“I am part of the fastest growing demographic in the United States,” writes Miriam Neff in CT. “Who are we? We are the invisible among you — the widows.”
She includes this very helpful “Please Do, and Please Don’t” list:
1. Please do stay connected. Do not assume we need “space” to grieve. There is already a huge hole in our universe.
2. Please do say you are sorry for our loss. Do not tell us you understand, unless you do from personally experiencing the loss of a spouse. . . .
3. Please call and ask specific questions, such as “Can we go for a walk together? May I run errands for you? Meet you for coffee?” Do not say, “Call me if you need anything.”
4. Please refer to our husband’s acts and words, both serious and humorous.
5. Please invite us to anything. We may decline but will appreciate being asked. Do not assume we no longer want to participate in couples events.
6. Please accept that we are where we are. . . . Our experiences are so different, as are we. So are our journeys through grief. Do not assume we go through the grief process “by the book.”
7. Do say, “I’ve been thinking of you” rather than make a conversation-only offer, such as “We’ll call you, and we’ll go out to dinner” — unless you can follow up. We’d love that, too.
If you picked all four #1 teams to get to the final four — well, you did well! I picked UNC to take it all. I still like that pick. Sure would have liked for Davidson to hit one more three at the end against Kansas!
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I had a wonderful, quick trip to Pepperdine last week to speak in convocation with my sister-in-law Pam. I was once again impressed by the number of students there who have a passion for God’s mission in this world. I hated to miss the Tulsa workshop, though I sat it out as part of my attempt to regain sanity in my life — but I heard from my parents that it was strong.
This whole granddad thing is working for me. Some of you remember when this blog was about more than my granddaughter (significant things like guacamole, how to throw a two-seam fastball, etc.), but it’s been a while. This week I’m planning to discuss two very different books: one about Duane Allman (of the Allman Brothers Band) and one by N. T. Wright (of course!).
For now, here are a few pictures with the birthday girl.
Happy birthday to this precious little girl! Three months ago she lived in Houston; two months ago in Guatemala; one month ago in Peru; now in Abilene; and soon in Durham, NC.
“One of the greatest problems of the Western church, ever since the Reformation at least, is that it hasn’t really known what the gospels were there for. Imagining that the point of Christianity was to enable people to go to heaven, most Western Christians supposed that the mechanism by which this happened was the one they found in the writings of Paul . . . and that the four gospels were simply there to give backup information about Jesus, his teaching, his moral example, and his atoning death. This long tradition screened out the possibility that when Jesus spoke of God’s kingdom, he was talking not about a heaven for which he was preparing his followers but about something that was happening in and on this earth, through his work, then through his death and resurrection, and then through the Spirit-led work to which they would be called.” - N. T. Wright
It was a Duke Day.
Not only did they annihilate #15 Belmont (71-70) . . . but we found out that Matt, Jenna, and Reese will be moving to North Carolina, where Matt will be doing his residency in internal medicine at Duke.
HERE are a few pics from match day.
Matt last lived there when he was two years old. I was preaching for the Pine Valley Church in Wilmington. We have a great memory of our visit to Duke and to the Cole Mill Road Church in Durham.
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Don’t miss Garrison Keillor’s “A Pagan’s Thoughts at Eastertide.”
Ten years ago this month, fourteen of us climbed to the top of Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, East Africa.
Here is what remains of that trip — beyond just incredible memories.
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Today we’re in Houston for “Match Day.” We’ll know at 11:00 a.m. where our granddaughter will live for the next 3-7 years!
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Counting down to Easter morning . . . .
I know you’re anxiously waiting for picks from blog central before placing your office bets.
So, here they are:
UNC
Kansas
Texas
Duke
UNC
Texas
UNC
Note: never trust the picks of someone who puts his three favorite teams — Duke, Texas, UNC (in that order) — in the Final Four.)
A friend of mine saw an 84-year-old patient and asked her how she was doing. “I’m a bit sad today,” she said. “It’s the anniversary of my daughter’s death.”
He immediately imagined what it must be have been like for her to lose her adult daughter. He wondered if this daughter had her own children and perhaps grandchildren.
“I’m so sorry. How long ago did she pass away?”
“Sixty-two years ago,” the woman replied.
Yes, grief is like that. She’d never forgotten that precious three year old who’d been struck by a disease that today could have been treated routinely.
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“Every Sunday I preach to at least three people who are dying of something. My general rule of thumb is this: any sermon I preach has to be worth the time they are giving to it.” Barbara Brown Taylor
The old Seven Wonders of the World were:
Great Pyramid of Giza
Hanging Gardens of Babylon
Statue of Zeus at Olympia
Temple of Artemis at Ephesus
Mausoleum of Maussollos at Halicarnassus
Colossus of Rhodes
Lighthouse of Alexandria
Last summer the New Seven Wonders of the World were announced. They are:
Great Wall of China
Petra
Christ the Redeemer Statue (Rio de Janeiro)
Machu Picchu
Chichen Itza
Colosseum
Taj Mahal
So . . . based on beautiful things you’ve seen (built by people) . . . what would the 8th wonder of the world be?
We might note that if the things God made were included (Grand Canyon, Everest, Caribbean, etc.) NONE of these would be on the list! But we’re excluding God here as an artist/designer/architect.
Outside of things he made, what would be the 8th wonder?
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Don’t miss this editorial by Greg Taylor on Churches of Christ and restoration.
We’re back from a wonderful week in Peru. Matt, Jenna, and Reese lived there for a month while Matt did a rotation on tropical medicine. Diane and I met them in Cuzco, where we all holed up in a hostel.
Then Matt and I set out on one of the most challenging and breath-taking hikes of my life. We did the four-day Inca Trail to Machu Picchu, which has recently been named one of the new Seven Wonders of the World. Up and down the Andes for four days. Can you imagine? I bet we didn’t take 50 level steps. Even though I made it fine, I felt like a guy who’s 51! (Let me add this: as I continue to age, I think I like the IDEA of staying in a tent much more than I like actually SLEEPING in a tent.)
Diane, Jenna, and Reese stayed in Cuzco for a couple days, then took a train to Aguas Calientes, and then a bus on up to Machu Picchu to meet us on our final day of hiking. Here are a few pics.
