Looking Into Glass

A journal of questions, thoughts, ideas, and even a few answers that have shaped my journey so far. I seem to keep coming back to the same 2 questions: Who is God? Who am I?

Saturday, August 25, 2012

The Power of A Life Well-Lived
As a parent, I find myself occasionally wondering about the difference my life has made (& is making) in the lives of my sons. Have I said the right things? How has my character been revealed in my behavior? Will my choices encourage them to make the best choices?
This reality was brought home to me recently when I read the story of Timothy Dalrymple. Timothy was the NCAA's top-ranked gymnast as a sophomore at Stanford until a broken neck ended his career. In God's providence, that disaster opened up opportunities for him to deepen his faith and also earn a Ph.D. at Harvard.
While lying on his back, looking up at the ceiling, Timothy had plenty of time to think. He says that even as a child "I had a philosophical bent and spent a lot of time thinking about all sorts of ultimate questions, especially the question of whether there is some sort of existence beyond death. I don't know which one I found more terrifying, that there would be some existence or that there would not."
Yet, when asked what helped him to grow in his faith, philosophical questions gave way to a personal relationship and example. "The example of my father," Dalrymple replied, "not only a pastor but a genuinely loving, faithful, righteous person, helped. I saw in his life something undeniably true that I couldn't explain away."
That’s right. It was not his father’s Sunday sermons or his “at home” sermons. It was not his father’s theological explanations or his philosophical thoughts that sealed the deal for Timothy. It was his father’s faith lived out in the day-to-day grind of life that was beyond question for him. It was a life well lived that compelled him toward Christ.
And I am motivated to live that kind of life, one that can’t be explained away. It is a life so GOD focused that while it makes little sense on earth, its presence causes a ripple in the fabric of life. I hope those ripples are waves that will carry my own children into the future with a life that can’t be explained too. That is the kind of dad I want for my grandchildren. 

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