One More Thing

Hi Five Oakers, The weekend is coming and there are a few things I want to share with you.

The Weekend

Yesterday I discovered that a friend I had lost touch with died four years ago. 

He was a member of our church in Kansas. He ran a Christian 12-step group at our church for years. And he was our state senator.

Just before moving up to MN in 1997, I took my boys up to Topeka for lunch with Mike and a tour of the capital. The boys were eight and ten, but they never forgot the story Mike told us about the lady who climbed the inside stairs of the capital dome and flung herself down, landing right where my kids were standing. What a look on their faces! My boys didn't remember anything else from that visit, but they never forgot that story.

I have never forgotten Mike's faith story. Mike was a lawyer, and he was working a workman's comp case for one of the members of our church. Mike was an avowed agnostic. That member of our church challenged Mike one day with a simple challenge. Mike would have brushed it off, but his wife burst into tears. The challenge, and his wife's response, led to one of those bizarre "coincidences" that can only be chalked up to God's sense of humor. And before Mike knew what hit him, his life was turned upside down. I can't wait to tell you his story this weekend.

FYI

John Stonestreet on "Life, Suffering, and Dignity: The courageously mundane faithfulness of Kara Tippetts

A young Oregon woman with a brain tumor recently made the choice to die. But a Colorado woman facing a terminal disease is choosing to live. What can we learn from their stories?

Anand Giridharadas on "The Immigrant Advantage"

Eventually, Mr. Bhuiyan petitioned a Texas court to spare his attacker’s life because he had lacked his victim’s advantages: a loving and sober family, pressure to strive and virtuous habits. The naturalized citizen claimed the native Texan hadn’t had the same shot at the American dream as the “foreigner” he’d tried to kill.

One More Thing

Philip Yancey's writings have deeply impacted me over the years. One of his favorite subjects is grace. Here's an excerpt from a recent interview with Leadership Journal.

It takes no grace to be among people who look like you, think like you, and act like you. The rubber meets the road when you're around people who irritate you, and perhaps morally offend you.