What If?

​It’s my brother’s birthday (Wednesday). Well, it would have been. Most of you know that John died at the end of August. He’s been gone a little over 6 months. 
 
We all tried to get him to stop. His wife and son, my parents, my siblings, me. We even staged an intervention and got him into treatment. He went through two different 30-day programs and a half-way house. Meetings. All of it. But the addiction was too much. 
 
Even AA, as good as it is, has a success rate of about 6%. It’s hard to break the cycle. It’s probably not as addictive as nicotine, but it’s gotta be close. It’s hard to just “stop.” Obviously, most people can’t do it.   
 
John was a character! John was a force of nature. By the time he was 3 or 4, we were on a first-name basis with the Emergency Room staff at St. Francis Hospital in Tulsa. And when he was about 5, John went up and down our block introducing himself to the neighbors on his birthday. He asked them all if they had a present for him. I know, right? Pretty bold! That’s John!
 
John wore his life on his sleeve. He was unapologetically unfiltered and authentic. He never put on airs or pretense. John was always who he was—the same guy in broad daylight as darkness. 
 
Psalms 25-27 are amazing when you read ‘em together. Each of them stands on its own, but together they are the sum of their parts. All about living into being a child of God. Now John was a very spiritual guy—wandering in and out on his faith journey, just like all of us. And while we all probably don’t always “trust in the Lord without wavering”—John absolutely did not always—but John did always “walk in his integrity.” Authentically John. Always. 
 
And it makes me wonder if we could do that. What if? What if we all tried to live as though we wrote Psalm 26? 

1 Vindicate me, O Lord,
    for I have walked in my integrity,
    and I have trusted in the Lord without wavering.
2 Prove me, O Lord, and try me;
    test my heart and mind.
3 For your steadfast love is before my eyes,
    and I walk in faithfulness to you.[a]
4 I do not sit with the worthless,
    nor do I consort with hypocrites;
5 I hate the company of evildoers,
    and will not sit with the wicked.
6 I wash my hands in innocence,
    and go around your altar, O Lord,
7 singing aloud a song of thanksgiving,
    and telling all your wondrous deeds.
8 O Lord, I love the house in which you dwell,
    and the place where your glory abides.
9 Do not sweep me away with sinners,
    nor my life with the bloodthirsty,
10 those in whose hands are evil devices,
    and whose right hands are full of bribes.
11 But as for me, I walk in my integrity;
    redeem me, and be gracious to me.
12 My foot stands on level ground;
    in the great congregation I will bless the Lord.*

​What if? 
 
I sure do miss him. 
 
Grace and Peace,
Scott
 
*NRSV