For the want of an alert father

While chaperoning a pre-school field trip to an animal orphanage…

For the want of an alert father two boys left the group,

Sticking fingers in cages a guinea fowl flew the coup.

For the want of safe fingers boys were made to hold hands,

They got tired, rebelled, and searched for new lands.

For the want of obedience the lions were thinking free lunch,

The monkeys took advantage of the lads leaving the bunch.

For the want of adult conversation, father let the boys go off track,

They stepped off the path and didn’t look back.

For the want of a clear path the lads stepped in ants,

Their father rescued them but got ants in his pants.

For the want of their freedom the ants started to bite,

It caused the man pain and welts into the night.

For the want of serenity the man became irritated,

The boys followed suit, tears blurred, all were frustrated.

For the lack of clear vision the elder tripped and hit his head,

Blood covered his face and the younger cried for bread.

For the want of happy children the father rushed about,

Chaos ensued, mud flew, and the neighbors heard screams and shouts.

All for the want of an alert father.

 

for the birds

So often we get swept up in creative ways to help understand ourselves and one another. Fads are built up around these attempts, marketing enters the equation, and the next thing you know, it’s official… you’re swept up in a craze. Personality tests have come and gone over the years as far as popularity goes but regardless of ones personal view on their value they have remained a constant. Some fear gimmicks and labels others rave about their enlightened state of awareness, all acknowledge that we have different personalities. A current fad is to take quizzes online to see which tv, movie, etc. personality you are most like. I recently took a quiz asking several random questions only to be told that my ideal place to live is The Central African Republic. While the good people of CAR, amid their ongoing strife, would no doubt welcome me I’m not so sure one of the least developed countries in the world is the best destination for my retirement.

It is in this light that I ask you this simple question… Which one of these photographs most represents you?

or

or

or

or perhaps

 

Disclaimer:

If your life has been transformed by a personality test no harm was intended. After all God did create every type of personality giving each one value and purpose. It’s just simply a way to show some of the birds we see in Kenya. And of course analyze their unique personalities and behaviors to extract depth and layers of understanding. Personal comparisons are entirely up to you.

All is Vanity

From the Arctic to the Equator, a birthday reflection is more or less the same after surviving a certain number of years.

Much like tracing a river to its origins includes knowledge of geography and history, so it is with an individual’s life. Excluding the historical development of the internal spring, my life began in an Eskimo village to two gussick. Although they may have been foreigners to the culture they seemed to have learned enough of it to see the foreshadowing of village life for a little lad and how the crossing into modernization would eventually end. So it was with this knowledge that at an early age I flowed south to the Lower 48 and rested in a lower region of the Great Plains where other minor rivers meet the Mighty Mississippi. Life on the Mississippi not only taught me the fundamentals of Midwestern living but also gave me a Huckleberry fascination for exploration. Educators by trade, my parents only fueled my growing wanderlust by flowing from sea to shining sea during the summer months. Following the course of Lewis and Clark or Ponce de Leon tributaries and deltas were followed. As I grew I learned to explore with the Iroquois and cliff dwellers, rode from Concord to Lexington, wept for the Cherokee, and fought for the North and the South. Yet always at the end of each summer I would drift back to my little town.

Shortly after my 20^th birthday it was with great surprise that I learned that rivers flow to the sea. Yes, I did have knowledge of the sea before writing about it but knowledge and experience are truly different. Call it courage if you like or call it naïve, either description will work, but after briefly drifting I found myself in the Land of the Rising Sun. In America I felt pretty confident with my knowledge of customs and the way things flowed, but Japanese rivers did not flow the same. European and North American routes followed paths that made sense to me but scripts that I could not read, methods that contradicted my own, and a naturalistic way of seeking truth proved a challenge. Unbeknownst to me at the time, I now realize that I was still forming, building momentum, and looking for direction. As an experiential learner it appeared to take me a lifetime of experiences to discover my true path. Finding a calling in teaching in international schools and a divine leading in being an agent of change I grew in stature and strength. Like the Mighty Mississippi I seem to trudge ever onward. From gussick to gaijin, farang, megook, gringo, and now muzungu I have lived, taught, and flowed in and out of people and places. Navigating the cataracts and tributaries I touched and was touched by all yet belonged to none.

The initial drop that sprang forth from that arctic land meandered in strength and confidence and began to cut through the mountains of life. Although I’ve left my side of the mountain and moved into more of a giver role in life, I still have a long way to go before grace leads me home. Purposeful living has led me to Africa where I have discovered the joy in watching the rains of life fall upon me. I have watched as the heart of darkness cascaded into joy unthinkable and am complete because of it. Currently I am straddling the world of education and fatherhood experiencing the triumphs and tribulations that come with instructing in these two worlds. Although I have moved into and taught lives on four continents the most challenging and rewarding teaching of my life has been, and continues to be, my children. With my wife as my muse, life continuously cascades through uncharted territories, growing each and every day. Rapids are only right around the bend but time and experience have shown me that the currency of the river is relationships.

With eternity in our hearts and the complexities and emptiness of life itself flowing around us, we return to what a preacher discovered around 900 BC. Chasing dust in the wind is meaningless. The good life is only attainable by revering God. Failing to take God and His will seriously into account leads to grasping after the winds of fultility. Living Water, that satisfies beyond anything under the sun, is the only thing that gives meaning and therefore life.

“The conclusion of the whole matter is to fear God and keep his commandments. For this is the whole duty of man.” — Ecclesiastes 12:13