The Valley of Vision

My life experience has been that my best spiritual times are when really hard things happen in my life. There is a clarity that exists deep in my soul when bad things are happening around me.

This past week has been another example of such a time with the passing of our dear neighbor and friend, Dan Murphy.

Much has been rattling around in my mind as I cannot seem to shake almost constant thoughts of Murph. I have cried a lot, hugged lots of people, and watched some incredible people cope with a very difficult loss. One friend wrote me that she is having a really hard time wrapping her mind around Daniel's passing. I share her sentiments.

Something I will never forget is the sense of community I have experienced since I heard the terrible news Saturday night. Here are a couple examples:

First, the Murphys are part of the Gesu Catholic Church in University Heights. Gesu is a robust parish and we have benefited greatly from living in its boundaries. This past week, the Gesu community has experienced not only Daniel's death, but also a young mother was tragically killed in an auto wreck last week. And, a John Carroll student recently committed suicide. All three losses hit many of the same families. Many Gesu families visited the Murphys on Sunday, many of whom were also stopping by the other two grieving homes.

Additionally, Dan's parents Paul and Marcia both come from large families. It has been so encouraging to see siblings, cousins, aunts, uncles, nieces and nephews, and grandparents hustle to town to surround the Murphy family.

Second, we attend Parkside Church in Chagrin Falls. We asked that our church pray for the Murphys and found out that many other churches were praying, as well. I felt a wonderful sense of unity in Cleveland's faith community as people learned of Daniel's passing.

Third, Daniel and my son, Jackson, were very close friends and they were both classmates at St. Ignatius High School in downtown Cleveland. It's very hard to describe St. Ignatius. I am not Catholic and fundamentally I approach my relationship with Christ in a very diffent way than my Catholic friends. With that said, I have been profoundly moved, inspired, and encouraged by the Ignatius community, namely all the wonderful boys that my son has the privilege of knowing. Ignatius is a special place. Ignatius boys are special boys. I could name scores of young men that have been rallying together as they mourn and grieve Daniel's passing.

Two things have come to mind that I wanted to put in my blog entry regarding Daniel.

First, I have experienced considerable pain and sorrow and a tremendous sense of loss this week. I hurt mostly for Paul and Marcia, and I also hurt deep within my soul. I thought of the first question in The Heidelberg Catechism and found this very helpful:

QUESTION 1: What is your only comfort, in life and in death?

ANSWER: That I belong - body and soul, in life and in death - not to myself but to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ, who at the cost of His own blood has fully paid for all my sins and has completely freed me from the dominion of the devil; that He protects me so well that without the will of my Father in heaven not a hair can fall from my head; indeed, that everything must fit His purpose for my salvation. Therefore, by His Holy Spirit, he also assures me of eternal life, and makes me wholeheartedly willing and ready from now on to love for Him.
I have experienced real community this week.

A second item I wanted to share was a wonderful poem that I have been reading daily for quite some time:

THE VALLEY OF VISION

LORD, HIGH AND HOLY, MEEK AND LOWLY,

Thou hast brought me to the valley of vision,
where I live in the depths but see thee
in the heights;
hemmed in by mountains of sin I behold thy glory.

Let me learn by paradox
that the way down is the way up,
that to be low is to be high,
that the broken heart is the healed heart,
that the contrite spirit is the rejoicing spirit,
that the repenting soul is the victorious soul,
that to have nothing is to possess all,
that to bear the cross is to wear the crown,
that to give is to receive,
that the valley is the place of vision.

Lord, in the daytime stars can be seen from
deepest wells,
and the deeper the wells the brighter
thy stars shine;
Let me find thy light in my darkness,
thy life in my death,
thy joy in my sorrow,
thy grace in my sin,
thy riches in my poverty,
thy glory in my valley.

Join me in continuing to pray for Paul, Marcia, Julia and Elizabeth Murphy, their extended families and their friends.

Murph

It's Sunday night, and I am winding down from an emotional week and weekend.

I spent the week in Philadelphia attending a truly memorable business conference that one of my clients stages each year. It's called ThinkAbout, and as advertised, they left us with much to think about. The added benefit was attending the conference with good friends, Brett Flenniken, Bob Geho and Dave Cook. We had a blast and learned lots about how to better market our businesses and serve our clients.

ThinkAbout events are staged each year by Strategic Horizons - see www.strategichorizons.com. I encourage you to check out their website.

We drove home Friday and on our way we stopped at the crash site of Flight 93 - see www.honorflight93.org. It was an absolutely beautiful day, much like 9.11.2001.

When we got home I went immediately to the Brecksville High School football game and saw Janice and all the kids. The Bees got pounded again, but later found out that St. Ignatius beat Mentor handily to extend their record to 4-0.

Saturday was really busy. It started with me taking Jackson to his JV soccer game vs. Mentor. Ignatius won 1-0 and Jackson was in goal. Season-to-date - Jackson has not given up any goals. He is playing well and growing in his confidence.

I left Mentor and headed to my old man baseball game in Berea. We were playing in the semi-finals vs. the best team in the league. We fought hard and came up short 9-4.

Left Berea, raced home to shower and then back over to the west side for a Homecoming dinner for Jackson and his friends and their dates. It was very nice and all the kids looked handsome and beautiful. We took the kids downtown to drop them off for the dance at Ignatius. I was hoping to see Halle and her date - she was also going with an Ignatius boy. She wasn't there and no parents were hanging out there, so I left to go home. As I was driving down Carnegie Avenue past Jacobs Field and CSU I got a call from Jackson. He was hysterical on the phone, crying. I knew something terrible had happened and immediately thought something had happened to Halle. Jackson finally clear his thoughts and told me that Dan Murphy was in an accident. Daniel lives across the street from us and is a classmate of Jackson's. What Jackson said next was very hard to hear. He said that Daniel was in an accident and was killed. I immediately went back to Ignatius to find my son. We embraced and cried together in each other's arms. It was an unbelievable scene. Kids were still filing into the dance, word was spreading and many kids were now heading over to the chapel. I stayed wanting to see my daughter and tell her what happened. Halle arrived and I told her. She was overcome with emotion. I hugged a bunch of kids and wanted to head home to see Dan's parents, Paul and Marcia. I called Janice and broke the news to her. As the events were unfolding it was hard to comprehend. The 9 mile drive from Ignatius home was very difficult. So many thoughts and memories racing through my head. My heart was broke as I thought of dear Daniel. Dan was like a third son to me. He shared my passion for sports. He rooted hard for St. Igantius, Notre Dame and the Chicago White Sox. His Dad, Paul, was from Chicago's south side. Dan loved NCAA hoops and loved to come over to watch Notre Dame, Dayton, Xavier, Boston College, Marguette, etc... Dan loved his Catholic schools. Dan and Jack loved to play one-on-one in our back yard. Jack posted some great shots of Daniel on Facebook - see Facebook and request Jackson as your friend.

So many thoughts about Daniel, here are a few:

> I coached Daniel on a travel baseball team. Dan wasn't the star player, but no one wore the Wildcat uniform more proudly than Murph. Dan gave me everything he had and loved being on that team.

> Before joining the Ignatius crew team and getting in tip-top shape, Dan loved to eat ... eat our food. I remember one summer my kids complaining that Dan was eating us out of the house. I think I remember defending Daniel, saying he was a growing boy.

> I remember taking Dan to a few Indians games and knowing how much he loved going to games, just like I did as a boy.

> I remember Jack and Dan coming in the house to guzzle some drinks and hearing all the details on who won the hoops game. Dan loved Jackson and Jackson loved Daniel. We were so blessed to have him right across the street for the past four years.

> I remember both my brothers, Pat and Doug, really like Daniel. Murph was one of their favorites, too.

> I remember taking Jack and Dan to the Ignatius/Ed's tournament hockey game last spring. After the game, we were supposed to go to my niece's birthday party. We didn't arrive at the party until 11:00 a.m. as the game went to 7 OT's. We had a blast. Daniel loved St. Ignatius.

> The last two times I saw Daniel were classic Murph moments. We high-fived each other at the epic Ignatius Glenville football game a few weeks ago as Ignatius miraculously won that game. He was pumped. I last saw Dan on our way to church last Sunday. He was getting the paper and I rolled down my window. We were both hurting after the Buckeyes lost to USC, Dan doubly hurting as his beloved Irish lost to Michigan.

Daniel was a beautiful boy. Paul and Marcia are beautiful parents that raised a fine young man. And, Julia and Elizabeth are dear girls.

Today many came to the neighborhood to show their love. There were lots of tears and lots of hugs. I miss Daniel and will always remember how he touched my family.

I love you, Daniel.

Winking Lizard Update

Earlier I mentioned that I am playing in a 38-and-over (old man baseball) baseball league. The regular season ended today and we ended up finishing tied for 3rd place with a 11-5 record. We qualified for the playoffs for the first time in team history.

We were a team of streaks: won our first 5, lost our next 5, then won our last 6 games.

We play next Saturday in the first round of the playoffs.

Stay Tuned