Hey all;

Well, I just got back from a great 2 1/2 hour lunch with Dennis (my pastor).  At some point along the way, I’ve asked you to be thinking of me and saying a prayer for my lunch.  So whether it was one of you or all of you, I don’t know…but it worked.

For those who don’t know, Dennis lost his son to “the scene” in New York’s lower-east side almost 3 years ago now.  My friends and family who have been in the ministry often lack for someone to be a minister to them…I think today was great not only for me, but for Dennis too.  He too lost his father when he was 19…similarly again it happened within a week or two from finals.  We reminisced about that along with other things.  I told him about my own spiritual rebirth that has happened in recent months and it was great to connect with my church leader on that.

Dennis is a little over 50…still goes to concerts, still keeps very open about everything.  Most of our conversation had to do with God’s grace.  For those of you who’ve heard him speak, he has some great things to say, and like any good pastor, some great phrases.  I’m trying to remember two of them for you…but they come better out of his mouth.  But here goes:

First, regarding the idea of God’s plan…most of you have heard me say recently that I’ve always felt like God had a plan for me and that it was going to be something big.  Each of you on here may be able to take what he says here and apply it to your own situation.  His personal belief is that God’s plan is strictly to be in relationship with each of us as we make our choices.  But he feels that some people go a little too far in saying God wants me to do this or that…then when things don’t pan out, even if it’s due to the person’s poor execution, they blame God.  Really, in his mind, and it opened my eyes a bit too…God created us to think, and to make choices.  When we come to the Robert Frost fork in the road, we make the choice and all God expects and wants from us is to take Him with us.  Do yourself a favor, reread that poem (Robert Frost’s Road Less Traveled)…I’ve always looked at the last phrase but never paid much attention to the first four or five. We’re all led to believe that Frost chose the narrow, less traversed path and that that is what made the difference.  Reread it…that’s not what it says.  He says that neither path was any more or less worn…although on the surface it may have appeared so.  What made all the difference was not the path, but it was him making the CHOICE on which path to take. It’s subtle difference, but huge, to me, in philosophy.

God’s big plan for me…simple.  Do what I do best…whatever it may be…find a niche that’s not being served that is for the greater good, and take God with me all the way.

So, the second thing, and this is for my judgmental friends out there (yeah, I know, I can be too sometimes).  Dennis made the comment that we are to use God’s Word as a mirror and not a microscope.  Ouch.  We’ve all read “Judge not lest ye be judged” but take this a step further…forget whether or not you have a tendency to say this-and-such is wrong or right…what do you get out of your own introspection that can apply to you and your situation…nobody else’s – just yours.

Most of you know I use a wide range of pick-me-ups – from Kermit the Frog singing “Rainbow Connection” to Bible study, to Robert Frost poems, to Robert Earl Keen singing “The Road goes on Forever”, and even Barry Manilow songs.  But there’s nothing better in life, to me, than looking around at all of God’s creation and saying, “wow, thanks for putting that there for me today…thanks for your Grace that forgives me for my transgressions and carries me further down the path I choose…and thanks for sticking with me.”

So to all of you, Thank You.  We are all brothers and sisters no matter what we believe.  Now turn it around and make somebody around you feel the warmth today.  God’s sole desire is to show each of us how comforting He can be through such grace.  Although I never saw the movie, I was raised with the concept of “Pay it Forward” – do it today.  We all lead such busy lives and can’t take the time to tell somebody they look nice, or do something for somebody just because you can, or whatever. You know what works…the returns are unbelievable, especially when you do something strictly for the purpose of NOT getting a return.

Finally, Dennis’ son Graham wrote a song called “I miss you so much” about his brother, Aaron.  If you read the lyrics and listen to the song (www.gramwilkie.com – go look under discography and the record “falls bootlegs”) it won’t make a lick of sense to you.  But here’s the deal…Graham’s interpretation of the chain of events around Aaron’s death is no different than any of us in a grieving process…no matter what type of grief it is.  The verses just seem like mumbo jumbo and the only thing that sticks is the chorus.  Graham told his dad that it was because through the midst of all the confusion…all the clutter of events going on…all the questions about why this and what about that, really boiled down to one thing: Graham missed his brother.  And Graham was opening himself at that point to the grace God had to offer.  For those of you who are interested, Graham’s group is performing on April 7th at the Green Elephant over by SMU…he probably won’t take stage until 11:00 pm or so, but look for me.  And by the way, on that website, Graham has a link to hear some of Aaron’s music that he had previously recorded as well.

As always, I wish you all the warmth you can find, the peace that can come only from above, and God’s grace to each of you today and every day.  I love you all, and thank God for each of you daily.

Yours
Tim