There is nothing trivial about being saved from our sins. It was the defining moment in human history, even if the precise date cannot be certain. It continues to astonish us and humble us. We know that we often take it for granted, yet God does not rescind the gift. Unconditional pardon. Unconditional love.

Pastor Art