Tag: life

America, Calling, Christianity, Ethics, First Amendment, humanity, Interfaith Dialogue, Jesus, Love, reconciliation, spirituality, Story3 Comments

This One Thing

Gary Furr

I seek to love my neighbor as myself. That would seem obvious for a preacher of the teachings of Jesus, but maybe we need to say it again. Love one another. And I don’t remember any additions to the command. “Love your neighbor as yourself.” It’s hard enough without trying to add a lot of fine print. Love your child, your grandchildren, your neighbor you don’t agree with. Love them, gay, straight, trans, prisoner, judge, immigrant and the DAR lady. Love them, Trumper, Liberal, and none of the above. Christian, Muslim, Jew, Hindu, Buddhist, Rotarians, Knights of Columbus, or atheists. … Continue reading This One Thing

Story

Life Goes On

Gary Furr

Been away for two weeks welcoming our new grandson. He’s glorious, sweet, wonderful, and his big sister turned four while we were there. We celebrated at Chuck E Cheese. Grands give me hope, yes they do. Not certainty, the world is too unpredictable than that, but a baby’s face does something, makes me root for humanity in spite of ourselves. Just keep finding something good to do where you are. It matters. My daughter had a framed saying in her kitchen when we brought our little prince home: “You are the sky—everything else is just weather.” We kept big sister … Continue reading Life Goes On

Death, Family, Family, Forgiveness, Grief7 Comments

Standing Next to Death

Gary Furr

I have not posted here in a month.  I took the month of January off in a period of “lying fallow,” if someone with as many hats as I wear can ever really “lie fallow.”  Truth is, though, I have been learning to stop now and then, reassess and see how we’re all doing.

Mostly in this month I’ve been working hard.  The church where I am Pastor had six deaths in about three weeks.  All were  friends (and that is becoming the most common description of who I funeralize now, since my 20th anniversary is approaching) and two near my age were among that group.  One, Steve Blackwelder, was an ex-Marine.  I mean a REAL Marine, a tunnel rat in Viet Nam who saw death up close and personal.  Yet in ;the life after that, while he suffered and struggled in many ways, he lived out kindness and care for others in every way that he could.  He collected Beatles ties, and all the pallbearers and my associate Pastor wore one of Steve’s to the service.  The next Sunday, I told the church about Steve coming over when I moved in in 1993 to fix some plumbing issues and then setting my backyard on fire by accident when he flicked a finished—but not extinguished—cigarette through the fence.  We put it out, and now it was a laugh for us.

Then there was Bob Daily.  He was a former deacon, Sunday School teacher, you name it volunteer, the guy who went to welcome anyone to the church with a cold call.  He was my insurance agent and I ate breakfast with him weekly for 20 years, so pardon me for feeling a little vulnerable at the moment.  Continue reading “Standing Next to Death”