It is much cooler today and some lovely rain. It suits my solitary soul. I enjoy visiting cities but I have never wanted to live in one. Natural surroundings are my elixir. Mr. Squirrel is outside the Writing Porch. He seems content. Life is a beautiful pursuit.

Father’s Day is a week away and is a celebration of my greatest joy. Aaron and Jonathon are MJ and my consuming pleasure. Being near them lifts my spirit. I see their mother in them and even a little bit of me. What a miracle they are! Each time they share with me what they are doing I am blessed.

I reflect on the days of my youth. I was a searcher even then. I hoped to connect with the purpose of life and my role in it. I loved older folks and sought their company. I knew that they must have the answers to life’s persistent questions. When I began attending a little country church in Elkville I made a point of shaking hands with every congregation member. The church was comprised primarily of people of the golden years. They treated me warmly. I became convinced that the Christian life was worthy of pursuit.

I met my friend Jeff when we were teenagers. He was a member of a hippie commune living at the other end of Royalton Blacktop. Everyone there was so friendly. Many of the group were Jewish. We had matzo balls and Gefilte fish. They had a shower in the backyard that I used after staying overnight with them. The shower had a foot tub on top of its roof and a hose attached with a valve to turn on and off the water. I noticed that the view of the curtainless door was as far as the eye could see. They told me that there was more privacy when the corn was high.

The Bible was a new world. I became enamored with it. I had never experienced a group of people so loving and accepting. Peace is the province of Christ’s teachings.

We did not think of politics. We thought of living out the message of the sad-eyed Carpenter. My love of Reverend Billy Graham was that his message of Christ was simple and did not vary. Jesus loves you and why not come to him and find out. Jonathon and I heard him speak in St. Louis when he was 80.

Harsh words never help they hurt. Mean pronouncements and judgments of others are not the Message.

Many years ago Physical Plant administration at Southern Illinois University decided that the Housekeeping department needed expert advice. They hired consultants from Georgia at some expense. When their final report came back to us it was so convoluted and difficult to follow that the first thing I did when I became the superintendent was to throw the Georgia Report into the waste basket. They had attempted to make something simple…complex as an example of professionalism.

So it is with Christ’s message of love and acceptance. ‘Render unto Cesar the things that are Cesars and unto God the things that are Gods.’

Many disciplinary issues that I encountered were best handled as a collegial talk behind closed doors with an agreement to ‘go and sin no more.’ As long as we retain our dignity we reason together to avoid mistakes.

‘Weeping may endure for the night but joy cometh in the morning.’