It was quite a weekend, folks.  I seemed to have covered a lot of ground.  It had so many emotional highs that it border lined on too much, but in light of what I experienced, I'd have it  no other way.

It started off Saturday morning with a round of golf at Rifle Creek Golf Course.  Now, I am sure there would be those who argue the notion that I played golf, especially the course ranger who I am sure will be telling stories about me all season long.  Nevertheless, Rick and I had a great time on a beautiful mid-Spring day and during those irregular times when the ball went in the general direction and distance hoped for, it was bliss.  The best shots of the day for both of us were our tee shots on Hole 9 directly in front of the club house.  All I can say is that if you are going to make a good shot, it should be there.  That evening, my whole family went to Josiah & Ali's place for dinner.  The kabobs of marinated elk meat couldn't have been better.  A perfect ending to a perfect day.

Sunday, the Lord's Day, had me and the church witnessing Josiah and his family joining the church then to be closely followed by Ali and Cori's baptism.  It truly was a time of rejoicing and celebration.  I am so proud of them all.

Monday, had me up at 0430 to travel with Josiah and some of the members of his National Guard unit to attend the 54th Annual 10th Mountain Division Memorial Day Ceremony.  Josiah and his fellow Guard soldiers were the rifle team to provide a 21-gun salute for the fallen heroes of the 10th Mountain.  It was an incredible experience which brings to mind how much I and the nation owes to the bravery and sacrifice of these men, as well as, the everyone who has died in uniform for the cause of our freedom.  On a side note, Josiah and company did an outstanding job and conducted themselves worthy of the uniforms they wear.  I miss the military life.

I was able to complete one other item over the weekend.... my second reading of The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis.  I started to read it with Jeremiah (his first time), but because of the difficulties of coordinating a reading time with him I went ahead and read it myself.  Since it had been many years, and I had hastily read it, I wanted to delve deeper into the richness of the book.  I had always held C.S. Lewis in the highest regard for his incredible mind and ability to write, but I have since becoming Calvinist heard that C.S. Lewis was not a Calvinist.  That said, he never implied that he was, or even that he was a theologian.  What C.S Lewis does is skillfully and with great insight reveal the fallen human condition and points the way out... to Christ Jesus. His ability to peel away the layers which mankind dons to cover his sin is nothing short of a gift of God.  He does that with his amazing mastery of the written word.  I highly recommend The Great Divorce, for those who want to speculate on the greatness and majesty of our Lord and King and His Kingdom.  Whatever he writes and paints a picture of will still remain way short of what is to come for those who are saved by the blood of the Lamb, but sure is fun to peek.

The week before last, I had the pleasure and privilege of reading Tenuous by S.K. Badgett. S.K., aka Stan wrote a delightful autobiographical sketch which kept me riveted from cover to cover.  I recommend it to all readers, but would highly recommend it to the children of the 1950's and 1960's, because he so deftly describes the era and what it was like to grow up then.  It will hold special meaning for those of us who started on the path to the "Celestial City" with Pilgrim in the '60's and the '70's.

With full disclosure of my relationship to Stan, I must say that I have known him over 30 years and I've had the privilege to call him and his family my friends during that period, as well as, brothers and sisters in Christ.  So, it was from that perspective that I anxiously read and learned more of his journey.  He even made an oblique reference to me there, but not so by name only my participation in a portion of his life.  What he does do in many instances though is make references to numerous people I do know, and needless to say the memories came flooding back.  This is due much in part to Stan's deftness in telling of his life in both a captivating way and by his superb skill in writing and handling of the English language.

From the time I met Stan up to the reading of this book, he was always somewhat of an enigma.  Not that he purposely would hold himself in some mysterious way, but rather I knew there was so much more there than what met the eye.  Sadly, I was a rather self-absorbed twenty-something and Stan was married, raising four children, working in the coal mines, juggling life and ambition.  Still, I knew there was more, and I admired him for what I knew, and even didn't know.  I knew he worked in the dark, danger of the coal mines and I looked up to him for it, because I knew that is not where his heart was.  Even then it seemed a profession he simply was not designed for, but he worked hard there to make a better life for his family and himself.  I, also, knew he was a rock climber, but that was a total mystery to me as one who never understood the mindset of the people who did it.  Nevertheless, I knew it was a skill and a passion to be admired.

My biggest regret at reading Tenuous was the realization that I had missed so much of the life of this remarkable man and his family.  Our own paths had diverged in the early '80's - Stan to finish raising his children and making a life for he and Doreen and mine to start my own family and continue along the path of work and life.  I thank God that He led Stan in writing Tenuous.  Now that I have had such an intimate look in to the Badgett's life, I feel as though I will have to sit for many hours with Stan and lay out my lfe to him. After reading his book, I feel that I owe it to him.

I praise God for recently re-uniting us in our common bond of Christian brotherhood and of love of Jesus.  Now, it seems that I have a lot of ground to make up and armed with a new, fuller understanding of who he is, I can hardly wait to continue our journey to Everlasting communion with our Lord. Read it.  You won't be disappointed and you will be the richer for it.  It is a story of a regenerated man responding to God by stepping out in faith with a "tenuous" grip.  What a honor it was to see that faith in motion.