Here's another story of 'A Stroke of Faith'

Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.

-Psalm 27:14

Mark Moore learned this lesson the hard way. Ten years ago he was hit by back-to-back strokes that could have taken his life. He spent a month in a coma and wake up to find his life forever changed. He re-learned how to walk.

His biggest challenges? One was impatience - recovery doesn’t happen overnight. “It’s incremental … you have to be patient,” he said in an interview earlier this week, coinciding with the release of his new book, “A Stroke of Faith: A Stroke Survivor’s Story of a Second Chance of Living a Life of Significance.” Just to be clear, the book isn’t directly related to this blog with a similar name.

Then again, it’s semi-related because like me, Mark had a stroke at a relatively young age, nearly died and struggled to recover. Also like me, he's finished races during his recovery. A year after his stroke, he finished a 5K (that's 3.1 miles) and went on to run a 10K.

'We are renewed day by day'

Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.

-2 Corinthians 4:16

Every so often, my body reminds me that I'm no longer in my 20s. Or 30s. Or 40s. You get the picture.

Now we're in the middle of Holy Week, the week between Psalm Sunday - the celebration of Jesus' entry to Jerusalem - and Easter Sunday - the celebration of his resurrection and the ultimate promise of what Paul is saying in the verse above.

So consider this verse this week. Despite age, health issues, anything that troubles you, there's that promise of renewal.

God is with you - even in the dark places

Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

-Psalm 23:4

Ever been in a dark place?

I always associate darkness with my stroke, with a vague recollection of being in a dark room while someone was looking at an image of my brain. I was confused, couldn't speak and couldn't move my right arm or leg.

Dark place indeed.

You likely recognize the verse above from the 23rd Psalm, one of the most often-quoted chapter in the Bible. It begins "The Lord is my shepherd... ." You might be even more familiar with other translations, including the King James version with its famous "valley of the shadow of death" phrase.

Today, though, consider that you have a comforter when you are in the dark. God is with you. You are never alone.

Finding time to tune in to nature

I love to think of nature as an unlimited broadcasting station through which God speaks to us every hour, if we will only tune in.

-George Washington Carver

It's my favorite time of the year - fall.

Temperatures are cooler but not cold, ideal for being outdoors. The leaves turn and crunch underfoot. The sky turns an amazing blue.

I'm fortunate to live near a trail, lined with trees with frequent sightings of deer, rabbits, squirrels and birds. This time of year, it's often dark when I start running on the trail, and not long ago, I could hear an owl nearby along the route.

Then I stumbled across the quote from George Washington Carver about nature, God's unlimited broadcasting station.

Be sure to tune in.

What's your mantra?

If you've been here before, you might well know that I'm a distance runner. Not a fast one, but a runner just the same.

Before another dark winter sets in, I got a Road ID bracelet with my name plus phone numbers in case of emergency.

I added one more line: my running mantra. When I get tired or get in a bad mental state, I repeat to myself: "Relax. Power. Glide. God."

This is mostly stolen from Olympic runner Jeff Galloway. I'm a big fan, and his mantra is "Relax. Power. Glide."

Courage. Sympathy. Love.

A little courage helps more than much knowledge, a little human sympathy more than much courage, and the least tincture of the love of God more than all.

-C. S. Lewis

C.S. Lewis

Courage. Sympathy, Love.

I ran across this C.S. Lewis quote not long ago and it started me thinking.

In a way, the first phrase reminds me of the Malcolm Gladwell book "Blink," which I recommend. There's such a thing as too much information in decision-making.

The second phrase is like the Cowardly Lion in the "Wizard of Oz." What made him move was his sympathy with other characters, not, as he says he lacks, courage.

And that "tincture" of the love of God? The good news is that this tincture - and so much more - is given to everyone.

'Heals the sorrows of their hearts'

He binds their wounds, heals the sorrows of their hearts.

-Psalm 147:3

What do these words mean to you?

To me, they are about not the physical suffering we face in this world, but the spiritual suffering that impacts us all, sooner or later.

We'll all leave this physical world, but we all have the opportunity for ultimate healing of our spiritual suffering.

Not temporarily but eternally.

Looking for bandages for the soul

He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.

-Psalm 147:3

We've all had a broken heart, haven't we? Times of sadness or disappointment. Feelings of hopelessness.

Been there.

This Psalm writer tells us that God gives us hope, though, applying the bandage we need for these wounds of inward pain to heal.

Those bandages might not be easy to see during some of those times of heartbroken loss. But don't lose hope - seek his healing of the soul.

'Now you are light'

For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light ... .

-Ephesians 5:8

Ever feel like you're living in the dark? I remember the day that I had my stroke and lying in a dark room. Vaguely, I remember the darkness might have had something to do with imaging.

But regardless of how light or dark my surroundings, I felt in the dark. Lost, confused and grasping for hope that I could not see.

And we've all been there, one way or the other.

Today, though, God offers us the opportunity to be a child of light, a light in his name. Regardless of any darkness in your past, you can live in the light.

'All you who hope in the Lord'

Be strong and take heart, all you who hope in the Lord.

-Psalm 31:24

Hope can be a hard-to-find commodity.

Maybe that's not the right way to say it. Hope is marketed every day, everywhere. You see hope offered in infomercials: Look better! Feel better! Fix a body part! Buy this thing! We can make you happy!

Any of this really hope? I'll let you answer that question for yourself.

Have you ever been in the market for hope, real hope? I'm guessing that's part of the human condition - experienced by anyone and everyone. We feel a natural need for hope. We strive for hope. We look for hope.

The Psalm writer was giving a path to real, living hope - remembering the gifts and the wonders God freely offer.

And one of the gifts: Hope. Not infomercial hope, but the real deal.

People, like cats, often ignore the obvious

We may ignore, but we can nowhere evade, the presence of God.

-C.S. Lewis

Our family cats ignore us much of the time. Cats are like that.

C.S. Lewis

I suspect they know we provide food, water, shelter and the like, but simply choose to ignore us because unless they happen to be hungry or thirsty, we aren't worth their time.

However, they cannot evade us forever. We control what they eat, their comfort and their water supply. If need be, we can pick them up and move them. It might take some effort, but we can eventually win out. And if nothing else, we're present in their lives most of the time.

People and God, it seems, are like that, too. We're famous for ignoring God. We get busy on doing something else and turn away. We set some priorities that exclude paying attention to God.

But, like the cats and the owners, we can't evade God. His presence is there, whether we pay attention or not.

What do you rely on? Maybe you should rely on this rescuer

I rely on your constant love; I will be glad, because you will rescue me.

-Psalm 13:5

We all need a rescuer, sooner or later.

When did you need one? Or are you waiting your turn?

Stroke survivors know what it's like to need a rescuer: Keeping you alive. Helping your initial recovery. Providing physical, speech and/or occupational therapy. Rescuers all.

God is the chief rescuer. When it comes down to it, when all rescue resources are exhausted, God is there to get us through. His constant love endures.

Easter is coming soon - on this Sunday, most Christians celebrate Christ's resurrection, the victory over even death. With strength like that, with constant love, we have our rescuer.

It's not about food or drink but about you and me

For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, ...

-Romans 14:17

Last post was about alcohol and its possible effect on stroke risk.

Now, a different alcohol angle.

Where did you grow up? My hometown was in a "dry" county, a place with alcohol restrictions and lots of people who just didn't approve of alcohol.

God and time - he's got all that's needed for all of us

God has, quite literally, all the time in the world for each one of us.

-Philip Yancey

I'm a fan of time.

One of my favorite TV offerings is the program "Doctor Who" about an eccentric time traveler, with clever plots often revolving around time. And in real life, it's interesting to me how the timing of events have been so key in history and in my own life.

• A gifted, somewhat maverick, neurosurgeon winds up in a middle-size Southern city for a short time. In that small space of time, a family with a young child suddenly needs that surgeon to save the child's life.
• A woman facing Alzheimer's disease faces a move to be closer to one of her children. A facility just opens a new wing, offering as much independence as wanted but care if needed. As the disease progresses, the same facility builds an unparalleled skilled nursing facility next door. The woman is cared for in comfort close to a loving family in her last few months.

Dead to hope? Jesus offers you his own 'Lazarus effect'

[This was originally posted Dec. 24, 2009; revised in 2014]

Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. "Take away the stone," he said.

"But, Lord," said Martha, the sister of the dead man, "by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days."

Then Jesus said, "Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?"

So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, "Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me."

When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out!" The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face.

Jesus said to them, "Take off the grave clothes and let him go."

-John 11:38-44

A few years ago (2008), I heard a presentation by one of the doctors responsible for making tPA (tissue plasminogen activator) available to stroke patients.

In my own 1998 experience, I could not speak, I could not move my right arm or leg - but after the clot-busting tPA, I regained those abilities. It was a dramatic experience. The doctor called it "the Lazarus effect."

'I will hope in him'

... his compassion never ends. It is only the Lord’s mercies that have kept us from complete destruction. Great is his faithfulness; his loving-kindness begins afresh each day. My soul claims the Lord as my inheritance; therefore

-Lamentations 3:22-24

Lamentations is not a great marketing book name, is it? It's attributed to the prophet Jeremiah after the Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem.

But in these verses, Jeremiah reminds us that as bad as things can get, God is with us. He knows us. He loves us. He will not leave us.

In the days and years after my stroke, I've leaned on God for hope. And it's available to all of us.

'My hope is in you'

But now, Lord, what do I look for? My hope is in you.

-Psalm 39:7

We're all coached to pin our hopes to something human-made.

Buy this, and you'll be good-looking. Purchase that, and you'll be popular. Drink this, you'll have more friends. Eat that, and you'll lose all the weight you want. Subscribe to this, and all your problems are resolved.

Too often, people pin their hopes on hollow dreams, as directed by entertainment and advertising. I certainly have fallen into this trap.

Consider this Psalm verse. We've looked and looked for hope. Time to place our hope is in God.

'Let him have all your worries and cares'

Let him have all your worries and cares, for he is always thinking about you and watching everything that concerns you.

-1 Peter 5:7

Lately, this blog has featured a lot of Bible verses - with the theme of troubles and worries.

Why? I am not certain. I seem to have been led down this route. Perhaps these were written for a particular person out there in Internetland. Perhaps for something in my own life that has yet to develop. Perhaps for a reason yet to be determined.

For whatever reason, we can all consider these verses - we will all face worries sooner or later. Let God have those worries.

'We get knocked down, but we get up again'

We are pressed on every side by troubles, but not crushed and broken. We are perplexed because we don’t know why things happen as they do, but we don’t give up and quit. We are hunted down, but God never abandons us. We get knocked down, but we get up again and keep going.

-2 Corinthians 4:8-9

What do the words "crushed" or "broken" mean to you?

Physically, grapes are crushed to make wine; a window can be broken by a baseball. But what about people?

Paul wrote to the Corinthians about the human condition - you can't ignore that troubles abound. Good, decent people can have health problems. Hard workers can find themselves unemployed. Those seeking friends might find themselves - in human terms - alone.

But we are not really alone. God never abandons us.

Does that mean all the world is just rainbows and flowers? Of course not. Humans - with both good intentions and bad intentions - have made many, many messes in this world. We get through this precisely because God never abandons us.

'In his word I put my hope'

I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits, and in his word I put my hope.

-Psalm 130:5

Hope. My hope. Your hope.

We've all been there, haven't we - waiting, even reluctantly, in hope? Maybe you're waiting now in hope.

Lately, I've had some disappointments and concerns. Knee still bothers me. Other strange, unexplained lower leg pains, twinges and cramps. A friend seems to be having serious personal issues - yet to be explained. And more.

There's only so much I alone can do about any of these or others. Instead, I wait; my whole being waits. In hope.