The Loss of a Dear Friend

Al was a dear friend and I shall surely miss him. He took his life, and there was nothing I could have done to prevent it from happening. It was quick, in the privacy of his home, and in the middle of the night. The evening before, he and another friend had dinner together at their favorite restaurant. There was no indication to any of us that Al had formulated his plan. Nevertheless, the details had been made, even to leave his important documents on the table.

Al was loved in our community. He often helped several elderly widows in one way or another; getting their groceries, taking them to doctors’ and hair appointments, planting their shrubs and cleaning their eves. I loved to work with him, removing overgrown shrubs, digging out the rocks so new shrubs could be planted, chopping out roots, laying sods and putting up Christmas lights. Sometimes, from his garage workshop, he'd find me the bolt or a hook that I needed. There were shelves full of model cars that he built over the years, and hanging from the garage ceiling were either scale model planes or flying models with gas engines. Several tall ships adorned the shelves.

After we laid a neighbor's sod, I remember saying to Al that I knew he must have Jesus in his heart because we worked so well together. Besides, I told him, I knew because he loved to help the widows in our small community. I invited him a couple of times to attend a men’s fellowship dinner at the church, where there'd be a guest speaker. He enjoyed those events. When we invited a number of people from our community for dinner, a neighbor lady was talking so loudly that he politely asked her to “-be silent so Keith can ask the blessing.”

During his lifetime, he had attended church, but discontinued going because of a breakdown in his marriage. To help him overcome his discouragement, his two sons introduced him to the hobby of building model cars, planes and ships. He must have built them in earnest because there were so many. He lived alone and was obviously very lonely, except for the times when he was helping others. During those times, he was happy and would work until the sweat ran from the end of his nose. We'd take a break for lunch on the patio and Al would tell us about his sons whom he loved and for whom he was greatly concerned for their success and good health. Then, we'd go and finish our project in a neighbor’s garden.

I noted those things about Al because I know a person has to be right with God to be with Him after death. Al had a Christian’s faith. I'm sure he did, even though he didn't loudly proclaim it like some others do. Because Al accepted my comment, that he must have the spirit of Jesus in his heart, it assured me that he was right with God and would enjoy eternity in Heaven. By his love for helping others, his radiance when working on a project with others, and his ability not to use the Lord’s name in vain, I knew he loved God. I am reminded of the Scribe who asked Jesus, "What commandment is the foremost of all?" Jesus responded by saying, “You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength and the second commandment is to love your neighbor as yourself.” Al loved God and he certainly loved his neighbors. He'd do anything to help them. Although we'll miss him very much, it is our hope that he is with God in Heaven.

Today's Hymns On Pipes

The old hymns are wonderful for their Christian messages and melodic quality.  Many of them have been arranged for the pipes.  As one would suspect, in recent years new hymns have been written that are beautifully suited to the bagpipes after transposition and arrangement.  Specifically, hymns written by Keith Getty and Stuart Townend are a delight and lend themselves perfectly to playing call to worship on a Sunday morning.  These two Irish musicians instill their creations with native culture, to give them a Celtic lilt familiar to Irish and Scottish music.

In my repertoire, I have been playing, “In Christ Alone,” by Keith Getty and “How Deep The Father’s Love For Us,” by Stuart Townend.  Now, having had Keith & Kristyn Getty’s “In Christ Alone Songbook” to enjoy, I’ve added three more of their hymns to my repertoire, namely, “See, What A Morning!” “Speak, O Lord,” and The Power Of The Cross.”  My notes will enable a person to select them for the occasion upon which each may be played.

“See, What A Morning!” is a song to be played at Easter or a morning worship service, because it is exciting and triumphant, proclaiming the truth of Christ having risen from the grave.  It is a marvelous hymn for a piper to lead a congregation in praise of our Saviour.

“Speak, O Lord,” is a prayer asking God to continue speaking to us through Scripture and by His Holy Spirit.  His Word is powerful, and by it, God spoke the world into creation and inspired writers to record His instructions for all generations.  It has transforming power to improve life’s quality when people listen humbly and respond.

“The Power Of The Cross,” was written for Easter and Communion and is an ideal choice for the piper.  It reflects upon Christ’s suffering and challenges people to renew their lives as they wonder about the significance and power of the cross.  One observes and acknowledges the awful price Christ paid to redeem us from our sins.  As terrible as His crucifixion was, it was nevertheless God’s plan, designed long before Christ sacrificed his life and suffered for us.

“In Christ Alone,” was the first hymn that Keith and Stuart wrote together; simple yet powerful.  We will sing, “No guilt in life, no fear in death, this is the power of Christ in me.”  Christ was God sacrificed on the cross.  Only Jesus could have such power to be returned to life because He was God in human flesh.  Even death could not have power over our Lord.  He is God and we believe in Him.  He affects us all and we know He desires to have a personal relationship with each one of us.

A church piper will do well to build his or her repertoire upon Keith Getty’s and Stuart Townend’s compositions, and be ready to respond to requests for leading a congregation in worship.

Keith MacDonald

It's No Joke

The other day, I received an e-mail to which I have given some thought.  There is more to think about than to consider it just another joke.  I don't find it particularly funny.  See what you think.

‘One day God was looking down at earth and saw the entire rascally behavior that was going on...
So He called His angels and sent one to earth for a time.  When the angel returned, she told God, 'Yes, it is bad on earth; 95% are misbehaving and only 5% are not.  God thought for a moment and said, “Maybe I had better send down a second angel to get another opinion.”

So God called another angel and sent her to earth for a time.  When the angel returned she went to God and said, “Yes, it's true. The earth is in decline; 95% are misbehaving, but 5% are being good.”  God was not pleased, so sHE decided to e-mail the 5% who were good, because sHe wanted to encourage them, and give them a little something to help them keep going.
Do you know what the e-mail said?

Okay, I was just wondering, because I didn't get one either.’  -By an anonymous person

This forwarded e-mail has such an important message.  The intention of the person who wrote it was to have us laugh, and yet I didn't find it funny.  Actually, I thought, because it was most likely designed to cause a laugh, that it was just the opposite.  Think about it and you will see that everyone, according to these figures, is destined to go to Hell.   Consequently, all are ineligible for the promise that God gave us, which is, as most of us have read in John 3:16; "God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him shall not perish but have eternal life." 

If everyone is misbehaving, as the story says, and disregards God, then that's "curtains" for him or her.  I can't make a joke of something so wonderful as the gift of eternal life.  It was given to us simply because we believe in God having created all things and that He loves us so much that He sacrificed His Son to pay for our forgiveness for misbehaving.  Those who are misbehaving, (which is just another word for sinning), are turning their shoulders to God.  It is if they are saying, " I don't need you; I'm having too much fun just doing what I want to do.  Besides that, I plan to continue after I'm done with this world, by cavorting with my friends in Hell, the place about which we like to joke.  There, I'll have a great time with all my friends.  Yes, in Hell I'll have a great time!"

Well, think about it.  We can't expect to find any friends there.  Who could we trust?"  "Everyone knows it's the place where murderers and thieves end up, and besides, it's described as a smoldering ash pit where sinful people abide forever and ever.  Could you say they would be enjoying their days? 

I wonder if this article was meant to be a joke or to be considered as something to provoke our sensibilities into thinking that we should appreciate what God has given us, and to be reminded that God so loved the world?  Should we not remember that we must love God too?  Some will laugh about this "joke" and others, like me, will read it with sadness and think about those who will be missing out on being with their Lord and Saviour forever.

In the Bible, God is referred to as He.  We remember the prayer that Jesus taught us, beginning with, "Our Father, which art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy name."  He never, ever, referred to His Father in Heaven as sHe, whatever gender that is?

You might thank the author of the "joke" for at least provoking me, to write my thoughts about it.  As the expression goes, "It ain't no joke!"  We see it as it is, and that Jesus gave us the order to protect our friends from this kind of thinking, by saying, "Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel."  We have a responsibility for our friends and to those who aren't our friends just yet, but who will thank us some day for warning them against such falseness as we saw in that Email.  A final thought is about what Jesus taught when He said, "Greater love hath no man than this that a man lay down his life for his friends." Soon afterwards, He did just that, for He gave His life for His friends and even for His enemies.  That is, for all who would believe.

By the way, who is this person called, sHe?

Vision Impairment

With considerable interest, I read the story of the man who was born blind and was miraculously given his eyesight.  It was the first time in his life that he was able to see and it would have been an amazing day for him.  It was a day worth remembering and celebrating.  Besides celebrating the miracle of this man receiving his sight, it was an occasion for others to join with him in praise, to acknowledge the actuality of something considered impossible, but obviously, not for God.  To no one before had this happened, and it would be unlikely to happen again. 

Being an optometrist, I took a particular interest.  I’ve experienced joy with patients whose eyesight was considerably improved and I’ve joined with others, thankful to God that I was able to prevent them from becoming blind.  Never, have I witnessed anyone given perfectly good eyesight that had been blind from birth.  It would have been wonderful to behold.  Only God could perform such a miracle.

For this man, it was an exceptional day; one in which to be thankful, except, no one pondered the wonder of the miracle.  Instead, they questioned who did it and said that whoever it was that gave him his eyesight, did so on the Sabbath, which wasn’t good.  Can you imagine that?  They considered any individual who performed a miracle on the Sabbath to have committed a great sin.  Consequently, he could not be a prophet but instead, he must be from the devil.  That was their premise: if he took away the man’s blindness on the Sabbath, then he must be an evil person.

The priests had someone locate the man’s parents who assured them this was their own son who had been born blind.  Others assured them that they too, recognized the man who had been blind from birth.

Someone was sent to find the poor fellow so he could be questioned.  The priests learned that he had no idea who had given him his eyesight. This man who had been blind could offer little in the way of helping them to know who was his benefactor but to say, “Once I was blind and now I can see.”  We recognize his words from our hymn, “Amazing Grace.”  However, Jesus, who had been looking for him too, revealed Himself to him.  The man not only thanked Jesus profusely, but he chose to praise Him as a man of God.

One has to admire the man for his retort to the priests who questioned him incessantly.  He said he had told them but they wouldn’t listen and that they must want to praise the Person who performed the miracle, because of their repetitious questioning.  They excommunicated him from their church because he professed that his benefactor was a Prophet from God.  It didn’t worry him to admit his belief to the priests.  He knew it was better to praise the man of God who had given him his eyesight, than to belong to a church that put more emphasis on rules than it did on praising God.  He recognized that they were more interested in having people obey the rules set by the church, which included not helping anyone on the Sabbath, than they were intent upon worshipping God.  Ironically, they had the opportunity before their eyes, to worship God in reality. 

The man’s parents reacted differently, for they were non-committal.  They admitted that this was their son, and that he had been born blind, and now was able to see, but they were not ready to say that the one to be recognized was a Prophet from God.  They knew that if they were to say that this was what they believed, they’d be excommunicated too.  One feels badly for them, because it was plain for them to see that God had performed a miracle and they could praise the very One who did it but they would not.  Their faith could have been made whole if they were to praise God for performing the miracle. They were not unlike many others who are blind in spite of having eyes capable of seeing.

The actual story can be read in the book of John, in chapter nine.  You will enjoy the man’s response to the priests who he is in effect teaching, but who are so wrapped up in their own rules that they too, can neither listen or see.

The Best Coffee

Some coffees are especially good, and others are not ones you’d drink unless you were very thirsty. Even then, they could be revolting. Occasionally, a friend and I will sit and talk over a nice hot cup of coffee, enjoying the fragrance as well as the taste. Besides solving the world’s problems, our conversation has turned to the coffee itself, for we both have a particular liking for a good cup of steaming hot coffee. We’ve both tried many varieties, such as Tim Hortons, Starbucks, McDonald’s and A Second Cup. He mentioned the various additives people use to modify the taste of their coffee such as cream and sugar, or honey and I volunteered that some believe a dollop of whiskey will make it taste the way they like it. He explained that companies try to make their coffee more palatable by adding something to the actual coffee beans. A cup of coffee can be made to taste like dirty water or molasses, which is not how a good cup of coffee should taste.

In the process of comparing coffees that had been modified, my friend found that a truly great coffee was to be enjoyed when nothing was added to change its taste. I too, like my coffee straight from the carafe. He then compared this to our faith in Christ, saying. “He is complete in Himself, and you don't have to add anything to your faith in Him as Savior.” “Jesus,” he said, “told us that He was the way, the truth and the life and that no one is able to meet His Father in Heaven unless it would be by Him, and also, that whoever believes in Him will have eternal life. Jesus didn’t tell people to add anything more to their faith, because He alone is sufficient. In that, He meant, you don't have to do a whole lot of good deeds to earn your way into Heaven.” My friend added, “How would you know when you had ever done enough? Fortunately, He paid the price in full. We don't even have to be good, but instead, we simply must believe that He, Jesus, was God in human form, and was entirely sufficient as the Sacrifice made for us, so we may be forgiven of every fault that would prevent our acceptance into Heaven.”

While my friend spoke, I was enjoying the warmth of the cup in both hands, listening intently to what he was saying, for I thought he had a very good point. Then, he added for good measure, that he always remembers this principle by the few words he memorized, which were, "Christ plus anything equals nothing. Christ plus nothing equals everything."

My friend may have expounded for some time on the various ways in which a cup of coffee can be spoiled by adding something to it, but he said something I’ll definitely remember by using that easy-to-remember formula. There are of course, those who believe they have their own formula, which is, “Christ alone is not enough.” They believe that to gain God’s favor, one needs to add something more. Without understanding, they undertake to design their own theology, like people do when they modify the taste of their coffee. Even so, there is only one way to Heaven and that is to believe that "Jesus paid it all.” It is the title of a hymn. Its chorus says, “Jesus paid it all. All to Him I owe. Sin had left a crimson stain. He washed it white as snow." “Jesus plus anything equals nothing. Jesus plus nothing equals everything.” It’s like a great cup of coffee. One needs to add nothing, for it is complete in itself.

4th of July Parade

My son Earl sent the following video to me. It features the Manchester Regional Police and Fire Pipe Band marching at the 4th of July Parade in Columbia, CT.   All pipers will recognize this tune as Oh! Rowantree Oh! Rowantree, which is typically coupled with Scotland the Brave.

That's my grandson at the end.  Apparently the local firemen spray the kids with hoses as they drive by, to keep them cool.  He brought a water sprayer to retaliate.

Beyond Chance

Our nine-year-old granddaughter anticipated Canada Day with her grandparents, when she would enjoy her long-awaited treasure hunt. She loved the one we designed two years ago, and talked about this one with excitement. She knew it would be even more challenging. She slept-over the night before. At breakfast, she asked the blessing. Besides being thankful for the meal, she asked that this would be a sensational Canada Day. We loved her choice of words. As the story unfolds, that is exactly the kind of Day we had.

The day before, my wife and I set out the clue cards along the treasure hunt route we planned at Crescent Beach, a popular park for families to walk, picnic or swim in the ocean. Already, there were many enjoying the park, even before the holiday, Canada Day. It would be exciting, to see the crowd tomorrow, and the multitude of cars.

Good hiding places were carefully selected for each clue card. Each one would give the vicinity of the next clue card. We were careful not to spend much time at any location, to cause anyone to be suspicious about what we were doing.

After we hid the last card and the ultimate treasure itself, which was covered with a few small branches and grass in a hollow, we considered the preparations well carried out. Suddenly, we were struck by the thought that we should have put a roll of LifeSavers in with one of the clue cards. So, instead of continuing to our car, we went back over our trail. Surprisingly, we noticed that there was a group of young people gathered around the location of one of our well-hidden clues. The clue card was seen in the hands of one of the fellows and we asked to have it, saying that it was part of a planned treasure hunt for our grandchild. Grandma reached out and took the card from one of the young men.

That’s when we realized that to have this clue, the group must have found at least the one before it and possibly others before that. We carried on backwards and found that three clues had been discovered and that if we had not returned, the group of boys and girls would surely have found their way to our final treasure which was a nice-sized Lego kit for girls, called “Friends.” We reflected that our return to put the LifeSavers in with one of the clue cards was beyond chance. How else could one explain it?

We now had to return home and rewrite the two lost clue cards. We returned to Crescent Beach in the morning of Canada Day and retraced the treasure hunt trail to the three that had been taken. We carefully replaced each of the clues while assuring that nobody was watching. We continued to the treasure and found it to be safe. We went home again and would be ready after lunch, for the exciting hunt with our granddaughter. Her mother would bring her to our place to have lunch.

Canada Day was beautifully warm and sunny. It was a great day to have a treasure hunt with our granddaughter. She was excited, and had no difficulty finding the first clue hidden in the cleft of a rock. The second one was between two signs at the Dog Park and the third was fastened with thumbtacks under the railing of a new fence. The fourth was a bit trickier, being tacked under the fourth step of a set of stairs leading downward off the pathway. She had to return to the path and locate the pumping station, and along the way to enjoy the ducks, herons, bird sounds and wild flowers. The fifth clue was easy enough to find where a wooden rail fits into a post. What a delight to see her expression on locating it. This one led her to a big gate in the middle of the road. Here, the sixth clue was difficult to find, but she reasoned that it had to be inside the metal pipe, tucked in from the bottom and held there by a wad of newspaper.

Two carrots were the clue to help her find the next location, for it was evident they were for the two Shetland ponies near the end of that roadway. The ponies were encouraged to come. They munched on the carrots, anticipating more. Clue card number six had led to the horses and it instructed her to look up in the tree near the corral, where she would find the seventh clue card.

The card said to continue onto the street until she would find a white boat being used as a small flower garden. She was to search around it to locate her eighth card. That took intense searching, but eventually she found an envelope containing ten dollars and more instructions. She took us to the popular ice-cream dispensary where we were treated. On such a hot and beautiful day, a short rest was appreciated. Many others were enjoying Canada Day in this manner. With her eighth clue, which was obtained from one of the shopkeepers, our granddaughter urged us on our way along the beach.

Our granddaughter was looking for a house number on a white fence. Opposite to it would be a huge log where the next clue card would be hidden somewhere in its vicinity. That wasn’t too difficult, but it required a bit of crawling and inspection into every nook and cranny between rocks under the log. Besides a small-sized “Friend’s” kit, the ninth card’s envelope gave the clue to find the 10th one under a piece of driftwood. Incidentally, this was the first clue the group of young people had found and it was one of the three clues that we had to replace on Canada Day morning. The eleventh clue was located where it we had replaced it, secured with Scotch tape under a park bench. The twelfth clue led to the spot where we had discovered the young people who had found three clue cards and were preparing to continue on the treasure hunt that we had designed.

If we had not returned to put the LifeSavers with one of the clues, the group would have found the final clue, which would have led them to the treasure. If nobody found the thirteenth clue which was hidden under a rock marked with an X and located near a peer and a set of steps leading down to the ocean, then we could look forward to that clue leading us to the treasure. With little effort, our granddaughter found the rock with an X and continued up the steps, to the big rock near the hollow and the shrubbery that hid the package. Actually, we were amazed how confidently she ventured into the shrubbery and drew out the package wrapped in a black plastic bag. Quickly, she identified it as a popular construction kit called, “Friends” designed for girls. At home, she spent the rest of the afternoon assembling it, only taking time out for dinner. Later, we drove to Marine Beach to watch the fireworks. Afterwards, our granddaughter fell asleep in the car. It had been a very big day and before continuing to dreamy dreamland, she thanked her grandmother and grandfather for a wonderful day; one she will never forget. She loved hearing about the near-interruption in our nicely designed treasure hunt and reflected that God had heard her prayer, asking that He might make this a sensational Canada Day.