As I get older in life I find that I am one of the lucky ones who still has an ability to learn. In other words, I am not and will never be, just another old guy who is just stuck in his ways. Lucky for me, I continue to grow and learn.
For example, I had a brother who was murdered. He was taken from this world unexpectedly and unnecessarily at the early age of 20 years old. As a result of this, I have always been a big believer in the death penalty for murderers. However with the advent of DNA and the huge number of people that have been taken off of death row as a result of DNA, my attitudes have softened considerably. Unfortunately, our justice system is just wrong too often to be a firm believer anymore.
I have also lost a father and a wife prematurely in their life's too; Dad in his 50's and the Mari in her 40's. Consequently I have spent much of my life mired in a factual scientific approach to life; mad at what I perceived to be an uncaring, inconsiderate, non-compassionate God. Having blind faith has always been an impossible issue for me personally.
Now I have lost a beautiful son who was only 24 years old and let me say first hand, there is no atrocity in life that can be compared to losing one of your children. There simply is no hurt so horrible! How can a person, a parent have or maintain the will to live on, given such a tragic event? If you are a caring person which I do believe I am, there is only one answer and it all requires a huge dose of something I have never had; blind faith. You simply have to be able to believe your loved one has gone onto a better place. That my fun loving, people oriented brother is now surrounded by old friends. That my cancer ridden father is in a world void of pain. That my deaf wife is now listening and taking part in endless, joyous conversations. And finally that my son Kyle is in a world with no pain or mental anguish; surrounded by children and many others who may benefit from his sharing his many personable gifts.
So yes this video strikes a harmonious chord with me. It represents a small portion of the learning process that I currently find myself in the middle of. Today I find myself being thankful instead of being mad. I am thankful that I have I have been gifted with an ability to continually learn. But I am most thankful for the growing belief that one of these days, when my day finally comes, I will probably get to see all those that I truly love and have loved again. Sometimes when you want something so bad; that within itself becomes a reality.
