Apparently, I keep nearly one of everything in my office. I came across this notice from The Baptist Standard dated May 8, 1992. I may have used this in a sermon once. “Mary-Ellen Smauley was honored recently in Sweetwater in celebration of her 100th birthday.” Mrs. Smauley was a member of First Baptist Church, Sweetwater, Texas. Among the gifts she gave visitors at an open house at her daughter’s home was a list of  “Things You Might Find Useful in Your 100 Years of Life.” 

 1.  Be forgiving of yourself and others.

 2.  Live beneath your means.

 3. Treat everyone you meet like you want to be treated.

 4.  Keep a tight rein on your temper.

 5.  Stop blaming others. Take responsibility for every area of your life.

 6.  Eat fruit.

 7.  If you have time to pray, God has time to listen.

 8.  Never use profanity.

 9.  If you never forgive others, hope you never sin.

10. You know you are old when you feel you corns more than your oats.

11.  Be kinder than necessary.

12.  Leave everything a little better than you found it.

13.  Never go to bed with dirty dishes in the sink.

14.  Take care of your reputation—it’s your most valuable asset.

15.  Pray. Pray. Pray.

16.  Eat jellybeans.

17.  Never, never neglect your Heavenly Father.

18.  Let not envy or jealousy consume your soul.

19.  Happiness is midway between too much and too little.

20.  To live a long life, get somebody else to worry for you.

Keep healthy. Pray mightily. Enjoy your life today. Live your best every day. And let’s experience the love and power of God together.

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Just a few weeks after he had been inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, the celebrated pitcher Dizzy Dean arrived at our church—to lay a brick. Our pastor at the time, Rev. Patrick (Pat) Murphy, had a promotional idea to stir up some interest in the church and raise some funds for the completion of a new sanctuary. The building project had begun in 1949. Things were going slowly. That spring of 1954 the pastor invited Dizzy Dean to church. Pat Murphy was from Arkansas and was acquainted with some of the Dean family. Pastors occasionally have bright ideas like this.

This story, which I have told before, was recalled as I was contacted by Andrea Brixey Shoemaker after she was looking at some old photographs from the church. We have begun displaying old photographs from our church archives on the Braden Park Church Facebook page. Andrea’s father, Herb Brixey, died in 2012. She was thinking about her dad and the red brick.

Ten-year-old Herby was chosen to go with Dizzy Dean and the pastor up on top of the roof of the northeast office where Herb handed the baseball player-turned-announcer a red brick. With wet mortar and trowel, Dean carefully placed the red brick up high on the east wall facing Yale Avenue. Pictures were taken, autographs were signed and then it was over. The workmen proceeded to add the beige-colored bricks that matched the rest of the building. If you stand across the street from the church and look real closely towards the upper north side of the big stained-glass window, you will not see the red brick.

I suspect the pastor went to sleep pleased with the day’s events. But that very night some displeased church leaders had the red brick removed. The pastor’s comments were not recorded. I think of it as a cautionary tale of a bright idea not completely talked through with those most affected.  Some years before Herb had his double lung transplant in 2000, he and I were cleaning a closet near the back of the sanctuary. There we came upon a mortar-encrusted red brick. We decided this was “The Red Brick.” It has since been kept in the church library. This week we passed the brick on to Andrea and her husband Curt, as the family reminder of the day Dizzy Dean came to church and met Herby Brixey.

Keep healthy. Pray mightily. Enjoy your life today. Actions affect others. And let’s experience the love and power of God together.

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I am always looking for time. That is because I am always losing it. Time that is. I think I have plenty of it, only to discover that it has gone, vanished. Turn around and where did it go? Where does time go? One person told me they are living on borrowed time. Another said they had too much time on their hands. Is that where it went, or did they just take the time and not tell me? Where do I get time? Is there a workshop some place near here where I can possibly make up time? 

One day I found the time. I confess. It was just there so I used it. I was waiting somewhere when I realized I had time—time to listen, time to learn, and time to think. It was great. Then came the quarantine pandemic. Time did not stop, but my busy calendared schedule was erased. I planned my short ventures into the outside world to have as little contact with people as possible. There is a downside to being shut in, like feeling lonely all by yourself all the time, or feeling trapped with too many close relatives at hand. I discovered the joy of my backyard. The interruption in the routine gave me the perspective to see the value of time well spent. 

Time is not consistent. When absorbed in a project, book or activity, it speeds on by us. When burdened by conflict, illness or fear, it slows almost to a halt. Some nights I barely close my eyes before the alarm starts ringing. On other nights, I hear every tick of our grandfather clock. Time flies when you are having fun, but it doesn’t when you’re not.   Psalm 90 encourages us “to number our days that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.” For me this means that I am to use well the time allotted to me today. Time is a gift of grace. Apply it with wisdom.

Keep healthy. Pray mightily. Enjoy your life today. Spend time wisely. And let’s experience the love and power of God together.

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