Trash or Treasure?

I am far from being "Green" but I do try to do my part by picking up litter when I do see it around the campus of which I work.
The other day I rushed out the front door of my 1926 built brick building on my way to chapel and noticed a scrap of paper awkwardly folded on the sidewalk. I ran right past it.
After chapel I retraced my steps across the quad and made my way up the front stairs to my office and lo and behold there sat that same piece of awkwardly folded paper.
I reached down, picked it up and got ready to throw it away in the appropriately placed trash receptacle. I paused momentarily as my curious mind wanted to know if there was anything written on the paper.
Sure enough...
On this piece of trash was printed a true treasure...

Prayer by Julian of Norwich
"Lord you know what I want. I fit is your will that I have it, or if it is not your will do not be displeased with my prayer, for I do not want anything that you do not want ."

My iWitness...

This faded treasure piece now sits on my desk and has become my daily prayer.
Julian Norwich has a fascinating story...check it out on Google.

I was blessed the other day by "pausing."
Had I not paused I would never have found the treasure that I thought was trash.

There's a lot of treasure to be found in our world.
So many times we make the quick decision that something is trash without pausing long enough to discover the treasure.

That is perhaps the greatest lesson I have learned over the years with some of the most bizarre people I have come across.
People who don't believe what I believe,
People who act differently than I act,
People who live differently than I live,
People who think differently than I think,
People who dress differently than I dress...

The list could go on and on.
When I have taken the time to pause, more times than not I strike gold!

Perhaps my prayer today in addition to Julian of Norwich's prayer is this...

"Oh Lord, please give the people that cross my path today enough time to pause to discover the treasure in me... And Oh Lord, please give me the time today to pause and discover the abundant treasure in others."

And that's my iWitness...
Laugh often and Fear not!
David!

"The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy goes and sells all that he has and buys that field." (Matthew 13.44)

The Tonight Show

I grew up in Southern California on The Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson.
The routine was typical.
Watch the 11:00 news on a TV that didn't even know what a remote control was.
At 11:30 continue watching the same station which meant you didn't have to get up and manually change the channel.
With its multi-colored curtains flowing the familiar booming voice of Ed McMahon would offer these two historic word - "Heeeeeeeeere's Johnny!"
From behind the curtain Johnny would appear. I always wondered, "Who pulls the curtain back for Johnny to walk through?"
For the next ten minutes we would sit as a family in complete silence only allowing the voice and image of Johnny Carson to fill our family room.

Six hundred seconds later the monologue came to a conclusion and off to bed I went.

The Tonight Show torch was soon passed to Jay Leno.

On Monday February 17, 2014 the Tonight Show Torch was once again passed on to none other than Jimmy Fallon.

Jimmy Fallon busted out on to the New York stage and did a fantastic job of introducing himself by revealing his age (39), his six month old daughter, his wife, where he was from and then he said something like this...

"My mom and dad are in the audience tonight... I hope they are proud of me..."

My iWitness...

My first thought leapt out of my brain, "What do you mean 'I hope they are proud of me'? You're the host of The Tonight Show! You just came off of a successful run as the host of The Late Show. You started out on Saturday Night Live and now 39 years into your life you are wondering on the debut of your hosting the most successful late night television program in history whether or not your parents are proud of you."

My heart sank...

He didn't know...

I have talked about this topic before but it bears worth repeating here...

As children who grow up to be adults...we need to know if our parents are proud of us.

If Jesus had to know, then we have to know!

 And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; ¹⁷ and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”  (Matthew 3. 16-17)

If you have never done it or even if you have done it a thousand times, let your children know that you are proud of them... that you are "well pleased" with them.

It just might make their day or perhaps even their life!

And that's my iWitness...
Laugh often and Fear not!
David!

The Message

The message to Faith and Joshua's teachers was quite simple...
"Please send Faith and Joshua to Y Care after school."
Two hours later Julie arrived at the school for a meeting about 5-10 minutes after school had let out. On her way to the meeting she decided to stop by the gym to say hello to Faith and Joshua.
Julie saw Faith...
But no Joshua.
Faith said Joshua never showed up.
Julie proceeded to the school office to inquire if she had sent the message to Joshua's teacher.
The answer was an affirmative.
The school office used the 1960's style "intercom" system to call Joshua's teacher and asked her if she had sent Joshua to Y Care.
Within seconds Joshua's teacher came running down the hall. She had just seen the message that the "runner" had left on her desk while she had been out in the hall dealing with a disciplinary issue.
Mama Bear Julie started running...
She ran down the hall
She ran through the front door
She ran across the street
She ran down the hill to the park which is the usual rendezvous spot to pick up Faith and Joshua after school...
And there he was...
All by himself...
In the snow covered park...
No other cars in the parking lot...
No other parents picking up their children...
No other children waiting...
Joshua was building a snowman...
Julie ran down the hill and yelled, "Joshua!"
Joshua turned...
Saw his mama...
His reaction was immediate...
He burst into tears...
The reunion was sweet as salty tears ran down their faces...

Why was Joshua in a snow covered park by himself?
The explanation was quite simple... Joshua hadn't gotten the message.

My iWitness...

Has this ever happened to you?
You are doing everything you are supposed to be doing.
You are going where you are supposed to be going.
You are following protocol.
And then all of a sudden you find yourself in the middle of a snow covered park on a subfreezing day frightened with no one in sight, with no clue why it is that the people who love you the most are nowhere to be found.

The explanation is quite simple...You didn't get the message.

Fear not...

If you listen real carefully, you will hear the footsteps in no time..
It's God...
And He's running...
To you!

And that's my iWitness...
Laugh often and Fear not!
David!

But now thus says the Lord,
he who created you, O Jacob,
    he who formed you, O Israel:
“Fear not, for I have redeemed you;
    I have called you by name, you are mine.
² When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
    and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;
when you walk through fire you shall not be burned,
    and the flame shall not consume you.
³ For I am the Lord your God... (Isaiah 43. 1-3)

30% Chance of Survival

My cell phone rang the other day while I was on the landline phone at work. My heart lit up to see the name of my dear friend Mary (not her real name) that I had not talked to in quite a while. Unable to answer the phone I was looking forward to hearing her message on my voicemail.

The tone of the message was exactly what I had expected... upbeat and fresh with a sparkle in her voice. She simply said that she and her husband would love to talk to me. How nice is that!

I returned the call within 30 minutes. She answered the phone and said, "Oh David. Thank you so much for calling. Hold on a minute and let's get Bob (not his real name) on the other line." Sure enough he came on and said, "Hello David." This whole scene reminded me of talking to my grandparents as a young boy back in the day when everyone would pick up every available phone in the house and talk to "the grandparents" as fast as possible because it cost so much money to call "long distance."

I was excited to hear their voices. Mary and Bob talked to one another for a few seconds while I listened in. The decision had to be made. Who was going to tell me the story? Bob said, "You go ahead Mary. You tell David."

And the story began...
A diagnosis of Diabetes a few months ago...a car trip to a major metropolitan city...Bob turning a shade of yellow...a stop into a hospital... a CAT scan...another diagnosis... Pancreatic Cancer.

Then there was the inevitable pause...
It was my turn to say something, anything...
I started to speak.
My voice faltered...
Tears streamed down my face...
I find it extremely hard to speak when I am crying and my face is all contorted...
But speak I did...
Before long all three of us were crying on the phone.

Bob went on to say, "The good news in all of this, if there can be good news, is that when I went to the specialist he said, 'The good news is that 9 out of 10 people who walk in my office with your diagnosis, I have to tell them there is nothing I can do for you' But for you, I can do something.

The specialist continued, "With the type of treatment we are going to propose there is about a 30% chance of survival."

Bob and Mary let that bit of news sink in.
We talked for another ten minutes or so. I prayed over the phone and we all cried some more.
In saying good-bye, Bob, in his typical manner said, "David, I know this may sound a little strange, but I hope you are going to have a great day."

My iWitness...

I got stuck on the "30% chance of survival" line in our conversation.
My first thought was that if you hit a baseball just 30% of the time you are in the Hall of Fame!
Then again, being the tennis player that I am, I thought, if you only get in 30% of your first serves in a tennis match then you are going home early.

Eventually my mind and heart landed on this...

On this earth, on this roller coaster of a ride called life...
We have a "Zero Percent Chance of Survival."
None of us get out of this alive.
We are all going to die... some sooner than we thought and some later than we thought.

At the same time, my mind and heart landed on this as well...
All of us have a "100% Chance of Living."

Whether we survive for 20 years or 60 years or 100 years, the good news is that we have the chance, the opportunity, the privilege to live and to live recklessly, with abandonment, with joy, with laughter, with tears of pain, with friends, with family, with God...!!!

How many people have I buried that stopped living 20 years before they died. Do you know how sad it is to say at a graveside service, "We bury him today, but he stopped living back in 1994."

To my friends Bob and Mary and to all who will take time to read this blog, please hear me when I shout at the top of my lungs...

LIVE!!! Live the life, ride the roller coaster, jump off the bridge into the water below, climb the mountain, race down the hill, dance the night away, ride the waves, catch the sunrise, blow kisses, hug everyone you know, laugh in spite of yourself, round third base with your legs a kicking, arms a pumping and crack the biggest smile you have ever cracked as you slide head first into home plate having  devoted yourself with reckless abandonment to the One who abandoned himself so that you could live an abundant life.

Would you please do me a favor?
Give me the joy of saying at your graveside service, "We bury him today. However! However ladies and gentlemen he lived until the day he died!"

One of my favorite quotes..."Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take but rather by the moments that take our breath away."

Live today in a way that takes your breath away long before the day arrives when there are no more breaths to take.

And that's my iWitness...
Laugh often and Fear not!
David!

ps - Please pray for Bob and Mary! God knows who they are and so do they...

"Have you not known? Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He does not faint or grow weary;
his understanding is unsearchable.
He gives power to the faint,
and to him who has no might he increases strength.
Even youths shall faint and be weary,
and young men shall fall exhausted;
but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength;
they shall mount up with wings like eagles;
they shall run and not be weary;
they shall walk and not faint." (Isaiah 40. 28-31)

Fill 'er up

I was enjoying an incredibly long ride along the back highways of northern Florida. XM radio blaring a tune from the 80's, sun shining, sunglasses perched on my long nose, pulse rate around fifty-eight...
My lazy puppy dog eyes drifted toward the dashboard and there it was staring at me, mocking me, yelling at me, "You idiot! Can you not see me shining my bright little icon at you?!"

I was running out of gas!
The radio still blared, the sun was still shining, the sunglasses did not move from their perch but... my pulse rate soared as I panicked thinking, "How long had the 'almost empty' light been on?" And by the way, "Where in the world was I? Where was the nearest town? Would I make it to the next service station? Would I be stranded on the side of the road only to be attacked by swampy alligators?"

The next town, the next service station arrived within minutes and with deep relaxing breaths I eased my rental car next to pump number 5. I hopped out with a little extra skip in my step. I popped open the gas tank, swiped my credit card, chose the 87 octane, squeezed the handle and began filling 'er up.

Within no time the pump made that halting sound alerting me that the tank was full.
I replaced the handle on the pump looked at the "total" and was taken aback at what I saw.
I had only put in $50 worth of gas. The tank was only about three quarters full.
And then it hit me...$50 worth of gas was the maximum amount of fuel this pump was allowed to expend at one time.

I protested under my breath!
I need more than $50 worth of gas to fill 'er up!

My iWitness...

Two competing thoughts struck me regarding "fill 'er up."

There are many days when I am running on empty trying to squeeze out an extra mile or two on spiritual fumes and reserves. The warning light has made itself known that it is time to pull over and get refueled but I love to push the envelope and see just how far I can go before my gas tank is completely empty. Believe me when I say that I have been stranded many times because I didn't heed the warning sign.

Nonetheless, the times I have pulled over to get spiritually refueled, I have looked at God and said, "Fill 'er up!" And within minutes or hours or days I look at the pump only to discover that God has not filled me up. Rather, God has given me just enough gas to make it to the next town, the next service station. Of course this makes me more dependent on God to make more frequent stops than I had planned to be refueled with His grace, mercy and love.

On the flip side, how many times has God been ready to dispense a whole tank load of His grace, mercy and love on us and $50 into the refueling process we say, "That's enough God. I don't need anymore. I've got to go, places to be, people to see."

And off we dart with half a tank while God is left holding the handle saying, "But I have so much more to offer. Why are you so satisfied with so little when I was ready to fill 'er up!"

And that's my iWitness...
Laugh often and Fear not!
David!

And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, ¹⁹ addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, ²⁰ giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ..." (Ephesians 5. 18-20)

Lost and Found

With the Polar Vortex's little brother bearing down on the city of Chicago I sought refuge on an upholstered bench that was getting hit by direct sunlight through some very large plate glass windows at the world's busiest airport - Chicago O'Hare.
Paying attention only to my task at hand, an airport worker walked by the end of my bench, leaned over picked up a book that was abandoned on the floor, looked at it the title and quickly tossed it down on the bench. My eyes quickly drifted over to the title of the book which read, "Priesthood, Pastors, Bishops." My first thought was, "With a title like that, no wonder the book has been thrown to the side!"
But, upon further review, my second thought was, "This book is right up my alley." I crawled on the bench to pick up the book and began flipping through the pages. In the middle of the book was a boarding pass with the name Dinah Dutta on it. She had flown from Kansas City to Chicago. She had sat in first class in seat 3C.
I decided to do a little research. I looked her up on Facebook and voila, there she was. She's the pastor at St. Mark's Lutheran Church in Atchison, Kansas. I made the decision to put the book in my backpack and when I got home to Dubuque, Iowa I would mail the book to her.

A couple of hours later I was on my way home after being in the Sunshine state of Florida for the previous week. That was Monday.

In the late afternoon on Tuesday I conducted some more research. I called St. Mark's Lutheran Church only to find a "full" voicemail inbox with no room to leave a message. I checked LinkedIn and discovered that Dinah also served a Lutheran church in Valley Falls, Kansas. I called the church,, only to get another answering machine. There was no need to leave a voicemail this time as the lady's voice on the answering machine offered Dinah's cell phone number.

I quickly made the call to Dinah's cell phone. The third effort was met with another voicemail inbox. Dinah is of Indian descent and her accent was beautiful to hear on the recording. I left a detailed message telling her that I had her book and would be happy to send it to her home.

One minute after hanging up my phone rang.
The called id simply said, "Dutta, Dinah."
I answered the call, "Hello Dinah Dutta!"

My iWitness...

The joy in her voice was more than apparent. She had been looking for the book. She knew she had it in her hand in the Chicago airport and upon arriving at her set destination it was nowhere to be found.

We chatted for a few minutes and I told her that I would be happy to mail it to her.
I inquired, "Where would you like for me to mail it to?"
She replied, "Well, I am at Wartburg Seminary right now."
My jaw hit the top of my desk, "Wartburg Seminary in Dubuque, Iowa?"
She said, "Yes."
"I am in Dubuque!", I almost shouted.
We both laughed at the impossibility of such a happening.

She told me that she had a break in her class schedule at noon.
"I'll meet you in the chapel at noon on Wednesday", my voice filled with anticipation.

I had one more question...
"Dinah, were you on the 3:30 flight to Dubuque yesterday?"
"Yes" was her quick reply.
My voice almost trumped over her response, "So was I!!!"

The book that was lost was a lot closer than she or I knew...
I wonder how many times in life that I have felt lost I was a lot closer to being found than I thought or knew.

On Wednesday, at noon, in the chapel, the book was reunited with its proud owner.
A new friendship was forged over soup and salad.
And the joy...the joy of having found that which was lost was celebrated!

Perhaps today you will have the chance to restore, return or reunite something or someone who was once lost but is now found.

It is indeed one of life's greatest joys.
Just ask Jesus...He knows better than any of us...

And that's my iWitness...
Laugh often and Fear not!
David!

So he (Jesus) told them this parable: ⁴ “What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it? ⁵ And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. ⁶ And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.’ ⁷ Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance. (Luke 15. 3-7)

The Dead Room

I was having lunch the other day with my good friend Eddie. Somehow our conversation turned to the mission work that he and his wife Sheryl have been involved with in China.

Eddie was relating to me how long it took to get to the orphanage that they were visiting. In an almost "matter of fact" voice, Eddie said, "We go over to this orphanage and rescue babies from the dead room."

My mouth was full of food and Eddie was two or three sentences down the road before I could finally halt him in his tracks with, "Whoa, whoa, whoa...What did you say? The Dead Room? What is that?"

Eddie leaned back, paused, took his cloth napkin, wiped his mouth, placed his silverware down on his plate, took a deep breath and with sad eyes said, "David... this is how it works over there. The orphanages take care of the babies for one year and after one year the babies are placed in 'the dead room' where they are left unattended until they die."

The pregnant pause was palpable as I tried to wrap my mind around this seemingly typical practice of placing healthy, active, beautiful children in "The Dead Room."

My iWitness...

Have you ever been put in "The Dead Room?"

I cannot even begin to tell you how many people I have come across in my short lifetime who...
1. Have placed themselves in the dead room
2. Were tossed into the dead room by a teacher, parent, coach, friend or family member
3. Have lived in the dead room for years, not knowing that there was another way to live

This is Jesus at his best!
Rescuing people from "The Dead Room!"

Maybe the reason He is so passionate about this type of rescue mission is that he knows firsthand what it is like to be placed in the dead room.
He also knows first hand what it is like to have the stone rolled away from the dead room and breathe in new life all over again.

Are you in The Dead Room?
I know a way out.
Want to know how I know the way out?
You see... I've been in The Dead Room once before. I know all the nooks and crannies and guess what?...I can show you how to get out...forever! If you'll just grab my hand...I will gently place it in the hand of the One who is called "the Way and the Life" and you will never, ever have to go back to The Dead Room.
Do you know anyone in The Dead Room who has given up on life itself?
How about we throw ourselves headlong into a rescue mission...
Let's call it Operation "The Living Room"...

And that's my iWitness...
Laugh often and Fear not!
David!

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life..." (John 14. 6)