Probably not many qualify. But, as I read the comments on Columbia International University’s Facebook page in tribute upon their fourth president’s passing, I saw it written time and again.

“A great and godly man, a champion of the Word. One of the finest men I have ever known.”

“One of the greatest men I have ever known.”

“A great man of God! His teaching, passion, and example marked and motivated me.”

I didn’t know Dr. Johnny Miller when he was president of CIU. But in the epilogue of his ministry, long after that presidency, I was blessed to know him as both a great man and a great friend.

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About 600 yrs ago, a Dutch painter, meditating on the timeless truth of God’s vulnerability, born in a manger, painted Nativity by Night.

About 400 yrs ago, an Anglican priest, meditating on the timeless majesty of God and the Trinity, wrote the hymn, Holy, Holy, Holy.

About 20 years ago, an American rock star, Sufjan Stevens, created this arrangement of Holy, Holy, Holy.

About 15 yrs ago, a Dutch art historian created this video, juxtaposing the majesty of God in the hymn with the vulnerability of Jesus in the painting.

About 20 yrs ago, Manhattan pastor Tim Keller wrote this quote that explains why all this has been so meaningful to me.

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Millions of evangelicals and Catholics may decide this very tight election simply by…not voting. Please don’t be one of them.

People long to be well led, and for people of faith, character, morals, and values matter. It’s so demotivating when both choices rankle. As Peggy Noonan wrote in the Wall Street Journal, “The race is deadlocked with [three] weeks to go and if you’re an undecided, unsure or wavering voter it looks like Awful vs. Empty.” Actually, I would add that Kamala is far more Awful than Trump. But first, on the Empty issue…

In the article, Noonan tried to make sense of Kamala’s decisions not to take many substantive media interviews and to respond to probing questions with “I grew up in a middle-class family” word salads. Noonan asks, “Why does she dodge away from clarity? Why doesn’t she take opportunities to deepen public understanding of her thinking?…

Noonan offers a couple of possibilities (“Because she’ll figure it out later,” “Because she’s just not that into policy”) before landing on the one that makes the most sense to me: “Because she doesn’t want you to understand where she stands. Because she’s more progressive than she admits, and there’s no gain in telling you now.”

Noonan continues, “Failing to speak plainly and deeply now about illegal immigration [or taxing, spending, regulation, or faith-based issues] is political malpractice on a grand scale…She owes us these answers. It is wrong that she can’t or won’t address them. It is disrespectful to the electorate.”

Or is it intentional deception on a very large scale?

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It’s been a year since I’ve regularly posted here. After Mom’s death I needed time to process. Grieve. Reflect. Rest. I didn’t intend to pull back this long. One thing that has drawn me back: I’ve wanted to tell the story of how amazingly God provided for us during her final three years fraught with vascular dementia.

I’ve also wanted to encourage others on an all-too-common yet nearly impossible journey. Nothing really prepares you for the unimaginable twists and turns of caring for someone who has always been so sharp and fiercely independent, who begins to need help doing her laundry, and even taking her medicines. Especially when they insist on remaining a thousand miles away.

Just when you’ve figured out how to respond to hallucinations or accusations of stealing, another unthinkable challenge comes up. But let me tell you how God shepherded us through the Valley of the Shadow…

The last 20 months have been a tale of two cities for us—”the best of times and the worst of times.”

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