I took the photograph on the blog page a couple of years ago. It is in the middle of the Golden Gate Bridge. My wife and I were in San Francisco because I was attending a conference with the Association of Professional Chaplains. My friend, Keith Munford, and his wife, Pam were there too. They had a car rental and we went with them to explore some of the surrounding area. We walked across the Golden Gate Bridge, then went to Muir Woods and finished the day with dinner at Scoma's in Sausilito. It was a memorable day with good friends.
When I was going through my pictures file to select one for the blog page, I came across this one of the bridge sign and it caught my attention again. Though records are incomplete, it is estimated that 1200 to 1500 people have ended their lives by jumping from the Golden Gate Bridge. The deck is 245 feet above the frigid, turbulent waters and a jumpers reach speeds of nearly 90 mph before hitting the surface. Only the seriously suicidal take the plunge. Thus the sign.
It is simple and straighforward. Crisis Counseling. There is Hope! Make the Call! Followed by the warning that jumping is nearly 100% fatal. One of the striking things about the sign is that it has no phone number! (As I recall, other signs do have a phone number).
People who tell others that "you just have to have faith" are like that sign. Wanting in the information department. Faith is transitive. It requires an object. A "Someone" to believe. There is a Someone. Jeremiah 33:2-3 has sometimes been called God's phone number. 2-3"This is God's Message, the God who made earth, made it livable and lasting, known everywhere as God: 'Call to me and I will answer you. I'll tell you marvelous and wondrous things that you could never figure out on your own.' "
Make the Call.
Glimmer Man
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Opening Thoughts
Welcome!
I began writing "Glimmers" almost two years ago to encourage my co-workers at the hospital where I serve as a chaplain. I hope you will find them encouraging as well. Below is my latest effort, a Thanksgiving post. I post a new Glimmers weekly, so come back and check it out!
Glimmer Man
Glimmers
Nov. 26, 2008
“Through some moment of beauty or pain, some sudden turning of our lives, we catch glimmers of at least what the saints are blinded by…” (Frederick Buechner, Listening To Your Life, p. 169)
Two years have passed since I wrote the Glimmers below. In the interim, my grandson, now 3, has developed into a bright, sensitive, amazing little person. His dad has completed another tour in Iraq and, thank God, returned safely. Chris, Candace and Christian will not be with us this year and they will be missed. My eldest daughter, Jessie and her husband, Josh, are expecting and we will soon be grandparents again. Amanda, my youngest, and Chad (former wannabe) are deep in the middle of wedding plans. So I have even more reason to give thanks this year. We’ll feast as usual, but I wanted to share this with you. I think it is one of my better efforts.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Jerald
.
Nov. 21, 2006
Like many of you we are preparing for Thanksgiving at the Smith house. We braved the crowds at the grocery store last weekend to buy the turkey and all of the trimmings for the Smith family traditions. I am thankful we got out alive!
Already the retailers are at work to incite the desire for the latest and greatest, the newest and most fashionable, the bling-bling that proves your love as nothing else can. Thanksgiving is, after all, the kick-off of the holiday buying season when retailers make, in some cases, 70% of their yearly profit. But before all that…STOP.
Stop and look around your table. In my mind, as I look around ours, my wife, who has put up with me for 26 years is there. All of our three girls are there. Two son-in-laws, and one son-in-law wannabe (who we already love like family) are there. Last year one of them was in Iraq. We are sure thankful he is back. Our miraculous little grandson is there. Born at 2lb. 9 oz, now a precocious toddler, healthy and happy. Who is at your table? Give thanks for that. Look on the table. You’ll probably have more than enough to eat. Look up. Got a roof over your head? How often do we take that for granted? And look above that.
Thanksgiving is about that. Stopping to give thanks. I find it interesting that St. Paul, in one of his lists of gross sins, puts “unthankful” right in the middle of all of them. It is quite shocking to see it there the first time you read it (2 Timothy 3:2). The person who has no appreciation for what they already have will not likely ever be content with all they strive to get, and as St. Paul points out, that can lead to all kinds of trouble. As one Greek sage put it, “To whom little is not enough, nothing is enough”. Thanksgiving is the perfect antidote for that “nothing is enough” syndrome.
So, before you stick that fork in your mouth on Thursday: STOP. Give thanks. It could keep you out of a whole lot of trouble.
Thanksgiving Blessings,
Glimmer Man
I began writing "Glimmers" almost two years ago to encourage my co-workers at the hospital where I serve as a chaplain. I hope you will find them encouraging as well. Below is my latest effort, a Thanksgiving post. I post a new Glimmers weekly, so come back and check it out!
Glimmer Man
Glimmers
Nov. 26, 2008
“Through some moment of beauty or pain, some sudden turning of our lives, we catch glimmers of at least what the saints are blinded by…” (Frederick Buechner, Listening To Your Life, p. 169)
Two years have passed since I wrote the Glimmers below. In the interim, my grandson, now 3, has developed into a bright, sensitive, amazing little person. His dad has completed another tour in Iraq and, thank God, returned safely. Chris, Candace and Christian will not be with us this year and they will be missed. My eldest daughter, Jessie and her husband, Josh, are expecting and we will soon be grandparents again. Amanda, my youngest, and Chad (former wannabe) are deep in the middle of wedding plans. So I have even more reason to give thanks this year. We’ll feast as usual, but I wanted to share this with you. I think it is one of my better efforts.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Jerald
.
Nov. 21, 2006
Like many of you we are preparing for Thanksgiving at the Smith house. We braved the crowds at the grocery store last weekend to buy the turkey and all of the trimmings for the Smith family traditions. I am thankful we got out alive!
Already the retailers are at work to incite the desire for the latest and greatest, the newest and most fashionable, the bling-bling that proves your love as nothing else can. Thanksgiving is, after all, the kick-off of the holiday buying season when retailers make, in some cases, 70% of their yearly profit. But before all that…STOP.
Stop and look around your table. In my mind, as I look around ours, my wife, who has put up with me for 26 years is there. All of our three girls are there. Two son-in-laws, and one son-in-law wannabe (who we already love like family) are there. Last year one of them was in Iraq. We are sure thankful he is back. Our miraculous little grandson is there. Born at 2lb. 9 oz, now a precocious toddler, healthy and happy. Who is at your table? Give thanks for that. Look on the table. You’ll probably have more than enough to eat. Look up. Got a roof over your head? How often do we take that for granted? And look above that.
Thanksgiving is about that. Stopping to give thanks. I find it interesting that St. Paul, in one of his lists of gross sins, puts “unthankful” right in the middle of all of them. It is quite shocking to see it there the first time you read it (2 Timothy 3:2). The person who has no appreciation for what they already have will not likely ever be content with all they strive to get, and as St. Paul points out, that can lead to all kinds of trouble. As one Greek sage put it, “To whom little is not enough, nothing is enough”. Thanksgiving is the perfect antidote for that “nothing is enough” syndrome.
So, before you stick that fork in your mouth on Thursday: STOP. Give thanks. It could keep you out of a whole lot of trouble.
Thanksgiving Blessings,
Glimmer Man
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