Fan favorite Jim Ryun failed to qualify for his event in the Munich Olympics
Fifty years ago this week, a runner (fouled) would fall. And though he would appeal, he was denied. Jim Ryun failed to qualify to mine Olympic gold. It was a test by which his faith was tried.
This Munich moment would define Jim’s character and more. Who tripped him on the track he would forgive. So too the IOC top brass who recognized their error. Jim learned wounds can’t be licked to truly live.
And live he did. Jim Ryun ran for Congress. And he won. The “Kid from Kansas” gave his faith some feet. Committed to a Christ-like cause, Jim took his laps in stride while learning from life’s setbacks and defeats.
Perhaps we, too, can learn from him when tempted to give in when others trip us up by their mistakes. May we, like Jim, refuse to quit forgiving as we go while proving what is stretched need never break.
Remembering Diana and Teresa twenty-five years after their deaths
The mother of William and Harry and the mother of Calcutta’s poor were taken too early with much left to do in a world stained by bloodshed and war.
Both these mothers gave birth to a vision that remains unfulfilled to this day. It’s a vision of kindness and mercy where peace and contentment can play.
It’s a vision that invites us to focus on what is (as yet) still unseen. And so every morning, let’s look high and low to find ways to fulfill what they dreamed.
Editor’s note: Princess Diana was tragically killed in a car crash on August 31, 1997. Mother Teresa died later that same week on September 5, 1997, just ten days after her 87th birthday. The following poem was written shortly after Teresa’s death and republished in 2017.
Hollywood actress Virginia Patton Moss had a wonderful life
Yes, Virginia, there is…
A solitary somber bell ringing in Bedford Falls.
A host of fans who grieve your passing.
A wonderful life waiting beyond this one.
A reunion with loved ones who’ve gone before.
An audience with the One whose sinless life, undeserved death and unexpected resurrection make it all possible!
Good grief! You’ve had a great life!
Peace to your memory! Comfort to our hearts!
Virginia Ann Marie Patton Moss (June 25, 1925 – August 18, 2022) was an American businesswoman and actress. After appearing in several films in the early 1940s, she was cast in her most well-known role as Ruth Dakin Bailey in Frank Capra‘s It’s a Wonderful Life (1946). In 1949, Patton retired from acting, with her final film credit being The Lucky Stiff (1949).
While a student at USC, Patton began to audition for acting parts. She collaborated in plays with screenwriter William C. DeMille while in college.[6] She had several insignificant film appearances before being cast in Capra’s It’s a Wonderful Life (1946) as Ruth Dakin Bailey, the wife of George Bailey’s younger brother Harry. Although Capra did not know Patton personally, she read the role for him and he signed her to a contract. Patton later said that she was the only girl the famous director ever signed in his entire career. Patton still gave interviews about It’s a Wonderful Life and was the last surviving credited member of the adult actors in the film (a number of child actors are still alive).
Patton made only four films after It’s a Wonderful Life, including her first lead in the B-Western Black Eagle (1948).[7] She appeared in the drama The Burning Cross (1946), a film about a World War II veteran who becomes embroiled with the Ku Klux Klan upon returning to his hometown.
Patton was married to Cruse W. Moss from 1949 until his death in 2018. She gave up acting in the late 1940s to concentrate on raising a family with her husband in Ann Arbor, Michigan.[7] She later attended the University of Michigan.
Virginia’s husband Cruse began his career with Kaiser-Jeep Corporation ultimately serving as President of the Automotive Division. Jeep developed the first SUV – The Wagoneer under his leadership. When American Motors acquired Kaiser Jeep in 1970, Mr. Moss formed AM General Corporation and served as its first President. AM General became the world’s largest manufacturer of tactical wheeled vehicles with factories worldwide. He subsequently joined White Motor Corporation, a Fortune 500 company and a leading worldwide manufacturer of heavy-duty commercial trucks, farm equipment and materials handling equipment as President and Chief Executive Officer and later became Chairman of the Board. Mr. Moss left White Motor Corporation in 1985, after the sale of White to Volvo, to devote full-time to the growth and development of General Automotive Corporation, which he founded. He retired from General Automotive Corporation in 1996.
Greg’s book, “Finding God in It’s a Wonderful Life“ is listed on the BOOKS menu at $5.88-$14.99 Lulu Books.
David McKenna, Greg Asimakoupoulos and Don Argue communing at St. Arbucks
Much like the Holy Trinity, we’re one in friendship, though we’re three. We listen to each other’s hearts and pray for those we love.
St. Arbucks is our chosen place. It’s where we sip a cup of grace. Such rich communion slakes our thirst and nourishes our faith.
Our trust allows transparency. We own our fears and victories. Without the need to preen or boast, we share our memories.
The Three Amigos! Such are we. A brotherhood. A company. A triune cadre with one aim: to spur each other on.
* Dr. David McKenna is the past president of Seattle Pacific University and Asbury Theological Seminary. Dr. Don Argue is the past president of the National Association of Evangelicals and Northwest University. Both men have become mentors to me as we meet regularly to debrief lessons learned on our spiritual journeys.
My Rhymes and Reasons 