Sunday, June 8, 2014

Happy Birthday Dad, 1944









FDR concluded:
"Help us, Almighty God, to rededicate ourselves in renewed faith in Thee in this hour of great sacrifice..I ask that our people devote themselves in a continuance of prayer.
As we rise to each new day, and again when each day is spent, let words of prayer be on our lips, invoking Thy help to our efforts.
Give us strength...and, O Lord, give us Faith. Give us Faith in Thee...With Thy blessing, we shall prevail over the unholy forces of our enemy...
And a peace that will let all of men live in freedom, reaping the just rewards of their honest toil. Thy will be done, Almighty God. Amen."
If my dad had lived, he died in 2012, he would have been 86 years old today.  He just happened to have his birthday on D-Day, or was it D Day on his birthday.  But looking back to June 6, 1944, waking up that morning on his 16th birthday, little did he know what was going on, and how it would change the world.  A sophomore at Bangor High School, in Bangor, Pennsylvania, his yearbook that year would have sections listing those who were serving in WWII, those who planned to join up after graduation, and those killed in action.  With an unsure future ahead of him, the US of A was not winning the war at this point, he had two years until graduation, then decide whether to enlist like so many he knew in this town of 5000, or go to college.  Fortunately, by his next birthday, we had won a huge victory on D Day, and the war was over in Germany, May 8, 1945.  But still the specter of war hung over many because Japan had not fallen yet.  A lot to consider at 16 years of age.
In 1944 no cars had been built for almost two years.  Food was rationed, things like rubber tires, tin cans, and other things that could be recycled were for the war effort.  The US of A was just coming out of the Great Depression, and some thought the war helped, but many saw how war was hell on any front.  Men went off to fight in strange lands, and women took their jobs in the factories, with Rosie the Riveter being born.  As a nation we learned to sacrifice for the good of our country, and pray for it, as only God could intervene.  It is true that some on the enemy’s side too prayed, we both prayed for victory, ours was to restore peace, theirs to take it over.  Evil had shown in ugly head via Hitler, Mussolini, and Hirohito, and we were being led by a President who suffered from polio, and could barely walk.  Yet FDR’s fireside chats encouraged us to unite in one spirit, in one people, and as one nation.  And we did, and the outcome is well known.  We won! But not without heavy losses, both in the battle field, and at home.  We knew about the soldier’s loss, but what did those who stayed home at fought at the home front give up?
Bangor still resides in eastern Pennsylvania, in what is referred to as the Slate Belt.  Back when slate was used for chalkboards and roofs, t was quite prosperous, and when including the various mills for making clothing, and farming, was quite prosperous compared with today.  The mills are long gone, the slate long before that, with only empty slate quarries filled with water to remind them of a different time.  The mills empty, with graffiti, no one goes to Bangor anymore.  but in 1942, at the eve of our joining the war, from February, 1942 to April 1946 a local magazine was published, the only one of its kind during the war.  HOMEFRONT, the idea of J. Horace and his wife Mona Strunk.  Published from their home, it was sent free, a true glossy 8 1/2x11 magazine, not just mimeographed.  It was to encourage and inform their men at war about local news, letters from home, inspiration, and “the fairest of the month,” a local girl.  It is said that no one ever truly knew the impact it had on men far away from home, giving them a reminder of what they left behind, what they were fighting for, and an expectation of coming home after victory.  From 500 copies to eventually 8000, it brought the home front to the men and women over seas.  This was the time of my parents, and little did they know that in 1950 he would marry one Jeanne Murphy form neighboring Pen Argyl, who with her sister and others graced a cover.  My mother, a cover girl, and for what a cause. Just some girls from back home, sharing a Coke at the park, maybe there really was no place like home.  This was a war, like many others, fought by the young, laid out by the generals, and dictated by the Congress.  Many who never lived to reach old age, or even age 25.  Just like the many who stormed the beaches on my Dad’s 16th birthday.  And today we celebrate their effort, and their patriotism, and remember them in prayer, and the families and legacies they left behind.  One soldier even commenting how it made them all homesick, but couldn’t wait for each issue.  There is something about thinking of home, no matter where it is that draws us back.  So too all who served in WWII, and their families, a hearty word of thanks, and appreciation.  And to the Strunk’s, thanks for the memories, then and now.
Battles are fought on many levels, and we only see what is front of us, sometimes.  We get what the media feels we should get, and make our opinions from there.  And when times get tough, and the battles seem insurmountable, we turn to God.  “Where are you?  How could you let this happen?  What’s going on?”  Sometimes even losing hope, based on what we see, and don’t see.  But Jesus tells us different, that the things seen are temporal, the things not seen eternal.  And we often forget about a battle being fought right now in the heavenlies.  Where angels are fighting evil, and God has it all under control.  Where we only see the losing battles here, but cannot see the victories being won in heaven.  We fail to look to the cross, where the ultimate victory was won, and forget that in war we will not win every battle, but we do win the war.  That the final outcome is victory, and we will carry about those scars forever.  Which is why Jesus still shows His scars, to remind us of the horror of the war fought on the cross, and how His victory sets us free.  It is a reminder that in death we have victory, even though it eludes us here.  And a reminder that we are our brother’s keeper, that true love is laying down one’s life for his brother, and to seek Jesus first.  Those men on D Day knew they had a small chance to survive, saying goodbye maybe for the last time to the men around them.  But they fought for a cause, freedom, and proved once again that freedom isn’t free.  And that only the American soldier and Jesus were willing to die for that freedom, one for our lives, and one for the standard of living that god blessed our nation with.  And soon we will have only books and pictures left of these brave men, but Jesus lives forever.  He outlasts each and every generation, up to the last one, of which we may be part.  So as soldiers, it is important to remember where our home front is, and that we are fighting a battle in a war that has been won.  But the battle rages on....
We fight not against flesh and blood as the men in WWII did, but against evil in high places, evil spirits, and those angels cast down from heaven.  Take time to know that, and love your enemy.  But hate what he stands for.  Love the sinner, hate the sin.  Condemn no one, that is not your job.  Love and as you go, welcome others to the home front, and looking forward to hearing “well done my good and faithful servant.”  Every year I wonder what my Dad was thinking on that day, when I see him I will ask.  And like many others who make it to heaven, he will assure me that it was all worth it.  Only in Jesus.
love with compassion,
Mike
matthew25biker.blogspot.com
 



go somewhere for a change














“You two are definitely not local yocals.  You like rides that are last longer than a piddly little afternoon.  You like waking up on different coasts.  You like exploring this big, bad slab of a continent, instead of putt-putting around the subdivision revving your pipes, going nowhere.”   Perhaps the single most, definitive advertisement of myself that I have ever read.  Thanks, BMW.  For as long as I can remember, I wanted to travel.  Whether it was riding to Westfield on my Schwinn Typhoon, or to Plainfield, I knew that there was more than where I was had to offer.  Getting my license at 17 only pushed the door open, but when getting my first motorcycle, and heading out on my first cross state trip at 20, I knew that I was hopelessly locked into the call of the open road.  And then at 21 I did the unthinkable to many, I changed my New, from Jersey to Mexico, on my R90S.  Something that none of my friends encouraged me to do, stay in school, get married, stay at Sears, it’s the same everywhere anyway.  And so those who stayed still think it is, but to those of us who ventured away, we know different.  We know how far across Texas really is by riding across it.  We know how wide the Mississippi really is because we have crossed it.  We know the sand in Florida’s gulf coast is finer than the gold coast, and the water softer.  We know that some roads weren’t planned, they just follow the topography, like Skyline Drive in Virginia, and California.  We have run lean at 12,000 feet in Colorado, and been toasted riding across the desert in Arizona.  We know the difference between fresh lobster in New England, and that fresh, flown in in Denver.  We have found that open spaces are wide, but not without life.  That on two wheels we make friends, get better offers, and a better sense of life from behind the handlebars.  That some days are measured in counties, some in time zones, and some without measure.  That premium is cheaper than regular in Kansas, because of the methanol content.  We wake up every morning on a trip, and smell the air, look at the skies, and confirm the guesses made on the Weather Channel.  We wave to other riders, friends, companions, and fellow brothers, wondering how it is where they came from, because we are heading that direction.  And they wonder the same.
We know that BBQ is different is Texas than it is in North Carolina, than it is in Tennessee.  That real steaks taste better over a pit with a foil wrapped potato than microwaved at a Denny’s.  That in New Mexico Christmas means both red and green chili.  And that ice tea is only served one way in the south, sweet.  Yet many are afraid of leaving the safety and security of their own home.  “I’m happy, why should I try something different” I hear, barely audible over their loud pipes.  They brag about the high mileage on their rides, yet when asked where they have been, they say “nowhere,”  all the miles are from commuting.  North means Del Mar, after a week of planning.  Going somewhere, and nowhere at the same time.  I meet men who talk of going all over the US of A on business, never seeing anything more than the airport, and the view from the shuttle to the meeting.  Meals in hotels, never venturing out for local.  Play it safe, stick with chains, I can’t afford to be sick.  And don’t know they are sick already, in an endless malaise of mediocrity.  A rut, which is really a grave, but with the ends still open, providing a way of escape.  Many diseases have no symptoms, and many die from natural causes, unnaturally.  When their life can really be changed supernaturally. 
Doug made a comment the other day at Bible study, that too many have their Bibles stuffed with notes, are real students of the word, yet have never experienced it first hand.  They know more about Jesus than some scholars, from his shoe size to his favorite food, yet wouldn’t know Him if He sat at their table.  And some have even turned on those He sent their way, they know all the laws, just not the law of love.  Safe and secure we know where to find them on any Sunday morning, in the same seat, the same service, amongst the same crowd.  Who all agree on the same thing, that they are right, and others need to follow their example.  Don’t fix something that isn’t broken, and they cannot see the mediocrity of their relationship with Christ.  It ended with their salvation, and it hasn’t gotten any better.  If knowledge can get them a better seat in heaven, they don’t have the wisdom to know it won’t.  They sit and listen to testimonies from others, and wonder why they have none of their own, why are some blessed and we’re not?  Yet don’t hear the call when called.  And yet Jesus calls, and that is maybe why many are called, but few are chosen.  Their choice.  Some find solace in a third world jungle, and when coming home to visit, can’t wait to get back.  And the few, the proud, don’t get it.  They cannot understand why we can be blessed just helping the homeless, yet they wouldn’t get their hands dirty.  They give until it hurts, and have a low threshold of pain.  They don’t get Jesus, but do His teachings.  It enters the head, but cannot find the heart.
Mediocrity is no way to live or die.  The lukewarm, not being aware of the blessings in challenges, who stick to the same, and not knowing how bitter they are becoming.  Husbands and wives getting older, but not together.  Where a big challenge is Caesar instead of ranch dressing.  Whose mantra of fear is “we’ve never done it this way before,” the sign of a dead or dying relationship.  But it can change, Jesus still is calling, and not just to Africa.  Maybe to downtown, maybe to summer camp, maybe in church.  Just to serve, and to be blessed.  The most blessed Christians I know are not local yocal Christians, but who have heard the challenge, had a vision, a dream, and then followed it.  Who weren’t afraid to fail, and being blessed in the midst of the storm.  Not worrying about which fork to use, but picking up the lobster by hand, and dipping it in the butter.  Washing it down with a moon pie for dessert, and a custard later. Not caring that real milk shakes have 60 more calories than frozen yogurt, but going for the best.  Knowing that hole in the wall places are that way because they want to be, the hole conveniently placed where only some know to look.  While others sand in line at Denny’s, ordering of the low cal menu.  Served from a can.
Nowhere is somewhere, but a place no ne wants to be, or intended on going.  But many end up there in their spiritual walk.  Not knowing the blessings from Jesus that are available.  Don’t be among the casualties, get out and live.  The best view is over the handlebars, going away from, and anticipating the day’s ride.  We know that the ride is the destination, and when we arrive too early, go further in faith.  Sleepwalking in faith, thinking this is all there is to live and the Lord.  Find out how wrong they are, and maybe you are.  GET OUT and live!  Go boldly where no one, YOU, has never gone before.  The road may end, you don’t have to.  Hike a new path, ride a new road, take a new trip.  And as you go, you will be spreading the gospel as Jesus commands us.  Be the brave Samaritan who blesses others while unloved.  Dare to wear the same jeans two days in a row, or three.  Try something you have never tried, and find out what life is all about.  It is all about Jesus...you read the book, now live the life.  If they made a movie of your life, who would play you?  Would it be a movie you would want to see, or have your friends see?    Life for you may be about coming attractions, mine will be about what Jesus has done, is doing, and what He is to do.  On Any Sunday...more than a movie or morning in church.  The road is calling, what will your  answer be?  Go somewhere for a change.  You’ll never know where it is going until you get there.
love with compassion,
Mike
matthew25biekr.blogspot.com