Friday, October 22, 2004

"In the Sweet By and By"

I'm in St. Louis today. Much of the town is still hungover from last night's baseball game. It's a beautiful autumn day here -- cool without being chilly. I'm doing some storytelling tonight, then I have tomorrow to myself and I'll finish the weekend by training about 100 people at a church here how to help parents take responsibility for the spiritual development of their children.

On the plane this morning they were playing Appalachian folk music while we were boarding. The last song before take off was, "In the Sweet By and By." I have to admit, rest on that beautiful shore sounds nice, but that didn't exactly inspire confidence in me.

As good as God is, as much as he's given me...if this ain't the sweet by and by, I cannot imagine what it'll be like. And I'm not in any hurry to get there.

Not that I'm lobbying for the other place, mind you. But God made all this stuff -- baseball, autumn, Italian food, music -- and I plan on enjoying them all as good gifts from a good God.