What Happened to Otzi?

Talk about a "cold case."

When I opened up my Yahoo home page this morning, there was Otzi. Well, not him, not even this artists rendition of him: an article about Otzi. 

Who is Otzi? He was the "Iceman" long before Val Kilmer in Top Gun. Otzi the Iceman, was discovered by hikers in the Swiss Alps way back in 1971. So, that's the "old" news. What's the "new" news?

Apparently, a cause of death has been established. "A wound reveals Ötzi was hit in the shoulder with a deadly artery-piercing arrow, and an undigested meal in the Iceman's stomach suggests he was ambushed," researchers say. There was also indications of blow to the head that knocked his brain around a bit too. 

After what seems to be 5,300 years, Otzi's cause of death is solved. Well, Lilly Rush (of CBS's "Cold Case), I guess you can shelve that one and know that it is solved!

It is really interesting to me that after thousands of years, we can apparently surmise what happened to Otzi. His genome has even been mapped! Still, there is much more that we will never know about Otzi. BUT God knows... He knew before the scientists did their lab work. He knew before the hikers found Otzi's remains. He knows already everything we know plus the "rest of the story." 

God knows my story too. He knows your story. The Psalmist declared, "Where can I go from your Spirit Where can I flee from your presence?" (Psalm 139:7) 

God knows the good, the bad and the ugly and yet He still chooses to love us. God wants us to have life. Jesus said this, "I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." (John 10:10)

We are all dying and being poisoned, poisoning ourselves and making poor life decisions. We need what Jesus offers... life to the full!

Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. 1 John 5:12

From a favorite band (Big Tent Revival), I will make this appeal!

“Choose life, that you might live, the life that He gives, He gives you forever...”

The Value of a Good Team

As I get a "little" older (being kind to myself here:-) I often find that I think back and I am beginning to notice that more and more, it is the people that I have shared life with that are the focal point of my memories.

Stories that are best told are interactive and shared. If someone wasn't there with me... it often just wasn't that good; sometimes not even worth telling?

As a child, my stories were often driven by the people who were my leaders: my parents, teachers and an occasional coach. Life was at that time quite driven by my need for direction and coaching. Those were important and formative years and having someone to guide me was necessary and vital to my development.

Something happened along the way. It slipped in almost without notice. Coaches took on a diminished role and the team began to be the driving and formative influence in my life. Looking back, I can see how this played out for me.

Teams matter. When I was young I was a part of a team called the "Green Bugs." That is a strange name to say the least and it didn't do much to get us all pumped up when we played teams with names like the "vampires" or "rattlesnakes." I wonder if a better name would have made us a better team?

Everyone wants to be on a winning team. Much of what I have become is a result of being on the right team. I had good responsible friends, a healthy God honoring church and worked for the right people who understood what was really important in life.

I know of others who chose differently. Their lives took a different path and that path was determined by their choice of a team. Tragically, often we reap the consequences of our choices.

I don't say this to brag or boast. It is by God's grace that He has brought me back from a detour here and there.

Now, I am in my 50's... not the 1st grade... and I still need a good team. I want a great team! And it seems that God has given me what I want. Thank you LORD!

If you are on my team, you know who you are and I want to say, "Thanks... and GO TEAM!"

No One is Digging Through My Garbage!

Another random thought... Celebrities are bothered by unusual happenings... at least to the rest of us "non-celebrity types." People are actually digging through Hollywood's "A-Listers" trash with an eye for making money and evidently this can pay BIG.

An empty dog food can discarded by Paris Hilton went for $300.A tissue used by Scarlett Johansson on the Tonight Show went on the block on E-Bay  and was sold for $5,300. Evidently, the old adage is true. "One man's (or woman's) trash IS another man's treasure."

No one wants to auction off my old tissues.No one is digging through my trash. Well, we do have an occasional visit from a black bear. He makes a mess, eats things that should not be ingested by anything, then leaves the mess and disappears.

In the eyes of the rest of the world, I am relatively insignificant. I have to pay to have my trash disposed of and frankly, I understand why no one is digging through my discards.

While the rest of the world is going "nuts" over big names, I am just me. I am okay with that. Especially in light of Zephaniah 3:17. Originally written to Israel, it gives us a glimpse of how God sees all of His people. 

The LORD your God is with you,

    he is mighty to save.

  He will take great delight in you,

    he will quiet you with his love,

    he will rejoice over you with singing."

Zephaniah 3:17 (NIV)

I would rather be God's delight than the world's "flavor of the day." Wouldn't you?