Reflections from the Home Team - August 8, 2020

“One thing that has remained a constant for me throughout is that our human fragility always has a powerful effect upon our relationships.  When we lose people who we love and care about, or when we lose certain physical traits due to illness of injury, we learn to value and cherish those people and traits we are blessed to retain. Human fragility reminds me that our time in communion with others is precious, and that our relationships with others are treasures to be cherished!”

Greetings from Cedar Falls!

 

Lots of thoughts rolling around I my mind this past week and I always enjoy taking a break from “thinking” by watching baseball. This past week, my Atlanta Braves suffered a huge blow when their young pitching ace, Mike Soroka was lost for the season after tearing his right Achilles tendon while pitching against the Mets. Mike was injured in the third inning after delivering a pitch when the Met’s J.D. Davis grounded a ball toward first baseman Freddie Freeman. Soroka broke toward first base to cover the bag only to go down on his first step off the mound.  He let out a scream, knowing it was a serious injury that fully ensures he won’t be back on the mound until 2021.

 

Well, so much for taking a break from “thinking” by watching baseball… This devastating injury to Mike got me thinking of many things as I await my appointment at Mayo next week. 

 

Atlanta is now faced with the daunting task of replacing one of baseball's brightest young stars, a pitcher who turns just 23 this week but already displayed enormous poise and command of his pitches during his first full season in the big leagues last season. What stood out to me was the compassion by Braves manager Brian Snitker as he helped Mike off the field and in his post-game comments following the incident. Brian has spent many years in the Braves organization managing at a variety of levels gaining wisdom and experience while waiting his turn to get that opportunity at the Big-League level.  Most importantly, Brian has always treated his players at all levels with dignity, respect and a caring approach while also holding them accountable for their actions, a combination not often found in today’s professional sports.

 

In my work with high school, college and professional athletes over the years, I have so often run across a sense of “invincibility” when dealing with them. Might this be a standard attitude that prevails among strong, young athletes who are at the top of their game? Perhaps, but in reality, frailty is a condition of our existence; our beliefs about our toughness tend to draw on myth more than objective truth. Full disclosure, I have fit into that category throughout most of my life. My cancer journey and most recently the pandemic we are all struggling with have led me to a different thought process regarding my “invincibility”.

One thing that has remained a constant for me throughout is that our human fragility always has a powerful effect upon our relationships.  When we lose people who we love and care about, or when we lose certain physical traits due to illness of injury, we learn to value and cherish those people and traits we are blessed to retain. Human fragility reminds me that our time in communion with others is precious, and that our relationships with others are treasures to be cherished!

This thought brings to mind a poem I was blessed to have shared with me during treatments by one of my favorite nurses in Iowa City. It’s titled “The Guest House” by Jellaludin Rumi.  It reads:

The Guest House

This being human is a guest house.
Every morning a new arrival.
A joy, a depression, a meanness,
some momentary awareness comes
as an unexpected visitor.
Welcome and entertain them all!
Even if they are a crowd of sorrows,
who violently sweep your house
empty of its furniture,
still, treat each guest honorably.
He may be clearing you out
for some new delight.
The dark thought, the shame, the malice.
meet them at the door laughing and invite them in.
Be grateful for whatever comes.
because each has been sent
as a guide from beyond.

— Jellaludin Rumi

 

The first time I read “The Guest House,” I felt certain that it had been written just for me, as if Rumi had been reading my thoughts. I’ve not only been visited by the feelings he names — “a depression, a meanness,” “the dark thought, the shame, the malice” — I’ve said and done things that brought those feelings my way.

Rumi tells us to open the door to these “unexpected visitors.” In my experience, that’s not necessary. If the door’s not open, they’ll blow it off its hinges, or break in through the windows. Once they’re in, I don’t want to “welcome and entertain them all” as Rumi advises. Instead, I want to give them the boot like I might tell any annoying guest, “You must come again when you have less time❣️”

 

Honestly, we should not only welcome these troublesome guests but rather be grateful for whoever comes. For a long time, I thought Rumi meant, “These hard feelings will pass, and happier ones will take their place.” Then it dawned on me that even when the visiting vandals are trashing my guest house, their very presence is a sign that I’m human.  That’s a fact that unites me with everyone who acknowledges and accepts their human condition. For me, the true delight is in knowing that we have company on this endless and sometimes perilous journey toward becoming more fully human.

Another thought that came to mind was a comment made by my oncologist, Dr. Claman, a wise and skillful doctor while sitting in his office in Iowa City.  Halfway through treatments, when the pain and suffering was nearing its peak, he told me when dealing with cancer, you just have to have faith...

I sat there and thought about how the burden of healing sickness is never really on the patient, how it is never really even on a doctor, but how it is always, always, on God.

 

A verse from Jeremiah recently comforted me at a time when I had doubts about some of those “Guest House” visitors who had taken up some rental space in my mind.

“Heal me, LORD, and I will be healed; save me and I will be saved, for you are the one I praise.“ – Jeremiah 17:14

The burden of healing truly rests on the shoulders of my big, gracious God!

The burden of healing falls on my God who knows the plans he has for me even when my own hopes may at times collapse around me. The burden of healing doesn’t lie in saying just the right words or praying something that sounds beautiful. And I don’t know about you, but that frees me up to pray a little more boldly for God to heal the trials I am experiencing now.

But no matter what I might be facing or feeling, when I’m willing to stand dependent on God for the Spirit’s fresh filling of power and love, all other things tend to lose their hold on me. God’s love truly encompasses all. It reaches to every dark crevice and fills every need or longing that I feel. It gives me the power to let go of the pains and sufferings of the past. It gives peace to the hurt that I may be experiencing. It is powerful and surely surpasses my own knowledge and understanding, because His love never fails... I can come to my heavenly Father and ask him to heal me because He wants me to be whole. He wants me to be whole, not just in my spirit and soul, but also in my body.

I don't always know what the Lord’s will for me is... especially in times like now, when I seek His help in healing me. I certainly offer Him no promises, no bargains, no deals to exchange for my health. I simply bow my heart before Him to tell Him the desire of my heart... that I want to spend as many years as I can loving Him here, loving others, and wanting to become more like Him.

However He chooses to accomplish that is up to Him—and that’s okay with me. If He uses doctors to provide healing for me, I pray He gives them wisdom to know what to do. Regardless of how He may choose to accomplish it, the healing He gives is always miraculous. And He deserves all the praise!

Thanks to all of you who are part of my Home Team for listening to my ramblings... It helps me to process the thoughts rolling around in my head, which are spoken from my heart as I tackle the challenges and surprises each day brings. As one of my favorite authors shares:

 

“You'll get through this. It won't be painless. It won't be quick. But God will use this mess for good. Don't be foolish or naïve. But don't despair either. With God’s help, you will get through this."

 

Max Lucado

 

Whatever each of us may be dealing with on our daily journeys, be it loss, illness or injury, take a deep breath and then…  remember nothing is too great, too terrible, too large, or too heavy for Him.  Embrace that truth as Satan weaves and God reweaves.

 

God’s richest blessings your way!

 

Dave

 

–     Soon to be Released –

 

My website is currently “under construction” as I wait for the release of my new book Reflections from the Home Team… STAYING POSITIVE When Life Throws You a Curve!  I thought you might enjoy an overview of the book which I have shared below prior to its release. I will let you know once it is released and when I have completed work on the book’s website. Thanks to each of you for your support as part of my “HOME TEAM” over the years. Your love, support and encouragement have helped carry me through many of the challenges on my life’s journey❣️

 

Book Overview

 

Reflections from the Home Team... STAYING POSITIVE When Life Throws You a Curve! is intended to be a resource you can turn to each day for hope and encouragement as you take on the daily challenges that life may “pitch” your way. The book is a go-to resource for injecting a healthy dose of positivity into your daily life. Positivity has been proven to make a difference in overcoming negativity and adversity, and each reflection in the book examines positive perspectives and approaches to dealing with those life challenges.

 

Since writing Reflections from the Home Team… Go the Distance, and surviving cancer, the author has continued to share encouragement and inspiration for others who may be facing not only serious health issues such as cancer, but other life challenges as well. By processing his cancer journey through writing reflections based on his experiences and the experiences of those he has come into contact with, David Welter has provided hope and comfort for others who may be experiencing similar challenges in their life’s journey.

 

As this book is released, our world has been hit with the “curve ball” of the COVID-19 pandemic that has infected millions, cost hundreds of thousands of lives, ground travel to a standstill, and threatened the global economy unlike anything experienced in generations.  It is a liminal moment where the world teeters on the threshold of hope or despair, winning or losing, great pain or great gain.  Remember, life is like a baseball game; when you think a fastball is coming, you have to be ready to hit the curve!

 

Each reflection includes an encouraging attitude, a spiritual insight and a step to consider which are frequently blended with baseball analogies and metaphors. Life’s challenges are not easy, just as baseball isn’t always easy. The game provides many lessons about success and failure, and those lessons can often be applied in our life journeys. As life’s curveballs and challenges come our way, the author encourages reaching out to our “Home Teams” (both human and divine) for the strength, love, support and comfort needed to meet them.

 

Pastor Brian King writes:

 

“Dave is a teacher and coach at heart who knows the power of a well-spoken and well-timed word.  A voracious reader and lifelong learner, his insights and musings are frequently spiced with the wisdom of theologians like Richard Rohr, pastors like Max Lucado, best-selling authors like Jon Gordon and, of course, baseball greats like Mariano Rivera.  Dave is someone wired by God to look for the teachable moment in every situation, the winning approach to every challenge, and the deeper meaning in every experience.  People are looking for good coaching, sound advice, faithful counsel, and time-tested insights as they approach challenges they’ve never encountered before.  For this reason, I am thankful that my friend, Dave Welter, has been given “the tongue of a teacher”.  Even in this changing, turning, and challenging world, Dave has a word to sustain the weary; a message for “STAYING POSITIVE when life throws you a curve!”