A Life Saving Procedure

My 73 year old mother had colon cancer. A portion of her colon was removed last year. I’m thankful my mother is doing well and living her full life.

My mom encouraged me to have the colonoscopy procedure. I am 50, black, and need to minimize my health risks.

OK. I describe the experience palatably. Tuesday, January 29, 2008 was the day to clean my colon by eating no food, taking four tablets at 9 AM of an initial cleansing agent, and drinking a gallon of clear liquid for two hours. I now love beef bouillon.

At 2 PM, I engage the second round of cleansing agent. I drink a gallon of salty tasting liquid, 8 ounce portions every 15 minutes until it’s gone. By this time, I am a frequent flyer to a certain household location.

Today, Wednesday, January 30, 2008, was the day. I experienced some anxiety about this. I arrived on time, got undressed, gowned, robed, and sat with a group of men lined up like airliners on a tarmac waiting for their turn to take off.

The next phase is prep. I get stuck for an IV. The first one missed and had to call a back up. Then they wheel me to the door by the room the procedure will take place.

All of you who are getting to know me realize I have a deep love, respect and appreciation for women. So, why does this little fine woman step up to my bed and say, “Mr. Crawford, my name is Dr. Matthews. I will be doing your procedure today.”

Hoover Dam!

I was rolled in and positioned and given the joy juice shot. I told the team working with her I had a silly question I wanted to raise when the procedure is complete. They wanted me to ask then. I needed to wait.

Then the little that little pretty woman put twelve feet of hose with a camera on the end into my body. I watched the camera feed. I have a clean colon with no polyps.

When it was over, I asked, “Do gay men tolerate this procedure better than straight men?” I wasn’t joking. I really wanted to know.

Bottom Line, encourage the people in your life 50 and older to have this life saving procedure. I got it done. I’m thankful for the positive report and so is my family.

Keep Up the Love!

Oscar Crawford

Hope For and Dream For

Presidential Candidate Barack Obama’s platform for change is premised upon the idea of hope. What is hope?

Hope is wishing for something with expectation of its fulfillment. Rev. Jesse Jackson, former presidential candidate continues to preach, “Keep Hope Alive!”

I believe I saw hope alive yesterday while in Tuscon, Arizona. My wife and I attended worship with friends at the Midvale Park Seventh – Day Adventist Church.

Pastor Ronald Yabut, a Filipino American preached from biblical texts and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s speech, I Have a Dream. His presentation was passionate. He appealed to people to embody the attributes of love, good character, and service. He echoed the words of Dr. King, “I Have a Dream”.

As I looked around the congregation, it was 21st Century America, a microcosm of Earth’s global community. Whites were present in an apparently shrinking majority partnered with men and women from other cultural groups in marriage and congregational life.

Cross cultural marriages in many contexts were present. A meal was shared at the conclusion of worship the minister and his family were present for.

A primary initiative of Crawford and Dienst is to bring people together who might never otherwise have opportunity to meet. We assert ourselves as the prompt. For years, we have celebrated birthdays inviting people who are different by color, culture, class, or condition. On this Sabbath, there was not work for us. We were the invited ones.

Hope is alive at Midvale Park without the prompts of political movements and so is the dream of MLK. Remember to Keep Hope Alive and the Dream.

Hope for and dream for the time when people will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. Hope for and dream for the time when America will be an oasis for freedom and for justice. Hope for and dream for the time when we will live out the American idea that all are created equal and endowed by the Creator with certain inalienable rights and among these; life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

Each of us and all of us can make a difference. We can help make this dream a reality everyday, one day at a time.

Keep up The Love Everybody. When you’re in Tuscon on Saturday, bless yourself and visit with the great people at the Midvale Park Seventh – Day Adventist Church.

“O”

Give Thanks for Unanswered Prayers

Garth Brooks sings a song called Unanswered Prayers when he remembers a woman he loved and wanted when he was in high school so bad he hurt inside. Years later, he saw her and was thankful his prayers had gone unanswered. His fantasy was gone.

Earlier today, I thought of others like you and me, I am sure are thankful things didn’t go their way. First, Emily (not her real name) was on her way to Guyana to join family members of The People’s Temple. Running late, she missed her plane. Disgusted and disappointed, news arrived to Emily that members of the People’s Temple in Jonestown Guyana had all participated in a mass suicide. Emily was thankful for unanswered prayers.

Second, Jerry (not his real name) was at war in Vietnam. One morning before sunrise while sleeping in a bunker with his unit, Jerry heard his wife’s voice say, “Get up and go outside.”

He got up and walked out. As soon as he cleared the bunker, a bomb hit it and killed everybody inside. He fell to his knees and later put in a call to his wife to let her know he was OK.

Another time, Jerry’s on a helicopter mission with his team. He hears his wife’s voice say, “Lean Forward.” As he leans forward, the soldier next to him is hit. Later, Jerry falls to his knees and then calls his wife.

After Vietnam, Jerry continues his federal government service. On April 19, 1995, Jerry wakes up a bit frustrated with his wife because he has over slept. All she could say was she believed she should let him sleep a little longer that morning. Jerry gets up, gets dressed, and gets on his way to work still frustrated because he will be late.

One block from work Jerry hears an explosion. The ground shakes. The Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City has been bombed. Jerry immediately returns home to hold his wife.

Today, I invite you to join me in taking time to give thanks for unanswered prayers and not getting the many things we wanted that were not in our. I am thankful for you and the privilege to connect with you this way. You are loved and very much appreciated.

Live Well and Love Well My Beautiful Friends and Loved Ones Like You Are Running Out Of Time. You Really Are.

LOVE HAPPENS!!! This Time Angelica Antonio!

Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.
Heb 13:2


7:00 AM The conference would convene in Tokyo in less than 36 hours, many of which I would lose through the time zones. It was snowing in New York. My plane out of Ohio had been delayed. Flights in to JFK had been suspended. It was going to be a very long day.

11:00 AM JFK is open. I board the plane in Ohio at exactly the time my connecting flight was departing for Juneau, Alaska and on to Seoul, South Korea.

It was noon when I arrived in The Big Apple. Since I missed my original flight, I had twelve hours on my hands to see New York.

I bussed, trained, and dif the subway all over the city. I’d been on subways in Athens, Greece before, but it was nothing like the subway in New York. Every representative of humanity was there. I was pleased Mother Nature had a plan in mind of her own for me that day.

I saw the city from JFK to Brooklyn, Times Square to Statue of Liberty. I stood where what is now Ground Zero in New York. I had stood between the World Trade Center buildings at ground level looking up.

I have heard it said that ancient Hebrews said God was a mountain with a cloud at the top. Some of God can be seen. Some of God can never be seen. That’s what it felt like. It had been overcast and I could not see to the top of the buildings.

Just before 1 AM, a Korean Air Lines 747 with hundreds on board departed JFK. I was seated on the aisle. Seated in the row with me were a Korean businessman and a nurse on her way to the Philippines.

It was late. There was much on my mind about my coming experience in Japan and Korea. I intended to sleep to avoid thinking about it. As I closed my eyes, I heard a voice.

“Excuse me”, it said.

My eyes were closed. I did not respond. Whoever it was could not want my attention.

Then, I felt a touch. I opened my eyes.

The nurse wants to talk. I am tired and not particularly impressed.

Her name is Anjelica Antonio. She is so persistent, the man between us insists one of us change seats with him so he can sleep.

For the next five hours, she talks. When she tires, she slips her arm inside mine, looks up at me with beautiful sleepy eyes, yawns, finds a comfortable position for her head against me and proceeds to go to sleep.

I couldn’t sleep. Besides the conference waiting for me in Tokyo, I now have another spin going on in my head.

3:30 AM Pacific Standard Time

We land in Alaska. Everybody must get off the plane. It will be refueled and cleaned. There are two hours to reboarding. I am sure what has been an interesting moment will have concluded.

I get off the plane and go about my business. In the line at the food court, there is a tug at my elbow. If I weren’t so preoccupied with the reason I am traveling, I could enjoy this, and it occurs to me I may have no choice.

I am a Minister of the Gospel by calling. I am on my way to Japan to meet with more than 1,000 ministers to study the Church in Japan and Korea.

I realized more may have happened from New York to Alaska than I thought when it dawned upon me that God might be answering my prayer. I had prayed for God to send a wife. I also wanted her to be a nurse.

From Alaska to Tokyo, I spent little time thinking about the 747 just like this one that had been shot down just a week before by Russian MIG fighter jets. By the time we landed in Tokyo, I did not look forward to saying goodbye to Anjelica.

We had a couple of hours together in Tokyo before she had to leave to Manila. When it was time for her to go, it was emotional. In sync, our lips reached for each other’s. I leaned over as she reached up and a moment of shared love was eternally sealed.

I watched her walk away. I felt sad as if a part of myself was going with her. Part of me wished all of me was.

Love is its own power. It appears at times and in places unannounced. The wise will be ready.

The Hebrew text is powerful. Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels (Anjelicas) unawares.

Father: Bless your children to always be wise and always be ready for love. Amen

Do You Know Vivian Abe?

Do you know Vivian Abe (AHH - BAY)? Tell her I search for her. I really want to see her to ask her forgiveness.

In a taverna on the Island of Crete, I met her. She showed up and sat by me. I tried to ignore her, but she wanted to talk.

Do you know Vivian Abe? I search for her.

I tried to be polite. I just waited for the moment to pass. As she left, she slipped me a napkin under my hand. When she had gone, I opened it. It said,

No one I know
perceives the love
I have inside.
Please come!
Please come!

Do you know Vivian Abe? Tell her I search for her.

The next year was an evolving love. We traveled Greece and Turkey. We flew. We sailed. We loved. At year’s end, Vivian had the opportunity to pursue a graduate degree in creative writing in San Francisco. When I think back, this was the moment I became a writer.

Do you know Vivian Abe? I search for her.

30 days later, I flew across the world to see her. I missed her. I loved her. I wanted to be where she was.

The night before my return to Greece, we were drunk of love on a bearskin rug by the fire listening to Isaac Hayes’ Hot Buttered Soul when she brought up the "M" word. I wasn’t mature enough to admit I wasn’t thinking marriage. I should’ve. I didn’t. I haven’t seen Vivian since.

I know I can't make up for the pain I caused. I can ask for forgiveness. I really want to see Vivian, talk, and learn all she’s accomplished in 35 years. I have commissioned others to help me find her and now I commission you. Find her and you will be rewarded.

Do you know Vivian Abe? Tell her I search for her.

If you still have some unfinished business in your life that you need to take care of, then get busy. Love yourself and others enough to take care of your business. It is the adult and loving thing to do.

Just so you will know, this is a true story. I am looking for Vivian Abe

Love somebody this week that needs and wants to be loved by you.

Love and Blessing to YOU all!

"O"