Jeff Hampton – Page 9 – Jeff Hampton, Writer

July 8, 2024

Blessings, Curses and Crazy Dreams

For Wilshire Baptist Church

I’ve seen it several times now: A woman walking down the street stops in front of our house, turns toward our door, raises her hand, makes upward waving motions, then turns and continues down the sidewalk. It’s unusual and a little bit unsettling, and it has me thinking about who she is and who we are and who we all are together.

On the one hand, it looks like she’s offering us a blessing. If so, then I welcome it and wonder what I can do in return. Perhaps run out to her with a bottle of cold water next time? But then in the dark corners of my imagination, I wonder if she’s casting a spell or a curse. But I don’t believe in such things, so I’ll stick with the blessing.

June 27, 2024

Chapel and Cathedral

For Wilshire Baptist Church

“You’ve come out here at the hottest time of the day?” The man added a chuckle and a smirk to his question, which I took to mean “silly tourists.” We didn’t answer him as we walked past him and up the sandy hill, because we knew what we were doing. We were going to church for the second time that day.

June 20, 2024

Getting it Done – Together

For Wilshire Baptist Church

While the windstorm of May 28 didn’t do much damage to our house, it took two weeks to repair it. Actually, the repair was made in one hour, but it took two weeks to find someone to do it. When I found that person, we got it done – together.

Our damage was minor: one piece of siding pulled loose and hanging from a second-story wall. The siding is made of fiber cement, which is heavy and prone to chip if not handled properly. It requires some expertise I don’t have, so I contacted two handymen recommended by two good friends. But with continued rain and no doubt a backlog of repair projects, the men were slow getting back to me. When one, Sidney, finally came and looked at the project while I was away, he texted me: “It’s a quick fix but getting to it may be a safety issue for me, so no guarantees.”