Two Palm Sundays and no Easter column; was I awake last week? It was all my fault. I know that on holiday weekends the paper is put to bed early. I was too late. If you want to read the Easter column you will have to go to the First Baptist Church web site and look for the collection of Lifeıs Like That, which Bob Maas is developing. Thanks, Bob.

As those of you who have followed LLT (as I refer to it) know, these rambling thoughts have appeared in the Daily Record since 1983. Rowe Ray, editor of the Record, has been most forgiving for my usually late submission. I send them to the paper by electronic mail, usually around midnight on Friday.

I frequently arrive at that point wondering what can I write about this week and whether anyone really cares. Maybe it has outlived its usefulness and run its course. Invariably, in the course of the week I will meet people who tells me thanks and how much they enjoy reading the column. I must admit I sometimes will reach back in the file and submit one that has already seen printed. As a pastor I learned that if it has been at least six weeks since you preached a certain sermon you can preach it again and no one will remember it.

Just to close out Easter, my Uncle Nathan, the circuit riding Baptist preacher to the Concho country a century ago, told about a rancher who faithfully came to church every Easter Sunday. You did not see him the rest of the year but on Easter Sunday there he was in a new suit of clothes near the front row.

Finally, Uncle Nathan confronted him with his lack of attendance at church services. ³Well, Parson,² the cowboy said, ³every time I come you preach the same sermon; maybe if you got some new material I would come more often.²

So it is with Lifeıs Like That. There are certain repetitive themes running through the files. Forgiveness is among the most prominent. It is so important to healthy living and to building and maintaining relationships. Controlling anger is another--how important it is to be angry at the right things and at the right times. I have written frequently about the uselessness of worry. That is, take life a step at a time and donıt spend your energy concerned about the future. Make preparations but realize that most of the things we worry about donıt happen and those that do will be resolved and pass away.

Fear has also been a fairly frequent theme. We can certainly succumb to fear. All we need do is turn on the TV and watch the CNN news as they throw headline after headline of fearful happenings around the world. September 11, 2001, changed our tidy little world forever but if we let it stop us from doing the things we want and need to do we have handed the terrorist a victory.

So, I am sorry about missing Easter, but, like the old cowboy, you probably already knew the story. The old, old story of the risen Savior and the empty tomb has been told and retold for 2000 years. More than that, it is a true story. All the rest of Lifeıs Like That depends on our understanding of that truth.