Celtic Odyssey

I don’t usually talk a lot about my family on here, but today’s a special day. Today’s my wife’s birthday. Today, she starts a new year. Today’s a new beginning. A new start. A new journey around the Sun. This last year seems to have been particularly long. She’s been through so much and accomplished so much. She’s faced situations that most people wouldn’t be able to face. She fights a daily battle with pain and wins most days — just barely, perhaps, but wins nonetheless. Her courage and strength are inspiring. She’s the most gifted person I know, though she doesn’t see it. She’s creative in ways that astound me and she’s shown me that sometimes creativity doesn’t color within the lines — it creates it’s own lines! Just walk through Grace Garden and you’ll see it, too Her great love for her dog, Margo, is something akin to the realm of the mystical. I imagine them on grand adventures in an enchanted forest where love is the connecting element with all life. They’re the stuf...

“Why don’t you go to seminary?” I was standing in my Mom’s kitchen. We had just been talking about some things I was learning in my study of the Scriptures. We did that a lot — talked about theology, Christ, G‑d, predestination, free will, church history, etc. You name it, if it was about our walks with Christ, we talked about it. For the most part. Obviously there were times when we didn’t see eye-to-eye about things, but those times were very few and far between. She always had a way of asking the right question in the right way to make me dig deeper and try a little harder at making complicated things easier to understand. I remember one time (and no, it wasn’t at band camp) I was publishing a monthly newsletter. In it I chronicled my understandings about “end-times” (eschatology) and “salvation” (soteriology). I always gave her a copy. “What’d you think?” I regularly sought her feedback and input. “Well, it was good for the first couple of paragraphs but after that, yo...

This Easter weekend, Mahina and I drove to Kansas City to visit our daughter, Mariah. Her boyfriend, Michael, had arrived the day before. Friday night was Mariah’s senior solo show at the Kansas City Arts Institute. It was fantastic! Mariah was so stressed. It wasn’t necessary. There were about a hundred people or more that came to the tiny space — some flying in from great distances — just to see her quilts. She made some really good connections and may have sold a couple of pieces and has a commission or two in the works. Mahina and I were sitting outside speaking with the chair of the fiber department. She was going on and on about what such an amazing artist Mariah is. She stated that Mariah’s peers respect her. Also, if Mariah can produce that type of work in just one year, she’d love to see what Mariah will do in the future. While we were talking, the local paper came by. When the photo journalist saw the crowd, she exclaimed, “Holy cow!” and went back to get more equi...

Last night, Mahina and I got to spend some quality time with some dear friends that we haven’t seen in quite awhile. The sad thing is that we have all been so busy that those moments are infinitely more important than all of the ‘busy work’ combined. Sadder still is that they live just down the street from us! There was plenty of food and drink for all and we just hung out, watched some college football and just got to be together! That for me, was the best part. Just laughing and talking and listening and just basking in the presence of some of the finest people that God has ever been so merciful to put in our lives. I thank God for each and every one of you. ~~~ In the Love of the Three in One, Jack+, LC

My wife just called and said that she had to have her dog put down. Mocha lived a very good life. She was roughly 12 years old. She had lung cancer. My wife is taking it very hard. I asked for your prayers for her. The following is for her: Do not hurry as you walk with grief, it does not help the journey. Walk slowly, pausing often: do not hurry as you walk with grief. Do not be disturbed by memories that come unbidden. Swiftly forgive, and let God speak for you unspoken words. Unfinished conversation will be resolved in Him. Be not disturbed.   Take time, be gentle as you walk with grief.

Last night, we had our Men's Bible Study group.  It was a great time.  We discussed the three commandments that Jesus left his followers: '[Love] the L ord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength'. 'Love your neighbor as yourself'. 'Love each other.  Just as I have loved you, you should love each other.' I think that all three of these are best understood with the caveat Jesus placed on the last one, 'just as I have loved you...' we should love God and neighbor and each other.  So the question that comes to the for is, 'How does Christ love us?'  Completely.  Selflessly.  Sacrificially.  How does that play out -- what does it look like -- in the three commands above?  Further, is loving 'as Christ loves' a 'key' to becoming truly human?  Does it matter what the opposition is?  Does it matter how others make us feel?  Are these things barriers representative of our falseness; ou...

The Gillespie name is ancient, its origins dating probably from 5th century Ireland.  It is widely thought to be made up of two Gaelic words, "Filid," a druidic bard, and "Asbuig," a bishop.

This afternoon, my wife's Grandma Bonnie left this world's realm and entered the Otherworld. The shade of death lies upon your face, our loved one, but the Jesus of Grace has His hand round about you; in nearness to the Trinity farewell to your pains; Christ stands before you and peace is in His mind.

God, omit not this woman from Your covenant. The many evils that in this life she may have committed she cannot count or list this night. Gather this soul with Your own arm, O Christ, great King of the City of Heaven. It was Your work, O Christ, the buying of the soul at the time of the balancing of the beam, at the time of bringing of justice. Be this soul hidden in Your right hand. May Michael, prince of angels, come to meet her soul, leading it home to the heaven of the Son of God.

'What if well-funded megachurches decided to see some home-based faith communities as partners in ministry, so they could overlap and share resources and not see one another as enemies or even alternatives, but as two expressions of the same thing? That takes us in the direction I think we need to go, and will be good for the whole range of faith communities.' Brian D. McLaren I find that quote very exciting. I have never looked at other denominations in this light before and it brings a whole new view from which we can all work together. The problem comes, of course, when we see 'our church' as the 'right' way of 'doing church' instead of a different expression of people who are trying to following Jesus. What would happen if we tried to follow this model? I think we would be closer to what Jesus prayed in John 17 : I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one. As...

Things have been going full speed over here. I am in the middle of trying to get my home business off the ground. It is a computer business and you can see an ad for it here . That is taking a lot of my time. I am hoping that I can get a sign made for my front yard, seeing as I live on a busy street, it should help bring in business. I also read a great article (or should I say letter) from Steve Jobs. Whose that? Where have you been living? Mr. Jobs is the head of Apple . The guy behind some great things like . . . um . . . oh, I don't know . . . the iPod ! Apple also makes some great computers too (the best, in my humble but correct opinion). Their latest 'gadget' is called the iPhone . It is an iPod, an Internet communications device, and, well, a phone all rolled up into one! It isn't available yet, but when it comes online, watch out! It will set the phone world on it's ear. Anyway, back to the letter . In it, Mr. Jobs has thrown down a gauntlet....

This is a hard post to write. I have put it off for days. It will be sporadic at best and completely discombobulated at worst. My Mom, after a long struggle with a very weird disease, passed from this dimension into the dimension of God on October 7th. She was only 60. This has been a very weird time for me and the rest of my family, especially, and obviously, for my Dad. They have been married for over 40 years. It is a very hard time for us. It has been said, by more than one person, that my Mom was the glue that kept the extended family together. She was the cog for the wheel. She was the 'wheel within the wheel'. And it's so true. Even when she was sick and in the hospital, she urged me and my family to go visit my Grandmother's sister ('Great Aunt'?) and her husband while they were visiting from California. (He's a famous artist and you can find some of his work here .) She was a lovely person. Someone whom I miss deeply. My relationship wi...

What a weekend! On Friday night we went to a concert on OU campus. The bill consisted of The ills , Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey , and Kid Koala . What an amazing show! If you ever get a chance to see, no, experience , any of these amazing people -- go do it! Wow. On Saturday Mahina and Sumi went over to a friends place to work on some sewing. I stayed home and did the whole house cleaning thing (laundry, kitchen, bathroom, dusted, swept, etc.) while listen to a Greatful Dead CD a buddy of mine loaned me. After a while I went out to the garage room and did some drumming. Later that night, we fixed some Mexican chicken casserole and took it over to a birthday party. It was great night. Good food, good beer, good friends, good music. You get the picture. Good times. On Sunday we went to see my Grandmother for her 95th birthday. There was a whole mess of us in that little room and we had cake and ice cream. Then, we left there and went to my Mother-in-laws for her birthday. We w...

Weekend: Well, we had a grand weekend. On Saturday, we met with some friends and had breakfast at The Diner -- a great little place. Then, we all went over to the Medieval Fair. The other couple was dressed for the occasion. We go to this every year but have been thinking about not going next year (which, I doubt will happen). Even though everything seems the same, it is kind of nice just to walk around outside and look at all the cool booths and what not. The MedFair has grown little by little since it moved from it other location (the 'Duck Pond'), this means that there are even more 'freaks' to see around! Ha! That night, Ben and Suzane came over. It was great seeing them again. It has been too long. We grilled out some steak and chicken and served it up with rice and salad. Then we watched Walk the Line . It was a good evening. On Sunday, we worked outside in the yard and boy am I sore! We moved in 10 - 40lb bags of pea gravel, 5 - 40lb bags of Peet...

Anniversary: Today marks the 1 year anniversary of Mahina and I after we had a New Beginning last year (obviously). I love this time of year. It is all about New Beginnings! New Creation! It is marvelous. Every day with her, though challenging, is a blessing. She pushes my buttons and the envelope all the time -- in a good way. It helps me think more globally, the way I feel Jesus would have me to think. I learn new things from her all the time. She is my best friend. My lover. The mother of our daughter. My wife. I know it's cliche', especially for us since it used to be 'our song', and, I suppose, to a certain degree it still is (how can you have a different 'our song'?!) but I do really 'love her more than I can say'. That is, when it comes to expressing my love for her in words, I am at the edge of language -- uncharted territory. I have to come up with new words, to go along with New Creation. Rain: YEAH!!! It has rained for about t...