“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’ “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’” Jesus: Matthew 25:37-40

What I really wanted to write about today was Trinitarian Theology – coming out of a great discussion in this morning’s Bible study. But I am going to let you off with a golf story instead – at least for now.

Yesterday I drove over to Raleigh to play in the “TLC Golf Classic” a tournament at NC State’s Lonnie Poole Golf Course, designed by Arnold Palmer. It was a spectacular day and between the four of us we did pretty well, posting a comfortable 61 that could just as easily have been in the mid-50’s.

The cause in question is TLC, whose work on behalf of children with disabilities, “benefits… families through a diverse range of on-site and community-based programs, including educational services, respite care, early childhood intervention, autism therapies, community living support, and residential living.”

Even if we had driven over and been rained out, then, the day would have been worthwhile because of how important this work is, and how critical it is for families to receive support.

As it was, we enjoyed sunshine and moderate temperatures along with first class tournament hosting that was state of the art and then some.

Irony:

It is ironic to me that we played on a day where Americans were once again subjected to vague voodoo-science and conspiracy-theory based pronouncements regarding early-childhood diseases.

TLC is on the business end of care, and that is where our focus needs to be. Community support such as this event is important, but no amount of goodwill and individual generosity can replace the kind of government-funded initiatives and programs that are on the chopping block even as we hit our golfball around the course.

So thanks to my playing partners – Chauncey, Chauncey Jr. and Jarin (Jarin, by the way, means “Cry of rejoicing!”) – for covering my many inadequacies and getting the ball into the hole.

Also a huge shout out to our sponsor, The “Lonnie & Carol Poole Family Foundation.“ We are one of just three “Ace” sponsors for the event. In all, it looked as if the tournament would handily meet our goal of topping $100,000 for the day.

Personally, I hit very few memorable shots and sunk – I believe – zero putts. But the day was a huge win and a lot of fun.

Awareness!

The bottom line here is awareness. If all 7,200 people who subscribe to this blog take this opportunity to move their hearts to compassion and advocacy for children with disabilities – and their families – we might just make a difference.

We are defined, as a nation, by how we respond to and treat who Jesus describes as “the least of these.”

“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’” – Jesus

May we all be people of compassion and mercy and love and grace – DEREK