I Lost One Of My Heros

I lost one of my hero’s yesterday.

This hero of mine was not a hero because of anything that he did with sports. This hero of mine was not a hero because of did anything in the music or movie industry. This hero of mine was not a hero because of what he did in politics. This hero of mine was a hero because of how he lived his life from day to day.

I only had the honor of meeting this hero of mine once, but it was at this encounter that John Sills became one of my heroes. John had come to Houston with his lovely wife Alicia to seek treatment for the cancer that was raging within his body. My wife and Alicia had been communicating with each other via email for some time, so when we found out that they were close we had to set up a meeting. Now, this is where I have to be honest. I wanted to meet John and Alicia so that they understood that they were not in this battle alone. I wanted them to know that our prayers and support were always going to be with them. I wanted to go to be a sign of strength for them in this very hard time. Those are the reasons that “I” wanted to go. I will now begin to tell you why GOD wanted me to go.

God wanted me to go to meet a true hero. You see, when we met in that simple “hamburger joint” to share a meal, I did not know what God had in store for me. We had a great visit. My wife and Alicia seemed to truly enjoy getting to finally meet after all those years of email communication. The typical joyful banter went back and forth across the table for several minutes. During this time, I was sitting next to my wife in the booth thinking to myself that they probably did not want to talk about “the illness”. I have worked years as a Hospice Chaplin! I have spent years studying and applying grief counseling in all kinds of very difficult situations! I know how people handle situations like these! You know what, I didn’t know diddly! After a few minutes of the “get to know you talk”, we began to move very comfortably into discussion of the journey that this lovely couple was walking together. Alicia moved the conversation the most. John seemed very tired from the traveling and all the tests, but when he did speak peace flowed from his words. John did not speak with perfect “theological” terminology (you know what I'm talking about, it seems that some try to fill moments like these with theology...like it will somehow make everyone feel better), but when he did speak a confidence of knowing that God was with him came out very clearly. His words were few, but the peace that covered him spoke volumes. I was in the presence of a true hero.

I am not here today to tell you that John is a hero because EVERY moment of his life portrayed such confidence. I was not with him every day. I know that he was human. I know that there were probably those times when the halls of his mind where only he and God dwell were filled with thoughts of fear, unknowing, and sadness. I am here to tell you that he is one of my hero’s because of these thoughts. He is one of my hero’s because he faced the path that God had placed him on with courage. Mark Twain once said, “It is curious—curious that physical courage should be so common in the world, and moral courage so rare.” That is why John is one of my hero’s. He was placed on a path that none of us want to walk and stood with Moral Courage and said, “Thy will be done.” John is a hero because he proved that an illness can tear at your body but not have to also tear at your soul.

At 4:50 am on March 9th, this world became less of what it once was and heaven became just that much more.

We love you John.