When we look at our own families pattern of dysfunction we must remember that when Jesus was born into the world it was not through nobility or purple linens, but through a simple working class family. He is the hope for all of us that healing from our past wounds is possible.

Now in those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus, that a census be taken of all [a]the inhabited earth. 2 [b]This was the first census taken while[c]Quirinius was governor of Syria. 3 And everyone was on his way to register for the census, each to his own city. 4 Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David, 5 in order to register along with Mary, who was engaged to him, and was with child. 6 While they were there, the days were completed for her to give birth. 7 And she gave birth to her firstborn son; and she wrapped Him in cloths, and laid Him in a [d]manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

I was reflecting on the displaced families over this holiday time of year. Divorces, death, gambling addictions leading to homelessness often leads children down a wrong way path of insecurity and instability.

 I was remembering that it was the sudden death of my dad's mom when he was just a little baby that caused his dad to have a severe reaction to his 'battle fatigue or today's version we otherwise think of PTSD.  Dad was just a baby when his mom and dad lived in a home in Farmington, Minnesota when his mom, Cora, died.  His dad had been a woodworker when life came to a screeching halt when he was unable to function. 

His dad, Levi, wound up in the St. Cloud Veteran's home when he was unable to continue making a living and take care of his son's  Frank, and his brother Roger was taken in by his mom's family in Robbinsdale, Minnesota. They lived a life of insecurity and instability and were taught that the only way of recovering from the emotional pain of loss would be to work hard and do well in school. Emotions became secondary in their lives. When dad entered the service when World War two broke out that work ethic was reinforced.

I began to reflect on the time of Jesus's birth and the upheaval of that time when King Harrod sent an order to kill every firstborn child 2 years old and younger and the emotional upheaval it caused for all families of that era.

Baby Jesus came into the world in a path of insecurity and instability when the only place Joseph could find for this new born's birth was a relatively dirty feeding trough behind the inn. Like my dad's dad, Joseph was also a woodworker with a reputation of working hard. 

 To think that God could have chosen to bring his son into the world through nobility and purple linens and yet he chose a simple working-class family to bring the Savior of the world is incomprehensible to any human mind, but as we read the words from Matthew to John we see that there was a reason to that madness.

Today, there are many families that are wrecked with dysfunction caused by divorce and utter chaos that need the hope of the living Savior to breathe on them  Everyone needs the savior to breathe life into them to renew and refresh their aching souls which have been wreck by dysfunction that happened so long ago that many no longer are aware what caused their original pain. 

God wants no one to suffer. He desires everyone to be healed from their affliction and for relationships to be restored.

It is through the power of Jesus Christ that heals the wounds of our past.  Life may never be the same after a loss, but with Jesus Christ, help life can bring you back on the road of security and stability, regardless of the family dysfunction of your pass.

As believers in Jesus Christ we are to be the light unto the world, even in the face of personal tragedy

6 In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 7 These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.

Life, after tragedy, is hard.  We fall into periods of sadness as we think about the loved one who has died. Christmas doesn't carry the same enthusiasm. Joy to the world doesn't carry quite the same message when one is sad and thinking about their friend and the by gone memories with that person that are no more.

Hope is not lost when we think about our loved one singing at the top of their lungs while enjoying endless heavenly feasts with the King of kings and Lord of lords, none other than Jesus Christ.

Hope is not lost when you realize that not only he rescued your love one and brought them to their new heavenly home, but also walks with you in the quagmire of your grief.

Hope is never lost when you place one foot in front of the other and keep on with the same rituals of having quiet times, attending church and praying for one another just as you did before the loss.

Even as we grieve we can be the light to the world. When people ask you how you are doing and your response is " I am sad but I am trusting my Savior Jesus Christ each day" can be a seed that is planted in the heart of the unbeliever.  A  seed that may flourish once grief enters their own lives.

Over 2000 years ago Jesus entered the world a mere baby and began the path of being a light to the world.

A world so disparately in need of peace. A peace that cannot be found simply by meditating or by taking the best that all religions have to offer. A peace that only Jesus can provide to the aching soul of man.

As you proceed on this grief journey Jesus is building a platform so that one day your testimony from grief can be the light that others need to see. 

Listen to the sounds of the hammer putting the lumber of your platform together. Do you hear the power saws cutting up the lumber for your platform?  It is going to be an awesome platform when it is finish. You may not see the end to your pain, but God does and when the end is reached you are going to have an incredible testimony  that will bring people to the Savior. 

God gave hope through a simple baby boy born over 2000 years ago in a feeding trough, the only place that Joseph  could find so that Mary could give birth to the Savior of the world.

Joy to the world carries a whole lot more meaning when we begin to see that Christ gives us a living hope!

Muslims coming to Jesus (Isa) after Dreams , Visions and Miracles

Don’t overlook the obvious here, friends. With God, one day is as good as a thousand years, a thousand years as a day. God isn’t late with his promise as some measure lateness. He is restraining himself on account of you, holding back the End because he doesn’t want anyone lost. He’s giving everyone space and time to change. 2 Peter 3:9

This young woman is sharing her testimony of coming to Jesus Christ through dreams and revelation. We are living in a time of what can best be described as Spiritual warfare. Only God is able to see this war. The Spiritual re-birth of this young woman illustrates why we must never give up on people.As we watch the exodus of millions of Syrians leaving their homeland God is at work in the hearts and minds of these people. Won't you share with these people your faith in Jesus Christ?

We may be standing at the greatest miracle of God with these born again people. 

Recovering from the loss of a child

24 and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds,25 not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near. Hebrews 10:24-25

The epicenter of grief. 

Like throwing a rock into a pond, the waves of grief flows outward, hitting all who knew that person.

It starts with the initial tremor at the very epicenter.

John and Kathy Smith had just brought their son home from the hospital for a routine tonsillectomy. Their son, Josh, was glad to be back home where he could sleep in his own bed surrounded by all of his  treasured possessions and his loved ones. Three hours after putting her son to bed Kathy woke up to check on him, only to find him unresponsive. She screams at the top of her lungs for her husband to come quickly. John quickly sizes up the situation and immediately starts CPR while telling Kathy to call 9-1-1.

Grief is a universal emotion that hits everyone who loved that person. The severity of  the response is dependent on how close we were to the loved one who died.

Then a strong aftershock occurs.

John and Kathy are in the living room praying for a miracle trying to hold it together for their other child.when the police chaplain comes out with those words no parent or loved one ever want to hear. "I'm truly sorry", the chaplain chokes up before continuing,"they did all they could,  but were unable to revive Josh."  Kathy collapses into John's arms while exclaiming, "no, no, nooooooo!"John tries to encourage the EMT's  to keep trying to revive Josh, but the one in charge goes over the checklist of everything they did to attempt to revive Josh. Their faces were equally in shock for they all had children Josh's age.The thing most of them wanted to do was go home and tell their child how much daddy loves them.

Many EMT's become distraught when a child dies and some are unable to return to the profession.

 It is at that point that John could no longer be strong and he too collapsed in a heap of sobs while reverberating to himself his failure as a dad to keep Josh alive.

Then a much stronger shock occurs.

When their surviving child  just learned that his brother was no longer alive he breaks down into heavy sobs as dad clutches him tighter as if he wanted his son to know that dad was going to protect him from the pain that has been thrust on him.

Once the EMT's and the police chaplain left John and Kathy knew that tomorrow was going to be a difficult day for their family which meant they had to get sufficient sleep. They decided for their family to sleep downstairs where they could all be together through this painful night.

The tremors calm down while the family slept.

Then the aftershocks are felt.

When Kathy told her parents about Josh's death her mom cried loudly into her phone. She could hear loud moans coming from her mom as she grappled with the realities of her grandson's death. When John told his parents they both collapsed from the weight of their grief.

Then a series of more aftershocks were felt.

John and Kathy called their son's school and within the hour, they started getting phone calls from Josh's friends and their parents who were equally despondent when they heard the news.

  All day long friends and neighbors came by their home to express sorrow.

Grief can affect a whole population as is the recent mass shootings in San Bernardino, Sandy Hook, and certainly, the day we witnessed two passenger jets slam into the World Trade Towers on September 11, 2001

 Yet, we have a tendency in our culture to want to 'grieve alone.'

 We fail to see the many connecting dots between the one who died and those who knew that person. Because we do not see others around us in pain, we grieve alone.

The aftershocks can linger for many months and even years after the original tremor.  Unresolved grief  can come out in the form of classroom learning problems, high-risk behavior, prolong depression and problems with the law; when many of his classmates continue to struggle with classroom learning, the classroom teacher may fail to connect their troubled student with their grief and refer them for ADHD testing. 

 Some are leaving their faith they once held in esteem.

Some are giving up on life and living the addictive cycle of drugs and alcohol.

 Some people who experience a traumatic loss may leave their faith because of the false thinking that "if God had only heard my prayer my loved one would still be alive." 

 For others, grief can actually strengthen their faith and reliance on God.

As a father who has suffered the loss no parent ever wants to experience,  I can tell  that God sent our family 'signs' that he would help us recover from our grief, but we had to 'trust him that he knows what he is doing with our lives.

The next time you feel the ripple of grief please know that there are others feeling the same pain of that loss. 
Don't deny that it is there. 

Don't try to go it alone, 

Lean into those emotions, trusting God with one step at a time and try talking with trusted friends about your pain. 

Please remember that God had a full plan for the life of your friend, but because we live in a fallen world unexplained death occurs.

 Finally, remember that God had the final victory when over 2000 years ago he allowed his son, Jesus Christ, to be crucified and buried before giving his son the final  victory with his resurrection  and the promise to us all that 'all things have been made new and that one day when we take our final earthly breath we will see our loved ones again!

One day, God will use your story to inspire others to survive their own journeys of loss.

One day in a Barnes and Noble Book store I was reminded of the powerful impact of encouraging words.

29 Let no [a]unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word is good for edification [b]according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear. Ephesians4:29-30

Today, I was reminded about the powerful impact that words can have on someone. A friend of mine, who I haven't seen for a while, shared with me that he still remembers the encouraging word I shared with him in church 20 years ago. I had forgotten those words, but over the last 20 years those words of encouragement kept being recalled over the course of his life.

Facebook is filled with unwholesome talk that does nothing more but tear the people who read them down. Cyber bullying does the same thing when the bullying strikes at their core value of who they are as a person; sometimes pushing people over the edge, sometimes a tragic end.

The holidays are often a stressful time for many people. Pressure to try to duplicate how mom and dad did Christmas comes into our consciousness as we rush to finish our Christmas shopping, planning the Christmas meal, and sending out the invites. We often become disillusioned when some invitations are turned down. The more I get to really know people I have concluded that life is filled with very wounded people. People who's armor has been chinked by a course unkind words, critical judgments that through time has left them emotionally defeated.

Just as a kind word is recalled over and over again in a person's life, an unkind word can remain in the consciousness of a person who grew up in a family where the hearing of such words was an everyday occurrence almost as if they were in a war.

The tongue can be used as a tool for building up someone and it can be used as weapon to destroy that same person. As you go about the holiday season and beyond remember to always think of words that will encourage people and that if there are wounded people in your life remember that it will take time for them to respond to your kind words. 

Remember that the holiday season isn't about us and our needs. It is in remembering that over two thousand years ago God sent to a hurting world through a virgin birth our redeemer who through time has restored and healed generations of wounded people.

Finally, it is up to God on his own timetable to bring healing and ultimate restoration to lives of wounded people, but it will be your words of encouragement, as well as others, that will enable God to heal them.

We, indeed, have an awesome God.

The downfall of Tom Petter'smight have begun in 2004 when his son John died

28 And they approached the village where they were going, and He acted as though He were going farther. 29 But they urged Him, saying, “Stay with us, for it is getting toward evening, and the day [f]is now nearly over.” So He went in to stay with them. 30 When He had reclined at the table with them, He took the bread and blessed it, and breaking it, He began giving it to them. 31 Then their eyes were opened and they recognized Him; and He vanished from [g]their sight. 32 They said to one another, “[h]Were not our hearts burning within us while He was speaking to us on the road, while He was [i]explaining the Scriptures to us?” 33 And they got up that very hour and returned to Jerusalem, and found gathered together the eleven and those who were with them,34 saying, “The Lord has really risen and has appeared to Simon.” 35 They began to relate [j]their experiences on the road and how He was recognized by them in the breaking of the bread. Luke 24:28-34

In the Minneapolis Star Tribune paper dated December 7th I read at the bottom of the article this very telling statement. 

A key event  was the 2004 death of his son. Peters contends that he was overwhelmed with grtef  and fell out of the loop during the fraud. " I made a huge error," Petters wrote, " John was killed. I was a wreck for several years and I tried to put on a public face that I was OK, but told everyone publicly  that John would have wanted me to go on and that it was fine. IT WAS AN ABSOLUTE LIE. My heart was broken.

As a dad who lost a child traumatically the first night home from the hospital I could feel the pain in every word of Petter's statement. Tom Petters did what most American's do when they suffer a sudden loss: they put on a tough exterior and pretend they are OK and tell themselves that everything is fine on the western front.

This is a false assumption and likely everyone's fatal error.  The emotions of grief need to find some way to be processed. If they aren't processed verbally then they will be processed internally. Our emotions can cause irreparable damage to our body through eating too much, drinking too much, engaging in dangerous activities, etc, etc.  Without properly processing our grief the brain itself will completely rewire itself causing many in the throes of grief to make critical errors of judgment. For most who make those critical errors they may not be noticed, but for a public figure like Tom Petters his critical errors might have contributed to the fraud that cost others millions.

While I am not excusing Mr. Petters for the fraud  I am speculating that he might have seen a completely different outcome had he not denied the pain and emotions when his son died.http://miamioh.edu/news/article/view/3236 According to this link Tom Petter's son was murdered when he was mistaken for a thief. 

What happened in 2004 illustrates why every organization ought to have an action plan on how to support their employees who find themselves in the difficulty of having to continue working after traumatic losses. Employees should be encouraged to get involved in grief support groups and individual counseling sessions to help them begin processing their loss. 

 Tom Petters said that he was a wreck for several years and I believe him. His son had been murdered and the pain from this type of loss is much deeper. It is one thing to bury a parent we have come to expect that they would one day die, but it is a whole other thing to have to bury a child, no matter what the age. 

It is our faith that helps us connect the dots of our pain and our eventually healing.  As we learn more and more about what the bible says about Jesus and the suffering he went through on the cross and as we read about the reality of his resurrection  we discover that there is hope after our loss. Jesus Christ is a living and breathing Savior two doesn't just sit in heaven, but through his holy spirit he help us to cope with our loss.

From mass shooting to the hope in Jesus

7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is [a]born of God and knows God. I John 4:7

Today, we had another mass shooting. As word of the gunman leaked out I learned that the gunmen were dressed in black face masks and tactical gear, armed with long guns and pistols of which they entered a holiday party for San Bernardino county health workers as it was in full swing. Before they fled, they had killed 14 people and wounded 17 others.

One gunman was positively identified as Syed Farook, rumored to be a employed by the California State Health department. As I heard the name mentioned the hairs on my back stood up when I began to think of the mass hysteria toward anyone with a foreign sounding name the day after this horrific event.

 I have always had empathy toward those who suffer. It goes back to when I was in the first grade when I chose to do a picture book I called, 'growing up black' I have always had the ability to project others into my stories and make them feel the emotions of the thoughts I was trying to convey.  In junior high  I would write my history papers from the first person perspective of a news anchorman helping the reader  to think he was right there in the story.

Syed Farook

Foreign sounding name

Once again there will be mass hysteria  and   paranoia toward anyone with a foreign sounding name.

 Several days ago a woman of the Muslim faith went out with her nieces to the local Applebees and was struck in the face with a beer mug  by another woman who was angered toward what she represented. She required multiple stitches, has nightmares cannot sleep, and is filled with fear that every time she ventures out that someone will hit her or spit on her because of who she represented in their minds.

Mass hysteria prevents people from seeing the good from the bad  It causes the mob mentality to take over their rational thought process. It breeds hate and puts a large group of people on edge because they have a foreign sounding name.

Now I want to introduce you to Nabeel Qureshi.

 Nabeel was a former Muslim, converted to the Christian faith because of a friendship he struck up with  another Christian who took the step of faith and reached out to him. No mass hysteria. No paranoia.  Simply the love of Christ.  

It is important as we go about our usual business tomorrow to see people through the eyes of God. 

 The more I interact with different cultural groups I find that many of them would grow anxious when  atrocities are done bu a few really bad people. The motives of good people are questioned whenever a person with a foreign name kills innocent people.

 If you are prone to mass hysteria and paranoid thinking following these horrific events I encourage you to avoid listening to the radio or even the evening news which will do nothing but aggravate you.

Instead, think of the thousands of people with foreign sounding names living the American dream just as you are and who are no more likely to kills as the majority of American's.http://www.biography.com/people/groups/immigration-us-immigrant

As you encounter people tomorrow with foreign sounding names please offer them a smile and wish them a good day. If you had the extra occasion to spend time with them offer to treat them to a meal out as a token of your appreciation for them.

A famous song I remember from my youth reminds me that one person can make a difference in a world of mass hysteria and paranoia. Won't you join me to make a difference in this world? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tadZ8nCLBsI

Wouldn't it be cool that in honor of Thanksgiving we all became organ donors?

W

2 Corinthians 4:16New Life Version (NLV)

Life Now—Life in Heaven

16 This is the reason we do not give up. Our human body is wearing out. But our spirits are getting stronger every day.

The other day I read about Minnesota baseball legion Rod Carew's plight with death. Still active helping  the Minnesota Twin's,  Carew felt a burning sensation in his chest and clammy hands while playing golf at the Corona's Cresta Verde Golf course in Californa. Mike Digiovanna, contact reporter with the Los Angeles Times writes about that incident in his recent column:

'After hitting his drive down the middle of the first fairway at Corona’s Cresta Verde Golf Course on Sept. 20, Carew’s chest began to burn, and his hands grew clammy. He returned to the clubhouse, crumpled to the floor and asked a woman to call a paramedic.

The next thing he knew,“There was a guy with two paddles in his hands, saying, ‘Hurry, we’re losing him!’ ” Carew said. Carew’s heart stopped beating. Twice. Both times, he was revived. When Carew woke up in the emergency room of Riverside Community Hospital, he was told he suffered a major heart attack.

Rod Carew at the age of 70 needs a new heart to replace his failing one. As a temporary fix Rod Carew received a computer-controlled, battery operated pump known as a left ventricular assist device (LVAD)

 There is something else I want to share about Rod Carew. In 1996. Rod Carew's 18-year-old daughter died from a rare form of Leukemia while waiting for a donor bone marrow which in the end could never be found, or was the match she needed.

In 1996 Minnesota Baseball legion, the sports figure every kid idolized joined the club no parent ever wanted to belong: parents who have lost a child. As a dad who belongs to such a club I can tell you that the pain from this loss is unlike any other. 

No parent is ever prepared to bury a child, no matter what the age.

There is another aspect to this blog and that is the shortage of  organ donors.. Rod Carew's daughter needed bone marrow and had a match been found she might still be alive today. Rod Carew needs a donated heart.  Each day, for example, 22 people die waiting for an organ that never comes because of a shortage of them,  while one person is added to the waiting list every 10 minutes. For more statistics on this you can go to this link:http://www.organdonor.gov/about/data.html

No one wants to consider their eventual demise. We all think we are going to live to be 90 and consequently it is hard for any of us to wrap our fingers around donating our organs. Yet, the greatest act of love everyone of us can do is sign up to be a organ donor. 

Now that you understand the dire need for new organs I encourage you to go to this website to register to be a donor in Minnesota. https://www.lifesourcedonorregistry.org/donate.aspx For all other states go to Donate the gift of life and type in the state you live in and sign up at your state's site.

As a believer I know where my daughter is at this moment. She is in heaven enjoying all of the benefits of her forever home. Knowing this I have a certain peace that the world may not understand which helps me face my grief with the influence of  God's Holy Spirit.  If you aren't sure if you are a Christian you can be sure reciting this prayer:



Dear Lord,

I admit that I am a sinner. I have done many things that don’t please you. I have lived my life for myself. I am sorry and I repent. I ask you toforgive me. I believe that you died on the cross for me, to save me. You did what I could not do for myself. I come to you now and ask you to take control of my life, I give it to you. Help me to live every day in a way that pleases you. I love you, Lord, and I thank you that I will spend all eternity with you.

Amen.
One last thing. in honor of Thanksgiving day won't you consider signing up to be a organ donor today.  Lives are counting on it.

One day while listening to KTIS 900 AM

13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans 15:13

It started off with a simple post from a friend who helps moderate his radio program. Simple words. "Pray for the Austin Hill show, minus Austin." Not sure what that meant I thought he must have taken a vacation and my friend was doing the show solo.

Then, later that afternoon my wife out of the blue asked if I knew that Austin Hill died? I said no and then I saw the connecting dots.  My wife listens to Austin Hill every week on her drive time to work. I decided to do some research and discovered that Austin was only 51 years old, had a wife and a 16-year-old son.  My son said there was profound sadness on the University of Northwestern St. Paul campus as word spread about his death.

Life starts off like a smooth running machine with not a care in the world until, that is, we hear about the death of a friend. When we receive such news it is as though we just got punched in the gut. It stings. We hurt emotionally and physically. The smooth running machine now comes to a screeching halt. We search through the manuals in hopes of finding what we need to get it operating again. Some  try to bury the emotional pain in their metal boxes with-in, while others process that pain by talking and sharing it with other willing listeners.

The ones in the former group may try to bury their pain in alcohol, drugs or long hours at work which only leads to the undercurrent of cancer  growing cells which only leads to more grief.

Every time I hear about the death of a younger person I am reminded how fragile life is for all of us. I am  reminded that Jesus Christ ended this painful sorrow the moment he ascended to heaven exclaiming to all  that "I have gone to prepare a place for you". Because of what Jesus did on the cross death has lost its sting. Sure we hurt when someone we know dies, but God assures us in his word, in our dreams, and in the sermon messages that our loved one  has finished the course, has won the good fight and is in the presence of our Lord.

 Meanwhile, the mission for the rest of us is to share the message of hope to people by sharing how  life changed the moment you received Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord of your life.

 Our pain is meant to be shared and when our pain is placed into the context of what Jesus has done for us, others will breathe a sigh of relief and come to Christ.

The next time a friend dies lean into your pain and ask God to give you the boldness to share that pain so others may find the living Savior.

  While Austin is experiencing the beauty of heaven we still have a mission  to share God's love with as many people as we encounter; until that is we breathe our last breath and find ourselves in the very presence of the beauty of heaven.

The Girl who Paints Heaven! - Akiane Kramerik

Jesus said to Nicodemus, “I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven-the Son of Man” (John 3:12-13).

I must admit that this time of year is hard on me. The shorter days combined with the lack of natural sunlight occasionally sends me into periods of sadness. While talking with other that are grieving I find that this is not an uncommon problem. Which is why I love reading things about heaven.  I want to know the place I will be spending my eternal life once this earthly body wears out. All of us who have experience the loss of someone special want to know that their loved one is in a safe place. They want to picture their loved one in their dreams enjoying heaven; it is what gives them the most comfort. 

God uses little children to reveal his truth. The church  I attend has had for many years a kid's prayer team where children learn how to pray. Over those same year's I have been amazed at some of the prayer's  that have flowed out of their mouths.

Colton, the little 4 -year-old who died and went to heaven very vividly described people he had never met to his mom and dad who recognize the people he had seen. Out of the mouth of a 4-year-old God reveals the truth of heaven.

God used another little girl by the name of Akiane who was only 4 when God gave her visions of heaven. When I first heard about this little girl  I was awestruck by the realism of her paintings. She started seeing visions of heaven which is amazing when one considers that her family had no religious foundation, no faith and no knowledge of the bible; yet God gave Akiane the gift knowing God's truth and a gift that every painter wished they had. It is as though God is giving us who know Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior the  assurance that our lives are secure when we have Jesus

Akiane was given a gift to share with the world searching for him. God uses the least among us to shame the wise among us and he does so by placing God's truth in us.  When Moses was so insecure to be God's mouthpiece,  he gave Moses Aaron to speak on his behalf. In the book of Numbers 22:29 God opened up the mouth of a donkey and spoke his truth to Balaam: "What have I done to you to make you beat me these three times?"

It is really amazing to see God work.  While most American's are apt to not believe, God is revealing himself in the dreams of Muslim people resulting in  hundreds of thousands of conversions; and He is also revealing himself in the dreams of those on death's doorstep.

 The next time you see a homeless man on the street or a person with a developmental disability, remember God just might be using them to reveal his truth.

Finally, remember the words of Jeus Christ from Hebrews 10 and do not let the naysayer's, the dregs of the world, the worse of the worst drag you down. for their day will come and when it does they will b e in a bit of a surprise that they chose the wrong path to true freedom: 



2-39 Remember those early days after you first saw the light? Those were the hard times! Kicked around in public, targets of every kind of abuse—some days it was you, other days your friends. If some friends went to prison, you stuck by them. If some enemies broke in and seized your goods, you let them go with a smile, knowing they couldn’t touch your real treasure. Nothing they did bothered you, nothing set you back. So don’t throw it all away now. You were sure of yourselves then. It’s still a sure thing! But you need to stick it out, staying with God’s plan so you’ll be there for the promised completion.

It won’t be long now, he’s on the way;
he’ll show up most any minute.
But anyone who is right with me thrives on loyal trust;
if he cuts and runs, I won’t be very happy.

But we’re not quitters who lose out. Oh, no! We’ll stay with it and survive, trusting all the way.

In every town in America there is grief. It comes in all shapes and sizes. This is a fictional story about a fire chief and a strong believer who recounts his days of his faith and how God had shown up in his life

43 Our bodies are buried in brokenness, but they will be raised in glory. They are buried in weakness, but they will be raised in strength. 1 Corinthians 15:43

It was 4 am.  Captain John Reisling was the last to leave the scene of the fire. A fire that took the life out of the Eddington Potato processing plant, the second to the largest employer in town. Only the school system and the municipality had more.

 As was his custom following these events, Captain Resling  would be the last to leave the scene.  He would often reflect on the night's events by praying for his men and the families effected by the fire; tonight he would pray for the livelihoods of those displaced by the fire.

John and his wife, Patty were members of the Eddington Evangelical Free Church where they attended. Patty often sang in the choir while he would rotate between ushering and teaching Sunday school.  Over the years of being a fire fighter he has witnessed supernatural protection of his men and  the lives they had saved. As a Christian he only had one explanation and that was his living Savior Jesus Christ.  As much as the secular media would try to white wash all these events John knew that it was God who had shown up all those years.

John accepted Christ as his Savior at 18. He remembers vividly  hearing the four spiritual laws through a friend of his and being so touched by his friends testimony that he knew that Jesus was at that moment knocking on the door of his heart. He remembered telling his parents and his brother and 3 sisters the next day about his decision and seeing his mom cry tears of joy because she had been praying for each of her kids that they would decide for themselves to follow Jesus and not just blindly follow the faith of his parents.

Tonight, he was in a particularly reflective mood. Standing at the scene of this fire he remembered some of the previous life-saving missions of his men. In each case he remembered how God had shown up at the scene.

He remembered one blaze where one of his guys became trapped when the ceiling collapsed on him and how two of his guys were able to lift the very heavy beam above him while another guy dragged him out from beneath. That young man survived his ordeal and later made a decision to accept Christ. He now has a wife and several adopted children and are members of the same Eddington Free Church. Every time he sees him John would see Joy and absolute peace radiant from him from simple conversations to how he loves his family.

He remembers how God showed up in those situations where lives could not be saved.

Years ago he and Patty lost their youngest son when he had a allergic reaction to a medication that for many would helped them, but for his youngest would be the cause of his death. He remembered vividly the 9-1-1 call his wife made where not only the police chaplain showed up, but their own children's Pastor. He knew that Pastor Jerry had just happened to get back from a trip on that very day his family needed him.

When the EMT came out and said in the most despondent voice, no parent would ever want to hear, that they tried everything, but they couldn't bring their son back It was at that point that Pastor Jerry was there to support his family. For many months and years John wrestled with God on the 'why's' of that night and selfishly accused God of taking one of his kids when he did everything for God from going to church with his family week after week to spending time with them.

 Through time and talking with many of his friends  John realized that it wasn't just his family who were weeping, but Jesus was also was weeping for them.   He sense over the course of several years God showing up in very supernatural ways ministering to each of them.

He eventually turned the corner of his grief when he realized that his youngest son's earthly existence ended because we live in a fallen world. He also realized that his youngest was in the very presence of Jesus and enjoying the fruits of heaven and that one day his whole family would be united with him.

He also saw on a spiritual level how God was shaping his children's faith through it all.

As he walked through the puddles of water from the former blaze he recalled another scene his crew responded to. It was a life-saving incident at the Eddington middle school where one of the soccer players went into respiratory arrest.

The school had recently bought a defibrillator when the coaches son  suddenly collapsed on the field. He was at the game and watched as the coach sent someone into the school to retrieve the defibrillator. He and some of his fellow EMT's ran down to the field and performed CPR on his son. It seemed like minutes with little success before the defribrillator arrived.  It wasn't until they shocked him with the defibrillator that life returned to him. He remembers sitting in on a school board meeting just a year before that incident when the board was debating on whether the defibrillator would be worth the cost or if the money would be better spent on school supplies.

When the coaches son took his first breath John knew that the cost was worth it.

Captain John said his final prayers before getting in his car to return home to his wife.  He was looking forward to handing the reigns of his position to a younger man and  to retiring in several  years.

He reflected on that decision he made at 18 and all of the blessings that flowed from that decision. He remembered God bringing Patty into his life and how strong she was for him.  He remembered his now grown kids and God shaping each of them, even in the face of the loss.

 He recalled the blessings that flowed from their involvement at the Eddington Evangelical Free Church where in the days following their loss telling his kids that if we don't go to church every time we don't feel like going we may miss out on the opportunity of being blessed with a kind word from a friend, or a timely message by the pastor.

 He remembered how each child always got ready for Sunday church from that moment on and he smiled as he sees their now grown children honoring their commitment to the Lord on the Sabbath. He got into his truck, turned on the music which was at that moment playing amazing grace

As he drove away he began to sing the  lyrics from that song. As he did so he thanked God for his amazing life.

Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again - Phantom of the Opera- Jesus love for those who grieve

14 “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God[a]; believe also in me. 2 My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. 4 You know the way to the place where I am going.”

In preparation for our family going to the Legacy Christian Academy's production of Phantom of the Opera she went on line to listen to some of the songs.

My lovely bride, the mother of our daughter Maria, asked me to listen to the song lyrics of this famous song. She thought it fitting to put the lyrics on my On Wings of Eagles site.  I agreed.

These lyrics are often what all of us feel after a loved one dies. Where once they were warm and alive and now they are gone from our lives forever.  They're gone, but we still feel their presence in our dreams and when we see their earthly possessions.  If you can picture this woman singing this song while trying to find her father's grave stone you will get a sense of her desperation in trying to get past the loss she had suffered.

 The time period it takes to process one's loss is dependent upon the relatiionshp you had with that person. There is no time table for processing grief and consequently you should not feel that you should move on simply because someone suggests to you that you are spending way too much time dwelling your loved one.

There is no doubt that grief stings. Like the trip to the doctors office the worrying we do on the days leading up to the trip is far worse than the actual appointment. There were times n my loss that I had wished I had stock in Kimberly-Clark, the makers of Kleenex tissues because I sure was buying plenty of their product.

As we 'lament' over our loved one who has departed we should remember that the bible reminds us that Jesus wept.  He wept for his friend Lazarus.  Two simple words and the shortest sentence in the bible illustrates God's  humanity for his people. http://www.desiringgod.org/articles/jesus-wept--2  To simple words reminding us of God's love for our loved one now departed and for us as well.  

Jesus wants to be your guide on this journey of loss. There are days where you barely have enough energy to get out of bed and your faith may be weak, but like our families grief ask God to give you what you what you need to get through the day.

He will.

Lessons for Leaders: Joni Eareckson Tada

As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. 2 His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”
“Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him. 4 As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. 5 While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”John 9

Sufferiing
A word that is as foreign to us

as
Abundance and fullness are to countries where shortages abound
Suffering
A word that all of us want to avoid like the plague
We would rather listen to bubblegum music
celebrate over a couple of beers

medicate our pain

with

booze,

drugs

or

select our friendships based on the good feelings they  bring to us

Suffering

a word none of us want to hear

physician assisted suicide

abortion

mercy killings

all words meant to help us avoid needless suffering

yet,

God  reminds us in John 9

Neither this man nor his parents sinned,

"but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him"

By terminating life regardless of the circumstances,

are we merely denying God's greatest work?

new life

saved lives,

redeemed lives

often are the results of watching God's hands on a suffering servant

vision

dreams

are the result of leaning into our pain and

trusting God that he truly knows what he is doing

with our life

As a Christian we mustn't be afraid of those who suffer

Rather than play god and avoid the pain

we ought to

pull up a chair

roll up our sleeves

and

listen to someone's story

by doing so

we just might see angels in their midst

and witness

God's greatest work yet!



A Tribute to Flip Saunders and what it means for me

12-14 I’m not saying that I have this all together, that I have it made. But I am well on my way, reaching out for Christ, who has so wondrously reached out for me. Friends, don’t get me wrong: By no means do I count myself an expert in all of this, but I’ve got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward—to Jesus. I’m off and running, and I’m not turning back. Philippians 3: 13-14

I was once again reminded of the brevity of life with the passing of Philip 'Flip' Saunders. It reminded me that life is short and in the blink of an eye it ends.

I think we were all taken aback with Flip's passing because we didn't see it coming. We were told that Flip's cancer was a very treatable one and after a brief hiatus he would be back behind the Timberwolves bench. After all, he was leading the young Timberwolves basketball team in what was expected to be the beginning of a winning season, especially after they drafted some outstanding players

Most of us who were born and raised in the great state of Minnesota were looking forward to seeing Flip take this team all the way to the NBA finals with play by play announcer saying in his high pitch throaty voice "Timberwolves win, Timberwolves win Timberwolves are the crowning champions of the NBA!!"

Alas, that will not happen. Life will go on with Sam Mitchel continuing the work of Flip Saunders and the team will find a way of pulling together without him.

Flip's sudden passing is a reminder for me that my faith in Jesus Christ is what pulls me together in the face of loss. In Philippians 3:14 I am reminded of these words: " but I’ve got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward—to Jesus. I’m off and running, and I’m not turning back."

It seems that when someone we knew dies we have a tendency to look back to see if we can catch a glimpse of our loved one. God reminds me in this passage that his son Jesus Christ has made all things work together for his purpose. Our goal is to seek and to know Jesus Christ and to make him known to others so that one day in the advent of their death they will look into the Savior's eyes and with a smile on their face hear the words of Jesus, 'well done my good and faithful servant.'

Life is filled with loss. People come and people go. Our earthly existence is only for a brief moment in time before our eternal life in heaven begins. Like a bee sting, we feel the pain of our losses, but God wants you to know that the real celebrating begins the moment when the veil that separates us from heaven is opened.

I have found that the secret to surviving the pain of loss is to pick up the Holy bible and begin reading the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John and then to place one foot in front of the other and attend a local church nearby, even when you may not feel like going. You can do this while enjoying life like Flip Saunders did coaching basketball.

As you immerse yourself into God's word you will begin to feel the sense of peace just permeate your body. A peace that serves a reminder that God is in control.

Flip Saunder's life has ended, but your's continues. It is up to you how you want to spend the remaining time, but for me I will spend it knowing my Savior and placing one foot in front of and trusting God one day at a time.

The real story behind the making of Mary Poppins

Israel, the Lord who created you says,

“Do not be afraid—I will save you.

I have called you by name—you are mine.

2 When you pass through deep waters, I will be with you;

your troubles will not overwhelm you. Isaiah 43

As a   child one of my favorite moviies was of course Mary Poppins. I remember sitting in the theater with my family giggling with delight at the scenes of the animated Penguins.  Last night we watched 'Saving Mr. Banks' and for the first time I   got a glimpse of the life of the writer behind this movie. P. L.Travers, aka Pamela Lyndon Travers, began a series of Poppins books in 1933.http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/donotmigrate/3562643/Was-P-L-Travers-the-real-Mary-Poppins.html  What i didn't realize was that the characters were  based   on the people she knew from her life.

P.L. Travers was born and raised   in Australia.  In Saving Mr. Banks P.L. Travers, as a young girl, remembers her family having to move out of a beautiful Victorian home for reasons that were kept from her, but one could assume that it was for her families lack of finances  when her dad  couldn't afford to pay someone to drive them to the train station.  She remembers her dad making it a  game while having the family walk single file singing as they went to the train station.They traveled to the end of the line and then walked   to an abandoned home on the prairie that would become theirs. Like the father in the movie her dad worked at a bank in a nearby  town.

Saving Mr. Banks vacillates between her earliest childhood scenes to the present when her melancholy self interferes with assisting the cast with pulling the script  together. In one scene she became upset when Walt Disney wanted to use animation as part of the movie.P.L Travers remembers rescuing her dad from his drinking by riding with him on his horse. 

In another scene she was mortified to see her dad in the make shift tent at the county fair drinking with the other guys before making a fool of himself giving a speech while representing the bank. A quick glance at her mom told the story of humiliation and embarrassment of her husbands public drunkenness and his fall from the heighten stage. 

Her father eventually loses his job at the bank when the demon drink could no longer be hidden.

P.L. Travers recalls another scene when her mom while in a melancholic state attempts to commit suicide while walking out in the river currents only to be rescued by her daughter with a huge hug in the water. Shortly thereafter  her mom's sister came in to help her family care for and clean their home while her dad was slowly dying from his own alcoholism. The aunt from her memory became the model for the nanny in Mary Poppins. 

In one final flashback her aunt told her it was ok to walk  into the room where her deceased dad laid on his bed. A scene that thousands of others have experienced in the life of the dying.

Tom Hanks did a very good job portraying Walt Disney who was able  in the final analysis able to help Pamela Travers to face those demons from her past and return to the Disney studios with a new commitment to bring this movie to life. While watching Mary Poppins on the big screen on opening night  she cried at the characters she remembers were replicas from  her family and for the first time she was able to process her pain. In so doing she was able to turn bad memories into delightful ones for future generations to see.

I guess Saving Mr. Banks illustrates for me the importance of processing those painful memories. As a Christian I know that I have an adversary who will help me process those bad memories.

 I do not know if she or her family were believers, as the movie makes no reference to that part of her life, but I do know that for me Jesus Christ is very real and relevant since my families personal tragedy.

It  is possible to have both joy and sorrow in life. This film has taught me that when bad things happen do what the father this movie did  and  go fly a kite with the kids  in tow.

Heaven: A New Message from Billy Graham/L Life is awesome until the unexpected happens-a message of hope following loss

"Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever." Revelation 22:1-5

Recently, I learned about the loss of a young person who touched two families.  One was a high school classmate and the other was a friend I met  in college through Campus Crusade for Christ. 

Two families touched by tragedy by the loss of a young person no one thought would die.

I remember  thinking after we  adopted our two children how awesome life is.  I thought that as long as I follow Jesus, took my family to church, got involved in bible study that nothing harmful would ever happen to my family.  I believed that life would continue on the same trajectory where at a certain ripe old age my life would cease  thereby passing the baton to my children who now continue life's path. 

 I never in my right mind ever envision one of my kids dying before me. Never in my right mind did I ever envision having to ever having to deal with my own grief while trying to help my surviving child recover from  their own pain.

It was the sudden loss   in my life that brought my faith into focus.  

Until that loss I was one of those who thought that 'life was awesome'.  Life still is awesome, but when we lose a young person or any person for that matter God brings the picture of heaven into proper focus. Whereas, that picture was fuzzy, out of focus before the loss I clearly began to see the realities of heaven after my loss. Whatever tragedy occurs in this life  that claims a member of your family I learned that Jesus is there   to help pick up those pieces and recover. 

The same Jesus that brought your loved one home with the uttered words 'well done my faithful servant' is the same Jesus who weeps with you after the loss.

Many months following our loss I was lamenting over the 'what if's'  What if.I had just done  this my child would still be alive?  After one of my lamenting sessions my son saying to me " Dad, do you think Maria would want to come back after experiencing every thing she had experienced in heaven?  I pondered that thought for a moment and concluded that it would make no sense wishing her return with all she had experienced   in heaven.

That assurance doesn't take the pain of our grief away, but it assures me that my Savior, Jesus Christ, the one who died for me and the one that I made a confession of faith at 18 is the same Jesus who walked with me each and every painful day following my loss. 

I learned that to recover from this pain  I need to lean into my grief and let the tears flow freely until their are no more to give. I got   involved  in support  groups, kept a journal of my feelings and any God moment reflections.  In time I sought God's direction to eventually develop www.soaringonwingsofeagles.org to help others heal from their pain.

Life is definitely worth living following tragedy, especially when the once fuzzy picture of heaven comes into greater focus and you can picture  your loved one enjoying all the joys that heaven can offer. Enjoy life with those who are still with you while hanging onto the memories of the one who died   and have as your  hope the trajectory of your loved one's life  continuing on in heaven.

 Life is indeed awesome.

Every day there is pain; yet, despite the pain God is walking with you and helping you to write your redemption story!

Praise the Lord! He is good.
God’s love never fails.
2 Praise the God of all gods.
God’s love never fails.
3 Praise the Lord of lords.
God’s love never fails. Psalm 136

Every day there is pain. 

A  cancer diagnosis,

a tumor

inoperable or operable

A sudden death by

drowning,

car accident,

workplace fall

heart attack or a cardiovascular stroke

sudden death of a child

Whatever the tragedy God is there with you

He weeps when bad things happen

He weeps when sudden tragedies happen

He weeps because you weep

As you crumble to the ground God extends his hand

and helps you up

to guide you

to hold you

to help you get through the day

until you are well enough to stand on your own

and he writes your story  that brings others  into 

God's Kingdom

What's your story?

Oh those heavy metal boxes we all carry: lessons from the Holocaust

For you are a holy people, who belong to the LORD your God. Of all the people on earth, the LORD your God has chosen you to be his own special treasure. Deuteronomy 7:6

As a child I grew up in an area of the Twin Cities that had the highest concentration of Jewish Holocaust survivors.  I remember through my parents of a lady who was married to one. I remembered that he was disabled and had the concentration camp number on him; the number that all who were sent to those camps received. Across the street was another Jewish family. They were much younger than the other family who had two boys and a daughter. I remember the oldest boy being picked  on presumably because they Jew's. Our families had little in common for we attended the Lutheran church and they did not.  I remember watching from my parents kitchen window whenever the Talmud Tora school bus would pick up them  up to bring them for their Hebrew studies.

As  I read  the book by Helen Epstein, Children of the Holocaust, conversations with sons and daughters of survivors I began to see these Jewish neighbors   through the lens of what it must have been like to be in a new country while grieving who families who perished  n World war 11. 

The stories that were shared with this author illustrated for me that no one can ever run from their trauma simply by moving the images, the pain, into the subconscious mind. This story  are  reminders for all of us of the importance of working through whatever pain we are having by talking to someone about it.

 In the first  chapter she shares her experiences of growing up in a family who experienced the atrocities  under Hitler.

"Sometimes I thought I carried a terrible bomb. I had caught a glimpse of destruction. In school, when I had finished a test before time was up or was daydreaming on my way home, the safe world fell away and I saw things I know no little girl should see. Blood and shattered glass, piles of skeletons and blackened barb wire with bits flesh  stuck to it the way flies stick to walls after they are swatted dead. Hills of suitcases, mountains of children's shoes. Whips,. pistols,boots, knives and needles. At night when my parents went out   and my younger brother and  I sat watching  television, our room, our very lives seemed unsafe and unguarded. Burglars and murderers might enter our apartment at any time and catch us unprepared."

Helen went on and described her family tree, " Our family tree had been burnt to a stump. Whole branches, great networks of leaves had disappeared into the sky and ground....all that was    left were the fading photographs that my father kept in a yellow envelop underneath his desk."

How many times has anyone  of us who survive personal tragedy will look at  our family  tree  and see the cut off  branch of a loved one who once occupied it and wonder why this had to happen?  

I wondered as I  read these stories,"If I were living in Poland around the time of the Nazi invasion where  would I be sent?  Would SS Dr. Josef Mengele see me as weak and point me   to the left  and certain death, or to the right because of some unique skill  I possessed? 

The facts of the holocaust were  clear. Just before the outbreak of World war 2 there were nearly 9 million Jews living in country villages and large metropolitan areas of Europe but 7 years later 90% of them had   disappeared. The  victims of the Nazi  regime included: 5 million were political prisoners, dissidents, anti-Fascists of   various nationalities, homosexuals, and gypsies, and those who were physically and emotionally impaired  who became victims of Hitler's attempt to create the 'perfect race'. 

Helen described this unresolved pain from her past as "the box that became a  vault, collecting in darkness, always collecting pictures,words , my parents glances, becoming loaded with weight. It sank deeper as I  grew older, so packed  with undigested things that finally it became impossible to ignore. I knew the iron box would become impossible to ignore. I knew the iron box would some day have to be dredged up into the light, opened, its contents sorted out, but I had built such fortifications that it had become inaccessible."

How many of us when tragic events occur that are so painful try to bury those memories   in  a little box and push it deeper   into our subconscious hoping it would be forgotten?  

Before she  embarked on the journey of interviewing Holocaust survivors she admitted, " I did not like talking about my parents or the  war, because talk meant accepting that the war had happened and more than anything else in the world, I wished  it had not.....the idea that my mother and father had been forced out of their homes and made to live like animals---worse than animals---was too shameful to admit."

 Before her journey a friend of hers, another child of survivor over the years,had tried to talk her out of her plan to write about others like them, had told her that she was engaged in "stirring up shit  to no purpose."

That response seems to  be the universal idea that we have when  processing the significant grief in out lives.

 In one family she discovered    that they did not  believe  in talking   to the children about the war. Some of the kids in that family still  don't know anything about it and their parents feel this is a good thing. They say, why should they find out? It has nothing to do with them. 

Their children grew up feeling unloved by their parents because their father spent 16 hours every day working. just has he did when he was in the concentration camp. One older Jewish father said he worked hard and long hours so that he didn't have any time to dwell on the images from those concentration camp years, or the family he lost.

One holocaust survivor was described by the son has someone who still doesn't talk about the war...then he added 'he gets jumpy, very edgy, when my mother starts talking about it.'

One person she interviewed had questions about how a merciful, beneficent God could allow millions of innocent men, woman and children to perish. That was the question that never came up in the religious high school she attended. It was taboo. In Yeshiva, the religious high school she attended where the emphasis  was on the rabbinic texts. If you spend all of your waking hours absorbed in them, you  don't have any energy left worrying about troublesome questions.   

"We  never touched upon the Holocaust in yeshiva. No one  was  competent;everyone was afraid it could lead you into dangerous territory" 

Despite the resistance she got from those around her she believed that she always wanted to talk about it with someone. "Talking about your experiences legitimizes it in a way. It lets you know that you are normal"

For all of us who experience tragedy don't we all want to be normal?

When the first plans for the rehabilitation of Europe's surviving Jews were  outlined, the psychiatric  aspect of the problem was overlooked entirely..".everyone engaged in directing the relief work  thought solely in terms of material assistance, wrote Paul Friedman in the American journal of Psychiatry in 1949. It was thought that whatever problems existed were of a transitory nature that would resolve themselves  once the Jewish people were resettled.

Isn't that what we do with modern day tragedies? We set up fundraising arms thinking that material is all they need to get back on their feet while neglecting the things of the soul? One only needs to look back to September 11,   2001 and the  outpouring of monetary gifts that went to those most directly  impacted by that date. 

The inability for people to recover on a emotional level sets the stage for fear/flight/response to be forever ingrained in that person so that there is  one  continuous adrenaline  rush  whenever a perceived   threat appears.  

"One common problem in the survivors of the Holocaust", noted Israel psychiatrist Hillel Klein, " is a profound fear of getting to love someone. Having lost most, if not all of  their early love objects, they now fear that to love anyone means to lose them and go through the pain all over again." He then noted,  " since    they have not been able to work through  their losses, such a  situation threatens  with overwhelming depression."

What  these  researchers found was that as the survivors began to raise families, their problems did not work themselves out. On the contrary, as  the children of survivors began to reach their teens coming closer to the age  at which their parents were imprisoned, new problems appeared.

" We   now see increasing numbers of children of survivors suffering from problems of depression and inhibition of their own function" reported Dr. Henry Krystal in  Detroit. "This is a  clear example of social pathology being transmitted   to the next generation.

One person Helen Epstein interviewed was a Vietnam war veteran who was a child of Jewish Holocaust survivors. He said that he never knew his father  like his friends knew theirs:

"I barely remember my father being alive.The only reason I remembered him because I use   to have to beg  him to play ball with me. Just to  toss the ball back and forth!. He paused  before continuing, " He used to just sit there and fall out. He'd sit there like a fixture,staring at nothing. He read the paper-he read  The Forward in Yiddish-and then he's go to sleep. I use to yell at him, 'You're not my father! You never act like a father to me!'.

Secrets long kept sealed in our metal vaults buried deep within us have a tendency to come  out  in all kinds of ways.  Only when we get the courage of unlocking those metal vaults buried deep  and talking about the pain of those losses does true healing begin. I was reminded   in our recent Life group of such a significant loss and the impact it had on this person many years later.

As  I read this book I remembered the holocaust survivors  from my old neighborhood and for the first time began began to see these people through the lens of trauma. The disability of the older gentlemen might had been the result of the constant beatings he received from the concentration camp guards and the sadness the result of memories long since buried.

Two thing are for certain after reading this book: (1)  none of us will escape this life without  tragedy at some point in our lives, (2) and all of us have this metal box  where we place the stuff  to painful to talk about. We have a choice. We can learn to bury our sorrow, lock and throw away the key to our losses, as they occur, or we can trust God that he knows how to help us to slowly bring the contents of our losses to the surface asking God to reveal to us a trusted listener to help us process those losses as they occur. 

Every person Helen Epstein interviewed were better off sharing their story  which resulted  in true healing. Our  stories were meant to be told. Lessons that God wants to use to help others new to he grief process.

Every immigrant group new to this country go through the grief process. Everything is new to them. Nothing is familiar;     yet one thing Helen Epstein highlighted was the love for the outdoors her parents had with other holocaust survivors. It was the times when they would get in the car and drive to a scenic park somewhere in  upstate New York where they would gather  with other  Jewish families when she would notice her father being filled with laughter, happiness and joy because the forest would remind him of home. She was most happiest when she saw new life in her parents. Sometimes we need to get out and enjoy the nature that God has given to us to help us breath in new life in the midst of grieving