“Life in every culture is knit with many threads …”

 

 

I am always grateful for feedback on Perspective, the blog, reaffirming my readers really do get it, occasionally even in disagreement. The recent blogs, “You are diabetic,”

[1] and “Being Church,”[2] are two very diverse blog topics, mainly because the way my mind works is more mosaic (an elegant word for “scattered”) than linear. Life in every culture is knit with many threads, an underlying basis for the disparate “life threads” you find in my blogs.

 

Sometimes the threads are humorous or daily events I encounter in life; at other times woven from practical theological insights and experiences. I attempt to write about things that matter, questions at the core of my own life, insights I receive from the Scriptures, from friends, and from other followers of Jesus.

 

And you respond back to me!

 

I’m not able to include all, but here are a few such feedback “perspectives” I’ve received on the above mentioned blog topics, some edited for length.

 

 

“YOU ARE DIABETIC”

My father also just became diabetic at 80. I was told I’m at risk for high cholesterol and went through difficult diet adjustments last year… glad to be aware, but I miss my sweets.

~ Carlo S / Washington

 

Thanks for sharing this, Ward. My husband is diabetic. He takes Metformin which I see on Google is for Type 2 diabetes. He’s been thinking he has Type 1, but I think he’s either wrong or in denial. I appreciate your being transparent about it and hope it encourages my Gene in his eating habits.

~ Georgine N / California

 

Well said, Ward. I’m with you! Getting lab work in June to check.

~ Nancy E / Washington

 

This is a wake up call for me because my last two bloods showed a little higher blood sugar reading than I should have …

~ Betty M / South Carolina

 

Funny how God works. I graduated with my D.Min on Saturday. It took so much computer, research and reading. I could feel my health deteriorating in spite of my efforts to exercise, etc. There just was not enough time. After defending my dissertation, people asked, “What are you going to do with your time now that you have finished?” On Saturday after graduating, I was ready with my answer. I want to focus on my health. Last week Tom was diagnosed as pre-diabetic. Your message is reinforcing my decision to get us healthy! You are so influential in my life.

~ Peggy F / Georgia

 

Thanks for the education and great reminder! Blessings.

~ Bill and Judy B / Arizona

 

I haven’t had diabetes yet, but I did have cancer a year and a half ago … Chemo never made me sick (God knows I’m a wuss!) and I’m doing well … I never think about diabetes, but I am now since I read your note. Frankly it scared me a bit so I think it’s time for me to watch my sugar and carb intake! At age 68 I must do better. I like to think I have things to do, places to go and people to see!  Thanks for sharing your story and helping your readers like me think about this.

~ Roy H / Tennessee

~ 0 ~

 

“BEING CHURCH”

Thanks for this much needed reminder of priorities … of being the Church God wants us to be. This has been the foundational commitment of a new venture I am pursuing … calling pastors to rethink whether their approach to family ministry is culture driven or scripture driven. It’s so easy to lose sight of which world we actually are living in.

~ Cavin H / Colorado

 

That was a very challenging and insightful recent blog. I’m glad you’re still writing Ward. I need you!

~ Gary G / Washington

 

Is spiritual transformation measured by activity and focus in the church, or by preparation for people to live out that spiritual growth wherever God has placed them? The first calls for more programming within and by the church. The second calls for more equipping for the congregation to live out their faith where God has placed them: with their families, in their neighborhoods, at work, at play, in the town square. This seems to me to be a vital question …

~ Al E / Washington

 

“There is a quality about aging that brings one back to the center.” Profound and yet so simple. I think that summarizes what has happened to me. In some areas, the older I get, the less I know (like being tech savvy). That does not hold true for spiritual truths however. “And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever increasing glory, which comes from the Lord who was the spirit.” 2 Cor 3:18

~ Ken M / California

 

Thanks to all the above and the many others of you who write to comment, encourage, and even critique. In this we experience life together in honest sharing, unselfish love and Christian service.

 

Blessing from my heart to yours.

 

 

[1] https://wardtanneberg.com/2018/05/21/you-are-diabetic/

[2] https://wardtanneberg.com/2018/06/04/being-church-2/