Meditation

I'm going to miss Dave Frick a lot. When pastors talked about being "passionate", the young people in the church knew that they could have said "Mister Frick" interchangeably. It wasn't just because he wasn't afraid to say "Amen", and mean it; it was because he wasn't afraid to love us. When I got kicked out of school, he was the only one who reached out to me (and helped me through that tough time). He really had an important role for us young people. When dumb jocks ripped on us skinny guys, he would talk about the guy on his navy ship named "beanpole" - as the crew found out, the strongest guy on the ship. And the guy wasn't an intellectual, but when I looked at Dave Frick I saw Jesus, and there weren't many people I could say that about. The pastors just dismissed our family as dysfunctional (despite a few courtesy visits); but Mr. Frick just accepted us and I know he really believed God had a plan for me, and when I was around him I believed it too.

And without warning, he's gone. It hurts, but differently than I would have thought; when I think about him I don't feel regret, but hope. After a life full of love and giving, and a share of pains and burdens, the decay of this life accumulates... and then it's just time to go.

Dave Frick's life doesn't teach anything new; humility, compassion, passion for holiness. I could know all the greek and hebrew and theology in the world, but if I haven't learned these things, I haven't learned anything at all. So I guess I'll thank him again soon enough for his good lessons. With that, it's time to get back to the here-and-now and catch up on homework (good luck with that). Chow