CHRIST IN WINTER:
Reflections on Faith from a Place of Winter for the Years of Winter…
Today is daughter Katie’s
birthday. She is the acclaimed author, Katie Kennedy. [1] She is also a
professor of history—Russian in particular, in which she did her doctoral work
at the U of IL—and wife, mother, cook, decorator, dog silencer, citizen, church
member, friend. I am proud of her, not just for her many accomplishments, but
because she lives a simple life in the midst of complexity. She knows that in
the whirling midst of all those competing and challenging roles, there is only
one thing that is important, and she lives it.
Next Saturday Helen and I
will drive the 90 miles south to my old home town, on the unnecessary and
boring new I-69 stretch from Bloomington to Evansville. We shall do so to honor
the simple life of my school classmate, Donna Miller Huff. In the midst of
unimaginable tragedies, she knew that only one thing is important, and she
lived it.
Supreme Court justice Oliver
Wendell Holmes, Jr. said, “I would give anything for the simplicity on the far
side of complexity, but nothing for the simplicity on the near side of
complexity.”
In many ways, Katie and
Donna have nothing in common. In high school, Donna was concerned first for
looks and popularity. She never went to college. She lived her whole life in
one small town. Katie’s life has been the opposite.
One tragedy after another
wrenched away everything that was important to Donna—parents, husband,
children, grandchildren. At the end, even her life. The tragedies of life tried
to take those things from Katie but were unable to.
In one way, though, these
two women--removed so far from each other by age and education and status—were the
same. Through complexities each learned the simple truth that the only thing
that matters in life is love. Donna learned that if you have no one to love,
then love everyone. Katie learned that if you have so many to love, love
everyone.
Happy birthday to Katie.
Happy new day to Donna.
JRMcF
johnrobertmcfarland@gmail.com
1] Katie Kennedy is the
rising star in YA lit. She is published by Bloomsbury, which also publishes
lesser authors, like JK Rowling. Her latest book is, What Goes Up. It’s published in hardback, paperback, audio, and
electronic, from B&N, Amazon, etc.
Spoiler Alert: If you have
read this column anytime in the past three months, you’ve already read
everything that follows…
The “place of winter”
mentioned in the title line is Iron Mountain, in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula
[The UP], where life is defined by winter even in the summer! [This phrase is
explained in the post for March 20, 2014.] Having met and married while at IU
in Bloomington, IN, we became Bloomarangs in May of 2015, moving back to where
we started, closing the circle. We no longer live in the land of winter, but I
am in the winter of my years, and so I am still trying to understand Christ in
winter. Besides, it’s getting cold HERE today.
I don’t always tweet, but
when I do, I tweet as yooper1721.
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