Until We Meet Again

My grandpa is no longer in the flesh, but is now caught away in glory. I revered him deeply, and will miss him. Last night he passed into eternity. I got the news after our worship service at church, during which we sang Tomlin's rendition of Amazing Grace. I thought these words very fitting for Grandpa:

The earth shall soon dissolve like snow
The sun forbear to shine
But God, who called me here below
Will be forever mine

My chains are gone, I've been set free
My God, my Savior has ransomed me
And like a flood His mercy reigns
Unending love, amazing grace

Until we meet again, I love you Grandpa.

Take Nothing for Granted, Part II

Today finds me sitting here enjoying the cool morning. It seems like Colorado has decided to give us some respite from the summer heat and chill down for a bit. I don't have a problem with that at all.

Let me tell you about Dustin, a friend of mine from back in Minnesota. I met Dustin through church, as he was in a Sunday school class for high schoolers that I taught for a few years. Never one to say a lot, he would sit and listen attentively to the lesson and only say something back if I asked him to. But like a lot of quiet people, there was a lot more to Dustin when you got to know him. He was smart and thoughtful, and empathized with others in a deep way. We struck up a friendship and I started calling him by a nickname "Dusty Britches," for no reason I can remember.

As Dusty got older, he came around church a little less frequently, as his work schedule didn't accommodate Sunday mornings that well. But his demeanor didn't change; still hopeful and bright, and making plans for his future after high school. He started attending college in a nearby town for a law enforcement degree.

I moved to Colorado July of last year, and lost touch with a lot of peripheral friends and acquaintances back home. A little while after I moved here I heard that Dustin had been diagnosed with lymphoma, and that he would be receiving treatment. And every now and again I would get an update on how he was doing, but that was about all I heard.

I decided it would be a neat idea to write Dustin a letter of some sort, since he was dealing with his illness. But I didn't know where to start. I didn't want to give him some sort of empty words, like I have heard people give their sick loved ones. There's not always a reason, it's just God's plan... Let go and let God. No, that doesn't cut it. But instead, a letter talking about the reality of suffering and evil, and the intervention of a real God into our fallen world. I just wanted him to know that I cared about him and that I hoped and prayed for his healing. So I put it on the "to do when I have the time" list. Soon I heard that Dustin's treatments were going very well and that it looked like he was on the upswing. It was good news, but the urgency of writing that letter diminished a bit, pushed to the "to do sometime, maybe" list.

It was a beautiful day in May when I got the call that Dustin passed away. After the shock wore down, my thoughts immediately went to that letter I had intended to write. Still unwritten, still unheard.

Time is a precious thing. They say to never leave anything unsaid. They say to take nothing for granted. They are right. Eventually we all run out of time, out of opportunities to show others that we care.

Here's to you, Dusty Britches (July 16, 1990 - May 12, 2010). I will not forget you.

The Star Spangled Banner, Verse Four

Oh! Thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved home and the war's desolation!
Blest with victory and peace, may the heav'n rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation.
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: "In God is our trust."
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

Take Nothing for Granted, Part I

With a title like that, you might be expecting something serious. Well in a roundabout sort of way, it is. But first, a story.

Thursday my roommate came home with a sweet batch of Arbucks-stay* banana bread. Apparently he scored it from some employees who were about to toss it because it was a day old or something. Like any generous roommate, he offered some to me also.

My plan was to take a piece of banana bread to work on Friday morning and devour it during my coffee break. Friday morning rolled around and in my rush to get out the door, I left the banana bread behind. I realized my mistake on the way to work and yelled "Stupid! Stupid!" at myself inside my head. Then I spent the rest of the day anticipating the delight I would have by remembering to bring the banana bread to work today.

This morning I woke up, showered, put lunch together, and packed my banana bread snugly next to my sandwich in my lunch bag. I drove to work, put it all in the refrigerator, and then something happened. One of the nurses came in to work and brought with her a specially-made batch of... you guessed it, banana bread. What could I do? Of course I couldn't turn down more free food, so I ate the banana bread she brought in (which was delicious, by the way). Meanwhile, mine stayed in my lunch bag all day and came home with me tonight.

I was thinking about the whole thing tonight, and I was reminded of a verse in the Bible that says:

Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit"— yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. - James 4:13-14

How true this is. The verse is talking about taking big things for granted, but I think we need to be careful of taking the little things for granted also. I was caught in the act taking my morning banana bread for granted, and what a small thing. Yet we sometimes find that we have far less control over situations than we'd like. So if it's a steady job, a warm place to sleep, or even a morsel of food, be thankful and diligent; it could be taken away at any time. Next time I'll talk about a friend of mine named Dusty.

Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom. - Psalm 90:12


*This is a fictitious name of a real coffee shop that might not want the world knowing that it sometimes gives away food that would end up in the dumpster anyway.

Quote of the Day

Tonight I opted out of a post-work burger (thanks for the invite, Mark) and went instead to a young adults Bible study. There were some people there I needed to reconnect with now that I'm back from vacation. I walked in late, but I heard the leader talking about how important it is for us to have a heart that is tender and fruitful to the things of God; a heart like cultivated soil.

It's funny, but it brings to mind an experience I had while I went to visit Minnesota last week.

My parents have a big garden. It is full of thick, nutrient-rich, potting soil-grade black dirt. One day during my visit I got the privilege of tilling the garden. I was all too eager to do it, because as soon as the tiller did its thing I got to walk behind, barefoot, through the soft, warm, moist soil. If you haven't experienced this before, I suggest you do before you die. At least buy a bag of potting soil and stick your feet in it, if you don't have any black dirt of your own.

Anyway, that is the picture I get when I think of a cultivated heart. As I look at my own heart, I think that it has more resembled the dirt you'd see after it parched in the sun for a couple of months. But I know that God has a sweet tiller, and I believe there are some plants to grow.

So finally the quote, since I promised it at the outset. When we closed the night with prayer, one of the men in my group said:

"Are we the bride of Christ, or a fickle, fickle girlfriend that hardly ever gives him the time of day?"

Selah

Health Care, Health Insurance, Economics and the Bible

The Health Care debate has a couple of lies that swayed a lot of people toward supporting it. Here they are, as far as I have seen in my experiences in the doctor's office and working in the health care field:

1. There are poor people dying in the streets and their homes because they don't have health insurance!
I work at a hospital where I treat homeless people on a weekly/daily basis. They can't pay for the care they receive, but they receive it nonetheless. If someone dies from lack of care, it usually means they ignored their symptoms and didn't call for help.

2. Everyone needs health insurance! It's a right!
No, they don't. No, it isn't. My parents talk about going to the doctor only a few decades ago; they didn't have health insurance and they paid less than 10 bucks for a visit. When I was between college and working back home, I had no insurance; I got a cash discount for my doctor visits. Maybe the answer is for fewer people to have health insurance rather than more, that way prices aren't so artificially inflated. And why should we consider health insurance a right? Health care, yes, but as far as I have seen it is already a right (see previous paragraph).

3. If rich people possess something, poor people like me should have it too.
I'm astounded to hear Christians saying things like this. Here is my response.

You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his male servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor's. - Exodus 20:17

Envy. This is one of the main reasons for our current whining about "economic equality," and we need to stop it. Do you envy your neighbor's insurance coverage? Then stop it. Furthermore,

Now when Jesus was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, a woman came up to him with an alabaster flask of very expensive ointment, and she poured it on his head as he reclined at the table. And when the disciples saw it, they were indignant, saying, "Why this waste? For it could have been sold for a large sum and given to the poor. But Jesus, aware of this, said to them, "Why do you trouble the woman? For she has done a beautiful thing to me. For you always have the poor with you, but you will not always have me." - Matthew 26:8-13

That sounds insensitive! And this, just one chapter after Jesus told his disciples that "as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me." What is he talking about then? Priorities. The poor are important, but Jesus is more important. Our relationship with Him is what influences our relationships with everyone else. And pertaining to our current strides to equalize rich and poor, realize that there will always be poor people. We can't just go and make everyone equal, as history shows, because there will always be the king(s) at the top; the wealthy equalizers of everyone below them. What shall we do with the poor? The same thing we do with all of our neighbors; love them and give generously.

Finally, this.

Now there is great gain in godliness with contentment, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. - 1 Timothy 6:6-7

Paul, the writer here, died by execution. He lived a simple but hard life full of things like shipwrecks, snake bites, beatings and imprisonment. He was content. What about us? We all need to seriously step back and check our attitudes.

Attitude is Everything, Almost...

These words were given to me by a patient in the hospital, who was about to undergo his third open-heart surgery. He wrote them on a piece of scratch paper, and said he wanted me to have the note before he went into surgery.

The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life.

Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failure, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness, or skill. It will make or break a company, a church, a home, yourself.

The remarkable thing is we have a choice everyday regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past, we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable.

The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have. And that is our attitude. I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it. And so it is with you. We are in charge of our attitudes.

Double Blacks, Fear and the Like

Last week I had the joy of going skiing with my friend Karl, who flew out here for the week. As it turned out, we skied with a friend of Karl's, a friend of Karl's friend, and a ski patrol dude who was a friend of Karl's friend's friend. It was a great group to ski with; very talented, but understanding of my limitations also.

I didn't enjoy having my abilities pushed to the limits but I didn't want to spoil the fun, so I followed along as best I could. We skied through acres and acres of tight evergreens, cutting new lines through the deep powder. When not skiing in the steep forest, we would be zig-zagging down immense mogul fields. It was intense; more challenging than I thought I could handle, at first.

The second day was the breakthrough. One of the guys really wanted to ski a double black run, and everyone chided in enthusiastically at the idea. I did too, but outwardly. Silently, I wondered if I would be able to use my new insurance card at a local hospital. Nonetheless, the group started moving down the hill, and I with them.

(Karl skiing down the mountain)

I can't explain exactly how it happened, but I didn't fall on the 35 degree vertical moguls. I stayed on my feet through the trees and all the way to the bottom of the mountain. And I enjoyed it. The previous day of anxiety; falling down, getting back up, and pushing myself, paid off. I moved with rhythm through the moguls (not great rhythm, but workable); my skis started going where my mind told them to go.

It's an everyday battle to push myself to do what needs to be done. Comfort only makes things worse. But truly, whenever I am challenged and work hard through it, the payoff is sweet. The ski trip was another reminder of that, and of my need to ditch my fears about a lot of things.

Speaking with Authority.

Typography from Ronnie Bruce on Vimeo.

Optismism or Escapism?

Before I start in, let me say that there have been a bunch of things worth writing about in the month's time since my last post. Unfortunately those things didn't make it to the internet. Things have been rolling along here though, and I will make an effort to keep up more regularly with this for those who read it (like my mom).

There is a popular song on country radio right now called "Outside My Window." It's very catchy, and I've caught it running through my head once or twice. The other day I stopped and thought about what the song is saying, with these words:

Outside my window I hear a church bell ringing
Nobody fighting over what hymn they're singing...
Outside my window I see a flag that's waving
Hands joined together, everybody celebrating...
No wars no more, just a big rainbow outside my window

At first listen, this song seems pretty chipper and hopeful. At second and third listen, you might begin to wonder, What window is this person looking through? And after that, you begin to realize that this song will probably not be a lasting memory. Why? Because it doesn't really say anything. Oh it's great that everyone gets along, holds hands and sings together outside her window.

But the window isn't real.

An earthquake hits Haiti; a hurricane hits the Gulf coast; people die from heart disease, diabetes, cancer. Cars crash; teenagers get pregnant and abort. The list goes on indefinitely.

This is the condition of the world that we live in. This is reality. Evil exists in the world, and you can see its effects everywhere. The weight of it all makes a song like this seem out of touch at best, a denial of reality at worst. Songs that acknowledge evil (like country music is typically known for) are songs that we can relate to, because they accept reality for what it is. And with that, they have credibility to say something about it. But a song, or lifestyle, or faith that denies this reality is one that has nothing to say at all.