Should we send out a search party?  Anybody know where summer disappeared to?  I’m not a prophet, nor the son of one, but I did prophesy to Karen back in May that this summer would be over before it even started.  Was I right?  (Just don’t ask me to predict the stock market this fall!)

Next Sabbath marks Pioneer’s official farewell to summer and entry into the new academic year as we welcome the faculty from Andrews University, Andrews Academy and Ruth Murdoch Elementary School to a special worship dedication for teachers.   And while it’s been an eventful summer for us all, the new year promises to be a veritable adventure.  And why not?  Given earth’s proclivity for the unexpected these days, who can say what the journey ahead will bring?

Which is why I’m excited about the uncharted space ahead of us.  Because as I’ve been reading over these last few muggy days of my study sabbatical after Honduras, life really is about space.  In fact, Edward T. Hall declares that all of our lives are about four spaces.  And as I ponder those four spaces, I’ve been asking myself a lot lately—how are we providing for those four spaces here at Andrews and Pioneer?  Beginning next Sabbath with our dedication service, I’d like to explore the answer to that question with a two-part mini-series, “The Front Porch.”

Whatever happened to the front porch anyway?  There’s hardly a builder around who incorporates front porches into the architectural plans, is there?  After all, it might have been important space for a generation or two ago, but who’s got time any more for a rocking chair existence?  Four spaces every human being must have.  Again, I keep wondering—how are we providing for those four vital spaces around this place?  Since there’s no point in searching for summer—she’s gone, what do you say we go searching instead for that front porch.  After all, we just may be surprised with the discovery that awaits us.

And surprises are what make new beginnings so special.