Religion Today: Groundhog Day

Guest Writer Spotlight: Richard Lewis

When we go to bed at night there is normally at least some mystery about what the next day will bring. Through much of 2020 and into early 2021 many of us experienced the opposite situation. Our days dragged on in a routine that was much like the movie “Groundhog Day”.

In that movie the main character played by Bill Murray would wake up each day to the same song playing on the clock radio. The weather forecast would be the same. He would record his annual Groundhog Day TV broadcast. He would meet all the same people and do the same things and the next day he would repeat it all over again.

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Wow, that sounds a lot like things have been at our house until recently. Each day seemed to just be a reliving of the last one. We woke up and watched the news, ate some meals, donned our masks to go out and do only a few essential things, played a board game, read for a while and then went to bed. The exercise classes where we live had been cancelled. We limited visits with our kids and grandkids. We had very few interactions even with our closest friends.

It is good to know there is one thing that is new each day.

In God’s amazing “just in time” inventory system, His mercies are new each morning. When you started thinking about loved ones who might be vulnerable to the Coronavirus, you can be assured that today, God’s mercies are new. When you went to bed last night worried about that nagging sore throat that has been bothering you and how your forehead seeming to be a bit warm, you can be assured that today God’s mercies are new. In the midst of the concerns about your finances and wondering how things are going to turn out when this is over, today God’s mercies are new.

This is how our life of seeking our “Daily Bread” works. We have the admonition of Jesus to pray “Give us each day our daily bread” (Luke 11:3) but we would prefer to have weekly, monthly or yearly bread. We must realize that weekly, monthly or yearly bread would definitely get moldy or we might get proud about all this excess bread we have hoarded. It almost sounds like the grocery and toilet paper hoarders we saw at the beginning of the Pandemic. God’s plan is one of accepting and embracing His new mercies each day. If we do that, we will be well positioned to not dwell on what we are lacking but instead to concentrate on being thankful for what we have for our day.

In August of 2018 the Holy Fire wildfire in the Cleveland National Forest descended into the communities on the Temescal Valley of the mountains. One of the residential areas in our Trilogy community was especially close to the fire. The fire was so close many residents had evacuated while others had their cars packed up ready to leave at a moment’s notice. There were tricky winds that would blow down the mountain slopes at night, pushing the fire closer to the homes. Many of us got to the point that even with all that was going on, you eventually just fell down on your bed in complete mental and emotional exhaustion wondering what would happen next. One family, located not far from the fire, went to sleep hoping they would not get the knock on the door in the middle of the night ordering them to evacuate. When they awoke in the morning, they discovered that while they had been sleeping there was a CalFire team of firefighters who had been sleeping right next to their backyard, ready to jump into action, if needed.

We are being buffeted by the uncertainties of the Coronavirus. We are often ready to fall down on our beds, completely exhausted wondering what will the new morning bring.

My beloved, you are precious in God’s sight. He will watch over you by night and His mercies will be new for you tomorrow. Those new mercies will be exactly what you need for what you will face in the new day.

Lamentations 3:22 – 23 “The faithful love of the LORD never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning.”

Richard Lewis is a graduate of Arizona State University (Advertising) and California Baptist University (Computer Information Systems). Richard and his wife Sue met while they served as staff members at Campus Crusade for Christ for 8 years in the 1970’s. Richard served in the Campus Ministry at University of Texas at El Paso, Louisiana Tech and at the International Headquarters in San Bernardino, California.

Following their ministry in Campus Crusade Richard was the owner and manager of a bicycle shop in Riverside California for 19 years. After retraining in the computer field at California Baptist University, Richard worked as a Information Systems contractor and employee at Boeing for 17 years. Richard has written over 150 published articles in Information Systems and Computing publications including Windows Magazine and Windows Scripting Solutions.  Richard has served in a leadership role as a Deacon and Elder in several churches as well as being a meditation presenter and Men’s Ministry coordinator.

Richard has written hundreds of meditations and devotionals that have been used in church and small group meetings. Many of these have been published in The Upper Room and Racers For Christ publications and on their web sites. 
In 2021 Richard published a collection of his devotionals. These are available in a Kindle and paperback format on Amazon (ISBN 979-8705738878) “Life Stories to Uplift and Encourage”.

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Trevor Montgomery, 49, moved in 2017 to the Intermountain area of Shasta County from Riverside County and runs Riverside County News Source (RCNS) and Shasta County News Source (SCNS).

Additionally, he writes or has written for several other news organizations; including Riverside County-based newspapers Valley News, Valley Chronicle, Anza Valley Outlook, and Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle; the Bonsall/Fallbrook Village News in San Diego County; and Mountain Echo in Shasta County. He is also a regular contributor to Thin Blue Line TV and Law Enforcement News Network and has had his stories featured on news stations throughout the Southern California and North State regions.

Trevor spent 10 years in the U.S. Army as an Orthopedic Specialist before joining the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department in 1998. He was medically retired after losing his leg, breaking his back, and suffering both spinal cord and brain injuries in an off-duty accident. (Click here to see segment of Discovery Channel documentary of Trevor’s accident.)

During his time with the sheriff’s department, Trevor worked at several different stations; including Robert Presley Detention Center, Southwest Station in Temecula, Hemet/Valle Vista Station, Ben Clark Public Safety Training Center, and Lake Elsinore Station; along with other locations.

Trevor’s assignments included Corrections, Patrol, DUI Enforcement, Boat and Personal Water-Craft based Lake Patrol, Off-Road Vehicle Enforcement, Problem Oriented Policing Team, and Personnel/Background Investigations. He finished his career while working as a Sex Crimes and Child Abuse Investigator and was a court-designated expert in child abuse and child sex-related crimes.

Trevor has been married for more than 30 years and was a foster parent to more than 60 children over 13 years. He is now an adoptive parent and his “fluid family” includes 13 children and 18 grandchildren.

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