Greg Hewlett passed away on January 17th after nearly eight years of battling colon cancer. While we grieve his loss, we are comforted to know that he is with his Lord.
If you would like to leave your thoughts on Greg, please see this thread.
If you would like to make a charitable donation in Greg's honor, please see this thread.
The Struggle Has Ended
Thursday, October 23, 2003
Stan' Up and Get Hit
Few of my entries have generated as much response as Cool Hand Luke. My Uncle Ron sent me an item he ran across in the 1966 Farmer's Almanac by a fellow named Sam Foss. I found it pertinent and amusing:
Luck loves the hard hitter and glorifies grit.
An' smiles on the man who stan's up an' gets hit;
Though fate strikes out strong, with a blow 'twixt the eyes.
It loves the stout soul who still fights and defies.
The fight is not gained by the strong or the fleet,
But by the grim chap who don't know he is beat.
This life is a fight that has got to be fit,
The best thing you can do is stan'd up and git hit.
Also, here is a text on the same theme from 2 Corinthians:
But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that his life may be revealed in our mortal body.
Luck loves the hard hitter and glorifies grit.
An' smiles on the man who stan's up an' gets hit;
Though fate strikes out strong, with a blow 'twixt the eyes.
It loves the stout soul who still fights and defies.
The fight is not gained by the strong or the fleet,
But by the grim chap who don't know he is beat.
This life is a fight that has got to be fit,
The best thing you can do is stan'd up and git hit.
Also, here is a text on the same theme from 2 Corinthians:
But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that his life may be revealed in our mortal body.
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4 comments:
Both of these remind me of Romans 5:3-5
"More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us." (ESV)
Greg and Christine, we pray for both of you every day and rejoice in the progress that God has orchestrated.
Although I agree with both comments posted by Bill Peck and Greg on suffering and the Cool Hand Luke" essay, it should be explictly noted that the suffering involved in Biblical texts is not merely pain endurance for its own sake. A suffering that leads others to see the redemption that is "in Christ" (His humiliation and exaultation) in the greater context of all humanity living in a world of sin and death, is in view here.
And that is the word of encouragement I send to you, Greg. Such has been the hallmark of your suffering - and no less in Christine's. It has been evident that all of us have seen our own lives as those who are redeemed "in Christ" a whole lot clearer then ever before.
And I would add I Peter 4:19: "Let those who suffer according to the will of God, entrust themselves to a loving Creator."
A big AMEN to Roland Lindh for adding another perspective to the running commentary. To his point, we have encouraged many others to check in on this site for an uplifting picture of God's hand on Greg and Christine and their witness to it.
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