Relationships

It seems like I always get into a little more of a contemplative mood this time of the year than I do the rest of the year.  I’m not a ball of fire any other time, but this time of the year…between Christmas and the New Year…seems to cause me to do some pondering and thinking about many things; but mostly about relationships.

Yes, I think about the new year and the possibilities therein.  Yes, I think about things I can do better in the coming year, or something I’d like to get done maybe for the first time.  And yes, I certainly think about the time I’ve had here on the earth, and the time that I have left if I live a normal lifespan.  But mostly, I think about those people in my life who are related to me in some way…by blood, marriage, friendship, business relationship, or otherwise.

Some relationships have been dissolved by the passing of someone.  Sometimes one or more of the people in my life move out of the area, or jobs or work assignments are changed.  And sometimes, but not often, the relationship just isn’t there anymore for whatever the reason may be.

But most remain intact from year to year, and most all of them grow in some good way.  And I enjoy these relationships as well.  I like to observe younger ones succeed in their jobs.  I like to watch their families grow.  I watch them struggle from time to time, work through issues in their lives, and get back up after they fall down.  I like to watch older friends as they cope with the effects of aging and the certainty of not-so-many years left on the earth.

I can relate to most of them, as I am either experiencing much the same myself or have already been through the ups and downs that others are going through.  Oh, there are some things I’ve not experienced.  I’ve not had a medical diagnosis that was life-threatening.  I’ve not suffered a huge trauma injury.  I’ve not been through a divorce or had any domestic issues great enough to warrant family counseling.

But I can commiserate.  I can listen.  I can observe.  I can rely on similar experience and provide counsel if needed.  I can pray.  And the others who are in my life can do the same for me.  It’s a sort of symbiotic relationship.  I need those who are in my life.  And in a very real sense, they need me and others who are in their lives.

I don’t know if all of this thinking and pondering this time of the year is really beneficial to anyone, least of all me.  But I’d like to think that, at least on my end, the bonds are strengthened by my recall of relationships and friendships and what they mean to me.  And in the time I have left here, I will not only continue to cherish these bonds, but will work to watch them continue to grow and mature, even as I create new ones as the opportunity presents itself.

I thank God for the opportunity to relate to people.  This world would be a very lonely and cold place without them in my life.  I am blessed beyond measure!

What's Your Outlook?

Well, it’s been a year.  Ups and downs; highs and lows.  Things happened; people and life moved on.  Those of us who remain are another year older (but hopefully not deeper in debt https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Joo90ZWrUkU )

So what do we do?  Do we look back on what has happened and reminisce and replay the events of our lives?  Or do we look ahead?  And if we decide to look ahead, do we do so with apprehension and the fear of uncertainty?  Or do we do so with anticipation and longing?

How we approach life…looking back or looking ahead…looking with fear or looking with anticipation…largely sets our attitude and outlook on life.  We can be Joe Btfsplk and have the rain cloud follow us around all the time (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Btfsplk ), or we can do as Paul did, forgetting what lies behind and “press on” to the future (Philippians 3:13-14).

It’s difficult, sometimes, to maintain a positive outlook on life.  Things happen.  Situations change.  People become ill.  Tragedy strikes.  Financial reversals come around.  Things just don’t work out like we want them to work out.  It’s easy to slip into a moribund, sullen outlook on life that is not at all what was intended by the One who created us to begin with.

I know we can’t all be happy and dancing around all the time.  I know there are times when we don’t feel good or have medical, emotional, or spiritual issues.  But we can have an inner joy and peace that comes from a proper relationship with our Creator, and we can develop an attitude of looking ahead with confidence and grace.

So, what is your outlook on the coming year 2015?  Do you choose to be the guy with the rain cloud?  Or do you choose to exude a quiet confidence, not in yourself, but in the Creator of us all, who promises to sustain and carry us through to the Hope that He is making ready for us?

Winter Words

Winter.  Cold.  Freeze.  Snow.  Chill.  Ice.  Wind.  These words and others are often used starting about now and continuing for the next three or four months.  It’s winter; maybe not by the calendar—winter officially begins around December 21.  But according to the temperature, the wind chill, and the discomfort, it’s winter.

As we age, we tend, I think, to look forward to winter less and less.  There’s more chance of our breaking something if we slip and fall.  We feel the cold a little more deeply in our bones each year.  The time change seems to affect us more than it used to.  And the chill and the dark remind us that we’ve lived far more years than the number of years we have left to go on this earth.

Winter means pneumonia.  It means broken bones.  It means falling.  It means colds and flu.  For those of us who are older, it’s not a really great time of the year.  Yet winter can have its beauty and its majesty.  Winter can be a time when our sinuses take a rest from making us miserable because the pollen and weeds are dead and gone.  Winter can be a time of family gatherings and seeing relatives and friends we seldom see otherwise.  And winter can be a time of renewal…a time when we plan for the coming seasons and take stock of where we’ve been.

I know I’m getting to where I like winter less and less, most of the time.  The cold seems deeper and the darkness seems more overwhelming than it used to.  If I’m fortunate to live a long life, I have about 20 winters to go.  I need to get over this notion of winter being a time that I don’t like (OK, “despise” is a better word), and begin to appreciate it more for what it is and the importance that it is to the environment.

For you see, without winter, there would be no spring.  Without winter snows, there would be fewer spring crops.  Without winter, the weather would be so boring and ordinary.  And what about Christmas?  What is Christmas without winter and the chance of a white Christmas?

You know, as I think about it, maybe winter isn’t so bad after all.  Maybe winter can be a time of recovery, renewal, and anticipation.  Maybe winter can be a time when we recover a sense of balance in life, renew relationships, and anticipate the spring to come.

Winter.  Opportunity.  Renewal.  Balance.  Relationships.  Anticipation.  I think I like those words better.

The Moments of Today

There’s a definite chill in the air.  The leaves are yellowing and falling off of the trees.  The grass is turning brown.  Days are much shorter.  And nature is beginning the process of yet another winter of slumber and hunkering down against the cold that is sure to come.

We humans also prepare for the winter to come.  We get out the hot chocolate, break out the sweaters and winter clothes, and make sure the car has the right level of antifreeze in it.  We bring in sensitive plants, roll up our garden hoses, and find books to read and games to play during the long winter nights.

But all is not quiet in nature.  Winter birds take over territory previously occupied by their summer friends.  Turkey, deer, and other animals stay all winter, foraging on what is left over from the summer growing season.  Other animals burrow underground or hibernate for the winter so they can be ready for the coming spring.

It is, or rather should be, a time for people to remain active as well.  There are school plays, basketball games, and other winter sports.  Thanksgiving and Christmas are just around the corner, and the long winter months of January and February are broken up by winter trips, playing in the snow, and enjoying the cold weather.

There are places on the earth that are perpetually cold.  There other places that are perpetually warm.  But there is a huge swath of the earth that is, as we say, temperate.  The climate changes from warm to cold and back again.  There is a definite change of seasons and with it changes in human activities, moods, and feelings.  S.A.D. or Seasonal Affective Disorder is real.

We can go outside and look at the brown grass, the bare trees, and the cold breeze, and long for spring.  And I do that sometimes.  But I can learn to appreciate the autumn season and the winter that comes after.  I can also appreciate the God who in His wisdom made it this way and called His creation good.

I have to also remember that I have many more winters in my past than I will have in my future.  There will come a day when I’ll no longer be concerned about the leaves falling or the extreme cold.  And that day will come for me sooner than later.  I must cherish the moments of today and the promises of God for tomorrow…and understand that I am on a journey toward forever.  And it’s what I do and think in this life in this time that will determine just how I will experience that forever.

"I Just Might Be In There."

We had a wedding in our family over the past weekend.  Our older son married his long-time friend and fiancé.  We traveled to the Kansas City area on Thursday, and spent most of Thursday afternoon and Friday helping finish up the arrangements.

We were in the Shawnee area of the Kansas City metro area, and the wedding was just east of the little bedroom community of Basehor.  We had two churches involved in the planning and the event; the 151^st Street Church of Christ, which was our son’s background, and the Risen Savior Lutheran Church at Basehor, which was the bride’s background.

I don’t know how many cities I traveled in or through during my time there.  I lost count at eight.  There was Olathe, Shawnee, Overland Park, Basehor, Kansas City, and several others.  And as you may well know, it’s virtually impossible to know with any certainty, unless you just know, which city you are in at the moment.  They all run together in that area, and unlike Eastborough and Wichita, there is no defining physical thing that tells you where you are.  I’m not even sure which city our motel was in.  All I know is it is in the Kansas City area.

Do you ever feel like that in life?  You know where you are, but on the other hand, you aren’t really sure?  I’m reminded of the old Foghorn Leghorn cartoon of many years ago.  I’ve written about it in a prior blog.

This Looney Tunes cartoon from years ago tells the story of when Foghorn woos Miss Prissy the hen in order to have a nice place to call home and keep warm in the winter. The plot goes something like this. (Credit Wikipedia for the synopsis. I changed it some to reflect my recall of the story.)

Foghorn reads a newspaper story in the Barnyard News predicting a cold winter. To avoid freezing in his shack, he decides to woo Miss Prissy ("I need your love to keep me warm."), who lives in a warm, cozy cottage across the way. Miss Prissy is flattered by Foghorn's brief courtship, but tells him that, in order to prove his worthiness, he needs to show that he can be a good father to her nerdy son.

The little boy - Egghead Jr., is dressed in a stocking cap and oversized glasses – and would rather read about "Splitting the Fourth Dimension" than engage in typical little boy games. Foghorn, intelligent rooster that he is, catches on to this and sets out to win Miss Prissy’s heart by showing Egghead Jr. how to play various sports games.

They try baseball and flying paper airplanes first, to no avail. Then they play hide and seek. Foghorn hides in a feedbox. However, Egghead uses a slide rule (anyone younger than 40 won’t know what that is) and determines mathematically that Foghorn is buried in the ground. He uses a shovel to dig a hole, and pries Foghorn out of the hole with the shovel.

Foghorn is totally befuddled at this turn of events, knowing that he hid in the feedbox, not in a hole in the ground. He looks over at the feedbox, however, and decides to not look in it because, “I just might be in there.”

Sometimes, we catch ourselves coming and going, busy as all get-out, but never sure of where we really are.  I think we do that in part because we’ve been taught that busy-ness equals productivity, and busy-ness means you don’t have to think seriously about things that seem to get in the way of that productivity, like the eternal questions of “Who am I?  Why am I here?  Where am I going?”

Next time you catch yourself in a place where you aren’t really sure where you are, stop for a moment and let life catch up to you.  You have no business being like Foghorn Leghorn…who just might be some place where he doesn’t want to know.

Celestial Show

Did you see the eclipse this morning?  Having woke up at about 4am and not being able to go back to sleep, I decided to get up about 5am and go out to view the celestial show.  My wife had already gotten out of bed and gone to the couch in the living room.  She does that from time to time to be more comfortable, so I wasn’t bothering her by rambling around at that hour.  I got around and did a short version of my morning routine, then turning off the porch light that I keep on all night, I went outside.

The air was crisp and cool, but not cold.  The moon was over the neighbor’s house and was not as I expected.  It was dark on the left side, and gradually got brighter toward the right.  I had expected a more solid color (or non-color).  After looking at it for a minute or so, I began to look around and take in my surroundings.  After all, I don’t often see this time of day.

The noise of the traffic on West Kellogg wafted into the neighborhood, a little louder than I might have expected.  Other porch lights were on up and down the street, but no one was much stirring.  In the sky, besides the moon, I was able to make out several constellations and some stars.  Sirius, the dog star was one of the brighter objects in the sky.  Orion was rather clear, and I could also see his sword, which doesn’t often happen in the light pollution of the city.  The North Star was visible, and I could even see the Seven Sisters, albeit faintly.  Venus was a bright morning star in the east, but the Big and Little Dippers were washed out.

The newspaper was on the drive.  After a bit, one of the neighbor’s garage doors opened, and she left for work.  A jet traveled east to west directly toward the eclipsed moon, with the noise of the engines following some distance behind.

I decided while I was out to stroll through the neighborhood.  Heading out, I noticed that not many homes were lit up yet.  One neighbor was up and had the front door open.  Inside, I could see the TV on and a shot of the eclipsed moon on the screen.  A dog or two started barking in the distance, and as I got closer to Maize Road, I noticed the air getting noticeably warmer.  I’ve noticed that phenomenon before.  We are not far from Cowskin Creek, and the park is directly behind us.  I presume that the combination of a low lying area by the creek, and the flora and fauna make our immediate area a little cooler.

I continued on toward Maize Road, and noticed that there were not many newspapers in the driveways.  People don’t much read the newspaper anymore, it seems.  There are several of us older folks in my immediate area who subscribe, but many of the younger families in the less expensive homes by Maize Road don’t, evidently.

I was out for about 25 minutes, and as I came back in, I picked up our newspaper and came in the house after viewing the moon one last time.  Going to the basement in order to not wake the wife, I got on the computer and am now typing this…as she is getting up and around.

I don’t know about you, but eclipses are one of the greatest solar shows ever, in my opinion.  And it’s kind of nice to see a side of the day that one normally doesn’t see, as well.  I’ll probably turn into a pumpkin about 8:30 tonight.  Oh well.  That’s lfe.

No Do-Overs

This evening, I watched the last few minutes of a re-run of the Lawrence Welk Show.  In case you don’t know, public television has been running old Welk shows for many years now, and it seems that their popularity hasn’t waned over the years.

I don’t often watch them, but when they come around and there’s nothing much else on, I enjoy the shows.  There is never anything on the shows that is off-color or something I don’t want to see, and the music is pretty good, too.

I cannot, however, listen to the closing song and credits without my mind going back to those years when I lived at home and the Welk show was on TV every Saturday evening.  Dad enjoyed the show and mom watched it as well.  Besides Gunsmoke on Saturdays, the Welk show was a staple for many years.

And when I listen to those closing credits and am carried back to that simpler time, I always get a little nostalgic and briefly long for those times again.  Dad in his chair, Mom ironing or folding clothes, and kids are in various stages of baths, bedtime, or homework.  Church is the next day, and then the week to come.  But come every Saturday night, Mr. Welk comes on and provides some diversion and a little class to this lower-middle class family.

That, of course, is a time long ago and far away.  So much water under the bridge in the intervening fifty or more years.  So many departures from what we thought we would be and do.  So many folks now gone from the face of the earth.  And all that remains of those times are the mental and emotional ties in the form of memories that are triggered with a certain smell…a certain theme song…a certain visual cue…a certain word or words spoken.

It’s easy to see how folks can dwell on such memories to the extent that they begin to live in the past.  They go retro.  It becomes a way of life for them.  It is indeed alluring to be taken back to a simpler time when there weren’t all of the pressures…all of the decisions…all of the troubles.  But it’s just like it is when we go back to our hometown for whatever reason for an hour or more.  The thought of moving back there is indeed a lure…until we go over the overpass that runs over the railroad and head out of town.  And that way of life quickly becomes a “whole ‘nuther world” that we really have no part of anymore; nor do we really wish for it.

We’re happy here.  We’re content with where God has put us.  And we’ll (hopefully) continue to make our home and be content wherever He takes us and whatever our circumstance.  There’s no going back.  There’s no do-overs.  There’s no magic time machine.  And that’s the way it should be.

Only Imagine

Thirty years ago, in August of 1984, we moved our family to Harper, Kansas from Oklahoma City.  We had been in OKC for a little over a year while I attended school there.  Before that, we had a disastrous two years at Ardmore, Oklahoma, where I was a youth minister.  Oklahoma City was a time of healing and putting things back together.  We were looking forward to several years there while I pursued a degree.

However, it wasn’t to be.  In earlier 1984, my mother had a series of debilitating strokes that left her in a semi-conscious, almost vegetative state.  She was totally dependent, could not move on her own, could not communicate, and had to be fed via feeding tube.  Dad was not in the best of health, so we decided to move back home to help care for them.

Looking back on all of that, I have to marvel at the things that happened to get us there and while we were there that still have an effect on us to this day.  Either life is full of coincidence, or there is a greater power at work in the lives of people the world over.  There is no other explanation for what happened and why.

I won’t go into detail on any of those things, except to say that friendships we made then are still there today.  Lessons we learned there are with us to this day.  Who we are (and who our kids are) is in large part due to the 16 years we spent there raising our family.  We matured as parents and as participants in the work place.  We developed a better understanding of who God is and what His plan is for us.  We re-connected with the place that I called home for the first 18 years of my life.  And we made memories that only we know, but continue to cherish all these years later.

I was reminded of all of this when I heard via Facebook that a casual friend from there was in the hospital in Wichita about to undergo a serious spine surgery today.  Last evening, I went to visit her.  I hadn’t seen her in over 14 years, and she was not a great friend…but a casual one, and a co-worker in the public safety sector along with me.

We visited for a time and I caught up on her condition and what they would be doing.  We talked just a little about retirement and how she was handling the prospect of major (and somewhat risky) surgery.  And at the end, I prayed with her for the day today.

I may never see her again.  Our paths may never cross again.  But for one hour last evening, we reconnected to something that is quickly becoming all too uncommon nowadays.  We reconnected to the tie that binds people in common purpose and common circumstance.  We reconnected to the recognition of the value and worth of each other in our respective vocations.  And we reconnected in the common value of humanity and the human condition.

I can only imagine (to use lyrics from a popular Christian song) what it will be like in that great re-connection to come where people from all nations, tribes, tongues, and peoples will gather together and re-connect with one-another as we give thanks and praise to the One who made it all possible.

R E S P E C T

I am facebook friends with one of my teachers from elementary and high school.  She’s well up in years, but still active and in relatively good health.  She posted this evening that she would be off line for a short time while she packs and moves from a home into independent living.

I responded to her with good wishes, and called her by her last name in my post.  I just didn’t feel comfortable calling her by her first name, even after almost 50 years have passed since she was my teacher.

It has been that way for me my entire life.  When we moved back to Harper County some years ago, there were several retired teachers of mine still living, and a principal as well.  I could never bring myself to call any of them by their first names at any time for any reason.  It just didn’t seem right to me then, and it still doesn’t seem right to me now.

I wonder if anyone else has this hang up.  I know there is no longer the teacher-pupil relationship, and goodness knows I’m no spring chicken anymore.  I’ve long since raised our kids, and have grandkids in school.  But for some reason…

I suppose it has something to do with an ingrained sense of “oughtness” that makes me do it.  It also could be the continuing respect I have for these people who gave up the best years of their lives so I could have an education and make something of myself.  Or it could be that nagging thing in the back of my head that tells me that my mom and dad might just come back from the grave and give me the what-for if I called these people anything besides what I am supposed to call them.

Respect is a multi-faceted thing.  It’s a function of an office, position, or occupation that someone holds.  It’s also a function of ability, competence, and willingness to do.  And it’s a function of the kind of life lived…a life of giving, service, deference, and yes, love for fellow-man.

Respect is earned.  It’s also ingrained into position or office.  And it depends on relationships that either foster a continuing respect, or dampen any ingrained respect one may have for another.

I also tend to call those I don’t know well “sir” or “ma’am.”  I didn’t grow up that way, but developed the habit over the course of time; especially since I spent a lot of my career in business and industry that is primarily female-driven (health care).  It was necessary for me to show respect for those I worked with, and maintain a business-like attitude and demeanor.  That seemed like a good way to foster that kind of relationship.

I don’t know if we’re becoming more crude as some people seem to think or not.  I do know that it never hurts to be respectful and polite.  It never hurts to acknowledge the individual and his or her self-worth.  And it never hurts to continue to show respect long after the relationship changes in some way.

It’s worth considering.

Labor Day

Yesterday was Labor Day.  I think most of us didn’t do much laboring yesterday, at least in the normal sense of the word.  Mostly, we traveled, ate, boated, visited, swam, and any of 83 other things people normally do on a summer holiday.  Laboring was probably rather far from the minds of most of us.

Yet I can recall as a kid that Labor Day was nothing really special.  It was before it was a Monday holiday, but people did get off work to celebrate the day.  We, on the other hand, just did pretty much what we would normally have done had it not been a holiday at all.

Dad did some farming as well as work in plumbing and heating.  Labor Day was a time of working with the irrigation system, herding cattle, springtoothing the wheat ground, or getting the drill ready for yet another planting season.  Sometimes it involved fixing fence, mowing, putting up hay, or moving farm equipment.  Seldom did it mean a day at home with nothing to do.  No, make that “Never did it mean a day at home with nothing to do.”

We labored on Labor Day, the same as we labored on Independence Day, Washington’s Birthday (there was no Presidents Day yet), or Columbus Day.  Oh, we did take time off on Thanksgiving, Christmas, and also took a little time on Memorial Day (Decoration Day back then) to celebrate.

I never, though, thought I was somehow deprived of an indispensible part of life and living.  I may not have enjoyed carrying irrigation pipe through a field of almost ripe milo (we didn’t have center-pivots then…we had to move pipe by hand to the new setting in the field), but I never really thought it was the end of the world.  We were too busy making ends meet to worry much about things like boats, travel, and golf games.

So, whatever you may have done on this Labor Day, and however you may recall your younger days and the holiday, it’s all good, I guess.  We do what we have to do to survive.  We do what we have to do to get to the next day.  Some of us have life pretty much handed to us.  Others of us continue to work for the next day’s provision.

Whatever your lot in life, I suspect that if you’re reading this, you have a better life and outlook on life than many of us did some years ago, and much better than many people of the world have even today.  Because you’re reading this on the Internet…that wondrous, marvelous thing that connects people from all over.  And if you have Internet access, you can’t be very needy…compared to most of the world’s population.

Something to Think About

We have some “children” who have taken up residence out front.  They come out at night and go back into hiding during the day.  They perform a valuable service to us and don’t create any trash or messiness.  I’m referring to several little toads that have evidently been hatched some place in front of our house…probably in one of the flower garden areas.  They come out at night because our porch lights come on automatically, and stay on all night.  These little critters sit under the lights and snap up whatever insect may unfortunately happen to get too close.  All of them seem to be enjoying themselves and are nowhere near underfed.

They aren’t as big as the full-grown variety.  I don’t think I’ve seen any mature toads out front this year.  Nevertheless, they are welcome, even if I do have to watch where I step when I go out after dark.

I’m not sure what the life cycle is of the toad.  When I finish this, I’ll have to look it up.  I’m thinking they overwinter underground.  No, I’ll look it up now.  Be back in a minute.

Well, I found out a few things.  Toads are amphibians, just as are frogs.  They mate in or around water, and their eggs are located in the water.  Tadpoles soon hatch, and if they survive, metamorphose into toads.

They hibernate over the winter underground, under a pile of leaves, or even at the bottom of a pond in the mud.  They can live 20 or more years, and don’t reach maturity until they’re three or four years old.  They eat about any small, dark thing that moves within a certain distance of them, including insects, worms, and for larger toads, small snakes or even mice.

So there you have it…more about toads than you probably wanted to know.  But I’m telling you all of this for a reason.

Toads normally aren’t one of a person’s favorite animals.  Just as spiders, mice, snakes, bugs (including the dung beetle…probably one of the more revolting of the insects), and other critters are often despised, toads are considered to be unclean by many, and the source of warts (untrue) by a good number of folks as well.  However, I believe the more one knows about an animal and the role it plays in the creation, the more that animal is at least respected for what it is and what it was created for.

Toads, just like all other animals, have a place in the environment.  They perform a service.  They fill a niche.  They do their thing.  And they are “fearfully and wonderfully made,” just as all other parts of the created universe are.

We would do well to do a little less turning up of our noses at something like a toad, and do a little more investigation as to the role that thing plays in the plan of God for His creation.  And when we do, we will come away with a renewed appreciation for the Intelligence that designed and made it all.

All Of Our Learning...

As I was reading my daily Bible reading today (no, I don’t always do it daily), I noticed something that sort of stood out.  I was reading in Mark where Jesus was in a crowd, and was “casting out demons,” as Mark says.  The narrative also says that the demons at once would recognize Jesus, and often would say something to the effect of, “You are the Son of God!” before being cast out.

Whatever you think of demon possession is not at issue at this point.  These people had some kind of obvious medical/psychiatric/demonic issue that precipitated behavior such that the people of the day believed they were demon-possessed.  Personally, I believe they WERE demon-possessed, and have already written in a prior blog why I think so (although I can’t find that blog…I may have to re-write it).

In any event, it seems telling to me that the demons that were inhabiting these people immediately knew who Jesus was; the Pharisees and learned Jewish scholars of the day seemed to have a blind eye toward him.  As it was then, so it is still today.  Much of humanity seems to have a blind spot when it comes to recognizing Jesus as the Son of God.

How is it that the arch-enemy of the Ultimate Good immediately recognized him when it sees him, but we humans seem to forever be arguing, fussing, back-stepping, and falling all over ourselves to find a reason to dispel the truth of Jesus’ identity?  Do we think the demons, whatever they were, were in error?  Do we not believe what is written by more than one person, confirmed by the best possible evidence as authentic, and preserved for two thousand years?  What’s the deal here?

I would hope that all of our learning and education is not blinding us to the reality that is God Incarnate.  I would hope that we could look past our faulty logic and reasoning to the Truth that is Jesus.  I would hope that we would find the ultimate Life in the person of Jesus Christ.  And I would hope that we would understand that the Way is the One and Only Messiah of God.