Well Done

“Somewhere along the way, we must learn that there is nothing greater than to do something for others.”  Martin Luther King Jr.

The other morning I was drinking coffee when I noticed the word well emblazoned on the side of my mug.  It gave me great pause and I filed it away.  Then the other day on my car radio I heard this speech from Martin Luther King, Jr:

“… if it falls your lot to be a street sweeper, go on out and sweep streets like Michelangelo painted pictures; sweep streets like Handel and Beethoven composed music; sweep streets like Shakespeare wrote poetry; sweep streets so well that all the host of heaven and earth will have to pause and say, "Here lived a great street sweeper who swept his job well."

Funny how so many of us think that what we do and who we are matters so little.  Yet, how often are we influenced by the most unlikely of sources.

For example, throughout history many have labored in jobs that were well done.  A secretary named Rosa Parks  refused to give up her seat after a long hard day and inspired a whole country.  Todd Beamer,  an ordinary business man on a plane trip,  gave up his life for his country on 9/11 . Mother Teresa humbled herself to live in poverty with the poor.  Even Anne Frank, who was just a teen, wrote memoirs in her diary that inspired millions during the holocaust.

Then there is the example of Jesus, who was a carpenter by trade. Just imagine how priceless a chair or table would be today handcrafted by the Son of God?  However, not only was he a fine craftsman, but he was obedient to the task God the Father had given Him as He gave up his life for ours.   Just like Jesus lived His life to please the Father may it be said of us at the end, "well done thou good and faithful servant."

God bless the street sweeper and anyone else who has toiled in a job where only God and his angels have said well done. 

May well done not only apply to how you liked your steaks cooked , but to how you lived your life as well..

Swavel

 

Della's View

 

“The view from the point where we buried my sister is sublime.  I never saw a prettier place anywhere.” Brother of Della Mayers.

It was just a few years ago when I heard this phrase mentioned in reference to the Rhoads Opera House Fire that occurred on January 13^th, 1908. Sadly, Della Mayers, the ill-fated play’s lecturer, and 170 others lost their lives in the tragic blaze.  Strangely I felt the need to find her.   So, whenever time permitted I set out on a mild pursuit of her gravesite, so I could witness this incredible view that gave her brother such great solace. 

Her body is laid to rest in Fairview cemetery in Boyertown, Pennsylvania where my grandfather is buried and only minutes from where I grew up and now live. However, no matter how often my wife and I tried to find her marker, the exact location eluded us. Often I would leave the cemetery wondering why I bothered, but now I think I know why: I was trying to find the sublime.

At the time of the tragedy Della was fifty one years old and resided in Colorado along with her husband, J.J. Mayers.  Her sister, the play’s author Mrs. Harriet Monroe, was having voice trouble and had persuaded Della to come east in her stead. As the story goes, since Mrs. Mayers was the lecturer she was positioned right near the projector where the fire accidently broke out.   It was said of her that she died valiantly trying to save others.   

Her husband so distraught over her loss could not bring himself to make the trip east to bury her. Consequently, her body now resides on a quaint, quiet hillside overlooking a town she only briefly knew.  Two of her brothers however made the trip and one made an eloquent observation that drew me in some hundred years later.

Thankfully, about four months ago, my wife and I found Della and the blissful view we had been promised.  Her brother was right the view is sublime, which by definition means awe inspiring and impressive.  And believe you me; nothing represents that better than Della’s life, death and her view.

Some things in life are worth finding if only for the view.

Swavel

 

Could Be Worse

Just look around a little, someone else has it worse than you do.

Minus two degrees is what the temperature read just the other day.  With such frigid temps just leaving the building to run a few errands was far from pleasant   Then later in the day my wife informed me that our oil heater had quit working.  Stink.   However, I had nothing to complain about in comparison with the guys I had witnessed earlier in the morning braving those same cruel elements while working on a burst water main.

This got me to thinking about something very profound that Kyle Idleman, pastor of a Church in Kentucky and author of Not a Fan, once said in one of his talks.  He was relaying a story from a man who was on a mission trip and what he had witnessed while there. 

The man was visiting a leper colony when during a worship service the song leader asked for requests.  A female leper raised her fingerless hand.  As the man turned to get a better look he could she had no nose and her lips were gone as well.  In a muffled voice the woman said she would like to sing, Count you Many Blessings. 

Now, that’s a reality check we all can gain a fresh  perspective on regarding what truly matters in life.  I know I am truly blessed.

Remember, it always could be worse, should be first blessing we count when faced with life’s difficult moments.

Swavel

Real Briefly

 

 

 

 

 

 

To a certain extent, we all tend to remember what we want.

Real briefly, in an attempt to test your memory, give the capital cities for the following ten states:

1-Oregon  2-Maine  3-Mississippi  4-Ohio  5-North Dakota   6-Texas  7-Vermont   8-Kansas

9-Missouri  10-Louisiana.    (The answer key is below my name). 

Now, if you are an adult, don’t feel embarrassed if you struggled to recall something we all knew in our youth. Look on the bright side, when I did a self-test on all fifty states I only got twenty four correct.  Despite the fact we all grow up learning the capitals of all fifty states our memories tend to fail us at times.

Memories are a funny thing, they tend to come and go, especially when it comes to things we don’t discuss on a daily basis.  However, if you are like me, we tend to remember the bad stuff, like the wrongs others have done to us.  Then if we dwell on these bad memories long enough in time they can turn into hard feelings.

Since this is the beginning of the New Year, I thought it best to encourage you to leave the past behind you.  Well, at least as best you can.   Remember, each day is brand new and life is too short to dump yesterday’s garbage all over it.

In life, when it comes memory, focus real briefly on the bad and long and hard on the good.

Swavel

Answer key: 1-Salem  2-Augusta  3-Jackson  4-Columbus  5-Bismarck 6-Austin  7-Montpelier  8-Topeka  9-Jefferson City  10-Baton Rogue

 

 

LEST WE FORGET

 

“May what Christmas means to us be based on truth, not just merely our take on it.”

 To help put you in the right frame of mind, here is a little Christmas trivia.  In A Charlie Brown Christmas, what was Linus alluding to when he told Charlie Brown that he knew what Christmas was all about?

 

a-      The best way to celebrate Christmas is with a real tree, not an artificial one.

b-      At Christmas time it’s all about how many gifts you buy for those we love.

c-      Christmas is the celebration of Christ’s birth.

d-     During the holidays we should act happy even if we feel depressed

 

The answer is C.   The true meaning of Christmas is the celebration of Christ’s birth.

 In 1965, while writing the script for A Charlie Brown Christmas special, Charles Schulz had decided to have Linus quote from the Bible.   So, as the spotlight shines on the stage, Linus quotes a passage from the second chapter of Luke, in which he eloquently describes a group shepherds being summoned by angels to witness the birth of Christ.

This unfortunately was with met great opposition by the network executives who felt the viewers would be bored by such a lengthy speech. However, Schulz refused to budge and change the message, despite the fact that many thought the special would fail miserably.  He said later in a candid interview, “If we don’t tell the true meaning of Christmas who will.”

When I was a kid I remember growing up knowing Christmas was Jesus’ birthday.  However, I didn’t know all the preparation and effort that went into one glorious event.  Often, I think a lot of us feel this way about Christmas.

Using a little creative imagination, this is what I believe a few of the headlines would have read like in the Bethlehem Gazette on the first Christmas day:

 

-Unwed mother gives birth to Savior of the World?

 

-New king sets precedent: everyone welcome in kingdom, even shepherds.

-God gives world best gift ever.

 

“Lest we forget at Christmas time, without Jesus’ earthly birthday, none of us would have a chance at a heavenly one.”

 

Swavel

Fa La La

Making merry, in a responsible manner, is never a waste of time.

It was just the other day that I heard Deck the Halls and got to wondering what the phrase Fa La La means.   The only answer that makes sense to me is that it’s a made up word or possibly it was a phrase used back in its day in its day to express merriment.

Fa La La reminds me of a word like peanut butter or watermelon I used to use back in my choir days when I forgot the appropriate words.   Try it sometime it works, but it is best to mouth it, so no one is any the wiser.  Subsequently, uttering the word Fa La La sounds like a filler word to me. 

So, basically we may never know for sure why they used the word Fa La La in this classic Welsh song made popular in the 1770’s.  However, in my opinion, they were just making it up as they went along and it stuck. 

For whatever reason, Deck the Halls is a great song for carolers in top hats to sing that doesn’t have to make complete sense to convey the true spirit of Christmas cheer.

The words fa la la la la la la la la are the perfect remedy for any foul mood.”

Swavel

 

DIAL it in

 

 

At the end of every day we should ask ourselves this question:  Did I Always Love?  

It was sometime around Thanksgiving when I looked at a DIAL ® soap dispenser while washing my hands and had an epiphany .   For some odd reason it hit me like a ton of bricks, the acronym, Did I Always Love?  Sadly, I fail at this more times than not.

Especially at Christmas time, this is a question we should all be asking ourselves.  Rather than what should I be getting or can I get the right gift so I can make myself look good. At least personally, sometimes I forget that love requires I engage with others rather than just run around buying things for them. 

During this festive holiday season, every time we see a bar or dispenser of DIAL ®soap may we be reminded to love.  The message of Christmas is simple: God loves us and He sent his Son as a gift to prove it. 

May we all be inspired by Jesus’ short life, from cradle to the grave, that easily answers the DIAL ® question with a resounding YES.

“People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love” Nelson Mandela

Swavel

 

Truly Thankful

When life leaves you feeling uncertain counteract it with being thankful.

Just the other week, my son did a Facebook posting where he mentioned ten things most people do not know about him. I would like to put a twist on that and give you a list of thirteen things I am truly thankful for at Thanksgiving:

1-I am truly thankful that I still have most of my hair.  Sounds like a dumb one, but who really gets to choose.  However, if I lose all my hair, I will simply be thankful for baseball hats and wear them all the time.

2-I am thankful God still performs miracles.  I could go on about this one, but all I need do is point to my ten-year-old Chinese daughter and marvel how God brought her into a family, that was not eligible to adopt her, nor could afford to do so.  Yet, God in His infinite goodness, defied the odds.

3- I am truly thankful for every breath that I take.  You just never know when it could be your last.  With that being said, we should all live each day like our obituary will be in tomorrow’s newspaper.

4-I am truly thankful that I have a job.  During these tough economic times, I have been blessed. However, if I were to lose my job, I hope that I would continue to feel as blessed.

5- I am truly thankful that I have heat in my car.  Strange, but at times in the past month it did not work and seemingly fixed itself in the last month.

6- I am truly thankful for my recent birthday gifts.  Which were Duck Dynasty videos, Skittles , Swedishfish, an nice e-mail from son , cash and cards from other  family members.  On Sunday November 24^th, I turned forty-six, but it is the fact people remember, not the size of the gift.

7- I am thankful for Orange Gatorade, red cream soda, Planters’ Peanuts and coffee.  These are my favorite snack items, that are like comfort food and drink to my soul.  Strange how we all develop things that we would rather not do without.

8-I am truly thankful to be a dad and husband. I have mentioned this on many occasions and I still don’t feel worthy to be responsible for five other souls. It is a daunting, yet rewarding tasks I would never trade for the world.

9- I am truly thankful for football games on Thanksgiving.  I love eating too much and then watching professionals exert themselves to entertain me.  I know I am twisted.  Personally I would rather play myself, but at my age, I'd pull hamstring getting up in the morning to go play. 

10- I am truly thankful for a new dog.  Reese, is a ten-year-old Beagle mix my family and I got about a week or so ago from the animal rescue shelter.  His intended purpose is to is to help teach the girls some responsibility and to help Lia get more accustomed to dogs so that one day she can have an seeing eye dog.

11- I am truly thankful to be an American.  I have visited other countries and have always loved coming home.  The Pilgrims were on to something when they sailed over here to make a new life for themselves and their families.

12- I am truly thankful for electricity.  Just two years around Halloween, my family and I lost electricity for almost a week when we had that freak snow storm.  The ability to keep food cold, ourselves warm, and use lights to see at night is a honor which we should be thrilled about every day of our lives.

13-I am truly thankful that Jesus came to save us all, myself included, from our sins.  This list could go on and on, but let me stop here just to remind us all about someone who accepted few privileges.  In about a month, we celebrate the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ who was born in a stinky, smelly manger, where animals live. It was where he and his family were stuck only after all the inns rejected them. It was devoid of many of the luxuries, I have personally listed and where Mary gave birth to Jesus.  

God, in his infinite wisdom, was not concerned about extras, not even when it came to the birth of His own Son.  On top of that, the king of the land decreed that all the male babies, under the age of two, be killed.  And we think it's  rough if the turkey gravy isn’t just right for Thanksgiving dinner.  Yet, Jesus came anyway, just for us, so someday we might have the chance to be a part of His forever family.

Thankfully, Jesus inconvenienced himself so I wouldn’t be eternally out of luck. 

Happy Thanksgiving, Swavel

Added Flavor

To live a most rewarding life hate less and try as many new things as humanly possible.

A few years ago I got hooked on a new flavor of coffee called pumpkin spice.  As fate would have it there was free coffee at work and I tried it because no one else was.  Over a short period of time pumpkin spice became like a new found friend, something I looked forward to having every time I got near it.  It became like an added flavor in my life.

It was surprising that this new found flavor was so enticing because I was never really fond of pumpkin anything.  A few years previous I had started eating pumpkin pie at Thanksgiving time because it was there.  Pumpkin pie smell reminds me to be thankful. Not to mention a nice slice of pie with whipped cream on it really hits the spot during the holidays.  Now just the smell of pumpkin spice coffee reminds me of Thanksgiving and reminds me that so I’m glad I took a chance and tried something new.

For example, trying new things and adding new flavor to our life often requires us to step outside our comfort zone.  Just the other week I received a text from my twenty year old niece, Erica asking if I could help her with a special request.  Her request was for me to join her in the father/daughter dance at her wedding a year from now.  

The reason Erica asked me was her father, Ed, passed away four years ago from brain cancer.  Subsequently, her cousin and my daughter, Alisha, changed her address to Heaven thirteen years ago as well.  So, even though I am a horrible dancer with no rhythm, and dance sort of like Elaine from Seinfeld, I said yes.  I know that I cannot replace her dad, yet what an honor and privilege to stand in for a man such as her dad that she/we loved so much.

Dancing with my niece got me to thinking about dancing with Alisha in heaven, an added flavor that for so long I couldn’t wait to add.   Soon after Alisha, who I had nicknamed Pumpkin Face, went to be Jesus in heaven I obsessed over dancing with her. It was if I was placing dancing with Alisha over seeing Jesus and soon thereafter changed my thinking. It is a strong belief of mine I will see her again, so, I will wait with great expectation knowing our time will come, dance or no dance.  Hope is the flavor I live with these days.   Just to be with Jesus and my Pumpkin Face and so many others, like Ed, Erica’s dad, will be enough.  

Just recently, I heard a song that added another new flavor in my life.  It’s amazing how music has a way of soothing, yet pointing us ahead at the same time.. Steven Curtis Chapman, who has lost his own daughter, Maria, in an accident at the age of five, wrote a song about looking forward to be reunited with loved ones.  It is actually a song dedicated to his grandmother who just recently passed.  This song, “See You in a Little While” has become a source of encouragement for me and my wife.

Music just has its own way of adding a flavor you didn’t know you were missing in your life till you hear it and then you become attached to how it enhances your life. Listen in and you will hear why “See You in a Little While” has my wife and I  looking forward to being with our daughter  someday soon.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MsA-h_vIU_Y

Lastly, when it comes to adding new flavors I would be remise not to mention how important it is to gather new found friends.   Even, if it requires acquiring a taste for them in the process, if they are not normally are not your cup of tea, or coffee in my case. To have friends one must show himself friendly. 

Good things are all around us beckoning us with effervescent tones to drink them in, whether they be people or coffee flavors. The world is a richer place when we are actively searching it out.

If being thankful were a spice, it would be pumpkin.

 

.Swavel

Back door slider

“Give it your best and forget the rest” Mel Swavely

 

October has a way of making me feel glad to be alive.  The World Series in part can be thanked for that because so often the games I watch leave me feeling inspired not to give up.   Baseball to me is like a story nine chapters long that builds to an exciting conclusion right before your very eyes. Then, more times than not, it surprises you with an ending you didn’t see coming.

My best example of how baseball can inspire you not to give up happened some twenty five years ago late one very special October evening in Los Angeles, California.  The impossible happened on one magical night, when one man underestimated another. 

Here is the long story short of the 1988 World Series.  The Oakland A’s came into the Series as prohibitive favorites to win easily.  Led by ingenious manager Tony La Russa and a well-rounded team that had won over one hundred games and full of confidence.   The Los Angeles Dodgers were the underdogs no one expected to make the big dance and few expected them to even be a challenge to the mighty A’s  The Dodgers were led by spunky manager Tommy Lasorda, outfielder Kirk Gibson and ace pitcher Orel Hershiser.  Besides that, frankly they just were over matched. 

 

Kirk Gibson had his reasons for wanting to do well as a Dodger coming into the season, seeing this was his first year as a Dodger.  Unfortunately, the state of Michigan he had grown up in had turned on him and his family when left the Detroit Tigers via free agency.  Regardless the thirty one year old slugger brought a winning attitude to a team that hadn’t had a winning season in over two years and helped them win their division.  Then as a result of his tenacious playing style during the National League Championship he was able to propel his team to victory over the heavily favored Mets and on to a Series berth.  Regretfully in the process he had pulled his hamstring in one leg and twisted his knee on the other.

Already behind the eight ball the Dodgers were faced with a dilemma that Bob Costas so aptly described on the pregame show of the first contest.  “First item of business: Kirk Gibson will not play tonight.”  True to those words for the first eight innings of the game Gibson stayed in the Dodgers’ clubhouse as he writhed in pain that even injections could not alleviate.  Then as he lay on a trainer’s table with a bag of ice on each leg, it happened.  As the game played on the clubhouse TV Vin Scully, longtime Los Angeles Dodger announcer did the unthinkable- he angered Gibson.  Scully said this, “If you’re in the ballpark with binoculars, your first thought would be, late in the game- Is Kirk Gibson in the Dodgers’ dugout?  The answer would appear to be no.” 

Inspired to try the unthinkable, Gibson would get up and take a few painful practice swings off a batting tee.   Then he sent the clubhouse boy to tell his coach, Tommy Lasorda, that he thought he could pinch hit. What happened next is baseball lore.  The Dodger trailed the A’s 4 to 3 in the ninth inning with a runner on and two out as Gibby came to the plate.  Not only was He faced with excruciating pain each time he walked or swung, but he was facing major league baseball’s finest relief pitcher, Dennis Eckersley.  The A’s closer had just exorcised some of his own demons a few years prior by pulling his life back together after beating his alcohol addiction.  Needless to say Eck was steeled to finish the job and put Gibson and the Dodgers out of their misery.

Gibson later was awarded the MVP for the 1998 season for his work during the regular season, but one swing would define his career best.  Eckersley started Kirk off with fastballs so as to blow Gibson away. However, the hobbled hero feebly fouled off several pitches eventually working the count to 3-2.  Then just before the eighth pitch Gibson called time. What he did then was recall what longtime Dodger scout, Mel Didier, told Gibson before the game.  Didier told him that if he faced Eckersley in the ninth inning and the count goes 3 and 2,  “Partner, as sure as I’m breathing he’ll throw you a backdoor slider.” 

Swinging without using his legs and flat footed, Gibson hit a backdoor slider that Eckersley served up in an effort to fool his overmatched opponent.  However, Kirk hit the ball square and willed it over the right field fence for a game winning homerun. On the highlight reel you can even see the red glow of car’s brake lights stopping so they can hurry and get back into the stadium.

Who can forget Kirk Gibson fist pumping as he hobbled around the bases on two badly injured legs after he had just single handedly won the first game of the 1988 World Series.   He had just hit a backdoor slider into the seats in Dodger Stadium that was the fulcrum for the Dodgers upset of the mighty Oakland A’s. As fate would have it his dramatic pinch hit home run would be his only at bat of the Series.

This story reminds me of a time someone gave me a chance to prove myself and help me not want to give up. Sometimes, an act of kindness can be remembered in one’s life like a game winning home run. 

 

For instance, in my third year of playing fast pitch softball in my church league I was struggling to see any playing team, hopelessly stuck on the bench.  During this very frustrating year a guy named Chip, who I had grown up with, did me a solid.  With the game almost over and my team up by double digits the coach was emptying the bench and putting in the reserves.  Even then I did not hear my name called and began to feel foolish.

 

Just then Chip told the coach to let me play for him.  I don’t remember what I did with the opportunity or if I even struck out.  Just to get the chance to run on the field and be part of the team, if only for a brief moment, did my soul well.  I have never forgotten that feeling of exhilaration that someone thought I was worth his spot.

Six years later, I became a coach and I think subconsciously felt I needed to do for others what had been done for me.  I just wanted to give anyone and everyone who wanted to play a chance to be part of a team.  Team first, me last, everyone wins. 

May both stories serve as a pleasant reminder that we should never give up.  Maybe the best part of any story is not whether you succeed and win the game, but at least you got the chance to make a difference.  When you don’t give up, you cannot fail.

“Better to take a swing at the impossible and miss, than just sit on your butt talking about what might have been."

Swavel