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Dad's final gaze

I am acquainted with death more than the average person as an element of my career. It is inglorious for even the most stoic or heroic. It is precious for the saints, in God's eyes, according to the Psalmist (116:15), but only an eternal perspective can make it so. The passing of those closest to me were difficult, to say the least, and not witnessed by me. My sister passed from AIDS in her forties in a nursing home in Baltimore. I got the word just before I boarded a plane to visit, but in time to identify her. My brother died in his sleep, presumably peacefully, but we never know that. It was expected. Cancer. Same for his wife five years after. Their sons died violently, one by homicide, the other by suicide, ages 22 and 19. My mother died at home, as was her wish, but in a difficult final struggle in the presence of my older brother and a hospice worker. But everyone has their own stories, so mine are not any more notable than another.  The one different from those I've not...
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Juneteenth - a white boomer's perspective

Juneteenth probably means very little to the average American, certainly nothing extraordinarily personal. Perhaps this year, America's 250th, it should, if we can collectively discipline ourselves to have some level of gratitude for our nation and its history. I'm envisioning the streets of Galveston, Texas, in 1866 at the first formal celebration, or Jubilee Day, on the anniversary of the announcement delivered by Union General Gordan Granger of General Order #3, that there was no more slavery in Texas. The celebration involved dressing up, feasting, and religious activities of prayer, singing, and storytelling.  What we don't see is any evidence of wide-spread cynicism and grumbling that we might see today. "Why did it take so long to get us the message that slavery was over?", "Lincoln is such a hypocrite, the Emancipation was only for the South, what about those Northerners? Isn't he the one that said we should be shipped back to Africa?" "...
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Inert Ingredients

In the sunset and dusk of my older brother's life, he slipped into the role of philosopher. I couldn't have a normal conversation with him without a swift lapse into some deep wisdom like he was unpeeling ancient Chinese secrets from a Tibetan mountain top. It was annoying, but every so often he'd unearth a useful nugget. We were never brotherly close as some are, and there were years with little communication, but when he saw that his life was ending, he made a few major life changes, one of which was to reach out to me, perhaps, in part, to lay down some life principles that, in my three years less life, I may have not fully grasped.  I am beginning to understand his urgency as I watch my impending sunset. Rather than imagining myself as a serene Buddha-like character, I'm thinking more like a benevolent adopted grandfather, thoughtfully rocking gently in a slightly creaky rocking chair. I am surrounded by young people thirsty for wisdom as much as I yearn to dole it ...
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Is Jesus on my side?

I, like most aware folks in the United States, don't see our fellow citizens as united anything. In the mix of arguments comes suppositions about what Jesus would do in light of current culture. As with most classic literature and philosophy, most people leveraging Jesus err in their understanding of Him and many care only to point out supposed hypocrisy of whomever their arguments are aimed.  Some common presuppositions - the foundational framework that guides attitudes, opinion, and perspective - are: 1) I love Jesus therefore He would agree with me 2) Jesus loves me therefore He would agree with me 3) Jesus was all about peace, peace, peace and love, love, love 4) If Christ-followers ran government it would be a righteous government 5) Christianity has no business being interjected into political discourse.  This obviously is not an exhaustive list and with no further comment from me can ignite all the controversy and debate that one could ask for. The reader might be surpr...
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To Beard or Not to Beard

My chin stubble had been an insult to my manhood since early adolescence, but it was only the icing, or lack thereof, on the cake of my doubtful masculinity. As if it wasn't insulting enough that my chest hair is singular and my fishing and hunting skills would make my survival in the wild dependent on berries and acorns, that my highest sports achievement was getting to third base in little league, whereupon I peed my pants praying for the end of the world, I couldn't get past the average 8th grader in the beard growing game. Many Facebook friends participate in No Shave November (for what purpose I don't recall), but despite my efforts I ended up looking like No Shave Since Tuesday. During my work life, much of which was spent in uniform, having no facial hair was standard, ostensibly to ensure a proper fit to a gas mask should the occasion arise. What the bearded cops of today do about that I don't know, but perhaps agencies capitulated so that the male officers cou...
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Grampa Earl - a forgettable character

Retirement has offered time for reading and reflection that long weeks and days and middle-of-the-night phone calls do not afford. For some reason - and who knows what prompts a random thought or memory - but perhaps the recent Father's Day, I thought of my Grampa Earl. Even now, as I think about it, I don't think I ever called him Grampa, which would be a title of endearment he had not earned. Maybe just Earl. I'm not sure my Mom ever called him Dad, either for that matter, but I'm not sure. Again, unearned endearment.  My memories of him are from just a few visits and the few times my Mother spoke of him. She never had stories, just statements and not even full statements sometimes when she caught herself in memories she did not want to resurrect or share. I do know that he was an alcoholic. I have compassion for addicts, but sometimes their trail of destruction is simply too worn to find it. Mom just said he was an old drunk, the type that made them scramble to hide ...
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Revival at the Tip of the Sword

Can We Re-Christianize America? God forbid. Recent presumably well-intentioned mandates proposed by government officials in Texas, Louisianna, and Oklahoma do not portend well for religious liberty or for the restoration of Biblical literacy in the U.S. A knowledge of the Bible was not lost due to the government, nor can it or should it be restored by government. It is the American church that has failed to maintain the eminence of the Bible. Since labels seem to be a prerequisite for getting an audience I guess I'll cave and say I am a boomer steeped in postwar patriotism and anti-communism, politically and religiously conservative, leaning Libertarian in thought but void of rightist extremism or Christian Nationalism. I hesitate to call myself an intellectual but I have spent half of my career in a college classroom and have earned a Doctorate in Education. My conservatism was forged in the "roots of my raisin'" in the Midwest (the Ozarks, more specifically) Bible B...
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