A Jailhouse Rock- Chasing the Wind

The Wind vs. the Wisdom 

Here is another story from my buddy who is in jail.
  
My son wrote me a letter!  In his opening line he reminded me that my journey through life had been especially eventful.  I began to think and to count and consider my blessings, blunders and my back trail.
I thought I have:
jumped out of an airplane 3 or 4 times;
jumped off towering ocean cliffs and tall lake bluffs;
jumped off man made bridges and intimidating high dives, been bungee jumping over the concrete jungle and the Guadalupe river;
been rafting, canoeing, kayaking, yachting, sailing, parasailing, surfing and scuba diving;
snow skied in Aspen, Texas and Breckenridge, Angelfire and Alaska;
water skied in lakes, rivers and oceans;
knee boarded on dry land (that was my fault, surprised I didn't kill him - Sher);
driven huge earth moving equipment, fast shiny cars, and a lot of you crazy;
played golf at fancy country clubs;
slept in penthouses and slept in dumpsters,
slept on the street, under a porch, in my truck for 1/2 a year and in the tank;
rode horse and cows, but never a bull;
owned stocks and bonds, emus and registered cattle and lost them all;
sold millions of dollars of landscapes and pools;
made a million dollars and gone bankrupt;
lost a million dollars, still broke;
seen huge storms and hurricanes, seen a few fires;
built a lovely home, lost a lovely home;
earned 2 college degrees;
been an investment banker, lost every investment I've ever made;
been to Hawaii 5 times, to Jamaica, Amsterdam, Canada, Mexico, Great Brittan, Latvia, and Arkansas - barely got out of there with my shoes.
I once took a 5000 mile, 3 week I man road trip with no spare tire. 
Took a night swim with 100 water moccasin snakes swimming all around me, swam with a dolphin, swan across a few lakes and in the ocean;
raced 100 miles on a bicycle;
raced 10 miles on foot;
done a triathlon;
flown an airplane although not solo,
driven from 109 Northcaslte to the Longview Mall backwards;
I've seen Mt. Raineer, the Rocky Mountains, the Smokey Mountains, the Poconos, the Sierra Madres, Blue Ridge mountains, the Copper Canyon, the Amber Waves of grain, the purple mountain majesty, 3000 head of cattle and 300 wild mustangs in a single glimpse, a couple of volcanoes and the Baltic sea.
Painted tropical mosaics on my apartment walls;
built my own natural cedar furniture;
carried a bag phone with $800 in monthly bills in the early 90's;
seen cock fights, dog fights and chick fights;
encountered chicken smugglers in Coahullia, and caught a rainbow in Chihuahua just before a snow storm;
met robbers, thieves, assailants, abusers, murderers, drug dealers, crack heads and pot heads . . . all before I came to jail.
Installed a few miles of PVC pipe;
discovered a tiny shivering puppy, ancient dinosaur fossils, and a picture perfect rainstorm via the foothills of Coahuila Mexico;
watched MLB and NBA playoff games live and in person;
had 50 flat tires- at least!
stood on the sidelines at Cowboy games and on the floor for the Dallas Mavericks Playoffs;
been beat up by the cops a few times;
been kicked out of 20 bars;
chased a greasy pig;
rode a continental trailways bus from South Carolina to Longview;
shot skeet, animals, liquor, poo, a bow and arrow, craps and hoops;
rolled a bunch of houses, rained biscuits from the sky - not a good idea;
got an 18' 2 ton bobtail truck and trailer stuck under an underpass in Marshall Texas at rush hour;
dropped a pallet of shingles in the middle of a Waco street;
almost rolled a water tank truck in Longview;
lost a trailer or 2 smooth off the hitch of my truck;
drove 50 miles in 2nd gear of 5 nonstop from Lake Fork to Longview;
got me a tattoo (like my daughter's);
climbed the outside of a tall building on choir tour in the 70's;
may have been partially responsible for having us expelled from a certain Florida Christian conference while on choir tour in the 70's;
May have been partially responsible for having us evicted from a certain Hawaiian hotel while on choir tour in the 70's;
went to State in church league basketball with 5 different teams;
had a cup of coffee with a college basketball team;
owned and operated 4 companies, dissolved 4 companies;
rode every rollercoaster . . . "Look Mom no hands";
sold Christmas trees on a street corner;
bought baby ducks from a catalogue, "quack, quack";
had a best friend named Elwood - my Hound dog;
was ice cold when camping with no sleeping bag at 11 degrees;
ice cold when riding in the back of a pickup in the sleet and snow, ice cold;
ran out of gas at least 25 times in my life;
drove my pickup straight up hill to Goose Lake, New Mexico 8 miles took 6 hours, lost my brakes on the way down!
Seen the Beach Boys, Billy Joel, Bruce Springsteen, BB King and Jimmy Buffet;
toured a bread factory, beer factory and chocolate factory;
seen chicken plants, turkey plants, tire plants and plant plants;
owned a tarantula, a box turtle and a beagle;
Been friends with the rich and famous and the poor and homeless;
had a burr haircut, a mullet and a really long blond wig.
Broke my back, broke the bank and broke my word;
wrecked and totaled a few cars and trucks;
almost died in a Ford minivan crash;
hitchhiked from the middle of Mexico to Dallas on $20;
searched for gold and silver and fluorite minerals in Mexico;
helped develop multimillion dollar building projects;
been friends with fashion models, fashioned construction models to scale.
Traveled on highway 1, Route 66 and across the 23 mile bridge over Lake Ponchatrain;
delivered a calf and some kittens;
did some ranching, rode to open a rodeo and rowed a boat a mile in the rain;
collected coins, stamps, baseball, football and basketball cards;
separated a shoulder, broke my thumb 3 times and popped that Achilles tendon;
spoke 2 languages - neither of them well;
went bust in Las Vegas, dined on Dimdum(?) in San Francisco and ate gumbo on the bayou;
Been on a TV show, watched a TV show and owned a color TV;
saw a meteor shower and 100 falling stars;
caught a lot of lightning bugs, been frogging and almost sat on a rattlesnake;
missed a few airplanes, made up a few melodies;
wrote a newspaper column, rolled the cartilage of my knee;
heard a speech by Jim Valvaro, heard the Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir;
heard a solo by Eric Clapton;
stood on the sidelines with "Too tall" Jones;
worked for a Mexican Radio station, sold stock for Merrill Lynch;
was a part time janitor, drove a forklift and a skytrack rig;
opened a door with a chainsaw, picked up many a weary traveler from a long and lonely walk;
gotten lost in the woods, stayed lost on the road;
seen the Northern lights, the Marfa lights and the Christmas lights on Beverly Dr. in Dallas where I once resided;
seen plays on Broadway and been in plays on Padre Island;
visited the US Capitol, Smithsonian, Hoover Dam, the Alamo, Yankee Stadium, Nashville, the Baltics, Buckingham Palace, Branson, Dollywood, Pearl Harbor, Statue of Liberty, Grand Central Stadium, Big Ben and Graceland twice;
Built beautiful swimming pools, water falls, cabanas, gazebos and landscapes and one cool hair salon;
made 1000 people smile with designs and landscapes;
seen the aliens at Roswell and the stalagmites and stalactites of Carlsbad Caverns;
been All-Tournament and All-District, but never an All Star;
hiked in the Mexican Mountains, across the Big Ben Desert and in the company of real Indians;
Repelled at Copper Canyon Mexico;
broke a leg on a skateboard;
Seen State Championship basketball, football and baseball games;
been to the final 4 basketball tour;
swam in the Atlantic, the Pacific and an icy lake.
Hunted birds all over Texas, fishing in streams lakes, rivers, creeks and oceans;
been to concerts, plays and high profile parties;
been strong and powerful and weak and scared;
killed a duck, a deer, a turkey, a dove, a quail, a rabbit, a chucker, and a cat (on accident);
won a few fights, lost more fights.
Swapped sweat with Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul Jabar and the Showtime LA Lakers;
had dinner with W.A. Criswell and several pro athletes;
been to haunted houses, ice houses and soon the Big House, lived in a house with a lot of mouses;
traveled to the tip of Alaska (Juno) and to the end of America (Miami);
dated too many beautiful girls;
owned fine cars, trucks and boats;
hopped a freight train, ridden a motorcycle, a moped and a jet ski, a snow mobile, a hot streak;
auditioned in California for 2 weeks in 2006 for Survivor, camped in the dessert, the mountains, the forests, the pasture, a doorstep;
Did not meet 6 presidents of the US like Forest Gump but I was the President of the Mobberly Baptist Church youth choir and in the Pine Tree High School Hall of Fame (almost kicked out);
Shoveled asphalt, red clay, gumbo, wash sand, concrete mix, cotton seed hulls and cow manure;
worn 3 piece suits, leather vests, platform shoes, disco shirts, short shorts, knee socks and chuck taylors;
Tried yoga, Tai chi, aerobics, karaoke, and Elvis Impersonation;
almost drowned twice;
mown 1000 yards, cut 100 cords of firewood;
spoke in front of 1000 people, owned a guitar;
built a few miles of barbwire fence;
and climbed a 30 foot coconut tree, slid down a 30 foot coconut tree and got the coconut to prove it. . .
And somewhere along the way I encountered you. .  and that's a good thing.  I thank God for all these experiences that made me who I am today.  I intentionally excluded rich family experiences and the spiritual victories that I have been so honored to experience.
Beyond these, I believe I know what old man Solomon was referring to in Ecclesiastes when he said it was all "chasing the wind".  For I certainly have nothing to physically account for my 45 adventurous years.
I have however, learned a little from the journey.  I've learned that none of the afore mentioned life experiences, battles or victories compare to the afternoon in June of this year that I sat down on my little bunk bed in the Blank County Jail and read the story 'All the Way' to a new Red headed friend.
I watched as a mammoth of rage became a heartbroken kitten.  I saw the mean become meek.  I felt the tears of a giant melt years of misunderstanding and pain.
"I've got to have you in my life," he said.  "No, you've got to have God in your life friend, you've got to have God" I replied. 
My friend has never looked back!  I left him weeping in blank 65 days ago.  He said he was done with dope, he said he would follow the rules; he said he would come see me as soon as he could.  He said "I love you, Man."
And so he has, and so he does.  He came to the Blank County Jail to visit me yesterday.  He drove for awhile (got lost) then stood in line for a couple of hours almost, visited with this old man, then drove himself on (got lost again and almost ran out of gas) to Stephen and Sherry's warm and loving home.
As I limped back to the cold concrete of my medical tank, I considered the things on that lengthy laundry list, and I know that what has happened in this one lost boy's heart was more important, more lasting and more rewarding than my 45 years of "Chasing the Wind."
God wants me to live a life of purpose, replete with Wisdom that has been long absent (like the appreciative leper).  I thank God for this time to consider the days I chased the wind and to reposition my heart and hands for His eternal purposes.  It's time, my ball got lost in the tall grass for awhile . . . but now I've found it again.
I'm done with the wind,
I'm in with the wisdom.
I'm waiting in the Infirmary

Comments

[Jay -- Adirondack Chairs]

Wow. What a life so far! Great writing, too. Thanks for this post. Here's to more Wisdom.

[home improvement - fencing]

Good story given here.It was really touching.Keep this good work buddy.