Working forward

Over the years, friends have been surprised to learn I’ve never read the Bible from cover to cover. I will say I have LISTENED to the entire Bible multiple times, read by Alexander Scourby on cassette tapes.

When I first quit my job in Manhattan I never left the house without my Walkman piping Scourby. Hundreds of hours were logged walking streets and parks (not to mention lying on the beach at Coney Island and Long Beach, Long Island), taking the subways and flying home to Ohio and other locales with the Bible in my ears. I was addicted to the habit and it actually kept me exercising (and sunbathing) longer because I didn’t want to part with the particular passages I was hearing.

Today, Jan. 2, is my dad’s birthday (1924) and I’ve decided to commemorate it with a commitment to read through the Bible this year under a plan presented yesterday in Shorewood’s bulletin. That said, I’ve got until Saturday to reach Genesis 24.

For all my dad’s faults (and my mom presented me with more unsolicited stories at Christmas about his bad behavior, this time stuff that happened when I was a baby and toddler and he was still unsaved—none of it pretty and I don’t know how my mom put up with it!), he was a man of discipline who, according to my aunt, didn’t even date in high school because he wanted to ensure he won a scholarship to attend the University of Michigan.

Upon getting his degree in pre-med, he took a government exam in which only the top 3% of scorers nationally won full scholarships to attend med school in return for service in the military. In exchange, my dad was forced to graduate from an accelerated program at Emory University, a highly respected med school at the time, in order to serve in the Air Force, eventually in the Korean War as a surgeon.

At my father’s funeral, a colleague, a highly respected Indian surgeon, Dr. Kuttothara, said, among other very nice things, that my dad was “a very talented physician who was ahead of his time.” I know from growing up working part-time in his office (age 11-18) that he was a very dedicated professional, putting in some of the longest days you could imagine, all the while being on-call one week a month at the hospital.

What my dad always wanted from me was dedication to the Lord's work and he was someone who really did care about my God-given talent as a writer and very much desired for me to use it to promote the gospel.

So, in short, this is the year for me to finally “git-r-done,” and it’s only going to happen if I make the sacrifice and give up living for myself—fully and wholeheartedly. Studying God’s Word and applying His will to all that I do is the answer that WILL work. Happy birthday to me too!