MAKING PEACE WITH YOUR PAST (1 OF 5)
by Jim Henry
Scripture: PSALMS 23:1-6
This content is part of a series.
MAKING PEACE WITH YOUR PAST (1 of 5)
(My Broken Yesterdays)
Rev. Jim Henry, Pastor
Psalm 23
Sunday, 08/06/00, 9:15 a.m. Service
How many of you have been to see the giant
Sequoia trees out West? They are a fabulous,
magnificent sight to see. If you go at the right time
a naturalist from the Forest Service might go along
with you and show you the growth rings of a tree that
has been taken down because of lightning or for some
other reason. The naturalist will explain to you the
history and development of that giant Sequoia. He will
point out a growth ring on the stump and tell you that
ring indicates a year of drought. Other rings will
show years of too much water or perhaps the year the
tree was struck by lightning. He will point to another
ring that might show where a forest fire nearly took
the tree or a blight attacked the tree. You are seeing
the history of the tree inside, in the rings. But when
you look at the tree from the outside, all you are
seeing is the protective bark; you don't know all the
history of that tree revealed on the inside. There,
inside, is the story of that tree.
You know that's the way with all of us; we all
have our protective bark. People see us in one way,
but inside all of us there are rings. The story of our
lives is wrapped up in those rings. They tell who we
are; our past and our present. How do we deal with
those rings that we have in our lives? Our broken past
and all of us have some of that, don't we? You know,
we just can't do it carte blanche, can we? We just
can't say, "This is the way we will handle it."
Might be like that fellow who was on an airplane
and he found a cockroach in the sandwich the
stewardess had just served him. He called her and she
took it away, but he was so upset it really ruined his
trip, as you can imagine. So he wrote a letter to the
airline president telling him what happened. A few
days later he received this nice letter ...
(My Broken Yesterdays)
Rev. Jim Henry, Pastor
Psalm 23
Sunday, 08/06/00, 9:15 a.m. Service
How many of you have been to see the giant
Sequoia trees out West? They are a fabulous,
magnificent sight to see. If you go at the right time
a naturalist from the Forest Service might go along
with you and show you the growth rings of a tree that
has been taken down because of lightning or for some
other reason. The naturalist will explain to you the
history and development of that giant Sequoia. He will
point out a growth ring on the stump and tell you that
ring indicates a year of drought. Other rings will
show years of too much water or perhaps the year the
tree was struck by lightning. He will point to another
ring that might show where a forest fire nearly took
the tree or a blight attacked the tree. You are seeing
the history of the tree inside, in the rings. But when
you look at the tree from the outside, all you are
seeing is the protective bark; you don't know all the
history of that tree revealed on the inside. There,
inside, is the story of that tree.
You know that's the way with all of us; we all
have our protective bark. People see us in one way,
but inside all of us there are rings. The story of our
lives is wrapped up in those rings. They tell who we
are; our past and our present. How do we deal with
those rings that we have in our lives? Our broken past
and all of us have some of that, don't we? You know,
we just can't do it carte blanche, can we? We just
can't say, "This is the way we will handle it."
Might be like that fellow who was on an airplane
and he found a cockroach in the sandwich the
stewardess had just served him. He called her and she
took it away, but he was so upset it really ruined his
trip, as you can imagine. So he wrote a letter to the
airline president telling him what happened. A few
days later he received this nice letter ...
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