I’m thinking of another type of exchange today — it’s the exchange of my right to self-serving thoughts and actions for the privilege of thinking about and serving others.
The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me,
because the Lord has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim freedom for the captives
and release from darkness for the prisoners,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor …
to comfort all who mourn,
and provide for those who grieve in Zion—
to bestow on them a crown of beauty
instead of ashes,
the oil of joy
instead of mourning,
and a garment of praise
instead of a spirit of despair.
They will be called oaks of righteousness,
a planting of the Lord
for the display of his splendor. Isaiah 63:1-3
On a bench just inside our front door is a small basket with a piece of paper lying on it upon which Marti has written in her beautiful flowing cursive, “A Friendly Reminder.” It’s hard to believe that this basket, and its accompanying sign, has been there for a full year now. The friendly reminder has to do with what is in the basket — two or three masks, sanitizer wipes and a bottle of hand sanitizer. It’s a reminder that we are in a pandemic, and there are things we have to take care of. Hand washing, sanitizing, wearing a mask whenever we go out — these are the things we have to remember.
I had a little tea party
this afternoon at three.
‘Twas very small, three guests in all,
just I, myself and me.
Myself ate up the sandwiches,
and I drank up the tea.
‘Twas also I who ate the pie,
and passed the cake to me.
This little ditty makes light of what has been, for many, a central issue of this pandemic — a debilitating sense of loneliness and isolation. Maybe for a while it seemed like an opportunity for quietness and solitude, but that wore off pretty quickly, and a sense of abandonment set in. Being isolated from loved ones and family members, unable to visit the sick in the hospital or be by the side of the dying has been the worst part of this yearlong experience. And we’re not over it yet.
As if we needed one more reason to be divided. On top of huge chasms in politics, conservative and liberal philosophies, racial divides, and the ever-widening gulf between the haves and the have-nots, we now have a generational divide fueled by a movement started on social media a couple of years ago and still resounding in some circles.
At the end of our interview last night, I asked Peter Herschend, former Chairman of our Catch Ministry Board of Directors and guest on last night’s BlogTalkRadio show, to tell us what Grace Turned Outward meant to him. I knew he would have a thoughtful answer because he was instrumental in deciding on Grace Turned Outward as our primary emphasis. “Grace Turned Outward is exactly what we are called to do by our Lord,” he said, “because the reverse, grace kept inward, is invisible — it can’t be seen, tasted, touched — the senses of the body can’t reach it. But grace turned outward is ‘sensual’; it can be heard, it can be seen, it can be tasted, it can be felt. Not sensing anything from you, the point is lost.”
Today we will hear from a man who is very special to the Catch Ministry. He was the founder of the Catch and our first Chairman of the Board, Peter Herschend. It’s not a particularly special day in his life, except that he is our guest on our BlogTalkRadio show tonight, which makes it a very special day for us. This is a chance to introduce you to an influential man who many of you may know little about.
And his smile will light a candle
That will burn in your heart.
This will be my final journaling from the road with Chandler. It has been a monumental journey with incredible encounters along the way, but yesterday’s three-hour meeting with Lambert Dolphin was most enlightening. In Lambert’s own words, “[Chandler] and I seem to have been given a high-bandwidth two-way channel yesterday. I have much to learn from him I know.” I merely sat back and watched. It was as if, at 21, Chandler finally found someone who understands him. Because of his learning disability, Chandler sometimes has trouble completing his sentences. With Lambert, this wasn’t an issue. He was clearly completing all of Chandler’s sentences in his mind.
Today, we leave the town of Red Bluff, California and travel west for what our GPS says is roughly three and a half hours on California Highway 36, a little-known piece of the state highway system that passes through the bustling metropolises of Beegum, Platina, Forest Glen, Mad River, Bridgeville, Dinsmore, Carlotta, Hydesville, and Alton where it joins Highway 101. If you straightened this road out, you could probably travel it in half the time, but I guarantee there will never be a straight road through this mountainous country. Chandler and I can’t wait. We love routes like this.
Chandler has been on a vegan diet for over two years now. It makes cooking at home and take out, as well as eating on a trip such as we are on right now, a real challenge. We either have to find restaurants that have some vegan options so we can both order what we want, or, what he really gets excited about, are totally vegan restaurants, in which case, I eat vegan too. And I must say, they are getting incredibly sophisticated about plant-based foods these days.
John Fischer The Catch 