It’s Sunday afternoon and I’m four hours away from having filled my space in the pew. My daughter, Abbie, just introduced me to Philip Zimbardo and the Stanford Prison Experiment. Tomorrow night she’s going over to Linfield College to hear Zimbardo. Abbie’s brief description of the Stanford Prison Experiment and a ten minute YouTube video gave me a reality check on the nature of living on this side of Eden.

I didn’t know anything about John Ulwelling until yesterday. He died February 13 at age 66. I learned this when my daughter in Arizona phoned. One of the online tributes she had read about her friend was written by Greg Skipper of Montgomery, Alabama. She thought it sounded like Greg Skipper of Newberg, Oregon, from years ago (and it was). John Ulwelling had been president of the Foundation for Medical Excellence and prior to that he was executive director of the Oregon Board of Medical Examiners. My daughter had worked at a Portland law firm that shared some office space with John. This is where she discovered that John was a man of unusual quality with great personal sensitivity.

I didn’t know John, but I have two people in my human web who were also in his and what they have said about him waters fertile soil in my soul.

Reflecting back on a recent conversation, I’m thinking about words like persistent, perseverant, diligent, and resolute. My friend told me the exact number of times (thirty-nine) he talked to a landowner about buying a specific piece of land. All but the last time he was told no in very certain terms. Roger had a vision—a mission—and he didn’t give up. So I’m thinking about what I can learn from the way Roger has repeatedly used determination to make God-pleasing things happen.