Five More Minutes With Spends Five Minutes Thinking About Tightrope Walking

Written by John Paul Carter on July 29, 2013

Angel detail

Today our frequent guest columnist, John Paul Carter, an ordained minister who writes for the Weatherford (Texas) Democrat, reflects on how many of us “walk the tightrope” in our daily lives.  Thanks, as always, John Paul!

Tightrope Walking In Real Life

Last Sunday night I was glued to the TV watching Nik Wallenda walk across the Little Colorado River Gorge on a 2-inch-thick steel cable, 1,500 feet above the floor of the Grand Canyon.

He had only a 43 lb., 30 ft. flexible pole for balancing and no harness or safety net to catch him if he fell. Once he began, there was no turning back on a perilous journey in which one miss-step would almost certainly result in his death.

A seventh generation member of the famous “Flying Wallendas” circus family, the 34-year-old braved the wind gusts, fatigue, and fear, only pausing twice to refocus because of the wind and an unsettling rhythm in the cable.

With Nik’s family tensely looking on and his father encouraging him, he made the breathtaking quarter-mile walk in slightly less than 23 minutes.

The splendid camera and audio work put his world-wide audience on the wire with him. It reminded me a little bit of how it might have been to watch Peter’s perilous walk on the stormy Sea of Galilee. I was a nervous wreck!

Wallenda, who had trained intently for this attempt ever since last year’s daring walk above Niagara Falls, prayed audibly almost every step of the way.

His successful crossing was a brave example of the merging of careful preparation and trust in God. The stakes were too high not to both prepare and pray.

Although a death-defying feat like Wallenda’s walk on a wire over the Grand Canyon without a safety net is remarkable, it pales in comparison to the dangers we face in our everyday living over a lifetime.

Indeed, life is often like walking a tightrope without a safety harness – a high stakes balancing act. Whether we’re keenly aware of our vulnerability or oblivious to the risks involved to ourselves and those around us, we’re all real life tightrope walkers.

Even when we diligently prepare ourselves for life’s demands and meet its challenges with prayer, we sometimes lose our balance and plummet to the rocks below.

The reasons for our tumbles, great or small, are as varied and complex as life itself – ranging from our own willfulness to those random, unforeseen, violent gusts of wind.

Some of our falls have more lethal consequences than others. Our faith carries no guarantee against harm. What it does promise is that whether we are in green pastures, beside still waters, or walking a tightrope over the valley of the shadow of death, God will be with us, working for good in every circumstance of our lives – even when we fall.

Our faith promises both guidance and support for our journey and restoration when we stumble. As the Psalmist says: “If we fall, we will not stay down, because the Lord will help us up.’’ (37:24 TEV)

 

Inspiring Moment: Pike Brewery Memorabilia

Written by Braiden Rex-Johnson

Inspiring Moment: Memorabilia

Five More Minutes With Spends Five Minutes With WWI Pilot Eddie Rickenbacker

Written by Braiden Rex-Johnson on July 22, 2013

Carmel, California Beach Scene

This haunting story came into my inbox via the Internet and was just too good not to pass along to Five More Minutes With readers. Enjoy!

It happened every Friday evening, almost without fail, when the sun resembled a giant orange and was starting to dip into the blue ocean.

Old Ed came strolling along the beach to his favorite pier. Clutched in his bony hand was a bucket of shrimp. Ed walks out to the end of the pier, where it seems he almost has the world to himself. The glow of the sun is a golden bronze now.

Everybody’s gone, except for a few joggers on the beach. Standing out on the end of the pier, Ed is alone with his thoughts…and his bucket of shrimp.

Before long, however, he is no longer alone. Up in the sky a thousand white dots come screeching and squawking, winging their way toward that lanky frame standing there on the end of the pier.

Before long, dozens of seagulls have enveloped him, their wings fluttering and flapping wildly. Ed stands there tossing shrimp to the hungry birds. As he does, if you listen closely, you can hear him say with a smile, ‘Thank you. Thank you.’

In a few short minutes the bucket is empty. But Ed doesn’t leave.

He stands there lost in thought, as though transported to another time and place.

When he finally turns around and begins to walk back toward the beach, a few of the birds hop along the pier with him until he gets to the stairs, and then they, too, fly away. And old Ed quietly makes his way down to the end of the beach and on home.

If you were sitting there on the pier with your fishing line in the water, Ed might seem like ‘a funny old duck,’ as my dad used to say. Or, to onlookers, he’s just another old codger, lost in his own weird world, feeding the seagulls with a bucket full of shrimp.

To the onlooker, rituals can look either very strange or very empty. They can seem altogether unimportant … maybe even a lot of nonsense.

Old folks often do strange things, at least in the eyes of Boomers and Busters.

Most of them would probably write Old Ed off, down there in Florida . That’s too bad. They’d do well to know him better.

His full name: Eddie Rickenbacker. He was a famous hero in World War I, and then he was in WWII. On one of his flying missions across the Pacific, he and his seven-member crew went down. Miraculously, all of the men survived, crawled out of their plane, and climbed into a life raft.

Captain Rickenbacker and his crew floated for days on the rough waters of the Pacific. They fought the sun. They fought sharks. Most of all, they fought hunger and thirst. By the eighth day their rations ran out. No food. No water. They were hundreds of miles from land and no one knew where they were or even if they were alive. Every day across America millions wondered and prayed that Eddie Rickenbacker might somehow be found alive.

The men adrift needed a miracle. That afternoon they had a simple devotional service and prayed for a miracle. They tried to nap. Eddie leaned back and pulled his military cap over his nose. Time dragged on. All he could hear was the slap of the waves against the raft…

Suddenly, Eddie felt something land on the top of his cap.

It was a seagull!

Old Ed would later describe how he sat perfectly still, planning his next move. With a flash of his hand and a squawk from the gull, he managed to grab it and wring its neck. He tore the feathers off, and he and his starving crew made a meal of it – a very slight meal for eight men. Then they used the intestines for bait. With it, they caught fish, which gave them food and more bait . . . and the cycle continued. With that simple survival technique, they were able to endure the rigors of the sea until they were found and rescued after 24 days at sea.

Eddie Rickenbacker lived many years beyond that ordeal, but he never forgot the sacrifice of that first life-saving seagull… And he never stopped saying, ‘Thank you.’

That’s why almost every Friday night he would walk to the end of the pier with a bucket full of shrimp and a heart full of gratitude.

Reference:

(Max Lucado, “In The Eye of the Storm”, pp..221, 225-226)

P.S.: Eddie Rickenbacker was the founder of Eastern Airlines. Before WWI he was a race car driver. In WWI he was a pilot and became America ‘s first ace. In WWII he was an instructor and military adviser, and he flew missions with the combat pilots. Eddie Rickenbacker is a true American hero.

It is a great story that many don’t know.

You’ve got to be careful with old guys. . .you just never know what they have done during their lifetime.

Inspiring Moment: Big Toy Dog in Window

Written by Braiden Rex-Johnson

Inspiring Moment: Dog in Window

 

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Five More Minutes With Spends Five Minutes with European Graffiti Photos

Written by Braiden Rex-Johnson

In our July 8 blog post, we examined a series of photos I call, “Remains.” This week we’ll look at another series of photos in the same vein–photos of graffiti.

During our recent Lisbon to London cruise aboard the Seabourn Sojourn, I was amazed at the level of graffiti throughout the various European cities we visited, but especially in Lisbon, where we spent a few days before we departed.

Here are the most interesting shots I captured, mostly with my favorite Hipstamatic iPhone4 camera app. Enjoy!

Graffiti in Lisbon, Portugal

Graffiti in Lisbon, Portugal

Graffiti in Lisbon, Portugal

Graffiti in Lisbon, Portugal

Graffiti in Lisbon, Portugal

Graffiti in Lisbon, Portugal

Graffiti in Lisbon, Portugal

Graffiti in Lisbon, Portugal

Graffiti in Lisbon, Portugal

Graffiti in Lisbon, Portugal

Graffiti in Lisbon, Portugal

Graffiti in Lisbon, Portugal

Graffiti in Lisbon, Portugal

Graffiti in Lisbon, Portugal

Graffiti in Lisbon, Portugal

Graffiti in Lisbon, Portugal

French graffiti

French graffiti

French graffiti

French graffiti

Inspiring Moment: Blue Heron in Florida

Written by Laurie Halladay

Blue Heron

 

More stories from: Inspiring Moment

Five More Minutes With “Remains” Photos

Written by Braiden Rex-Johnson on July 8, 2013

Remains: Lisbon window

Remains: Lisbon window

One of my favorite activities during our recent cruise from Lisbon, Portugal, to London, aboard the Seabourn Sojourn was taking iPhone4 photos using my two favorite apps: Camera+ and Hipstamatic.

And one of the recurring themes of my photos during our 18-day journey turned out to be pictures of what I describe as “Remains.”

Remains might be of a decaying window (as above). Or graffiti, or remains of a favorite meal (think of the shells that remain after you’ve enjoyed raw oysters).

Below is a rogue’s gallery of some of my best photos, which are very much in the Five More Minutes With zeitgeist. For, like loved ones we are no longer with us, these “Remains” are also well worth remembering.

Remains: Lisbon balconies, arches, and graffiti

Remains: Lisbon balconies, arches, and graffiti

Remains: Lisbon door

Remains: Lisbon door

Remains: Lisbon tiles

Remains: Lisbon tiles

Remains: Oyster shells and lemons

Remains: Oyster shells and lemons

Remains: Steamed artichoke

Remains: Steamed artichoke

Remains: Fish skeleton and skin

Remains: Fish skeleton and skin

Remains: Seafood lunch

Remains: Seafood lunch

Remains: Fish bones

Remains: Fish bones

 

Inspiring Moment: Purple Orchids

Written by Braiden Rex-Johnson

Inspiring Moment: Purple Orchids

Spend Five More Minutes with the National Museum of Funeral History

Written by Braiden Rex-Johnson on July 1, 2013

Angel monument photo

Looking for an interesting website to explore or an actual brick-and-mortar museum to visit?

Then let me introduce you to the National Museum of Funeral History, which is located in Houston, Texas.

Its website home page states, “The National Museum of Funeral History houses the country’s largest collection of funeral-service artifacts and features renowned exhibits on one of man’s oldest cultural customs. Come discover the mourning rituals of ancient civilizations, see up-close the authentic items used in the funerals of U.S. presidents and popes, and explore the rich heritage of the industry which cares for the dead.”

Permanent exhibitions include authentic memorabilia used in the funeral services and burials of celebrities including Michael Jackson, Marilyn Monroe, and Frank Sinatra. Another exhibit explores Day of the Dead customs and traditions. And ever wondered about the difference between a casket and a coffin? Here’s the place to discover the answer.

You have to smile about an organization whose trademark is, “Any day above ground is a good one.”