Silver Alert. It means someone who is older has gone missing. Amber alerts are signals that a young child is missing, and I can’t imagine how difficult that circumstance is. I got a call on Sunday saying that a dear friend in Little Rock had gone on a walk-about and was missing, a silver alert was out for him. Fortunately he was home by the time I called his wife. My friend is suffering from too many football head injuries and his wife, family and friends are all doing all they can. I feel helpless, and I am sure they feel the same, even more so. As my friend reminds me when we talk on the phone, “growing old isn’t for sissys.”
I wonder if Lent doesn’t serve as an alert that we’ve gone missing from God’s presence, and through meditation, prayer, fasting, and service we are “found” at least once a year — we return to the safety of his fold. I also suspect as my friend’s wife and family are stressed when he is lost, so must God fret when we go on our personal walk abouts, thinking we are in control and can always find our way back without help.
My hope for my friend is that now through this silver alert more people in Little Rock will realize the difficulty he and his family are having, and will be supportive and help him home if he’s seen on another walk about. Maybe, we should all do the same during Lent, encouraging those close to us to come “home.”
Hi Webb,
Seeing your mention of football head injuries, you might be interested in my article, “Confessions of a Football Fanatic” at http://www.dcdave.com/article4/010311.html. As someone who has gone through the bigtime college football mill, you should have a lot more insights than I do about it.
At the time I gave that speech, I had started a bicycle racing program at the college with a bicycle racing student by the name of Grant Mann. A couple of years ago I learned from a former bike shop owner in Rocky Mount that Grant had been committed to a nursing home near Little Rock to be near his attorney brother, Drake. Grant was accident prone in races and suffered several serious spills, which, I fear, affected his brain. He is said to be suffering from short term memory loss. It’s not just the major sports that can be dangerous for future health, I guess.
Dave
I apologize for the slow response. I know Grant’s brother well and want to follow up. I also look forward to reading your article. Stay in touch. W.