Still here - uk football is a big distracton!

Nope folks... I haven't fallen off the face of the world. This is pitiful. I don't know that I have a single soul checking this blog but so what!?! I didn't start it for them and I'll keep this for my own benefit. If people like it fine. If anyone ever finds it - HA!

Life and the unexpected death of a teenager.

For the third year in a row, students of a small rural southern Indiana high school where I teach have had a death in the student body. Two years ago, a high school senior, Logan died in a traffic accident on the eve of the graduation day. In the school year of 2006-2007, a young man took his own life. Then two years to the day of the first death, another student perished in an accident while another passenger is life-flighted to a near-by hospital.

Amid all the grief and tears and total surprise, one cannot help but ask why? This last student to die had been a student of mine for a couple of years. She was rather quiet yet seemed really sweet and gentle with a smile that could light up any room she was in. Now, her life on this world is over. The memories of her will live on for her family, friends and relatives. Gone are the possibilities of being a wife, mom, and community supporter as she most surely would have been. The stark reality is there in front of us... the unavoidable, shocking reminder of her passing is placed squarely right before our minds eye.

What possible lessons can we learn from this? Is there any value to be gained from looking at the passing of one who was in the prime of life?

I'm going to suggest a few things that can help us all.

1. Life is uncertain. As the Bible says, "We do not know what a day may bring." Right in the middle of the day for a memorial to Chelsea's 1st cousin (Logan) who died two years ago, her life was cut down... ON THE VERY ANNIVERSARY of her Logan's death. Who could have thought of such a thing? While celebrating a life cut short with family and friends, yet another one passes on the anniversary. Unbelievable! Who on this earth knows what sorrows may be ours in the next minute?

We have this tendency to think that life will go on a usual. But then a semi-trailer plows into the back of car; a next door neighbor teenager goes on a mo-ped and gets killed by a careless driver; Chad, a healthy young man goes for a swim in a pond... never to surface out again; some terrorist hi-jacks a plane and plows into a sky-scraper. Who knows what a day will bring?

2. We must all be ready to face death. While it comes to the aged with seeming more frequency, yet the incident of yesterday reminds us that young people die as well. This is one of the hardest and saddest lessons. Humanly speaking, no one should have to bury their own children. I've seen a baby literally die in the arms of her mother while at church. There have been graveside services for high schoolers where parents have been so grief-stricken that medication seemed to be the only thing to stabilize the mother, while the father - grim faced stoically faces his desolation. And yet at one ceremony honoring the death of a high school son, the most amazing thing was seen. A mom and dad that were totally grief stricken, possessed at the same time a joy and peace that defied reason. I saw smiles that mingled with salty tears coming in almost a paradoxical manner. These parents had the sure hope that their son was Christ. He demonstrated it by the life he lived. I don't mean he was a 'good boy.' Chad showed his faith in Christ. He lived an exemplary life... fully and freely acknowledging that he was NOT a good boy... that Chad deserved hell because of his sin, yet trusted the death of Another on a cross as a sin-payment, an Innocent Substitute to face the roar of God's wrath against his own sin so that Chad wouldn't have to face the wrath personally. Chad Catiller's life demonstrated the piety of a teenager who was thoroughly converted.

3. There is a point to our lives. In a post-modern world, the effects of evolution having been hammered into our psyche scream "these events seem pointless... the 'good' and 'bad' all die... many old, some young... it all seems so random, so meaningless, so hopeless... the poor, the rich, the famous, the forgotten, the kind, the hurtful, all end up in the grave... what does it matter how one lives? The grave awaits us all!"

Don't our own lives demonstrate that we were created for happiness? We have this almost seemingly unquenchable desire to be satisfied, to be filled. We hunt for it in a gazillion different directions. We seek it in relationships, children, sports, jobs, families, possessions, hobbies only to find that contentment is just beyond our grasp. "If only I could have caught the ball, we could have won the game." "If I could only have this person in my life, I would be satisfied." Our goal for that contentment if so strong that we pursue it in lawful and unlawful, legitimate and illegitimate ways yet only to find the thirst is still there.

The writer of the "Chronicles of Narnia" penned this "If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world." What is the probable explanation? We were made to find our fulfillment in the God of the Bible... not just to know of Him intellectually and logically, but to experience the incredible delights that are found in having a life that is radically given to the pursuit of God in Christ Jesus. The writer said, "In Him, we move, live and have our being!"

([Now a parenthetical paragraph] - Now being totally transparent, I struggle in this area. I know it. I've experienced that joy, contentment and happiness. But it isn't a one time cure-all. God has so designed us that we are left full and yet discontented at the same time. Now this may seem paradoxical. "Malone, you are mad!" The contentment is found in Him. It is ongoing. It satisfies. It soothes. Yet I find myself discontented and the wonder of it (or should I say the stupidity of it) is that I often go to a broken cisterns to try and sate my thirst all the while knowing that the thirst can only be filled in Christ. Doesn't this show my continuing corruption, the war that is still waging inside my heart and mind? It also reveals what a traitor I can often be that I would try and go somewhere else to find that ultimate satisfaction rather than in Jesus. This is an ongoing example of what I need the Savior, to forgive and deliver me from such craziness).

Well I've thoroughly gone off track in this post. Yet, reader we can find that life does indeed bring uncertainty to us. We come face to face with not only the ugly reality that a young person's death is filled with grief for all those involved but also the ugliness of our own hearts. We have this 'driver' inside of us that wants satisfaction, fulfillment, contentment and happiness and we will seek for it in a myriad of ways often times in ways that we know are wrong, yet we press on. That 'driver' inside of us is so powerful.

Yet the only thing that ultimately satisfies our thirsts is in an initial drink in the Fountain of Life, then an ongoing daily, wholehearted pursuit of Christ in worship.

Adoptions

My oldest daughter is adopting a child from Ethiopia (Lord willing) and they are probably third on the list from getting a referral. My daughter and her husband are expecting that their trip will be sometime in June of 08. All of the family - both extended and immediate - are extraordinarily excited. Not having a baby growing in a uterus and missing the accompanying emotions that go along with a swelling belly means that 'moi' is feeling emotionally disconnected from the process.

But this adoption is going to happen, the 'airplane is on an approach vector,' and a little dark one will soon be in our lives. To say that the idea of a dark one coming into our lives has slid into my consciousness without any hiccups is a bit inaccurate. I am totally ready for this child and already completely ready to devote myself as a father. It will be different though. There will be some racial issues that will arise out of the naturally curiosity that will come from seeing a white couple with a dark baby. I know that granddad and grand mom will also get glances from others when we have the privilege of keeping our grandson for periods of time. That is not going to be a problem with us. This will be an object lesson of Christ's love for the nations and will remind us that He has a people from every tribe, tongue and nation.

My dad, a dentist and me with a problem mouth??

One would think that there would be great benefit in an area in which one's parents prospered. Dad was a dentist, not a great manager of his money or time. He was a craftsman that took artistic pleasure in designing and repairing peoples mouths and their confidence. He was known as 'Painless Pat.' He would labor over peoples oral openings for hours going beyond what was necessary. The following he built up for his particular care is somewhat legendary. Oh, he did piss people off. Clients would often wait in his office for LONG periods of time waiting to get into the chair. I remember at time of almost two hours before my own dad had me come back to his chair for work. The amount of silver fillings that I had by the age of 16 was akin to one investing in precious metals. If anyone was a candidate for mercuric poisoning (if one buys such questionable science) it was me.

Upon my graduation from college, the birth of my first child and moving 200 miles to a new city all in the space of 3 weeks, I stopped seeing my dad for dental repair. I went to another man who had a speed shop set up that was an attempt to crank out dollars. I went 3-4 times but the experience was so weird that I stopped going. Plus, this dentist seemed to do all the work in 20 minutes and he didn't talk much or make you feel welcome. He certainly wasn't my father and didn't take the exquisite care that my father did with my mouth.

Today, the chickens came home to roost. This new dentist that saw me today was a modern version of my dad... deliberate, thorough and gentle... well his manner was but the news wasn't. I have 3 or 4 caps that have to be installed (cracked molars) several cracked fillings (damn, chewing on that hard ice did break things just like dad said it would); coupled with 2 wisdom (not) teeth that probably need to be pulled. I haven't flossed in years and I'm surprised that there isn't a whole boatload of periodontal disease present. Yikes! So dad, if you're listening, I'm sure that you are smiling just a bit to see what kind of position I've put myself in. Thinking through how bad things could have been though gives me reason to pause and think that all those amalgam fillings you put in my head were of such superior quality that they last over 40 years. Plus all that mercury in my mouth poisoned all the bacteria that would have otherwise devastated my gums if I'd gone to any other quack than my dad for dentistry. So all of you Mt. Sterlians that went to see Dr. Razor instead of my dad and who have to keep going back on a repeated basis for mouth work. Just think!!! If you'd gone to my dad, you could have had a span of 10 - 15 years in which you would not have darkened a dental office and still been OK!!!!

Take that, Omar Prewitt!!!

It eese Christmaneese?

Ted Christman, a guy with a comb-over, first popped into my life at a little now defunct restaurant named Pinocchio's. On Fridays some men met for lunch in a back room and had a little bible study for an hour or so. It was made up of some 2-3 pastors from different churches and about 10-12 guys. The study at that time was the book of Romans. I was immediately struck by the attitude of the pastors with different views on particular subjects while maintaining a very gracious spirit and yet were uncompromising in their views. I'd seen lots of religious arguments but nothing like this.

During the study over several Friday's the truth leaped from the page into my mind and heart. My views of God were changing... drastically. I was a Christian at that time although quite anemic yet this study was food for my soul. I looked forward to those times of bible study more so than going to my own church. After several months, Ted told me about a class he was offering on child discipline. My wife and I were parenting a 4 year old at the time who was starting to show her depravity by stomping her foot on the floor and yelling a defiant "No! to things we'd tell her to do." We both went and were immediately struck by the clear counsel from the scripture about child rearing, the nature of children and the end result of our inculcating discipline into the life of a child... that children would trust Christ. This class lasted some 8 weeks on consecutive Saturdays. We grew so much during that time and were able to apply the 'board of education to the seat of knowledge' in a loving yet firm way. Changes happened in our child.

Sometime later TC invited me to a summer church camp in Bluffton, Ohio. (Where in the world is "Bluffton?). We left at 6:00AM on Monday July 4, 1983 and car pooled with several families who we knew but not well. We'd only attended one Sunday at the (then called) Reformed Baptist Church. So we were flying into the unknown. While driving along, this crazy guy pulled up next to us. He was completely bald and had "Billy-Bob" teeth in his mouth, his hair was flapping in the wind. Then I realized it was Ted. Who WAS this crazy man who pretended to be a pastor? He was filled with mischief but fun loving and harmless (most of the time).

I'll relate some of the more outrageous things he's done. This won't be the posting of his wonderful pastoring skills he has. That'll be in a different venue.

1. Ted Christman (movie star). At the end of a a Cincinnati Red's baseball game several of the kids (and gullible adults) staged the following scenario. Ted was to walk out into the concourse with his sun-glasses on. Several parents and kids woudl be waiting for him to appear on the concourse. A group of kids would scream "There's Teddy!!!" and run up to him with pens and programs wanting his autograph. Some adults and kids with video cameras were to pile up behind the mob of our church kids video taping the whole pretending Ted was some famous person. Obviously at the end of the game there are thousands of people exiting and when many of them saw what an enthusiastic group of kids and adults were doing, the jumped in as well wanting autographs and taking videos as well. After some would get his 'John Henry' they would ask "who is that?" Kenny Flasphoehler would exclaim, "That's Ted Christman (you idiot, anybody knows who Ted Christman is!!!). The befuddled fans would say "Oh, Oh!!!" After some head scratching they'd pipe "What is he famous for?" "He's a movie actor!!! (dimwit). "OHHHH!" (like they should have heard of him). "What movie was he in?" Kenny - "Revenge of the Chocolate People!!!" "Oooohhhhhh, of course of course!!" some what scratching their heads (like they knew they missed something incredibly important and didn't know how they could ever let that one slip by their pop-cultured minds. Several HUNDREDS of people got autographs and of course TC went right along with it... some even getting pictures of him with their kids! Toward the end, some drunk came up and somehow caught on that the whole thing was a gag and he got really mad and wanted to fight TC!!!! Nothing happened though as the drunk guy's friends pulled him away to other divestitures in his beleaguered life.

2. Laser light infamy. Once during a district high school boys soccer game, he pointed his laser light onto some of the players during the game. A referee came over to the stands trying to find out who the culprit was. I think he made hay and got out of there. That was OVER the top!!!

3. His telephone antics are legend. TC has a lot of flexibility in his voice and can generate a plethora of voices. His ventures into this realm of hilarity are numerous and one can only speculate the number of times people have been completely gassed, befuddled, open-mouthed and even angered at his voices. He frequently plays the "hick" and is quite believable. One time he called a man who was a Sunday school teacher at the church where his daughter attended during college. Ted chomped his words and spoke about this teacher's 'Calvin-ite' doctrine and how he 'wuz all fer it.' He din' think peepuls had no choys in thuh mattr 'n thot that all this 'pre-destinordiance' was a guud thanG 'n he shud keep it up. Tha-uht be a gud dok-trin to preech to awl them kowluge keedz." TC left this on the guys answering machine.

4. There are literally several scores of antics in which he has instigated upon the poor people in Owensboro, KY.

There is one more example of lines not only being crossed but all sense of reason and propriety being thrown over the edge of rationalism. This tale has to do with more laser pen antics in a posh hotel restaurant in Florida and some conversations in elevators that really spooked some people. I have to check my sources for the details.

All this was done in fun (or so he thought). None of it was ever intended to be malicious or hurtful. These tales rival those of the Uncle Remas stories I'd hear about "Brer Rabbit and 'Brer Fox.' I kid you not. More details later.