A Frog Reborn

When I was younger the Muppets were very popular and many of my friends associated me with Gonzo.  Probably because he is so handsome J 

  I then began impersonating Kermit the Frog and that stuck for a long time.  I still do the Kermit impersonation for children and the occasional childlike adult.  In 2012 I met the most amazing lady.  Embracing my Kermit persona, I wrote this poem to commemorate my emerging love.

Pardoned

As I sat one evening reading, I was transported to a room that was completely white.  Directly across from me was a raised platform with very large desk upon it.  Immediately behind this desk was the most intense white light.  High above the platform it said “Hall of Transgressions”.  I then noticed one man on my left and one man of my right.  They were very big men, at least seven feet tall.   They were completely dressed in white.  Each took one elbow and gently guided me forward to a table in the front of the room.  As we got close to the table they gently tapped me until I realized that I needed to sit.  Neither looked at me but looking at them, I noticed a remarkable thing, there was no shadow cast behind them from the great white light in front.  Strange I thought, but this is all very strange. 

The Light

I then began to speak, but as the words formed in my mouth there was a voice from the light that was deep forceful and powerful that said, “You are not to speak.  You are here to listen.”  So I closed my mouth and sat quietly waiting to hear.  The voice then spoke, “This is the day that we will review the transgressions from your life.”  I thought to myself, “I’m a good man.  I don’t try to hurt anyone. I love people.  What transgressions can he be talking about?”  And the voice spoke again, “You shall see today what transgressions you have done throughout your life.”  So again I sat quietly, trying not even to think now.

Then from somewhere a very loud sound came, like a large gavel hitting wood.  And the voice said, “We shall proceed.” Then I noticed to my left another man sitting at a table similar to the one I was at.  He though was not dressed in white.  He wore a fashionable and elegant black suit.  He looked at me and gave me a big smile.  His teeth were beautiful and perfect, completely white. As he smiled I felt a tremor go through my body and then the voice again, “You may proceed with your accusations.” 

So began my trial.  I had no idea what I was on trial for, but this was clearly a trial.  Now worried that there was really some terrible thing about to occur, fear started to creep into my mind and heart.  Not being able to see into the light, I looked to my left again and the gentleman in black just smiled at me.  A smiled filled with animosity and hate and eyes taunting me, filled with a sense of victory.  As the trial proceeded images flashed upon a screen, they were so real I thought I could touch them. There were scenes from my childhood, from my adolescence, from my teenage years and from my young adulthood even scenes from a few days before.  Time and again there was an event that didn’t reflect the goodness of who I thought I was.  Time and again there was something that I thought was inconsequential, but when viewed I realized that it was not good. 

Slowly I raised my hand and the voice said, “Yes.”  And I said, “Please dear sir can you tell me what you mean by transgressions.”  The man to the left chuckled a bit and the voice replied, “Anything that misses the mark.”

I raised my hand a little higher and the voice said, “Yes.”  And I said, “What is the mark?”  The voice said, “It is the perfection of God as shown by the Ten Commandments.  You are familiar with the Ten Commandments, are you not.” 

Sheepishly I dropped my head with my hand falling at my side and I nodded.  And the voice said, “Speak up we can’t hear you.”  With my head still down, I quietly muttered, “Yes.”  And the voice grew louder, “We cannot hear you speak up.”  I said softly, “Yes.”  Still louder the voice said, “We cannot hear you.  Raise your face and speak out loud.”  So I raised my head and said, “Yes.”  And the voice said, “Yes what?”  Staring directly at the light feeling my life so totally exposed I said, “Yes, I know the Ten Commandments.” With that the man to my left, the man in black, started to dance joyfully. 

As I sat there I thought, “If I was on the jury, I would convict me.”  Slowly I raised my hand and said, “Is this a jury trial in front of my peers?”  And the voice said calmly with force, “I am your judge.”  My hand fell to the table and I knew that I would be convicted.  There was nothing that I could do to change the things that I had already done.  I had no idea what the punishment would be.  Something inside seemed to accept that no matter what the punishment was it would be just and right and true.
The two large men remained standing next to me during this whole proceeding which seemed as if it had taken a whole day.  I noticed them then turn and look to the back of the room from which I had come.  I realized that there were two huge doors at the back of the room.  They slowly began to move and as they opened I saw a man step through the threshold.  He too was dressed in white.  I noticed immediately the beauty of his smile and the warmth of his eyes.  As he walked toward me I felt peace even though I had just been convicted in my heart.  He stopped about half way and looking into the light he said, “I’ve come to defend this man if he will have me.” And the voice said, “Come and speak to him and see what he will say.” 

So this man came and sat in the chair next to me.  Drawing close to me, he put his cheek upon mine and said this simple thing, “I’ve come to save you.  I’ve come to save you.  All you need to do is accept me and when we are done go and tell the world about who I am.”  And I asked, “That is all?”  He smiled so deeply and warmly drawing me immediately to him, “There will be more.  There will be much more but this you will do with a willing and loving heart.”  I looked at him and studied him for a moment.  As I looked into his eyes I felt such compassion. I felt such acceptance and love.  I felt peace, an all-consuming peace.  There was not a hint of rejection although he must have known of the transgressions that had been shown to me.  For what other reason would he be here and say that he could save me, except that he knew.  With tears forming in my eyes and my gaze still locked on him, I said, “I accept your offer.”

He turned to the light and he stood saying to the light, “May I approach you?”  And the voice said, “Come forward.”  He moved in front of the platform and as he stood there he said, “I have seen this man’s transgressions and I willingly and fully accept them as my own.  I will take the punishment that he so deserves.”  As he said I will accept the punishment, a red tear appeared in the back of his white robe and clearly it was blood.  The blood began to run down his robe.  Then another tear and then another tear and then another and soon the back of his robe was so torn that it fell to the ground leaving exposed raw flesh. The blood continued to pour from his wounds. 

He then turned to me and extended his arms and hands.  I could see holes in his hands and blood was running from them as well.  He smiled at me and said, “Rejoice, for I shed my blood so that you could be free.  I shed my blood so that you could know My Father.  I shed My blood because I love you.  I shed My blood because you are important to Me and My Father.  I shed My blood so that you can be in heaven for eternity.  With that He came back to my table. He put His arms around me and simply said, “I love you.”  A Dove flew from the light and settled upon this beautiful Man holding me now.  And the Voice said, “This is My Son, in whom I am well pleased.  He has paid your penalty and He has set you free.  You are no longer bound by these transgressions of your life and you are free.”  I again heard this loud bang as a large gavel fell heavily upon wood.

The Voice spoke to the man in black directing him, “This man belongs to my Son the Lord Jesus Christ.  He is protected by Jesus’ blood from now until forever.  You no longer have any dominion over him.”

Startled, I blinked and then realized that I had never left my seat.  The vision was so vivid and so powerful that I knew it really wasn’t a dream. Although I knew it was not in the physical realm, I also knew that it was real.  Overcome with emotion, I fell to my knees and cried out to God as a man pardoned from a horrible death. 

The Calling

As I sat before the Lord this morning listening to the song “The Great I Am”, I remember the impact Exodus 3 had upon me where Moses asks the Lord, “And they ask me, ‘What is his name’” to which God replies, “I AM WHO I AM”. It then occurred to me that we are made in His image, the image of “I AM”. The simplicity of God’s answer belies the power in it.Often this is the way of the Lord, power in simplicity. Where we

The Mountain of God - Mt Horeb

want to make things complicated, His desire is to make them simple. His commands are direct and uncomplicated and yet we fill them with complexity. He gave me a book title once, “Simple Not Easy”. The book was to speak of how God’s commands are simple but not easy for us to obey. We often have much to overcome in order to be able to obey the Lord. Such was the case with the saints from Hebrews 11 as well.

In Genesis 3 and 4 we see an example in Moses’ conversation with the Lord. Moses is drawn by a burning bush that is not consumed by the fire. In my own experience I have found that God draws me and never pushes me. Moses, curious about the bush is startled to hear the voice of God emanate from the bush. After telling Moses that He has heard the cries of His people He gives Moses his mission, “So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.” Direct and to the point. Go and free my people. Moses, surely haven taken account of himself, declares that he

Mt Horeb

is unfit, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh?” Moses understood the mission but shrinks from the job and so it has been with me when called upon by my Father. How often do we ask this question ourselves, “Who am I?” or do we simply ignore His desires placed upon our hearts and minds because we don’t believe He could or would be calling us.

Undaunted by Moses’ proclamation of inadequacy, the Lord declares, “I will be with you.” Moses knowing that he is standing before God asks Him, who should I say sent me? I’ve done this. Not knowing how to get out of something, I will stall to try and come up with an acceptable reason not to do what I have been asked to do. After telling Moses what to say, He gives Moses a promise for the Israelites, “And I have promised to bring you up out of your misery in Egypt into … a land flowing with milk and honey.” God follows this with a prophetic vision of how He will do this.

Moses appears to still be intent on not going. I know how he feels for I have felt much like this but I have found that in simple obedience the most wondrous joy follows. In doubt Moses asks, “What if they do not believe me?” The Lord then gives Moses the instrument of deliverance. It is Moses’ own staff. How often have I gone to the Lord and asked for some deliverance to then be shown that I held the key all along. God then instructs Moses how to use it. My mind immediately goes to Ephesians 6:10 where Paul shows us the Armor of God.

Hoping to encourage a reluctant Moses, God tells him to put his hand in his cloak. Moses obeys and finds what must have been shocking to him – a leprous hand “white as snow”. God now tells him to put his hand back in his cloak and when he removes it, it was restored. The Lord tells Moses about the other miracles He will perform in Egypt. Still Moses is not signing up for this mission. He insists that he is not the one because he has “never been eloquent” even after the Lord has spoken to him. “The Lord said to him, ‘Who gave man his mouth? Who makes him deaf or mute? Who gives him sight or makes him blind? Is it not I, the Lord? Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.’ But Moses said, ‘O Lord, please send someone else to do it.’ Then God’s anger burned against Moses.” Still God is loving and compassionate. He tells him that his brother Aaron will go and speak for him. Then in encouragement says, “take this staff in your hand so you can perform miraculous signs with it.”

Although I am not Moses, I have had similar conversations with God about far lesser things. When God calls us we can obey, we can argue, or we can deny. God is calling us now. We were made for such a time as this. Prayerfully consider what God asks of you. By you I mean each and every one of us. We are made in His image, in His “I AM” image. We are made for the wonder of God to be used in His service. Rise to His calling for you. He has made you for this calling and anointed you to be able to perform His calling.

Moses finally accepts the mission. Whether he did so with gladness in his heart or with reluctance we don’t know. He simply obeyed. It was a struggle for Moses and it was not easy for him to accept the mantel which God had lovingly woven for him.

Mountain Range around Mt Horeb

In the struggle he had experienced God’s encouragement and anger as well as God’s resolve that he was the one chosen. Could Moses have chosen not accept the mission? God has given us a free will to accept or not accept any mission put before us. We must choose just as we must choose the salvation that Jesus offers.

As brothers and sisters in Christ, we travel a road together. We are anointed to fulfill God’s will on the earth, to bring heaven to the earth, “your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” Let us join in expectation of the fulfillment of God’s Word throughout the world. Let us gather the “staff” that God has given each of us and perform miracles throughout the land!

As I reread this I know that there will be those who read it that are hurting. Their health is not good, their finances are in a shambles, their relationships a mess, and many other difficult things. From my experience it doesn’t matter where you are today, you have a calling. If we were to wait for the perfect time or the perfect situation or for peace or energy or health or whatever, none of us would answer the call. Our Father can and will use us in whatever condition we find ourselves. For some, answering the calling is the way out of the circumstance. For others answering the calling, eases the circumstances. For many, I suspect, that answering the calling renews and restores their hope and faith. I have walked through the valley of the shadow of death. My body was so weak that I could not move and yet God used me in that condition to touch the lives of His children. My challenge to you is to reflect upon that which you have and not that which you don’t have. You always have the Lord. You always have Jesus and He loves you deeply and unconditionally.

The Difference Maker...

There was a successful business man who retired to a secluded beach.  Each morning he would arise early and go to his precious beach for his morning three mile walk.  Standing on the beach he would look to the north and then to the south trying to decide which way to walk.  One particular morning, he started north. 

Going only a short distance he thought he saw someone on the beach.  It was rare that he even saw a fisherman this early in the morning.  Intrigued as to who this might be his paced quickened.  Getting closer he noticed that the person appeared to be throwing something into the ocean.  His attention had been on this mysterious person before him and he had neglected to watch where he had been walking.  Looking down he saw that starfish where being deposited on the beach by the waves.  Since the tide was receding many starfish had been left stranded on the beach and would most likely die before the tide rose over them later in the day.  

He continued to marvel at the number of starfish on the beach.  They were everywhere.  There were thousands of them.  As he continued his morning walk along the shore, the number of starfish grew.  Without realizing it, he was almost upon the man who he had seen earlier.  He stared in amazement as this young man picked up a starfish and threw it back into the sea.  

Approaching him, he asked, “what are you doing?” 

To which he simply replied, “throwing starfish into the sea.” 

The man chuckled and said “do you see how many starfish there are?  There are thousands.  No, tens of thousands of these stranded starfish.  You can’t possibly think you are making a difference.”

The young man smiled warmly at the man as he bent down to pick up a starfish.  He brought his arm back and as he flung the starfish back into the sea he said, “it made a difference to that one!”

Such a simple story on perspective.  The older man saw no hope and no point.  The younger man only saw redemption of life.  It reminds me that I was once a starfish.  My Heavenly Father sent His Son to me to ask me if I would like to be put into the sea of heaven and be redeemed.  The Son said that He had already paid the price of admission, I just simply needed to accept Him and then acknowledge Him to others.  And then Jesus asked if I wanted to help Him redeem others.  He said the workers are few but the harvest is great.  Come and join Him and be enriched beyond measure.

Bill Gonseaux May, 17, 2014

Author’s note: The original story concept is from Loren Eiseley (1907-1977)

The Heart of a Man

I’m a baby boomer.  My Dad was in the Navy during World War II.  Growing up with my Father meant not saying anything and not doing anything to cause a problem.  Our interactions were not warm, or caring, or intimate.  He was distant and unapproachable.  Many men of his generation were the same way.  They were stoic men who rarely exhibited any emotion and never cried.  While my Dad seemed charming and engaging to adults, to his son he was rigid.  I was raised to be invisible and I tried my best to be.  Trying to find my way as a small child was a challenge.  While I definitely knew the boundaries of life, I was never permitted to test them.  Which produced in me a fear of exploration and a fear of attempting.  Learning that it is best to not do anything to call attention to myself, I found ways of disappearing.  My favorite was to hide under the coffee table and observe.  Sadly though I outgrew this hiding place and there was not another that was nearly as safe and as comfortable.  The lesson I learned was to build a wall around me and then another wall around that wall.  Whatever happens don’t let anything get near you, especially emotions.  “Be a man” I heard when I was old enough to understand.  “Men don’t cry” was drilled into my small young consciousness.  I was told to suck it up.  To the best of my ability I did these things, but I wanted more.  I’m not certain exactly when it was that I wanted more, but I remember thinking it.  Breaking down the barriers of my life is what I wanted.  I was a very quiet rebel.  On the outside there was a taunt veneer that belied the turmoil within.  Anger built but it had no place to go, so it stayed within, a continually building cauldron of anger.  At the age of 30, my Dad opened up to me and talked a little about his drinking and when it started.  In this revealing of things from his past, he told me he loved me for the first time that I could remember.  My family didn't hug or kiss or say I love you.  How then does a small child learn how to have the heart of a man?  Well, I didn't. 

As a small child I remember raging terrifying nightmares.  The tormenting creatures were dragon-like, massive in size with long sharp teeth.  The night was filled with uncertainty and fear.  As I grew, the night became my savior because I could disappear.  I remember playing games to see how well I could hide.  Outside I would find strategic places to hide so that when a car or someone walked by I could disappear into the foliage.  I had grown from abject fear of the night to embracing the solitude of the night.  Coming of age as a teenager, I remember having strategic defensive items placed around the house.  There was my baseball bat that I had placed behind the sofa in the living room.  There was the wand to the vacuum cleaner that was behind a chair in the family room.  Interestingly my Dad was not physically violent.  He gave me 2 spankings during my childhood and I had earned both of them.  Yet, I had a palpable fear of him.  During his bouts of drinking his countenance would become menacing and contoured.  His eyes would scream with anger.  When he looked at me my guts would rumble and a fear so real I thought I could touch sprung from my small body.  But a mad all-encompassing rage built within me as well.  And it is this rage that caused me to place things around the house for protection.  I would imagine using them on my Father, striking him again and again.  How then does a small child learn how to have the heart of a man?  I didn't learn.

Growing to young adulthood the anger was well contained in a very thick vault.  On occasion it would explode into view.  When I was 18 I became virtually self-sufficient with brief forays to my Aunt’s house.  The damage from my youth was mostly hidden to the outside world partly because I was so shy and inhibited that I did not interact with people.  People praised me for being a good listener.  Listening was my way of coping with the shyness.  I was a good listener though and I would ask thoughtful questions that would keep the conversation directed anywhere but at me.  People’s perception of me was that I was a good guy.  Inside I still raged.  I was so sensitive to people, including strangers, that I often thought they were laughing at me.  Rejection was the norm in my mind, not because I was truly rejected but because I thought “who wouldn't reject me”.  The rejection and the shyness drove me farther into myself.  There was though a spark somewhere deep within that wanted out of these dangerous and destructive emotions.  I would read 100 books a year, many of them self-help books.  I was looking for something that I could not find because I simply did not know what I was looking for.  There was a drive that propelled me forward in my search, but I remained unfulfilled.  In one of the self-help books there was a reference to the book of Luke in the Bible.  At the age of 29 I bought my first Bible because the verse reference in the self-help book resonated with me.  I still have the Bible today.  It is a King James Version with large print.  Why the large print?  Probably because I needed to be able to see it as clearly as possible.  But that didn't happen immediately or easily.  Every day I would read the Bible, especially Romans 8:24-28.  Every day I would be refreshed.  Who wouldn't be?  It is a beautifully written uplifting book.  For seven years I read it daily.  I knew it pretty well by then.  At a business meeting a close friend conducted a Christian service.  Naturally I missed the service but I did show up in time to receive a book he gave to everyone.  It was a book on prayer by Kenneth Copeland.  Returning to my home, I sat in a back bedroom and read it in one evening.  Toward the end there was a prayer for salvation.  I prayed that prayer. 

I sat quietly waiting.  What was it that I was to do now?  I prayed the prayer but there were no more instructions.  There were no fireworks.  There was no personal call from God.  My body didn't tingle.  So I sat and nothing happened or so I thought. Moving from a mostly physical realm to the spiritual realm can take a little time and a little discernment and maybe even a little imagination.  Not thinking any more of it, I went to bed.  The next day I picked up the Bible to read it and discovered someone had replaced it with an entirely new book called the BIBLE.  As I read the same verses I had read before, the words came alive.  They had depth and nuances of meaning that had escaped me before.  Such as it is when the Author of the Book is now readily present to explain His words.  My heart opened and received these wondrous gifts of anointed Word flowing unfiltered to my dry and hardened heart. 

Soon after accepting Christ as my Savior, I had a disagreement with someone that caused me to feel rejected.  Over the years I had mentally recorded every injustice done to me in the highest quality video.  On those occasions when a new injustice would present itself, I would go to my video vault and pull one down that was similar in scope to the new injustice and play it.  Somehow this gave me some solace.  It was like saying, “See this is happening again, so it must be you.” And another 100 pound sack would be added to the massive rejection pile that had been erected around me.  “Of course no one likes you.  Look around at how often and how completely you have been rejected.”  I reached in for a very familiar one only to find that it was blank.  I tried another and it was blank as well.  Searching through my entire collection of rejection videos, I couldn't find one that had not been erased.  In the deepest part of my spirit a soft but powerful sigh emerged.  Making its way through my mind to my heart, I found a sense of peace that I had never known.  “So this is what that prayer of salvation was about”, I thought.  I felt love that day.  A warm and enveloping love that was tangible to me.  It has never left me.  At the age of 36 I felt love, real love for the first time. 

The Father started to speak to me.  I knew it was Him even if He was a little off and funny.  He told me He wanted me to start a church.  I barely knew Him and He wanted me to start a church.  Now that was funny.  So being the good child that I am, I helped Him in what He really meant.  I was to go to a small church and see how I might be of help.  Nine months after that conversation with God, a couple moved next door who were starting a church.  Six of us came together and started a church.  He wasn't so funny now.  This touched my soul deeply and drew me even further toward Him.  There was a time when I had a dispute with my wife.  Trying to go to sleep on the comfortable couch, He came to me and said, “Go ask for forgiveness.”  I was indignant with my response, “You were there and you know I was right.”  We went back and forth until finally I said, “You’re not going to let me sleep are you.”  “Nope”, He said.  So I got up just so I could get some sleep.  I didn't feel love and I wasn't being obedient.  I just wanted to be left alone.  Funny thing, somewhere between the living room and the bedroom, my heart changed.  I asked for forgiveness from my heart and just as you might suspect, it was well received. And so it went, He would tell me something to do and I would negotiate or tell Him He was wrong.  He never was wrong, not once.  One day I simply obeyed.  There was no rationalization.  There was no discussion.  I simply obeyed.  My relationship had turned from a distant Father to a nurturing Dad who is ever-present.  A Dad who has never rejected me and always loved me fully and unconditionally.  A Dad who never brought up my past mistakes and indiscretions.  A Dad who lovingly smiled at me when I would turn to Him.  A Dad who never turns His back on me.  A Dad who unceasingly encourages me.  I have a Dad who has given me His heart so that I might give it away.  A Dad who has shown me how to have the heart of a man.  I recommend Him highly to you if you don’t know Him.  He wants to be your Dad, too.

Treasures...

There is a story from ancient time about a wealthy man in ancient India who had a very large farm. His life was very fulfilled and he was very content. There came upon his farm a priest who began to talk to him about the formation of the earth. He told him that the earth was once a fiery ball. As the moisture condensed and rain began to fall the earth cooled and as it cooled granite was formed and then silver. As the earth cooled more gold was formed and finally diamonds. The priest went on about diamonds and how valuable they were and how easily they could be found in white sand between mountains. The priest talked late into the night. As the wealthy farmer fell asleep that night he suddenly felt poor. While he had lost nothing of value, his discontent caused him to believe he was now poor. This discontent would drive him to sell his farm and seek the wealth of diamonds. Filled with optimism and self assuredness be began the journey he knew would end in enormous wealth. As time pressed on and he searched the world, the fortune he had acquired from the sale of his farm dwindled until there was none left. Years of searching had taken him to a far distant shore. With no family, no friends, and no money, he quietly allowed the tide to take him out to sea and he was never seen again.

Meanwhile the new owner of his farm saw a light gleaming from the sand under a clear stream on the property. Reaching down he removed a stone from the streambed which was mostly black with a little clear gem showing. Thinking nothing of it, he placed it on the mantel in his home. Shortly after, a guest noticed it and exclaimed, “you’ve found a diamond”. Not believing that he had, the new owner took his guest out to the stream. They brought a shovel and with the first turn of the sand they found diamonds, dozens of them and all more beautiful than the one he had first discovered.

As to the veracity of the story, one cannot say, but some of the greatest diamonds ever discovered have come from that area of India. It is difficult, though, to deny the truth found in the story. All of us at one time or another have missed the opportunities that are set before us. We probably have all had a visit from an authority figure in our life that has left us feeling poorer, at least in spirit. The real treasures of life are not found in the coldness of material possessions. No, they are found in the warmth of a smile, in the squeeze of a hand, in the twinkle of an eye. The real treasures of life are not found among the facets of a diamond. They are not found in the weight of gold or among all the property we may own. The real treasures are found in the relationships we have with others—our family, our friends, our colleagues, our clients, and even among strangers.

A person may be as contented with life as was the wealthy farmer of our story. They are excited about life and the future and the magical events that it holds. Maybe it is a wedding, a graduation, a birth, the success of a company, retirement, grandchildren, love, or many other incredibly wonderful things. Feeling great and on top of the world, they discover what they believe is a small health issue, only to be told it is life changing, if not life ending. With heaviness of heart they feel poorer and bowed down by a great weight. Proclamations of doom can do that to a person. But we have the ability to enter that person’s life at their point of need and give them comfort. In the dark recesses of their minds, hope comes as but a flickering candle. This small fire will not of itself bring warmth, but if it is encouraged by the breath of another who cares, it can be used to light a fire that can eliminate the darkness and in this illumination hope grows and peace abounds. True healing comes from within whether it be physical, mental, or spiritual.

At the end of our lives, they will not stand in the pulpit at our memorial service and count our possessions. They will talk about our character, our beliefs, our principles, and the lives we touched on our all too brief journey of life. In the audience their will be those on whose hearts, we etched words of love and encouragement. This then, will be the legacy we leave, the simple touch we made upon another. Take the time to touch at least one each day. A simple smile or a soft voice saying “I love you”, is enough.