An Acquaintance's Last Poem

Someone I know as an acquaintance died suddenly a few days ago. I was supposed to meet with him the day before he was heading on a fishing trip to Wyoming or Montana. But I had to postpone due to a scheduling conflict. We will meet again - but not on this side of eternity.
       A friend sent me the last poem that this person wrote before he suffered a brain aneurysm. Wonderful, compelling words from a life lived well:

wind sings through the pine as

bird song echoes across the field

together a halleluia chorus of

praise for the Father/Son of Creation

there is another song deep within

the heart of everyman, appearing

at first as a humming low

without definition almost silent

Yet it beckons with rhythm and

harmony that draws him to

the source of all song -- the

beat and rhythm of the soul

Much of life is accompanied by

this quiet time keeping us in

places and pace for living but

then comes a time

that this quiet song beats louder

bolder noisier unrelenting

demanding to be heard and embraced

let out, marched to and lived

It is the halleluia chorus of

living in freedom, beauty,

peace and harmony in praise

for the Father/Son Creator

Onto The Big Apple

I drove from York, Pennsylvania to New Jersey yesterday and picked up Steven at the airport last night. He and I are spending the weekend in New York City with a packed schedule:
   * College visits at New York University and Columbia today;
   * Seeing various family members over the weekend - parents, brother and sister-in-law, nephew;
   * Time with good friends Joe and Betsy we are staying with in NJ;
   * Visiting a church on Sunday and going to a concert at Brooklyn Tabernacle Sunday afternoon.
     So it will be a packed time. I am looking forward to being with Steven for these days and exploring options for him to be here for college. It would be a hoot for me if he landed here (although I do know that my child's choice of college is NOT about me!! :o)
     I absolutely love New York City - the immediacy of it, the intensity, the culture, and of course the knishes you buy from street vendors!
     I'll post some photos of our time in the Big Apple. Stay tuned.

Stott's "The Cross of Christ"

Some quotes from John Stott's book, The Cross of Christ.
"I could never myself believe in God, if it were not for the cross.  The only God I believe in is the One Nietzsche ridiculed as “God on the cross.”  In the real world of pain, how could one worship a God who was immune to it?
       "I have entered many Buddhist temples in different Asian countries and stood respectfully before the statue of the Buddha, his legs crossed, arms folded, eyes closed, the ghost of a smile playing round his mouth, a remote look on his face, detached from the agonies of the world.  But each time after a while I have had to turn away.
       "And in imagination I have turned instead to that lonely, twisted, tortured figure on the cross, nails through hands and feet, back lacerated, limbs wrenched, brow bleeding from thorn-pricks, mouth dry and intolerably thirsty, plunged in Godforsaken darkness.  That is the God for me!  He laid aside his immunity to pain.  He entered our world of flesh and blood, tears and death.  He suffered for us.  Our sufferings become more manageable in the light of his.  There is still a question mark against human suffering, but over it we boldly stamp another mark, the cross that symbolizes divine suffering.
       "The cross of Christ . . . is God’s only self-justification in such a world” as ours. . . . “The other gods were strong; but thou wast weak; they rode, but thou didst stumble to a throne; But to our wounds only God’s wounds can speak, And not a god has wounds, but thou alone.”

Here's to Gabrille Giffords

In an otherwise low point in American politics, Rep. Gabrielle Giffords returned to the floor of the House of Representatives to vote on the debt ceiling bill. While many of us have been thoroughly disgusted with the childishness of the Congress these past days, Rep. Giffords brought a dose of integrity and dignity to the political realm. For this I am grateful.

The Smallest County in the East

Piseco Lake Post office: Zip code 12139

       The least populated county in the U.S. east of the Mississippi River is Hamilton County in New York State. Population: less than 5,000 residents.

       One of the towns in Hamilton County is Piseco Lake, which has 210 residential addresses. Piseco has its own post office though (see photo for proof), Casey's Corner market which also has a gas pump. There used to be a restaurant where you could get breakfast but it closed down a few years ago.

       I spent much of last weekend in Piseco at a little hideaway camp owned by my friend Jim. It was a glorious time - a tad disorienting without Internet or phone access and because life is so incredible SLOW in those parts. But I have also not slept so soundly nor relaxed more fully than I did over the weekend. When the circumstances dictate that life slow to a crawl in a place like Piseco I take my cue!

First Day of Ramadan

The first prayer time of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan is at 4:23am U.S. East Coast time today (I am currently in York, Pennsylvania on this time zone).
I set the alarm today for 4:15am to begin this month interceding for the 1.3 billion Muslims around the world. I hope you will join in this prayer movement.

The Turmoil Within Me

I am sitting out on a deck with a breath-taking view on Piseco Lake in the Adirondack Mountains. My computer is open and I am working on two writing projects at the moment.
       As idyllic as this place is, I find myself unsettled and in turmoil. Today as I drove through Speculator, NY I stopped in a mini-market and picked up The New York Times. The lead article on the front page is about tens of thousands of Islamists in Egypt rallying to form a radical government in that country.
       I have been thinking and praying about Islam a lot this week, in preparation for the beginning of Ramadan Sunday evening. This is the most holy month of the year for Muslims around the world. The situation in Egypt reminds me what a powder keg this issue of Islam is in the Middle East and in the West.
       But right now I am perched at the edge of this lake in the Adirondack Mountains about as far from the realities of Egypt can be. And yet my soul is in turmoil, I am burdened ... burdened that the Church would wake up and embrace its mission to the Muslim (and Jewish) world to point people to Jesus and HIS Kingdom.

Retreat @ Raquette Lake

I am spending the weekend at Huntington Cmap at Raquette Lake with the board of directors of the Cortland State Alumni Association.
       This is the view from the shore of the camp. One of the most peaceful, idyllic locations on earth that I know. I am not used to the world being this QUIET and MAJESTIC. Wish I could be up here for a month or so.

Enduring Words from John Stott

Here are ten statements made by John Stott during his life and ministry. These will stay with me. I am grateful for his depth of insight and wisdom.

• [Jesus'] authority on earth allows us to dare to go to all the nations. His authority in heaven gives us our only hope of success. And His presence with us leaves us with no other choice.
• The truth is that there are such things as Christian tears, and too few of us ever weep them.
• Every Christian should be both conservative and radical; conservative in preserving the faith and radical in applying it.
• Before we can begin to see the cross as something done for us, we have to see it as something done by us.
• We should not ask, ‘What is wrong with the world?’ for that diagnosis has already been given. Rather we should ask, "What has happened to salt and light?"
• Social responsibility becomes an aspect not of Christian mission only, but also of Christian conversion. It is impossible to be truly converted to God without being thereby converted to our neighbor.
• Sin and child of God are incompatible. They may occasionally meet; they cannot live together in harmony.
• Good conduct arises out of good doctrine.
• The very first thing which needs to be said about Christian ministers of all kinds is that they are "under" people as their servants rather than "over" them (as their leaders, let alone their lords). Jesus made this absolutely plain. The chief characteristic of Christian leaders, he insisted, is humility not authority, and gentleness not power.
• We must allow the Word of God to confront us, to disturb our security, to undermine our complacency and to overthrow our patterns of thought and behavior.

The Religious Landscape of the Midwest

I was amazed by the billboards and symbols of religion along the roadways of the Midwest. The other day while driving in Ohio we came across a massive cross on the side of the road. It was like two stories high! It just stood alone on the side of the road. (see photo I took while driving)
        Some of the billboards had Scripture verses, one had the entire list of the ten commandments (I though someone might crash their car if they read all of them while driving!), one said "America, bless God!" Another said, "Adoption, not Abortion."
       When I drive to the Northeast of the U.S. I don't see too many billboards and symbols to secular liberalism, even though it is widespread here. I wonder why Christians dot the landscape with religious symbols all over the midwest but liberals don't do the same in the northeast.
       Just pondering!

The ORIGINAL Buffalo Wings

We stopped in Orchard park, New York last night just outside Buffalo. The home of the real and original Buffalo Wings.

     The wings in combination of a Sam Adams lager which was kind of flat made Jim and me feel like we were home again in upstate New York. Now it's off to the Adirondack Mountains - not exactly the beaten path.

With Deep Gratitude for John Stott

Church statesman and theologian John Stott died today at age 90. He died quietly at home with his family, listening to Handel's Messiah. John Stott finished well.
       The very first theology classes I ever took were on cassette tape and talk by John Stott. They were on the Sermon on the Mount and the Pastoral Espistles. That was 1988 and I did not know how precious those tapes were in my life. Stott was a brilliant expounder of Scripture. Never flashy and never calling attention to himself. He just loved God, loved the Scriptures, and had an amazing heart for Evangelism in the 20th century.
       My friend Troy captured sentiments that I share about Stott's life. You can read Troy's thoughts at his blog HERE.
      I am deeply grateful for the ordinary greatness of John Stott. He served Jesus with all his heart and God has now welcomed him home. I am sure it is a beautiful homecoming.

Missouri - The View From Here

This morning I woke up in Cape Girardeau, Missouri at the home of the Ropers. They own a beautiful, majestic home on a lake off the beaten path of the Midwest.
       Last week was one of the busiest, run-here and run-there weeks I have had in a long time. It was a week of umpiring two youth World Series, preaching at church in Denver, and frantically getting ready to be on the road for three weeks.
       So it is a welcome respite to wake up on this pond in the steamy sunshine of Missouri. Today is a rest day and then my friend Jim and I hit the road again tomorrow morning enroute to New York. We will stop in Indianapolis for me to visit with a great ministry which reaches out to Muslims in America. Then it is off to Buffalo, NY over night (and some Buffalo wings for dinner no doubt). But for now it's a quiet day in southeast Missouri.

Blogging from the Road

Today I begin a three-week road trip to the East Coast of the U.S. I am driving...about 5,000 miles (8,000 kilometres) over that time. So for the next few weeks this will be a travel blog of sorts.
       First stop today is Cape Girardeau, Missouri. My friends Jim and Rachel and their kids are driving with me to Missouri and we are stopping at Rachel's parents. One thousand miles to travel today - a long haul.
       Susy and the kids area meeting up with me back east in the next couple of weeks - Steven flies to New York on August 4th and Susy and Carly to D.C. on August 9th. Yes, our lives are a bit confusing!

Only in America

Some things just stretch my heart and mind beyond... oy vey!