It's Not a Sprint: Guestbook

When Rick went down something in us went down, too.  Before long we were grouping your Texas family and imagining all of us surrounding all of you up there in one giant hug and prayer circle.  When we heard about all the forces gathering in Rick's room we figured that you would be glad we were only there in spirit. I have it on good authority that God/Jesus and Spirit were there too.  But that spiritual closeness has only grown with the daily reports of serious waiting and then some slow signs of his beginning recovery. Know that our concern and prayers continue to this day and the difficult days ahead.



We are so impressed with the professionalism and humor of "It's Not a Sprint" from 1, 2.and 3.

Helpless

We are feeling helpless in our family as our son-in-law, John Park, is being taken away by cancer.
What can we do? What can we say?  How do we pray? Even as she lovingly helps him hour after hour, day after long day, our beautiful daughter, Darleen, feels it most intensely and constantly as she loses her husband. As we feel the helplessness that almost paralyzes us, I suppose the time is coming when we will realize the necessity of this horrible feeling. This apparently is what it takes to open up to the true help that is available in God's never failing love and receive God's healing.  As the old gospel song says, "Farther along we'll know all about it; farther along we'll understand why? "

PROFOUND QUESTION

Several weeks ago our son-in-law, John Park, experiencing a ravaging cancer on a rampage through his body asked his wife, Darleen, "What's the big deal about living a long life?"  From the medical standpoint John's prognosis says his life is about over, but from the more important spirtual perspective his life is eternal. Never-the-less, this is a great question for any of us to ponder. John's relaxed cowboy life style often hid this kind of depth. Even as he askd this question, he would follow it with a compassionate regret--a deep concern about leaving Darleen so soon. Even here John's strong faith in a God whose "love never fails" will give them hope, a hope firmly anchored in Christ that will facilitate its own healing. As one who has lived a long life, I too can join a much younger John in this question, "What is the big deal?" Way back in elementary school the rage was writing in autograph books that were passed around among our school friends for them to write us a note.  Among the silly things they wrote (long before Facebook) there often appeared a quote: "And when the one great scorer comes to write aginst your name, it matters not whether you won or lost, but how you played the game."--Grantland Rice. John still "plays the game" with classic sportsmanship and Christian truth.

YOUNGER/OLDER

Upon admission to Brooke Army Medical Center last week several admitting personnel commented that I looked too young to be 82.  I assured them I was not lying about my age and offered my I. D. card. Two days later after numerous interviews, tests, and measurements I was discharged believing I was just getting old and wearing out although no one told me that in so many words.  I realized again that neither how people see me nor how medical professionals evaluate me should affect my self image.  I can only know how I am doing by going inside and checking out my life energy, my soul. This spirit/heart check is reliable and trustworthy. When I do this and feel the peace of God, I know all is well.  Eventually, my body condition will not matter. After I take "the last flight out" (My brother-in-law Chuck's expression), I expect to look back on my old form and be glad to leave it behind. For now they tell me I only had a TIA (tiny stroke) and need physical therapy to deal with balance and equilibrium and continue my treatments for back pain management and  ankylosing spondylosis.

I Gotta Be Me

My mother used to laugh and say I must have been the dumbest one or her five children because it took me the longest to get through school.  She may have been right. I went to seven schools after high school over a period of 27 years trying to learn how to serve God. I wanted to preach, teach, counsel, and write so I could help people live the way God surely wanted them to.  With all that effort I must have worn out my brain. I achieved what one doctor friend called "minimal cognitive impairment." Now I have trouble remembering words, thinking on my feet and speaking clearly. Now I have had to give up a lot of that doing and learn to be. This is my greatest challenge. Frank Sinatra crooned "I gotta be me" as if that was the easiest thing in the world. As the velveteen rabbit learned, to be real one has to know that he is loved by his owner and must be willing to be roughed up a bit. Trying to hop and jump like the "real" rabbits got him nowhere. He only learned to be real by crying a real tear.  Jumping through the hoops and filling squares does not make me real. Only by carrying my cross and going deep within my true self do I sometimes feel the reality I was created for.  And, surprise!! It is beginning to look like that will be where true spiritual energy, provided by the love of God, will have any influence on those I touch. By the grace of God and the power of the Holy Spirit that may be far more spiritually powerful and influential than all that previous effort.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

TODAY I TURN 82! Already this week I have received from family and friends many beautiful messages, wishes, thoughts and prayers pointing to a very happy birthday.  These blessings enrich the decision I have already made that today will be happy and beyond happy to a joyful sense of being.
All I need to get this extra gift is a little space of peace and quiet. This helps me to know God at a deeper level of consciousness. Someone recently asked in print, "Name one truth that has helped you throughout your life?"  Easy. "God is love". That goes back almost 80 years ago when my mother taught it to me and showed it to me with her love.  At 82 that truth has become increasingly meaningful and helpful. The outside world makes a lot of noise and dissonance, but inside it is this truth that sets me free and makes me more than happy.

Charlie Wonders: JOYOUS DAY

Charlie Wonders: JOYOUS DAY: I don't how many times in my fifty plus years as pastor that I opened worship services with the Psalmist's words, "this is the day the Lord ...