Walking The Journey

I wasn't able to watch the state of the union address last night, I was teaching an evening class.  I am aware of how polar we are politically these days.  In reading political commentary, many feel that we are more polarized today than we have ever been.  I see this myself as I read Facebook postings.  I don't seem to see much critical thought on either side.  I seem to see more attacks against conservative and Republican views, which might just be due to my own Facebook.  I would enjoy engaging in discussion that is well thought out, looks at facts and reality on both sides, and comes to conclusions based on reality versus political bias and emotions.  I've been reading the book of Genesis, chapters 30 and 31 today, the story of Jacob and Laban, and Jacob's wives, Leah and Rachel, sisters in birth. So much jealousy, so much manipulation, so much deceit, all within the structure of a family.  It made me realize, again, that what we are...

Driving into work this morning, my eyes caught the flashing blue and red lights in my rear view mirror, and I felt my heart skip a beat or two.   The funny thing, the lights were moving in the opposite direction I was moving.   It appears that the police car drove right past me, flipped his lights on after he passed me, and I never noticed that he passed me, and wouldn't have, unless he had turned his lights on. Resembles life, huh.   Ever noticed yourself just cruising along in life, not taking notice of what is around you, ignoring life as it moves on. Ever notice yourself losing interest in hobbies, events, and even people, slowly sliding into survival, letting go of living, your heart never missing a beat anymore, not feeling the love and excitement of life, liberty, relationships, and even God. The thing is, the slide is long, slow, and steady, at such a pace that we don't realize we're no long living life until the changes around us are so huge that we no ...

I spoke to a young lady today who shared with me that that time has finally come, her most loved parent has decided to quit the fight, give up on chemotherapy, and enter hospice, at the ripe young age of 48. Stop for a moment and say a prayer for both of them, and don’t worry that you don’t know who the people are, God knows. The conversation jarred my present time to a time so many years ago, watching my own parent slowly walk into the arms of death, to be greeted by the life arms of his God, of his Savior. Momentary sadness and emotional missing of a man I wish I'd know longer, who I wish knew my children, and then the welcoming flooding of joy and peace that he was my dad, that his pain has long been gone, the pain that this young woman and her parent are just now entering. We need regular reminders like this, of just how blessed life is, and how quickly it can all be taken away. But then, is it really ever taken away? I know that my children can tell stories of their grandf...

In reading Billy Graham today, he points out a human irony that is too painfully true. We humans often have a way of rejecting the best and embracing the worse. Do not get me wrong, I realize and greatly appreciate our human quality to embrace goodness as well, such as how the sports and media embraced the tragic accident of Louisville's basketball player Kevin Ware, supporting him and allowing his true character to shine. It seems to me, and I can say this as I reflect on my own life story, that as we dumb down our moral code and accept more of the world's moral code, and dare I say the media's moral code, we allow more of the worse in life to become more of our normal, and unfortunately, the worse overshadows the best and redefines what is the best. We do it in simple ways, in ways we can all look inward to see. We accept language that we once found offensive as acceptable. We allow our eyes to feed our souls what should never be allowed to enter, what we tell our ...

Have you ever watched the wonder and awe of a child?   They seem to have the capacity to believe anything is possible.   They aren’t limited by the knowledge and doubt that comes with age.   They are also not limited to the critical brain and suspiciousness of people.   Children see and feel and dream and think and just be.   Oh how much some of us old people need to recapture that child of days long ago. Children also have the ability to believe what the labels and blinders of age cloud over in time. Children believe that people are fair, that justice applies to everyone, that if you see it it’s yours, and that people who love them will never hurt them.   As we grow, the child hunkers down   deep inside and the skeptic being created by culture and society emerges and takes the reins of the small ones heart, mind, and soul, asking the question, “Is there really anything good and true to believe in anymore?”. The roads I’ve traveled on my journey have...

The day began early, much earlier than I’d desired.   Being the first morning of a New Year, my daughter desired to welcome the first sunrise of a new year personally, as one might welcome a far away friend.   So we woke up at 6:45 am, threw on clothes, and ventured out into the cold morning of January 1, 2012.   Our goal: donuts before the sun came up and to greet a new sun on a new year’s day.     Mission accomplished, we drove back to share our feast with sleeping family at home. As we drove back, the sun appearing over the trees and homes along the way, my excited angel stated, “The sun is lighting up the sky daddy”, to which I replied, “Yes, the sun chases the darkness away into a new day”.   She agreed with my small words of wisdom and we arrived home, sharing a beautiful morning together, while the rest of the world around us slept on.   Joy comes in the morning, in the darkness of the first day of a new year, shining from the excited eyes of ...

Driving north bound on I-75, destination dinner at an Irish pub; I approached a tow truck on the right hand side of the highway. As I came upon the tow truck, I realized that the truck was broke down, dead on the side of the highway. That occurred to me to be rather ironic, the vehicle of rescue needing some rescue of its own. And off I continued to my dinner of fish and chips and whiskey soaked raisin bread pudding and vanilla bean ice-cream. In reflection, irony seems to occur around us more frequently than we might imagine. In my line of work, this occurs on a daily basis. I have walked with people who have discovered life through their own terminal illness. I have seen marriages burst open in renewed love and commitment through facebook affairs and office romances. I have seen life grow abundantly through forgiveness that was never thought to be given. The people who have found God through running from Him into addiction, pornography, power and control, and corrup...