danmccracken

2009-09-30T07:34:00.000-07:00

After a week in the hospital and more than a week in a nursing home, my dad went home yesterday—not his eternal home, but the place where he and Hazel freely share their joys and hardships.

Dorothy was right. There’s no place like home.

2009-09-22T07:47:00.000-07:00

The Christian Bible studies newsletter is really nothing more than Christianity Today using their network to create a list for selling weekly advertisements and I can’t explain why I haven’t unsubscribed before now.

The most recent subject line was “John MacArthur wants to know – Do you know the REAL Jesus?” Yes, I do. And I can’t imagine that the real Jesus is happy about the ministry limitations John MacArthur thinks should be placed on women.

2009-09-21T07:07:00.000-07:00

My table by the window at Chapters gives me a good view of three lanes of headlights going through town. I imagine most are going to work. It’s not leisure driving. Anyone in the left lane is moving aggressively for a spot to their right before the three lanes become two. I wonder if they are thinking about the work they are headed toward or the weekend they are leaving behind.

Garrison Keillor’s recent statement following a mild stroke comes to mind: “Taking it easy makes me restless and unhappy...so work is what I do.”

2009-09-17T07:14:00.000-07:00

Cheap phone and internet service is wonderful.

I’m thinking about phone visits last evening. The first was with my dad in a hospital bed 400 miles away. The second was my daughter in Anthem, Arizona. Earlier in the day I clicked the right buttons to connect my father-in-law with his brother for a video chat that included the spouses and a few other family members.

I’m reminding myself that it’s not that hard to stay connected—with a little time and very little effort.

2009-09-16T07:37:00.000-07:00

Even as I move through the responsibilities of life at the office and at home, the fact that my dad has been in the hospital since Saturday evening is never far from the surface. It’s hard to know how attached he feels to this world. Some comments make it clear he’s anxious to move on to a better life. On the other hand he still enjoys the company of others and he still knows that life has meaning. I think it must be awkward to be at this stage of a very long race and still not see the finish line.

2009-09-14T12:38:00.000-07:00

“Do you welcome strangers into your life? Explain or illustrate.”

This is the Barclay Press Express Yourself question this week. Sometimes the stranger isn’t really a stranger. Saturday night I was sitting in the ambulance passenger seat in Caldwell, Idaho. My dad was in the back with two EMTs. The driver was the third EMT. I was 400 miles from home and, of course, had never seen these three men before they came to my dad and step-mom’s home 30 minutes earlier—and had no reason to see them again after going the short distance to the hospital.

This was not an emergency transport with sirens and a wall of silence between the drive and passenger seats would not serve my needs at the moment. We quickly stumbled into mutual connections. The superintendent of the Friends churches in the Northwest (with his office across the street from mine) was his pastor years ago at Homedale, Idaho, and the woman he is dating would have been a student at Newberg High School at the same time my oldest son was there.

It’s great fun to discover that the “stranger” isn’t.

2009-09-11T07:20:00.000-07:00

Eight years ago we celebrated Ethan’s eleventh birthday. It wasn’t the only thing that happened that day.

The years between 11 and 19 include extraordinary change. Those same eight years were dramatic (and tragic) for the United States. I’m thinking the journey through the teen years has some similarities to the political climate during much of the past eight years. It would be offensive to me (and to Ethan) to look for similarities with the Bush/Cheney years, but a few things start to come to mind when thinking about some generalities of male teens in tandem with the Bush Cheney era: pushing rules outside acceptable boundaries, seeking “justice” through retribution, anger, using aggressive behavior to hide insecurity, a tendency to be self-centered, creating unstable alliances, and way too much testosterone.

2009-09-10T07:32:00.001-07:00

I’m between two weekend trips to Idaho and I’m feeling uncertain. I don’t have any experience at being a good son to an aging father. My dad is at a stage where he takes life a day at a time. Perhaps I should do the same.

2009-09-08T07:11:00.000-07:00

Twenty-four hours ago I was in Caldwell, Idaho. I was there for a long-overdue visit with my dad. His 93-year-old body has (using car terms) a lot of miles on it.

What’s a son supposed to do? Is there anything I can do to make a difference for my dad and my step-mom who is carrying the load of his care? Answers seem illusive.

2009-09-04T08:24:00.000-07:00

The announcement of a new book release has me thinking about the word snark. The new book is titled The Snark Handbook: A Reference Guide to Verbal Sparring.

I’d love to have a mind that works fast enough feed words to my tongue in a steady stream of logic, wit, and uncommon insight. I think it's okay to have a sharp tongue, but I don't want it to wound. So, I’m wondering if it’s okay to be snarky. Where does the scale tip between clever and mean? Is verbal sparring a more acceptable activity than physical sparring? I’d rather debate than arm wrestle.

2009-04-26T13:39:00.000-07:00

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.

2009-04-08T07:15:00.000-07:00

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.

2009-04-02T06:37:00.000-07:00

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.

2009-03-31T07:42:00.000-07:00

I’ve been working on a presentation about changes in book publishing. Quakers Uniting in Publications will be meeting in Oregon the middle of April and they asked me to present a session titled “Beyond the Book.” In this business of connecting writers and readers, it’s not enough to see where we have been and where we are. But trying to see where we might be even in just five years is difficult. One of the certainties is that change will win out over tradition.

2009-03-28T13:40:00.000-07:00

Trina would have turned 39 today. I sometimes wonder if it is hyperbole when someone says, “Not a day does by that I don’t think about….” I’ll admit I haven’t thought about Trina every day for the past 15 plus years, but I do hold her in a special place somewhere in my inner self. And I certainly think of her every March 28.

2009-02-15T16:59:00.000-08:00

It’s Sunday morning and the faithful have gathered. Today we are talking about how the biblical text guides our lives. Given the current state of the global economy, I’m wondering if Bible believing Christians should put greed on the agenda up in those prime spots along with abortion and same-sex marriage.

2009-02-08T13:38:00.000-08:00

It’s Sunday morning and the faithful have gathered. The scripture reading is Psalm 43. I’m wondering if the psalmist is on an emotional roller coaster. “Why did you walk out on me?” he asks God. Then three verses later he says God puts a smile on his face and “He’s my God.” Sometimes I try to hide my feelings by painting a layer of logic over my emotions. I want to look more rational than I am. Seems to me that the psalmist just put it out there the way it was in the moment.

2009-02-02T07:51:00.001-08:00

Yesterday the worship leader at church suggested we bow before the Lord as we sang one of the songs. The objective was to change the posture of our attitudes rather than our bodies. I started thinking about the two ends of a spectrum with arrogance on one end and humility on the other. Both sociology and religion point out that egocentric people are unhealthy. But I wonder about overreacting and taking humility, deference, and unworthiness to a place where we overlook the fact we are made in the image of God.

2009-01-28T08:07:00.000-08:00

I didn’t take the time to read the feature article about stress in this morning’s paper. I felt the clock ticking on a busy day and I was feeling some pressure from the things that need to be done yesterday. January has gone so fast and it seems I’m loosing ground. I glanced at the questions in a little quiz that gives some indication of stress level. I noticed journaling in the list of things that can help counteract stress. Then it was time to move on with the demands of the day.

2009-01-26T07:56:00.000-08:00

Saturday I was going through some magazines and noted an ad for a book titled Thrift published by Templeton Foundation Press. The price was $34.95. It’s a 9x11 inches, 360 pages, and evidently has a lot of black and white photos. A book of this size with photos can justify a $34.95 price tag, but I feel some incongruence. A $34.95 book that “showcases a beautiful and historic collection of thrift artifacts and memorabilia from around the world”—there’s something about it that would make me uncomfortable to have it on my coffee table. The magazine where I saw the ad was a few months old and when I checked Amazon I was pleased to see the book in paperback at half the price. But I didn’t order it.

2009-01-25T12:37:00.000-08:00

It’s Sunday morning and the faithful have gathered. The welcome has been extended, the scripture has been read, and now the four guys leading the music this morning are on the platform with drums, guitars, and a bass. I’m aware of how some feel about this kind of music and I’m letting this distract me. I’m wondering how the old hymn with the “Thy” and “Thine” language came into the mix. Did it involve capitulation? Or do young people tolerate (and appreciate) a variety of music more than old people do? My guess is both are true, but that the second is more the case than the first.

2009-01-24T13:11:00.000-08:00

I was probably among those who thought Barack Obama’s inaugural address would have some oratorical highlight with an obvious potential of becoming historical. I expect Obama knew this crowd already had enough emotional adrenalin flowing. January 20 was his day to begin governing and to call a country to address the challenges of change. This was a time for a resolute presentation of critical issues. There will be other days when he will use oratory to target emotions as well as the mind.

2009-01-21T07:34:00.000-08:00

Is the optimism that accompanies the inauguration of Barack Obama justified? Absolutely. Not because the new president has the power and wisdom to solve all the problems facing our country and world, but because hope is contagious and despair is crippling.

2009-01-20T08:04:00.000-08:00

When the election of the first Black U.S. President has been referred to as the fulfillment of Martin Luther King’s dream, I’ve cringed. Does this historic (and highly significant) event mean we have done something substantive to address the disparity between the rich and the poor? Does justice roll down like water? Did prejudice become a thing of the past on November 4? Was greed abolished? Have we abandoned the attitudes and tools of violence? Can the current racial divide that is so evident in socio-economic statistics be ignored when talking about Martin Luther King’s dream?

2009-01-18T13:02:00.000-08:00

It’s Sunday morning and the faithful have gathered. I’m sitting just one row up from the back of the sanctuary and one of the pillars that support the balcony is in a direct line between me and the pulpit. A moment ago I was visually aligning the pillar with vertical lines in the structure of the wall at the back of the platform. It all looks square and solid. I had another attention lapse earlier when I was trying to get the spot in my variable lenses where I could see clearly the small print of the credits at the bottom of the screen.

But I didn’t miss the heartfelt prayer for our country and our new President. And I didn’t miss the reminder that among us and all around us are hurting people who are suffering in a medical crisis, crippled by a moral failure, or wounded emotionally to the point of feeling that love and hope are out of reach.