Huckabee ?

I stayed up tonight to see how Mike Huckabee would fare on the Jay Leno show, and I must say he really looked good. He had to get through the picket line to get on the show, but he was funny, and real, and a good guitarist, and he looks like he is having fun. Tomorrow we will see what happens in Iowa, but he is so refreshing as a candidate, that I hope he wins this caucus, and many more. It is amazing that he is a Christian and a Baptist, and still people see someone in him that they can trust. Here's one to watch!

The other side

Have you noticed how often we are forced to see that every event, every condition, every thought has an equal and opposite side? And also how our ability to move from the vision of one or the other of those sides reveals our position in relation to them. For instance, Brad and Stacy and Leva arrived by plane on the Saturday before Christmas. We were there to greet them, but just as they were about to land, there was a white out blizzard at the airport. I went from window to window to get a view of the plane landing, but I couldn't see it. One lady there, also waiting for family, assured me that the plane had already landed. Another told me that it was in a holding pattern waiting to land. I was in a panic, so I walked off by myself, quietly praying that the plane would land safely and that everyone would get inside the terminal without incident. A few minutes later, the plane taxied to the walkway and our dear passengers appeared through the tunnel. Joy. Thanksgiving.
Minutes later, we were on our way home, warmly tucked into the CRV, moving slowly through the snowy, gray afternoon, and looking forward to arriving home. Suddenly, a long pickup truck jack-knifed ahead of us, and in a kind of slow-motion dance, it hit a small blue car next to us, turned the other way, and we unavoidably, hit the truck head on. Little Leva, pregnant Stacy, and I shared the back seat, while Brad and Dad sat in the front seat. We were all concerned about the others' welfare, but in shock. Thankfully, we were all fine. However, when we tried to get to the side of the road with the other two cars involved, we realized that we were in even more danger as cars seemed to be hurtling toward us, unaware of our inability to get away! The reality of our dangerous position dissipated the relief at finding ourselves unharmed and fear took hold. Thankfully, Brad moved us onto the exit and safely to the nearest gas station, where within minutes we were warm, safe, feeding Leva a banana, using the restrooms, eating hotdogs, talking to strangers, and even becoming bored with the wait for a tow truck. Amazing! One minute we are facing death and the next we are bored with no action.
About a month ago, I had a personal encounter with death. I got up early on a Saturday morning to work on the computer for my class. After about two hours, I decided to go downstairs and make some coffee. I was stiff from bending over the computer, so I did a few stretching exercises as I looked outside onto the deck. Suddenly, my eyes crossed, I lost my balance, and lunged into the wall. Pulling myself up with my eyes closed, I staggered through the kitchen and fell into the leather chair in the living room. Weakly I called to Bill several times until he came to help. By this time my face and arms were going numb and it was increasingly hard to talk. I thought stroke, but I was sure that a stroke would affect only one side, while this episode was affecting both sides. I was cold stone sober as I told myself to move my arms and feet and to keep talking and moving. Meanwhile Bill called 911 and almost instantly we heard the sirens as both the firetruck and ambulance sped toward our house. I remember thinking, "This is it. You need to say good-by, but I couldn't. I couldn't even open my eyes to see Bill or the house or the ambulance or the person helping me. I simply prayed God for more time to see the grandkids grow up and kept talking. Sara greeted us at the hospital and I could tell that she was shocked to see the left half of my face dragging, but she and Bill kept talking to me as though this was just a temporary problem, and they were right. Three hours later, I was on my way home. Although I had another incident 1 1/2 weeks later that landed me in the hospital again, my medications are now in balance and I am doing very well. I finished teaching my course at the college and the computer course I was taking as well, and life returned to an even keal. Certainly I look at life differently now. Every moment is a treasure and the chance to see all of the grandkids and kids at Christmas was a miracle.
But back to the idea. The difference between here and the other side is tissue paper thin. And perhaps for the Christian, it is even less than that. Perhaps we are living on both sides at the same time. Perhaps a clear view of eternity from this side of it makes the move from one side to the other quite effortless. It isn't the other side we fear, it's the passage between the two that has the fear factor. The sting of death is gone even though the reality of death will always remain.
"If I should die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take." No fear. Happy New Year.