Despite this blog being stagnant just now it seems right to record here, the tragic news that our much-loved friend Mike Yaconelli died in a car crash late on Wednesday night. I'm about to leave home to lead a weekend on the theme of saints. Here's to Mike, one of those in glory: there will be laughter in heaven with that big holy guffaw of a man in there. There will be laughter... but just now shock, numbness, sadness, pain. All mixed up with tender thankfulness for all the deeply-earthed wisdom and encouragement he gave us...
"I can't remember everybody's name; I often can't remember where I am! You don't have to have my gifts or skills - and I don't have to have yours. The most seemingly unimportant thing can make all the difference in the world. A teeny weeny act of kindness can make all the difference... That's what spirituality is - simple kindness, the significance of the insignificant. When's the last time you wrote a little note to your parents telling them you think they're great? Really. That says more than all the religious and Bible talk, and will mean a great deal to them. It's an act of kindness any of us can do." (from Jerk-Free Christianity in Yak Yak Yak, Marshall Pickering 1991)
[Youth Specialities news release about Mike's death]