If I Look Real Hard He's Still on the Porch

By T. C. Radcliff

I call these devotional essays. They are not exactly devotions, you know, the sort of thing where you have a reading each day with a prayer. They are certainly not inspirational essays where you are uplifted, encouraged, and enabled. No, these are more about the hard questions.
Why aren't we the happy Christians that Scripture says we should be? How do we deal with the increasingly strident clamor over the issue of homosexuality? Who is correct, the Calvinists or the "saved by grace" folks? What is the role of the earthly father in modern society? How should we interact with the Holy Spirit? What is this hang-up we have with our possessions? How do I follow in the footsteps of the Master?
There is a ceremony for the blessing of children at Christmas, a discussion of Pascal's Wager, and lessons learned from grandchildren. There are encounters with dogs and snakes and even a chess match. I think there is something for most folks here. My thoughts tend to wander sometimes.
No, these are not devotions. They might be good sermon fodder. They are certainly food for some very hard thought and soul-searching. You may find that my position on a certain matter is very different than yours. That's OK. God loves us both.

• Language: English
• Publisher: T. C. Radcliff
• Release date: Apr 24, 2013
• ISBN: 9781301735822

T. C. Radcliff

Tom Radcliff is a retired high school science teacher in Logansport, Louisiana. He is a devout Christian, married, with two children. He is also a devout fisherman, any fish, any time!

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If I Look Real Hard He's Still on the Porch

By T. C. Radcliff

Copyright 2013 by T. C. Radcliff

Smashwords Edition

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Table of Contents

Chapter 1- If I Look Real Hard He's Still on the Porch

Chapter 2- And They Didn't Live Happily Ever After

Chapter 3- Bobber Stop

Chapter 4- Don't Push the River

Chapter 5- Fishin' Reels

Chapter 6- Have You Ever Had Diarrhea?

Chapter 7- It's OK. I Still Love You, Son.

Chapter 8- Lay Like a Rug

Chapter 9- A Church Christmas Blessing for Newborn Children

Chapter 10- Pascal's Wager

Chapter 11- Poi!

Chapter 12- Rubi

Chapter 13- The Angels on the Mantel

Chapter 14- The Chess Tournament

Chapter 15- Walk a Mile in His Shoes

Chapter 16- Deadly Little Vipers

Chapter 17- About the Author

Introduction

I call these devotional essays. They are not exactly devotions, you know, the sort of thing where you have a reading each day with a prayer. They are certainly not inspirational essays where you are uplifted, encouraged, and enabled. No, these are more about the hard questions.

Why aren't we the happy Christians that Scripture says we should be? How do we deal with the increasingly strident clamor over the issue of homosexuality? Who is correct, the Calvinists or the saved by grace folks? What is the role of the earthly father in modern society? How should we interact with the Holy Spirit? What is this hang-up we have with our possessions? How do I follow in the footsteps of the Master?

There is a ceremony for the blessing of children at Christmas, a discussion of Pascal's Wager, and lessons learned from grandchildren. There are encounters with dogs and snakes and even a chess match. I think there is something for most folks here. My thoughts tend to wander sometimes.

No, these are not devotions. They might be good sermon fodder. They are certainly food for some very hard thought and soul-searching. You may find that my position on a certain matter is very different than yours. That's OK. God loves us both.

Chapter 1-If I Look Real Hard He's Still on the Porch

A loved one's death is a difficult thing to watch. In our age of television and movie induced immunity to real feelings and horror of the everyday mundane aspects of life, we fail to become a part of each other's lives to the point that family becomes secondary. We fail to comprehend that it is our make-believe, wish it were so, world that is not real. We fail to grasp the simple truth that the mundane is the miraculous. We aren't taught to deal with the cruel, wonderful, messy, and unexpected, but normal, things that make life what it is, a thing of glorious spirit and breathe, bleeding and healing, conception, birth, living, and dying. I'm still learning to deal.

As my father's time to leave this body behind and take on a new and glorious life with Christ approached, I found that I could not imagine him as gone. I understand perfectly well that this body dies. As I, too, approach that time and see it in the distance, the fact presses in on me like a great uncaring crowd in an unfamiliar city. Seeking the reassurance of familiar connections has become almost a passion. A craving for the familiar has become a constant companion.

I watched my father die. It was not difficult for him at the end so far as I could tell. His labored breathing slowed to a stop. It was over. My brother Don and I covered him and lifted him gently to a gurney for travel to the funeral home ambulance. He had had a serious stroke just a short time before but that was after years of heart disease, diabetes, strokes, an abdominal aneurysm found just in time, and a growing dementia. There was colon cancer at the end. The doctors decided that the late discovery of the cancer and his general poor health made operating and treatment of the cancer a thing that would do him more damage than good. It was for the best. He needed a healing that only the Lord can provide. Towards the very end I needed the healing for him more than he wanted more days and weeks of a life filled with pain.

Even a not very smart son can get it right every once in a while. I was fishing on the banks of the Sabine River at Logansport, Louisiana when the understanding of what a fool I was hit me in the face even harder than