Since Thursday, I have received many more comments than usual about my e-news thoughts concerning the need for play in a relationship. (You will remember that I said couples marry because they play well together. Couples do not marry because they had to work at their relationship. I also said that Joyce and I continue to date (each other!) after 45 years of marriage.) Some commented that they could not meet a request of mine because they had a date that conflicted with what I wanted them to do. Others said that they were passing my comments on to their kids. Others said they were going to be more intentional about scheduling play in their lives. It has truly been fun for me to have some quote me correctly as a reason to say no to my request; to use me as the outside expert so their kids would listen; and to hear that play in a relationship was being considered.
On Sunday, I stated in the sermon that the average married couple talks to each other 28 minutes a week. Since that statement was made, I have been asked if the 28 minutes includes a wife doing all the talking while the husband listens? (The comment did not say while the husband pretends to listen.) I have also been asked, Is it acceptable to stop talking to your spouse after 28 minutes because you have now reached your average for the week? By the way, the people who made these comments were teasing me. Again, it is fun having the banter about a quote that is correctly heard. It also means that someone was listening.
There is something deeper behind the comments to last week’s e-news letter and the sermon. These comments reveal the importance of connecting a meditative thought and a sermon to “real” life. The question that I constantly raise is, If faith does not relate to the life that I am living today, does it really make a difference? These comments confirm my belief that what is said in an e-news article and in a sermon has to connect concretely to Monday morning’s chores and tasks at home, at school, in the office, and on the playground. Faith is not a spectator sport. Faith is a participant sport for those who are a part of God’s family as they live and contend with the life God has given.
Thanks for connecting an e-news devotion and a sermon to your life.
Pastor Pete
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