Hanging out with Dad

Whenever I go back to Prince Rupert I like to make a point of visiting my Dad.
His spirit has remained part of me since September 12 1982. But I still like to visit the veterans section of the Prince Rupert Cemetery. I usually clean away the encroaching moss from the small rectangular granite grave stone that bears his name, military information and the quotation, A Proud Canadian.
This summer I decided to ask someone to join me. My cousin, Carroll, was always like another son to my Dad. It was Carroll who took on the unenviable task to call me when Dad died suddenly and unexpectedly. He and I have carried on that spiritual connection we seem to have even though our lives have often go in different directions.
Now Dad was a proud Canadian who served overseas for 5 years but there is an underlying significance to this tribute. There is a Canadian Whiskey called Royal Reserve and on the back of each 26 ounce bottle was a removeable sticker the read A Proud Canadian. There were a number of these stuck on various things and places around my parents house.
So when I asked Carroll if he would be interested in visiting Dads place where his earthly remains lie, I already had in hand a bottle of Royal Reserve and a couple of Cokes. So we drove up to the Cemetery one afternoon. We had a ‘snort’ as Dad would have called it straight from the bottle. Then dumped some of the Coke to make room for the other liquid. We stood with Dad and talked about the good times we remembered with him, his sense of humor, how we remembered his life, his never complain attitude even though the last 12 years were diminished somewhat from the effects of a heart attack that shortened his life to 63 years.
His was a simple and sometimes difficult life, yet surely not forgotten by many who knew him. Not perfect by any means. But a teeshirt given to Carroll by a close friend had these words, which I think fit my Dad as well: I’m not for everyone, but those who like me like me a lot.
It probably explains why Carroll and my Dad were so close.

We poured some of our drinks around the grave stone in a loving and sharing way that a lot of people might not understand. Mighty irreverent by some standards. But no true Christian is perfect and in that time Carroll and I spent with Dad that afternoon we discovered something pretty amazing ….that each of us in his own private way yet in a real and meaningful way know that we will be together again some day.
It’s the best news I could have ever prayed to have.

enjoying the wastefullness of grace

The Shack by William P. Young

How does it feel to have a personal relationship with God? William Young has written a story that has made me truly believe that God can and will approach any one of us...and not be surprised if the way He does is unorthodox.
The complete heart of God is revealed in scripture. The immensity of fully knowing this on a personal level is a challenge that has not been completed in the time the Bible has been available. It is why Gods' word is vibrant, alive and responding to each new generation as it come along.
The Shack takes the reader on an incredible journey. Reinforced through Biblical truth the reader is conjoined to a chain of life changing events in Mack's life. Events that show the reader how to comprehend the way God might work into our very own lives and do it in away that could change our lives forever.
In a note on the book cover, William Young portrays his own life these days as 'enjoying the wastefulness of grace'. For anyone that is thinking at all about the meaning of life in this hectic world of ours, The Shack will start you on a journey to understand what that phrase means.
I believe that understanding Gods grace and the abundance of it, is the beginning of living life the way it is intended to be lived