I visited San Francisco for the first time in July 1978. Eager to see the sites-Fisherman's Wharf, Nob Hill, and Lombard Street-I took a three-and-a-half hour minibus tour.

At Coit Tower the tour guide described the great quake and fire that reduced San Francisco to rubble on April 18, 1906. According to her, "It had been another dry year. When the quake hit at 5:03 A.M., it not only leveled many of the old city's reinforced buildings, it also ruptured underground water sins. This enabled the raging fire to burn virtually unchecked."

'Since then," she said, "the city has worked diligently to build strategic water reservoirs throughout the Bay area should another catastrophic quake

Preachers, too, need strategic reservoirs for emergencies. Few things panic speakers more than facing dry sermon on Saturday night, with nothing coming out of the homiletic spigot.

Yet how does one go about building these reserves? Finding answers to that question has been a lifelong interest of mine. As a preacher ...