Wednesday, November 23, 2005
Does this shock you?
First the bad news.
The congregation of University Baptist Church in Waco continues to mourn the loss of Kyle Lake as a result of an accidental electrocution at services on Sunday, October 30, 2005. He received a shock while adjusting a microphone before baptizing a woman. He was pronounced dead at 11:30 a.m. after being taken to the hospital.
Kyle was the husband of Jen, the father of Avery (3 yrs old) and twin boys Sutton and Jude (1 yr old), the author of two books, Understanding God's Will and [Re]understanding Prayer, and a rising leader in new church movements such as Emergent. He pastored the church founded by Chris Seay and musician David Crowder in 1995.
Kyle was almost exactly my age (16 days older to be precise) and went to college with one of my ex-girlfriends (at Baylor University... a donut to the first person to post a comment with her name...) It has been widely reported that in his final prayer he petitioned, "Surprise Me, God." And his notes for his final sermon have been broadly published:
Live. And live well.
BREATHE. Breathe in and breathe deeply. Be PRESENT. Do not be past. Do not be future. Be now.
On a crystal clear, breezy 70 degree day, roll down the windows and FEEL the wind against your skin. Feel the warmth of the sun.
If you run, then allow those first few breaths on a cool autumn day to FREEZE your lungs and do not just be alarmed, be ALIVE.
Get knee-deep in a novel and LOSE track of time.
If you bike, pedal HARD… and if you crash then crash well.
Feel the SATISFACTION of a job well done—a paper well-written, a project thoroughly completed, a play well-performed.
If you must wipe the snot from your 3-year olds nose, don’t be disgusted if the Kleenex didn’t catch it all… because soon he’ll be wiping his own.
If you’ve recently experienced loss, then GRIEVE. And grieve well.
At the table with friends and family, LAUGH. If you’re eating and laughing at the same time, then might as well laugh until you puke.
And if you eat, then SMELL. The aromas are not impediments to your day. Steak on the grill, coffee beans freshly ground, cookies in the oven.
And TASTE. Taste every ounce of flavor. Taste every ounce of friendship. Taste every ounce of Life.
Because it is most definitely a Gift.
So what's the good news?
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The congregation of University Baptist Church in Waco continues to mourn the loss of Kyle Lake as a result of an accidental electrocution at services on Sunday, October 30, 2005. He received a shock while adjusting a microphone before baptizing a woman. He was pronounced dead at 11:30 a.m. after being taken to the hospital.
Kyle was the husband of Jen, the father of Avery (3 yrs old) and twin boys Sutton and Jude (1 yr old), the author of two books, Understanding God's Will and [Re]understanding Prayer, and a rising leader in new church movements such as Emergent. He pastored the church founded by Chris Seay and musician David Crowder in 1995.
Kyle was almost exactly my age (16 days older to be precise) and went to college with one of my ex-girlfriends (at Baylor University... a donut to the first person to post a comment with her name...) It has been widely reported that in his final prayer he petitioned, "Surprise Me, God." And his notes for his final sermon have been broadly published:
Live. And live well.
BREATHE. Breathe in and breathe deeply. Be PRESENT. Do not be past. Do not be future. Be now.
On a crystal clear, breezy 70 degree day, roll down the windows and FEEL the wind against your skin. Feel the warmth of the sun.
If you run, then allow those first few breaths on a cool autumn day to FREEZE your lungs and do not just be alarmed, be ALIVE.
Get knee-deep in a novel and LOSE track of time.
If you bike, pedal HARD… and if you crash then crash well.
Feel the SATISFACTION of a job well done—a paper well-written, a project thoroughly completed, a play well-performed.
If you must wipe the snot from your 3-year olds nose, don’t be disgusted if the Kleenex didn’t catch it all… because soon he’ll be wiping his own.
If you’ve recently experienced loss, then GRIEVE. And grieve well.
At the table with friends and family, LAUGH. If you’re eating and laughing at the same time, then might as well laugh until you puke.
And if you eat, then SMELL. The aromas are not impediments to your day. Steak on the grill, coffee beans freshly ground, cookies in the oven.
And TASTE. Taste every ounce of flavor. Taste every ounce of friendship. Taste every ounce of Life.
Because it is most definitely a Gift.
So what's the good news?
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