I was a Cubs fan in 1969 when the Mets came out of nowhere to steal the pennant from Cubs, who had a commanding lead with only a month left in the season.

I guess I will be a Cubs fan in 2016.

But even though the Cubs went farther than any of us thought at mid-season that they were capable of, it was a disappointing end.  But we're Cub fans.  We should be used to disappointment.

It must be the curse of the billy goat.  On October 6, 1945, the owner of the Billy Goat Tavern brought his goat named Murphy to the game.  Yes, the goat had his own ticket.  Before the game, the goat was paraded around the diamond with an advertisement for the bar.  But when he went to enjoy the game, patrons around him complained about the smell.  The goat and his owner were told to leave.

Owner Billy Sianis said, "The Cubs ain't gonna win no more. The Cubs will never win a World Series so long as the goat is not allowed in Wrigley Field."

Since that time, the Cubs have been within a series, a game or an out of going to the World Series.  You might remember a man named Bartman who reached out and touched a foul ball that would have been caught for an out.  The Cubs went on to lose because of an error on the next play.

That's just one example.  To put it all together, the last time the Cubs won a World Series was in 1908, when Charles Murphy was the Cubs owner.  In 1945, when the Cubs were cursed, the name of the billy goat was Murphy.  The General Manager of the 1969 Mets who overcame the Cubs' lead for the pennant was named Johnny Murphy.  The Mets announcer that year was Bob Murphy.  In 1984, with the Cubs in a commanding lead, it all fell apart in Jack Murphy Stadium.  And of course the Mets hero of the series just ending was Daniel Murphy.

  It would seem that the spirit of Murphy the billy goat is alive and well.  Or maybe the Cubs just lost.

Have you ever had a dream that seemed within your reach, and then just vanished?  Disappointment is a part of life, but it can weigh you down like few things can.  What do you do when you face disappointment?

Do you curl up into a ball and hide emotionally?  Or do you continue to trust the One who will never disappoint you, never leave you, and never forsake you?

I have been focusing on Psalm 103 lately.  The first 5 verses say this:

Bless the Lord, O my soul,
    and all that is within me,
    bless his holy name!
2 Bless the Lord, O my soul,
    and forget not all his benefits,
3 who forgives all your iniquity,
    who heals all your diseases,
4 who redeems your life from the pit,
    who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,
5 who satisfies you with good
    so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.   (ESV)

If you focus on Him, you will have no time to harbor disappointment.  What happened is in the past.  God calls us to live in His present.  Keep your eyes on Him, spend your day praising Him, and you will not live in regret.

Verses 10-13 go on to tell us more good news:

10 He does not deal with us according to our sins,
    nor repay us according to our iniquities.
11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
    so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;
12 as far as the east is from the west,
    so far does he remove our transgressions from us.
13 As a father shows compassion to his children,
    so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him.

Do you know Him?  Are you living for Him?  

Bless the Lord, O my soul,
    and all that is within me,
    bless his holy name!​

For those of you who know oh-too-well how slow I am at updating this blog, refer back to several previous apologies.  For the rest of you, welcome to this new way to communicate.

Yes, I know that blogging isn't exactly new, but it is a recent art form.  Not long ago we didn't have apps, phones that made cameras obsolete for most people, or tablets that made phones obsolete.

In fact, tablets meant either paper or stone, logging on was the goal of woodsmen, re-booting happened because your foot got wet, streaming was also wet, viruses were fought with chicken soup, apples were eaten and files were metal.

Seasons change, technology changes, the world is changing faster than we can keep up with it, and we are changing, too.  We grow older, maybe wiser, but certainly into new seasons.  Children become adults, then parents, then see season after season of their family's life.  Eventually they become empty nesters and grandparents.

It is Apple Festival time again here in Bayfield.  It seems like summer should still be here.  Soon the leaves will fall along with the snow.

In the midst of life there is one constant.  God never changes.  He is the same today as He was in the beginning, and He will be the same after all we know is gone forever.

People live.  People die.  People disappoint us, people hurt us, people are inconsistent.  God remains.  He is Life.

Isn't it amazing how tightly we hold onto this life?  Some day soon it will all be over.  A new season will begin.  But God will still be there.

Who are you holding tightly?  Yourself, your life, your technology?  Or are you holding tightly to your God, the One who will never move?

He has been here through every season of your life.  And He has promised that He will never leave you, never forsake you!

Isn't that worth holding onto?