One of my favorite musical groups is Steely Dan. The talent of Donald and Fagen and Walter Becker, the incredible studio players they collaborated with, are iconic to me. Quirky compositions, oftentimes obscure lyrics, along with a successful run of FM hits, like “Reelin In The Years”. I think I “stow away the time” whenever my nostalgia tear beckons and I pull out the old photo albums. How can it be twenty years since I last saw my uncle who died yesterday? Thirty years since we lived in Hawaii? Fifty since I finished my first year of high school?

There’s a lot of road ahead, a lot more years, God willing. The precious commodity of time never pauses, but every present day is both marvel and majesty. Going back to photo albums – are they becoming obsolete, extinct, like the slide shows (and I’m not talking Power Point)? Video reels still have their place even amid the dizzying “tech.” Churches like us still debate what forms of communication and media will “reel them in”. Our personal and collective histories will always be catalogued and chronicled. When we run the reels of Scripture, God’s Holy annals, we get nostalgic but hopefully always schooled and taught how we might grasp those timeless truths.

Dear readers, may your days and minutes of kairos and kronos time be blessings. May the reels of memories affirm your value to all the someones you have loved and have given you that same gift. Live momentously in the unconditional love that passes beyond the years.

Pastor Art