second fiddle musings

Prayer for the business traveler

2011-11-01T13:45:00.000-04:00

This prayer could have been mine 25-30 years ago when I traveled a lot on business, leaving Peggy at home to care for our growing family. I commend it to any who travel, especially those leaving young children at home.

Father, as I come to leave my home again
I feel both sadness and a buzz
Sad to leave my family again.
But part of me switched on to the trip.
Lord, help me to leave with compassion
when part of me just wants to get it over with.

Watch over my loved ones I pray.
Help them to know my love when I'm gone.
Inspire me with ways to show my care.
Help us to experience the impossible -
intimacy at a distance.

Keep me, O God, from temptation.
Gluttony.
Pornography.
Going with the crowd.
All-consuming busyness.
And thinking I am strong enough
      to deal with it all.
Keep me from ignoring you.
Keep me faithful.

In the queues and the noise
      be my inner peace.
In the loneliness
      be my friend.

O God, give me success on this trip.
And make me a light in the world.
Father, I ask for your protection.
And may I return from this exile
with some energy and love to give.
                                            (Ezekiel 11:16)

Written by a finance and human resources director in England,
from LICC Executive Director Mark Greene's compilation Pocket Prayers for Work

Trapped!

2009-12-21T17:38:00.000-05:00

We spent seven hours last Saturday trapped on I-77 in West Virginia--it wasn't snowing and as far as we could tell the roads were reasonably clear, but someone had apparently decided we couldn't go, so there we were in a long line of cars and trucks, unable to go anywhere and with no idea when traffic would start moving.

This was, as you can imagine, a very frustrating experience! As we sat hour after hour in the same place, I thought about the poorest of the poor, "The Bottom Billion" that economist Paul Collier writes about in his book of that name that (coincidentally?) I had just finished reading. These folks are also trapped, not just for a few hours in reasonable comfort as we were, but for a lifetime in living conditions that are deplorable.

Jesus talked about "the least of these." Those of us who claim to follow Jesus (speaking for myself) are often both woefully ignorant about the poorest of the poor and too self-focused to think about what God may want us to do to help change the status quo.

Reading Collier's book has helped with my own ignorance and--after having a small experience of being trapped--I am hopefully a little more motivated to be a part of what God is doing to make a difference in the lives of "the least of these."

Witness to God's Faithfulness

2009-12-06T10:38:00.000-05:00

Some thoughts on what it takes for me to be a witness to God's faithfulness

Listen to God

What do I hear when I read the Bible? John Stott has written that “...sometimes we hear from Scripture only what we want to hear—the soothing echoes of our own cultural prejudice—and then we miss the thunderclap of his Word as he challenges us to listen.” In my work with university students, I've seen Chinese with no prior exposure to Scripture observe details in a passage that are missed by Americans who are so familiar with the Bible that they do not carefully read a passage because they are sure they know what it says.

I also reflect on the difficulty I have in making a quiet space so that I can hear what God the Spirit is saying to me. “Listen for God's voice in everything you do, everywhere you go; he's the one who will keep you on track.” (Eugene Peterson'sparaphrase of Proverbs 3:6)

Wrestle with God

While we may primarily think of Jacob in this context, the psalms and prophetic writings are full of examples of those who wrestled with God. Our tendency is to want to find the correct answer to the difficulties of Scripture and of life.

But the secret isn't to emphasize correct answers. As Jesus teaches in Mark 4:10-11, he wants us to bring our questions and difficulties to him. As we wrestle with God we get to know him in a deeper way. And it is this knowledge of God, the experience of him as we wrestle with him and see how he loves and cares for us, that helps us with what we don't understand.

Work for God

We cling to the truth of Eph 2:8-9 (salvation by grace through faith and not by works) but too easily forget Eph 2:10—that we were “created in Christ Jesus for good works.” Whatever I do, whether teaching from the Bible or fertilizing my lawn, is to be done heartily for the Lord (Col 3:23).

Jesus is Lord of every part of life (Php 2, Rev 1); the idea of a “sacred-secular divide” is not Biblical. A gospel message that is reduced a kind of fire insurance, as though what really matters is that my soul is saved from hell, is a gospel with a huge hole in it. God wants me to work for him in way that brings the whole gospel to the world he loves.

"CGSA reunion" in Bloomington, IN

2009-09-21T11:19:00.023-04:00

We were delighted when several current and former Ohio State grad students asked us to join them the weekend of July 31-Aug 2 in Bloomington, the home of Indiana University.

Markus and Stephanie Dickinson were CGSA leaders when we started working with grad students several years ago...Markus is now on the Linguistics faculty at Indiana U and Stephanie works in Statistics. We enjoyed the great tour they gave us of the campus and the fellowship at their church, which is very involved in community outreach.

Luke Corwin has a post-doctoral position in Physics at IU--his fiance Kelly is still a grad student at OSU. Their wedding is planned for December in Columbus and Luke has asked Gary to be his best man--we are so honored and thankful for a friendship with this couple as they begin their life together.

More photos from Bloomington are on Facebook --

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=294647&id=678060251&l=35690d9a84

Mother's Day 2009 in Tualatin

2009-06-30T11:50:00.000-04:00

Seattle trip photos

2009-06-27T16:36:00.015-04:00

Visiting Beth (Barnet) Fuhriman in Edmonds, WA--Beth was valedictorian of my Fullerton Union High School class of 1959 and this was our first time together since graduation!

Beth and her husband Bob were missionaries in Japan for over 30 years

New friend Alene Wright and very good friend (we won't say how long) Kathy Tanner

Down to Tualatin, Oregon for Mother's Day with Marcy, Dave, Riley, Trevor, Kendall and Delaney

Then about an hour east of Portland and time with Berni and Dave Gorgas--I've known Berni since the 1950s in Fullerton (added Jan 2010: this was the last time I saw Berni alive)

Then on to Walla Walla and time with my niece Donna and her husband John...

...and their daughter Tina and her family

Then to Moses Lake and lunch with Mary and Ruthie (Emmans) and their husbands,
Mary and Gordon Froese
(Gordon was a boy in Walla Walla when I went to Whitman)

and Ruthie and Rick Ames

Finally back to Seattle and more wonderful opportunities to connect...

Nelson and Helen Wright
(Nelson from the 1950s in Fullerton, Helen from 1960s in Seattle)

Al and Nancy Erisman

Al calculates we have known each other for 60 years!

But the friend who goes back longer than anyone is Alan Sclater (here with his wife Nancy)...Alan and I remember playing together in the 1940s in Huntington Park, CA!

Friends and family--these are rich treasures--from those I've known for over 60 years to those in these photos I just met for the first time on this memorable trip to the Northwest

Lunch with Masao

2009-06-16T15:26:00.005-04:00

Friends and fellow Ohio State faculty came to be with economics professor Masao Ogaki, who will soon be returning to Japan after 25 years of living in the USA.

Masao's economics colleague Pok-sang and his wife Yen-wen brought their daughter Esther...

In this video clip Masao talks about his research interest: how does one's worldview affect economic choices...does being a professing Christian make a practical difference...

We all are thankful for the six years God gave us to walk alongside Masao and share in his desire to grow in his faith...now we pray that God will grant his heart's desire to be used as a witness for Christ in Japan.

Microfinance Conference in Seattle

2009-05-18T14:18:00.002-04:00

I will share more about this outstanding conference soon, but in the meantime please check it out at http://www.spu.edu/depts/sbe/se/microfinance/photos.htm

Students and Easter

2009-05-05T16:00:00.003-04:00

Monday to Friday

2009-04-06T09:33:00.000-04:00

A poem by a school teacher, from "Pocket Prayers for Work" as compiled by our friend Mark Greene (published 2004 in London by Church House Publishing):

Monday, oh, how depressing.
Tuesday, I'm over the worst.
Wednesday, 1/2 way through the week,
that's great:
tomorrow I'll be saying,
'It's Friday tomorrow.'
Thursday, nearly there.
Friday, hooray! It's the weekend.
It's Monday again, that's not good.
Lord, you can't want me to live like this,
racing through the days.
Each day matters to you.
Help me to savour each day as it comes,
to live for you in the moment.

(more great resources at http://www.licc.org.uk/)

February update

2009-04-03T03:54:00.001-04:00

South Carolina, Ohio State and "one last thing"

South Carolina

Feb 7-14 we were in the Myrtle Beach area, our first extended time just to relax in more than a year. This "R&R" more than met our expectations!

Sunrise from our bedroom...

...and moonrise

"Broadway at the Beach" was pretty deserted...

Brookgreen Gardens were a highlight...

...sculpture depicting Psalm 139:9-10...

...looking over a shoulder at the news

Ohio State news item

Greg Washington is a committed follower of Christ who is a professor and interim dean in Ohio State's College of Engineering.

There is a great video clip of Greg telling the story of how he became the first in his family to get a college education. You'll enjoy it and it will give you an idea of the kind of folks we get to interact with here at Ohio State--check it out at http://www.osu.edu/access/

One last thing

Cardinals on a tree in our back yard in January

earlier blogs at http://moldovagary.xanga.com/weblog