I haven't posted in a long time, but felt a great need to share my thoughts and feelings today as I mourn the loss of a great friend and mentor, Mike Loveless. You might wonder why I have titled this post "Life is Good!!!" considering its contents. If you knew Mike at all, you would not wonder. It is the phrase I most often heard him say, and one that I think defined him. Mike was my friend, scout leader, church leader ... and above all, a great example to me of how a true disciple of Christ lives his life. I've heard the saying "Preach the gospel all the days of your life, and if necessary, use words." I think that explains how Mike lived. I feel like I learned so much from him, and am a better man because of him, but I can think of few scriptures that he shared, or sermons that he gave. I can recall countless days that I spent with Mike in the mountains, and in his home. Fishing, playing capture the flag, hiking, sitting around a camp fire, working on merit badges, building ewok villages, playing hearts, ... and I think that's where the real lessons were learned. Anyone who knew Mike knew several things about him. 1. His family was the most important thing to him. When I think about how I want my relationship with my wife to be, I think of Mike and his wife. 2. Mike would do anything to help you. I think that the last time I saw Mike was about a year ago. My jeep was broken down and I had to make a quick trip to Price to pick up a motor from my parent's house. My dad was at work, and I needed help lifting it into a car I had borrowed. It was late and I was trying to think about who I could get to help me. The first person that came to mind was Mike. Sure enough, he drove right over and helped me with the motor. That's just how he was.
I had the opportunity of attending a Varsity scout All-Stars camp with Mike two years in a row. The All-Stars camp is a week long leadership training camp. The camp was a mixture of games and training. The second year I attended I was a youth staff member, and Mike was the camp director. Several nights during the week we had firesides around the campfire. Near the camp there was a large open field which we called Bristlecone flat because at the upper end of the field there was a very large Bristlecone pine tree. Bristlecone pine trees are very interesting and beautiful trees. They are the oldest known living organism (thousands of years old in some cases). The interesting thing about these trees is that they typically grow in very rocky regions near windswept ridges, at the timberline. In this very harsh environment they grow very slowly, but are very resistant to bugs and other things that kill trees. I'm not sure how old the tee at bristlecone flat is, but half of it is dead and has been burned. It looks like its been through hell, but it is really a majestic tree. I've always remembered a poem that Mike shared at one such fireside:
The Law of Life
The tree that never had to fight
For sun and sky and air and light,
That stood out in the open plain
And always got its share of rain,
Never became a forest king,
But lived and died a scrubby thing.
The man who never had to toil
Who never had to win his share
Of sun sky and light and air,
Never became a manly man,
But lived and died as he began.
Good timber does not grow in ease.
The stronger wind, the tougher trees,
The farther sky, the greater length,
The more the storm, the more the strength,
By sun and cold, by rain and snows,
In tree or man, good timber grows.
-Author Unknown
I'm really going to miss Mike. I'll always remember the time we just couldn't quit fishing and ended up hiking back to the car through a swamp in the dark, or watching him do a back-flip on a water-ski (before they had wakeboards). But most importantly I think I'll remember that it's people that are important, not things, not events. That actions speak louder than words, and that you can profoundly impact the lives of others for the better if you take the time to care for them. My thoughts and prayers go out to Mike's family. Thanks for sharing such a wonderful person with the rest of us. He has truly blessed the lives of countless many.
