Roy's Letter to Evan

This week’s Blog is about a friend of mine that I’ve never met face to face, a guy that I respect a lot for how he’s turned a tough situation around, and to the benefit of others as well.  His name is Roy Page, and I met Roy when he was finishing writing his own book manuscript and looking for a good publisher.  So we spoke about my publishing house, Lucid Books.  In the process I learned about his story, which is the content of his book – "A Letter to Evan," how he was a divorced man doing his best to maintain a close and involved relationship in his son’s life.  His website says this:

----

Divorce changes everything.  It is disorienting, painful, and disruptive.  One dad steps forward to illustrate how to rise above the destruction of divorce, become a better person, and yes, even a better father to his children.  Roy Page exposes his heart in A Letter to Evan.  What began as an affirmation and instruction for his son has become a journey of healing, growth, and inspiration to men everywhere.

Being a loving, effective parent when you are not a part of your child’s daily life is challenging whether you are a father who travels or is divorced.  Roy Page shares how he has maintained a presence in the lives of his children.  As a man who enjoys hunting, fishing, sailing, and woodworking and possesses a deep desire to share these times of adventure with his son, Roy learns to navigate his extensive travel schedule along with Evan’s hectic baseball schedule to find a way to connect.  Even if it means writing a letter.

----

Roy with son Evan

Like I initially said, I sure respect how Roy has taken a really difficult situation and made it extremely productive.  Roy has redeemed a fall, or as it’s been said, he has fallen forward.  So I was honored when Roy asked me if he could blog about me recently.  His blog is similar to mine; it has to do with “second chances.”  I am humbled to read one on myself, but I’ve had friends say I should post his to my friends too.  So here is ROY'S BLOG ON SECOND CHANCES(Click this)

The Miracle Worker

A few weeks ago, I found an old DVD of The Miracle Worker – The Helen Keller Story, and I watched it with my 13 year old daughter, Abby.  We were both moved to tears and so inspired by the courage and persistence of both Helen Keller and her teacher, Annie Sullivan.

You probably already know much of the true story, that Helen was both blind and deaf, and that Ms. Sullivan was miraculously able to teach her to communicate and to read.  I probably had my mouth open during most of the movie as I imagined what it must have really been like for Helen or for Ms. Sullivan!

One part that especially meant a lot to me was when I heard that Ms. Sullivan in her earlier life had been blind herself.  So in some ways she empathized with Helen.  She was something of a wounded healer, a helper with a special motivator.

            

Here is a trailer of The Miracle Worker:  THE MIRACLE WORKER Trailer

Although the world is full of suffering, it is full also of the overcoming of it.  – Helen Keller

The Good Samaritan

This week I'm blogging about a nameless man whose decision in a story told centuries ago has profoundly influenced people for ages:  

The Good Samaritan.

This parable, though found only once in Scripture (Luke's gospel), has become one of the most popular of Jesus' teachings.  

According to Luke 10:29-37, a traveler is beaten, robbed, and left half dead along the road. First a priest and then a Levite come by, but both avoid the man. Finally, a Samaritan comes by. Samaritans and Jews generally despised each other, but the Samaritan helps the injured man, bandages his wounds and takes him to an inn for which he pays. 

Jesus is described as telling the parable in response to a question, "Who is my neighbor?" Leviticus 19:18 tells us to love our neighbor.

Portraying a Samaritan in a positive light would have come as a shock to Jesus' audience of Jews.

The parable has inspired painting, sculpture, poetry, and film. and it still inspires people to love others as it originally taught.

The colloquial phrase "good Samaritan", meaning someone who helps a stranger, derives from this parable, and today, various hospitals and charitable organizations are named after the Good Samaritan:  For example,   Samaritan's Purse