HAPPY FATHER'S DAY to my Dad Richard Lee Collard...as he approaches the age of 80 he has been a very supportive and concerned dad throughout my whole life. glad that in 2008 I can still spend time with him on Father's day.
I also want to pay tribute to my late father-in-law Norman Elsworth Brockman...seen here at Christmas time..he would always tell us that growing up his gift every Christmas was an orange and a piece of sticky candy inside a sock. so his wife & kids always spoiled him at Christmas time. He was a good man and we miss him dearly.AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT.
as I sit here and watch a tribute to TIM RUSSERT on NBC who died suddenly in the newsroom after leaving his wife & son in Italy to go home and work. I realize that the intimidating thoughts of how one dies are more present in my life than I would have hoped at my "young" age of 41... as the years fly by I start to stare straight into the face of mortality and that guaranteed end. it's sobering, it's scary, it's my destiny. in the past month I've seen several deaths that were just heartbreaking...a 5 year old daughter of Christian Singer Steven Curtis Chapman...the death of songwriter Dottie Rambo on her tour bus after a traffic accident...comedian Harvey Korman...the sands of time continue to steal away those close and not so close to us...for example I dread the day I wake up and read that Reverend Billy Graham has gone home to be with GOD...but wait, this is where FAITH becomes crucial to one's destiny. i did a quick study on death with the Bible and when one clearly makes a decision to believe in the life & death of Jesus Christ THEN and only THEN can he claim victory over death.
the saying that is written will come true: "Death has been swallowed up in victory." 55"Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?" 56The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 58Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.
so I recently rented "The bucket list" a film that I was told was lame and "not worth renting" but in fact this film illustrates brilliantly the difference between a man of Faith and a faithless soul. I found the film to be worthwhile viewing if for no other reason than to appreciate family and friends while your healthy.
Ecclesiastes 9 - A Common Destiny for All
1 So I reflected on all this and concluded that the righteous and the wise and what they do are in God's hands, but no man knows whether love or hate awaits him. 2 All share a common destiny—the righteous and the wicked, the good and the bad, [a] the clean and the unclean, those who offer sacrifices and those who do not. As it is with the good man, so with the sinner; as it is with those who take oaths, so with those who are afraid to take them.
3 This is the evil in everything that happens under the sun: The same destiny overtakes all. The hearts of men, moreover, are full of evil and there is madness in their hearts while they live, and afterward they join the dead. 4 Anyone who is among the living has hope [b] —even a live dog is better off than a dead lion!
5 For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing; they have no further reward, and even the memory of them is forgotten.
6 Their love, their hate and their jealousy have long since vanished; never again will they have a part in anything that happens under the sun.
7 Go, eat your food with gladness, and drink your wine with a joyful heart, for it is now that God favors what you do. 8 Always be clothed in white, and always anoint your head with oil. 9 Enjoy life with your wife, whom you love, all the days of this meaningless life that God has given you under the sun— all your meaningless days. For this is your lot in life and in your toilsome labor under the sun. 10 Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, for in the grave, [c] where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom.
11 I have seen something else under the sun: The race is not to the swift or the battle to the strong, nor does food come to the wise or wealth to the brilliant or favor to the learned; but time and chance happen to them all.
12 Moreover, no man knows when his hour will come: As fish are caught in a cruel net, or birds are taken in a snare, so men are trapped by evil times that fall unexpectedly upon them.
Asleep in Jesus! Blessèd sleep,From which none ever wakes to weep;A calm and undisturbed repose,Unbroken by the last of foes.
Asleep in Jesus! Oh, how sweet,To be for such a slumber meet,With holy confidence to singThat death has lost his venomed sting!
Asleep in Jesus! Peaceful rest,Whose waking is supremely blessed;No fear, no woe, shall dim that hourThat manifests the Savior’s power.
Asleep in Jesus! Oh, for me May such a blessèd refuge be! Securely shall my ashes lie And wait the summons from on high.
Asleep in Jesus! time nor space Debars this precious “hiding place”;On Indian plains or Lapland snows Believers find the same respose.
Asleep in Jesus! Far from theeThy kindred and their graves may be;But there is still a blessèd sleep,From which none ever wakes to weep. MARGARET MACKAY 1832
