The Unstoppable Straight Line

We can't stop it, you know. Time. Birth. Life. Death. It's a straight line.
We deceive ourselves into thinking we have control over all of it. Each day
is one day closer...for all of us.
The thing is - we have the one thing we do control. Choice. We all have
freedom of choice. I shake my head whenever someone gets caught with their
"hand in the cookie jar" and says, "I had no choice." Yes, they did.
Adam used that excuse, you know. Blamed it on Eve. She used the same excuse
of "no choice." Blamed it on the serpent. God cut through the excuses and
placed the blame exactly where it lay and everyone involved got a
punishment handed to them from the git-go.
Serpent started slithering, Eve would know pain in childbirth and Adam - it
really laid on his shoulders. Thorns, thistles, weeds, sweat and pain from
life's labors. And it was passed down from generation to generation all the
way to us in the here and now.
But in that straight line from 1st life to 1st sin to 1st death was God in
the thick of it all, invisible but more real than anything we humans could
even imagine. Mankind and nature (the serpent was just the beginning of
nature's sorrows) was punished but it was not all-consuming. No matter how
bad things have been for eons they have always been given a measure of His
mercy. As I mentioned - His involvement has been invisible. MOSTLY
invisible. See, though all of this creation has been punished since Eden,
He didn't - WOULDN'T - let all the punishment fall on us. He let the
totality of all punishment fall on Him. MOSTLY invisible except for a
burning bush, a pillar of fire, a pillar of smoke and a life lived in the
flesh. He walked the ultimate straight line of birth, life and death. But
His line didn't end with a period like the rest of us. His line ended with
a ; and then ! His line started up again.
So back to choice. Because He is alive AGAIN we really can't use the excuse
"I had no choice." He has negated Adam's wrong choice. We have no one to
blame for wrongs done that we do. What we can do is simply say, "I have no
excuse. It was my choice; my fault." And because He died in accepting our
just punishment He gives us another choice. We can choose . . . Him.
We can be open and honest with Him about what we are and what we've done
because He knows it all already anyway but we need to let it out so it can
all be let go and gone far, far away from us. That's only finally possible
if we make that one great choice of accepting Him and letting go of the
old, lost us. Our life is still that straight line. Birth. Life. Death. But
now, because of His choosing of us we now have a ; and soon for those who
choose Him there will be a ! and life will start again with no end,
no period - just etc etc infinity . . .
Just had to get that off my chest tonight. I was looking at the tv and not
really seeing it and these words just popped in my head. Still had the
choice not to post it but really - maybe it's not MY choice ....O:-)

Death and Faith

This past week I received sad, horrific news about a death in my extended family. Melodie Rauch (Wendt) is a dear cousin of mine. Though we've not seen each other since 1998 (14 years ago) there is still that closeness and bond that cousins have that years cannot erase. She and her husband Walter raised 5 children out on the barren plains of far western Kansas, right next to the Colorado border. They are devout Christians, love Christ, each other, their community and are well thought of by everyone.
One of Melodie's sons, Victor, died Monday, March 26, near Buffalo, Oklahoma. He was only 26 years old. My youngest daughter will be 26 in August so this strikes very close to my heart. There is a fine line betwixt life and death. None of us are immune to death's imminent power. As a Christian, it gives me great comfort to know that I do not have to fear death because Jesus Christ defeated death and the grave at the Cross of Calvary. We can know this with confidence due to the fact that He was resurrected from the grave on the 3rd day and ascended to heaven to be our Advocate before the Father in heaven, a Witness to the angels and the entire Universe (His creation) that He had the scars to prove His death was real and that He stands for we mortals here on this earth. We are important to Jesus Christ. He loves us so much that He gave up His own eternal existence for us - to set us free.

I only talk about it because I am compelled to do so...Victor's death - any death - tells me that my priorites should be about Jesus Christ, the Father and the Holy Spirit first in my life. I do that and everything else is just extra icing on the cake of life ... rhetorically speaking. Below is Victor's obituary and picture.

Victor Keith Rauch

Published 3/28/2012 in Obituaries (Garden City Telegram, Garden City, KS)

TRIBUNE, KS — Victor Keith Rauch, 26, died Monday, March 26, 2012, near Buffalo, Okla.

He was born July 27, 1985, in Garden City, to Walter E. and Melodie Wendt Rauch.

A former resident of Tribune, Mr. Rauch was a truck driver in the petroleum industry.

Survivors include his parents, of Tribune; and four siblings, Melissa Miller and Andrew Rauch, both of Tribune, Jessica Alexander of Quinter, and Connie Murrell of Amarillo, Texas.

Funeral will begin at 2 p.m. MST Friday at Assembly of God Church in Tribune. Burial will be at Greeley County Cemetery in Tribune.

Funeral arrangements by Price & Sons Funeral Home in Tribune, Ks. Condolences may be sent at www.priceandsons.com. Memorials are suggested to the Crossroads Center in Liberal, in care of the funeral home.

Obituary of Victor Keith Rauch

Already February 2012

Wow, another month gone already in the New Year of 2012. I wish I could say that this year has been easy thus far but no, I cannot. My stepson, age 31, awakened me three weeks ago on a Monday morning (RE: 1200 AM!) saying he was in a lot of pain. I took him to ER. They rolled him into a private room, said that they were getting a surgeon. His gall bladder was bad - in fact, it was necrotic (Latin for necros means dead) - i.e. dead flesh. They took out his gall bladder, cleaned out as much dead tissue they could and put him on antibiotics. Tuesday morning they opened him up again - a stone stuck in a duct. Poor guy. I was just tired... a LOT. Hey, I'm old, okay?
I've had good news handed to me though. I'm keeping my job as an instructor. I've had to re-apply for my job and have received one "Tentative Hiring Approval" and had to reply that yes, I wanted the job. Well, DUH! I did, of course, so now I'm just waiting for further developments.
Come this Tuesday and Wednesday (8th & 9th of Feb) I'll have finished two more college classes - all A's thus far. It has been daunting, to say the least - I'm trying to get my B.S. in Technical Education. It's a challenge but I'm doing my best.
On a spiritual note -- I've asked God to keep it all together for my family this year. I truly believe that life as we all know it is going to go through a drastic change this year. When I say all, I mean the entire world. Not because of the Mayan 2012 Apocalyptic calendar (a real calendar but misunderstood and hyped by conspiracy theorists) - but because of how evil the world has become just the past 2 years. Evil is about the best I can describe. Darkness, perversion, hate, murder, molestations, etc - these are things that we humans seem to have become inured to - numbed to it. That's Hollywood, Reality TV, CNN, Fox - all of them. We see it on TV all the time, on our computers via the news or YouTube. God help us all.

P.S. SuperBowl today - New York Giants vs. New England Patriots. Eli Manning (QB, NYG) vs Tom Brady (QB, NEP). I doubt that I'll see it. Who do I want to win? The NY Giants. Who's going to win? Probably the Patriots. It's their turn. Plus they want REVENGE for losing to the Giants a couple of years ago for the Super Bowl win. It should be a good game. But I may be doing something else. :)

God bless and keep everyone safe. May you know His love, experience His reality. Amen.

Still here but far behind

It's January the 21st, 2012. I've not posted since Thanksgiving of 2011. That would make me the ultimate slacker. I wonder if anyone ever reads these posts anyway. Regardless - I survived the Christmas holidays but my mind and soul seem injured somehow. I sent gifts to my brother and two sisters as well as my two sons, my new grandson, Wesley Richard (his 1st Christmas!), and Wesley's Mother and two sisters. Yet, my sons hurt me - no response, no thank you...nothing. Is it me or are people less caring, less considerate and more self-centered and selfish? The Holy Word says that in the last days, men's hearts will become cold. That's just one sign among many that tells me the 2nd Coming of Jesus Christ draws near. Here it is winter and even though Mississippi doesn't really have what I call a winter, thus far it's been warmer than usual. This is not a good thing because that means the Gulf of Mexico is going to be warmer this year and that means the hurricane season could be rather active.

But that's not here yet. This is supposed to be an update. I had received my "pink slip" from the USAF concerning my employment as an instructor. My pink slip was revoked. I had to sign paperwork that offically cancelled that notice and now I'm re-applying for my job as a permanent position and have been for 2 months. I've applied about a dozen times and have received 3 notices of not being hired. They say this will take some time. NO KIDDING!?

My stepson, Brandon, aged 31, had his gall bladder taken out last week. It was necrotic - which means it was basically nothing but dead rotting flesh plus gallstones. He had two surgeries. Here it is Friday night/Saturday morning and he's home after 3 days in the hospital, taking painkillers and just laying around his house. It's been a rough few months for the young man. His wife left him last May and he's been shuffling his children (my grandkids) back and forth from her place to his. It's a sad sad situation - one that we all pray for that in God's way, in His time and in His wisdom, this marriage or divorce shall be according to His will. It's a rough road trip for Brandon for sure.

My poor wife still has her back and hip problems. The ambulance chasers - er, lawyers - still are stumblingblocks to the doctors trying to help her. It's been 6 years of litigation and delays. Starting to take its toll on us both. Faith in Christ is really all we can have.

Not much more to share at this point. Life goes on, the road trip is still rough and full of potholes but I (we) keep travelling down it. We have no choice. Life is what it is. Until later, may the Lord be with you - whoever you are out there. He is still here, traveling with us down the rough road of life but He's already done the hard part - it's up to us to hang on to Him. Love one another, care about each other, remember the love He has for us all - even though we don't deserve it. That's what grace is all about.

Later. Enjoy the sunset ... taken on Chesapeake Bay Beach, Norfolk, VA, 1997 ☺