The Three Cs

Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him. I wish I could have been more faithful to my journal here in the past week, but it's been a long week. Most notably, I got to see my son complete basic training at Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego, thus earning the title United States Marine. I have written about this subject several times over the past six months -- most notably here and here . Nonetheless, I wasn't prepared for what happened last Thursday, when I got to see my son for the first time in three months. It was just three months, you know. It's not like he has been gone a year or so, like many Marines in the past, with their combat deployments to Afghanistan. It was just three months. Sometimes that feels like just a few days. I am not ashamed to say it, I cried when I first saw him Thursday. Actually, I cried twice: first, when I caugh...

Love is patient , love is kind , it is not envious . Love does not brag , it is not puffed up . It is not rude , it is not self-serving , it is not easily angered or resentful . It is not glad about injustice , but rejoices in the truth . It bears all things , believes all things, hopes all things and endures all things. Love never fails. 1 Corinthians 13 doesn't say it, but but love is semper fidelis, too. I wish I could say the same about myself. I wish I could say I had perfect love as described here, my favorite chapter in the New Testament. Even though I was a Marine, who was trained to be semper fidelis, I failed. In fact, I failed a lot. I was far from semper fidelis. So today, I am thankful that God is. OK, you didn't hear that part in chapter 13. But God clearly is semper fidelis. We hear it in Psalm 25: The Lord always proves faithful and reliable ... and in Psalm 100, he is faithful through all generations. I am thankful God is always fa...