My Cyber Paper-trail.

Someone asked me recently "why do you blog? Nobody reads it, what's the  point?"  It's not the reading that's the magic. It's the writing. 

For now...back in 2000 I took an extended leave of absence from teaching, from writing and I missed it.  I felt myself begin to shrivel up inside until one day in February 2010, sitting at home, nursing Laura back to health after a surgical procedure, I decided to explore "a blog." 

 I discovered it's great therapy, keeps me engaged, demands rigorous thought and teaches me a great deal as I work through the process.  It's the creative process that keeps me on the edge.  It's like cardio for my brain and makes me a stronger thinker.  It's the creative process that God uses to move me closer to the person He has created, called and gifted me to be as I run toward the prize waiting at the end of my life.

For later...I'm leaving a cyber "paper-trail" that my friends, family...especially my kids and grandkids...can log onto and "hear" me, remember me; who I was, what my passions in life were, how I thought and what I valued--glimpse a snapshot of my enthusiasm for my opinions, my love for God, my compassion for people, my desire to make a difference.   I'm hoping they will glean wisdom about what's important, and why.   I pray my words about substantive issues, my poems about the way I see life,  my anguish over loss, errors, regrets--my hope and certitude about my future in Christ, will make a difference in their lives someday and play a role in making the hard places in life, easier...can you spell l-e-g-a-c-y?

Grateful to live in an era that has empowered me "go on the record" and leave something of what makes me, unique, behind.  Father in heaven, may the words of my mouth, and the meditations of my heart, be pleasing in Your sight--my God and my Redeemer.  Through Christ, let it be.

bN tGit

Science AND Art.

The election of 1800 required 32 elector ballots before Jefferson prevailed to become the nation's 3rd President.  Talk about controversy.

In his first inaugural address, March 4, 1801, President Thomas Jefferson made this remark.

"All will bear in mind the sacred principle, that though the will of the majority is in all cases to prevail, that will to be rightful, must be reasonable.  That the minority posses their equal rights, which equal law must protect, and to violate would be oppression.  Let us then, fellow citizens, unite in one heart and one mind."  

There is Political Science, then there is the Art of Power.  Today we have leaders, in both parties, who are not schooled in exercising the art of power.  Then there are the citizen groups, the "red meat freaks," on both the left and right who can't/won't tolerate the Art of Power.  The result is what we see in DC today.

In less than a year we will go to our polling-places to elect the 45th President of the United States (along with a new Congress)--and of course the primaries begin next month. So much hangs in the balance.  I hope that we will be blessed with leaders, on both sides of the isle, committed to making the American "idea" (NOT the Dream) a reality again.

May God bless America's leaders in 2016 with "art" (statesmanship) to empower our process to work justly, compassionately and humbly and...with integrity to act in the best interest of the people, rather than their parties or own self-interest. 

May He also deliver us from ALL those bad actors in Citizen groups, without regard for their orientation,  seeking to force the country on a path that suits only their vision of what America was, is and must become.

Let freedom ring. 

 bN tGit

Saying Good-bye.

I have loved dogs since I was very young boy and a little poodle mix followed by brother home.  We named him "Yogi" (the dog not my brother)  and he filled our home with love for just about 11 years.  One evening we found him lifeless, out in the yard.  We speculated he'd had a stroke.  I was crushed.  

I've reprised that loss four more times--Alphie age 8, Max age 13,  Barely age 14 and Kate age 15.  Each time they pass into my memory--I'm crushed, again.  Yet once I move through my grief, I can't resist the compulsion to find our next dog companion and start the cycle again.  My lovely Lab Lily sits with her chin wresting on the top of my feet as I type these words.  Chance, our dashing Dachshund, is rattling (his tags drag on the laminate floors) round the kitchen.

So somewhere down the line I have a least two more gut-wrenching "letting-go" passages to make.  I have a friend who just today put her lovely dog, Karma, down.  Karma was loosing her battle with cancer and it was time for my friend to let her best K9 friend go.  Why do we do it?  My friend posted a quote this evening on her Face Book feed.  It explains why pet owners put ourselves in the way of certain heartbreak.

"There is a cycle of love and death that shapes the lives of those who choose to travel in the company of animals. It is a cycle unlike any other. To those who have never lived through its turnings or walked its rocky path, our willingness to give our hearts with full knowledge that they will be broken seems incomprehensible. Only we know how small a price we pay for what we receive; our grief, no matter how powerful it may be, is an insufficient measure of the joy we have been given."

Suzanne Clothier

That's it!  Look at that, "...our grief, no matter how powerful it may be, is an insufficient measure of the joy we have been given."  My life has been better because of my love for my dogs, and most especially, FROM  my dogs.   

So, tonight I celebrate a lovely dog named Karma, her big empathic eyes and lovely brindle coat are a magnificent memory now.  She "got" my friend, she loved my friend; she trusted my friend.  A wonderful tribute to the connection they shared for 8 years.  Yes, dogs make life better...and parting? Parting is surely sweet-sorrow.

Grief, Remembered. Reminded.

December 7, 1941. 

   2400 dead. 1200 wounded.
   18 US Ships and 300 planes destoryed or damaged.

"A date that will live in infamy"   President Roosevelt

"I fear we have awakened a sleeping giant and instilled in him a terrible resolve."  Admiral Yamamoto

Both men were right; the world was rescued from an "Axis of evil," but not before millions lost their lives and the planet was gashed by nuclear weapons. 

America, an idea that produces passion to sacrifice.
Freedom isn't free.

bN tGit

Lost & Found.

Christmas is, for many, a difficult passage at the end of each year. Because our memories are so strong, and so many memories are surfaced by this blessed time of year, those who have experienced loss, feel it most acutely over the six weeks from Thanksgiving to the New Year. I'm reposting a blog I first wrote four years ago about the mystery and paradox we call "loss."  Laura and I, our family,  find ourselves again at this intersection called "loss."  Our 14 year old grandson battles for his life, fighting Cancer, as I repost these words. He and his family have suffered so much, lost so much.  For those in pain today...

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, failure...have I described your 'loss-story' yet?

Recently, 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 of life 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. A fitting description.

"The faithful love of the Lord never ends!

His mercies never cease.

23 Great is His faithfulness;

His mercies begin afresh each morning. 

24 I say to myself, 'The Lord is my inheritance; 

therefore, I will hope in Him!'” 

Lamentations 3.22,23 NLT

I will Hope.

bN tGit

Art & Power

Jon Meacham's book Thomas Jefferson: the Art of Power is a GREAT read.   The election of 1800 required 32 elector ballots before Jefferson prevailed to become the nations 3rd President.

In his first inaugural address, March 4, 1801, President Thomas Jefferson made this remark.  

"All will bear in mind the sacred principle, that though the will of the majority is in all cases to prevail, that will to be rightful must be reasonable.  That the minority posses their equal rights, which equal law must protect, and to violate would be oppression.  Let us then, fellow citizens, unite in one heart and one mind."  

These words, as with so many preserved and passed down from the Founders, have particular application as we move into 2016 with our current administration of shared power in WDC  and a Presidential election less than a year on the horizon.

May God bless America with leadership who shall embrace this counsel from ages past, so relevant, yet still so elusive.

bN tGit

Best hope.

December 1, 1862 Abraham Linclon reminded the nation: 

"America is the last best hope of the earth."   

Though often reviled around the world, I believe that President Lincoln's premise has been demonstrated time after time over the past 153 years.

May God contine to bless America; may He empower us to be people of character and good will; with generous hearts, brilliant minds and dynamic vision...for making tHis world a better place.  Through Christ, let it be. 

A city set on a hill, cannot be hidden.

bN tGit

WE are the reason for the season!!

WE are the reason for the season.  It was rescue mission.

"When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners...God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us..." Rom 5.6, 8 NLT

Christmas is joyous because God's love never fails.  

Shalom L'Chaim, through Christ.   Let it be.

bN tGit 

Can I get a witness?

"Reason and morality cannot show us a good and gracious God.  For that, we need the incarnation...The God revealed in Christ does what reason and morality cannot do....Many people today act like someone has created a peace treaty between reason and faith, after reason won the war...Special revelation, especially the incarnation, is precisely where the Christian faith breaks down the wall our culture has erected between faith and reason...The gospel creates not speculative pundits, spiritual gurus, or moralists but witnesses."

Excerpts from "The God Who Came Down" 

by Michael Horton

Christianity  Today December 2011

Can I get a witness?

bN tGit

My Christmas Wish List.

You may be familiar with the list of 7 modern sins--or not; the conditions it describes are infamously familiar to us all: 

• Wealth without work
• Industry without morality
• Worship without sacrifice
• Politics without principles
• Science without humanity
• Knowledge without character
• Pleasure without conscience...

This, then, is my Christmas wish list for America in 2015: Work, morality, sacrifice, principles, humanity, character and conscience. 

My prayer for  2016 and beyond:

"Father create in us a hunger for what is right and just. Help us to understand that...

• ...Wealth driven by lust for money is evil and work is an honorable endeavor that gives us meaning and purpose. 
• ...Industry must produce access to opportunity for all.
• ...Worship demands a values-centered life and requires sacrifice.
• ...Politics is the business of the people and is a noble and self-sacrificing life-call.
• ...Science can create in us a deeper spiritual hunger. 
• ...Knowledge is a path to humility. 
• ...Pleasure is the by-product of good character.

 May we be given the clarity to "Do justice, love mercy and walk humbly with God."

bN tGit