Do all the tallest men in the area go to this church?

If you have ever stood in a group of taller men at UDLC after the 9 AM Service, then you may have overheard a man say this, then crack a smile, and laugh.

Bill Miller had a theory that every man taller than him decided to attend UDLC.  When prompted, he would say, "Well I used to be taller, but you get old and you shrink."  He loved to laugh, and joke, but he had a very serious side that came out when he talked of things he loved.  He loved his family, his church, and his Lord.

Bill passed away earlier today and the first thing that actually made me (the mysterious blog author) laugh was the refrain from the song "Soliloquy" from Carousel and I actually see the irony in it when it comes to Bill.

My boy, Bill! He'll be tall
And tough as a tree, will Bill!
Like a tree he'll grow
With his head held high
And his feet planted firm on the ground
And you won't see nobody dare to try
To boss or toss him around!
No pot-bellied, baggy-eyed bully'll toss him around
I don't give a d-mn what he does
As long as he does what he likes!

For a man who had to look up to a number of people physically on Sunday, what Bill didn't know was that many of us look up to him.  His tenacity, his love, his humor, and his heart for Jesus are the reasons we loved Bill.  Last February, Bill spoke to our youth about his trials and health issues in 2008.  In that he spoke of how he went from being a member of a church to being a "Christian"  and realized what being a "Christian" was all about.

Bill, you will be missed, but we are grateful for you leaving us with your own words and journey from attending a Christian church to being a "Christian".

You can also hear his Funeral Service in its entirety here. Bill Miller's Funeral (with Prelude)

Something for you while you wait...

Lent is a time of waiting in the year of the church.  It is a time of prayer, penance, repentance, and self-denial in some circles of the Christian faith.  Yet Lent can be a very important and exciting time for looking at yourself and your walk on your own discipleship journey.

At UDLC, we have been viewing sections from "Oh God!" with George Burns.



We all spend our lives a lot like Jerry Landers in "Oh, God!" with God asking us to share that God exists to all the world, to not limit God to a box we believe God needs to fit in perfectly.

So many times in our lives we work to do what we feel needs to be done and live a life we believe we deserve and letting faith fit in where we are often told it should, Church, inner circles with friends, and occasionally on TV and Sports.  Yet we many times find ourselves searching for our faith and God at times when we don't know what or who else to ask.  We cry out asking God to come be present with us.

This winter our confirmation class spent our 5 week term in class hearing from for members of Upper Dublin Lutheran Church's family sharing the stories of times in life when they found God around them and how they discovered that may have been exactly what they needed.




We all travel this same journey of discovery and we all fall short.  We try to take shortcuts or ignore the trail markers provided by others and grow angry when we find ourselves lost or in a strange place where we did not expect to find ourselves.

As we prepare to enter HOLY WEEK and the Easter Vigil, may we all shake off the society and social ties that bind us up and find our way to be willing to be ever growing in our own journey and to help others we encounter and ask for help from those ahead of us.