Christopher Hitchens died last Thursday in the midst of a painful struggle with cancer.

My first solid memory of Christopher Hitchens came when he released his book, “God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything.”  It wasn’t so much his arguments that angered me, so much as what I perceived to be his attitude.  His arguments were not new: God is the wish-dream of irrational people; all religion causes all war; religion causes a dangerous repression of sexuality; you don’t need God to be moral; God can’t explain our origins; etc, etc.  There are many execellent Christian scholars throughout the years who have given credible responses to all these arguments.  In fact it wasn’t uncommon for Hitchens to be bested in public debate.  But his attitude seemed to be bombastic, vitriolic, condescending, argumentative…and the list could go on.

But over the years as I studied the man — really only a bit — I saw other things.  He was a father who loved his daughters.  He once wrote,

“To be the father of growing daughters is to understand something of what Yeats evokes with his imperishable phrase ‘terrible beauty.’ Nothing can make one so happily exhilarated or so frightened: it’s a solid lesson in the limitations of self to realize that your heart is running around inside someone else’s body. It also makes me quite astonishingly calm at the thought of death: I know whom I would die to protect…“

I can understand that heart.  He was also a man who had doubts.  In fact he made much of telling people that if he came to the end of his struggle with cancer, and in a dark night of the soul he cried out to God for help, please be assured that he would not be in his right mind.  Doug Wilson — a friend and Christian who occasionally debated Hitchens writes,

This is interesting, not so much because of what it says about what he did or did not do as death approached him, and as he at the same time approached death. It is interesting because, when he gave these interviews, he was manifestly in his right mind, and the thought had clearly occurred to him that he might not feel in just a few months the way he did at present.

In other words, Mr. Hitchens had doubts that his atheism would be enough for him at the end.  I can understand “doubts.” There is more that softened my view of Hitchens.  His mother committed suicide when he was in his 20’s.  He had a long relational conflict with his brother Peter — who at one time was also militantly atheist but later became a committed Christian.  In fact an interesting read would be to read Christopher’s book, “God is Not Great: How Religion Poison’s Everything” and Peter’s book, “The Rage Against God: How Atheism Let Me To Faith” in tandem.

All this to say, once upon a time I was quite angry with Christopher Hitchens, but in time I was reminded that he was a person, who like me, was shaped by the circumstances of his life and who like me, was deeply loved by the Jesus I follow.

There is a story told of the last moments of Jesus life, where a thief cried out to Jesus for grace, and grace was given.  God brought many Jesus-followers into Christopher’s life over the course of the years, his brother, Mother Theresa, Doug Wilson to name just a few.  It’s my hope that their examples and their prayers led another man to cry out for grace in the last moments of his life.

Last Thursday Christopher Hitchens found out whether or not he was right about God.  I hope he cried out to Jesus for grace and found out that he was right.  After all, God is great.

The eyes of the world are on Happy Valley.  In some ways that’s not an uncommon experience; with half a million alumni around in the U.S. and thousands more around the world; with a football team that draws 100,000 fans a game, we have felt the eyes of the world…at least on occasion.

In the last few weeks, the eyes on us have been looking for other reasons.  From the dismissal of a coach and a president, to riots and candlelight vigils; from the football field to a courtroom, the eyes have been on us.

I keep wondering what they see.

A week ago, I received a letter from a PSU/Calvary alumnus.  She was talking about other eyes on us and wrote these words,

Dear Pastor Dan:

I attended Calvary while I was a Penn State undergraduate and graduate student… Now I am living and working in the Lehigh Valley.  When I heard about the Sandusky scandal, I felt like my heart had been ripped in half.  I cried for and grieved over the victims.  I felt like I had been betrayed.  I was angry at everything that Penn State and State College stood for.  But as the events continued to unfold, my heart began to soften.  I saw the vigil that the students held.  I heard the ESPN reporters gush over the efforts of the students to raise money for sexual abuse victims, and I heard about the great hospitality they extended towards the Nebraska fans.  In short, what I saw, was Jesus in the midst of chaos.  The reporters haven’t given it a name yet, but they see it and are talking about it.  There is a mysterious peace and an overwhelming love that is exuding from State College, and its name is Jesus.

Even now, weeks later, people are still talking about the scandal as if it was a terrorist attack.  Everywhere I go—work, shopping, church, radio, television—it’s there, and people are trying to figure out how to deal with it. They are looking to State College for answers, and I see the Christians of State College rising to answer them. Your love and compassion are spreading even to the Lehigh Valley, and people don’t understand it.  They are amazed at your ability to forgive those involved, and your abundant generosity towards the victims.  It is a constant topic of discussion and, consequently, I have had many opportunities to tell people about Jesus’ love.

I am no longer ashamed or angry to be associated with Penn State, because the Christians there are redeeming it.  The Church of State College has shown the world how Christians should respond to evil, and they have given Christians everywhere the chance to redeem Christianity’s reputation.  Even today in my church, the pastor encouraged the congregation to ride the wave of love and compassion that State College has started, because this is how nationwide revivals begin.  This is our chance to change the world.

Pastor Dan, I have heard you call for revival from the pulpit.  I have heard you beg your congregation to live in such a way that the world looks to us for answers, and I have watched you prepare them for such a time as this.  When the time came, and when the world was watching, they were ready.  I am proud to say that I belong to the Christians of State College, and I am so encouraged…  Tell the Church to keep pressing on, because the nation continues to watch, and listen to our Father saying, “Well done, good and faithful servants.”

Your Sister in Christ,

Ashley

Eyes on us.  As I’ve been pondering that thought, God put these words on my heart.  When the world’s eyes are on you, if what they see is Jesus, a movement of God will grow.  If all they can see is you, God will move elsewhere.  So that’s my prayer.

God when their eyes are on us, let them see Jesus.

Matthew’s rendition of the Christmas story includes these words,

As he considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. Joseph, son of David, the angel said, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. For the child within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit. And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins. All of this occurred to fulfill the Lord’s message through his prophet: Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son,and they will call him Immanuel, which means ‘God is with us.’ Matthew 1:20-22 (NLT)

Immanuel, which means “God is with us.” That’s the heart of Christmas. God is present.  God is now with us.  Jesus was born in the real world in the midst of real problems that caused real pain. God is with us in our suffering.  God is with us in our brokenness.  God is with us when our brokenness causes suffering for someone else.  

In the last few weeks, we have been reminded that our valley is part of the real world.  Is there happy in the valley?  Certainly.  But there’s also very real suffering, brokenness and sin in the valley. The sin which we have found in our valley is child abuse, child sexual abuse.  But make no mistake, we have not discovered a new sin, we’ve uncovered an old darkness.  Statistics suggest that one in six boys and one in four girls will suffer the wounds of sex abuse before the age of 16.

One of the most difficult questions to answer for someone who was abused is, “Where was God when I was being abused?”  One woman said, “I’m kind of angry with God. Why did he let it happen to me? He couldn’t really love me.”

It’s a difficult question, not so much theologically, but emotionally.  I can give a reasonable explanation of why suffering exists in a world created by an all-powerful, all-loving God.  But reasonable doesn’t really cut it when you feel betrayed.

So where was Jesus, where was God when my friend was abused as a child?

Immanuel.  God is with us.

He is where he is…every time sin abuses the world, every time darkness rebels against light.  He is with us.  In fact that’s the heart of the Christmas message; Jesus was born in the midst of the real world, with real pain, and real problems.  It’s also the message of the cross where he took all the pain, wounding, sin, crud on his shoulders.  From Christmas to the Cross, he is with us in our suffering.  He has experienced more suffering than we could ever know, and the suffering of a child grieves his heart. Like Jesus cried out on the cross, he cries out when people wound others.  When my friend was abused, Jesus was with him…and His heart was broken.

He is with us.  But make no mistake, he is not passive.  He grieves.  He breathes hope.  He strengthens little hearts.  He works through people, every kindness, every word of hope spoken comes from Him.  He is in the process of redeeming moments lost in the dark, to bring light for the future.  Where was Jesus?  With us.  For us.

Most Americans have a faulty theology of time; we don’t look at time the way God views time.  The Greek New Testament uses two words for time; chronos and kairos.  Chronos is all about minutes; the passing of time, 60 minutes in an hour, 24 hours in a day, 7 days in a week…and on it goes.  That’s chronos.  Kairos is all about moments; as in “seize the moment” or “don’t miss the moment.”  Kairos-moments are those God-ordained opportunities that make up a special season.

Our problem is that we think the pathway to success is found in filling our minutes, but while we fill our minutes it’s so easy to miss our moments.

Filling our minutes leads to busyness, but seizing our moments leads to blessedness.  Filling our minutes requires time management, but seizing our moments requires God awareness.  Filling our minutes drains our life and seizing our moments energizes our life.

Sometimes it’s easy to miss our moments because it’s just a moment…but there are other times when moments pile upon moments.  I call that a season.  You have to try hard to miss the moments in a season. Christmas is a season.  You have to try hard to miss Christmas in a season, the Christmas moments just pile up.  Yet even when the moments pile up in a season of God’s favor, the time comes when seasons like moments end.

The Christmas season has an end.  In fact I’m glad that it has an ending.  I know we talk about extending the Christmas spirit all through the year, but the bottom line is that I don’t think I could survive a year round Christmas season.  In every season, sooner or later, the moments to be seized…are missed.

Here in the Valley, I think we are in a season; something more significant than a Christmas season.  It’s a season of God@work; a season to cry out to God, a season of open heavens.  It’s a season that will be filled with moments to be seized; moments to dive deep in our relationship with God, moments to share Jesus with our neighbors, moments where generosity will be multiplied, moments to experience God.  I can’t tell you how long it will last — at Calvary we are calling it our 40Day Story — but I’m hopeful that 40Days is just the threshold to a year of God’s favor (Isaiah 61:1-4).

But it will come to an end, seasons always do.  The question that God puts before us; the question that is at the start of a sense of urgency is simply this, “What will we do with our season?”

Calvary has embarked upon a 40Day Story of Prayer, Fasting, and Seeking God for our communities.  If you would like to join us… email Lynn@calvarysc.org and let her know.

Gratitude was never meant to be a one day holiday, not for Christ followers.  Gratitude is more like breathing; it makes every day better.  In a valley that has been rocked by bad news lately, with likely more to come, gratitude beats happy every day.

Why do I say that?  How often do we think that getting something, consuming something, buying something will make us happy?  But the research shows that looking for the good that already is, will deliver more happiness than buying stuff.  Keeping a gratitude list or journal is scientifically proven to decrease anxiety, enrich relationships and make you 25% happier.

Perhaps our time spent in line on Black Friday might have been better spent making our gratitude list.  As Ann Voskamp writes in an article entitled Losing Our Language, “Why is it easier to seemingly buy our joy than to give thanks to God who is our Joy? Pens and grateful perspectives are a lot cheaper – and guaranteed.”  So here’s part of the gratitude list that I’m making at this moment — not necessarily in order of priority or passion!

1)  I’m grateful for my family.  (This one does rank near the top.) Having all our kids home for a couple of days was a great joy.  I love watching them grow and catching glimpses of God at work in them.  I am grateful for Lynn, she is the heart, the relational glue of our family, and my very best friend.

2) I’m grateful that my jeep is running.

3) I’m grateful for the rough times that stretch us.  We’ve had a few in the last few years.  Some of them are public times, like the crud of the last few weeks.  Some are private times that few know about.  But God uses the rough times to chisel away the stuff that will never look like Jesus in us.

4) I’m grateful for my LifeGroup.  We don’t meet often enough…but every time…we laugh and pray so well that I go home with a lighter spirit.

5) I’m grateful for people who are generous.  Generosity is one of those virtues that changes the world, one life at a time.  Some of the generous people in my life have blessed me, and my family.  Some have moved the Calvary mission forward in amazing ways.  I’m grateful to help lead such a generous church.  As you give of your time, your energy, your creativity, your talents, and your finances, you are changing the world…and God is changing you.

6) I’m grateful that we allowed God to interrupt our life with Jaden.

7) I’m grateful for the mentors in my life, from my parents to coaches, to Sunday School teachers, to farmers and businessmen, to ministry partners.  I’ve learned a great deal.

8) I’m grateful for football.  I know, that one’s taken a hit in our valley.  But I love to watch.  I loved playing.  Team sports were one of the greatest shapers of my life, heart, and character.  I’m not particularly grateful for the way the Minnesota Vikings have been playing.

9) I’m grateful for my prayer shield. I’m not sure I have ever been more encouraged by a group of guys than I have been in the last few months by this group.

10) I’m grateful for Lynn.  I know I already listed her, but she deserves at least two numbers on my list. Because of my public position, many see what I do.  But I’m convinced the day will come in heaven’s research rooms where someone says, “Ha…you think Dan impacted people.  Let me show you how Lynn impacted the lives and hearts of so many more than Dan, and I won’t even mention how Dan’s impact would’ve shrunk without her.” 

Finally I’m grateful for the patience, grace, truth, love, power, and glory of God, of Christ, and of the Holy Spirit.  I’m grateful that when I give thanks…I know where the thanks goes.

I love Thanksgiving.  Why? 

Well first of all, it’s a holiday celebrating a Biblical principle of life.  It’s a day when the virtue of gratitude is practiced.  Gratitude is one of the most unappreciated, yet powerful disciplines for a life lived well.  In fact even scientific research is beginning to recognize the value of gratitude.  In the last few years the science of gratitude has grown with a variety of research studies showing that gratitude is one of humanity’s most powerful positive emotions.  One psychologist calls it “an emotional reset button.”

“Oprah was right,” said University of Miami psychology professor Michael McCullough, who has studied people who are asked to practice gratitude. “When you are stopping and counting your blessings, you are sort of hijacking your emotional system.”  (Hijacking it from a negative funk to a more positive sense of peace and joy.)  McCullough said psychologists used to underestimate the strength of simple gratitude: “It does make people happier … It’s that incredible feeling.”

Secondly I love Thanksgiving because it’s one of the most pure holidays left in America.  What do I mean by that?  I mean it is unsullied by consumerism and it’s focused on relationships.  Think about it; how many holidays do we celebrate that don’t include a sale?  Halloween?  6.9 Billion spent on candy and costumes.  Easter is the second biggest candy buying holiday in the country, but those Easter baskets usually contain more than candy.  Let’s not even talk about Christmas — what’s the consumer goal this year?  500 Billion Dollars Plus?  But Thanksgiving? Turkeys.  That’s it.

Of course, consumer-crud is trying to work it’s way into the fabric of our last pure holiday.  Black Friday inches its way earlier and earlier every year.  This year Wal-Mart opened at 10pm.  Have you read any of Black Friday reports?  Not very relational.  Armed robberies of people waiting in line.  Multiple pepper-spray incidents, one from a security guard on an unruly crowd, one from an upset shopper toward people cutting in line. Fights over hdtv sets.  Multiple people taken to the hospital.  People pushed to the ground in the mad dash to get into a store first.  In the words of Seth Meyer, “Really? Really?”  People fighting to get stuff we don’t need to save money we don’t have.  Really?

From Thanksgiving to Black Friday, I’m not without blame.  Jake decided to go check out the Black Friday Best Buy sale at midnight.  I gave him my credit card just in case he saw something I wanted, and I did go into two stores today.  In my defense, I shopped, but I didn’t buy.

I’m not sure what we should do, but I will simply say this.

Gratitude will fill up our life.  Consumerism will drain our life.  Stuff will never satisfy.  Every good and perfect gift comes from God and I don’t think God shops at Wal-Mart, Best Buy, or Target (sorry Sarah). In fact I’m pretty sure that God doesn’t do retail at all.  Nothing against retail gifts, Christmas or otherwise.  I’m certain I will give and receive a few this Christmas.

But somehow we need to regain our equilibrium.  Give less presents.  Give more presence.  Make Thanksgiving more than just a day…

Jon Ortberg says that the Bible is full of 3 Day Stories and 40 Day Stories.  3Day stories are quick stories of hope in the darkness, tragedy to redemption in three days.  Jonah was in the belly of a great fish for three days.  Jesus was in the tomb for three days.  Powerful explosive stories of redemptive hope.  We all like 3Day stories.

But there are even more 40Day stories in the Bible.  Jesus was in the desert 40 days before a great spiritual battle.  Moses was on Mount Sinai for 40 days before receiving the 10 Commandments.  Jonah told the city of Nineveh that they had 40 days to repent before God brought judgment.  Jesus was with the disciples for 40 days after his resurrection.

If 3Day stories are like microwaved hope, 40Day stories are more of the crock-pot, slow cooking variety. A 40Day story is more than a moment, but less than a good long year.  It’s a season of time, that’s long enough to call us out of our routine, but short enough to see the deadline.  40Day stories may be stories of transition to new chapters, or stories of preparation, or perhaps an extended, dark night of the soul. But one common theme we find in most 40Day stories is a sense of urgency.

As a Christ-follower I’m called to see things differently.  We are called to focus as much on what is unseen, as we do on what is seen.  We are called to see the world with spiritual eyes, a biblical filter.  In Happy Valley, I think the story we find ourselves in, is a 40Day story.  We would like it to be a 3Day story, and it’s a 3Day story that gives us hope…but we are in a 40Day story.

What do we do in a 40Day story?

1) We need to resist the urge to get “back to normal” as quickly as possible.  It’s an almost universal heart-tendency to desire a return to normal, but our normal brought us to this place.  40Day stories are meant to lead to a new normal.  The new normal doesn’t necessarily require the wholesale destruction of the old normal, but it does require change.  What is it that we need/want to change?  Community wide, this is being discussed.  New transparency.  New concern for kids.  New compassion for those who have been wounded by sexual abuse.  New priorities.  Something/someone new as the object of our worship and devotion.

2)  I think we –I’m talking primarily to the church — may need to develop a greater sense of urgency. I’m not sure how urgent we feel about what is taking place in our community.  Obviously urgency will look different in you, than it does in me.  But one common component of urgency is that for a season, what is urgent gets our time, our attention, our heart, and our resources.  We cannot say that we are urgent if nothing changes in those arenas.

For example if you find out that you are going to have a tax audit in 40 days, your urgency will change your focus.  If you find out you have a job review in 40 days that will either gain you a promotion or a dismissal, your urgency will change your priorities.  If you find out your child has cancer, your urgency will change almost every arena of life.

This weekend at Calvary, we are going to be looking at Our 40Day Story.  What if God is calling us to a 40Day story so that we might find something far greater than just happy…in the valley?

In our community we’ve had a week of bad news and it’s going to keep coming for awhile, but here is the bad news behind the bad news. Sin runs deep and I am more messed up than I care to admit — we are more messed up than we could care to admit.

I think in our hearts we know this, but in our day-to-day lives we choose to look the other way. For example, the word morality has been discussed a great deal this week. But in our culture our view of morality is slowly shrinking to fit into smaller and smaller boxes. Have you noticed that the sexual abuse of kids is one of the few areas of sexual sin, of sexual brokenness that we can all still agree is evil, and even that evil…we would rather not discuss.

Another example, much discussion has been made this week about who knew what, and what did they do with what they knew, and was what they did, enough? Did they do enough?  In other words, we are not only talking about the morality of doing bad, but the morality of failing to do good; failing to help a child in need.

But where do we draw the line of enough? If we know that a child is starving in Somalia, and we can save their life with a gift of food, but we get distracted with our stuff, where is the line of enough?  If we know there are children in the Centre Region who are in need of a friend… on a Big Brother, Big Sister waiting list, but we can’t spare the time, where is the line of enough?

When we look at our inaction, we realize that sin runs deep, but there’s also… good news.  Here’s the good news: God’s grace is greater and more ridiculously lavish than I could ever imagine.

This is our hope. I’m not talking about a cheap grace that looks the other way, or calls everything okay. I’m talking about the scandalous grace that is hard to believe and hard to receive and almost impossible to give. I’m talking about the kind of grace that looks sin square in the face and then scares the hell out of it. I’m talking about the kind of grace that involves a cross and costs smne so much that when it is given away it’s scandalous.

That’s the good news of grace and that grace calls us to love our city.  For followers of Jesus, the call to love our city is not optional.  So how do we love our city?  We love it with both eyes open.  We love it with open eyes and open heart.  We are a community of riots and candlelight vigils, both.  We are a community of Thon and child-abuse, both.  We are a community filled with good people who mess up.  That’s the city God calls us to love.

Last weekend at Calvary we talked about loving our city.  I wish you could have been there for the whole service because the worship and the times of prayer were Spirit-filled.  But all we record is the message.  Feel free to listen through the player below or by going to www.calvarysc.org/media and keep praying.

http://vimeo.com/32046724

Something happened at Calvary this morning, that hasn’t happened in my 17+ years here.  NBC Network News showed up at Midtown.  Some of what was said might show up, in the nightly news, some might show up in the Today show…and of course, maybe none of it will show up anywhere.  But I thought it was worth the possibility that someone might here a bit more positive message coming from our community.

Here is how I ended the message today…

It’s been a week of bad news in Happy Valley, and it might get worse, but there is still Good News for the Valley.  As I was watching the football game yesterday.  Yes even though I felt more responsibility for the message than many I have in the last few years, I still felt the need to watch the game.  As I was watching, and thinking about the events of the week, I couldn’t help but be reminded of a number of “visions from God” — prophetic words, visions, messages, impressions, whatever you feel comfortable calling them — that people have given me over the course of the last decade.  At least a half dozen times, someone has come to me and said that God had given them a vision of Beaver stadium filled with people in prayer, calling out to God, worshiping God.

If you happened to be watching the beginning of the football game yesterday, I wonder if God was just giving us a glimpse…of what He has in store. Most definitely it was a glimpse of His heart.

When Jesus started his gospel-driven ministry, he quoted from these words, first delivered by the prophet Isaiah.  I’m closing with them, because I think they encompass the good news for our valley… Isaiah 61:1-4

The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the LORD for the display of his splendor. They will rebuild the ancient ruins and restore the places long devastated; they will renew the ruined cities that have been devastated for generations. Isaiah 61:1-4 (NIV)

Who is the “they” who will be oaks of righteousness?  Who is they “they” who will be a display of God’s splendor?  It is the brokenhearted, those in darkness and prison, those who are mourning and in despair. God’s grace will redeem and restore you.

If you are someone who has experienced the pain of sexual abuse… This is a picture of the grace of God for you. The dark under-belly of our culture is the frequency and shame of sexual abuse. No one is immune. It has the power to wound hearts in such deep, deep ways. But it is this same scandalous grace that has the power to heal those wounds & make whole those hearts.

I understand the emotion of the responses pouring forth in the valley. The sin is disturbing. The plight of the powerless must be our passion. But the bottom line is that the response of those whose lives have been been redeemed by ridiculous grace, must be different. I’m praying that here in our valley God meets the scandal of sin with scandalous grace and starts a redemptive tidal wave of cross-sized proportions.

May it start with us…

We are… the call begins “…Penn State, the call resounds.  It’s all about identity and community.

I’ve lived in State College for almost 18 years.  In a few months, I will have lived in Happy Valley longer than I’ve lived in any other place. I never attended PSU, but I paid for a daughter to graduate from Penn State.  I travel a bit and whenever I tell people I’m from State College (by the way most people think of College Station, no one knows State College, but everyone knows Penn State) invariably I’m asked the question, “So are you a Penn State fan?”  My response, “You can’t live in State College for 18 years and not be a fan.”

But there’s a difference between being a fan and being family.

Last Tuesday as Calvary’s pastors gathered to talk about the junk, it was interesting how differently each of us was processing the events.  The Penn State grads in our midst had a deeper emotional response.  They were family, not just fans.  Identity and community.

I’ve been pondering this for the last few days, identity and community.  Fans are processing the events of the last few days differently than those who feel more like family.  That’s part of what those who live “out there” don’t understand.  If your last name is Penn State, you are angry that someone has sullied the family name…but you are also protective of the family.  You simply respond differently when it’s family.

Tim Henderson, a campus pastor at Penn State touched on this same issue — speaking to his Cru “family” —  when he compared the Grand Jury presentment on victims two and six.  According to the report a graduate assistant saw a ten year old boy (victim two) pressed against a shower wall being raped.  He then left and called his father.  The next day he met with his boss, who then called his boss, who some days later met again with the graduate assistant.  On the basis of that conversation Sandusky was told that he could no longer bring boys to the football facilities.

The conversation this week has focused on how much people knew; what they did with what they knew; and whether or not they did enough.  In some cases, the legal obligations were met; in some cases, perhaps not. But the most poignant statement thus far has come from Coach Paterno, “Looking back I wish that I would have done more.” 

On the other hand, the mother of victim six did far more than the legal obligations required.  When her son came home from a visit with Mr. Sandusky, mom noticed his wet hair.  That detail raised her concerns.  She questioned her son and found out that he and Mr. Sandusky had showered together. Immediately mom went into action.  She called the police.  She cooperated with the police to wiretap a conversation with Mr. Sandusky.  She confronted him in her home; grilled him about the event and rebuked him for his actions.

There is no question that she did everything she could.  It wasn’t an obligation. Why?  Because her son was family.  She loves her son.

The last few days I’ve wondered frequently, what would I have done if I were in the shoes of men like Coach Paterno, Mike McQueary, Tim Curley or Gary Schultz.  I would like to think I would have done what was right…but I can tell you this, if the child was my child I would have gone far beyond “what’s right.”

Two thoughts come to mind…

1) I’ve never really cared for the adage, “It takes a village to raise a child.”  But it comes to mind here. What if we considered every child, a part of our family.

2) No family is perfect, but I want to find my identity and community from a family that cares for every kid, like it was my own kid.

It’s my prayer that Calvary will continue to become one of those families.