Hi.
Yup. I love a bunch of men.
Have for years. Always will.
I hope.
Love, Part One
Read a news article about what love does to those who succumb to it.
No, I don’t mean STDs, broken dreams, restraining orders, seeing your kids every other damn weekend or division of other kinds of property.
The good stuff.
It’s all summed up by Jack Nicholson in [insert the name of the movie I’m thinking of here] when he says to a potential love, “You make me want to be a better man.”
That’s love.
****
Love, Part Two
One thing The Princess doesn’t like about me is when I call her The Princess in front of other people and brag about her and tell them how wonderful she is.
Yes, I am working on not doing what flows so naturally … because that’s how she wants to be loved.
I think I’ve made the same mistake with JK. I love her. In a love-my-daughters way. Only. But she’s also one of my heroes.
Nope. She’s not perfect.
Nope. She never will be.
Nope. I do not care.
It’s not hero worship. Not idolatry. Not putting a fragile person on a pedestal.
She simply rocked my world because of who she is, as seen by what she did.
My daughters, The Princess and JK are among those I love. PJ, too. Leslie. Kimberly. Facebook and non-FB friends. They make me want to be a better man. As, believe it or not, did each of my wives … before they made me want to die.
But I didn’t.
Now they all inspire me to be a better man.
***
Love, Part Three
Yes.
My love for God makes me want to be a better man.
Jesus is my example.
Savior.
Enabler.
He makes me want to be a better man.
To love my daughters, The Boys, The Princess, assorted loved ones.
And those who, in my humble opinion, do not deserve it.
***
Love, Part Four
I have loved ones who prattle on about America
I’ll believe it when christians show it.
Today.
And stop whining about how [insert any group deemed offensive by christians here] are bad people and how they must become more godly.
Want this to be a Christian nation? Obey the Bible and honor those in authority. Even if civil disobedience is warranted.
Want this to be a Christian nation? Love President Obama – who, in my opinion, is an insipid, clueless, megalomaniac who is intoxicated by the deception of his own importance and has no more skill at managing the Free World than I do.
What’s the difference between Christianity and other religions?
How we treat our enemies: with love.
How we treat one another: with love.
How we treat our families: with love.
Just stop all the hateful enemy-bashing about how God hates [insert your enemies here].
Please.
Even if I fail to do so.
Even if I fail to do so.
***
For the Love of Peter
Peter was my best friend in high school.
I got into a fight in the cafeteria at East High. After that, my folks scoured the sofa, chairs and car seats for enough money to send me to The Allendale School.
A country day school.
Yup. Fancy.
Enter Peter. Great Guy.
Introduced me to The Paul Butterfield Blues Band, John Coltrane, friendliness without hypocrisy, Alfa Romeo Veloce Spiders, and his sister, Karen. (In no particular order of importance.)
I could write 50 books from our adventures. Maybe 100.
Peter’s family was lived-on-East Avenue-in-Rochester
One grandfather helped found Rochester Institute of Technology.
Another has a building named after him at Corning Glass.
Peter’s father never worked. Apart for the times Peter said they drove to his grandmother’s house to shovel 100s into the trunks of their cars.
I loved Peter. Couldn’t understand why anyone wouldn’t. Seriously.
For “our” graduation present, his folks funded a trip to the Newport Jazz Festival.
Case of good wine in the boot of the pale-blue Alfa roadster (like the one pictured below).
Peter loved that car. I can still hear him laugh and point to the page in the car’s owner’s manual that stated the car would go 17/23/19/whatever miles per hour in reverse. “Only the Italians, Robert! Only the Italians would tell you how fast their car goes in reverse!”
I loved Peter.
Peter did drugs.
Got shipped off to a boarding school in Lake Placid . They used to hire cabs to drive to NYC. Came back with mayonnaise jars filled with more drugs.
One kid freaked out and stole the school’s limousine and tried to make a break for it. Name of the school emblazoned on the side of the biggest vehicle in the county. One road out of town.
Got caught.
That’s why they call it “dope.”
Peter liked photography.
Lived in a small apartment.
Bought a bunch of cameras.
A dry plate (press?) printer thingy.
Turned his bathroom into a darkroom.
Set up a studio in his bedroom.
Had no place to sleep.
Pitched a tent in his kitchen. Made from a big flag.
Spikes driven into the linoleum to make sure it wouldn’t blow away.
I guess.
I loved Peter.
His parents grew tired of funding his exploits.
Guess they wanted him to be like them.
Fancy summer home in Canada
Subtle island home in the [insert name of islands here].
His folks hated – hated – one another.
Peter didn’t want to be like them.
So, his parents did what rich people do: threatened to cut him off.
Threw him out. Sort of.
See, rich people do it differently than, “Get out!”
Usually.
They said, “Get out! Where would you like to go, honey?”
Peter said, “Alaska
So he and his dad flew to the Kenai.
Selected a nice corner lot in the wilderness.
Purchased it.
Flew home.
Bought Peter a truck.
A dandy chain-saw.
Tents.
Log dogs.
Timber hooks.
A shin-hoe (aka “adz”).
Awls.
A wood shaving thingy you put razors into … with the saddle knob thingy on top.
And the biggest brown-bear (or elephant) .375 Magnum Browning rifle you ever saw.
Couple of draw knives.
And off he went in 1975 to Alaska
With me.
***
Great Guys and Great Men
To a few random souls, I have achieved Great Guydom. I shan’t make any sentient soul’s Great Men list, however.
So be it.
I have begun to compile a list of men I deem to be Great Guys and Great Men.
In the days/years? ahead, I hope to tell you about them.
Hope I’ll add a few names to the list. We’ll see.
Please forgive me if your name does not appear.
My brother, a devout missionary, is a great man; not such a great guy.
My father, a great guy, universally loved, hasn’t been a great man.
Lots of people are one or the other.
Not many are both.
Except these exceptional men.
Whom I love.
Deeply.
Men who are easy to love.
Who easily love others.
Who, without exception, love God.
Who would love you, even if you don’t personally love God yourself.
These men make me want to be a better man.
The Great Guy and Great Men Hall of Fame:
Chris Fabry
Broadcaster. Author. Father of nine kids. Loves his wife.
Been faithful to God, in spite of tremendous loss and pain.
Changing the world through his writing, radio program and his life.
A great guy and a great man.
David Lane
Professor. Psychologist. Wise man.
Recent missionary.
Survived the loss of a beloved son.
Helped me survive the loss of a beloved wife.
The kind of man that frail people can trust.
A rebuilder of shattered lives, by God’s wisdom.
Gordon Bell
A Brit. Former missionary to Tibet Hong Kong .
A pastor; to a church and to hundreds of individuals.
Kind, gracious man.
Lost his first wife on the mission field. Rabies.
Worked for him for nine years at a Christian radio station.
A great guy. A great man.
Unappreciated by some. Loved by many.
Lives with God these days,
Joe Coney
Recovering fundamentalist christian.
Wonderful example of Jesus Christ in his daily life.
Missionary to various countries and to me.
Loves his wife. Loves his family.
Cares for everybody.
Humble. Self-deprecating. Meek. Strong.
Used by God in my life at several dangerous intersections.
A man I love … who makes me want to be a better man.
John Batusic
My pastor. Yes, a missionary.
A man who represents stability to me.
A great guy, who isn’t afraid to dress up like Dorothy’s scarecrow.
A great man, who isn’t afraid to proclaim biblical truth … kindly.
Joseph Slife
One of the smartest, most learned men I have ever met.
Knows *everything.*
The ONE person you would use as your Cash Cab mobile shout-out.
Not only loves his wife, but the kind of person who could make the supposedly most awful wife happy, I think.
Dedicated to his kids. Great writer.
People don’t think I’m half as smart as Joseph, but I really am. And I prove it all the time.
Joseph’s greatness will be made manifest in generations to come.
One of the first men I thought of when pondering Great Guy/Great Mandom.
Ken Frenke
Never heard of him, right? A great guy and a great man.
His wife told me that after umpteen years, he’s never said an unkind word to her.
Wow.
Brilliant man. Gracious in his speech.
A great man who represents God well.
Known for his kindness and wisdom.
Larry Burkett
Writer. Wise man. Broadcaster.
A man endowed with exceptional common sense.
A man of faith.
Had the honor of working for/with him for fifteen years.
Had the honor of working for/with him for fifteen years.
Changed the world before dying on Independence Day in 2003.
We traveled together many times.
I never saw a more humble, kind man. Like being with Jesus, almost.
There have been times I doubted God’s love, but never Larry’s.
Did the worst Inspector Clouseau impersonation possible.
But I loved him anyway.
Seth Barnes
Call him a missionary or a writer. Brilliant or savvy.
Husband to an amazing woman or father to world-changing kids.
Great speaker, etc.
What sets him apart is how he hears from God and obeys.
Lots of people brag about how God told them to do this or that.
Most are bandits and scoundrels, I think.
Seth doesn’t do stuff for God.
God does stuff through Seth, and the others at the organization Seth founded: Adventures in Missions.
If you get to heaven, try to stand on someone’s shoulders. You might catch a glimpse of Seth WAY up front.
***
How are you doing in the great guy/gal and great man/woman spectrum?
Blessings to you as you pursue what’s most important.
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