In Tribute

May 10th, our country honors Mothers.

I want to extend that "honor" to a host of women God has used in my life; too many to name them all, but these stand out. My Grandmother--who stood in the gap for me, my mom who loved and raised me; my "little" sister who shared my childhood with me; an Aunt who rescued me and cousin who was a "big-sister" to me; "Mom's" who took time to invest in me like I was their son; teachers who brought out the best in me; my mother-in-law who was a part of my life for 42 years; my daughter, an inspiration for me; friends who've believed in me, encouraged me and stood with me through the intersections and storms of life; partners in ministry who've shared a common vision with me.

All have prayed for me.


These women form a tapestry of faithfulness and virtue.  Thank you for the part you've played in making my life better, and me a better man.

Mary Patricia B.
Patricia B.
Tamara M.
Carolyn C.
Patty C.
Janice C.
Erin H.
Miss Arlene
Mrs. Rattray
Mrs. McCann
Sheila Z.
Betty C.
Patty C.
Marilyn B.
Norma Z.
Stana M.
Carlene L.
Carol S.
Karen H.
BJ R.
Deb M.
Miriam R.
Becky W.
Ruthann L.
Connie S.
Nancy K.
Jill C.
Vicki J.
Beth L.
Jan F.
Lori V.
Jan K.
Betsy R-C.

Finally, I honor my best friend "for life" companion of 43 years, mother to our wonderful children and my most faithful prayer warrior.  My lovely bride who has refused to give up on me; I love you...

Laura

Thanks to all of you.  Happy Mothers Day, 2015.

Lost & Found

A note... On Feburary 19, 2015 we received devastating news from the surgeon at University Hospital in Indianapolis.  "It's not what you've been led to believe it might be;  Braden has a Sarcoma." Braden is our 13 year-old grandson.   We know that God holds us all in His arms.   What follows below is a blog I wrote a few years ago.  This most recent "intersection of life" has not changed anything for me--God is a Strong Tower.  I repost it hoping it will be an encouragement to others who like me--and my family, are in the throes of significant loss.  A loved one, job, relationship, business, health, a dream.  Take courage and trust God through this deep water--He will not forsake you.

"Loss. I've had my share over the years."

Two weeks after I graduated from High School, my father died, I was 17. In 1984, just after my 31st birthday, my mother died . I was 38 when I learned I had diabetes. I began a "rest of my life" battle with skin cancer in 1996, at age 43. Disappointment...oh my, where do I start. Failure--several crushing instances. Unrealized dreams, of course.

My story isn't unique. It's called, "being human." Loss is just a part of the "living experience." Life is hard, and, can be very harsh. Loss, though we all face it, is not simply a one size fits all process. For some, loss means never experiencing "what could have been." For others it's remembering "what was." For all of us it's losing people we love, to death. Life's "Harsh passages" include broken relationships, disease, tragic accidents, children "lost" in adolescence and never able to move on to productive adult lives, addiction, betrayal, unfaithful spouses and/or friends...have I described your "loss-story" yet?

A few years ago an extended family member, and friend, facing a number of very difficult circumstances posted a comment about loss, she concluded, "Easy to be philiosophical...easy to be grateful too." As I paused to reflect on her words, I was struck by this profound insight.

"Easy to be grateful too..."  Really?  We can't, generally, control loss. Bad things happen to good (and bad) people. We can, however, control our attitude and our response to loss. We can ask "why me?" or we can declare "why NOT me!" That's the "philosophical" part.

The "grateful" part comes when, our pain notwithstanding, we aren't swallowed by bitterness; through the darkness of the moment, we still see the sunshine we've experienced over the years--as well as the expectation that the sun will shine again. Loss frames our perspective. It reminds us of the providence of God and the blessings we enjoy and have enjoyed through the ebb and flow of life. It's ironic, loss and gratitude are two sides of the same coin. Tennyson understood this when he penned "It's better to have loved and lost, than never to have loved at all."

The sentiment that struck me as so profound was "easy." It just never occurred to my friend to not be grateful. The emotional and spiritual place that she "lives" made gratitude a logical extension, not of her pain, but of His promise. The Psalmist (42.5) said it this way..

"Why am I discouraged?

Why is my heart so sad?

I will put my hope in God!

I will praise him again—

my Savior and my God."

Loss isn't abandonment. It isn't the death of hope. It's an "intersection" where one can step back and see life not just for what it isn't, but for what it is; it's at that place, in that moment, we see the goodness of God, and it's easy to be grateful.

Lost and found.  Hope.

bN tGit

THIS is power.

My choices will shape my character. 

Good character will empower me to be the kind of person God uses to make hard lives easier.  

Making hard lives easier is a legacy that will transform my world, one needy--and often underserving, person at a time.  

This is the miraculous power of amazing grace.

bN tGit

A Gray, Cloudy Day

Lake slips into a mist of gray
Horizon broken by trees stripped by Fall, bracing for winter.
Seasons change, storms pass.

A metaphor for life?
Fifty shades of gray, stripped by storms bracing for loss.
Where is the hope?

A Blue Herron floats over the water.
The Spirit floats over the chaos of life.
Flashes of color break through the mist.
Seasons change, storms pass.
God--not lost in the gray.
Hope.



bN tGit

Two camps. Big problem.

The confessing church has aligned itself into two camps.  This division has created a wall that impacts Christ's church in a profoundly negative way.  The challenge Believers face is to embrace both the social justice and eschatological mandates of the Gospel; it isn't either/or, it's both/and.

The irony is that the same end, passion for people who have become as Jesus described “sheep without a shepherd”, drives both “camps;” yet we (all of us) "preach" a different gospel when we fail to apply the whole counsel of God to our praxis.  It has stripped the church of its relevance on one hand, and spiritual power on the other--leaving only a shell for those "asking, seeking, and knocking" to behold. 

The good news is that God isn't marginalized by our failure to embrace the whole Gospel. His love continues to find a way. If only we who have confessed Christ and embraced effective faith could come together, face the harsh reality that WE are the problem, and seek God's face, healing would come; that's the promise of 2 Chronicles 7.14... 

"...If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land." 

May His will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

bN tGit

A look back. What's ahead? 2016.

"If I had a son, he'd look like Trayvon."

So much for "the first post-racial President in our history;" sounded hopeful; sort of like "hope and change" and "change we can believe in."  This Presidency certainly will not be described as post-racial by any perspective of history. Not because it couldn't have been.

You see, the "we think it's cool" crowd doomed that possibility almost from that night in Chicago, when a sea of well-wishers gathered to celebrate this President's election. That certainly was a moment in history. But it didn't produce a post-racial result. You see, from that "moment" almost anyone who dared question this President's intelligence, fitness for office, ability to lead or wisdom in approaching the challenges facing the nation--has been tarred as a racist puppet of the Aryan Nation.

As I reflect back, all the Presidents during my lifetime have been the subject of a national pastime geared toward laughing at their quirks, questioning their intelligence, reviling their politics and counting the days till the next election cycle.  In this modern era, virtually nothing has been out of bounds.  I don't believe what we subject our Presidents to is good for the nation; that said, it's become the norm, not the exception.  It's mean, but it's not racist.

So, when this President stepped up to become the focus of the electorates ire, it's decried as racism.  This is non-sense.  Are there racists in America?  Certainly.  Is some the what we hear about this President racist?  Certainly.  The fact is some of what we heard about George Bush was (and continues to be) hate speech.  Fortunately, we chose not to make idiocy a crime in this country.

This is America.  We need to be able to speak our minds, thoughtful or otherwise, because that's a treasured "right" here.  It's part of what makes us, us.  My concern is that we have forgotten who we are and what makes this nation great.  I pray for civil discourse in the 2016 election cycle.  But I expect it to be a spirited and opinionated discourse--as it should be.  "Ideas" do that to people.  People must feel safe stating what they think about this President, his party, the GOP, and Congress, as well as what they believe to be the best course for the nation...regardless of their agenda.  Ideas must have space to breath and dissenting opinion helps flesh out good ones from bad ones.

We make judgments about the ideas placed before us by politicians and the people that support them.  The 2016 election cycle should be no different than those that came before it...but some would seek to prevent this process from playing out that way.

It's here that we see a tragic irony.  The very people who anointed this administration as "post-racial" are the ones who continually play the race card to intimidate citizens, attempting to prevent them from engaging in a critical examination of the record this administration has produced.  This is their end-game.   If one cannot win on the facts, then win any way one can. 

I am concerned that the election to determine the next President will be characterized by class warfare, race-baiting, vitriol, gender politics and a "take no prisoners" commitment to win at any cost--from both sides of the aisle   

Now is the time to brace for just such an election.  Prepare to be driven to a decision by the facts, by your conviction about what you believe is the best course for our nation going forward, by what you believe to be the candidates with best ideas about governance.  How can one do that?

• Critically consider your values and then ask, which set of ideas best represent those values. 
• Become thoroughly familiar with who the candidates really are...not who they, or their handlers, simply say they are.
• Go deeper than the talking points. Think through policy and how it effects the nation going forward.
• Engage big ideas. Read, study and reflect on the politics of the 21st century, then measure the ideas of those asking for your vote against your own understanding and perspective, born from that "due diligence."
• Refuse to be an ideologue.
• Measure twice and cut once.
• Pray and seek guidance from God.
• Exercise your right, privilege and responsibility to vote.

We missed an opportunity to get it right under the leadership of this administration, one has to wonder, what could have been?  The good news is, while we don't always get it right the first time, Americans keep working at it until we do.  No, this isn't the first post-racial Presidency, but it's taken us one step closer to that vision of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Sweet dream.

bN tGit

Fresh fruit!

Anger and hate are easy because they are intuitive to our human nature. 

Empowered by God, we can do better; "...the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,  23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law." Galatians 5.22, 23

No law; Statutory, Constitutional or Sharia can stand against these compelling virtues. They are a starting place, pointing us to the truth about the Universe we can see, but not fully experience; the world we can experience, but not fully understand and ourselves--with hearts so desperately sick, who can know them.   Need help?  Let's talk.

Shalom L'Chaim.

bN tGit

Not just any song.

Spring is off to a very slow start, even for Northern Indiana.

Thursday morning I began to notice the birds vocalizing--a song to the human ear.  I thought it was curious given the wind, rain, and biting cold we encountered that morning.  But there they were, intent on doing what birds do.  They sang, I groused (pun intended).

Their internal calendar told the birds "it's Spring." They sing with confidence because they know, intuitively, that regardless of what the weather may be like today, it's Spring, and it's going to feel like Spring sooner than later.

It occurred to me this morning, off to another blustery start, as I listened to them sing outside my window, I can do that too.  I know my life is "hidden with Christ in God," and even though it doesn't feel like that today, it will, sooner than later.

Colossians 3.2-4 "Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. 3 For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory."

He put a new song in my heart.  "Its Friday, but Sunday's comin'."

Sing.



bN tGit

For Braden, from my heart...

Our first-born grandson, Braden (age 13), was diagnosed with cancer--Rhabdomayosarcoma, on February 19, 2015. It's been very difficult. The disease hasn't behaved as expected. This letter, written just yesterday, is a response the news that his treatment clock has been reset--after 4 weeks--and will now extend 54 (instead of 40) weeks from Monday, March 30, 2015...

"Dearest Braden...

It sounds like you're up against it down there at Riley. It takes a great deal of courage to face everything you've been through over the last 6 weeks and before that, with your painful but undiagnosed headaches.

Writing to tell you how proud you've made me as I watch you endure so much. But more than that, to say how much I love you. I am so saddened by what this disease has taken from you and your family. But there are times in life like this. If I could lift the burden you're all facing and put it on my shoulders I would do anything to make that happen. I had hoped you'd be spared the suffering that inevitably comes with life, at least until you were older and had more life experience to fall back on. But, your time is now.

I've suffered much over the years. This is what I know: Christ makes all the difference. Those are easy words to say, and may seem somewhat empty at this point in your process. He understands that and He's OK with it. But reaching out to Him in prayer, crying out to Him in your pain, taking comfort in the Word and seeking refuge in those words and promises--will have a transformative impact on you and the way you see your pain now, and how it will grow you toward the man God has promised to make you. This disease caught us all by surprise--shocked, frightened, desperately sad. But it did not take God by surprise. He formed you in your mother's womb, He knew you then--and He saw this too. Lean hard into Him and He will sustain you...one small step at a time. You have a wonderful vision for God, a heart that has sought Him from the time you were able to conceive of Him. He is using you right now, today, to draw others to His promise and give others courage to face their own challenges, whatever they may be. His strength is being displayed in your weakness.

Faced with His imminent suffering and death Jesus cried out to the Father in prayer, 'If it be thy will Father, let this cup pass from me.' He then went on to endure suffering and death--then the resurrection.

He died on a Friday, rose on a Sunday. During this Easter season each year believers say 'It's Friday, but Sunday's comin'' to remind ourselves that 'this' is not all there is--Sunday's coming--and the confusion, pain, injustice, disease--the brokenness and sin that we see all around us--that threatens to undo us--God will make all that right in His time. In the meantime, He walks with us through the deep, deeper and deepest water, the dark valley, the 'dark night of our soul' and empowers us to endure and overcome all of it.

Don't think about what the ending of your treatment journey will be like--don't wish yourself there. Embrace this cup that God, in His wisdom and sovereign providence, has allowed life to place into your hands; take life one day, one moment at a time and rejoice in each small victory, each mundane passage--celebrate them all and watch what God does in you and through you. Embrace your life with a smile and savor each day--regardless of how unsavory it may be. Find the good and live in that place. Love your parents, your brother, your friends; be 'in the moment' and God will meet you there.

You have been blessed with amazing parents, a brother who is suffering with you, family that loves you in a profound and selfless way--and a BraveHart community (growing every day) of friends, neighbors and strangers who are investing themselves around the clock in prayer.

God has this. He has you. He has us...and He has this disease. We trust him because we can. Dear grandson, I love you and will never stop contending in prayer, through faith in God's promises, for your complete healing.  He, and we, will carry you through. His mercies are new every morning--seek and you will find.

It's Friday, but Sunday's comin.'

Thank you for being you--with all my love...Grampa



bN tGit

Help!

Celebrated my year #62, yesterday, 42 shared with Laura as my w(L)ife companion.  In this photo, about one-month into our dating relationship, Laura was 15, I'd just turned 16.  I remember that day like it happened yesterday.

Reflecting on life at 62, I am reminded, again, about the plaintive message in the Beatles tune "Help." It occurred to me...what a tremendous insight that song had into what happens to us as we move into the final third of our lives--but seen through the eyes of those five young men.  Hence the plaintive nature of the song.  In fact, from this side of the time continuum I realize that life today is filled with tradeoffs. While I can't "do it all" anymore, the tenderness I experience as Laura, our kids and friends "stand in the gaps" is profound. 

The FabFive had it figured out in 1969, they just didn't realize the light at the end of the tunnel was a train, coming to pick them up and carry them into a new chapter; Life is certainly different, it's definitely sweeter. 

The humility that comes with interdependence is liberating.

bN tGit