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Tuesday, July 18, 2006

In high school, our teenage son lived a very, very busy life which I think might go with having this last name. And I could sometimes find him finally ending up on the couch for just kind of a collapse, you know, and he deserved it. He would set up this little comfort zone there. He'd have his New York Giants mug, and his school books, and his TV guide, in case he had time to watch. And most important, he had his phone. Unfortunately, the phone hooked up two rooms away. That means the cord was stretched to the max to get it to the couch, and I could tell when he had the phone there, because I kept hearing people muttering through the house after they tripped over the cord. It was right where everybody had to walk to get to the living room or to the kitchen. And I'd say, "Son, you've got to do something about this thing that people keep tripping over." Well, so do you!

Friday, July 14, 2006

I was speaking for an Easter Sunrise Service in the Ozarks, and I saw something that seemed strangely out of place. In front of this church, there's a ten-foot section of a brick wall with a sign in front of it that says, "Berlin Wall." I was thousands of miles from Berlin, but there was a chunk of what used to be the most famous - or most infamous - wall in the world. Many of us remember how the Berlin Wall represented for decades the Cold War division of our world into Communist and free. The Communists built it on the border between East Berlin and free West Berlin. In spite of that wall, many people still risked everything to scale that wall and escape to freedom. A few made it. Many died trying. Then came that amazing day - a day few of us could have ever imagined - when the revolution taking place against Communist rule allowed Berliners to start tearing down that wall. All night long, they went after that wall with everything from sledge hammers to bare hands. And then there were 100,000 Berliners, celebrating in the square, chanting four incredible words over and over again, "The wall is gone! The wall is gone!"

Thursday, July 13, 2006

I may be sleeping, but a lot of the world isn't. They're busy making news while I'm asleep. The world's a little different from the time I closed my eyes till the time I woke up. Sometimes it's majorly different, and I want to know what's happened. I think most people do. That's probably why there aren't many evening newspapers anymore. Mine arrives pretty early each morning, and I like to at least check out the headlines. Of course, I like it better when it's good news - which quite often it isn't.

Wednesday, July 12, 2006

Maybe it's a guy thing. Or maybe it's just a Ron thing. But I hate to waste time or waste effort. Here's what that looks like when I've just returned from the grocery store to restock our empty refrigerator and shelves. I look like a mule basically - with bags all over my body, carried on almost every appendage. I don't want to make any more trips to the car than absolutely necessary, OK? So I'm willing to try whatever calisthenics, to tolerate whatever overload will enable me to get everything in the house in one trip. This approach has been known to have its problems. Sometimes I drop a bag or two or one of them rips open; thus, making more work. And I've got this bad shoulder that may well be traceable to carrying too much too many times.

Tuesday, July 11, 2006

Mackinaw Island in Michigan is one of the special places in America. It's a romantic island. It's surrounded by three of the Great Lakes. There are no cars, just bikes, horses and carriages. For my wife and me, it's a very special place. It's where we honeymooned many years ago, and it's where we honeymooned again just a few months ago as a gift from our children. They gave us some nights on our honeymoon island to celebrate a milestone anniversary. When we were newlyweds, we couldn't afford to stay in a hotel on the island. We could barely afford a cheap motel on the mainland. This time we actually stayed on Mackinaw Island, and we had a great time. Being there actually took us back to the very beginnings of our life together, when there were no children, no grandchildren, and a lot less responsibility. It was good to get back to where it started - with one man and one woman in love.

Friday, July 7, 2006

I grew up as an only child. You say, "I can tell." Thank you very much. My parents took me to most of the places that they went, but I remember one time they left me home by myself. I was home alone. (We could probably make a movie about that.) Well, anyway, we lived in this third floor apartment on the south side of Chicago. It was getting very late and I was sitting near the back door waiting and they should have been home by now, and I was really worried. I can remember hearing sirens and I thought, "Oh, no!" My imagination was taking me all over the place. I was thinking all the bad things that might have happened to my parents. I was already there and then the sirens came. I was sure the sirens were for my mommy and my daddy, but they weren't. But the fear I had that night was so great, I still remember it, don't I?

Tuesday, June 27, 2006

We had stopped for gas next to an Interstate that takes you at 75 MPH across long miles of desert. That's where I saw the sign: "Dead End - 3 Miles Ahead." I thought, "I wonder if anyone ever said, 'I'm not sure that's true of that old dirt road. I think I'll drive that way and check it out for myself.'" We got back on the Interstate, and of course, I had to see where that other road went. Sure enough, that bumpy road ended three miles later in the middle of nothing in the desert - right next to a road that speeds you to a lot of great destinations.

Tuesday, June 20, 2006

Our sons had them when they were little - action figures of their TV heroes. Every new generation of kids has their action figures: GI Joe, Superman, Star Wars, X-Men. But recently I caught a story on a TV news show about the best action figure idea I've ever heard of. They were talking about a company, the name of which I didn't catch, who are making custom action figures dressed in contemporary combat dress. It's especially for the children of Americans serving in Iraq. Guess whose face is on the action figure? Your Dad!

Wednesday, June 14, 2006

We were in the living room of a Native American family who are among the few Jesus followers in their entire tribe, and Mom was telling us about how Jesus entered their family. Her Grandmother had been a priestess in their tribal religion until she discovered what she called "The Black Book," and discovered the love of Jesus Christ. She was the first Christian in their family, and the village leaders didn't like it at all. In fact, when people decided to follow Jesus in that tribe, they expelled them from the village. It happened so suddenly the family had no home. They moved into a tiny building outside the village, but Grandpa wanted to build a house big enough for his family. Well, every day his job took him across the fields to work, and every day he brought something home with him; a large stone to build a house with - the house the lady telling the story grew up in.

Monday, June 12, 2006

It's usually the most watched event of the Winter Olympics every four years: the women's figure skating competition. At the 2006 Games in Turin, Italy, a lot of America's hopes for a gold medal were riding on Sasha Cohen; especially after she managed a thin, first-place edge after the initial short program. Then came the decisive long skating program. Suddenly, all hopes of any medal seemed to disappear with a major fall early in her program. The TV commentators actually said, "Now it's going to a fight just be on the podium." With a major deficit in her score from her fall, Sasha Cohen could have easily lost heart. She didn't. She fought back with a strong and impressive showing in the rest of her performance. When the rest of the world's best had all skated, the young woman who had fallen - who seemed to have forfeited any hope of being a champion - stood on that podium with a coveted silver medal.

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