{"id":2083,"date":"2014-10-16T07:00:23","date_gmt":"2014-10-16T12:00:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bestofswla.com\/?p=2083"},"modified":"2014-10-03T11:53:02","modified_gmt":"2014-10-03T16:53:02","slug":"church-eyes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bestofswla.com\/2014\/10\/16\/church-eyes\/","title":{"rendered":"Church Of The Eyes"},"content":{"rendered":"

I saw him make a u-turn, to go back to the convenience store where the clerk had given him too much change.<\/p>\n

I saw the way he talked to the state trooper, who pulled us over for speeding, and I saw how good people handle being in the wrong.<\/p>\n

I heard what he said in church, but I saw how he walked it on Monday through Saturday.<\/p>\n

I saw him give when he had it; I saw him give when he had not.<\/p>\n

I heard him preach Do Unto Others and I saw him Do Unto Others and I saw that he did unto better than was ever done unto him\u2026without ever keeping score.<\/p>\n

I saw him endure the un-fun stretches in the marriage, and I saw him care for her after their 50th anniversary, keeping the vow, of in sickness and health.<\/p>\n

I saw him unchanged by money. He was humble when flush; he was not shrunk by lack.<\/p>\n

\"pierre<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

_____\u00a0 \u00a0 _____\u00a0 \u00a0 _____\u00a0 \u00a0 _____\u00a0 \u00a0 _____<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Long before I saw my own flaws I saw his flaws. I did what prideful children do when they try to bring their parents down to their level. A few decades out there, on my own, and I saw him with fresh eyes, with more awe than even when I was a child. It\u2019s not easy to be good, and steady and hold onto a rare standard of character. I had fallen in only a little time; he still held his ground with twice the life.<\/p>\n

He is a man of his generation. I saw him not expecting life to be easy, but glad for the chance and grateful to the Maker. I saw him do without sleep, I saw him with many pots on the stove. I saw him say no to himself and yes to my mother and yes to his kids. I saw him being a good citizen, a follow-the-ruler, a respecter of authority, a minder of his own business, a team player of America.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

_____\u00a0 \u00a0 _____\u00a0 \u00a0 _____\u00a0 \u00a0 _____\u00a0 \u00a0 _____<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I saw him pray, saw him pray, saw him pray… We all pray when the wolf is at the door, but I saw him pray even when he stood beneath rainbows.<\/p>\n

He was the first person to show me that God wasn\u2019t just out-there, silent, stoic, arms-crossed, but that God was Father, and wanted a relationship with His children. I saw him say good morning to his Father every morning, with little conversations during the day.<\/p>\n

I saw him love, I saw him joy, I saw him peace. I saw God\u2019s fruit.<\/p>\n

He is the Christian-ish Christian I will ever know. That\u2019s not a small thing for a child to say about their parent. He earned it, in the one-day-at-a-time steadiness of his life.<\/p>\n

He is 85 years old, and he\u2019s earned a flag pole, and those of us who know him can only salute, and aspire.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

_____\u00a0 \u00a0 _____\u00a0 \u00a0 _____\u00a0 \u00a0 _____\u00a0 \u00a0 _____<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

This edition of Uncle P\u2019s Bedtime Stories is brought to you by Eighty-one, which hopes this encourages all of you who are raising children to remember that children are always watching, and they learn the most from the little common moments.<\/em><\/p>\n

Uncle P\u2019s Bedtime Stories are posted three times a week on Eighty-one\u2019s Facebook page, Sunday, Wednesday and Friday evenings, about pillow time.\u00a0 Uncle P can be reached at 81creativity@gmail.com.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I saw him make a u-turn, to go back to the convenience store where the clerk had given him too much change. I saw the way he talked to the state trooper, who pulled us over for speeding, and I saw how good people handle being in the wrong. 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