Florida’s glorious springtime and Palm Sunday

The view from our back porch this morning

Spring time in Florida is beautiful. I love throwing open the French doors when I bring Rebekah her morning coffee, letting 65-degree air freshen up the house, and enjoying the wash of fresh color as so many flowers put on their best show at this time of the year.

It’s our last splurge of open-window air before we hit the long summer stretch of 24/7 air-conditioning and 99% humidity. Soon we’ll have to give Scout her summer hair-cut, check my supply of shorts and sandals, and say goodbye to jeans till we get the other side of Thanksgiving.

THANKFUL: I used to resent the summer here. I admit that I’ve been known to whine about the heat and long for some cool mountain air (and, if we have a repeat of last week’s AC emergency, I’m sure I’ll be complaining again…). But I’m really not sure I could pull off that level of self-absorption any more. I certainly hope not.

The Church of the Resurrection - Jerusalem

You see, there’s been a shift in my foundational orientation toward temporary things – such as life, mortality, possessions and the world around me. And I believe it’s largely because of Lent and because of my commitment to more deliberately engage the meaning of Easter.

For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.” – 1 Corinthians 15:53-54

The value I’m attaching to ideas such as comfort and convenience has been seriously compromised, and there are – I believe – three explanations:

1. My brother Geoff’s recent journey to the end of his life.
2. Our pilgrimage to the Holy Lands and the progressive opening of my eyes.
3. The REACHING TOWARD EASTER initiative and how this ongoing study has continued to inform my personal journey.

My journey to Easter

PALM SUNDAY: And so tomorrow – Palm Sunday – kicks off the observance of Holy Week. There is no place to begin this stage of the journey to Easter other than at church, with a life-charged community of faith.

If you don’t have plans to attend somewhere else, I’d like to invite each one of you  to join us at the First Presbyterian Church of Brandon. We have two services, 8:30 and 11:00.

With Easter just another week ahead, I’d like to challenge everyone to be deliberate and focused through HOLY WEEK, starting with Palm Sunday. Make sure that you take in the gravity, the promise, the hope and the eternity that is bound up in the week-long Passion of Christ.

- DEREK

I declare to you, brothers and sisters, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.” 1 Corinthians 15:5–55

My new column for The Christian Voice

This morning I’m announcing a new project I’m involved with locally. Beginning this month, I’ll be writing a regular column for THE CHRISTIAN VOICE MONTHLY, a Tampa news-magazine owned by THE OSPREY OBSERVER. I’d like you to check the link and then let me know what you think.

NOTE – added Sunday April 1 - I have to start by pointing out my mistake (read “poor scholarship”)  with the Thoreau  ”quote” in this post… and also THE CHRISTIAN VOICE. I included what was, in effect, a hybrid quotation that combined Thoreau and Oliver Wendell Holmes. The misquote still works; I just have to get the attribution sorted out. Kudos to my friend Stormy for pointing this out. – DEREK

New column

Live Like You Mean It: “Let Your Song Find Its Voice”

By Derek Maul

Derek Maul has written columns for many news outlets, including the Tampa Tribune, The United Methodist News Service, All Pro Dad and FOCUS Magazine. His features have been published in Newsweek, USA Today, The Christian Science Monitor, Presbyterians Today, Guideposts, Chicken Soup for the Soul and many other publications.

Welcome to “Live Like You Mean It,” a new column about what it means to experience the fully engaged Christian life.

If I had to identify one filter through which I pour the majority of my writing, it would be the following passage from First Timothy: “Command [people] to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life” (6:18-19).

My primary interest as a columnist is this idea of “The life that is truly life.” However, having been around church since childhood, I have observed little widespread evidence of what Jesus describes as abundant life. “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full” (John 10:10).

This is an especially challenging question during the time known as “Lent,” the weeks leading up to the celebration of Easter. Jesus was willing to take a deliberate journey to Jerusalem, crystal clear in his heart and mind regarding what would happen when he arrived.

Surely Christ didn’t willingly go to the cross so that his followers could merely check “attend church” off their list before returning to uninspired lives of business as usual?

No, Jesus means to shake things up, and to disrupt the status quo.

In my latest book, 10 Life-Charged Words, being released in June 2012, I quote Henry David Thoreau’s lament concerning his belief that most people fall short when it comes to the life that is truly life. “The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation and go to the grave with the song still in them” (Walden, 1854).

My mission through writing is a positive response to the “live like we mean it” imperative. God wants us to experience a life defined by fullness. Life-charged people let their song find its voice.

Or expressed in another way, “The content of this column is about the process of Letting Life Loose.”

Published by THE OSPREY OBSERVER

my so-called normal life

Celebrating my birthday with the immediate family: l-r: Craig, David, Naomi, Andrew, Rebekah, Derek

This morning it appears that I pretty much have nothing to post. Essentially, I’ve determined it’s time to get back to my so-called “normal” life. What that means is:

Check my calendar… actually follow-up on some of my more routine assignments… begin to write the news articles I’ve been putting off for the past few weeks… finally get around to doing my taxes (maybe)… get on the phone and scare up some new work… schedule a round of golf (that’s more like it!)….

SURPRISE: I really didn’t expect to disengage with life so thoroughly. And I honestly didn’t know that I had, until I started the process of reentry and realized just how far I had wandered.

So – today – I’m going to ground myself in two things, and take it from there.

• First, my family. I know this sounds cliché but these past few weeks have done a lot in terms of helping me to understand the strength, the extent and the gravity of those ties. Our children – Andrew, Naomi and Craig – travelled so far and gave so much in order to simply be present. Their faithfulness blew me away. In some respects that simple act told me more than I ever thought I knew about what it means to be this family.
• Then, God’s Word. We talked about this at my small group Wednesday evening. Eric quoted my writing from REACHING TOWARD EASTER and we talked about what it might mean in our day-to-day lives. I’ll paste in the quote and let it speak for itself.

Jesus pointed to God’s Word as truth. The power of evil is resourceful; but God’s Word is a sword more than equal to the task. It is imperative that we immerse ourselves in truth so we are more than ready to take our stand when the time comes. How might you use scripture as the sword of truth today? – page 102

Foundation

So my plan is twofold: simplify and enjoy. I’m already well-grounded; I just need to live more consciously in the truth of what I already know.

Peace – DEREK

“How did we do?” – a conversation with 1959

Three-year-old Me; reaching out through time...

Yesterday I had lunch with my parents. Afterwards, and over a cup of tea (we also had a cup of tea before lunch… and one during lunch… and another one before I left), my mum pulled out some old family photo albums. Mostly, they were pictures from the 1950′s, when my folks were the same age that my children are today.

The air around the photo albums was heavy with memory. Not only memories but actual slices of hope, promise, and yearning. In some cases it was as if the images themselves participated in the dialogue, shared their thoughts about the life they led between then and now, reached out and touched us….

FAVORITE: My favorites were this image – above – captured when I was three, and then one with my brother, Geoff, taken at the same time.

We were in all likelihood on the hills behind my hometown of Folkestone, or maybe up on the cliffs at Dover, around eight miles down the coast.

checking out some old family photographs - taken in the South of England, 1959

CONVERSATION THROUGH TIME: I’m wondering what three-year-old Derek is speaking to me, out through the photograph and into the sands of time? It looks to me as if I had heard something – maybe a strand of dialogue – and I turned around to catch the drift of the conversation.

And there was my dad, chewing at the end of a long piece of grass, leaning on one hand while balancing his camera in the other. And there was I, thinking about something I wouldn’t know how to write down in words for another 53 years.

“Hello, 56-year-old me,” he says, clearly and with a child-like and pointedly English lilt; “Remember how the breeze blows in off the English Channel, and we’d sit here and count the ships passing through? Well today (1959) we counted 43 that we could easily see. Five of them are ferries on the way between Folkestone and France.”

He was right. The Straights of Dover (or the Pas-de-Calais as the French call it) are only 22 miles wide at that point. The place was packed with shipping and we could see all the way to France, sometimes picking out buildings in the town of Calais.

“And Geoff was going on again about how one day he’s going to be on one of those boats; only it isn’t going to stop when he gets to France. He said he wants to see the whole wide world….”

HOW DID WE DO? ”And what are you going to do when Geoff is off finding the whole wide world, and finding himself in the process,” I ask?

Three-year-old Me pauses, looks out into the whole wide world, and turns back. “I guess I’ll tag along and see that he doesn’t get into too much trouble. I’ll probably have to hold one end of his kite for him while he runs down the hill with his end of the string. Then he’ll yell, ‘LET GO!’ only I won’t know when.”

Enjoying birthday time with David, my new window into the future

Three-year-old Me looks out again, back into 2012 and through the sands of time. Now we’re making eye contact and I’m thinking about his brother – my brother, off again and into another new adventure. And I’m not sure yet that it’s OK that I let go of my end of the string and watch the kite sail quietly off into the heavens….

And Three-year-old Me fixes me with those eyes.

“So how did we do? Really. How did we do?”

photographs that help memories

Being a goofy grandaddy

I know this is a writing blog. However, I also feel that I have developed a real relationship with those of you who read on a regular basis, and so this morning I want to share some photographs from this weekend that will do a better job than my words when it comes to telling this part of the story.

First, and I know this could be a long post all by itself, I got to enjoy some quality grandaddy-time with five-month-old David. This opening photo may not show the brightest smile or the most compelling pose… but it tells the story, and I believe that’s what the best images do. My weekend with David was a series of negotiations around, “Who is this goofy-looking guy and why do his eyes fill up with tears whenever he looks at me?” and, “But there’s something about him? I guess I could smile at least once in a while…”

This pic was taken yesterday, on my birthday. What an unforgettable birthday present, to have the entire family at home – it’s the best I could have dreamed.

Absorbing a lot of grandmama love

Second (of seven), Rebekah got to enjoy David too. I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say that she is head-over-heals in love with our grandchild. And David knows it. It’s obvious he can sense exactly what’s going on when Rebekah holds him.

There’s a lot of data out there about the dangerous effects of neglect and isolation when a child’s development is getting under way. Babies literally absorb the love and the caring and the interaction around them. David knows how deeply he is loved and cared for, he knows the truth of it down to his bones. And he sees the truth of it so vividly in his grandmama Rebekah.

The Craig & Naomi Campbell family

Number Three: David’s Dad and his Mommy love him, and they love one-another too. OK, friends, this is huge. Rebekah and I say this to young families all the time. The best thing anyone can do for the health and wellbeing of their child is to love each other like crazy. Dads, wanna do what’s right for your kid? Love their mom. Moms, wanna help your child thrive? Love, love, love their dad.

I do a lot of writing for coach Tony Dungy’s AllProDad.com website. The number one thing I tell these guys – over 100,000 per month – is, “Your best dad thing possible is to love and respect and serve their mother.” Way to go, son-in-law Craig; you are so taking care of my grandson!

Isla and David. We almost signed a contract for a 2035 wedding...

Four: Short version of a long story. Naomi’s best friend growing up, Katie (Ronan), came over for lunch Saturday with her husband, Pat, and their daughter, Isla. There are lot’s of great pics I could share, but we have this baby theme going so here’s just the two of them together.

Okay, not just a baby theme but a cuteness theme. Good grief. You absolutely have to go to my facebook page and take a look at the rest of these photographs. They’re too many and too wonderful to pack into a blog post. Ditto the David pics in our back garden.

Under the cypress tree in our back garden

Five: Talking of the MaulHall garden pics, here’s a sample. David himself wasn’t so sure about the game we were playing, “They keep propping me up and running away. Then they yell ‘Smile David!’ Ridiculous… like I’m going to do that….”

But I was seriously impressed with David’s patience with his parents and grandparents. This picture is only one of a dozen “keepers.” Like I said, cuteness and lots of it.

One note about the hat. It was his uncle Andrew’s hat back when he was a baby. We have some photos of Andrew wearing it when he was around a year old, fishing with his grandaddy Bob. Oh, the stories a good picture can tell.

"Travel Guy" and his mama at TPA

Six: We’re winding down here; only so much space in a blog post. Monday was all day go-to-the-airport day. First up was Andrew. We headed to Tampa International around noon and he flew to Charlotte, Paris (I think) and then Pisa. Andrew’s all, “Enough with the photos dad! You’re like the paparazzi.”

Fair enough. But here he is anyway. Safe travels and thanks for being so committed to the idea of family that you flew in – last-minute – all the way from Italy. “Travel Guy” saves the day!

Seriously, Andrew’s determination to be at significant family events is a heart-warmer we’re so grateful for. What a great son!

Orlando airport. What a great family!

Seven, and last: Late afternoon I drove Naomi-Craig-David over to Orlando for their flight to Connecticut. Again with the gratitude. Craig didn’t just say, “I support you going to Florida, Naomi.” Instead he said, “I’m doing what’s necessary to come along too.”

Maybe Geoff was just that cool an uncle! Well, yes. And maybe we’re just that blessed as a family. Whatever it is, Rebekah and I recognize how good this phenomenon is, and we’re grateful for the quality of love that brings us together.

See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! – 1 John 3:1

Eulogy, and the simple witness of good people living faith out loud

Yesterday's program and the closing hymn

Yesterday afternoon a huge crowd of people completely filled up the sanctuary at the Church of the Trinity in Sarasota for my brother Geoff’s memorial service. It was a beautiful day, clear, bright and breezy, with a spirit of celebration animating the proceedings. This was an affirmation of life, and faith, and the promise of God’s eternal covenant. It was grief and sadness overlaid with thanksgiving and peace.

My niece Hannah – Geoff’s only child – sang He Raised Me Up and spoke beautifully from the heart. I was so impressed by her poise and her clear grasp of what her dad’s life meant, not only for her but for the family and everyone who loves him.

The crowd present included not only Geoff’s family and friends but many representatives from Hannah’s mom’s family, our mum and dad’s church, some of the wonderful members of First Presbyterian here in Brandon, and ministers from the Presbytery of Tampa Bay. I am truly grateful for the rich and abiding witness of good people simply loving out loud.

EULOGY: For today’s post, I’m simply going to paste the remarks I offered when it was my turn to speak. Yes, I struggled a little (we all know I’m a cry-baby!), but the people were patient and gracious.

MY BROTHER GEOFF:

First, as a preface to my remarks, my niece Hannah has asked me to offer a brief biographic sketch. A kind of time-line of Geoff.

• Geoff was born March 28, 1954, in the beautiful seaside town of Folkestone on the south coast of England. Kudos to his parents, David and Grace Maul.
• He only has the one sibling – me. He said that was all he needed.
• Growing up, Geoff was always the fastest runner in his class, but abandoned sports as a teenager because he was too cool for sports.
• He was also a very good student, but at the same time managed to annoy school administrators as a committed non-conformist… He was serious about his non-conformity.
• Geoff was active at Folkestone Baptist Church, where our family worshipped, and was a real leader among the youth.
• He caught the travel bug early. He stayed with a family in France, crewed on a three-mast Tall-ship that circumnavigated the British Isles, lived a full year on a remote Scottish Island, and travelled to Africa… all while still a teen.
• At 20 he joined Youth With A Mission’s Bible-school on a whim. It was there he travelled Europe and the Middle East, met Hannah’s mom, Rosalene, and launched a creative Pizza-restaurant ministry in the south of England.
• Geoff’s young family moved to the States around 1979. He worked a variety of jobs, helped launch a local church, did ministry in Maine for a year, moved to California, became a respiratory therapist, settled back in Sarasota, and moved into the travel industry that was his life-long passion.
• He was always learning, always reinventing himself, always searching, and always falling back into the arms of God.
• Geoff has been a wonderful brother-in-law to Rebekah, an awesome uncle to Andrew Maul and Naomi Campbell… and Craig too, and he was looking forward to enjoying his role as great-uncle to David.
• But Geoff’s proudest achievement is his daughter, Hannah… his son – not “son-in-law”, Andrew Roberts… and his grandchildren, Haley and Hudson….

AND SO NOW FOR SOME REFLECTIONS…

Where to begin?

I asked Geoff that very question back in October, when we started a series of conversations designed to get to the heart of what I like to call “THE GEOFF PHENONENON.”

You know what I mean. My brother Geoff spent his 58 years less being a run-of-the-mill human being and more being a Force of Nature. You didn’t just meet my brother, you experienced him!

So I asked him late last year where the story should begin. “If we made a movie of your life,” I said, “Or if I were penning a novel based on Geoff, then what would be the opening scene?”

“That’s a great question,” he said. “You ask the best questions.” Geoff was good like that, always affirming and building up. He honestly believed that I was the best writer he ever read.

The beginning: We ended up starting at 2004 – with Hannah and Drew’s wedding. I mean, really, it had everything.

• Glamour
• Wonderful food
• Fancy dress
• The best people
• The Great Hymns – he love his hymns…
• Dancing
• All of his friends and family
• Faith
• Jesus…
• Shoot, there was even a parade….

But it’s interesting how our conversation over the past five months so often came back to Jesus.

And so we took that thread and we traced it through Geoff’s life. We talked about the fact that there never was a time when we didn’t know the depth, and the breadth, and the clarity of God’s love. Because we grew up in a home where Jesus was a member of the family.

And – no surprise – it’s been a roller-coaster ride, this journey that Geoff has taken with God.

• Up; down.
• On-again; off-again.
• Down the line; off the tracks.

COMING HOME: But this long and sometimes difficult path eventually led here, to this particular community of faith, and to a church full of good people who stand with arms open wide.

And you know what? We all need a place, sometimes, where God’s “YES” is louder than the world’s “NO.

And you know what? We all need a place, sometimes, where God’s “YES” is louder than the world’s “NO.

Too many voices in the world of faith seem to be defined more by what they are against than what they are for. But my brother Geoff knew without a doubt that what he was for was JESUS… and Geoff knew without a doubt that GOD – in JESUS – was for him.

We talked about this at length. And one day he asked me what I thought Jesus had to say on the subject.

“Good timing,” I said. “I just finished writing a book on the last few chapters of John’s Gospel.”

This is what Jesus said in chapter 13:

 “My children, I will be with you for a little while longer. Then you will look for me, but you won’t find me. I tell you just as I told the people, ‘You cannot go where I am going.’ But I am giving you a new command. You must love each other, just as I have loved you. If you love each other, everyone will know that you are my disciples.”

How elegant. The critical question when it comes to identifying disciples – and this is according to Jesus – is not tied up in doctrine so much as it is in love.

My brother Geoff understood this as well as anyone I know.

ENTHUSIASM! And, was he ever enthusiastic!

I mentioned this just last week in conversation.

“It didn’t matter what Geoff was up to,” I said, “you could always count on his enthusiasm.

• If he was being good…. Or not so good.
•  If he was at work… or at play…
• at church… or at a party…
•  on the upswing… or on the downswing…

Regardless, My brother was going to be “Mr. Enthusiastic.”

This is what I was getting at when I said that Geoff was a phenomenon. No matter what, like it or not, you got all of Geoff – absolutely nothing held back.

• When they passed out volume controls, Geoff didn’t get one.
• My brother simply wasn’t equipped with a brake, a mute button, an “edit before publishing,” a switch that said, “pause”….
• “Tone it down a little” just didn’t compute.

What Geoff really could have used sometimes was a rewind button. But life doesn’t work that way.

It was this irrepressible enthusiasm that endeared Geoff to so many people.

“Hi, my name is Geoff! What have you got going on? Whatever it is, I’m all in….”

FINAL WORD: And that’s the final word I want to share about my brother. For 58 years, Geoff has been one of the Great Examples of what I like to call “Living Faith Out Loud”  – or “Living like we mean it… because God most certainly meant it when God created us!”

Geoff didn’t feel there was any excuse for not experiencing the fullness of life – his gift was to shine… And our responsibility is to allow his enthusiasm to pick us up a bit… and to shine too.

“Shine like stars in the universe,” the apostle Paul said to his friends in Philippi, “as you hold out the Word of Life. It is by your holding fast to the Word of Life that I can boast on the day of Christ that I did not run in vain or labor in vain.”

So let’s make Geoff proud! Make it easy for him to boast! Let’s go out there and Shine – like stars in the universe – as we hold out the Living Word of Life….

Amen

“some assembly required” – putting the fam back together for the w/e

Craig, Naomi, David - on the walk in our front garden...

When I woke up Friday morning I still had the house all to myself. But then Friday was a long day. Longer for some.

• For Andrew, it started in Pisa when it was still Thursday evening in Tampa. He went the Pisa/Munich/Philadelphia/Tampa route and was actually the last one in.
• Rebekah, Naomi, Craig and David had to get up around 3:00 am in order to catch their 6:30 flight out of Hartford, Connecticut. I picked them up in Orlando at 9:30. We then introduced our grandson to Crackerbarrell and made it home shortly after noon.
• Andrew finally arrived at Tampa International at 9:00 in the evening. I’ve got to tell you, it feels good to get the whole crew together even if it’s only for a couple of days. Maybe this is why so many people actually buy a bigger house after the children leave home?

Our grandson, David, is most definitely an awesome little dude. Believe it or not – and even though I tend to post a lot of pics of him – this is only the second time we’ve met “in person.” The first was Thanksgiving, so the difference now is phenomenal.

making one-another smile

I’m honestly astounded at a couple of facts. First: how fast a small, 18-pound, baby can take over the house and cover pretty much every surface area of every room with his stuff. Second: how much droll, repurposed food, and other (unmentionable) fluids a small, 18-pound, baby can deposit on pretty much every surface area of every room… plus every surface area of his grandparents’ bodies. Remarkable.

Oh, but the joy! Look at this picture of him with his grandmamma Rebekah. Now that is one happy baby. And, that is one happy grandmamma.

A good "uncle-nephew" moment

HEALING: To me, this all represents the healing power of family… and of love. This weekend is only happening in response to the sad fact of my brother Geoff’s death. Neither Andrew nor Naomi were “expected” to fly in for Sunday’s memorial service, but both of our children said they didn’t hesitate to make the arrangements, because family is so important to them.

In consequence, rather than being overwhelmed with grief we are being overwhelmed with love. We can count on one hand the number of times our immediate family have been together since Naomi’s wedding. This is precious beyond description.

• Just hanging out with David…
• Playing on the floor with him…
• Watching how great Naomi and Craig are as parents…
• Enjoying how cool of an uncle Andrew is… – it’s all heart-nurturing in the best way.

Bottom line, this weekend, in the shadow of the great loss of my brother Geoff, we can’t help ourselves but say “How blessed we are as a family, and how grateful.”

That’s it for this weekend. I’ll be back on Monday with a full report of the memorial service.

Love and Peace – DEREK

it’s like tossing those starfish back into the ocean…

OK, folks, We’re more than halfway through Lent and I’m going to use today’s post to encourage all of us to pursue a deliberate devotional journey these remaining couple of weeks leading up to Easter.

My motivation is the following review I found on line yesterday evening – while looking for something else! It’s written by Byron Borger for a site called “Hearts and Minds Christian Books.” I like his writing style and his assessment of my book.

Reaching Toward Easter: Devotions for Lent  Derek Maul (Upper Room) $16.00 I always appreciate Upper Room books; they seem to have a gentle tone, lovely and artful covers, usually muted and soft, inviting readers to slow down and care about the pages in their hands.  This one is, though, a rather upbeat book, inviting us to prepare ourselves to “enter God’s gates with thanksgiving, his courts with praise” (Psalm 100:4.)  These daily readings are filled with hope, includes his own storytelling (the author is himself a journalist who sometimes writes columns for USA Today.) This moves us towards Easter and towards resurrection victory, slowly, carefully, but with engaging joy.  Although it is ideal for daily use, there is a leaders guide in the back making it a book that groups can use together. – Byron Borger

Personally, I’m getting more out of the study now than I did even during the writing phase. There’s something to be said for leaving a book alone for a few months during production, and then coming back to it fresh like any other reader.

But the best part is the conversations that develop during the Wednesday men’s group and my Sunday morning class. Such insight, such cool, thoughtful people, such genuine pilgrims on the road less travelled by.

Starfish... image from the Internet

STORIES: Then there are the stories I’m getting back from people all across the country; I’m humbled and thrilled when I hear them:

• Knowing that someone in California renewed their commitment to Jesus because they are reading my book…
• Opening a letter from Maine, written by a woman who feels her faith is becoming more transformational simply in response to one story that lifted her…
• Hearing from a man in Florida who tells me this is the FIRST TIME EVER that he’s felt like he was connecting with the Easter story…
• Talking with a minister who had shared a passage from one chapter with a dying man and his family, and knowing God’s love and assurance reached out through the pages….

This is why I write

Sometimes being an author is like that story of the man walking by the ocean, picking up stranded starfish and placing them back into the nourishing water. No, I may never reach every hungry or thirsty soul that needs an inspirational word. But – and here come’s an email from a burned-out pastor in Alabama who writes that he’s now reenergized for service and love – IT MATTERED TO THAT ONE – splash…..

Hey, maybe it will matter to you?

“failure to thrive” a problem for too many adults…

David exploring and Rebekah taking it all in

Today is the last day of my four-day solo flight at home. Rebekah has been enjoying some overdue baby snuggles in Connecticut and David, evidently, has been eating up the extra attention.

Not that he was exactly starved for stimulation before Rebekah arrived. This baby is thriving in every sense of the word! It’s abundantly obvious that our daughter, Naomi, has taken to this “Mommy” stuff with both passion and commitment. Rebekah says she’s a natural at it and I couldn’t be happier. And neither could David; unless, that is, somebody dares to be a few moments late with whatever meal he’s looking forward to.

"OK, Grandmama. I'm ready! What's next..?"

YAY! What’s been exciting to me – via the constant stream of photographs, video-clips and Skype sessions – has been to note the changes that come almost daily as little David learns and grows. At five-months, his entire life is a series of new experiences and a growing awareness of his environment and how he can reach out and grow.

It has made me wonder about exactly how and when someone’s curiosity taps out. It’s the saddest thing to see people turn off the valve, close the curtains, lock learning in the garden shed and roll down the shutters.

Yesterday I wrote a little about learning, and today I’m in the same mindset.

• 

  "I love my grandmama. But, really, is it time to eat yet?"

  I am convinced that most of us function and learn well below capacity.

• I believe this “Life-Charged Life” I write about is more possible when we keep our curiosity stoked and our learning active.
• I see my grandson, David, and I am reminded about how foundational curiosity and exploration is to growth.
• I’m absolutely sure that too many of us miss out on so much simply because we remove ourselves from a learning environment.

Failure to thrive is not just a danger for infants, you know.

In the name of the Great Teacher and the Author of Creativity….

Travelogue: education, sentience, and the value of live instruction…

ducation is on my mind today. I tend to write a lot about faith, family, travel, and what it means to live this “Life-Charged Life….” But I haven’t devoted many posts to education, and that amounts to a definite lapse because how we go about learning is a key element when it comes to taking hold of life.

The idea hit home yesterday evening at church, when I had a lot of fun both teaching and learning.

TRAVEL & BIBLE: In fact, Tuesday evenings have been a real treat all month. Rebekah and I have been hosting a “travelogue/Bible-study” event and we’ve really enjoyed the opportunity to go back over all the photographs and interpret the January Mid-East trip for our congregation. (If you’re reading this in the Tampa area then come on over for the final two, you are more than welcome: 7:00 at First Presbyterian of Brandon, March 27 and April 3 )

Exploring the Sea of Galilee

Essentially, the telling has broken down into five weeks:

1. Athens and Egypt (up to the Suez)
2. Sinai (Egypt) and Petra (Jordan)
3. Masada, Galilee (part one), Nazareth, Meggido, Mt. Carmel and Caesarea Maritima
4. Galilee (part two) and the north (Dan, Mt. Hermon, Caesarea Phillipi)
5. Jerusalem and Bethlehem

This week, with Rebekah getting in some grand-baby time in Connecticut, I had to do the study by myself. And – of course – the principle of “to teach is to learn” meant that I got as much out of it as anyone else.

The 1,300 ft east face of Masada

Here’s a question: Why on earth would 60-plus people drive from their homes and all the way to church just to watch some guy throw 83 travel slides on a wall and talk about them for an hour?

Here’s the answer – and I think it’s huge: Granted, the photographs are fantastic, but I also believe there is a real hunger in our culture for people to connect with a good story, well told. One more evening at home in front of the television will never hold a candle to a community event that is both interactive and personal.

FOUNDATIONAL TRUTH: I’m not saying that I’m intrinsically more interesting than 500-plus channels of professionally produced cable television programing. But what I am saying is that the human element of real people sharing well-researched information in a community setting is in all likelihood an underutilized resource in today’s world.

When I stand in front of a microphone and teach, especially if is material I have developed myself, something happens and everything kicks up a notch. My affect; the tone of my voice; my level of animation; the efficiency with which I process data, retrieve information and form sentences; the connection I make with people in the audience. Everything is enhanced.

Rebekah at "The Teaching Tree" on the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee

Likewise in the audience. “Live” learning and its interactive quality serves to move even the quietest person in the middle of the next to last row from the passive learning state to – at the very least – sentience.

I guess what I’m saying is that the human community is at risk to the extent that it cuts itself off from interactive, “live,” learning opportunities. Turn off the television, gather in groups, kick it up a notch, interact – don’t miss out!

- DEREK