Blood Transfusion

For decades I have bled Nittany blue. I remember hooting at the top of my lungs in '83 as Penn State outlasted the Miami hurricanes. I had been trying to stuff my cheers because everyone else was asleep. I still tell how humiliated my seminary roommate slunk back from 'Bama after crowing all week how the Tide was going to smear Penn State. PSU won that game 28 years ago. I worried like many that Joe was getting too old after a broken leg at practice put him off the bench. I wondered if Paterno's coaching genius had dried up as the calendar marched into the 21st century. Over the years friends have given me Penn State mugs, shirts, hats and I have worn them proudly, even after the scandal and the disgusting, immoral conduct of an insane Jerry Sandusky.

I ached for the young men, scarred for life by a man they trusted. I ached for Joe Paterno, who seemed to be shaken and not comprehending what had happened in the showers.

Jerry Sandusky got tossed into jail for the next couple of lifetimes. Justice prevailed on his head. Amen. Penn State football got bruised and black eyed by the Freeh Report and the the NCAA sanctions. Joe Paterno lost the only job he ever loved, yet that was right, because young men lost the only childhood they would ever have and perhaps their ability to love and trust. The stupid statue that had seemed so majestic came down.

I was proud of the young men who stayed with the team when the NCAA gave them an out. I cheered for them as they played on after their icon had died in disgrace and their play had no chance of taking them beyond the post season. Any pro team that picks up one of these men has gained a quality player on several levels.

Yet here we sit three years later, after firings, and reports and sanctions with a university who now wants to sue over lifted sanctions, dig up the Joe Paterno statue and seems determined to wade into a glory past that set up the problem in the first place.

Jerry Sandusky used the glory of Penn State football to live out sexual fantasies. His "The Second Mile" charity comes into being from his coaching staff status. The draw to put kids into it rises from the entre into Penn State and the shadow of Joe Paterno football. The perks that hook young men come from meeting, traveling and being on the sidelines of a great college football program.

So colleges shouldn't have great programs in sports? Not to the untouchable level. Penn State's program was not supposed to be just about stepping to the pros. It was supposed to be about education and integrity.

Jerry Sandusky retired in June '99 at age 55. He had been a key member of the coaching staff of a premier Division I college team. Joe didn't see fit to set him up to take his place. Hallelujah. So why didn't Sandusky go somewhere else? I know, go to prison and ask him yourself. The explanations seem pretty simple. 1) Joe Paterno didn't see him as coaching material and let other schools know. 2)Sandusky had been doing some back door checking, but no one was returning his calls. 3) He has such a sweet set up at Penn State that feeds his addiction and need for power that he can't imagine going anywhere else and trying to put the same system together. Second Mile/Penn State was the perfect trap for our pedophile to strike from.

So why smash your Penn State gear three years later? Why start this rant all over again? Because the attitude and decisions I see coming out of the powers that be at Penn State are the same ones that led to the trap in the first place. Penn State football should sue, because we weren't really in the wrong. Joe Paterno's years should be remembered a new statue should go up, so we can get back to the way it  used to be. Now its easier to forget the damaged young men. They are now three years older and wiser. They have stopped talking. But poor Penn State got pressured by the NCAA in to a 60 million dollar fine! Think of all the lost revenue from bowl games we could have had under O'Brien. Besides Joe was our friend. We don't know these kids.

The mugs are smashed. The sweatshirts will shred to rags and all the shortcuts to Penn State football are erased.

First World Problems Stifle Thanksgiving

Before Black Friday merchandisers offered Thanksgiving Day sales. The networks provided movies and cartoons that retold the story of the first Thanksgiving with natives and settlers cooperating and feasting together. Our extended family took turns hosting the annual get together. From the stone fireplace of Aunt Shirley and Uncle Louie's house, to the open staircase of Grandpa and Grandma's house, to the 50's formica and tile of Aunt Mary and Uncle Junior's house, to the circular downstairs of our own house we rotated.

Uncle Junior always rooted for and bragged on the Cowboys as "America's team." The rest of us tried to set him straight. The kids played Twister or Operation in another room. The parents and older kids worked at the feast and caught up with each other. Turkey feathers, Indian corn and cornucopias decorated the windows along with words like "Give Thanks." We took time before diving into the meal to pray and thank God for another year and His help.

Nowadays it's challenging to commercialize a slowdown to Thank God for what we have. We are not supposed to have enough. In fact, even if we think we do, its our duty to shop to keep the economy spinning.

Our lack of Thanksgiving may run deeper than commercialization. My granddad died under mysterious circumstances and the half insurance payment soon ran out. My grandmother had to sell eggs and clothes she had made from scratch to keep food on the table. Grandma cleaned the Church and took help from her family for awhile before work opened up. She knew firsthand the need to stop and give thanks for God's help and the kindness of others to get her through.

 Our basic level of comfort in the United States is crazy high. Consistent electricity, heating, cooling, indoor plumbing, an automobile, television, computer, beds, furniture, refrigeration, machines to wash and dry our clothes, several sets of clothes and more is considered basic. Free public education with transportation provided to the school and at least a midday meal is expected. If life falls under this standard, there might be a reason to thank someone who moves us back into the mainstream, but to take a whole long weekend to stare at our belly buttons and thank God for all these basics? Let's just move on to Christmas!

What if our prosperity is not primarily the result of our own hard work or brains or risk taking? What if our prosperity actually comes from God, not as manifest destiny, but because of His kindness? If we ignore the time nationally set aside to return thanks, are we not sending a cruel and spoiled message to God? Might he not choose to let us go it alone for awhile so we feel what our great hard work, brains and risk taking can actually accomplish? What if He has already stepped back and said, "OK lets see what you can do without me."?

The Rosettas

After 10 years of chasing through lonely emptiness, the ESA craft "Rosetta" dropped a lander onto the core of a comet. Amazing! The earth launch site was moving one direction, the comet fell along another track in its battle with the sun's gravity. Various other members of the solar system family provided steering and acceleration. All these forces and more were accounted for by men and women originally created in the image of God.

Rosetta was named for a stone found in 1799 that held a known language, Greek, and two unknown writings in hieroglyphics. This find accelerated the understanding of ancient Egypt and the ancient near east. In fact, the Rosetta Stone advanced Biblical archeology and cultural understanding as much as any other discovery. The history of the Old Testament was proven solid with the help of the Stone. 

Now our new Rosetta is probing a comet to find out about the creation of our solar system and perhaps the universe itself. What if this Rosseta does for the Genesis creation account, what the first did for the Old Testament? Could God have left His Truth etched on the face of a comet for us to find? Sounds like just the sort of discovery the God who was born in Bethlehem under a special star might put together. 

First Breath

The first breath of a child on the outside of the birth canal changes so much. Color grows healthy. The baby's eyes open and try to focus. The newborn moves and stretches as she is handed off to the nurse for cleaning and weighing.

Jesus described the changes of our spirits as birth, birth from above. I was privileged to midwife a spiritual birth last night. The three of us bowed and the young lady prayed, her first breath. She asked God to forgive her and heal her. When we raised our eyes to one another, she had changed. Her eyes held a sparkle, her face was clear of tension. She kept breaking into smiles.

God is so good.

Death with Dignity

This past weekend, Brittany Maynard took poison and ended her life. She lay down in the bed she shared with her husband and breathed her last while he and her mom watched. She avoided the worst of the aggressive brain cancer eating at her. 

Three years ago I spoke with a close friend from High School. He called because he also carried aggressive brain cancer. Jeff Kasten battled for almost a year with experimental treatments that advanced the knowledge of medicine. 

In his last days, Jeff lay in a comma. He had trusted his care and comfort to those who loved him. His wife, Tracey, kept watch in the knowledge that she had done all she could. Jeff left behind two daughters who witnessed the courage of Mom and Dad in the teeth of death. 

I have no right to judge Brittany or her courage. I have no doubt of Jeff and Tracey's.