Dear Children,
You asked me about one dimension I am most proud of in my life. Honestly to speak, there is no such dimension since whatever good happened into my life was the work of the Christ Jesus and not mine. Let me narrate you a few stories.
When I was about 10 or 12, my sister and her husband took me camping. Her husband bought me a hunting knife. When I got back, I used to sleep with that knife up underneath my pillow because of the rough times with my dad. At that period of time, I got a Bible from my uncle – Father August, the priest, and someone also handed me a diary. Before I noticed it, I caught myself reading the Bible and making his thoughts page after page. Eventually I didn’t need having the knife in my hands; the Bible and my reflections took its place.
Looking through the past, I’ve lived an amazing an adventure because, Christ just kept on turning my many sins, failures and trials into blessing and lessons. For example, my periods of blindness helped me to meet incredible people, become more organized and most importantly learn to listen at deeper levels. God used weakness to strengthen me and bless others. Even the struggles with Dad, painful as they were, taught me something about the power of good and bad words and the value of perseverance.
When one of you embraced atheism quite literally, I spent a year just trying to become an atheist because my mind decided that it would make it less painful and less demanding. It was hard, yes, but it turned out to be one of those things in life that really bolster your faith. Through this, I came to know that science, logic and reason are not the antithesis of faith, rather they complete it. The day on which I came back towards God was a day of truth beyond question and that day I shall never forget.
So, for years, I’ve often said I want to give my own eulogy at my funeral. I don’t want someone to stand up and talk about what I did. If anything, I hope it starts with, “Jesus used Dan to…” and then tell the story… it could even be a stupid joke!
So when you ask what I’m most proud of, it’s this: in my weakness Christ’s power is strong, and in my nothing the grace of God is everything. In my place, on my cross, for my sins, His sacrifice is so profound and life-changing. As Saint Paul put it in Galatians 6:14, “May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.”
With love,
Dad