There's an old preacher story that is probably fitting to be told today in honor of Kieran's last lesson to us (for now). I hope you all consider it carefully. I customized it a bit for our particular circumstances.

A member of the church wrote in to the editor of the newspaper and complained "Our Irish-Texan preacher has been here 10 years and in that time he has preached close to a thousand lessons. But for the life of me, I can't remember a single one of them. I think I'm wasting my time hearing them, and our preacher has been wasting his time giving them at all."

This started quite a letter writing flurry in the paper and delighted the editor to no end. It went on for weeks until someone wrote this clincher.

"I've been married for thirty years now. In that time my wife has cooked me close to 30 thousand meals. But for the life of me, I can't remember the complete menu for a single one of them. However, I do know this: they all nourished me and gave me strength to do whatever work I needed to do. Without them, I would be physically dead. Likewise sermons spiritually feed and nourish us, and without them I would be spiritually dead today."

And a snatch from an old song I once knew as a child that I often quote when folks are leaving and I want them to know they touched me personally when our lives crossed:

Gonna keep on going down the road, I'm gonna hold my head up high

Gonna travel where the pathway leads 'til it reaches to the sky

Gonna face each joy and sorrow that I meet along the way

Gonna travel out my future day by day

For I know the ONE who made this road is aware of where it goes

So I'll travel with my head held high every byway that he chose

And if l should meet another, at the turning of the bend

Then the way will go much better with a friend

Gonna keep on going...

For I don't know what's ahead of me at the coming of the dawn

But I'll welcome each tomorrow, and I'll keep a movin' on

For my cup is full of promise and my head is full of dreams

And I know the sun is rising though the clouds may hide it beams

So I'll go down the road, and I'll hold my head up high

And I'll travel where the pathway leads 'til it reaches to the sky

But I hope that where I travel they will say of me one day

That it somehow made a difference that I passed this way.

Yes, Kieran and Patti Murphy, you did make more of a difference than you will likely ever fully know, and we look forward to seeing you again in our own walks in life (and beyond, where the pathway meets the sky)

Randy