July 30, 2010

Noel Paul Stookey with Kevin Belmonte's son, Sam

Today I returned from an overnight stay with my four-and-a-half-year-old son Sam at C.S. Lewis College in Northfield, Massachusetts. Last night, honored guests from the Northfield Mount Hermon community, and volunteers from all over the country who have been helping to ready this new college for its opening a little over a year from now, attended a very special concert given by Noel Paul Stookey of “Peter, Paul and Mary” at Margaret Olivia Music Hall. My wife Kelly was away on a business trip, so Sam and I were set to have some good father/son time with all those who had come…

It was a night I shall long remember, especially for little Sam’s sake. It began with dinner at six, when I was asked to sit at Noel’s table and tell him a bit about my work on the film Amazing Grace. I felt privileged to do so, and it was then that I introduced Sam to him-a particular pleasure, since Peter, Paul and Mary’s live recording of “The Garden Song” is one that Sam loves to sing along with.

After dinner, Sam and I took a walk along the beautiful campus first established by D.L. Moody in November 1879 as the Northfield Seminary for Girls. To walk the grassy hillsides, amid buildings that are so many architectural treasures, and the handsome maple, oak and beech trees that boarder the grounds, is to be surrounded by a profound sense of history, blessing and philanthropic purpose. So many young people have walked this campus as students, received an excellent education and realized the promise of D.L. Moody’s hope that he had “been able to set in motion streams which will continue long after I have gone.”

Those streams continue still, beautifully renewed by the purchase of the Northfield Seminary campus for the use of C.S. Lewis College. During my time there this month, as part of the Vacation with a Purpose volunteer team (and as a guest lecturer in the evenings on D.L. Moody and William Wilberforce), I have been witness to start of a new chapter in the life of this storied place. Already, I feel as though I have been given memories enough to last a lifetime-the high privilege of meeting D.L. Moody’s great-grandson Dave Powell and his lovely wife Lucia, and the start of a cherished friendship with them-the hosting of a screening of Amazing Grace, the first film to be shown at C.S. Lewis College-and the gift of working alongside so many new friends to help renovate Moore Cottage, the handsome guest house built in D.L. Moody’s time.

These are cherished recollections, but I must say that the memories I treasure most are those of my son Sam romping over those grassy hillsides, playing with other children, kicking a soccer ball with me, and taking time to offer a quiet prayer of thanks at the crest of Round Top-the hallowed spot where D.L. and Emma Moody rest.

And as of my last visit to attend the Noel Paul Stookey concert, I have a new set of memories to add to the ones above. Sam was able to visit with Noel for a few moments at the close of the sound check. He could not have been kinder to Sam, or more thoughtful. He let Sam strum the strings of his guitar, and as Sam did, he fingered chords and began to sing: “This is Sam’s song-these are Sam’s chords.” It was an impromptu song, just for Sam. Those few moments, seeing Sam’s eyes light up, and the smiles that he and Noel shared, were very special.

Noel then posed for a picture with Sam, and showed a gift for playful banter with a child that reminded me very much of the way that Bill Cosby is with children-radiating great, good and infectious humor. I loved hearing Sam laugh with his new friend…

Before the concert began, I was asked to offer a word of prayer for the assembled guests. I was honored that Dr. Stan Mattson, the President of the C.S. Lewis Foundation, extended this invitation to me.

As I got up to pray, I had to carry Sam in my arms to the stage, as he was a bit tired and clingy. I thought little about it, since I have often done this. Sam usually rests quietly on my shoulder until I’ve finished speaking. He’s very good that way.

But tonight, as Stan later said, “the Lord of the Dance had something else in mind.” As I started to pray, Sam began to repeat what I was saying. What unfolded next was spontaneous and touching. Realizing I now had to offer a prayer that a little boy could understand, I said these words:

“Dear God, please bless Mr. Moody’s house, please bless this new house-Mr. Lewis’s house, and please bless all the children who will come here. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”

Sam said all of these words, as only a little boy can. And when I began to say “in Jesus’ name”-he skipped right to the end of this familiar close and said, rather loudly, “Amen!”

Nothing, as it turned out, could have been more fitting. Following the close of the concert, people stopped by again and again to say how much little Sam’s prayer had touched them. The next morning, several more friends took time to say much the same thing. It was an unlooked-for blessing-one all the more cherished for its being so unexpected…

And then, to cap the evening, Noel Stookey sang “The Garden Song,” asking just before he started: “Is Sam still here?”-to which the reply was a collective “Yes!” And so, my son and I got to sing the familiar words with everyone else there in lovely Margaret Olivia Music Hall. It was one of those moments that made me very happy to be a father…

Now that I think about it all-the legacy of D.L. Moody, all those who created and have served the Northfield Seminary-and the birth of the new school that is C.S. Lewis College in this storied place-I think of the words that Noel Stookey sang to my son: “This is Sam’s song.” These words make me think of all that lies in the future for this place. Little Sam prayed with me that God would “bless the children that come here” in the days and years to come. The thought that Sam might be a part of such a bright company, and know the gift of days and years on the campus of C.S. Lewis College, is a thought that fills me with expectation. “This is Sam’s song”-what a lovely lyrical metaphor that harkens to the future of this place, and what a treasured keepsake of a special meeting with a new friend.

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Dear Friends:

Thursday morning, I stopped by a friend’s office. He was preparing for an important meeting on institutional finances in less than two hours.

The times are stressful. The stacks of spreadsheets and financial statements on his desk tell the story of a community with entrenched, high unemployment. By nightfall the State of California, financially insolvent and in legislative paralysis, will cut off payments to our physicians and hospital for caring for state-insured patients. The specter of cut-backs, lay-offs and reorganization lurk in the muddy, roiling waters of uncertainty. My friend was visibly tense and frustrated with competing demands for data and information while preparing books for an annual audit.

I went on my way to another appointment, but my heart stayed with my friend in silent prayer. The Holy Spirit brought to my mind the opening stanza of my Grandmother Jenny’s favorite hymn:

Sweet hour of prayer! sweet hour of prayer!
That calls me from a world of care,
And bids me at my Father’s throne
Make all my wants and wishes known.
In seasons of distress and grief,
My soul has often found relief
And oft escaped the tempter’s snare
By thy return, sweet hour of prayer!
– William Walford, 1845

I text-paged those lines to my friend with this message: “You don’t have an hour, but take a minute. Close your door. Look out the window and breathe. He will receive it as a prayer and extend grace and mercy.”

In a few minutes, I received this text page in response. “Dear Friend: Opened blinds & did just that! What a delight and encouragement.”

Later sitting in the client’s finance meeting, I received an angry, whining rant of an email message from a colleague that twisted my gut into knots and left me struggling for composure as I answered questions in the conference room about contracts and regulatory compliance. My set jaw and glowering visage did not escape notice as I was repeatedly asked, “Are you OK?” and told, “You look tired.”

What could I say? As Solomon wisely noted, “The heart knows its own bitterness, and no stranger shares its joy” (Pr 14:10).

The problems continued to mount into the afternoon. The interpersonal strife of others splattered its acid and presentations that were expected to move initiatives forward bogged down in negative speculation and obsessive “bean-counting.” Disputes over employment and controversies over professional conduct and even faith and doctrine surged to high tide by the time that I started home after 8:00 p.m..

Each Friday morning, I send out a Scripture by page to about 40 people. I choose the Scriptures well in advance. The text this week was Psalm 108:12-13 from The Message: “Give us help for the hard task; human help is worthless. In God we’ll do our very best; He’ll flatten the opposition for good.”

But the pressure did not relent as calls started early and kept coming in with allegations of crimes, breaches of integrity, disappointing, heart-sickening sexual harassment and legislative setbacks. I denied the tension, but did not relieve it, by pressing forward with my schedule. Discouragement corroded my spirit.

I picked up the phone to dial a client about a contract, but I set the receiver back in its cradle and put my head in my hands. “Lord, have mercy,” I prayed. “I know that you are present and that you know the issues, but could you please humor me by giving me some sign that you’re with me in this? I am in need of some encouragement here. Thank you.” I went on and made the call.

What I could not know then, was at that very moment, 25 miles away, my friend, to whom I had text-paged the words to the hymn and the suggestion to breathe a prayer, was on his knees about the same concerns that had a vise-grip on my soul. I learned later that his prayer went like this, “Father, you know how tired and stressed that we are. I know that what man means for evil, you, Father, can turn into good. You know that these things aren’t right and we need you to do something about them. But I know that you are good and faithful and will do what needs to be done. Amen”

My phone call was to a favorite client, Nancy, a Christ-follower who directs a non-profit community clinic serving the poor. We talked through the contract solution and offered some mutual words of encouragement giving praise to the Lord for his continuing provision and guidance.

After that call, I went on to another more difficult one. My pager buzzed on my waist and I pulled it out of the holster to read these words from Nancy: “I can never thank you enough for all you do for us. I love you so much my dear brother. Have a blessed weekend with your family.”

Nancy’s words were like that little gust of cool breeze that comes in the heat of the day to tell you the weather is changing and the long dry spell will soon be over. It answered my prayer for encouragement. The Father sends his messages of love through his children.

By late Friday afternoon, the tide of bad reports had ebbed. The Lord relieved a number of situations and sent help from unexpected places. Even when matters weren’t resolved, there was positive guidance for next steps. Phone calls, pages and emails of thanksgiving were exchanged among us.

It is possible to write about things like this and wander off into the dismal swamps explaining the miraculous and the fortunate. I avoid reading books and articles attempting such explanations because God chooses to respond to human requests in different ways and to different degrees. He is the Creator and we are the creatures and he knows what each of us needs, when we need it, and why. I am long past believing that God has “one-size-fits-all” solutions for us beyond eternity itself.

I am very mindful that there are thousands of persons who will read this message in the coming weeks. Some of you are staggering under burdens of illness, conflict, alienation and sin that make what I’ve related here no more than a child’s playground scratch. There is always the thought, “Well, it is all fine and good that God gave you friends and encouragement when you needed them, but why am I alone in my mess? Why do my prayers only bounce off of the ceiling?”

It would be lying to you if I said I knew why. All I know comes out of my understanding of God’s Word and my personal experience. This may be very hard to understand, but after paying the tuition of irretrievable losses of precious people and things and enduring heartbreaks and disappointments that I was powerless to prevent or heal, my trust in God has strengthened against the “things” that can happen. I have learned to take the long view of the eternal love that “bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things, [and] never ends” (1 Cor 13:7-8a).

That love is unsparing of itself, wrote the Apostle Paul. It has a name, “Christ Jesus, who died, yes, who was raised, who was at the right hand of God, who intercedes for us.” The harshest circumstances, deepest distress, or cruelest death will not separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus (Rom 8:31-39).

But here is grace for us, the extraordinary power of that love belongs to God alone but it is personified in the living face of Jesus shining out of the hearts of imperfect, ordinary believers like you and me. That’s why “We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may be made visible” in us (2 Cor 4:6-10).

That’s what those text-pages, emails, calls and prayers add up to–the love of Jesus made visible and real in the lives of men and women who put their faith in him. All the Scripture one can memorize, the Bible prophecy one can chart and the theology one can read and argue are just noise without that love (1 Cor 13:1-3). It is that love that converted me on the day that I realized that I could not “go it alone.” I am blessed and grateful to share in it and tell you that it is possible.

“O taste and see that the Lord is good. Happy are those who take refuge in him.” (Ps 34:8).

Under the mercy of Christ,

Kent

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Kent Hansen is a Christian attorney, author and speaker. He practices corporate law and is the managing attorney of the firm of Clayson, Mann, Yaeger & Hansen in Corona, California. Kent also serves as the general counsel of Loma Linda University and Medical Center in Loma Linda, California.

Finding God’s grace revealed in the ordinary experiences of life, spiritual renewal in Christ and prayer are Kent’s passions. He has written two books, Grace at 30,000 Feet and Other Unexpected Places published by Review & Herald in 2002 and Cleansing Fire, Healing Streams: Experiencing God’s Love Through Prayer, published by Pacific Press in spring 2007. Many of his stories and essays about God’s encompassing love have been published in magazines and journals. Kent is often found on the hiking trails of the southern California mountains, following major league baseball, playing the piano or writing his weekly email devotional, “A Word of Grace for Your Monday” that is read by men and women from Alaska to Zimbabwe.

Kent and his beloved Patricia are enjoying their 31st year of marriage. They are the proud parents of Andrew, a college student.

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Here is the description of the book:

Men - it is finally ready - a labor of love by God’s grace representing 18 years in the making. I finished the manuscript at the Kilns, C.S. Lewis’ home in Headington England last September. It is now available for purchase at Amazon.com and iUniverse.

This book will help you become men of honor and integrity by aligning your heart with the heart of God. Our behavior, good or bad, is reflective of what’s in our heart. Let the scalpel of God’s word perform surgery on your heart so that your life will bring glory and honor instead of shame and dishonor. The objective of this book is to help you become a man after God’s heart. I encourage you to engage in a life-transforming journey that will teach you to live differently–to live victoriously, to live lives of integrity, courage, authenticity, and valor under God’s authority, Christ’s example, and the Holy Spirit’s empowerment.

Many of you have been supportive of this effort. I am especially grateful for the many endorsements I have received. The book has already been awarded Editor’s Choice and Rising Star status. Among others, the following comments have been made by the following men of honor who have had a significant impact on my life.

Erwin Raphael McManus - Lead Pastor and Architect of Mosaic
“I’ve known Greg Bourgond for about 20 years and I’ve had the opportunity to experience him in a variety of roles. Greg has has had the uncanny ability to adapt to an ever changing world while never allowing the context to change who he is at the core. There are a lot of things Greg Bourgond can talk about at a high level of expertise, but perhaps what he knows best is how to invest in high powered men where their character matches their talent.”

Dr. Neil T. Anderson, Founder and President Emeritus of Freedom in Christ Ministries
“Dr. Greg Bourgond is a God-made leader with the heart of a warrior who knows the battle belongs to the Lord. Greg is a spiritual cardiologist who uses the sword of the Spirit to transform the heart of men. We all need heart surgery and this book is good medicine.”

Dr. J. Robert Clinton, Author of Leadership Emergence Theory
“The underlying strength of this book is the conviction with which Greg writes it. There is authority in his words. Greg has written helpful information for any leader who wants to develop other leaders–especially in terms of their inner character. My advice would be for the reader to actually write up a Personal Battle Plan and share that plan with an upward mentor or peer mentor who can hold the reader accountable. The end result of such an experience will be transformation of inner character–becoming A Man after God’s Heart.”

Strength and Honor,

Greg Bourgond, D.Min., Ed.D.
Shoreview, Minnesota

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Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

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Please note that the content and viewpoints of Mr. Theroux are his own and are not necessarily those of the C.S. Lewis Foundation.

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2010 Vacation with a Purpose Week 1 Group Photo, Lori is in the front row, with a light yellow shirt.

Our friend and Southwest Regional Retreat alumna, Lori Tischler, sent us a message recently about how much her 2010 Vacation with a Purpose experience meant to her.  She kindly gave us permission to share it with you:

My eyes are tearing up with a heart full of the richness and depths of God’s goodness as I savor the delicious memories from last week in your incredible nook of the world.  ‘How green is your valley’ — that verdancy is taking on spiritual proportions as the dry bones are being brought back to life (Ezekiel), the walls of  ‘Mount Zion’ are being rebuilt (Nehemiah), and the mantle of Moody (Elijah) is being handed on to you–to us (Elisha)–in double portion.  (…oh Lord, let it be!!)

I will praise God a very long time for allowing me to be a small part of the Rebirth, the physical building and grounds being only the tip of the iceberg.

Astounding. Profound.

Intellect. Imagination. Inspiration.

Collaboration. Creativity. Connectedness.

…All this I experienced in and through the humility (and humor!) in community, learning, spiritual warfare, grace and truth, and self and growth.  All these will remain with me for a very long time.  It was such an honor and privilege to be part of!  I’ve journaled pages of ”God stories” and am still not finished.

Lori

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