The Alternative

 

The Alternative

Sometimes it's easy for me to write and sometimes, it's not. I have a number of partially written devotionals in my files but I can't quite make them come together. The following is along that line and centers on a story that did not turn out the way I expected. It is from February 5, 2007.

I started this entry some time ago. It was supposed to be about a Christmas present but it just wouldn't flow. It sounded good in my mind but looked weak on the computer screen. There was allegedly some spiritual point to be made but I couldn't make it. I was sure it was what the Lord wanted me to write about today but now I'm not so sure. I was positive I could make you smile and nod your head in agreement, and maybe even evoke a giggle. Since I can't force myself to grin, I bet you wouldn't either. Most of my devotionals center on something that happened in my world during my waking hours but it was a routine day at Westbury Christian School. All of my five classes had the same memory verse assignment to write out for a grade. It was Luke 12:15, the entry to the Parable of the Rich Fool:
"Then he (Jesus) said to them, 'Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.' "
We always discuss the scriptures as we review before transcribing them to paper. We talked about the death of James Brown, the Godfather of Soul who passed away several weeks ago and, at last report, has yet to be interred. I asked my students how much money they thought James Brown had made and they replied millions. Then, I wondered if any of them would change places with him now. Not surprisingly, there were no takers. When I inquired, the predictable answer was consistently, "He's dead." Maybe that's my thought for the day. We are susceptible to having average days, blown plans, interrupted projects, ineffective lessons, frustrations, and disconnected devotional story lines. But the reason is.....WE'RE ALIVE! We have today and maybe tomorrow and perhaps another after that one. Jesus told us the abundance of wealth can't define us. The cash and the accompanying fame lose their appeal when that line goes flat on the heart monitor. The dead are stuck: the living can change. It's not over yet. I feel good.

Applicable quote of the day:
"I tell my wife; You got plenty of time left. Don't live so fast. Slow down and live, and don't try to catch up."
James Brown


God bless,
Steve
Luke 18:1

Power Of Ten

 

Power Of Ten

I've found out when I'm in Vietnam that wedding dates are set by a complicated (to me) interaction of numbers! This is from October 10, 2010 and it's about marriage! 

I learned several things before worship services this morning. Watching one of those Sunday morning news shows, I discovered that October now has the second most number of American weddings, following June. That was surprising to me. But, the more intriguing fact I gleaned is that there will be an abnormal number of weddings today, three times the normal quantity. The reason was obvious when explained. It's the date: 10-10-10. Many couples have chosen October 10, 2010 simply because they think it's lucky. There was a similar uptick in weddings on July 7, 2007, or 7-7-7. We as a culture are superstitious with numbers- there is no thirteenth floor in my dentist's building- although it seems to me from my two trips to China they are more so, avoiding the number 4 because it sounds like the word for death. I do think getting married on 10-10-10 would help some husbands remember their anniversary but I hope these couples are basing their marital futures on more than a lucky lottery combination. Our minister, David Yasko, this morning used some statistics in his lesson. One of the most compelling was, and I hope I'm quoting this accurately, is that there are more divorces in the US than in the rest of the world combined. As do all teachers, I deal with the collateral damage of divorce in the classroom: the children. I wish the percentage of successful marriages performed today would be the same as the mathematically cubed date or 10 x 10 x 10 or 10 to the third power or 1000%. I'm not holding my breath but I bet Adam did when he saw Eve, the woman God made from him and for him.Wedding planning was so much simpler then; no bridesmaid dresses (or bridesmaids!), no in-laws, no caterers or photographers or florists, and no expensive reception! Oh yeah, one other thing; no calendar to pick a lucky date. I think the Lord took care of that detail.

Applicable of the day:
"The real act of marriage takes place in the heart, not in the ballroom or church or synagogue. It's a choice you make / not just on your wedding day, but over and over again / and that choice is reflected in the way you treat your husband or wife."
Barbara De Angelis

*The picture of the bride and groom is from the website at http://www.latourelle.com/ *

God bless,
Steve
Luke 18:1

The Boy In The Box And The Bigger Picture

 

The Boy In The Box And The Bigger Picture

A little bit of Hawley history tonight! This is from March 15, 2018.

I'm on Spring Break and looking for something to write about tonight. With a little extra time on my hands, I went scrolling through some old pictures and came upon this one. My guess is that my Grandpa Hawley took it because he took most of the old photos we have. Also, Dad is in the shot as is Mom, who I never saw hold a camera in her life. That's me in the apple box. Dave is in the right hand corner with eyes glued to the camera. (You may have to click on the picture to enlarge it and see Dave!) It's a church get together in Brooklyn, I know that much. I'm not sure the location but no furniture looks familiar so I don't think it was at the Hawley house. The only thing I'm relatively sure of is that I am four or less as that is when our family packed up and moved to the Great Plains, to the small town of York, Nebraska.

Well, truthfully, there are several other things I'm sure of as I look back at this snippet of time. One is that I know no one in the picture that I'm not related to. Dad was the preacher so I assume all the others were members of our congregation. There's more kids than grownups in the room which I believe is the harbinger of a strong future. I know the brothers and sisters dressed up more than we do these days. The adults are standing or sitting in chairs while the children are on the floor.... or in an apple box in one case!  No video games or phones are distracting anyone in the group. There's also only one song book in use so my assumption is that an old standard is being sung, something along the line of Hark, The Voice Of Jesus Calling or Lead Me To Some Soul Today. I grew up singing, just not singing very well.

But there are a few more telltale signs of personality I see in this long ago portrait. One is that Dad, who was BIG into being on time, is checking his watch while singing praises! Another is that Mom is wearing flowers while worshiping- we weren't rich but she did the best she could fashion-wise as a preacher's wife. Mom also was so happy when singing hymns, even when the Alzheimer's took the rest of her mind and you can see that glow on her face. Dave is looking directly into the lens of the camera and smiling. No surprise there as he is an extrovert without any traces of shyness. That leaves me, the king of the apple crate. I've never enjoyed having my picture taken and it showed up even at this tender age. I'm not looking away but I'm not thrilled, either. I've had very few posed pictures of myself that I've liked in my life although there are some spontaneous ones I'm content with. (It also looks like my eyes are brown but I assure you they are blue!) Why the seating accommodation? Who knows why that box would be in the living room in the first place but my thought is that I just beat the other kids to the spot.  Something about boys and boxes!

If I would poll my reading audience tonight, I think a number of you, maybe most, would consider this entry boring, trivial minutia which is a redundancy if there ever was one. My point would be that too often we don't get past the surface of things. I find my students, the ones who have learned the Scriptures before, have never really dug into the stories which make up the Gospels. There is so much more that render the parables understandable, the characters sympathetic in some cases and jerks in others, and lets the miracles come alive in more than just the physical resurrection of Lazarus. I'm constantly amazed when I teach by what I haven't seen before, a detail or observation which clarifies situations and missions. I could see stuff in that picture that you wouldn't the way the apostles would have insights which we haven't fathomed. But it doesn't happen by osmosis. We have to search and ponder and search again. Our view changes and deepens when we move past the apple box perspective of a four year old child. At least, we should hope it does.

Applicable quote of the day:
“A photograph is usually looked at- seldom looked into.” 
 Ansel Adams

God bless,
Steve
Luke 18:1

The Chase

 

The Chase

We try to make our practices innovative. This is from February 13, 2014.

Here are a number of our pictures of practice from Monday, courtesy of team mom extraordinaire, Lisa Berglund. Even though our season is over in that we are playing no more games, we still work out together first period every day until the end of the school year in May. In the Spring, I really try to focus the kids on two aspects of the game; offensive skill development and learning how to compete/strategize/win and the second is more difficult than the first. I heard a great coach once say that boys play too much and drill too little and girls drill too much and play too little. I agree but would likely change his use of the word play to compete. Although we rarely talk about winning and losing in regards to our games with other schools, I know that if players do not hate to lose, they probably will be relegated to the average zone for the remainder of their athletic careers. Losing gracefully and learning from the experience, that's another blog for another day.

One thing we do everyday in the Spring is have a tournament and post the results on the locker room door. I use online printable brackets and let the kids seed themselves 1-12. They are honest and do a good job and we can complete most of these mini-tourneys in fifteen minutes. Sometimes, we do timed skills and post the rankings. For example, yesterday, it was Left Elbow Shots One Minute. Believe me, writing everything they do down greatly enhances the concentration factor! One type of game we have incorporated is chase drills. We put four cones in a square at equal distances with a player/ball at opposite cones. They chase each other until one catches the other or one loses control of their dribble. We have separate tournaments for right and left hands.... and today we did it with two ball dribbling, a contest won by Chelley. Early this week, we divided the kids into four balanced teams of three players each to do the chase. The game was the same with the exception of having two players from two teams involved. Each game lasted until there was only one player or one color left. (Each team had to sit a player out but no player could sit out consecutive games.) It was a great test of going as hard as possible while maintaining possession of the ball and remember, players never dribble for thirty/forty seconds consecutively in a game. You can see some of the game footage above. The red team won the single elimination tournament.

As this team chase progressed, we found a dilemma I had not thought of: do you pass your own teammate? If you knock an opponent out, the next person in front is a girl with the same color jersey. I saw they were reluctant to pass their team members even though it was for the best because it was slowing them down and hurting their chance to win. You'll notice in several of the pictures that we are discussing the best options to come out on top. We decided that the best thing to do is for the slower teammate to drop out. But that goes against everything we teach in sports; you know, NEVER QUIT! But what if it's for the best to sacrifice one player for the benefit of the team? Can you justify that line of reasoning? Is that a legitimate and fair strategy? Sports and ethics sometimes are separated or conjoined by fuzzy lines. I once had a parent of a player of mine, a man who had played and whom I greatly respect, tell me it was wrong to intentionally foul when behind because it is willfully breaking the rules of the game. I did not agree but I had to admit I had never looked at it like that.

On our Test #3 yesterday in all of my classes, the students had to recite this quotation from John the Baptist about Jesus taken from John, chapter 3 and verse 30:
He must become greater; I must become less.
Of course, John knew he was the forerunner of the Savior and not the Christ himself but it must have been tempting to try and supplant Jesus when he had such a large following himself. John even spoke about it in the context of a wedding. I asked the kids if they could conceive of a scene where at the altar, the bride tells the groom he should marry her maid of honor because she would be a better wife/mother and give him a greater chance of happiness. They thought that was pretty funny and yet that is not so far from what John did willingly and prophetically. We're not good at that kind of sacrifice- I'm not good at that kind of sacrifice. I wish I was but at least my players are getting better at it. One dribble at a time. One cone at a time. One tournament at a time. One unselfish act at a time.

Applicable quote of the day, # 1:
"It's funny - nowadays people that are famous get chased by paparazzi. They have this fame, but they don't have the money to hide from it."

Matt LeBlanc

Applicable quote of the day, # 2:
"I am a member of a team, and I rely on the team, I defer to it and sacrifice for it, because the team, not the individual, is the ultimate champion."

Mia Hamm

God bless,
Steve
Luke 18:1

Love Thy Neighbor

 

Love Thy Neighbor

In America, we love our heroes! But, not all heroes become famous, even in this media driven culture of ours. Several weeks ago, my students quizzed over Luke 10, the parable of the Good Samaritan. It brought to mind this entry, from 1-3-06, based on a trip to St. Louis to see my folks. I know you will see the same heroic characteristics in Stephen Koch as others have.

A very loud siren sounded about 5:15 this morning. Stormy weather coupled with a siren is never good news. I flipped on the television and all the stations were running the familiar streamer at the bottom of the screen: St. Louis and St. Louis County remain under a tornado watch until 5:45 a.m. Most alarms turn out to be false so I climbed back under the covers and returned to nocturnal bliss.

There was a wonderful story in today's St. Louis Post-Dispatch. On December 1st, a pre-dawn fire broke out in a Wentzville subdivision. A neighbor, alerted by his barking dog and clad only in shorts, t-shirt, and socks, raced back and forth between the affected houses to warn the families of the danger. Everyone was able to evacuate safely. What was unique about this story was not the fire but the man sounding the alarm. Stephen Koch survived Hodgkin's disease as a teen, has a regenerating spinal tumor, and in mid-November suffered a major heart attack. Barely able to climb stairs, Koch put the welfare of his fellow man before his own health. Returning to his home after his early morning Paul Revere imitation, Stephen Koch collapsed on his back porch. Rushed to the hospital, the diagnosis was this Good Samaritan, besides enduring minor burns, had suffered yet another major heart attack! As he has made a habit of in his forty-two years, Koch survived and achieved hero status in his community. Last week, the mayor of Wentzville recognized Koch in a special ceremony with these words: "His actions were truly heroic. His commitment to life and to his neighbors and to the safety of others is exemplary." Let me rephrase the good mayor's proclamation in my own diction: I wish that guy was my neighbor! But I can get even closer to the heart of the matter: I wish I was as good a neighbor as that guy!

When asked the greatest commandments, Jesus summarized the law succinctly by stating "Love the Lord" and "Love your neighbor." The religious world does not always validate its beliefs by its practices. In 1965, Barry McGuire indicted many in his protest anthem, Eve of Destruction, with the line, "hate your next door neighbor BUT DON'T FORGET TO SAY GRACE!" It's hard to believe anyone could fulfill the teachings of Jesus more ably than Stephen Koch did that December morning. He viewed his neighborly duty as being a human siren. That's not always easy to do. We might willingly fix a flat tire but we are hesitant to interfere with other people's business. In Ezekiel, the Lord exclaims that watchmen who don't warn of danger will be held accountable for resultant bloodshed. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus does not teach it's wrong to remove specks from brothers' eyes- he tells us to remove the plank from our eye first so we'll have the capacity to help our brother. Part of Christian living is holding each other accountable. In coaching, an extra set of eyes can be invaluable. I used to ask opposing coaches for the scouting report on my high school team because I tend to get blinded to our tendencies. In the same way, perhaps I can't see what is going on in my own life. Maybe my spiritual house is burning down and I'm asleep. If I am blessed, the Lord will send a Stephen Koch to wake me up! I hope so- I'm a pretty sound sleeper!

Applicable quote of the day:
"Your own safety is at stake when your neighbor's house is in flames."
Horace

God bless,
Steve
Luke 18:1

Sixteen To One

 

Sixteen To One

March Madness has begun again and the crowds are back! This is from March 19, 2018.
As I've mentioned, we were just on Spring Break which almost always MAGICALLY coincides with the first week of the NCAA Men's Basketball tournament! During the regular season, I don't watch but the coach in me wakes up from dormancy to catch as many games as I can. I should qualify that last statement. Since I don't have cable or a satellite dish, I'm limited to games that are on CBS. Three days ago, which was Friday, March 16th, I was driving to my nearby fitness center shortly after lunch to get in my afternoon workout. One of the local sports' talk stations, I believe 610 AM, was in the middle of a discussion between three on air personalities. The question was:
"Which is most likely to happen first? A baseball player batting higher than .406, a baseball player going on a 57 game hitting streak, or a 16 seed knocking out a 1 seed in the NCAA tourney?"
If you know your (American ) sports, you know that Ted Williams was the last big leaguer to hit .400 in 1941 and Joe DiMaggio went 56 consecutive contests with at least one hit, also in 1941. Both of those feats have been accomplished, one of the radio announcers mentioned, but a #16 has never beaten a #1 seed since the tournament expanded to sixty-four schools in 1985. I think they spoke of it being a matter of time but the streak was thirty-three years old and the number ones had a record of 135-o versus the sixteens. Maybe it would go on another thirty-three years.... or more! But if you watched at all, you know that streak would be history in a matter of hours as UMBC, a 16 seed, clobbered the overall #1 seed, Virginia. It was a twenty point beat-down with the Retrievers leading by double digits the last seventeen minutes of the game. Most folks' brackets were busted but I don't think most cared. To love sports is to love the concept of the upset and UMCB redefined the word. 

I have to admit, when I first saw the score at halftime, I had to google UMBC. I was pretty sure it was in Michigan/Montana/Missouri/Maryland/Maine/Massachusetts/Mississippi/Minnesota as they are the eight states beginning with M. Turns out UMBC means University of Maryland, Baltimore County. It's only been a college since 1966 and is more prominently known as a collegiate chess powerhouse. Not anymore! My guess is that alumni giving and donations in general will skyrocket in the coming weeks and months! Winning big athletic events pays dividends in a multitude of ways. Without a doubt, applications from high school seniors will spike and the sale of UMBC gear will go through the roof. The school will be googled on a high volume basis, just like I've done several times already. Life has begun changing for UMBC and I hope it will be the most positive change imaginable!

When I ask students to define miracle, they struggle. They give examples- raising the dead, walking on water- but more often than not, they simply tell me things that are overwhelmingly improbable. Flipping a coin and calling it right five thousand times in a row falls into that category but they can't tell me the point where it crosses the line to impossibility. People describe sporting events as almost having divine intervention; remember The Miracle On Ice in the 1980 Winter Olympics? Highly improbable- sure. Unfathomable- maybe. We are very casual with the way we use miraculous and I'm not saying it's bad. I think one  thing that makes life precious and exciting is its unpredictable nature. Good news out of the blue. The unexpected call from a friend we haven't heard from in years. This afternoon, one of my colleagues, Cindi, came by and showed me a document about a reunion from her parents' church in Michigan discovered when going through some old stuff. In the opening paragraph, it was stated that my Great Uncle Wesley, Grandpa Hawley's brother, had been a founder of their congregation. I've known Cindi, her husband, and three kids, who have all been my students, for a dozen years and had no idea our families were connected. That news was the highlight of my day. It came out of nowhere but it made me smile and reminisce. It was not miraculous but it was unforeseen. It wasn't supernatural but I never could have seen it coming. It was just a small interaction reinforcing to me that our lives are much more than our current state of  affairs. We matter in ways we can't begin to comprehend to people who don't know we exist. What seemingly random bit of human nature will delight us tomorrow? Who knows? We got excited about a basketball team we'd never heard of and even though the clock struck midnight Sunday for UMBC versus Kansas State, this Cinderella squad had a ball. And in the process, so did we.

Applicable quote of the day:
Miracles are a retelling in small letters of the very same story which is written across the whole world in letters too large for some of us to see. 
C. S. Lewis

God bless,
Steve
Luke 18:1

PBS And Prophecy

 

PBS And Prophecy

Don McLean
Several years ago, I watched a VH1 Behind The Music episode on YouTube about the death of Buddy Holly/Richie Valens/The Big Bopper. Don McLean was interviewed about his tribute to Buddy Holly, American Pie. I knew the song's catch phrase was taken from Holly's hit, That'll Be The Day (That I Die). I didn't know McLean did not specifically dedicate the song to Holly but he did the album and people added up the clues. The following is from January 22, 2006 and is an insight into one of the best songs ever and the fame of McLean which was kept from him for a time

It's fundraising time for the Public Broadcasting Service. That's bad news and good news. The bad news is the programming is interrupted every half hour with pleas for funds, the lifeblood of PBS. The good news is the airing of shows I like during the telethon efforts. Last night's offering was a remembrance of John Denver. One contemporary musician made a great point in the piece. He said there are four or five songs you consistently hear at weddings and two of them were written by Denver. Although not mentioned by name, one is Follow Me. The other wedding standard is Annie's Song, composed in honor of Denver's wife shortly after the couple reconciled from a separation. Annie Denver was interviewed for the special and commented on the song forever linked to her. She mentioned hearing Annie's Song played by strolling violinists in Venice and as elevator music in Japan. The most meaningful rendition the real-life Annie remembers came at the wedding of their daughter. Annie Denver also noted that as the song evolved into a classic, she no longer associated it with herself; it became its own entity.

A year before Annie's Song scored big on the radio charts, Roberta Flack had tremendous success with Killing Me Softly (With His Song.) The song was based on a poem written by unknown folksinger Lori Lieberman who went to see an unknown Don McLean perform at a Los Angeles club. She was blown away by her impressions of the artist who gave us American Pie. Lieberman gave her poetry to song writers who changed it into musical form. She recorded Killing Me Softly but it went nowhere. Several years later on a flight from LA to New York, Flack noticed Lieberman's version on a TWA in-flight entertainment play list and listened on headphones. Instantly falling in love with the ballad, Flack contacted famed producer Quincy Jones who arranged for Roberta to record Killing Me Softly. The result: two Grammy awards for Flack in the categories of Record of the Year and Best Pop Vocal. Not that it matters historically, it was also one of my all-time favorites. I even had Deb Schark buy the album for me- but that is another story.

I can't imagine what it would feel like to have a hit written in your honor, immortalizing your life. There is an interesting note to the Killing Me Softly tribute to Don McLean. When it became the number one record in the US, a friend called McLean and told him he was the subject of the song. He was stunned- he had no idea there was any connection! Part of studying the New Testament is studying Old Testament prophecies and their fulfillment. Isaiah had spoken of the coming work of John the Baptist. Did John know Isaiah was speaking of him directly or that he was the Elijah the Israelites were waiting for? Jesus told the crowds that John was mentioned by Malachi- was John aware of the significance of that verse? Several times, Jesus spoke of prophecies in relation to himself and how they were in the process of coming to pass. But Jesus also told about prophecy that should give us pause. In Mark 7:6, the Lord issues a scathing indictment of hypocritical religious leaders for acting as if they loved God while in reality, their worship was meaningless. Jesus quotes a stinging rebuke from Isaiah and told the Pharisees the words were written about them! That would scare me to death, to think I was the fulfillment of a prophecy of condemnation! The Bible is filled with glimpses of what will happen at the end of time when there will be a separation of good and evil. The scriptures define the sets of those who do God's will and those who do not. Which were written to apply to you and to me? McLean was shocked when he found out what lyrics had been penned about himself. Jesus tells us many will also be shocked on the last day. Will we be in the number confused at their final destination? The apostle John tells us in his first epistle that we can be confident of salvation! That's a good enough assurance for me- I don't like surprises!


Applicable quote of the day:
"Whatever meaning Annie's Song had for me on a personal level, there was also a larger context. It could just as easily been about love for a brother or a father or a friend. It could just as easily have been a prayer." 
John Denver


PS: There is a sad footnote. In spite of the success of the beautiful Annie's Song, Mr. and Mrs. John Denver divorced in the 1980's.


God bless,
Steve
Luke 18:1