David loved Jonathon as a brother

In about four hours I’m going to pick Ernie up from the airport.  He’s flying in from Chicago to spend a few days with me, and then we’ll head to the Wind River Range in Wyoming for a week of back country hiking and camping.  Ernie is 81 years old.  He’s been going to the “Winds” at least once every summer for the past sixty years.  For him it is more than a hiking excursion, more than a vacation.  For Ernie it’s a sacred pilgrimage in which his soul is fed.

I first met Ernie when I was a new seminary graduate.  He was a parishioner at my first congregation.  Perhaps better put I was a pastor at his church.  His mom Ruth was the church and school secretary.  She was one of the most sincerely faithful people I’ve ever met.  The apple didn’t fall far from the tree.  Ernie is a lot like her, not only in his appearance but in his approach to God, faith and life.

Ernie’s faith is simple yet profound. He likes to “philosophize” as he calls it.  He enjoys not only considering but discussing things that pertain to God.  But he does so in ways that are practical and can be applied even to children.  That’s especially important to him, as he has spent his life working with children. His profession was a painter, but his passion is for young people.  Ernie oversaw a weekly youth night for inner city kids in Chicago.  Every summer, in addition to his own hiking trip, he would take kids from the school on a canoe trip.  And since he’s retired he has served as a volunteer tutor at an inner city school.  Ernie loves kids.  Maybe it’s because he never had any of his own.  But I suspect it goes much deeper than that. I think Ernie loves kids because he sees in them what Jesus did—that the kingdom of God is captured most closely and clearly by children. 

As a tutor Ernie teaches the children about God.  In doing so he recognizes what is so frequently overlooked, namely that one has to speak their language.  He likes making things simple, but also asking challenging questions that make them apply matters of faith in a personal way.  The impact that Ernie has had on the faith lives of so many children over so many years has been significant, though he will seldom if ever see it.  I’m certain that he has planted innumerable seeds of faith in the hearts of God’s children. Not only has Ernie meant a lot to the children, he has meant a lot to me.  My father died at a young age, as did his.  And perhaps that’s part of the reason we bonded.  Twenty three years my senior, in a sense he became a surrogate father for me.  I love him for his energy, which even at 81 seems boundless.  I love him for his zest for life.  I love him for his willingness to listen to me complain—especially when I was a pastor.  I love him for his simple faith which has served as such an example for me. I love him for the silly things he says and does.  I love him for being the unique person he is.  I love him for all that he has done for me, and all that he has been for me.  I am grateful.  Who is Your Ernie?