Sundays

Let me tell you about my usual Sunday as a grade school child growing up.

First, we got up early in the morning. My parents were never big breakfast people (which is ironic because I am) so the usual breakfast was a bowl of cereal. Then we got dressed in our Sunday best clothes (suit for me and a dress for my sister) and we’d go to church. The church we went to was quite similar to Highland Heights in that it was a nondenominational Christian evangelical church. It seems that we went to Sunday School first (parents and children) and then joined our parents in the main sanctuary for the sermon. We were expected to stay and be quiet for the sermon (and we did, or else).

As I got older, I squirmed less and listened more. I remember one particular sermon where the pastor rhetorically asked what the temperature was when people said it was “colder than hell” outside. It made me realize that there were a lot of sayings that meant something different than how I used them.

After church, we’d go home and have lunch. Then there were a couple of hours of play/tv watching or, for my dad, napping before we readied ourselves for the evening activities. At 5pm, Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom came on and we were trying to get dressed for the Sunday evening church service while watching the program.

At 6pm, The Wonderful World of Disney came on. By this time, I was dressed and glued to the tv. We would be watching the show while keeping one eye on the clock knowing that we’d leave for church at 6:30pm. As it got closer and closer to 6:30pm, I’d find myself hoping that my dad would get distracted and decide not to go and be late (it did happen a time or two, but not often).

At the 6:30pm time, my dad would announce that it was time to go and we’d load into the car to go to church for the Sunday evening service. The service lasted about an hour and by the time we got home, it was time to organize our stuff for school the next morning and go to bed. Such was the “standard” routine.

We were getting ready for church a Sunday or so ago and I had the tv playing in the background. I heard the familiar theme song for Mutual of Ohama’s Wild Kingdom and looked up and saw that a local tv station was now carrying reruns of it. That day, I had the option of telling my machine to record the show to watch later (I probably could have YouTubed it anytime but I’m too mature to think about consuming tv in that way much). Later that day, I watched that episode and it was a pleasant reminder of the educational and moral focus of tv entertainment compared to today’s offerings.

“But now that Timothy has come to us from you, and has brought us the good news of your faith and love and reported that you always remember us kindly and long to see us, as we long to see you— for this reason, brothers, in all our distress and affliction we have been comforted about you through your faith. For now we live, if you are standing fast in the Lord. For what thanksgiving can we return to God for you, for all the joy that we feel for your sake before our God, as we pray most earnestly night and day that we may see you face to face and supply what is lacking in your faith? Now may our God and Father himself, and our Lord Jesus, direct our way to you, and may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, as we do for you, so that he may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.” - 1 Thessalonians 3:6-13 ESV

I have always struggled to avoid glamorizing the past by my recollection of the good things and my minimizing of the not so good things. You hear people (especially mature people) all the time refer to the good ole days without mentioning the struggles. About the time, I was fondly remembering Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom, a recession was starting, OPEC implemented an oil embargo, gasoline was becoming scarce, and a president was about to resign.

Ah, the good ole days…