Rodger

I named a friendly office field mouse Rodger. Rodger was exceptionally plump for a field mouse, and I suspect he had been in the church quite some previous to his taking up quarters in my office. Field mice are usually quite shy and rarely make appearances if it can be helped, but Rodger was different. Normally I don't wear shoes while working in my office, and Rodger became so bold as to run just past my toes as he played his games and searched for bits of food. I cautioned him a couple times about running so close to my feet, I was afraid that he might mistake one of my toes for a piece of food, and then I would really be outa-sorts. But there was something about Rodger's character that was just plain rebellious. Of course it didn't help that my Office Manager found the whole incident rather humorous, for I'm sure Rodger heard her laughter and that just egged him on. There was no doubt that not only because of his size, but his arrogant attitude he was not a friend or relative of Stuart Little, though he certainly could have profited from Stuart's reluctance to impose himself on anyone. Finally, after failure to acknowledge repeated warning, I went to the hardware store and bought a couple of shelters for Rodger to stay in, I even provided some easily attainable peanut butter for him. Well it took less than an hour for Rodger to make himself at home in the quarters ... I don't know if he was able to taste any of the peanut butter or not, but its his fault,I tried to work out a deal with him. My Office Mgr. was quite concerned that I didn't seem to share any remorse at Rodgers demise, and I must admit I was a bit hardcore, but Rodger chose his pathway in life, just like we all do. I am cheered by the fact that Rodger was not a parent and left no little ones behind; and evidently not too close to any relatives since none of them have bothered to show any concern and scope out the office to see where Rodger is. Maybe compromise in life isn't such a bad thing if it will help you to keep breathing?!

31st Annual Dozynki 2010 Harvest Festival.

Wow, what a great time the 'good wife' and I had last night in the Big City Western MIchigan [Grand Rapids.] After a wonderful meal, that featured some of the best desserts I've ever had we went downtown to the above title Polish festival. It was fun as we listened to foot-stomping, music from accordions, drums and violins. I didn't know you could dance the polka so fast; we sat there watching amazed, I mean those who chose to dance never stopped bouncing up and down. WE even watched a very very old couple and I didn't know at their age a human still had so much energy. Finally the good wife and I came to the conclusion if you didn't have some ancestry of Polish blood you just couldn't do the polka right! Then to our amazement they brought out this young boy [7 or 8 yrs old] who had just played in Vegas. He was a blond cute little kid, and had a custom-sized accordion - and could he play, and he even sang a couple of songs, one in English one in Polish. You've seen those little statutes with the bobbing heads in car dashes - he could make his head bob with the best of them, I thought it was going to fall right off his shoulders! They had to make him stand on a big trunk so that everyone could see/hear him. He gave the regular accordion player a run for his money. There were Polish food tents all around the big stage!! It was great, I only wished I could go back sometime this weekend [which I can't because our town has its own Annual Fall Festival]and sample all the different foods. I did note from the leaflet we got that a lot of the food,
dumplings, sauerkraut, potatoes and cabbage might be similiar to German foods. On the agenda there were 'homemade polish cooking demonstrations, a huge beer tent, pride of Poland displays, Polish pottery and assorted historical vendors and two during the weekend there was a Polish Guest Lecturer who would tell the unknown story of Polish forces in WWII from the Battle of Britain to the capture of Berlin. Along with all the happenings there were also Children's Activities in Polish Arts/Crafts. The highlight of all this was the Polish Heritage Society Citizen of the Year Award Ceremony on Sunday. There were three MAJOR food tents: 1]That Polish Girl Catering which features dishes like Homemade Golumbki, Homemade Dill Pickle Soup and Homemade Kapusta; 2] 'Busia Poza' Sak, which featured Golabki 'Belke' Dinner, Polish Kaminski Kabob and Pierogi's; 3] 'Little Warsaw' featuring many of the above named dishes plus Fresh made Kielbasa Potato Pancakes and HOmemade Authentic Nalesniki. I'm getting hungry just writing about these things. Though I am not Polish, I am definitely of German ancestory and was really excited to be able to see this; plus I enjoy cultural events. I think in the United States nowdays we celebrate to rarely the blessings of our individual cultures that make our country so rich .......its not divisive but enriching. Well I've got to close and get downtown to our own redneck Southwestern Michigan Fall Festival to gouge myself with all the goodies, taffee and kettle cooked popcorn, etc. etc. that looks like a cholesterol parade to my stomach. Gotta love it.

Pretty interesting family day

Since I have started going home to see Mom on thursdays, one of her sisters and her husband have started going home to see Grandma. So today for lunch we call sat at Grandma's house and ate. It was a lot of fun, as we talked and enjoyed each other's company and remarked about what a coincidence this 'family tradition' was becoming. It vaguely reminded me of my childhood when I lived just a couple of houses down the street from Grandpa and Grandma's and across the street from an aunt and uncle - those where the days!! The days when you could weekly see your grandparents and relatives, until sometimes you wished you couldn't; little did I know then that days would come when I would anticipate the joy of visiting relatives again. Grandma is 97 now, and so every visit is a treasure as she struggles physically but is mentally as sharp as a whip ......... its really neat to hear her tell stories of yesterday!

Let Me Drive, Please Daddy????

I just ran across an article that Indiana lawmakers have come across a study that shows that teenagers who have taken driver education classes are more likely than those who haven't taken classes to have accidents. Um!!!! They think it might have to do with an outdated program, or that kids are getting licenses earlier, and thus spending more time on the road ....................... my bet is they are wrong on every count!
Check with some of the rural southern states [my oldest daughter and family live in one of them, AL] and their kids are driving tractors, and other vehicles with four wheels and an engine that reaches passing speeds shortly after turning 7yrs old. My bet is that those kids - who are trained by parents and taught that the primary reason for driving is not pleasure - would come out far ahead in having less accidents?!

Under a different name

This morning while I was on an errand for the church, I was listening on my MP3 a message about how Jesus changed Peter's name. I think I have this right, Peter's original Aramaic name, for about 33years, was Cephas which meant rock. Now Jesus changes it ... I mean that's rather dramatic - for 61yrs I've been named Timothy,[which is of Greek origin] to suddenly have my name changed would hard to handle ... Jesus gives Cephas a greek name Peter, but it also means a rock; so although the name changes the meaning stays the same. Peter can now boast that he has two names, one in Aramaic and one in Greek and they both mean the same. Since my name Timothy did not enter into English use until after the Protestant Reformation, I'd probably have to settle for the Hebrew version of my name Timeo, I've been called a lot worse, and not exactly in the context of the original meaning. Anyway in doing a little research in this 'name changing' venue I happened across an article 'Combat brigades in Iraq under a different name. Sure enough our Government would have us to believe that all combat troops have left Iraq..not true, there are still seven brigades left, they've just been renamed 'Advise and Assist Brigades! According to the Army Times, where I read this article, there are still just under 50,000 left; so call them by whatever name you wish they are still there for the same purpose, performing the same task. BAck to the Bible, when Jesus renamed Peter he was not speaking of Peter's present faith as being strong, but that after Jesus resurrection Peter's faith would become solid. Jesus changed Peter's name to bring new life, new emphasis to Peter's role in the faith, the government changed the name to deceive us.
I wonder if the 'Advise and Assist Brigades' will continue to serve long after the agreement with the Iraq government about all combat troops being pulled out by Dec.2011? - if the past is any indicator, they will still be there! And in the mean time we certainly have time to rename them again ... and stay a little longer!

Men's retreat

What a great time we had this previous weekend at our annual men's retreat! We fished, a couple men swam and we sat around the campfire trying to one-up each other's stories. Then on Sunday morning, after breakfast, we had a Men's devotional on the story of Ananias & Saul [Acts 9]. We were very successful in getting to know each other even better, which was a wonderful antidote to some very poor fishing results. One of our men was adamant about fishing from a boat - the only problem, the boats at the campsite had no anchors so one could stay still in one spot, the lake was really a big pond [4.9 acres] and so the incoming spring water always kept the water moving. Speaking of moving in the water, at last year's men's retreat I swamped a canoe with two other men, lost my glasses - some carp is probably wearing them now, completely ruined my cell phone, and lost what little pride I had left. My 'good wife' was quite adamant about my making sure if I went out in a boat to take the new accessories off my person ... well I went out in a row-boat, how could I swamp a row-boat, no need to leave anything behind - who knows I might need to call 911. My friend [who was brave enough to go with me] and I were bringing the row boat back to shore, the bow was barely on shore and my friend putting our life jackets back on the shore rack when I stood up in the back of the boat[still in the water] and yeppers over I went .... however I was able to only get 2/3 of my body wet, my cellphone was on the side that didn't get wet and so was my wallet, my glasses were never in danger ..so I can not only swamp a canoe, I can do it in a row boat also. My good buddy was most gracious and even offered to accept some of the blame, but I wouldn't hear of his stealing some of my growing reputation with boating skills. We certainly didn't fast that weekend as not only are most of us that go on retreat fairly good cooks, but several of our wife's [misled by thinking we couldn't make it on our own] made a couple cakes, and many different salads ... and we are doing nothing that would persuade them in the future to have less pity on us. A great time by all!!

Men's Retreat!!

Well I'm almost ready ........... for our 3rd Annual Fall Men's Retreat. I know its not fall yet, but its close enough. We really have a wonderful time just paling around and getting to know each other. No big heavy schedule, the meals have been divided up, and those who are not cooking will clean up! Probably the biggest obstacle we will have this year at the new site we are going to be will be, yep, you guess'd it, those blasted mosquitoes! We'll have more than enough to eat, and on Saturday night we'll have a Bible charades game in which the group will be divided into 3 units and each will re-enact a story out of the Bible that deals with men. Then on Sunday AM we'll gather by the fire, and sing and share, then we'll have a lesson. This year we're on a campgrounds where we're sleeping in small bunk cabins, so no one has to bring a tent, although tents are fun, but when you get my age its a lot easier climbing into the bottom bunk that sleeping on cot. I'm sure I'll forget something, I always do.

This is a 'boaring' week

The 'boars' are running wild this week, all over the place. In the New Zealand town of Ruakaka a man was badly bruised when an engraged wild board knocked him to the ground, then we get the news out of Germany that wild boars are taking up lodging in cities such as Berlin, Munich and Frankfurt. Another report out of Iraq says that wild boars are being culled in Baghdad's Zoo to stop the virus among the zoo population. Now these must be pretty strong porkies if the virus they have can be spread to other animals they never come in contact with. Then we are told that 'boars' in Germany are becoming more radioactive from Chernobyl fallout that started in 1986. The boars indeed are having a rough week, no one seems to care about them, and they're getting the blame for everything ... they are fast becoming 'pigs without a country!' The exception to these unlucky fellows around the world are our southern boars which seem to be flourishing, but then who really cares?!

Vacations, vacations.........

While I'm in a grumbling mood let me comment on what seems to be an 'issue' in today's political climate ..... President Obama's vacations! I don't begrudge the President vacation time, if I have an issue with it, its about being sensitive to where those vacations take place. Now let it be known I rarely agree with the President on any matter, however I can only imagine the necessity for time away in such a high powered job. Perhaps the opposite is true, and former presidents should have taken more time away? It has been rightly noted that the President's vacations have been for only a few days at a time .... and I believe only 20 this year. That's not even 3 full weeks, good gracious most people have that many. The problem I believe is in 'where' he goes; does he not realize the high profile position he is in, and how just a little sensitivity to where he vacations can accrue or decrease political capital. I am a minister, so my vacations are carefully planned out so it doesn't seem like there is one 'big' time when I'm gone, or a bunch of 'little' times close together. I'm well aware that what people perceive is often wrong, but its utterly foolish of me to present a picture that can be easily misinterpreted; and the places where we go are not over the top to where the majority of our people might spend their vacations. After the President's term of office is over [which if something doesn't dramatically change, looks like it could be sooner than later] he, and his family, will have all the time and probably resoures in the world to go where they wish ... still largely our tax dollars, i.e. security, etc. Which leads me to only one brief comment about his wife's recent trip to Spain, 'what was he thinking?' Michele is not the president, he is, the trip was his ultimate responsibility ... just like I don't blame Eve, Adam could have insisted she never eat the fruit!?!. Have a great day, I'm in a writing mood, I may be back today.

Is Anybody Else....

...getting a little tired of this Muslim center debate. Come on let's be real, if the Mayor of N.Y.C. or the President had truly wanted this mosque not to be built, strings would have pulled and the project cancelled; this endless, useless debate is a mockery not only of constitutional rights but religious freedom. I am a Christian and will always believe there is only one way to God - through Jesus Christ; however that does not keep me from believing that others have the right to practice their religion; regardless of the fact that in many of their countries I am not free to practice mine.
I have a God that is big enough to take care of things, even when man[and the gov.] is wrong. I also believe that the immigration policy of the United States is not right, what are we afraid of?

Don't have much.....

...to write about today. Yesterday I took mom to get an EEG test and she was pretty cooperative. MOst of the time I really appreciate the cooperation she gives, but in some ways its makes it a little harder; Mom has gotten along pretty good by herself since pa passed away in Nov.1987. But with both dad and my sister gone, mom is really dreading the day her mom [Grama - 97yrs old] dies. Though she has a younger sister and brother in law only about 25 minutes away, and a young brother and sister in law just down the road a piece, she still thinks she'll be alone. In the ten years we've lived only two hours away, she's come to our house less than half a dozen times; though we certainly have tried to get her to come visit or go on short trips with us. Mom has never been one to visit and stay at people's homes overnight. I think her family is cursed with the mantra 'well, we don't want to be a bother.' I just can't figure it out ... when my dad was alive he would come visit us and stay for a week or two, although after his heart surgeries he stopped going anywhere for too long and never overnight. He always wanted to be within calling distance of his cardiologist.
Oh, well, being a good son means I'll keep traveling south every week its possible. I really would like my grandkids to get to know mom better, and her get to know them. It could be too that since mom is talking about getting these tests done, and she knows her short-term memory is getting worse she doesn't want to chance going to far by herself. If necessary I would go get her and take to some family events if she wanted to - but she wont'. I think a big fear is that if something were to happen to Grandma and she wasn't there, she'd be to blame being the oldest sibling.

Some more random thoughts.

Journal, I found out this afternoon that my mom, growing more and more conscience of her deteriorating short memory loss, has agreed to begin having some testing take place. This is a very positive thing, considering about 6 mos. ago she was quite irrate when the whole idea was presented, so I thank God she is cooperating with it, and I thank Him for her sister, brother-in-law and 97yr old mom who are supporting her. I'll make the trip home tonight and then go to the hospital with her and see her home. On the hand, I've never had to begin helping to assist a parent in their living and so I hope that I am up to the challenge, though its one I never wanted or dreamed of. It makes me think of the time that my kids may be called upon to wait on me, I pray that time never comes, I much prefer for them to have memories of me than have to care for me. I've had a good 61 yr. run ... lived in Hawaii, visited five different countries on 8 work & witness trips [returned to two countries twice.]; and had fantastic visits to many places with the 'good wife.' All my grandkids know me well, and probably have some memories they will laugh about for generations to come. I would dread thinking that all that joy and blessing would be tainted with mental disability. I have been the most fortunate of men, an incomparable lovely wife, excellent kids/in-laws and the worlds greatest grandkids.
Well we'll see what tomorrow holds; at least I know who holds tomorrow.
If anyone has any suggestions on supporting parents, I am certainly open to it because I know that in helping my mom I'm also raising my own awareness levels. THANKS.

Sometimes the truth comes out in unexpected ways, even to its authors. I'm talking about President Obama's comment: 'the Muslim call to prayer is one of the prettiest sounds on Earth at sunset.' Regardless of the context in which he was speaking, prayer is certainly the prettiest sound at any time of the day or night. Prayer speaks about belief in; prayer speaks about reliance on; prayer speaks about hope because of; prayer speaks about communication with .............. of course the context in which I speak is prayer with Christ!!

A little yellow/red choo choo

Sunday morning after breakfast and a quick dip in the lake we decided to go into town and get some ice cream ... what we really did stop at this little tourist area, with its little minature golf course [how's that for redundany!]. They also had a little red/yellow choo choo train, and so one couldn't think of playing minature golf with out first riding the train. So the two oldest grandkids rode the train as we laughed and waved goodbye, and took many pictures as they rounded the little track. Sure is a lot of little going around here. Well we finally got to the golf course and what an experience that was, the only two really getting serious about the game was gram and mom. Mom[not gram] ended up with a couple of holes-in-one and a few birdies! We drove down the road just a 'little' ways and had some Bareman ice cream, then back to the cottage to do a final cleaning.

The 'big' PLatte

What a GREAT weekend at the Lake home of my son's senior pastor/wife! It was on the Big Platte Lake in Honor Michigan .......... and right in the middle of the Sleepy Bear Dunes National Park! One has an almost impossible task of trying to find vocabulary to describe it ... so I won't, I'll leave it to your imagination; let me add this though, norther Michigan is one of the most beautiful places around. Their lake home has lake-front property, and what a joy it was to sit out on the deck at night under a moon/star lighted canopy, feel the soft cooling breeze and listen to the small waves kissing the shoreline. Even with sleepy grandkids almost falling asleep on your laps it was hard to get up and go inside. The early morning light radiated across the lake and you wanted to get breakfast over with and hit the water; and how those grandkids loved the water. Gram & Gramps even went out on kayaks! The lake is rather shallow and mostly placid except for when a motor boat or jet sky go by, an so kayaking is quite easy. I remembered swamping the canoe I rode in with two other men at last year's men's retreat and so in the beginning I was a bit tenuous; but hey if Gram could do it, so could I ... and so my son and I spent some time out on the lake. Later all of us went for a spectacular car ride in the National Park on the Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive - it was bordered on one side by the sand dunes and on the other by thick vegetative pine forests ....... beautiful. Then late that afternoon, after some swimming time we went to a sand dune beach on lake Michigan. It was crowded with people on its sandy shores, you could also look out and see the high coastal hills of Michigan. As we began the trek to the beach there was a sign there that said 'beware of Michigan cougars!.' I didn't have the heart to tell the grandkids the sign looked pretty old, plus with all the people around cougars would be in hiding, for they thought it was pretty cool to possibly have dangerous cougars stalked them, and gramps is the last one to deny the tooth fairy, Santa Claus the Easter rabbit or the phantom cougar!! We did go for lunch one day in a quaint little town called Glen Harbor after the scenic drive ............ and we each got an Ice Cream Cone! The good wife said she would like to go back there some day and spend a little time shopping - of course 'little' is relative. One the way home all of us stopped at Crystal Mountain Resort, where some good memories in the past have been made and a gram and mom took the two older grandkids down a new 250ft Alpine Slide on little tobaggon sleds, then we ate lunch and departed seperate ways home. It was indeed a good weekend! Maybe as remembrances come back to mind I'll write a little more about it ............this I do know, gram and I sure would like to inherit a lake front cottage up north!

The Land Between

Last night I finished the book, 'The Land Between.' It is a good book that talks about those times when we feel we're in the desert, the land between the slavery of the past and promise of the future. Pastor Jeff does a great job in pointing out the advantages that Israel never acknowledged that prepared them for the Promised Land. Jeff had mentioned how God had used those 40 years in the wilderness to prepare the children, and I remembered asking those that went to the Summit, how would God have prepared the children in such a short time if they had obeyed, and remember the quizzical looks that said, 'are you crazy for asking such a question?' .... never did get even a guess. I would have enjoyed this book a lot more if Jeff's speech at the Summit hadn't covered nearly 75% of the book; nonetheless its a good read. The book originated from a series of sermons. And its always fun to read a book from someone who lives close by. ENOY.
THE LAND BETWEEN:FINDING GOD IN DIFFICULT TRANSITIONS. by Jeff Manion, Pastor at Ada, Michigan. Zondervan Publishers, Grand Rapids, Mi. 2010 ISBN;9780310329985

AFter lunch today, the 'good wife' and I will be traveling a few hours north to spend the rest of the weekend, 'the whole weekend - Sunday included, at a cottage on the lake with our son, daughter[in-law] and grandkids!!

Lepers and other Outcasts

A couple of articles ago [In the Sanctuary of Outcasts] I spoke about an author who was a convicted criminal and sent to a Leper Sanitarium to serve out his sentence. One of the things that most impressed me was his reflection on worshiping with those afflicted with this disease, with church being a place where healing was available. What made it such a powerful impact on my life was that a couple of weeks ago two men from the community, who are mentally challenged, and known to steal and puts things in a garage sale, plus have pedophile actions towards kids, have started coming to our church. A good number of people attending already knew about them, and when I had meetings with our church board and youth department leadership I was concerned with how they would react. Would we just simply tell these men they were not welcome in our congregation - that would certainly place us at odds with Christ..what would be our response. I remember in the first church in which I was the pastor facing the newly emerging issue of AIDS .. what would we do if someone with AIDS started attending our church [and a couple people in the early stages of it did], and so policy was put into place if such a thing happened. And I believe that we are adequately addressing our situation now; perhaps I will even go so far to say our present situation is causing us to look at how things should have always been done to protect our children and youth. I'm beginning to understand better each week Matthew 10:16 'Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.' Sadly I find myself also repenting more often because its so much easier to be like a snake than a dove!

'Whispers'

I've finished the new book by Rev. Bill Hybels that I got at the Global Leadership Summit last week. I enjoyed Bill's book that speaks about being spiritually sensitive and hearing the still soft whisper of God, about blocking out the ambient noise of the world and even of our own thoughts, and then having the faith, the courage to respond to that voice. Bill goes through the number of times in his life when the 'whisper' of God has changed his life, the direction of his life, and his faith; he has been honest enough to admit the times when God's voice went unrecognized or simply disregarded. There is a section in the book where he relates stories that others emailed him about hearing God's 'whisper' in their lives. Overall it was a good book, I was most impressed with the powerful first chapter about the young boy Samuel in his first hearing God's 'whisper' in his life as he began to serve in the temple. Somehow, or at least of me, the tempo and passion of that first chapter wasn't quite kept through the rest of the book, but I deeply appreciate Hybel's writing it. It was an adventure of faith for him. I hope that you'll take the time to read it, but as you're reading it, listen for the still soft 'whisper' .... it just might interrupt your reading?!
THE POWER OF A WHISPER: Hearing God, Having the Guts to Respond. Bill Hybels.
Zondervan Publishers, Grand Rapids, MI. 2010 ENJOY

The next book I'm staring to read is 'The Land Between: Finding God in Difficult TRansitions.' by Rev. Jeff Manion, Ada, MI. Zondervan Publishers. 2010 Jeff's seminar at the Global LEadership Summit came from his book; its describes the place where I have been for the last three years [and still am] in my spiritual journey, so its especially meaningful to me.

In the Sanctuary of Outcasts

This was indeed an extremely interesting book. Neil, the author and convicted 'kitting' criminal, is sentenced to 18 months at the Fed Pen in Carville, Louisiana. What he finds out when he reports to the facility is that it is also the last leper sanitarium in the United States ... the convicts and lepers are not supposed to intermingle but that rule is barely enforced; those afflicted with leprosy see the convicts as trespassers in their home. Determined to make the best of his time, the author fastidiously keeps a journal of his time, of the stories told to him, and his relationships. The relationships that most impact his life are those of the lepers, although his cell mate and couple of convicts do leave an imprint on his life. As the book progresses so does the transformation that changes his life as he recognizes that life is not about the material things we possess so much as the enduring quality of our relationships. Of course, most of those who formerly knew him, at one point even his wife, begin to desert him, he clings to his relationship with his two kids and his parents, knowing that once he is released former friends and business mates are lost forever but that he can forge new relationships built on a firm foundation. Eventually the government plans to turn the whole facility into a prison, but adverse things begin to happen and reality makes the government backtrack on its plans, and the sanitarium is saved as the home of the lepers. Finally the time comes when Neil is about to be released .... here I would like to quote from the book to give you an idea of how much those with leprosy influenced his life, especially Ella. "Most of all I wanted to remember Ella. Every detail. The way she cranked the antique handles, the way she twisted in her chair at the dance. The way she turned her disease, the most shameful known to man, into something sacred. I wanted to remember how she held her coffee mug, the way she got excited on bingo night, her smile when she said something unexpected, the joy she found in the smallest encounters, the way her skin smelled like flowers. The way she rested her hand on top of mine when I felt most alone. I wanted to remember her every word. I wanted to remember her especially whenever I was confronted with my past, in hopes that I could face it with a fraction of her dignity. I would take Ella's advice and find a church. Not just any church. A place like the church at Carville. Where the parishoners were broken and chipped and cracked. A place to go when I needed help. A place to ask forgiveness. A sacred place where people were not consumed with image or money. I didn't know if a church like this existed, but if it did I would go .. and I would pray. Not the kind of prayers I used to say for miracles or money or advancement. I would ask for something more simple. I would pray for recollection - pray that I would never forget." I would love to write about Ella, but I won't - you'll have to read the book ... but she could easily have become the focus of this book, just as she was the focal point of the author's transformation; I would love to write about the priest and how worshiping with lepers began to give the author a spiritual awareness he had never had the time for before Carville, but I won't, you'll have to read the book. This is a short book of a few hundred pages, but there are many helpful insights and interviews in the back.
A major lesson of the book, is that no matter how dreary our lives may become there is always a reason to stop and smell a rose.
IN THE SANCTUARY OF OUTCASTS. by Neil White[His first book] HarperCollins Publishers,
New York, NY, 2009 ENJOY!

Lepers and Convicts

I am in the midst of reading a first novel by a new author. Picked up the book at BArnes & Noble last night as my wife was shopping. I don't usually comment on a book until I've finished reading it, but I just have to share a story in it; I'll be finished with it in a day or two, depending on how much reading time I get. The title of the book is 'In the Sanctuary of Outcasts' by Neil White. It is about a Federal Institution that housed both Lepers and Fed Convicts in Carville, Louisiana. The author mentions that Dr. Paul Brand, a reknown doctor in treating Leprosy in India and the innovator of how to restore feelings in their hands and feet, was once a doctor in residence at CArville, and he became known to everyone there as 'Saint Paul' because of his compassion and commitment. Having read Dr.Brands inspirational book, 'The Forever Feast' and the book he co-authored w/Philip Yancy, 'Fearfully and Wonderfully Made,' I was deeply touched to find out that he had made such an impact on this last leper sanctuary in America. The author makes no pretense to this being a book about religion, nor does he mention Dr.Brands religion outside the statement Brand was a missionary to India, yet this amazing story was more than worth the price of the book. This story will always stick in my mind, not only because of Dr.Brands influence but because of how God works, through mysterious and secretive ways to bring his message and healing in places we're not even aware of.

Doug the Gatekeeper!

Last Thursday & Friday I was privileged to attend my 2nd Willow Creek Global Leadership Summit in Detroit [satellite site] with my son. It would be an understatement to say that I enjoyed, and was enriched, by this conference. I was attending with my son and a few others from his church. Thursday morning we got lost on our way to the conference and ended up being 20 minutes late; after we turned into the parking lot an usher, Doug, told us where to park the van. After we parked the van and almost in the church before we encountered Doug again; now being this late there's hardly anyone around and Doug mentioned that being late it might have been nice for the driver[my son] to have dropped us off at the door. Doug's remarks were fodder for a comical conversation between the group as we chided my son on his actions. After we had gone to lunch we were returning for the afternoon session, and again we were late ... and who should we see entering the parking lot ....Doug the Gatekeeper! Doug had some further observations to make, regarding the fact that again my son had refused to be courteous to the rest of us and drop us at the door.
The next morning [Friday] we didn't see Doug as we entered the parking lot - but Doug saw us! My son and the other guys thought we had entered the church without being seen by Doug, however the young lady and myself did encounter Doug, to which he mentioned that he had noted my son once again hadn't dropped us at the door. She and I had a good laugh over it, and when we were returning to our van to go to lunch mentioned to the rest of the group our encounter with Doug, and had a good laugh.I felt somewhat sympathetic towards Doug, because despite his attempts not once in those two days did we get dropped at the door. On Friday, near the close of the summit it is customary to have all the volunteers come and stand around the front so that we can recognize them and show our appreciation ............ well, we were sitting on the front row, and guess who stood right near us in the volunteers line - yeppers, DOUG THE GATEKEEPER!. What a paradox we must have seemed to him, the notoriously late ones sitting on the front row??! Inspite of all the fun we had at Doug's expense, his remembering us did remind us, that no matter how far off course we stray, no matter how late we may be God is always looking out for us! ... oh by the way, Doug, I pray God's richest on you and those you love.