February 2, 2015 (Monday)
Today is Groundhog Day. If Phil sees his shadow, he goes back inside and waits six weeks for the end of winter. If he does not see it, winter’s about over.
You and I scarcely notice the special day, but in Punxsutawney, Pennsyvania, it’s a three-day celebration that began Saturday and ends late today. Today’s the day Phil shows himself to the waiting crowds. But like the Super Bowl attracted other events, so does Groundhog Day. Lots of fun for everyone. Big days for tourism in Punxsutawney.
One good thing about being a groundhog; he doesn’t have to apologize if he’s wrong. 
Last week, however, we saw the most unusual event ever seen: the “weather man” apologized for getting wrong his prediction of a devastating blizzard for the Big Apple. (As Tevya in “Fiddler On the Roof” put it, “Unheard of! Absurd!”). The man in New York needs to take lessons from Texas weather guys–they’re never wrong, even when they miss the forcast by a mile. But, to be fair, it takes a very brave person to predict the weather in Texas. Right?
It takes real skill to talk your way out of a hole when your speech has buried you deeply. I was teaching a class and being eloquent and crystal clear with my postulations, when suddenly I realized I had messed up by saying something that was inaccurate, so with my wordsmith excellence and quick thinking, I continued to talk as if what I had said was OK, gradually bending the sentences to finally get it right, when a lady in the class interrupted with, “You don’t know what you’re talking about.” She was ever so right. (I wish I could have answered her with this quotation from Alan Greenspan: “I know you think you understand what you thought I said but I’m not sure you realize that what you heard is not what I meant.” Now there’s real skill in squirming loose from entanglement in a barbed-wire paragraph).
The Pennsylvania folks take very good care of their Phil. They should. He brings in tons of money to their special city. Is there anything we discuss that does not ultimately involve money? Reminds me of an old Amos and Andy radio show when Kingfish told Andy that “Money is the root of all evil,” to which Andy replied, “Just give me the root, then.” Or something like that. My goodness, it’s been 75 years since they caused hordes of people in this land to crowd around their radios to hear them.
Now, friends, if you are interested in knowing how to “chase a rabbit” in a speech, take a good look at what I’ve been saying. I promised myself when I was a boy preacher that I would never chase rabbits in a sermon, but, folks, the temptation for an old preacher who has heard just about everything is just too great. Stuff just has to be told, boring or not. Amen.