Jumping The Gun

Lord willing, I am in Kansas as you read this. Have you ever jumped to the wrong conclusion and then had to eat your words, or at least your thoughts? I am loathe to suspect my students of cheating because I might be the one at fault. The following is about such a case where people swarmed to an immediate- and incorrect- verdict. This is from April 16, 2006. (See if you can figure out why I printed it in red!)

It was too bizarre. Last week, Logan Young was murdered. A booster of the University of Alabama football program, Young recently concluded a jail sentence for bribery. He became the first ever to be convicted of federal laws making it a crime to violate NCAA recruiting rules. He had given $150,000 to a high school football coach with the stipulation the coach would make certain a coveted player signed at Alabama, where Young was a season ticket holder. The murder at Young's home in Memphis had been so gruesome that dental records and finger prints were required to positively identify the millionaire. The scandal involving Young helped bring sanctions and penalties on the Crimson Tide's hallowed football program. In class, I mentioned the murder and the background of Logan Young. I talked about the corruption of athletics by money and how major college sports, in my opinion, have become cesspools. I asked my students if they believed there was a relationship between the bribery scandal and the homicide. It was unanimous. We all knew there had to be a correlation between the two. A stunning development was on the horizon. On Thursday, police in Memphis amended their prognosis. They now believe that Young fell on the stairs, suffering a very severe laceration on his head. Disoriented, he apparently stumbled from room to room, leading authorities at first to believe they were looking at a crime scene. Further investigation showed no forced entry, a lack of stolen property, or blood spatter patterns consistent with a beating. Logan Young died an accidental death. Somehow, it captured our attention when it appeared he had been the victim of a heinous crime. We jumped to conclusions because we wanted the facts to match our view of reality, even if our view might have been seriously distorted or flawed. We didn't even consider it might have been an accident. That would have been too simple and too innocent. We prefer drama.

This is the time every year in which the world remembers the death of another man, Jesus of Nazareth. Those in Jerusalem at the time jumped to their own varied conclusions. The religious leaders perceived the crucifixion as resolving his being a threat to their position. Pilate felt it was a case of being maneuvered into a corner with no easy exit strategy. The apostles probably understood it as a failure in their master's mission, which they struggled to grasp from the outset. But, the one on the cross knew it was for the redemption of the world from the death warrant of sin. It took time for the tears to dry and the truth to become evident. His death was not the conclusion of the matter. It was the preliminary to the greatest turn around creation has witnessed, the resurrection from the dead of the Son of God. The cross without the empty tomb is incomplete, an unfinished story of love. Otherwise, Easter would be simply just another Sunday and we would remain without hope.

Applicable quote of the day:
"It's impossible to reach good conclusions with bad information. We're all entitled to our own opinions but none of us can afford to be wrong in our facts."
Mort Crim
God bless,
Steve
Luke 18:1
http://www.hawleybooks.com/
E-mail me at steve@hawleybooks.com

Prayer And Thanks

I'll be leaving in the morning for a week in Kansas with Scott's and Dave's families. It has been a long week for me. It's rare that I feel bad but I struggled all week. Since I have never missed a day of teaching to sickness, I had to tough it out and today, I feel much better. Some of you know that I have been going through physical therapy the past six weeks for a rotator cuff injury in my left shoulder. The therapist, Nathan, who is terrific, says I have made tremendous progress and has recommended that I get eight more sessions, which has been approved by both the doctor and insurance company. I am ecstatic about the prognosis and the extra therapy but I've found out how time consuming the process is as well. My goal is to be back in the weight room by Christmas. Keep me in your prayers!

One of my eighth graders, Josh, lost his grandfather this past week. The funeral was today and he mentioned in his prayer request on Wednesday that his mom needed prayers. She was feeling stress from her role as coordinator of the funeral and trying to pull everything together. It brought back to me that this is our first holiday with neither Mom nor Dad alive. Even though Mom had not known us for years, it was still a comfort to know she would be there, wherever there happened to be, when I arrived from Houston. So, this Thanksgiving, I am especially thankful for the parents we had and the stability they brought to our lives in an unstable world. Please join me in praying for Josh's family.....and that I drive safely!

Applicable quote of the day:
"Thanksgiving, after all, is a word of action.''

W.J. Cameron

God bless,
Steve
Luke 18:1

http://www.hawleybooks.com/

E-mail me at steve@hawleybooks.com

Fame Factor

You have to know Aaron Durley to really appreciate him. One of the nicest kids I have ever met, Aaron has never has been caught up in the celebrity that followed him around. This entry is from November 16, 2006.

We heard he was coming weeks before he arrived. Aaron had become a celebrity at the Little League World Series for being the largest player in the storied history of the event. At 6'8", 256 pounds, and wearing a size 19 shoe, Aaron dwarfed all the players in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. Along with other boys with American parents who work in the oil industry in the Middle East, Aaron represented Saudi Arabia as a first baseman. His publicity stemming from the World Series even landed him as a guest on the Jimmy Kimmel late night show. His family had made contact with Westbury Christian last spring about Aaron moving in with his grandmother, a Houstonian, and attending WCS. When he enrolled, we had been in school for three weeks. I didn't know what to expect. Before I had heard about any connection with our school, I had used Aaron as an example of having to prove who you are by birth certificate; some would doubt that a young man of his stature could only be thirteen. What we have found in Aaron is a teenager, barely, who is unfailingly polite and unimpressed with the acclaim he has generated. He is an excellent Bible student and he acts as if he is just another kid with his fellow students reciprocating. If you did not know he was famous, you would not guess it by mere observation of the interaction with his peers. Yesterday, the local NBC affiliate came out and shot a feature on him which ran on last night's sports segment. I did not know it until I saw our school website tonight. Aaron made no big deal of it and neither did the other kids. That is the way it should be.

Aaron had another big day today: he got married. As I continue to practice for Saturday's wedding of Emily and Josh, I've rehearsed in my Bible classes. Today, it was the eighth graders turn. Anyone who wanted to be in the wedding party put their names in a hat and we drew for bride-groom-maid of honor-father of the bride-best man. Actually, I let the bride pull the groom's name and Destiny, the 3rd period bride, randomly chose Aaron. They made a contrasting couple. Destiny is five foot tall and you know about Aaron. (They made a cute couple but don't repeat that! You know how the middle school rumor mill works!) The ceremony lasts twenty-two minutes and something really impressed me. I knew Destiny could focus: girls focus better and are more into weddings. But Aaron concentrated for the entirety of the rites. He kept good eye contact and he absorbed the meaning of the stories and the vows. He enjoyed it, not because he was the center of attention, but because the concepts and values I spoke of typify his family as well. The references to marriage from the Biblical perspective rang true and he comprehended what I was trying to convey to Josh and Emily on their special day. When he walked out of Room 258 this morning, he complimented me on the wedding and I thanked him. Some kids are easy to like; Aaron falls into that category. Some are easy to respect; that class has a much smaller roll book. In a world where fame is coveted more than accomplishment, it would be easy to have your head turned by the glitter swirling around your head, even if it is a great distance from the floor. In the NBC interview, after responding to the reporter with "Yes, sir," Aaron describes himself as a kid, a big kid, which is exactly where he should be in his life. That is no accident. His family has him well-grounded and prepared for the road ahead. It is a path that leads to excellence. There is only one question remaining in this saga: will his parents like Destiny?

Applicable quote of the day:
"I stopped believing in Santa Claus when my mother took me to see him in a department store and he asked me for my autograph."
Shirley Temple

God bless,
Steve
Luke 18:1

http://www.hawleybooks.com/

E-mail me at steve@hawleybooks.com

Family Affair

Life changed for me when my folks died in a variety of ways. Holidays were always spent in St. Louis with my parents. Mom and Dad had a great number of friends and this is about two of them who did so much for our family in the last several years Roger and Nelda Hawley walked the earth. This is from December 31, 2006.

I rarely go to weddings. I should clarify that statement by adding I rarely go to weddings in which I am not the minister; they make me nervous. But today I was present as a couple exchanged their marital vows. It was not your typical, run-of-the-mill wedding. There was no bevy of bridesmaids in matching dresses or groomsmen lined up in tuxes. There was not a flower girl or a ring bearer in sight. There were no candles lit and no grand entrance to Here Comes The Bride. And, as soon as the bride and groom had been introduced as husband and wife...they sat down. You see, this marriage ceremony took place in the middle of Sunday morning worship service. Mike and Susan, friends of my parents, recently became engaged and informed Wade, the minister of their congregation, they would like to tie the knot on a Sunday. That sounded good to Wade. Then, they added it would be great if they could be married with their church family in attendance. Wade agreed that it was a marvelous idea and so after the sermon this morning, we had a wedding. A reading, a hymn, the vows, and the most unique wedding I have witnessed was official. Mike and Susan rejoined the other worshippers, we remembered the sacrifice of Jesus in our taking of the Lord's Supper, several hundred voices beautifully sang The Greatest Commands, my dad gave the blessing of the elders to the church and the newlyweds, and the congregation retired to a classroom for a punch and cake reception. No rice/bird seed and no garters/bouquets were tossed when Mike and Susan walked out of the church building for the first time as a family unit but those would have seemed out of place. Those are time-honored traditions but these nuptials were non-traditional. Then again, this might have been the most traditional wedding I have ever observed.

Did you know that the word wife is mentioned in scripture before the bride-elect of Adam, the stunning I presume Eve, is even named? As Christians, we are constantly reminded of the importance God places on the family. We hear explanations of Jesus' parables that revolve around wedding themes. The concept of the church being the bride of Christ is frequently reinforced. And, we recall the signs of Jesus commenced at a wedding where six vats of water turned into six vats of the finest wine. So what could be more natural, and Biblical, than for a Christian couple to formally declare their love for each other in the sight of their Christian brothers and sisters? Look, I have preached a number of weddings and I enjoy being part of an elaborate ceremony with elegant decorations and limousines. In every wedding I have officiated, the Lord's teachings have dominated the service. But today, I saw a wedding in its most simple and pure form. The couple was blessed, the congregation was edified, the Lord was praised, and there was no rice to sweep up. What could be better than that?

Applicable quote of the day:
"Goin' to the chapel
And we're gonna get married..."
The Dixie Cups/ 1964

God bless,
Steve
Luke 18:1
www.hawleybooks.com
E-mail me at steve@hawleybooks.com

My Grandparents (Mike White)

Mike White is a great friend of mine who has written entries for me before. Mike has been to Honduras with me and is our Director Of Guidance at WCS. Pictured above are Mike with wife Jennifer, daughter Madison, and son Drew. Mike wrote this in response to my student takes on The One.

My grandparents were married for 54 years when my grandmother passed away. She was 69 when she died and had been sick for a long time. She had diabetes and because of gangrene, had both legs amputated below the knee. I can remember my grandmother telling us that she could still feel her feet itching even though they were not there. That did not make sense to me, and to an extent still does not. I now know that she was talking about a psychological phenomenon. The summer after she died, I spent a week with my grandfather. Grandpa White was an amazing man. I look up to him to this day. I don’t know if I have ever known someone to have the kind of character and virtue that my grandfather possessed. I will never forget him telling me that at night he would still reach over to feel Grandma near him and would be disappointed every time. I think he felt the same way Grandma did with her “itching feet.” It was as if someone had physically removed a part of his body. To me, that is what marriage is all about. In Genesis, the author refers to marriage as two becoming one. I am a witness to that through my grandparents’ marriage. I hope that if the Lord allows me to live long enough to have grandchildren, they will see that same commitment in Jennifer and I. That is truly a legacy.

God bless,
Steve
Luke 18:1
www.hawleybooks.com
E-mail me at steve@hawleybooks.com

Waiting On Perfection (Tammy Farris)

Tammy Farris is one of my favorite people. Tammy, who works with me at WCS, is versatile enough to teach three year olds now but also to have taught calculus to high school kids. In both arenas, she has excelled. Pictured above with Tammy are husband, Casey, (head of our lower school) and children, Lilly and Will. Her thoughts below are tremendous.

Tuesday nights are precious to me. It is the night that I leave the cares of teaching 3 year olds behind. It is the night when my husband graciously feeds and puts the children to bed so that I may attend, with a couple thousand other women, Beth Moore’s Bible study on Revelation. Usually, as part of my evening out, I enjoy a special coffee as a treat, for the caffeine and because I have to spend time in Galleria traffic (My fellow Houstonians will understand). This past Tuesday I chose to pass Starbucks, as I was in a hurry, and gave into the notion that a fast food drive-thru would give me an Iced Mocha somewhat, well, faster. I was wrong. I believe I entered the drive-thru at 4:30. I received my Iced Mocha at approximately 4:47. Now I am a person who has been called patient, but I about lost my religion as the following thoughts rambled in my head: “This is ridiculous!”, “How hard is it to make a burger and throw it into a bag?”, “This whole take your order at the window thing is not a good idea.”, “I’m going to have to speak to the manager and whip this whole process into shape!”, “What did these people in front of me order?!!”, “Couldn’t they just make my iced mocha and bring it to my car ahead of the slowpokes?”, “I should have gone to Starbucks.”

With each minute I thought I would leave, just drive off, and make a statement of dissatisfaction with the screeching of my tires. And then, it happened. It was finally my turn. I expected my drink to be sitting there waiting for me and just when I was about to go into orbit I witnessed my Iced Mocha being freshly poured. The coffee and the chocolate syrup were blending melodiously. Then, this nice man got a spoon and gently stirred; paying careful attention to scrape the chocolate off the sides and dissolve what had collected on the bottom. He swirled the whip cream into a perfect mountain and took great care to drizzle the chocolate syrup in art-like fashion. As he handed it to me I sunk in my seat a little and managed a humble, “Thank You.” Then, it was just me and the Iced Mocha. If the thing had had eyes, it would have been glaring at me. If it had had a voice it would have said, “Uh-huh! You had no idea the perfection that was waiting for you.” I’ve thought since then that if I had only known the care that was being given to my order I would not have been so ugly in my thoughts. I would have had a little more patience in my waiting. Romans 8:23-25 says, “…We ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.” Waiting is difficult. I’m anxious for home, for heaven, for my Savior to come and lift me up. On a much smaller scale, I was anxious while waiting for my Iced Mocha. I only continued to wait because I had had a taste of what an Iced Mocha is like. I praise my Father who has given us, even on this puny earth, a taste of His grace, His mercy, His love, His glory. So, I will wait... eagerly …patiently. And while I am waiting, I will worship. I will serve. I will love. I will endure. I will NOT threaten to go to the competition! For though I have a taste of what awaits, I truly cannot comprehend the perfection that is being prepared for me (I Cor 2:9). While I am waiting God is making perfect my inheritance. He has, since the beginning of time, paid attention to every minute detail. And while it is somewhat debatable whether or not a $3 Iced Mocha is worth a 17-minute wait, there’s no question, no doubt in my mind that heaven- Jesus- will be worth it all!

God bless,
Steve
Luke 18:1

www.hawleybooks.com

E-mail me at steve@hawleybooks.com

Without The Other

I mentioned to several people today that this date was meaningful in American history. No one I spoke to knew that fifty years ago today, one of the most brutal and senseless killings in American history took place in Holcomb, Kansas. In a botched robbery, the four members of the Herb Clutter family were slaughtered in their farmhouse by two ex convicts. The story would have been forgotten by the rest of the country had not Truman Capote saw the short news blurb in the New York Times and decided it would be the subject of his next work. The book, In Cold Blood, was a chilling step-by-step account of the killings, the police investigation, and the subsequent execution of Richard Hickok and Perry Smith. The following entry, from July 29, 2007, centers on the writing of the most famous crime account in our culture.

Baseball greats Tony Gwynn and Cal Ripken took their place with legends today as they were inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Class acts as well as amazing players, the duo embodies what baseball holds up as its best. A headline on a sports website stated that Ripken and Gwynn are forever linked with their enshrinement. In an era where players are lured to new cities and teams by more money, Ripken and Gwynn remained with their own organizations the duration of their careers. Their names were in the spotlight for on the field accomplishments, never off the field escapades. Their kind seems an endangered species.

Two days ago, I finished a wonderful biography by Charles J. Shields. Mockingbird: A Portrait Of Harper Lee tells the story of the woman who penned To Kill A Mockingbird.....and never published another novel. The tale of Harper is woven with her childhood neighbor, fellow author Truman Capote, whose fame would eclipse Lee's. It was as if the life of one illuminated the life of the other. Capote, the inspiration of the character, Dill, in Lee's classic, was an abandoned child. Lee, whose observations of small town Alabama life became a staple in American schools, had an emotionally distant mother but a loving father, the embodiment of her book's Atticus Finch. Capote became acclaimed with his chilling best seller, In Cold Blood, detailing the horrific murders of the Clutter family on their Kansas farm. But In Cold Blood might not have achieved its success without the research of Harper, who accompanied Capote to Kansas and eased tensions with the local citizens. Even the villages the books center around (Monroeville, ie Maycomb, Alabama and Holcomb, Kansas) are tied together as tragedies create upheaval in rural America. Shields leads readers to question if either Capote or Lee would have become famous without the influence of the other. Harper Lee, still living in her hometown, gives no interviews. We'll just have to wonder.

School starts for me in two weeks. I haven't thought of lesson plans but I know where my eighth and tenth grade Bible classes will begin: the relationship between John the Baptist and Jesus. The two are linked eternally by the mission of John, fulfilled in the ministry of his relative/Son of God. The life of Christ is so much more easily explained with the narrative of the wilderness prophet. Both were born miraculously after angelic pronouncements and both die at the hands of government officials on charges not worthy of the light of day. But John's message of the coming Savior prepared the hearts of the people for the one they had longed to see. In one of the best tongue-twisters in the Bible, the Baptist describes Jesus in the sixteenth verse of John 1:
John testifies concerning him. He cries out saying, ''This was he of whom I said, 'He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.' ''
John brought Jesus to the attention of the masses. Jesus delivered grace to a humanity in dire need of a messiah. That's a pretty strong connection. Tony Gwynn and Cal Ripken are now Hall Of Famers while Harper Lee and Truman Capote raked in awards and money for their efforts. But the best link of all is the one that helped break the chain of slavery to sin. John the Baptist and Jesus; a team for the ages.

Applicable quote of the day:
"Remember these two things: play hard and have fun."
Tony Gwynn (San Diego Padres)

Here is a very good curent article about the Clutter family killings.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2009/nov/16/truman-capote-in-cold-blood

God bless,
Steve
Luke 18:1
www.hawleybooks.com
E-mail me at steve@hawleybooks.com