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Richard Stengel, Time, July 21, 2008: “As Mandela celebrates his 90^th birthday, the world’s greatest moral leader reflects on a lifetime of service—and what the rest of us can learn from it.” Stengel calls Mandela the closest thing the world has to a secular saint.

In 1964 he was sent to Robben Island under a life term for sabotage and treason. He went in emotional and headstrong. Twenty-seven years later he came out measured, balanced and disciplined. Mandela said, “I came out mature.”

Courage is not the absence of fear. Acting fearless in prison inspired others. He was a model for others, and that gave him the strength to triumph over his own fear. While riding on a two-engine plane one of the engines quit. Some began to panic until they noticed him casually reading a newspaper. After they landed he told a friend, “Man, I was terrified up there.”

Lead from the front—but don’t leave your support base behind. His supporters thought he was betraying them when he began to negotiate with the apartheid government. He slowly convinced them that his way was the correct course and slowly and deliberately brought his supporters along with him.

Lead from the back—and let others believe they are in front. He told stories of his childhood herding cattle. “You know you can only lead them from behind.” He told of a tribal king who gathered his court in a circle around him and asked each person to speak his opinions of a problem. Only after the different opinions were aired, did the king speak. He accurately summarized every point of view. Then he methodically unfurled his own thoughts in the direction he wanted them to take. He persuaded others to do things and made them think it was their own idea.

Know your enemy—and learn about his favorite sport. He wanted to understand their worldview so he could negotiate with them. He was a lawyer and helped his prison guards with legal matters. He proved that he could negotiate with even the worst and crudest.

Keep your friends close—and your rivals even closer. If they were close he knew better what they were thinking and doing. Embracing his rivals was a way of controlling them: they were more dangerous on their own than within the circle of his influence. He knew the way to deal with those he didn’t trust was to neutralize them with charm.

Appearance matters--and remember to smile. Mandella dressed appropriate when in the presence of those he led. He wore custom tailored suits with negotiators or proper fatigues and a beard when with the ANC underground leaders. His dazzling smile showed sympathy to white South Africans and that he was a happy warrior who was leading his followers to victory.

Nothing is black or white. Life is never either/or. There are always competing factors. There must be nuance, shades of black and white. Nothing is ever as straightforward as it appears. Every problem has many causes. He always looked for the most practical way to reach his goal.

Quitting is also leading. He was elected president in 1994 and likely could have pressed to be president for life. He was determined to do the opposite of Mugabe, who held the nation hostage as dictator. His friend Ramaphosa said, “His job was to set the course, not to steer the ship.” He knew that leaders lead as much by what they choose not to do as what they do.

Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. Matt. 10:29 NIV

Twelve-year-old Louise Anderson felt the knife blade at her throat as John Waters raped her. Nine months later a woman next door heard Louise cry out in pain and came to deliver her baby. October 31, 1896 the world heard the first cry from what some might have considered a worthless sparrow. The voice of Ethel Waters, the voice that is now remembered and cherished by millions of people around the world, was first heard by a nameless audience of one.

immortalized the song, His Eye Is On The Sparrow, written by Tanya Blount and Lauryn Hill:

Ethel Waters was a sparrow that was touched by God’s love and grace. Her voice, empowered by her passion to share her precious Jesus, would become the voice that touched the hearts of “down and outers” as well as the “up and outers;” from the homeless to the White House.

From our most crushing personal experiences, often flow our most comforting words. Many poets began writing poetry as their major method of sharing the anguish of their soul. A few words from a broken heart will fly like a dove toward the heart of other broken hearts.

Ethel Waters found Jesus capable of lifting her from the slums of degrading beginnings as a wounded sparrow to become a songbird for her precious Jesus. She was often the featured soloist in Billy Graham’s crusades.

Twila Knaack, in her book ETHEL WATERS, I touched a sparrow, quotes Gloria Gaither,

The compassion of her heart came through her voice, and her words, and her performances to touch people, soul to soul, intimately, because we who heard her somehow knew she had hurt where we hurt; she had known pain and struggle and joy and victory as we knew them. She knew Jesus and it was His ability to touch people at the core of their being that we felt when we heard her.

For this reason one of the over nine hundred invited guests at Billy Graham’s testimonial dinner given for Ethel Waters at the Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles in 1972, said, “I don’t think there was a dry eye in the crowd.”

If God could reach down and pick up an unwanted, illegitimate girl and keep His eye on her, guiding her through tragedy and triumph till one day He could use her to tell millions of His great love, is anybody hopeless?

I wish that I had the ability to close this article by putting the singing voice of Ethel Waters on this page and let her low alto voice bring everyone who has felt like a helpless sparrow into the presence of Jesus who said,

Are you not worth more than many sparrows? Not one of these shall fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father.

We have been involved in graduations for several weeks. Traditional and vocational colleges, high school, middle and elementary schools have all had formal exercises for those who have achieved certain levels of educational excellence.

I have been in conversations with those being promoted from the fifth, eighth and twelfth grades. I ask general questions from each grade level: “Where do you go from here? How prepared are you for the next level of your life?” “When you are twenty-one what do you plan to be doing?” Two sharp fifth-graders immediately answered, “I will be a helicopter pilot. Another said, I will be a veterinarian or at least be in vet. school.” Others in the group looked at me in bewilderment, having no awareness of long-term goals. The same contrasting statements typically come from high school graduates.

Such responses as these are not unusual for young people for they are still struggling with self-identity and hormonal issues that may overwhelm them. They may be resistive of adult efforts to guide them during this formative time but wise adults should offer help.

A counselor became curious as to how many adults were working at the profession that they had dreamed of when younger. He regularly ate at a restaurant and got acquainted with the middle-aged waitress who usually served their table. One day the counselor asked, “When you were a little girl did you dream that one day you would be a waitress in this nice restaurant?” Her head snapped back in astonishment. Then she laughed and said, “That’s a ridiculous question! Never in a million years would I have dreamed of becoming a waitress. I dreamed of becoming a registered nurse and spend my life helping people regain their health.”

She briefly related her story of wanting to go to college and get her nursing degree but several unfortunate things happened that were so discouraging that she lost her dream of being a nurse. The gentleman shocked her with another question, “What would happen if you revived your dream about becoming a nurse? Is there a possibility that you could go to school, get your degree, and spend the rest of your life living your dream?”

Within a short period of time she began working a shift that gave her time to enter college and earn her degree. She fulfilled her dream and spent several fruitful years as a nurse--living her dream.

It would be interesting to discover how many who read this article may have never dreamed a dream. How many have dreamed a beautiful dream but failed for some reason to fulfill that dream?

Footprints in the Sand is a beautiful poem that describes how God is with us in our deepest hours of sorrow, discouragement and loss. He is with us even when we refuse to look for his presence and guidance. Dr. Richard Carlson suggests that we will do well to look for God’s fingerprints on circumstances that may appear to be roadblocks in our path or rockets that shoot down our fondest dreams. The Bible character Jacob had a dream about angels going up and down a ladder to heaven. The Lord stood at the top of the ladder and told Jacob that He was with him and would bless and guide him the rest of his life. When he awoke he declared, “Surely God is in this place and I did not know it.” (Genesis 28:16)

If you have a desire to live your dream, take heart! Take a good look at your desire. You may discover God’s fingerprints all over it.

Within a short period of time she began working a shift that gave her time to enter college and earn her degree. She fulfilled her dream and spent several fruitful years as a nurse--living her dream.

It would be interesting to discover how many who read this article may have never dreamed a dream. How many have dreamed a beautiful dream but failed for some reason to fulfill that dream?

If you have a desire to live your dream, take heart! Take a good look at your desire. You may discover God’s fingerprints all over it.

We spent the weekend in Salina, KS with fifty cousins and kinfolks. Typically there was much talking, catching-up and storytelling.

On Sunday several of us attended the First United Methodist Church where one of our cousins sings in the choir. The service was spiritual, organized and moved with relaxed precision. Pastor Troy Bowers talked about the beginning of Methodism and I share some of the information.

The Church of England was tax supported and government controlled. Every English citizen was automatically a member of the church, paid taxes to support it but had no control of it. The clergy showed no concern for church members and it was said that, “while the people wept, the priests slept.” Others said there were only three major events that involved the church: when you were hatched (birth), when you were matched (married), and when you were dispatched (buried.) The church exerted little or no spiritual, moral, social or ethical influence.

It was in this spiritual vacuum that John Wesley was born in 1703, the thirteenth child in a family of nineteen children. John’s father was a clergyman in the Church of England and raised his children in a strict and religious household. John felt the call into the Christian ministry at an early age. At Oxford University, John gathered young men into small groups to study the Bible, pray and then go out and “offer Christ” to every person who would listen to them. The students followed such a methodical practice of daily Bible study, prayer and witnessing that they were called names like, ‘The Holy Club’, ‘Bible Bigots’, and ‘Methodists.’ The Methodist name stuck and today over twelve million Christians follow the United Methodist tradition.

John Wesley never intended to start a new denomination. He became convinced that the Church of England would never share the Gospel of salvation, so he and his followers left the church and took the Gospel of salvation to the people. John and other “Methodists” began open-air preaching, offering the message of Christ and salvation. Thousands gathered to hear the Good News that Christ died for them. A spiritual awakening flamed through England. One picture of John Wesley shows him standing on the tomb of his father preaching to thousands who were anxious to receive Christ and salvation. John began commissioning Circuit Riders to spread the life-transforming message of Jesus Christ. Neither the Church of England or any church ordained these young men. They were what we call lay preachers who had a burning zeal to tell others about Christ and about the transforming power that would make them a spiritual child of God. Wesley did not send these young Circuit Riders out with a set of rules and doctrines. He gave simple, yet clear instructions, “Offer them Christ.”

Rev. John Wesley stated his firm conviction that the Gospel should literally be taken to the entire world:

I look on all the world as my parish; thus far I mean, that, in whatever part of it I am, I judge it meet, right, and my bonden duty, to declare unto all that are willing to hear, the glad tidings of salvation through Jesus Christ.

Recently someone quoted Billy Graham as predicting that the next great revival would come through the United Methodist Church. He based his prediction on Wesley’s theology that all humans are sinful and in need of salvation that comes only through Christ; and using personal evangelism as the most effective method of offering Christ to everyone.

Wesley’s example challenges every congregation to take the Gospel outside of their denominational boundaries and personally “offer Christ” to every person who will listen.

“Order in the court,” is a familiar phrase to all who have been in a court of law. Most formal meetings are called to order as a matter of routine. Classes in school are called to order; church members call themselves to order as the worship service begins. We live in an orderly society and are taught as children that we are to act in an orderly and appropriate manner.

Is it possible for well-mannered, well-educated adults to do and say things that are out of order? Joan Borysenko, PHD thinks so. Her article in Prevention Magazine carried the title: “You’re Out Of Order— a guide to making the right choice at the wrong time.” Her main thrust concerns people from forty to sixty who may be considering major changes in their life such as having children, getting married/ divorced, changing professions or moving across country. These major changes concern not only the individual who makes the change, but also everyone who will be affected by it.

She offers two guidelines: “When making an out-of-order life choice, put it through some tests. When such choices are made from an authentic desire to grow and serve, we thrive in spite of the challenges. Doing what’s right for you, even when other people think you’re nuts, is an awesome experience. But when bucking the norm comes from careless or ill-considered choices, being out of order can be hurtful to you and those closest to you. Taking a clear-eyed look at what motivates your choices—before you leap—is the key to making sure they’re healthy.”

Counselors will usually ask a client who is considering major life- changes these two questions: Are you being drawn to this change because it will make you a better person spiritually, mentally, emotionally and physically? If this is your motivation for change, the outcome will likely be favorable.

Is escaping your motivation for change? If you typically change because you feel the situation is insecure, painful or unfair, you will likely be disappointed by another change. “Escape change” often indicates that a person is insecure and unhappy. New geography does not change who or what we are.

Borysenko suggests helpful hints to consider before you leap: Take your time. How difficult would it be to reverse your decision? If it is not reversible, how would it change the course of your life if the outcome becomes undesirable?

Get data before making your decision. Seek the counsel of others who have made similar decisions. They have likely paid a sad price or received great rewards. They’ll help you evaluate the pros and cons.

Assess the risk. Selling a house or a car will not be as risky as moving to another town or state. Ending a romantic relationship is not as risky as getting married or divorced. Since no man or woman is an island unto himself or herself, it is only fair to assess what our decision will do to those we love and our associates. Will the ripple effect of our free and independent action create a tsunami to those for whom we are responsible? There is no stopping the waves of blessings or destruction once the tidal wave begins.

Honor all your emotions. Become aware of the positive as well as the negative feelings you have about your possible change. Carefully weigh all the emotions in a scale and make an honest evaluation.

Borysenko closes with a powerful suggestion: “If your mind says ‘go’ but your gut says ‘wait,’ let them catch up with each other before making your leap.”

I have before me the heart-warming story of Alferd Williams of St. Joseph, MO. Alferd is so thrilled about learning to read that he plans to repeat the first grade with his teacher, Alesia Hamilton, in the fall. For a student to repeat the first grade is not too unusual, but Alferd is a unique first grader because he is seventy years old. He looks like a friendly giant among his classmates but they love him and accept him with open arms. Alferd's desire to learn to read comes from the promise he made to his mother that he would learn to read. (Full story in Kansas City Star, Saturday, May 3, 2008) At age seventy he knew that if he fulfilled his promise to his mother that he had to take action. I just finished a novel where the hero had a very poor relationship with his mother. She was an alcoholic prostitute and had abandoned him when he was very young. His sense of duty as a son forced him to take a job where his mother lived in order to care for her as she was dying. He felt that he had nothing to say to her and had no feelings or desire to be with her. After the funeral he became aware that he did have strong feelings toward her and he was flooded with regrets for not having tried to develop a good relationship. A young man began abusing alcohol during high school and his mother tried to get him to stop. He got married and had children and heavy drinking caused him to abuse his family. His mother finally said, “Paul, I will not say another word about your drinking. I am going to pray and turn you over to God." Before long Paul stopped drinking and said, “I could resist my mother’s words, but crumbled beneath my mother’s prayers.” An eighty-seven year old widow of two husbands told a group that she could not give herself permission to go alone to a restaurant for a meal. “My mother taught me that a nice girl or woman should not go alone to a restaurant because it might give the impression that she wanted a man to notice her. Her mother’s powerful apron strings held her tightly. Apron strings are more powerful than most of us care to admit. Apron strings represent authority, control, security, rewards, punishment, approval and dependence. Codependency can easily develop between mother and child although both may deny that they are the one keeping the knot tied. Loosening the apron string is generally a natural process. Children quickly want to do things their way and this demand for independence gives wise parents many opportunities to teach the child how to become responsibly independent. A parent who becomes threatened when the child moves toward independence may be tempted to overpower the child, which will only tie stronger knots in the apron string. Praise from the parent who catches the child making good choices on their own initiative, raises the child’s self-assurance and predicts future growth and affirmative actions. Criticism of the child’s move toward independence ties double knots in the apron string. Only a gentle scratching of the surface reveals that most of us have extremely strong apron strings with our mothers. Their positive teachings, strong faith, high morals and other worthy attachments cause us to cling comfortably to our relationship with her. Good news for parents and adult children who are struggling with unhealthy relationships. There are good family counselors that know how to untie troublesome knots and develop mature relationships. Don’t cut the strings.

With little interest I began reading, A Complaint Free World, by Will Bowen. He says that people who constantly complain, criticize or gossip…also deny that they are complaining, just like I try to do. So now I will bravely admit that I complain and criticize—but I try to do it in a positive way!

I would be remiss not to express deep appreciation for the wonderful birthday party that my precious wife, Marilyn, planned, and for everyone who honored me with their personal attendance or with cards, Email and phone call. I am still celebrating. Several have asked how old I feel? One the inside I feel about sixty. My legs constantly disagree.

Everyone who reads these words has also reached another milestone of just being alive. Thank God I am alive! Now our question is:

I illustrated my answer in 1989 when I drew the inside of a log cabin with the handmade door standing slightly ajar. The person living there could look outside through the partially open door. Under the picture I wrote these words: Where I am on life’s journey is not nearly as important as where I go from here. Today I may walk out the door into the freedom beyond. While today is…I go!

Regardless of age almost everyone makes choices that match our outlook on life. The optimist says the glass is half full. The pessimist says the glass is half empty. The engineer says the glass is exactly 50% too large. Some folks stop living a quality life many years before they die. Others live their life fully and productively up until the day they die. Illness and accidents have a great deal to do with the limits that are forced upon some people, but their attitudes toward their limitations determines how they live the rest of their lives.

Howard R. Macy, writes in his book, Rhythms of the Inner Life, “The spiritual world cannot be made suburban. It is always the frontier, and if we would live in it, we must accept and even rejoice that it remains untamed.” page 36.

Mattie J. T. Stepanek lived his eleven years in the death- threatening wilderness known as muscular dystrophy. The table of contents of his book, Journey Through Heartsongs, reveals his celebration of life as he lived it: Beginning the Journey, Considering the Journey, Coping with the Journey, Celebrating the Journey and Growing Beyond the Journey.

The parishioners of Saint Ann’s Catholic church in Effingham are bravely facing a monumental challenge since their church building burned. Steve Caplinger stated it beautifully when he said the building did in fact burn, but the flames did not touch the faithful parishioners, who are the “church.” No doubt they will rise to the challenge. Their unity during adversity will become an effective witness for Christ. All the communities around Effingham are mobilizing to serve, following the example of the 100 volunteer firefighters.

I was a member of the Birchman Avenue Baptist church in Ft. Worth, Texas while in the seminary. We arrived for the evening worship service to discover fire trucks filling the street for a city block.

Our church building was not destroyed but was greatly damaged by smoke and water. We stood in the street and on the lawn, praying, planning and pondering what our next step was to be.

We rented a large tent with a wooden floor that became our sanctuary for several exciting months. Ushers escorted visitors to folding chairs and wooden benches. Members of the church volunteered to crowd into Sunday School classrooms that were wired for sound. Dick Baker’s song, Keep Looking Up, became our theme song. Keep looking up; keep looking up, into the Savior’s face. Your doubts will vanish all

I claim the old-timers privilege of sharing my story. I was born in Childress, Texas, April 16,1928 and have a birth certificate to prove my claim. I overcame the obstacle of being born with the handicaps of not being able to walk, talk, read or write. Loving parents and other adults guided me to learn those good things.

Mrs. Warren, my English teacher in college, set a spark glowing when she said she recognized in me the ability to combine humor and seriousness into a worthwhile marriage. I thought her comment to be humorous, but it has always haunted me. I completed a humorless struggle through seminary in 1961, and accepted the call to be pastor of the First Baptist Church of Dexter, NM. In the early 1970s I was invited to tell a ten minute Bible Story each Monday over KSWS TV in Roswell, NM. This lasted for five-and-one-half years. I published a record album called Bible Story Time, and it failed to sell. KSWS opened a fifty thousand watt clear-channel FM station. They invited me to bring the station on the air with a five-minute devotional every morning. I did this for three years.

My first writing experience came with the invitation to write curriculum for the Southern Baptist Royal Ambassador Crusader and Crusader Counselor Magazines. They had a subscription list of over one hundred thousand. I have published in The Upper Room, Home Life, Youth Leadership, Mature Living, and other publications. I self-published Galliant’s Journey, New Beginnings, Prayer in Sychar, Sterley Stories, and co-edited Comfortable Chickens and Spiritual Meditations. I am preparing the manuscript for a devotional book on Psalms 23.

Like a bud opening into a beautiful flower, this psalm opened as a metaphor of the journey that I have taken with the Great Shepherd. At age eleven I made a conscious choice that Jesus was my Savior and my Shepherd and I committed myself to follow him. I have walked with Jesus through many desert like places and have always found him faithful in supplying living water to rehydrate my spirit. Green pastures remind me of the rest and security he has provided during times of stress and fear. Countless times he has restored my soul when I felt defeated and hopeless. His rod of power and protection has

His staff points and directs my path and nudges me gently away from danger. The valley of the shadow of death has not been the fear of physical death, as much as the shadowy threats to my faith and commitment.

The table the Lord prepares for me is overly lavish and my cup of joy and thanksgiving runs onto the table. I do not consider anyone to be an enemy. If I have offended others I beg their forgiveness and invite them to my table as a welcomed friend.

At my birthday party, when I turn eighty, I plan to read the final lines of my humorous poem about being eighty. I call it 8T. (eighty) The ending lines go like this:

Now I am 8T. Big ole 8T. I am now a real-live oc-to-gen-ari-an. I hope you’re impressed. But, I don’t know for sure how I should be dressed.

Only good prospects lie ahead. The 2 good people who caused me 2 B are waiting in heaven to welcome me. Jesus and I have walked many-a-trail.

He promised to guide me and has never failed. So, with loved ones beside me, and Jesus ahead, I’ll walk into heaven…as soon as I’m dead.

I write this article to encourage readers who are haunted by ghosts. Ghosts, although friendly, have a way of disturbing us at times. Some folks have had traumas that make them want to block out certain periods of time. They may not remember the trauma itself, but a silent ghost that they cannot identify, disturbs them.

Others may clearly remember the trauma and have deliberately blocked it out. They know exactly what their ghost is and find it impossible to keep it buried, in spite of how hard they try.

Here are some thoughts for those who want to be free of a ghost. Most ghosts are friendly and do not intend to frighten, confuse or harm. Most ghosts are like Casper--they are friendly and want to talk to us about a problem that we need to fix. Our Casper ghost may be telling us that we stepped on a thorn when we were a child and didn’t remove it. We may have limped for years without knowing why our foot was sore. Ghosts may challenge adults to go back and take compassion on their “child-self” by removing splinters, kissing ouchies, cleaning wounds and assuring the child that they are OK. It is also good to forgive ourselves for making the child feel that we abandoned them. Our abandoned child-self may be the ghost that is trying to get our attention.

A forty-year-old man had flashbacks to an incident that happened when he was six. He discovered that his “ghost” was telling him that he needed to correct an incorrect message from mother when she shamed him for playing a sexual “show and don’t tell” game with a five year old girl. He thought he had become a “bad person” because he had done a childhood “no no”. As an adult he realized that he was a good person who occasionally made mistakes.

A woman, as a youth, lived during WWII. Her family spent many horror-filled hours hunkered in a dark cellar under the house while they were being bombed. The steps to the cellar had a curtain at the bottom. For the remainder of her life she mentally refused to open that curtain because it represented her security against deafening noise, death and terror.

Another woman had a whispered fear that she had been sexually molested as a child. She became tense and frightened when she heard about a molested child. A counselor explained that she was not to blame and had no need to feel guilty. He encouraged her to face her past so she could find understanding and peace.

I found the following technique helpful. For several months I would prepare for sleep by inviting “young Jack” to meet me in a dream so I could get acquainted with myself as a boy. I practiced this for many nights and was richly rewarded. I dreamed that I was eleven and saw a woman verbally abusing a child. My “dream Jack” stood up boldly and told the woman to stop treating the child badly. He shouted, “She is a good child. You leave her alone.”

I awoke from the dream and congratulated myself for defending the child. This reassured me that I was a good child and am a good adult. If you have extreme problems with ghosts from your past, please seek professional assistance. If your ghosts are of the Casper type, be good to yourself and get acquainted. Forgive yourself of any normal human mistakes you have made and make peace with your past. You are most likely a worthy and likable person.

I got an email from Flora Davis, a college classmate, who says that God helped her get prepared for the death of her husband, Sid. Her statements provide a worthy subject around which we can center our thoughts.

Flora’s words are powerful. “It was amazing how the Lord helped me through Sid's passing. In retrospect I know without a doubt the ways in which He actually prepared me for that moment and all the time since. I was one who, all our married life said to myself that IF Sid should go first I would literally go in the closet, shut the door, and never come out again!!! I'm not proud of that, but it was the truth. Our Heavenly Father heard my inner thoughts and began preparing me ten years before his death. How grateful am I for that. It doesn't mean that being without my husband was easy, but it was not completely devastating. I felt many emotions, but never anger in any form.”

Flora speaks from the fact that God provided her with the strength and understanding that she desperately needed. Her inner thoughts were prayer thoughts. She was thinking toward God, which is one of the most powerful means of prayer. This is part of what the Bible means when it says, “pray without ceasing”(1 Thess.5:17) This does not mean that we must stay on our knees or close our eyes or bow or raise our head. It means to practice the presence of God at all times. God is always with us and is aware of everything we think, feel, say or do.

God knew all of her fears, doubts, anxieties and feelings of inadequacy and insecurity. God honored her faith and provided instructions as to how properly cope with each one. He also provided her with the strength to do things that before she had not thought herself capable of doing before Sid died.

Which is easier on the survivor? To cope with a sudden and unexpected death, or one that had been expected for some time? Survivors often feel the way their special loved one died was the hardest, whether expected or sudden.

Shock is always present to some degree when our loved one dies, regardless of whether it is sudden and unexpected, or anticipated and prepared for. One friend went through the lingering death of his wife and they had talked and prepared as best they could. He said, “When I watched her take her last breath and pass on—I felt like someone had hit me in the stomach. I folded double from the shock”

Flora raises the interesting subject of anger. She was not aware of any anger. Perhaps she had already dealt with any anger she had before Sid died. Perhaps she never had any anger. Anger is an issue in every grief support class I lead. Some are furiously angry that God took their loved one. Some are angry with the loved one who died. Others are angry with the doctors and hospital staff. Some feel no anger.

Clarifying how each person defines “anger” makes it easier to understand. Recently I talked with a woman who was not aware of having anger at the passing of her husband of many years. She began defining a few of the strong feelings when she paused, and then thoughtfully said, “Some of the feelings that I have been calling by another name…may actually be anger.”

Feelings are neither good or bad, moral or immoral in themselves. What we do with those feelings makes them right or wrong.

Easter, the day Jesus Christ was raised from the dead, is the ultimate revelation of God’s love and willingness to save sinful humans.

God created our universe and placed Adam and Eve in the garden as the overseers of the universe. Every created thing was in perfect harmony and balance with every other part of the universe. It was created to be perpetually and eternally in harmony with God, humans, every creature, plant and star in the solar system

God gave Adam and Eve the responsibility to use their creativity to explore, create and develop new things in their perfect world. Their freedom to make choices tempted them to question God’s only “thou shall not,” and make it into a, “let’s try it.” Their disobedience brought sin and imperfection into their heavenly environment. Sin began its insidious contamination and today our world is suffering from a poisoned and polluted environment. The Bible says that even nature groans and longs for the restoration of the universe.

Easter is God’s great love story. The story assures us that he has provided forgiveness of our past failures; salvation and strength for our present struggles: and assurance of final salvation in the future.

Humanity as a whole is guilty of causing wars and degradation in every generation since Adam and Eve. Humans have polluted, ravaged and denuded everything we have touched. Wars and rumors of war, rape, murder and inhumanity to man, is not a prediction—it is a present reality.

The good news of Easter is that the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus provides forgiveness for every sin that we have committed. All of us have skeletons in our closet. We have failed others, and ourselves. We are haunted by our failure to be good stewards of our relationships with humans and the ravaging of our natural resources and environment. All our failures and wrong deeds find forgiveness and cleansing through the resurrection of Jesus. Our sins are the reason he died.

God remains with us as we journey through life. Jesus is alive and becomes our constant traveling companion. He is present in the form of the Holy Spirit.

A friend told how the Holy Spirit gave him strength when he was asked to give a eulogy at a funeral. Public speaking is not his forte and he was extremely apprehensive. He asked the Holy Spirit to speak through him and give him courage. His prayer was answered and those who heard him speak said that his eulogy was excellent.

What about the future? Once again our nation is in turmoil. We have been at war for over five years. Over four thousand of our military personnel have been killed in Iraq. Mortgage companies are failing. Thousands of homeowners are losing their homes. Unemployment is a growing monster. Global warming threatens to defrost the glaciers.

Easter reassures us that God created our universe and has never relinquished control. Governments rise and fall. Political parties promise that they can save our nation from the consequences of poor judgment and poor stewardship of our resources.

While Jesus was in the tomb it looked as if Satin had won a victory. On Easter Sunday morning God gave the world the final proof of his invincible power. Satan had bruised Jesus’ heel, but Jesus crushed Satin’s head. Gen. 3:15. Saint Paul declares in 1 Corinthians 15: 25 “Christ must reign, till he has put all enemies under his feet.”

The risen Christ forgives our past sins. He lives with us to provide power to face present challenges. He promises ultimate salvation in the future.

Holy Week has been busy and meaningful. Our church provided several events that have called for involvement in the days leading up to Easter. We seriously focused on the death burial and resurrection of Jesus

We observed Maundy Thursday with a simple meal that represented the Passover meal. This was done with only candlelight and silence. Selected readings and singing told the story of the Last Supper as Jesus ate the Passover meal with his disciples. The disciples had previously argued about which of them would have prime positions in God’s kingdom. Jesus took the place of a servant and washed their feet.

Friday we worshiped with the Tennebrea service of shadows and lights. The choir was dressed in black. The sanctuary was lighted with eleven candles on the alter. Each of the ten candles represented a scripture reading of a step toward the crucifixion of Jesus. After a reader read the selected passage, one candle was extinguished as we sang a verse of “Were You There When They Crucified my Lord.” The final scripture took us to the cross where Jesus died. The pastor extinguished the Jesus candle illustrating that the “light of the world had gone out.” We sat silently in shadows.

The large gold cross on the communion table had gone unobserved during the shadowy service. When the Christ candle was extinguished the pastor wrapped a long black cloth around the arms of the cross. He slowly faced the audience and lifted the death shrouded cross for us to behold. The silent, black wrapped cross seemed to silently shout: “Jesus is dead! Now he will be buried!” The pastor carried the cross past the silent worshipers and we left the building in reverent silence.

A twenty-four-hour prayer vigil began. One volunteer came at their assigned time to spend thirty minutes of prayer and meditation in the chapel. At my designated time I entered the darkened room and my eyes quickly swept the room to orient myself. Two candles and one small lamp in the corner behind a small table dimly illuminated the room. My eyes immediately locked with shocking intensity on the death draped cross. My heart quivered and I heard myself say, “Jesus died! He died for me!” Then I realized that my eyes were filled with tears.

After several minutes of soul searching my eyes seemed once again drawn to the death shrouded cross. Another sense of overwhelming awareness that Christ truly died for me. More tears.

Then I became aware that a communion tray was available for those who desired to serve themselves. The symbols of the bread and cup took on a more vital and vibrant meaning. I could only say, “Thank you Jesus.”

I opened a devotional book and read a short essay entitled, “Fade To Black.” The writer explained that the term was a stage phrase that directed the lighting to be gradually extinguished so that a veil of darkness descends on the set. This leaves the audience wondering what happens next.

The followers of Jesus sat in bewildered darkness wondering what would happen next. Little did they know that God was about to overwhelm them with the grandest event in world history.

Later a poet would pen these words, Low in the grave he lay, Jesus my savior. Waiting the coming day, Jesus my Lord. Up from the grave he arose, with a mighty triumph over his foes. He arose a victor from a dark domain, and he lives forever with his saints to reign. Christ arose! Christ arose! Halleluiah, Christ arose!

I invite readers who may be in personal shades of black to let the risen Christ become real and personal to you.

When someone says or does something that hurts, we may think we will never be able to forgive them for the pain they have caused. However, for several reasons, we need to rise above our pain and forgive the one who has hurt us.

Forgiving another person is the best thing we can do for oneself. It is the best thing we can do for the offending person. It is the best thing we can do to honor Christ.

Forgiveness can be a tremendous challenge to some people. We feel offended, insulted, mistreated, misunderstood, slighted, abandoned, or a dozen other descriptive words. Our natural tendency is to want to hurt that person back. Several unsavory words may describe some of our feelings: hate, vengeance, get even, make them hurt, ruin their character, turn others against them, gossip about them, and many more ugly get-even tactics.

If these feelings and attitudes are ours—we have become a casualty of stepping on a landmine of unforgiveness. Many military people loose body parts and others die because they step on a landmine.

We may feel that we have stepped on a landmine of an unprovoked attack. We may feel totally innocent and undeserving of what someone said or did. If that is the case we will feel angry and God has provided guidance to help us make a healthy recovery. The Message paraphrase of Ephesians 4:25,26 says: “Go ahead and be angry. You do well to be angry—but don’t use your anger as fuel for revenge. And don’t stay angry. Don’t go to bed angry. Don’t give the devil that kind of foothold in your life.”

Normally a person rethinks the situation where their feelings got hurt. Once they explore both sides of the issue, they take responsibility for what they did that helped create the painful situation. They forgive themselves and the other person, and peace is restored. They make the choice to forgive.

Unforgiveness is a willful choice to hold on to the hurt, anger, hostility and the desire to punish either themself or the other person. This desire to punish someone will adversely affect the person mentally, spiritually, and physically.

The Bible tells us that it is OK to get angry when we are hurt—but we are to quickly get over it! Children show adults how to do it. They may become furious with a friend—and be playing peacefully the next minute. Some adults teach children to hold grudges, seek vengeance and get even.

Unforgiveness, the willful refusal to forgive oneself or others, dishonors Christ and his sacrificial death on the cross. We were enemies of God until Jesus forgave us our sins and made us children of God. Since Christ has freely forgiven us, we should be eager to forgive those who offend us.

Unforgiveness leaves unwholesome sediment in our soul. It’s like the sludge and muck that got stirred up when my cousins and I went swimming in the cow’s metal watering tank. The water looked clean and clear—until our feet stirred up the slimy stuff at the bottom.

Many years ago a person called me at night stating that they needed to talk to me about their hatred that was driving them crazy. “I am so full of hate that I am about to explode.” They refused to make an appointment so their hatred settled like muck, unseen, but ever present in their soul.

Unforgiveness prevents healing, resolution, contentment, peace, restoration and friendship. Harboring anger lets it settle like mud and sludge at the bottom of a pond. It lies dormant, ready to surface, at a moments notice.

What words of encouragement can I write that will be helpful to readers of New Beginnings? This question has been buzzing through my brain for two days. Buzzing is not just a happy little word to use as a substitute word for thinking. My good doctor discovered that I have a serious sinus infection, and what I am experiencing is a buzzy kind of thinking. Part of the buzz comes from the infection, part from the powerful medicine, and part from the cost of the medicine. I have more sympathy for those who do not have health insurance.

I have decided to prescribe heavy doses of the most effective healing remedy known to mankind. Love. Love has miraculously healed broken hearts, shattered relationships, bitterness, despondency and depression, grief, loneliness, rejection, lostness, helplessness and a multitude of other emotional and spiritual illnesses. Untreated, these often lead to serious physical illness.

The Apostle Paul names love to be paramount over faith and hope. 1 Corinthians 13:13 from The Message paraphrase: ”But for right now, until that completion, we have three things to do to lead us toward that consummation: Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. And the best of the three is love.”

I keep humming the cute little song, “What The World Needs Now Is Love, Sweet Love.” The lyrics proclaim that there are mountains and hillsides enough to climb, enough oceans and rivers to cross, enough wheat fields and cornfields to grow, and enough sunbeams and moonbeams to shine. What the world needs now is love, sweet love, that’s the only thing that there’s just too little of.

Love is hard to describe or define. Occasionally we see love that blooms like the mystic development of a vaporous rainbow. We are immediately blessed and awestruck.

Several years ago I was called to the hospital emergency room where a wife and mother of two teen aged children was dying of a heart attack. I entered the room in time to hear the doctor tell her family, “I don’t think we are going to save her but I am going to shock her heart once more. It may do more damage than it does good, but we will give it one more try.” Moments later he shook his head letting them know she was gone.

I went with the family to the waiting room where others had gathered. The adolescent girl went to her seated grandmother, knelt down and lay across her grandmother’s lap. Two of her close friends sat on the floor beside her gazing at their weeping friend. I looked into the faces of the grandmother and two girls. Suddenly I saw an overwhelming revelation of the indescribable. I saw love. I saw tenderness. I saw compassion. I was witnessing the essence of the unseeable, the invisible, and the indescribable.

After several seconds I became aware of the dynamics of what I was seeing. Then I became aware of slight movements. The grandmother was gently stroking her granddaughter’s hair. Her other hand was making small circles on her shoulder. The two friends were tenderly stroking her back. In this small group—there was silence!

In the other part of the room some talking was subdued while some was more boisterous. This is typical as each person and each group deals with death in their own way. Our group chose vibrant silence and touching.

For those who ask: “What can I say when I visit with someone who has lost a loved one?” Your loving presence will likely be what they appreciate most. They don’t need fancy words. They need to know that you love and care.

February has been designated as Black History month. The media has freshened our memory of the heart-breaking struggles of Black Americans to rise from slavery and servitude to their rightful freedom. Many barriers have been broken down and new bridges built. However much work remains to be done.

Several years ago the television screenplay, Roots, caused us to vicariously experience the intimate struggles of those who were born into slavery. Viewers were forced to consider such haunting questions as: “What if that black man or that black woman was my mother and father? What if I was that innocent baby opening my eyes to behold black parents who were slaves?”

Obviously, you and I had no choice about being conceived; or who our mother and father were; or what their place in society; or whether they were qualified to be worthy parents.

We also recognize that our roots entwine themselves in mysterious ways back to our famous parents whom God named Adam, and Eve. Therefore we recognize that in some way our roots depend on nourishment found only in the common soil of humanity.

Sunday evening, February 24, 2008, a large group gathered to celebrate Black History. I was asked to bring a meditation before we participated in the Communion service. To introduce the Communion service I read 1 Corinthians 11: 23-26 from The Message Translation: “The Master, Jesus, on the night of his betrayal, too bread. Having given thanks, he broke it and said; this is my body, broken for you. Do this in remembrance of me. After supper he did the same thing with the cup; this cup is my blood, my new covenant with you. Each time you drink this cup, remember me.”

This passage brings us to the death of Jesus Christ on the cross. If there is anything in the world that equalizes human beings, it is the cross of Jesus Christ. The cross destroys the barriers of distinction that separates humans by race, creed, color or social standings. The ground beneath the cross is perfectly level.

There is no such thing as an upper, middle or lower class. No good better or best. There is no superior anything. No superior class, race, education, cultural, lingual or social distinction. Every man woman and child stands unclothed before God.

Following the worship service my wife and I joined Mrs. Florence Harper in a thought provoking conversation. She told us of her family history that is preserved at the Atchison Library.

When Mrs. Harper told us that her great grandfather was a slave, I felt a strange emotional kinship with her. I sat beside her and asked for more information. We didn’t have time to go into great detail but I tried to become aware of some of her emotional involvement with her struggle to find peace and freedom in a society that had denied that peace and freedom to her family.

I felt a strange bonding with Mrs. Harper. The bonding came not because my great grandfather was a slave—but because my grandfather was enslaved by race prejudice. My grandfather would likely have hated her grandfather. My grandfather embarrassed, sickened, and frightened me with stories about his youthful attitudes and activities.

Now, I must face my responsibility as a Christian. If I am truly free, I cannot enslave anyone!

Micah 6:8 gives us guidelines. “He hath showed thee, O man, what is good; and what doeth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God.”

Sanctified Outhouse - A Twentieth Century Burning Bush (2-23-08) printable PDF

Sterley, Texas was an average rural community and almost every house came equipped with an outhouse. Although outhouses were similar, each had it’s own personality because of it’s size, shape or an occasional color.

Everyone who has used an outhouse will recall the visual, auditory, kinesthetic and gustatory memories clearly etched into our brain. For the benefit of non-Sterleyites, those words mean that we recall what we saw, heard, felt and smelled during our “outback to the outhouse” excursions.

As a lad of sixteen, I made what I expected to be a typical visit to our relief station. I sat looking at the Montgomery Ward catalog, which seemed to diminish in size each day.

Suddenly I heard these very clear words, “What if God wants you to be a preacher?” I looked through the cracks to see if someone was outside talking to me. No one. Then I knew that those words came from God! God had spoken to me!

Then I experienced warmth that had nothing to do with the summer temperature. My soul seemed to be filled with what I call Holy warmth. I didn’t know that I would experience that Holy Warmth many times in my later life.

I can’t adequately describe that warmth but I wonder if Moses felt something like that when God appeared to him in the burning bush. The bush seemed to be on fire but the flames didn’t consume it. Our outhouse was not on fire, but my soul was ignited by God’s holy presence. I felt that I was glowing with his presence, but I wasn’t consumed by it. However, I was marvelously, and indelibly impressed by it.

I am sure that my eyes enlarged to unbelievable proportions and I was afraid to leave the outhouse for fear that someone might think I had seen a ghost. Actually confronting a real live ghost would have been more easily explained than what I was thinking. I thought that I had just caught God in his first mistake. God was supposed to be perfect, to know everything.

And yet, if he thought I could preach—he didn’t know me very well. I was only sixteen and it was impossible that I could preach. At least, that was what I was hoping. My task now was to convince God of this fact.

I left the outhouse and walked to the bench under a large elm tree. I was in a trance-like state trying to understand what had just happened to me. I had faithfully recited prayers “to” and “at” God for many years. For the first time in my life I began to talk “with” God. I was having a conversation with God. This was intimate. This was real. I was on holy ground but God didn’t tell me to take off my shoes. My words echoed those of Moses as I offered my heart felt, but lame, excuses of age, shyness, inability to talk in front of people, lack of knowledge, and other reasons for not wanting to preach. God listened and honored my arguments. I was relieved when God went silent. He remained silent--until I was a freshman in college.

Then God overpowered my most powerful arguments with assurance that he would provide all my physical, emotional, educational and spiritual needs. He has done that and I have tried to be a voice for God for sixty-one years.

If God can sanctify and speak from an outhouse and a burning bush, don’t be surprised if he speaks to you when you least expect it. Or, perhaps, when you most need it.

Those who do a lot of writing know what a writer’s block is. I had a serious block before beginning this article. Expert writers suggest ways to break through the barricade that has created a dam across the free flow of thinking and writing. To break my barricade I began thinking of new things for which I am thankful.

I am thankful that I joined many others in the sad, yet joyful, celebration of the life of Bernice Sellers. She was a dear friend who left us for her home in heaven. Bernice and I had a humorous little ritual where we would pretend to seriously consider whether we could possibly be nice to each other for another year. I would say, “I will try to be nice to you all year if you will try to be nice to me.” Then she would hesitate, roll her eyes upward, pause, and then thoughtfully say, “Well. It could present a real problem for me—but I will at least try.” I treasure those humorous exchanges.

Her passing caused me to reflect on the arbitrary passages of time each of us experience. We marvel at the developmental stages of a newborn child. They speed from total dependency into a toddler, then quickly into walking and talking and learning and growing and becoming an adult. How rapidly they accomplish this uphill fete amazes us. We rejoice in their upward progress toward maturity and it presents no threat to us, because we consider this progress to be normal.

What does cause considerable concern for older adults is when we discover that we are at the top of the hill and must face what is on the down hill side of the mountain. This can be a slow decline for some, but a frightening tumble for others.

I recently listened as two children proudly told me they were in the third grade. I responded, “Oh. The third grade is a wonderful grade because you can learn so much in that grade.” These children were aware of climbing the hill of learning. Some adults are still striving to continue learning and keeping our minds active and alert. Many children have instant recall of their learning, while we older adults seem to develop instant deletion of our laboriously earned knowledge.

I am aware that the aging process has slowly touched almost every part of my body. “Up” and “down” are much more difficult to attain each passing day. “Over there” suddenly becomes “a long way over there.” Soft cushiony chairs and sofas not only cuddle my body when I sit down, but they seem to love me so much that they cling to my body and force me to grunt and groan as I extract myself from their loving embrace. I often place my hands on the chair to show my appreciation for its support. Truthfully I am assuring myself that my balance is working properly.

I appreciate The Atchison Globe for providing me with a writing platform to share my New Beginnings column for many years. I sincerely appreciate all the support from readers who have provided support by saying nice and encouraging words.

I have expanded my writing ministry through a web site on the Internet. The site went on line January 28th, and at last count I have received 325 hits. Responses have come from Russia and many states in the USA.

The Challenge Of the Crossroads Which Road Shall I Take(2-9-08) Printable PDF

People are basically creatures of habit. We follow the same routines until they become a rehearsed set of movements, actions or speeches that soon become a dramatic performance of: “This is who I am.” When we perform that routine long enough we wear the path into a rut that gets deeper and deeper. We discover that our rut provides security but it also limits our freedom of movement and choice. After a while we discover that our restrictive rut is little more than a grave with both ends kicked out.

Excavating our security rut comes gradually and unintentionally. However the comfort-factor sets up like concrete and gaining freedom from it often requires some kind of powerful and often explosive event. Death of a loved one, loss of a job, financial crisis, divorce, accident or illness may force us to consider a change in direction and thinking outside the rut.

Robert Frost wrote the poem, The Road Less Traveled By. The poem challenges us to wonder, “How different would my life be if I had taken the other road?” Some readers may be wondering if they should have taken a different road than the one that has brought them to the place where they are today.

Albert Camus said, “Life is the sum of all your choices.” We are who we are; we are living where we live; and are doing what we do; because of the countless decisions we have made, on the road upon which we have chosen to travel.

I took a road less traveled many years ago. One night I preached at a rural church about 100 miles from home. After the night service a farmer told me about a shortcut to the main highway that would save twenty miles. It was a narrow dirt road through the midnight-black woods and across a small rock bottomed stream of running water. Should I take the road less traveled, or take the longer, paved road? I took the shortcut and prayed all the way. No fire-snorting dragons devoured me so my decision was a good one.

Some readers may be standing at a major intersection as they read these words. They may ask: “Should I stay on this road or turn off on another one? The road I have been traveling has brought me to this job, this marriage, this college, this illness, this financial crisis, this relationship, this condition, this loss, this current situation that demands that I make a decision.”

The Bible gives encouragement for those who have paused at a life-changing intersection. “He leads me in the paths of righteousness for his name sake.” Psalms 23:3. Jesus promises, “When he, the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth.” John 16:3

It is not a sign of weakness when a faithful Christian gets confused and discouraged. We live in such a turbulent age that few people escape crushing experiences and hardships. Spiteful, biased and inconsiderate bosses can rob a person of their self-esteem and threaten the security of an excellent employee. An accident can cripple and maim one of God’s faithful children. Illness and death can claim the life of a child and rob loving parents of their dearest treasure.

Those who are guided by the Great Shepherd can safely walk with him on the road that takes us over mountains or through shadowy valleys, victories or defeats. Ultimately we will arrive safely at the Shepherd’s home.

Robert Frost said it this way: “Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.”

The classic children’s story of the Three Little Pigs has served as a character-building story for over one hundred and fifty years. Hopefully each of us will be able to weave these simple but valuable threads of truth into the portrait of our lives during 2008.

The retold story, by Margot Zemach, begins as mamma pig sends the three little pigs out to seek their fortunes with this admonition, “Build good strong houses and watch out for the wolf.”

Many of the classic writings that we enjoy were based on Bible stories. The original writer of The Three Little Pigs could easily have built the story based on these four references.

One of the most prominent references actually names the burnable building materials of wood, hay and stubble that were used by the two pigs. 1Cor. 3:12. Be sober, be vigilant, for your adversary, the Devil, as a roaring lion walks about seeking whom he may devour.1 Peter 5:8. Beware of false prophets that come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Matt.7: 15. The wise man built his house upon a rock and the foolish man built his house upon the sand. Matt. 7: 24-27.

The drama unfolds as each pig demonstrates his character, attitudes, wisdom and decision-making skills.

Selective hearing must have been a strong characteristic of the first little pig. When his mother admonished her children, “Build good strong houses and watch out for the wolf,” he seems to have heard only the words “build” and “house.” At least those are the only words he acted upon. He also took the path of least resistance. When he saw a man with plenty of straw he showed no concern about the wisdom of building a house of straw. He immediately built a straw house. The wolf was rewarded with a delicious pork dinner that cost him only a few huffs and puffs to blow the straw shack away and render the little pig a helpless victim.

Comparative judgment may have been the downfall of his brother. His stick house was more excellent than his brother’s straw house. However he either denied or ignored the presence and firm intentions of the wolf to devour gullible little fat pigs. Once again Mr. Wolf purchased this succulent meal with only the power of his breath. We may be tempted to wonder if the wolf mockingly rewarded this second little pig’s “superior wisdom” by prominently displaying him on a silver platter with an apple in his mouth.

Certainly the third little pig was the brightest, wisest and most successful of the three. He used bricks to build a very good and strong house that withstood the hot, foul and furious breath of the devilish wolf. He knew that the wolf was a reality in his world and that his life was in danger. Even when the wolf pretended to be loving, helpful and kind, that little pig knew that he was a liar and a pig eater. Armed with that basic knowledge he saw through every deceptive scheme that the wolf devised. The climax of the story reveals that it was in fact the wolf, and not the pig, that was stewing in the pot.

We would be remiss if we failed to consider with which of these little pigs we can best identify. Each pig gave us an example to follow. Will we or the wolf be found in the fire? Perhaps the mother’s words will become our watchword for the New Year: “Build good strong houses and watch out for the wolf.”

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