Author: Stan Escott

You Just Never Know!

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It was 1955. I was a twenty-year-old kid in an Army uniform, on a flight from Denver to San Diego, on my way to my home-base, Schofield Barracks, Hawaii. My assigned seat was next to an older gentleman, who introduced himself as “Jack” and immediately commented on my Army service and asked about my deployment. When I explained that my Division had just rotated from Korea to Hawaii, that started a longer conversation which lasted almost throughout the entire flight.

He talked about his service in the Canadian military during WW II, and the fact that he was a medical engineer of some kind. I shared that I was looking forward to returning to college upon my discharge, to study geophysical engineering.  Throughout most of the flight we talked about all manner of things, most of which has now slipped right out of my mind. But something happened midway through our time together that I recall today. Continue reading

Abortion, Gay Marriage, and Guns… Oh, My!

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Yikes.  Why would I even think about tackling those topics?  At my age and stage, I ain’t afraid of nuttin’!  But I have no answers, just partially formed ideas, not big and not especially small. Ideas that are natural extensions of my faith, and maybe my dated thinking.

God set before us certain standards of living, you know the “Love your neighbor as yourself” or as Jesus instructed us:  “Love your neighbor as I have loved you” — a much higher standard.  Directly or indirectly, He set before us free choice.  We can decide. Which destination do we want to move toward?  So how do the “Big Three”, you know abortion, gay marriage and guns, fit into that thinking?  Let’s see. Continue reading

Making the Team

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In high school I learned that I made the basketball team!  I had worked hard and had made it!  As the first game of the season approached, I was thrilled to know that I would start!  A couple of errant passes, a missed layup and a foul, and  I found myself on the bench.  Crushed!

While in college, I had aspirations of becoming an actor.  I auditioned for a part in Shakespeare”s Twelfth Night and was cast in the role of Sebastian, one of the male leads.  A few years later, in another city, I auditioned with the local Civic Theater for a role in Bus Stop, and was cast in in the role of Beauregard ‘Bo Decker, the male lead. My “aspirations” were encouraged. Continue reading

Stanley B

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As a child growing up in a neighborhood filled with children, where I was one of the youngest and the smallest, I came to have strong negative feelings about my name, Stanley. The bully-boys in the neighborhood would always say it in a whiny tone, Stannnnleee, oh little stannnnnleee. I hated that, oh I did not like that at all. Why could I not have a name like Bill, or Tom, or even Joe, you know, something strong. But, no, I was Stanley.

The only thing worse than Stanley was George, the other small boy in our neighborhood. George and I became fast friends. For the bullies, it was always Georgie-porgie. He didn’t like his name either, but, what was even worse for him, he was George Junior. We both knew that if that got out he would be “Junior” and that would have scarred him for life.

Continue reading

Writing Barabbas

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In a matter of hours, the notorious prisoner, Barabbas, is to be crucified. He is angry and frightened. He regrets the kind of life he lived and grieves that he will never be able to make things right. Suddenly, he is a free man, pardoned by Pilate. Within hours, he finds himself on Calvary, where he has an encounter with the crucified Jesus. This brings him face to face with his own violent past, and he begins his search for redemption.

 

That is a passage from my book, A Life for Barabbas. I am excited to share that it will be in bookstores on October 30! Continue reading

Kismet: Two Life Stories

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Coincidence. Chance. Accident. Serendipity. Luck. Miracle. A God-thing. We have so many ways of explaining away things that we may not quite understand. Maybe it is kismet, that is fate or destiny, or perhaps a higher power that controls what happens over time, in the future.  You may hear about these moments in the lives of others but when they happen within the span of your life it may give you pause.  My father had one of those moments in the span of his life, and most recently that serendipity moment occurred with me. Chance?  Accident?  A God-thing? You decide. Continue reading

Two Little Boys, Two Kitchen Matches – What Could Go Wrong?

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It was an absolutely beautiful fall day. The hollow behind our church and down the trail, was ablaze with brilliant colors: Reds and oranges and yellows.

I had followed the trail down to the creek below, but always with my father or one of my sisters. This time, it was just my friend George and I, poised at the top of the trail. Both of us were eight years old and had been told never to go down the trail alone. But we weren’t alone, we had each other, and the trail, under the canopy of all those pretty leaves, was calling us. Continue reading

A Man’s Reach Should Exceed His Grasp

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Chicago. A week before Christmas, some years ago. It is cold!  Snow on the streets and sidewalks.

Then, I heard the voice of God say to me:  “Help him!”  I looked, there was no one there.  Then I heard the Voice again, saying “Help him!”, and I looked again and that is when I saw, lying in the middle of Clark St., an elderly man, unable to rise. Cars were driving around him.  So I acted, I helped, and the act became a focus point of my thoughts the remainder of that night and the next day. Continue reading

Moments of Beauty

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You are on a solitary hike in the mountains.  It’s an early day in spring, it is warm, the sky is deep blue and wild flowers are everywhere.  In short, it is a perfect day and you alone are there to witness this bit of God’s handiwork.  There should be a crowd, a huge crowd, the largest in the world to see this and feel the beauty of the day. But it is just you, and you sit and soak up the perfect scene, and you thank God. Continue reading

A Note in the Midst of Grief

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My dear friend,

Last week, I was the speaker in chapel at the retirement community where I live, part-time. I spoke on a familiar topic, God’s love for us, and how that love touches us in ways that we don’t always understand.  As you know, God’s love can sometimes seem hard and harsh.

In the middle of my talk, I said that Jesus knew the heart of the Father and Jesus knew that people last forever. I believe that. These bodies won’t last (Lord knows!), but our spirit does. At this point in my talk, completely unplanned, I spoke about the sadness and the goodness of Thanksgiving week, including the death of your husband (I’ll call him Mike), and the loving effect that his life had on all who knew him. His spirit lives! Continue reading

Perfection Not Required

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Recently, I had a casual conversation while on an elevator at a nearby hospital.  The person I was talking to told me she had visited her mother who just had surgery.  I explained that I had visited a friend of a friend, someone I didn’t know very well. Her comment was: “I could never do that!” I asked her why? She said she would be too nervous and she “could not do it right”!

“Could not do it right!”  I knew exactly what she meant.  I had similar thoughts over the years, whether standing in a reception line at a funeral, visiting an unfamiliar person in the hospital, or just trying to carry on a conversation with someone I did not know in an uncomfortable setting.  What to say at that particular time.  I guess I was worried about saying the right thing. Continue reading

Not by Accident

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I am fascinated by theories that postulate cause and effect. One example is the “butterfly effect” which theorizes that the flutter of butterfly wings in one part of the world will have an impact elsewhere. Sounds a bit mystical, doesn’t it?  Is this theory implying that small causes can have large effects?

Or, how about this: past experiences can determine future responses. Then there is “Chaos theory” which states, in part, that the present determines the future.

I have my own cause and effect theory which I call “Not by Accident” and it suggests that what we have experienced or learned in our earlier days, we now pass on to others, intentionally or not, as we live our lives. These influences could be both good or bad. Continue reading