Don McMinn

At my work at the church, we always pursue excellence, but sometimes we make mistakes. There was a typo on one of the worship slides; I brought the choir in a measure early; we missed a deadline. When boo-boos happen we thoughtfully say, “We made a mistake, but no one died.” The phrase helps put things into proper perspective.

There are environments in which mistakes can be fatal: emergency rooms, airplane flights, military engagements. But for most of us, our mistakes are less impactful and certainly not fatal.

Don’t use this phrase as an excuse for mistakes and don’t be dismissive or nonchalant about failures. Own up to your mistakes, analyze them, and learn from them. But don’t exaggerate their impact, shame the person responsible, or carve the incident in tablets of stone. Let it pass.

Extend this grace and generosity to yourself. When you mess up, don’t reach for the proverbial hammer and pound your head. Learn all you can, then drop it and move on. 

Don’t be cavalier about mistakes but don’t overreact—unless someone died.

Every day we feel a plethora of emotions. Some are painful (hurt, fear, insecurity), others are pleasant (happy, fulfilled, secure). One of my favorite emotions is the sense of awe and wonder—a mixture of amazement, reverence, incredulity, surprise, admiration, serendipity, providence, and often beauty. I seldom feel it, which makes it even more special when I do.

Moments of awe arrest your attention, slow your pace, cause you to whisper, and sometimes make you gently weep. Time changes to slow motion mode.

Here are some examples of times when I’ve been overcome by awe and wonder. 

When my family and I were on a December transatlantic crossing of the Queen Mary 2, the ship sailed into a snowstorm. It was nearly a white out. I thought it was lovely and refreshing but the moment didn’t produce feelings of awe until I noticed the waitstaff had stopped what they were doing to watch the snow fall. Most of them were raised in Malaysia and had never seen snow. Soon, they were on the deck throwing snowballs at each other. Watching their reaction to seeing snow for the first time filled my heart with awe.

On one of our Travel with Friends trips, we were driving down the eastern coast of Ireland when two complete seven-colors rainbows appeared, almost overlapping, with all four points disappearing into the sea. Rainbows usually vanish rapidly but these remained for a long time.

Several years ago Mary and I were visiting the Sagrada Familia Cathedral in Barcelona. Designed by Gaudi, it will finally be finished in 2025 – 150 years after construction began. The entire western wall of the cathedral is stained glass. Every afternoon at a certain moment in time direct sunlight shines through the colorful glass and floods the space with a kaleidoscope of color; even visitors become illuminated with colors. We were there to sense the moment.

Notice that these three examples occurred while traveling. Moments of awe and wonder occur in day-to-day living but the frequency seems to accelerate when we’re in foreign places. Perhaps we’re just more observant while traveling, or we’re jostled out of our ruts.

When was the last time you felt awe and wonder?

 See below for a travel opportunity-of-a-lifetime.

Off to Alaska!

I’ve scheduled two information meetings regarding the July 30-August 11 2025 trip to Alaska. [Here’s the brochure.]

1. 1. Wednesday, October 30, 6:00-6:30 in the choir room at Stonebriar Community Church in Frisco, TX.

   2. Thursday, October 31, 6:00-6:45 Zoom meeting. If you want to participate just send me your email address.

 

I don’t talk very much. My wife calls me the king of brevity. I think there’s two reasons why.

First, I am by personality, taciturn. I’m an introvert so I’m not inclined to be verbose. I don’t need to talk a lot.

Secondly, I can remember a conversation I had when I was seventeen years old with a friend called Raymond (I’ll call him Raymond because that is his name).

Early on, Raymond talked a lot. Sometimes annoyingly so. But when we were seniors in high school I noticed that he talked less. It was so apparent that one day I asked him, “Raymond, are you okay? Is something wrong? You don’t talk as much as you used to.”

He said, “Don, I read and memorized a Bible verse and have decided to obey it. James 1:9 says, ‘Everyone should be quick to listen and slow to speak,’ so I’ve made a decision to talk less and be a better listener.” 

I knew obeying God’s Word was a good thing, so I made the decision to follow Raymond’s lead. That was 55 years ago.

I’ve learned that sometimes I need to talk more. Being too quiet may come across as unsociable or non-engaging. For sure, Mary deserves more conversation from me. And at times I need to insert my thoughts into conversations because few people ask “Don, what do you think about…”

I also avoid verbosity when writing, so I’ll stop here

Off to Alaska!

I’ve scheduled two information meetings regarding the July 30-August 11 2025 trip to Alaska. [Here’s the brochure.]

1. 1. Wednesday, October 30, 6:00-6:30 in the choir room at Stonebriar Community Church in Frisco, TX.

   2. Thursday, October 31, 6:00-6:45 Zoom meeting. If you want to participate just send me your email address.

 

I take so much for granted. 

When I turn on the tap, fresh water emerges. I get on a plane and eight hours later I’m in Europe (In Columbus’ day the voyage by ship could take six weeks to four months.) I’m often frustrated shopping at Kroger’s because the store is so big it’s hard to find certain items. (Someone living in the 19th century would be awestruck at the availability and choices.) I worship God in a beautiful air-conditioned building among friends. 

I’m often oblivious to all the conveniences I have and presumptuous about their availability and benefit.

But when conveniences are removed, even temporarily, we feel the pain and loss and our appreciation for these niceties soars. Several years ago we had an extended cold front in my town that froze our water pipes, so we had to drink bottled water and melt snow to fill the toilets to flush them. My appreciation for running water spiked.

But Is it possible to train ourselves to be more aware of conveniences and grateful for them without losing them?

Here’s a mind-game you can play that may help: Find a quiet place without distractions, close your eyes, and take an imaginary journey in which you are deprived of the things you enjoy but have take for granted. An abrupt scenario would be to imagine that you’re incarcerated in a 5×10 ft cell serving a life sentence without parole. Or imagine the sudden death of a loved one. Linger on these disturbing scenarios; don’t leave too quickly.

Now open your eyes and enjoy the fact that those thoughts were fabricated. And be grateful.

How can we do this on a regular basis? A humble spirit of gratefulness will be our aid. Let’s try to live every moment embracing the blessings that envelop our lives and express to yourself, God, and others, how grateful you are. Verbalize gratefulness for small things: the warmth of a coffee cup, the view through a window, the musky smell of your dog, running water, your car, friends, books.

On my worst day I am a blessed man.

Off to Alaska!

I’ve scheduled two information meetings regarding the July 30-August 11 2025 trip to Alaska. [Here’s the brochure.]

1. 1. Wednesday, October 30, 6:00-6:30 in the choir room at Stonebriar Community Church in Frisco, TX.

   2. Thursday, October 31, 6:00-6:45 Zoom meeting. If you want to participate just send me your email address.