Keywords by David Yonke

My Johnny Cash article was published yesterday.
The Man in Black was an amazing artist. I never met J.C. but I am honored to have met Bobbie John, 81, a Toledo woman who worked with Cash from 1968 to 1975. She gave me some inside info that you can't get anywhere else. Turns out Cash was humble and sincere -- not a real surprise, but reassuring. I've met many celebrities and far too many have an air about them, as if they truly believe they're better than the average joe and entitled to fame and fortune and all the perks that come with it. Cash was down to earth and a very kind and considerate person, according to Bobbie, who saw him off camera, away from the spotlight.
I was always amazed by Johnny Cash. In the 1960s, I had a friend who really loved his music. I was a young kid into Led Zeppelin, Cream, Jim Hendrix, and the Beatles and had little interest in country music. But Cash was different. He had that booming baritone voice and a sly smile that seemed to hint he knew some deep secret about life. Maybe it was his Christianity, which shined brightly after he overcame his troubles with alcohol and pills. But I admired him even more in the latter years of his life, especially his covers of songs by contemporary groups such as U2's "One" and Tom Petty's "I Won't Back Down."
I am not a big video watcher, but of all the music videos I have seen I think Cash's "Hurt" is the greatest. Just to think that Johnny Cash, at 70, would cover a song by Trent Reznor and Nine Inch Nails is amazing in itself. But to see how he reinterpreted it and made it his own, new song, was stunning. He made the video shortly after the death of his beloved wife and soulmate, June Carter Cash, and she can be seen looking down from the stairs at him, and he sings such lyrics as, "Everyone I know goes away in the end..." I get teary eyed every time I see it.
In fact, you can watch it here: "Hurt" by Johnny Cash.
I talked to someone after Cash died in 2003, don't remember who it was, but he said something that really summed up his contributions: "Johnny Cash was a true artist, he was far beyond worrying about the charts and the number of albums sold. He made music from the heart."
It's funny, some artists never make it because they want to defy the business side of music and remain true to their art. Few ever get to the superstar level and then are able to move past it, creating great art with no regard for commercial success. Or refusing to sell out. Even the big names get seduced by fame and fortune. As one of the Beatles' representatives once said when asked about them cashing in on the Anthology series: "I've met very few rich people who turn down an opportunity to become even richer."
Another example of an artist who put his art before greed is Michael Stipe of R.E.M. I remember seeing him interviewed on VH1 by Rolling Stone's Anthony DeCurtis about turning down a multi-million-dollar offer from Microsoft to have one of R.E.M.'s songs used in a Windows commercial. Yes, it's a lot of money, Stipe said, but there comes a point where you have enough money, and you don't want your artwork associated with a commercial product.
A month later, Windows began running commercials using the Rolling Stones' song "Start Me Up." Now Mick and Keith, there's a pair who will never turn down a wad of cash. They'll never get no "Satisfaction," monetarily speaking.
Toledo, Ohio, April 1, 2007

It is after midnight, so that means it is April 5, the 27th anniversary of Sister Margaret Ann Pahl's slaying.
It is a sad day for those who knew and loved the nun, killed on Holy Saturday in 1980, which was the day before her 72nd birthday.
I never had the honor of meeting Sister Margaret Ann, who was known for years as Sister Anunciata, but I have talked to many people who did know her and said they felt like they were in the presence of a holy person when they were around her.
I'm glad that justice finally was done, even though it was 26 years late, when a jury convicted Father Gerald Robinson of murder last year. The case shocked the city and sent repercussions far beyond -- it is the only known case of a Catholic priest being found guilty in the murder of a nun. I hope it's the last.

It was supposed to be a silent memorial to remember Sister Margaret Ann Pahl on the anniversary of her murder, but the priest at St. Hedwig's Catholic Church called the police on parishioner Mike Drabik.
You can read the story I wrote that ran in Saturday's paper for the full story but here's basically what happened:
Mike Drabik has been an outspoken critic of Bishop Leonard Blair's handling of the sexual abuse crisis and the Father Robinson case, including blasting the diocese last fall after St. Hedwig's ran an announcement in the church bulletin for a chicken dinner fund-raiser for Robinson. It was fine if they wanted to sell chicken dinners to pay the killer priest's legal bills, Drabik said, but don't use the official church bulletin to do so.
He is one of the few Catholics in Toledo taking a stand and reminding Church members who remain loyal to Robinson that they should not forget the victim -- who was, after all, a Catholic nun.
Drabik stood in front of St. Hedwig's before a 7 p.m. Maundy Thursday Mass -- a Mass that honors the Last Supper, ironically enough -- and passed out small flyers asking people to remember Sister Margaret Ann Pahl, victim of ritual abuse killed on April 5, 1980.
But Drabik did not seek permission ahead of time from the pastor, Father Marek Ciesla. Father Marek, as he is known by parishioners, told Drabik to stop passing out the literature, and asked him if he instead would come inside and pray. He said several people had complained to him about the flyers.
Drabik refused to stop and Father Marek said he had no choice but to call police. Drabik told him it would be a waste of time, he was leaving in a few minutes -- at 7 p.m. when the Mass began. But police were called at 6:55 and a crew arrived at 7:10. Sure enough, Drabik was gone. According to Drabik, however, the priest told him: "I know where you live." He was afraid the cops would knock on his door and arrest him at his home. Fortunately for all concerned, that didn't happen.
It really would not have hurt a soul if Father Marek had let Drabik pass out the flyers -- quietly, as he said he was doing. Instead it wound up on the front of the local news pages.
To be honest, since Drabik was not arrested and there was no disruptive "scene" at St. Hedwig's, this was not a big news story. Anyone who watches the media knows, however, there are days when even a small story gets coverage. It's all relative to the day's events. This happened to come on a slow news day and editors were eager for an article.
Be that as it may, Father Marek did in fact call police on a parishioner who was trying to pay tribute to a Catholic nun, who was murdered by a priest. The parishioner's silent protest should not have become a police matter. The fact that it did makes it just one more little embarrassment and an unnecessary public relations faux pas for a church that doesn't need more bad press.
Toledo, Ohio,
April 9, 2007

I get scores of press releases every day, most of which go speedily on their way to the trash bin. But I got one today that was so outrageously wrong that it caught my eye. It was about a book called "Stop the Presses! The Inside Story of the New Media Revolution."
There definitely is a media revolution going on now -- in the way the news is delivered to readers. The internet is reshaping the way we get our information, news included. But that's not what the author, Joseph Farah, is writing about. He's writing about "an invasion of the newsroom by radical activist groups posing as high-minded professional journalism associations."
Farah is the founder of WorldNetDaily.com, an "independent" news site that has reprinted some of my news stories over the years. The press release states that Farah is "a veteran newspaper editor and internet pioneer" and "former top editor at major-market newspapers."
He says he witnessed radical activist groups' takeover of the newsroom of establishment papers, citing the Society for Environmental Journalism and the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association as examples.
Well, I've got news for Mr. Farah: There is no such takeover of America's newsrooms.
True, I work for a midwestern paper that is fairly conservative compared to some of the big coastal papers -- a reflection of the demographics that it serves. But I read a lot of newspapers and I read the trade journals and I know that journalists make a concerted effort to be fair in their reporting. Nobody is completely unbiased, it's just not humanly possible. But there are checks and balances in the news business, both internal and external. And the vast majority of journalists know that their job is not to promote an agenda, but to report the news as objectively as possible. There are several layers of editing before an article gets into print -- assignment editors, assistant city editors, city editors, copy editors, managing editors, assistant managing editors, executive editors... a biased story would have to sneak past the sharp eye of a slew of media professionals. Few people would even try it, and if they did it more than once they'd likely be fired. And if a bias slips in by accident, that also would be edited out before it hits the presses.
If, however, you think the whole system is involved in a conspiracy, then nothing I say here will convince you.
In addition to the internal mechanisms, newspapers also are held in check by readers. The public votes with their wallets when they plunk down their 50 or 75 cents or $1.50 to read a daily newspaper.
If a newspaper gets too far from the middle, the readers stop buying it.
One other way readers keep newspapers in check is through the letters to the editor columns. The public has their own soapbox to express themselves in print -- an outlet that is not available, generally speaking, via television or radio news shows.
So despite the assertions that hordes or radical activists are manipulating the news, you get a pretty straight scoop every day when you pick up a newspaper. Which is still a bargain at less than a buck in most cases. What else can you get for a dollar these days besides a Super Big Gulp or lottery ticket, neither of which will do you much good...
Stop the Presses, maybe. But don't buy Farah's book, he's just preying on the public's fears and insecurities.
Sylvania, Ohio .. April 11, 2007

When I started this website, the idea was to keep everyone apprised of the latest news about my book and any developments in the case of Father Gerald Robinson, convicted of murdering Sister Margaret Ann Pahl.
The trial and subsequent book were major events in my life, but as time went on I realized that the best bloggers write something every day and I was not about to write something on the Robinson case every single day. Rather than let too much time lapse without an entry, I've taken to writing about a variety of topics that I think may interest you. Those of you who have visited this site have seen the progression.
Blogging is a strange new addition to the media world. Anybody can blog, you don't have to be a reporter or editor. You don't even have to be much of a writer. All you need is a computer and access to the web.
The nature of some blogs makes perfect sense -- such as commentaries on current events, sports or politics. There's something going on every day worthy of discussion. Then there are the bloggers who have no life but want to share what little they have with the world. They'll let you in on such mesmerizing topics as what kind of toothpaste they used today to what they watched on TV last night. And they think the world can't wait to read the next installment. Yeah, sure.
I'm planning to offer you a little more than the trivialities of my daily routine. I don't want to bore you with the mundane, and I don't want to limit the subject matter. I'll still keep you informed on any news about the Robinson case, of course.
But I will try to keep your interest as I enter blogs more frequently and write about what's going on in my life. I truly love my job as religion editor and I honestly think most of my days at work are quite interesting.
Although I'll try not to report unverified rumors, I did hear one today that needs to be checked out. Supposedly Fr. Michael Billian, the power broker in the Toledo diocese whose title is episcopal vicar, may be appointed pastor of a large suburban parish. If that's the case, it would be major news. But for now it's merely a rumor. So treat it as that. I'll get back to you as soon as I can confirm or deny it.
* * *
An American Treasure: I had the pleasure of interviewing one of my heroes today, Ernie Harwell. I spent a day with Ernie about 10 years ago, when he was a young 79. Now he's 89 and still going strong. The guy is humble, smart, funny, engaging, witty, and kind. The baseball hall of famer and longtime voice of the Detroit Tigers will be speaking in Toledo on April 30 and I am writing an article for the April 21 edition of The Blade. I don't want to scoop myself but once the article is published I will post more about Ernie. Perhaps I can even include audio of the interview, which I recorded on a digital recorder.
* * *
Family news: Janet and my daughter Dana went to Rockford, Illinois, today, for a women's conference that my daughter Lisa helped organize. So I'm kind of a bachelor for a few days. However, I am also watching my new dog, Scotty the Schnoodle, and my daughter's dog, Lulu the Bichon Frise. So I've got my hands full and won't be going out on the town at night... At best, the dogs will be buddies, won't tear up the house, and in the evening I can sit home and read, watch a movie or write in peace.
I'll post pics of my new pup soon. He is such a cute little dog (actually medium sized) with a great attitude.
Sylvania, Ohio, April 12, 2007

One of the giants of 20th century literature died week...Kurt Vonnegut was 84 when he died from complications from a fall at his home.
He was one of a kind, with a folksy, whimsical way of writing that seemed so simple and yet all writers recognize the genius necessary to make that work. It's like Picasso, you have to strip away all the pretenses and structures to get to the heart of the art, that's what Vonnegut did.
It's sad to lose him, although he did live to be 84 which is not too shabby.
The good thing is his work will live on forever. Slaughterhouse Five is one of the greatest anti-war books ever written. I particularly liked the more free form, sci-fi infused Cat's Cradle, the Sirens of Titan, and Breakfast of Champions.
There are many great writers out there but so few with distinctive styles. Like B.B. King playing the blues or Charlie Parker on sax, Vonnegut had his own voice and when you read a few lines you knew it was him, and you knew he would take you on a great adventure.
Sylvania, Ohio, April 14, 2007

I just watched the PBS program, "Jonestown: The Life and Death of the Peoples Temple," and once again was reminded of the terrible destructive potential of refligion.
Anyone who was around when the Jonestown tragedy occurred -- Nov. 18, 1978 -- will never forget what happened. More than 900 members of a cult founded by the Rev. Jim Jones committed suicide, at his orders, in their community they carved out of the jungles of Guyana.
It's an amazing and extremely disturbing story. But it's been almost 30 years and it's not something you think about all the time. One phrase that has become part of our jargon is to "drink the kool-aid," a reference to people who are so caught up in something, usually a religion, or such devoted followers of a person they have become like puppets -- Jones' followers drank cyanide-laced kool-aid.
As the show starts, they quote a member saying, "nobody starts out to join a cult." It's so true. When they joined Peoples Temple, they had high hopes for creating an idyllic community. But Jones was a sick and twisted man who used his position as a spiritual leader to achieve sinister goals. It comes through in this documentary that he was having sex with many of his male followers, for example.
Yet he seemed to have some genuinely positive goals, such as overcoming prejudice and materialism. Like many leaders who go bad, there was an element of good in what he was doing. And the fact that he was able to convince nearly 1,000 Americans to sell everything they owned and move to a remote jungle in South America to start a new life shows how influential and charismatic he was.
The documentary includes interviews with members of the cult, including Jones' adopted son, as well as reporters and engineers who went to Jonestown with Congressman Leo Ryan, the visit that triggered the tragedy. Ryan and four others were shot to death on the airstrip, after which Jones compelled everyone to kill themselves, women and children and men and boys and girls. Shockingly, this documentary includes not just photos and videos, but the actual audio tape of Jones ordering the people to drink the kool-aid, children first and then adults. It's harrowing to hear him barking out orders, "Quickly, quickly, quickly, quickly, quickly," he tells them. "Death is not the end, it's just crossing over to the other side..."
Most of the people did it. There were armed followers surrounding them but a few people managed to escape, and they were interviewed in this film. About 80 cult members were not in the compound at the time. Jones died of a gunshot to the head.
It's almost unbelievable. Unfortunately it's true.
Here's a link to the PBS website with information on the program, including a transcript:
Jonestown
God help us from anything like this ever happening again.
Sylvania, Ohio, April 15, 2007

The profound sadness of the Virginia Tech shootings defies words. I'm sitting in the newsroom and just looked through a stack of photos of the 32 victims. Just normal people, going about their daily routines, and suddenly a deranged gunman steps in and snuffs out their lives.
There is no sense to it and I will not try to find any. But the reactions of people since the massacre are too often misguided.
One thing, for example, is criticism of the media for showing the lunatics' videos, photos and screed that he mailed to NBC. They say that showing the photos and video will lead to copycat killings and glorifies the gunman. The sad truth is that any sicko capable of committing a copycat crime along the lines of the Va. Tech massacre is not going to be influenced by the rantings of the killer on video. The basic facts of what Cho Seung-Hui did that black morning are shocking enough. The video diatribe is extraneous. Nobody will be led to kill scores of people because of what Cho said; those who are walking such a thin line would be more motivated by Cho's deeds than his words. And with the advent of the internet, the video would be available to anyone who wants to view it. It's not the media's fault, although people are all too quick to blame the messenger.
It is one of the most horrific and shocking crimes of modern times. But the even sadder reality is that it is just one of many brutal and bloody outbursts perpetrated by deranged members of society. This one had more victims, but the scenario is all too similar to the tragedies at Columbine High School, the Amish school in Nickel Mines, Pa., Luby's restaurant in Killeen, Texas; Red Lake High in Minnesota; the McDonald's massacre in San Diego; the shootings at Dunblane, Scotland, and on and on... And we're not even getting into the 9/11 attacks or the Oklahoma City bombings. You can find a shocking list of massacres on Wikipedia here.
The reality is that our society has gotten so big, the pace of life is so fast, the pressures are so heavy, the lack of balance and spiritual grounding are so disorienting, that some people just cannot handle it. A little thing can cause a fragile person, already on the edge, to snap. With firearms readily available, mass murders are unfortunately a grim reality of modern life.
There have always been people who go berserk, but in the "old days" when people lost it, they got into fist fights or picked up a baseball bat. Now they pull out automatic weapons.
Unless we completely ban guns, or live in a lockdown society, there's no way that a 2,600 acre campus with 100 buildings like Virginia Tech can be secured against a rampage like Cho's. And even if guns were banned, some dangerous people will be able to get weapons.
In reality, we all know the shootings could have occurred at just about any U.S. campus. Or business. Or apartment complex.
We all need to be more alert to warning signs, like Cho's professors who saw the potential danger and tried to get him help.
I hope and pray -- seriously, prayer is essential, it's not just a cliche -- that there will be no more tragedies like the one in Blacksburg for many years to come, or many decades. But I won't be surprised if the next one happens too soon.
The bigger tragedy is that that rage and bloodshed have become all too common in the world today.
Toledo, Ohio April 21, 2007

We all know the Bible story of Abraham and his son, Isaac, told in Genesis 22. God tells Abraham to take his only son, Issac, and sacrifice him on an altar in Moriah. As Abraham raises his knife, an angel appears and tells him: "Do not lay a hand on the boy," he said. "Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son."
It's one of the most famous stories in the Bible and has a happy ending. But I was reading the Book of Judges yesterday and came across a disturbing passage about a man named Jephtheh of Gilead. He was a mighty warrior and son of Gilead, but his mother was a prostitute so the brothers drove Jephthah away, to the land of Tob.
Then, when the brothers find themselves in trouble, they come to Jephthah and ask for his help. Jephtheh gives them a piece of his mind and then says he will rescue them if they agree to name him their ruler if he wins.
Later, he says this prayer to God before fighting the Ammonite armies: "If you give the Ammonites into my hands, whatever comes out of the door of my house to meet me when I return in triumph from the Ammonites will be the Lord's, and I will sacrifice it as a burnt offering." (Judges 11:30-31, NIV).
After conquering the Ammonites, Jephthah heads home and "who should come out to meet him but his daughter, dancing to the sound of tambourines! She was an only child..." (verse 34).
Jephthah weeps and tears his clothes in grief, and his daughter, who is not named in the Bible, tells him: "My father, you have given your word to the Lord. Do to me just as you promised, now that the Lord has avenged you of your enemies, the Ammonites."
She asks for two months to "roam the hills" with her friends because she will die a virgin. After the two months are up, "she returned to her father and he did to her as he had vowed. And she was a virgin." (verse 39).
As I was reading it, I was expecting an angel to step in and tell him he did not have to kill his only child. But no such intervention. The Bible is so understated here, just saying "he did to her as he had vowed." So puzzling, so shocking.
You can read the King James Version of the story here.
There are a few other interesting twists and turns in Jephthah's life story if you read Judges 11 and 12.
I've never heard a preacher give a sermon about Jephthah and his daughter, and I don't think I ever will. It's not a neat, happy, uplifting Scripture like Abraham and Issac. Above all, it makes you wonder why Jephthah would have made such a vow in the first place. I would say that the moral of this story is to be extremely careful when you make a vow to the Lord.
Toledo, Ohio April 21, 2007.

Looking over my last few blogs, they were all very serious. For a complete change of pace, here's a little joke:

The teacher gave her fifth grade class an assignment... Get their parents to
tell them a story with a moral at the end of it.

The next day the kids came back and one by one began to tell their stories.

Ashley said, "My father's a farmer and we have a lot of egg-laying hens.

One time we were taking our eggs to market in a basket on the front seat of the
car when we hit a big bump in the road and all the eggs went flying and broke
and made a mess."

"What's the moral of the story?" asked the teacher.

"Don't put all your eggs in one basket!"

"Very good," said the teacher.

Next little Sarah raised her hand and said, "Our family are farmers too. But we
raise chickens for the meat market.

We had a dozen eggs one time, but when they hatched we only got ten live chicks,
and the moral to this story is, "don't count your chickens before they're
hatched."

"That was a fine story Sarah. Michael, do you have a story to share?"

"Yes, my daddy told me this story about my Aunt Karen.

Aunt Karen was a flight engineer in the Gulf War and her plane was hit.

She had to bail out over enemy territory and all she had was a bottle of
medicinal whisky, a machine gun and a machete.

She drank the whisky on the way down so it wouldn't break and then she landed
right in the middle of 100 enemy troops.

She killed seventy of them with the machine gun until she ran out of bullets.

Then she killed twenty more with the machete until the blade broke. Then she
killed the last ten with her bare hands."

"Good heavens," said the horrified teacher, "what kind of moral did your daddy
tell you from that horrible story?"

"Stay away from Aunt Karen when she's been drinking."

It's a shame how Father Tom Leyland is ending his exemplary career as a priest -- being forced to retire against his will at age 69. He says he is being punished for speaking his mind and criticizing the bishop. Read my Blade article here.
The story in a nutshell is that the Toledo Catholic Diocese had planned to start a new parish in the high-growth area of southeast Lucas County, then decided to start it in neighboring Wood County. No problem so far. But then, to the surprise of Father Leyland, they plop the new parish down right next to St. Rose, where he has been pastor since 2000, cutting sharply into his parish borders. He said he could lose 425 families to the new parish and the loss of income could force layoffs or program cuts at St. Rose school.
Father Leyland, a mild mannered priest who is even-tempered even when righteously indignant, was upset that he was not consulted when a decision like that was made that could have a monumental impact on his church and his parishioners. He spoke with The Blade about it, and Bishop Leonard Blair apparently was not pleased. He told Father Leyland he should go to a smaller, "less stressful" parish. Nevermind that the priest wanted to stay at St. Rose in Perrysburg, a thriving suburban community that happens to be his hometown. Rather than start over at a new parish at age 69, after 42 years of priesthood, he chose to retire.
He told me, "I realize the church is not a democracy, but this is America. Doesn't a person have the right to speak out?"
Bishop Blair certainly has a right to move his priests around, to start new parishes where he feels they are needed, and to pull the plug on parishes that are dying.
But the way he has handled some of these decisions has caused more anguish and animosity than necessary. Father Leyland is a good priest and a good man who does not want to cause any trouble. All he was asking for was to be consulted and to have his opinion heard, and respected. That didn't happen and he felt let down by his bishop.
Bishop Blair contends that the personnel changes were routine, and that he was not punishing Father Leyland at all for going public with his criticism. Father Leyland does not buy it. Do you?
* * *
Father Leyland spoke to me about the situation in Kansas, Ohio, as another example of a case that was terribly mismanaged by the Toledo diocese. There, the bishop closed St. James Parish despite the parishioners determined effort to continue, offering alternatives and holding a 24-hour prayer vigil hoping Bishop Blair would change his mind. In the end, the diocese sent a maintenance worker to the rural church, and he brusquely kicked out an elderly lady who was praying inside, then changed the locks on the doors.
More than 100 of St. James' 200 parishioners are still meeting for a prayer service every Sunday morning in the local Methodist church, more than a year and a half after their parish was officially closed. They've appealed to the Vatican, lost that effort, and are now going through civil court. You'd think the bishop would give them a break, maybe admit he was wrong in this case, and reopen the parish? Unfortunately, it doesn't look like that will ever happen.
St. James' parishioners had asked the bishop to allow a retired priest come to their church once or twice a month to celebrate Mass so that they could carry on as a community, but Bishop Blair vetoed that idea.
Father Leyland told me this week that he would have been glad to serve part-time at St. James. "I would go there, I would do that for them," he said.
* * *
I've had a number of people call me to tell me stories about things Father Leyland has done for them. One woman, for example, had a stillborn child and no money for a burial and asked a number of priests for help and nobody offered her a thing until she called Father Leyland. He arranged for the baby to be buried at the church's cemetery at no charge.
A number of other callers just praised him as a good priest, spiritual leader, and someone who loves the Lord and his flock.
* * *
So here is the Catholic Church, in the midst of a dire shortage of priests and at a time when it is in desperate need of an image boost, and Father Leyland is retiring even though he wants to continue as a pastor.
* * *
The one good thing, a silver lining, I suppose, is that Father Leyland now has the chance to hang out with his little brother more this summer -- at Comerica Park in Detroit -- if he so wishes. Brother Jim Leyland is manager of the American League champions, the Detroit Tigers.
Toledo, Ohio, April 26, 2007

The phone rang at 6:20 a.m. last Tuesday. It was my 19-year-old daughter, Cara, in her second year of studies in Sydney, Australia.
"Dad, I'm in a predicament."
Not the words you want to hear when your precious, youngest daughter is 7,000 miles away. In the seconds that followed, the full range of possibilities flitted through my foggy mind. But also, from the tone of her voice, just a subconscious parental insight, I also sensed that it wasn't a worst-case predicament.
To paraphrase, here's what she said: "We had the day off from school and I borrowed Liz's car and went for a short trip with two friends and we're about an hour north of Sydney and the car stalled out and it won't go and the battery's dead and we pulled off the road but we can't pull far enough over because the shoulder isn't wide enough and the flashers don't work because the battery is dead and it's dark (nighttime there) and it's raining and there are a lot of semis zipping past."
You know how fast teenage girls talk.
Then she added: "I don't even know why I'm calling you but I just thought you would want to know."
And she's right. I did want to know, even though the only thing I could do with her was to ask her a few questions, cite a few things she could check on, and say a prayer over the phone.
They didn't have any flares or emergency reflective triangles (I'm going to stock up on those now). I told them not to wait in the car even though it was raining. As a reporter, I've seen it happen too many times when a truck or car crashes into a vehicle parked on the shoulder of a busy highway. I don't know why but it seems to draw them like moths to a flame.
To her credit, Cara had called a towing company before she called me.
Forty minutes later, she called back. The tow truck driver had brought a battery with him and the car was now running and she was heading back to Sydney safe and sound, with $140 less in her purse (Australian dollars, about $105 US).
I'm so glad Cara called me. It makes no rational sense, of course, but we believe that prayer changes things. And we also believe a family needs to communicate, whether it's good or bad news, whether we're in the same room or on the other side of the world.
I'm so grateful our daughters have always been open with me and Janet, and that they still turn to us when in need. And also when everything's going fine and they just want to say hello.
As a parent, I think I get a sense of how God looks at his children. He wants us to turn to him in time of need, and not to lean on our own understanding or our bank accounts. My love for my daughters must be a supernatural reflection of the unconditional love God has for his children.
* * *
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your paths straight." (Proverbs 3:5, New International Version).
Toledo, Ohio April 30, 2007