Dear friends,I have to back pedal a little bit on something I wrote. (I guess I get paranoid about being misunderstood. It's one of the insecurities I still contend with...) Yesterday (and a thousand other times) I made the point that relationship with God, not religion, it what sets us free. And that's 100% true. The song I posted "More Like Falling in Love" makes that point, but leaves out something equally important. There are times in any relationship when feelings are dull, and the real work of living it out is plain old discipline. Just doing the next right thing. Now if it was always about that, we'd be in the realm of religious legalism. That's not at all what I'm talking about. I'm just trying to say that a walk with the Great One on the pilgrim road really is about a love story, but in every love story there are tests, troubles and trials. And at those times it may not feel at all like "falling in love". It may feel like "where are you, God?", and hanging on for dear life for love's sake. Anyway, I didn't want to give the impression that reason and duty are not part of the highway we're on. They certainly are. But the motive is love. The driving passion is love. The final reward is love. That's alot different from saying prayers the way a Pharisee says them. It breeds humility, not pride.
Last night Stephen and I were honored to spend the evening with Ed Frank and his wife Shirley. I've mentioned before that Ed is the director of Choices 301, a DWI awareness center that brings the truth and pain of the consequences of drunk driving to the folks who need to hear the message. Ed has our car mounted on a flatbed trailer (funded by SEFCU), and soon there will be a sound system on it too. I have written a 5 minute piece to tell the story of what happened in the wreck people see before them, lest twisted metal and shattered glass overshadow the story of the living, breathing human beings (including all of you) impacted by the crash. It was a powerful moment for Hercules, looking at the car, finding a piece of his watchband still on the floor, seeing his sneakers squeezed under the misshapen brake pedal. Most difficult of all was looking at the tiny spot occupied by our beautiful baby girl. How we both grieved the fact that she was in that hideous mess. A beautiful, rare princess trapped in what is hardly recognizable as a front seat. She only wanted to ride with her daddy. Love and danger, how often they live side by side... How wondrous is the Great One, to have delivered them both from death. Any further from the hospital, at another time of day, 2 more miles per hour, and the outcome could have been unthinkable. Heartache and gratitude held hands as I thought of my beloveds in peril. I pray each one who looks upon it will be shockingly sobered, and determined to drive sober as well. After seeing the car we went to the Frank's beautiful home for pound cake with strawberries! Double Yum. Shirley and Ed are incredibly gracious, giving people, having suffered their own sorrows. You can meet them at the Smith Family Thanks You Dessert Night on October 23. Get that on your calendar friends!
On a lighter note, our new kitten (Domino) is a true member of the Smith family. She likes ice cream! (Only a teeny bit, don't email me about how bad it is for her...) She slept with us last night, and I woke up to find her so tucked in next to me that I feared rolling over on the darling thing. But she loves us, so that's where she wants to be. Love and danger, always side by side.
Your friend on the pilgrim road,
Loriann
2 comments:
A picture says a thousand words. How great He is to have brought both Stephen and Hannah through the ruble. I may never understand why He wanted them both on that road at that precise moment but I thank him for leaving your family on this earth.
profound!
Post a Comment