Driving to Jacksonville from Palm Beach last month, I was listening to a country music station. A song by Faith Hill entitled, “The Secret of Life,” came on the radio, and I was struck by the words about the nightly ritual of a couple of regulars at the “Starlight Bar.” Before the song is over, the secret of life is said variously to be found in a good cup of coffee, Monday Night Football, the inviting gaze of Marilyn Monroe, a well-made martini, getting up early, staying up late, and so on in a series of banalities. Ultimately, despondently, the singer tells us that “the secret of life is there ain’t no secret, and you don’t get your money back.”

Have you found the secret of life?

If you asked Jesus to restate again what is the secret of life, he would have no trouble responding to our request: “To love God with all our heart and mind and soul, and to love our neighbor as we love ourselves.” It’s old news, but good news.

Each week at Bethesda-by-the-Sea we have the outstanding opportunity to put the love of God to work in the way we treat and serve our neighbor. Join us for worship, prayer, fellowship, study and service.

Bob Dannals
Interim Rector