My grandson Jake celebrates his second birthday tomorrow. He is vibrant, full of life, eager to explore, and just a little too assertive for my firstborn (and naturally assertive) daughter Christi. She and Tim are getting him a tricycle for his birthday.It seemed that he hasn't been walking all that long. I love this picture of Jake from the Children's Museum where he encountered a wind machine. Sort of reminds me of how much of a blast life can be - a good blast, if you just let go and let God take you for a ride. (Better God than Jake on his tricycle).
Speaking of going for a ride, my brackets are a disaster. Northern Iowa, St. Mary's, Cornell, Ohio University will be names long remembered in the hallowed halls of the NCAA tournament chiefs. My two favorites, the Buckeyes and Butler survived the opening round. Kentucky still appears the closest thing to a juggernaut. Of my original final four picks (Kentucky, Ohio State, Kansas State, Villanova) only Villanova is gone. I am becoming a big fan of Cornell.
When I wasn't watching the Road to the Final Four, I was switching to Fox and C-Span to watch the massive power play underway to pass the President's Healthcare Plan. I believe I sympathized with one student staring down his congressman by saying, "How can we pass such a costly bill when as a country we are broke." No question the Plan is a budget buster. If I were convinced it would really meet the needs of those low income and insurance less fellow citizens of mine, I might warm to the plan more. The blatant hypocrisy of the Democrats using the nuclear option they so roundly despised when the Republicans were in control doesn't do that much for my confidence in their integrity; but then the machinations used by congressmen from both sides to publicly oppose a bill while byzantinely voting for their own healthcare pork into the final product just reinforces my political cynicism. I do, however, agree with one man who said, "Americans are frustrated that our leaders can't work together to get the job done on healthcare. Nuclear options aren't working together, they are just old-fashioned power politics.
After a particularly hard winter in the Susquehanna Valley, the arrival of spring makes me think that the best days lie ahead. Nostalgic seniors and cultural doomsayers tend to think the best days are behind us, but as a Christian, I know the best days are ahead. The resurrection which we will celebrate in two weeks is the once and for all testimony that death does not have the last word and sin does not define our destiny. In between Christ's resurrection and my final resurrection, I expect quite a few very good days - years in fact, with the love of my life, Dianne and in fruitful service to God. There will be some good days on the golf course and in the joy of an upcoming wedding. There will be some good days when the chemistry of the Spirit makes my time in the pulpit powerful and very, very good days when I have the privilege of seeing someone give their heart to Jesus Christ.
And neither brackets nor budgets nor anything else in all creation can rob me of the best days that are yet to come by the grace of God.
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