“People are almost always better in death than they were in life.” That’s how I started the thoughts I shared at my Dad’s funeral in April. It’s rare to hear negative words about someone at their funeral. My Dad was no exception. But like a fine wine, my Dad had improved with age so that he was a more special guy in life at the end than even he had been earlier. I miss him.

For a season in life I worked in a funeral home. We never had as many fresh cut flowers in our home as when I would pick through the discards at the end of the day and bring them home. Gloria would cut them and arrange them until she ran out of vases. There were simply too many flowers at most funerals to take them all to the cemetery; or, for the family to take home with them.

People send flowers when someone dies. Sometimes, the flowers are a representation of the relationship with the departed – whatever your belief about eternity, the person has departed the earthly tent, as St. Paul called it, they leave behind. Sometimes, the flowers are an expression of caring concern for the surviving family and friends.

People also deliver flowers to the living for certain special occasions. Valentine’s Day. Mother’s Day. Birthdays. I forgot your Birthdays. But a florist friend in Vancouver noted they were never as busy trying to fill orders as for funerals. I should check with my florist friend in Ottawa to see if the same holds true on this side of the country.

Sometimes, the delivery of flowers is to a hospital. Still alive. Gratitude? Encouragement? Getting ahead of the funeral crowd?

One of the things often heard at funerals is that we need to send flowers – metaphorical or literal – more frequently to the living than for the dead. It’s a good idea.

I’ve reached the age of understanding that time, like a candle, gets shorter the longer it’s burning. I’ve passed the halfway mark in life even if I live as long as my grandmother, who made it to 103 (and might have had more in her if she hadn’t fallen out a window at 101; but, that’s another story).

I’m glad my last words with my Dad were words of love and appreciation, care and blessing. I do, at times, wish we had spent more time together, or talking on the phone or… well, those of you who have lost a parent know what I mean. I know I could have taken greater initiative; which is not an expression of guilt but an admission of fact.

One of my closest friends has had a reprieve from the cancer with which he was diagnosed. I admit that I felt honoured AND afraid when he asked me to accompany him to his doctor for a medical update. I cried when I first found out he had prostate cancer; and, rejoice with newfound appreciation for the time we get to share.

This past week, another close friend and I spent a half hour together clearing up a disagreement. Two days later, he had a stroke. Yes, I cried when I got the message. And more when I found out he’s going to be okay. I was glad our earlier conversation ended with the exchange of metaphorical flowers and look forward to spending time together, with a different edge perhaps than before.

All of this to reinforce what’s been said so often by so many. We need to send flowers – metaphorical and literal – more frequently to the living. It’s part of my plan going forward.

I believe the Bible. I don’t just believe in the Bible. That would be too simple. If you don’t have one on the shelf at home, the Bible’s existence is proved in a nanosecond with your google machine.

I believe the Bible. I accept that the Bible expresses absolute truth and it applies to everyone’s life, kind of like absolute gravity. You don’t have to believe it for it to be true. The Bible is true.

I believe the Bible. Without it, there would be no history of creation or sound documentation of the true story of redemption. There would be only peripheral historical records of the life of Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ (Messiah); although, admittedly still more historical evidence than we have about the life of Julius Caesar and most Roman emperors. The Bible records personal history, including words that were spoken in a way as to be applicable between Jesus and you and me in the 21st century.

I believe the Bible. Its truth inspires me to be concerned about more than myself – people, nations and the planet.

I believe the Bible. I believe the Bible proclaims truth when it shares the words of Jesus.

Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength is the greatest commandment. And, the second is like it. Love your neighbour as yourself.

Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.

Whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them.

Be merciful.

Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.

Not everyone who says to Me ‘Lord, Lord’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father.

Do not judge, so that you will not be judged, since you will be judged in the same judgment that you make, and you will be measured by the same standard you apply.

Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you did it to me.

For God so loved the world, that he gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through Him. Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.

If anyone would come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me.

There will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.

Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in Me.

I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

He who has ears to hear, let him hear.

And, of course, He said more. There is no way to read His words and deny His declaration of divinity.

There is no more inclusive message; and, no more exclusive claim on life for each and every person who accepts God’s offer of redemption.

I believe the Bible.

To paraphrase Samuel Langhorne Clemens, a.k.a. Mark Twain, reports of my retirement have been greatly exaggerated.

Late last April, an agreement was reached by which my employment with The Evangelical Fellowship of Canada came to an end. However, there was no Freedom 55 in my plans. In fact, the plan was to figure out what a guy who figures he’s got twenty good years left in him, God willing, will do with that time. Those of you ahead of me on this journey are free to suggest whether you think I’ll be ready to slow down at that point.

But, first things first.

The timing was good in terms of my work responsibilities. For the first time in my seven and a half years with the organization, public policy and legal issues on the EFC’s agenda were aligned for fulfillment and the forward timeline was a six month window. Thanks be to God.

Although outside the organization, I was blessed to be able to play an ongoing advisory role on all of the relevant matters by invitation of the Members of Parliament, lawyers and coalition members with whom we had been working. For a guy who takes responsibility seriously, that was a significant personal help.

As someone who learns best from reading and experience, needed clarity and enrichment came through a friend’s recommendation of the book Necessary Endings by Henry Cloud. I invest myself in what I do; it matters to me. This book proved central to processing what lay behind and preparing for next steps.

The timing was also good because those of us who live north of the 49th parallel and east of the Rocky Mountains were on the cusp of motorcycle season. A good friend and I planned and then completed a tour of the Atlantic Provinces that had us in rain gear only twice for parts of days over two weeks of fabulous riding and fellowship. We also shared a book that centred our devotional time and conversation on our Heavenly Father’s love for each of us personally. This was vital refreshment.

Having my head and my soul in a healthier mode, I was ready to hunker down at home for a time; grateful that Gloria had agreed with me that time was needed to process the ending that had occurred before beginning to move forward. We set September as the earliest to respond to job offers.

I thought I knew, but truly had no idea the mission and ministry of love Gloria had taken on as, in her words, “primary personal assistant” for our grandson. John has lived with us for most of his five years. He was born with disabilities that require coordination of medical and therapy appointments with a variety of physicians and therapists and social workers. Add to that mix that Gloria was also the strong woman behind a husband who had sometimes outlandish work hours and it was soon (finally?) evident to me that she, too, needed some time off.

We both ended up with tears on the morning in May when the team at the Ottawa Children’s Treatment Centre asked if we could stay for a bit when dropping John off one morning. We stayed. He walked, with the aid of a walker, a circuit through the hallways that they had been practicing. This was the goal that had been established as the precursor to John attending a “regular” school. In September, he proudly walked through the front doors of an elementary school.

John’s walking, Gloria’s responsibilities and relationships, having our daughter, Grace, nearby, and my own friendships and interests were all important to the next stage of preparation; identifying the priorities that are key indicators for prayer and decision making about what will be next for me workwise.

In addition to time to read and reflect on the Scriptures, have conversations and pray, I worked through another book recommended by a friend. Leading on Empty by Wayne Cordeiro is, in my opinion, a must read for anyone in or desiring to be in a leadership role. Supplemented, for me, by Brother Lawrence’s Practice of the Presence of God and several books by Henri Nouwen, Cordeiro’s book offered sound advice and direction on how one establishes priorities that reflect life balance. I say “life balance” because I am convinced that when one gives equal or premiere billing to “work,” i.e. “work/life balance,” one is laying the foundation for life to be out of balance.

Knowing my priorities – and the priorities Gloria and I share – resulted in saying “no” to some prospects. I won’t pretend that it wasn’t difficult at times or that there hasn’t been any fear about missed opportunity. But, God has seen fit to provide encouragement and inspiration along the way; and, we have experienced His provision along with reassurance of His plans. For the greater part, there has been a peace and a confidence in Him. And, now, there is a preparedness.

We’ll see how it progresses. However it does, we are certain that His plan for our lives is intact and unfolding. As was often said in the congregation that was our church home for several years, God’s still in control, it’s gonna be okay.

We all have things we end up collecting, either because they catch our eye or capture our heart.

Close friends know that I have a rather extensive collection of miniature mice; although they’ve been packed away since we moved to Ottawa seven years ago.

A friend of mine has the largest collection of cufflinks of which I’m aware. And, he wears them!

These trinkets, trophies and treasures either begin with or acquire a certain amount of meaning for the collector. For me, and mine, each tells its own unique story.

On a much smaller scale in size of collection than either the mice or cufflinks noted above, I have a rotation of lapel pins that manage their way onto jackets and coats. These are placed almost always in the left lapel; the traditional placement above one’s heart that says, “This has meaning to me.”

Some of my pins have more obvious meaning. The silver diamond jubilee medal pin for service to Canada, the Canadian flag gift from an MP friend, the crossed flags of Canada and Israel from this past January’s trip to Israel with Prime Minister Harper, and the maple leaf made from copper that adorned the roof of our Parliament Buildings’ Centre Block from 1918 to 1996 all speak to me about special years of public engagement with hoped for benefit to our nation.

Others have a less obvious background to the casual observer. The twin poppies and gold maple leaf provided at my stepfather’s funeral by his brother; a reminder of Lewis Irvine Wallace’s service in WWII. The gold “Q” is a gift from a fellow Queen’s University alumnus and current campus chaplain. The pre-born feet-sized-and-shaped pin given to me by a young pro-life advocate whose courage I admire and cause I support. The flower sprouting barbed wire pin in remembrance of the Holocaust, placed on my lapel by the executive director of the Canadian Society for Yad Vashem – “Never again.”

These, and others, all have special meaning to me. But my thoughts on a snowy Ottawa day turned primarily to two.

The first was a gift from my father. My parents made their way to Canada from beautiful Barbados in the 1950s. Like many immigrants to this great nation they were searching out new opportunity for themselves and their children. With two older sisters, figuratively born with their feet on the beach, I was the firstborn on Canadian soil. My father’s immigration was eventually frustrated by, among other things, the falling snow like that outside my window as I write. In time he chose an employment opportunity that took him southward to the U.S. of A., where his citizenship transitioned again.

When I came of age my Dad gave me the pin I treasure. The unique gold maple leaf has been affixed to my left lapel for appearances before numerous parliamentary committees and countless receptions.

“Thank you for coming to Canada and creating for me this wonderful opportunity,” is the message the little leaf communicates from above my heart.

The second is a gift that was handed to me at Ottawa’s Macdonald-Cartier Airport late on this past Saturday afternoon.

The shaking hands of Trinity Western University’s president uncoupled the pin from his own lapel and placed it gently in my hands. It states simply, “Trinity Western University Alumni.” I have not attended nor graduated from TWU. In fact, Bob Kuhn’s school was to me just one of dozens of private Christian universities in Canada; except for TWU’s Ottawa campus, known as the Laurentian Leadership Centre, and TWU’s definitive 8-1 victory in the Supreme Court of Canada in 2001 that secured the right for Christian universities to operate professional schools with their graduates to be recognized by the requisite professional associations.

Then, Trinity Western University proposed and was approved by both the Federation of Law Societies of Canada and the British Columbia Ministry of Advanced Education to establish a school of law. A changing climate saw Ontario, Nova Scotia and British Columbia law societies ignore 2001 and turn on the tiny university; denying TWU law graduates the right to practice and forcing the school back into the courts.

Bob is an accomplished lawyer and community leader. In fact, among his many accomplishments in the legal profession is that 2001 Supreme Court of Canada win. Bob and I also share a love of the motorcycle. This past summer he completed the 50 CC Ride – San Diego, California, to Jacksonville, Florida (coast to coast) in under 50 hours; a feat that would require a speed of 50mph/80kph to accomplish non-stop. I’d say it’s a good thing he’s also a pretty good lawyer!

What makes the seemingly unstoppable Bob Kuhn’s hands shake as he hands me his alumni pin – yes, he’s a graduate of TWU – is not the attack of law societies or too much time on a motorcycle. It’s evidence of a 2006 diagnosis that he has Parkinson’s Disease. His under 50 hour ride in the summer of 2014 was a fundraiser for the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research.

I’m not an alumnus, one entitled to wear the lapel pin in that capacity, but it is treasured. It is treasured because of the man who’s it was, as well as the institution it represents. When Bob accepted the interim presidency of TWU in 2013 he could not have envisioned the battle that lay ahead for its proposed 60 seats per year law school. Standing fast in the fight, after a search for the best candidate, Bob was installed as President earlier this year. I’m honoured to add his lapel pin to my little collection, and to stand alongside Bob Kuhn in the fight for TWU’s law school – a practical expression of Canada’s constitutionally guaranteed freedom of religion.

It’s not so much the trinkets themselves that are treasured as the people and their stories that give them value. A value reflected in their placement close to the heart.