Fridays with Mac: "Never Tire"

Your knucklehead scribe has written often in the past about the group of dudes occupying his Friday mornings. The leader of the pack describes the gathering of, usually, eight to ten as, “A bunch of jacked up dudes!” He’s correct.

This group challenges each other to grow spiritually. To me, it’s like the locker room for the game of life. This simple dude from Missouri has played a lot of athletic “games” in the past; as a sportscaster observed a lot of games; as an older fella passionate about displaced men, low-income kids, earlier detection of Amyloidosis and live organ donation? Always trying to learn how to play the game successfully, regardless of venue.

Still, ain’t no bigger game than trying to remain faithful when life screams to be anything but resilient in the face of adversity. Just one man’s opinion but I can’t imagine going through life without believing, despite the circumstance, that there’s a plan here. The Bible has grown into an incredible book of wisdom for a 65-year-old heading into a new phase of the journey. Yep. With Amyloidosis under control and hopes of a kidney transplant in the near future, darling wifey and her “goofball” have transitioned to peritoneal dialysis at home while sleeping and resting. Less invasive than blood sucking. We keep checking off the boxes. Full steam ahead.

Being grateful of one particular passage from the world’s best-selling book and an attempt to adhere to its truth, has come back to reward your correspondent in ways unimagined. Galatians 6:9 says, “Never grow weary of doing good for at the proper time, you’ll reap the harvest if you just don’t give up.” I read that passage long ago and it has always stuck like glue to my soul. It’s the bedrock of A Stronger Cord's work with displaced men; low-income kids through the MSU Denver Roadrunner Pathway and now the Drive for Five initiative.

Long ago that verse in Galatians changed my way of thinking. Help others. Nobody benefits more than us. I believe it. Have faith in it. Here’s an example. April 2023 diagnosed with a rare and incurable plasma protein vixen named Amyloidosis. Feel free to call her Amy for short but let there be no debate, she’s an as#%ole. Kills the kidneys. I’m damn lucky Amy didn’t kill me.

Wouldn’t you know it? About seven years ago I was approached by the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society to participate in an annual fundraising campaign called, “Man and Woman of the Year.” LLS recruits civic-minded folks from the community and it’s a race to see who raises the most money. Raise the most cash? You’re top dog. I won the darn thing in 2017, was asked to join the board shortly thereafter, served for a few years and now volunteer when asked to help be the “Voice of God” for LLS’s “Light the Night” event in Denver.

Here’s the connection. Five years ago there were few treatments for the Amyloidosis occupying this ol’ fart’s body. A diagnosis was really bad news. However, back then a drug LLS research help create called Daratumumab, which has shown great efficacy for folks with multiple myeloma, was offered to Amy patients. Dara’s much more loving than Amy. The former comes to offer life, the latter to administer death. All those years and efforts to help LLS raise money, raise awareness and let everyone know that, “Beating cancer is in our blood?” Sure seems to be paying off nicely at this point.

Perhaps that’s the message In the moment. It doesn’t have to be through Biblical wisdom, the latest cooking show or dude at the street corner flying a sign. Nope. If we can just figure out a way to never growing weary of doing good for others, BELIEVING we’ll reap the harvest if we just don’t give up? Holy smokes bartender, a round for everybody inside that bar.

The world is a real crazy place right now with abundant strife locally, regionally, nationally and globally. Wanna “Soar in ’24?” Never tiring of good works for others might be a good place to start.