There Is a God

Earlier this year, the Master of Laketown, Stephen Fry, blessed the public with his opinion on the existence of God.

Heaven knows I trust this face for opinions on God.

In it, he said that God is evil. Now, I am not completely familiar with how atheists define evil, since they don't believe in God, but I will address his bravado regarding his meeting with God.

He said that IF there is a God, when he meets Him, he will have one question and one question only: "What is the deal with childhood cancer?" I may have quoted him as Jerry Seinfeld, but that is basically the idea. Then he goes on in his blasphemous rant, of which I could only listen to less than a minute - which is why I have not provided a link to the interview here.

I am a father to a child with cancer, so I feel that I have somewhat of an expertise and a right to speak on this matter.

Master Fry, go ahead and act all tough here on earth. Display the bravado and ego about how brash you will be in the face of your Creator. It will all disappear on that day. Blasphemy will get you attention here for the shock value. Congratulations.

However, when you get to the "Pearly Gates," if you will, and you have your brief opportunity to meet with God, I doubt you will have the ability to speak your blasphemous question. More likely, you will be so struck with awe in the presence of His majesty and His glory that your tongue will be bound. Couple that with the quick rise of guilt and shame that will come over you as you recall wasting your life fighting against Him and His word and His believers.

God lives.

It is He who sustains me through the trial of having a child with cancer. He didn't give my daughter cancer. But he allows the human condition to persist - including cancer in bodies of all ages - so that we can strive to be perfect, like Him. I've made my peace with that long ago, because whatever the pains and trials we have to endure here are nothing compared to the glory and beauty that awaits us in the eternities.

Getting to Know You

Recently, the son of my 1st Grade teacher, Mrs. McKinney (that's my teacher, not the son), reached out for submissions for a book he wanted to put together for his mom since she is retiring this year after 102 years of teaching.

Some things you should know:  First, she is fairly short in terms of measurement from the floor to the top of her head when she is standing.  Honestly, I don't know exactly.  Maybe around 2' 6"?  I was always certain that Bilbo Baggins was much taller than she was.

Secondly, she was my teacher in 1978.  In first grade, I thought she was old.  That's really funny since she couldn't have been a day over 75 at the time.  She taught my next several brothers, as well.  When I was in her class, she team-taught with Mrs. Schofield.  There was a reason the school was doing this.  As a first grader, I didn't care what the reason was.  And today, I still don't know why.  But I am glad.  It was the source of many great memories.

Third, the First Grade Circus was an annual event.  And by event, I mean a really, REALLY big deal.  A major production.  If you haven't heard of it, it's because you didn't live in the foothills of Provo back then and you missed out.  I'm serious about the missing out.  There were rope jumpers and rope climbers.  Strong men and monkeys. Clowns, MCs and, most importantly, bears.  Ask anyone who was in it what music they remember from it.  Most likely, they would start humming or singing the "interlude" music Mrs. McKinney played on the piano.

I could not find my class picture, or else I would insert it here...I found every grade in elementary but 1st. (And by "I found," I mean "my mom found").

This is my (slightly edited) submission:

I had some good college professors.  And I had a couple of really great High School and Junior High teachers. But none of them compare to the influence and memories created by Mrs. McKinney.

She was team-teaching with Mrs. Schofield at Edgemont Elementary.  And her being special was more than just because as a first grader I was her same height.  She cared about me and I knew it.  I knew I was loved and watched over when I went into her classroom. And I am sure it wasn’t just me who felt that way.

From “Getting to Know You” to the First Grade Circus, I loved first grade.  It's all about the experiences Mrs. McKinney provided for us.  At the risk of plagiarizing Mr. Fulghum, it was more than the 4^th Grade Reading mentors provided for us. More than ABCs and 123s.  And whatever else I learned in first grade. What I learned most about in first grade was to enjoy being at school. To treat others fairly and kindly. To my mind, it was a great supplement to all the things I was being taught at home.

I loved being able to be featured in front of the whole class and have my whole family as “Show and Tell” for the day.  I even remember certain snippets of other kids’ families in their “Getting to Know You.”

I remember walking through the halls at Christmas going from classroom to classroom looking for an inn with a room available.  I was Joseph.  A girl played Mary.

I was one of the “Solo Bears” in the “If You Go Into the Woods Today” number in the First Grade Circus.  Mary (from above) was the other.  I mean, how much fun was the circus?  Each of my little brothers looked forward to their turn to be able to do it.  We all remember what parts we had in the circus and still love singing the “Interlude” music that Mrs. McKinney played between each set.  I won't comment regarding whether or not we skip, too.

I also remember Mrs. McKinney pulling my first tooth.  I was crying over it and she just helped me calm down and pulled it out.

Mrs. McKinney will always be one of the greats.  How can you fit so much awesome into such a small package?

To demonstrate to her how greatly my artistic skills have improved since first grade, I have done this drawing for her: