One of the occupational hazards of being a pastor is sometimes your words come back to you. Pastors talk a lot. Pastors often give counsel. Pastors instruct, teach, and preach. With all this talking, there are many directives and admonitions given. And so, it is not uncommon for someone to start a conversation with me with the words, “Pastor, you said.”

In the past week, this has happened twice. One was a comment made without recognizing that they were rebuking me, and the other was a direct and clear corrective word. Both were received as precious blessings and profound encouragements.

It is never good when a pastor gives one of his church members a black eye. Let me tell you the story about the time I did just that and what I learned from the experience.

Though I have never been that good at it, I have long enjoyed playing racquetball. My enjoyment of the game started early in that my home church had a gym that included a racquetball court that allowed me to start playing at a very young age.

In recent years I have enjoyed playing regularly with my friend Richard. When I started playing with Richard, it had been a long time since I had played, and I was very much out of shape and offered no competitive challenge to him. It had been so long since I had played that I had to purchase new equipment. Racquetball requires little equipment other than a racket, balls, and goggles. However, when I went to the store to pick up the needed equipment, I did not buy goggles.