Kopp Disclosure
(John 3:19-21)
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"She scorned with a scream, 'You'll never grow up!'
I looked upward and begged, 'Please!'
Old?
Young?
Choice!"
Adamson
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"But, alas, it turns out it is the spirit in a
man, not age."
Elihu
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Hazel just
turned 93.
She asked my age.
"Three
decades junior," I reported.
"You don't
look it," she observed then smiled, "and I hope you don't act
it."
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A senior wrote in
my 8th grade yearbook, "May you live as long as you want to and want to as
long as you live."
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Bob didn't make
it as long as Hazel still does.
He was only 71
when he went back home to Jesus.
Yet, like Hazel,
he would agree with the senior who wrote in my 8th grade yearbook.
I'll never forget
his enduring youthfulness.
Not long after
the horrific tornado in Joplin, Missouri on May 22, 2011, our family of faith
followed up a big relief check and truckloads of supplies with a large work
crew and VBS staff.
At the time, Bob
was hooked up to a heavy oxygen tank with a failing ticker sending him to
more than occasional visits to the hospital.
Bob was
determined to make the trip; but several well-meaning women of Martha-like, uh,
uh, uh,...asked me to counsel him to stay home because of his declining health.
They said it
wasn't safe for Bob to go.
"Too
risky," they insisted.
Parenthetically -
and Bob often told me how much he liked me using that word in oral and
written messages - I'm really not amused when people make bullets for me to
shoot. Really, if you wanna say something to somebody, say it
yourself. Have the courage of your, uh, whatever. And instead of asking me how
folks are doing in the hospital, why don't you follow Jesus in a Matthew
25 kinda way and make a trek? Yeah, I'm still gonna go; but wouldn't
it be nice if you went too? Parenthetically!
Well, I know it's
more of a pain having to answer to church ladies when you don't obey 'em; sooooooo like most wimpy
pastors of this generation running errands for people who can't/won't do it for
themselves, I went to Bob and told him that some, uh, uh, uh, church ladies
wanted me to tell him that they didn't think he should go to Joplin because he
was chained to the oxygen tank and had a bad ticker.
Bob looked at me
with those big brown eyes of his that were so strong yet so gentle at the same
time and seemed to glow as he said through one of his patented mischievous
smiles, "I would rather die doing something for God's sake than give up
just because of this ___ tank!"
Some people rust
away.
Others ride off
in a blaze of glory.
Bob blazed!
No rust on his
soul.
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My father-in-law
just turned 90.
He has 4th stage
cancer.
He's always been
one of my heroes; for with my dad and other upper octogenarians and more,
he was part of the last great generation of Americans who were
collectively in love with God and country and
willing to sacrifice for 'em.
Anyway, he loves
cutting the grass on his John Deere tractor.
When I saw him
after Easter, he said he was getting some static from other family members
about getting on that JD and cutting the grass at his age and with such health challenges.
He asked what I
thought.
Despite putting
myself in a precarious spot with you know who by responding,
I answered, "Well, I've always said we're ___ if we do and ___ if we
don't; which is quite liberating in that we can say whatever we think knowing
we're going to catch it regardless. So, yeah, if you know the probable
consequences of falling off your JD, I'd go for it. Like freedoms in
America, once ya give something up, ya rarely get it back. So, as Nike
says, just do it!"
He did!
When I heard he
did, I told his daughter, "Score one for freedom and manhood!"
No rust on
Ralph's soul.
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My first and
continuing hero, my dad, is always buying golf clubs.
My mom wonders
why he needs 'em.
Really, women
just don't get men just as much as men just don't get women.
Never have.
Never will.
Maybe Bruce
Jenner understands the mystery; but most women and men don't.
Female is female
and male is male and one comes from Venus and one comes from Mars.
Or something like
that.
Actually, it goes
back to Genesis; but, really, because most folks pay more attention to planets
than the Bible these days...
Getting back to
the point before it totally escapes me, I said this when my mom complained
about it again, "O.K., just tell me when dad stops buying new golf clubs
so I can clear out my calendar and start preparing his memorial service."
Psst.
My dad just
bought a new driver.
Says it has added
20 yards with more accuracy.
No rust on his
soul.
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Our church boards
are really young compared to most mainliners.
When I tell other
pastors about it, they get kinda green-eyed.
Sooooooo we've got a
problem different from most other churches in our franchise and town.
We're always
looking for people who are older to balance things out a little.
Not too long ago,
I said to one of 'em, "I hope you'll take another three year term."
She asked why.
"There are
three reasons," I replied, "that quickly come to mind. First,
we need your experienced leadership. Second, you don't act like a
geezer. Third, you've gotta have goals and purpose and raison d'etre no matter
how old ya are. I don't want you to rust out. I love you too much
to see that happen to you."
I think she's
gonna do it.
No rust on her
soul.
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Once we stop
acting younger, we start getting older.
Quickly.
O.K., cynic,
chronology happens.
Spirit
is...embraced...or not.
Some things are
not predestined in an existential/volitional kinda way no matter what
hyper-Calvinists dogmatize.
That sounds
silly.
Just like people
who look...because they act sooooooo...
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Blessings and Love!
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1 comment:
When I get old, I don't want people thinking "What a sweet little old lady..." I want them saying "Oh #@$! What's she up to NOW?" :)
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