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The Question President Obama Missed

  The Question President Obama Missed 

There was an opportunity for President Obama to answer a tough question.  Instead, he dodged it completely.  In his place, I will answer the question he left hanging.  Was it a good idea to drop the A-Bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki?  Yes it was....

While here in Japan, President Obama was asked directly by a reporter during a press conference with Japan Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama.  The reporter asked President Obama if it was a good idea that the decision was made to drop the Atomic Bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.  President Obama - characteristically - dodged this question, not answering it at all, and instead talking about his pet project of nuclear proliferation and how it needs to be stopped.  Japanese people - especially the older generations - are keenly interested in any American's opinion concerning the use of nuclear weapons to bring the Pacific War to an end.  They are always gratified whenever any American states that the Atom Bombs were a bad idea, or if any American ever apologizes for the war and how it ended.  Today, I'd like to answer this question for President Obama...

Just over seven years ago when I was living and working and teaching in Hokkaido, I was asked to substitute teach for one of our part-time teachers who'd been unable to travel from Sapporo to Asahikawa.  One of the ladies that was in this particular class asked me essentially the same question that President Obama was asked:

"J-Sensei, what do you think about the Atom Bomb being dropped on Hiroshima at the end of World War Two?"

When later discussing this question with some others, and with family, I was asked what I did and how I reacted to this lady and her question.  Here is the answer to her, and to this reporter's question.

First, the Atomic Bombs didn't have to happen.  The Pacific War between Japan and the United States of America didn't have to happen.  The humiliation that Japan suffered at the end of the war and the U.S. Forces occupation she still endures did not have to happen.  The reason?  In the week leading up to Pearl Harbor and the Japanese surprise attack, 68% of Americans polled wanted War with nobody.  We didn't want War with Germany; we didn't want War with Italy; we didn't want War with Japan.  We wanted war with nobody.  The reasons are varied: the U.S. Economy was still horribly depressed; we were separated from Europe and Asia by two Oceans; whatever was happening in Asia and Europe didn't directly affect us; we hadn't been attacked, though a few U.S. ships had been hit by German U-boat torpedoes, one, being a destroyer, was sunk in U.S. territorial waters with the loss of more than 400 sailors; we had received very little in the spoils of war from the First World War; we basically wanted to be left alone; our military was still woefully unprepared, despite the peacetime selective service act.  The reasons for U.S. reluctance to involve itself in World War two are many and varied.

As I explained this to the class, many of the students -- the majority of them in their 50s and 60s -- looked and listened with rapt attention.  When I'd finished, the lady who asked, replied, "J-Sensei, that is the first time I have ever heard what you just told us today."  Many of her classmates said similarly.  Those who grew up in the War know what happened, know how the government basically lied them into war with the United States, something most of the officers of Japan's military High Command did not want (including Navy Commanding Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto).  Those who were born during the war and after were never told about the USA not wanting war in 1941.  Even today, most Japanese students are not taught the truth of the Pacific War.  They are not taught that the USA wanted isolation form the problems of the world, and didn't want to fight anyone.  The problem is - while the military commanders thought otherwise - the governments of Japan and Germany, and, to a greater extent, Italy, as well, took this reluctance to enter the war as a sign of weakness, that even when pushed to it, Americans would not fight, and would sue for peace (the Japanese actually hoped this would be the case following the destruction of the Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor).  Yet, the fact of the matter is, the US population did not want war with anyone in 1941.

Secondly, the dropping of the Atomic Bombs ended the war, and prevented further tragedy.  In parallel with the Atom Bomb drop plan, the US and Allied high command had prepared Operation Downfall,consisting of two parts:  Operation Olympic and the invasion of Kyushu set for October 1945, and Operation Coronet and the invasion of the Kanto plan (the area around Tokyo) set for the Spring of 1946.  Casualties on the Allied side would have reached between one and three million, with Japanese casualties for the invasion set between  three and seven million.  Further, the war would have expanded unto 1946 and 1947, and possibly into 1948.  Furthermore, the Soviets were also preparing an Invasion of Hokkaido.  As the Japanese Imperial High Command had built underground bunkers for the Emperor and the home army, rooting out the resistance would have taken further years, and likely would have ended up in a massive guerrilla campaign, as Japanese civilians and even children were expected to defend the islands against the Allies.  This guerrilla warfare could have possibly gone on for at least a decade, with animosity and hostility existing between the Allies and the Japanese for further decades and generations.  The Russians, in their planned invasion, included overrunning Korea, thereby making the whole of the Choson Peninsula communistic.  Japan would have been divided between North and South, with Tokyo as divided as Berlin was in actuality.

In essence, the droppings of the Atomic weapons saved lives.  Yes, the dropping of the Atomic Weapons SAVED lives.  Many people will debate that the Japanese had no means of shipping, due to the strangulation of Japanese shipping even in between their home islands by the US Submarine effort and that this was cause for them to surrender (yet, even by the first of August, 1945, when warned by the US Military of the pending doom, the Japanese Government refused to consider surrender).  Others will state that the Japanese had little fuel, no factories, and no infrastructure thanks to the US Army Air Force bombing effort against major Japanese cities, and that surrender was imminent, yet all the while, the Japanese Government continues to produce kamikaze pilots and had planes held in reserve against the coming invasion.  The fact of the matter is, the Atomic Weapons being dropped on japan ended the war, and saved tens of millions of lives, not to mention the war extending into further years, and much tragedy continuing.  This is why the Atom Bombs were a good idea.

Thirdly and finally, though Japan is quick to point fingers at the US for doing the deed of dropping atom bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki (and incidentally, Nagasaki is often not mentioned as often as Hiroshima; the Japanese declare that Hiroshima was a civilian zone and therefore, should not have been bombed), they are just as quick to deny...

• The Bataan Death March, in which thousands of Allied POWs and Filipino civilians were brutally killed.
• The Rape of Nanking/Nanjing China, in which more people were mercilessly slaughtered -- many in grisly, torturous, and rapacious fashion -- than in Hiroshima and Nagasaki combined.
• That they, themselves, bombed the US Navy in Pearl Harbor all the while falsely "negotiating" for peace.
• The bombing of the Philippines and their subsequent invasion, causing the people of the Philippines to rise up in a concerted guerilla war almost en masse, and the atrocities and reprisals carried out against the Filipinos for their instigation and support of this guerilla war.
• Horrific mistreatment of Allied POWs, even so far as placing POWs on ships in order for them to be sunk by US Submarines.
• The needless execution of most of the garrison of Hong Kong following its surrender.
• Horrific mistreatment of conquered peoples, such as the Koreans (who had, up until the end of the War, had endured more than half a century of occupation, repression ,and brutality of the Imperial Army), and the Chinese (we hear about 6 million Jews being slaughtered by the Germans; we DON'T hear about 9 million Chinese being slaughtered in similar fashion by the Japanese Imperial Army).  Even today, Asian "comfort women" - women forced into sexual slavery to the Imperial Army - is still a sticking point between Japan and her Asian Neighbors.

This also not taking into account that even to this day, the Japanese Imperial Government has never, ever issued a formal apology to any of her neighbors for the war, for the illegal occupation of Korea and Manchuria, or anything else pertaining to the Pacific War.  The Government of Germany has long ago and quite often apologized formally for their instigation of the war in Europe, but nothing of the same has ever been issued in Asia by Japan.  Yes, singular officials, Prime Ministers, and Government Leaders have apologized, but every time it has been done, the Media in Japan, the government, and the population in general has always distanced itself from such statements.  In fact, any Japanese teacher daring to teach the truth of what happened in Japan, by taking his or her students to the Independence Center in Cheonan City, Korea, or the Nanking Memorial in Nanking, China, is usually ostracized by his or her peers and/or fired outright by his or her school.  Even recently, Japanese textbooks concerning the battle for Okinawa were sanitized in order to clear the Imperial Army of any wrondoing concerning atrocities committed against the Okinawans (when, in fact, tens of thousands were coerced into suicide).

So to help President Obama, this is my answer to the intrepid Japanese reporter who asked him about Hiroshima and Nagasaki:  it didn't have to happen as the USA didn't want war, but when that war came to our shores, we ended it the best way we could, in order to save lives.  Further, Japan still has MUCH to answer and apologize for.  So long as Japanese people ask about Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the rest of the world will continue to ask about Bataan, Wake, Nanjing, and a host of other as-yet-unapologized for actions taken by Japan.

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Yesterday's Lesson and What I Learned

 Yesterday's Lesson and What I Learned

A Simple Lesson, some unexpected Christmas Decorations, and four classes of High School Students. What does that equate to?  A fun day for all around, and a profound (okay, maybe not so profound) revelation...

As many of you probably already know from my many posts and messages posted here, on facebook, and through email, I am a teacher here in Japan.  I teach at a mid-level private girls' Junior-Senior High in Northern Tokyo, and Friday is usually my busiest day of the week.  I usually teach six classes on Friday altogether, five of these classes being of Juniors and Seniors.  Yesterday, because I had to leave a bit early to go to the eye doctor for my three/four times yearly checkup, I decided to do a rather simple lesson.  It consisted of grouping the students into groups of four (though, in the larger classes, some grouped together in fives, others in threes), giving them a large piece of paper, asking them to draw a Christmas Picture, write four Christmas words, and sign their names.  I brought a large bag of markers of various and sundry colors, set them on a chair in front of the teacher's table, and told them they could use any color they chose.

Quite often, when putting a together a lesson like this, many of the students would blow it off as childish, immature, and either do it half-grudgingly producing a less-than-expected result, or do it quickly hoping to get it done so that there would be more free time to chit-chat or work on something else.  I've even overheard students saying "I can't believe he's giving us this for a lesson!" (apparently they don't remember that I have lived here in Japan for awhile and can understand everything they're saying)  As I put this lesson idea together yesterday and the day before, I kept hearing myself say, "J-bug, this lesson is going to get blown off in so many ways!"  I half expected my students in each class to totally blow off this lesson (at the worst), or speed through it and ask for something else to do, or do something else on their own (I had one student last week in one of my Tuesday Sophomore Classes who did this very thing, much to my chagrin).  It was with a bit of anxiety and not a little apprehension that I approached classes yesterday.

Quite to my surprise, the opposite happened.

Normally, when I give an English Lesson in class, half to 3/4ths of the class tunes out, sits like stone statues on their chairs complete with the blank looks, or put their heads down and sleep (this last one is fairly rare).  Yet when I explained the lesson idea, what I wanted them to do (get together with three friends, draw a Christmas picture, write four Christmas words, sigg your names, pin it to a bulletin board, and no hurry), every body did exactly what I'd asked.  In the first class (Juniors, 2nd highest level in English and academic standing at the school), everyone gleefully participated.  This was repeated through out the day in each of my classes, and in all of the classes that day, only two students didn't participate.  One of my Juniors who has had some attitude challenges since I started at this school a year ago merely put her head down and snoozed; the second young lady, a senior, arrived very, very late for class, and was able to only spend five minutes in class before the bell rang.  Everyone else jumped in with both feet - quite literally in fact...

Many people have the idea of Japanese schools that they are rather strict, high in the academic scale, and that Japanese people tend to place education in very high importance, and in many cases this is true.  Japanese schools -- even public schools -- can be quite stiff, rigid, unforgiving, and (sadly in many cases) stale.  Every Japanese student from seventh grade all the way to Senior Year has to wear a school uniform.  In some schools, such as city or public ones, the uniforms can be "customized" to a certain degree (guys can wear their pants a bit low, ties half-down; girls can hike up their hems and make their school skirts into miniskirts and wear makeup; hair dying is allowed).  The school I teach in is a private school, and the rules don't allow for any customization of the uniform, and no makeup, no hair color.  It can be a bit stiffer and a bit more rigid than the average public school, and the academic quality and demands are higher.  In recent weeks, students have dragged into my morning classes almost worn-out, some of them looking like they hadn't slept much, if at all.  We are also drawing down to the end of the trimester (the school I teach for uses a three trimester system, as do, as I have understood it, probably most all secondary schools do) and everyone is gearing up for exams, with the students begin given a lot of homework in other classes.

Enter this lesson.  There really wasn't much to it.  I think that was its gem:  it was easy to do, no pressure demanded nor given, and it was something that a LOT of Japanese students can do quite well:  draw.  And also, it was about Christmas.  Thursday this week (Thursday is my planning day, as I have three morning classes, and am free after eleven fifteen), I spent about an hour or so after lunch putting up Christmas decorations, including a strand of about a hundred lights around one of the doors to the classroom, garland around two of the bulletin boards, and glass stickers on the two entrances' four sliding doors' windows.  Though some of my Seniors had seen the lights the day before (their classroom is right across the hall from the English Room), as well as some of my Freshmen (their classroom is right next to mine), my Juniors hadn't seen them at all.  Naturally the air was already kinda' festive, and this lesson probably added to that.  After all, they were basically being asked to decorate the room, and have fun doing it: no parameters were demanded other than asking them to keep it on Christmas, and they were given the entire class session (45 minutes) to do it (some didn't get finished and asked to take their decorations home).

But could it have been something deeper than just this lesson?  Could this thing have been deeper than the surface of a simple lesson, designed to give some torched students a bit of a break to do basically what they wanted in a fun way for fortyfive minutes?  Could it have been something more substantial?  After all, Christmas is a serious holiday, especially for believing Christians.  And the reason for Christmas is about the arrival of True Freedom (John 7.31-36) to our world.

Isn't this what Jesus did for us?  Here we were, a world bound in the rigidness, the stiffness, the staleness of sin's dark night, and then, Jesus comes, shakes up everything with his life, his teaching, and his death and resurrection, and launches us free to follow him, free from rigidity, rigor mortis of sin's stiffness, and is the fresh bread of heaven come down to satisfy the hungry and slake the dryness of the thirsty.

Japan is a country that has very few Christians.  Christmas, as they know it, is a Western commercial holiday only, one in which stores are open, Christmas Sales the norm, and business goes on as usual.  And most Japanese people are still bound in the stale, stiff, rigid beliefs of their forebears, following the precepts, the traditions, and the doctrine of Buddhism and Shintoism, which really offers little freedom to do anything save offer the practitioner more and more and endless works (a recent report stated that nearly 65% of Japanese people below the age of fifty now regard themselves as atheist, following the practices of Buddhism and Shintoism as mere form only, and not as deep-rooted beliefs).  Could it be, astoundingly so, that the Spirit of Christmas, for one day, at least, pervaded the hearts, minds, spirits, and lives of a hundred or so students for one day, offering them even the simplest, basic of freedom to decorate a classroom with their idea of what Christmas is?

Having about two hundred and fifty to three hundred students in a given week, I really wonder what kinds of lives my students have.  How many of these students go home to a fist waiting to blacken their eye?  How many of them go home to criticism and chastisement for nothing more than being two minutes or three minutes late not of their doing?  How many of them arrive home to lonesome houses where Mom and Dad are out doing their own thing, coming home only for the mere form of prudence's sake?  How many of these young ladies  go home to homes and houses where the family members are indifferent to each other (at best) or altogether hateful towards one another...or worse?  How many of them know what the Love of God is?  Could it be that in yesterday's lesson, the Lord Jesus worked?  Could he have worked through the clouds of their indifference to anything religious and smote their hearts at a familiar place?  Could the Freedom that Christmas offers have pervaded for even just a scant few minutes?

The lights that I put up on Thursday are some that we keep in a sugar cookie can. This can is a bit different in that the outer facade is separated into three rings.  On these rings are three faces of Santa Claus, and the rings allow for his appearance to be changed form him wearing his traditional Santa' hat to a bowler, to the North Pole.  It is really a kind of toy in itself, and two of my Freshman after putting up the lights on Thursday spent some time during lunch changing Santa's appearance.  One of my Juniors, a young lady named Momoko who is in my third period class, literally held on to that can for the entirety of the class session for her class.  As I walked around the room observing the drawing and writing, I noticed her, several times, almost literally hugging this can to herself, while she listened on to her groups' drawing and decorating.  As I watched her, it seemed as if she were holding onto this can, this sugar cookie toy container, as if it were a life preserver of sorts.  She held onto that can for the entirety of the class, from the time she walked in until she left, holding onto it as if it were the most precious and good thing in the room.  It broke my heart and reassured me at the same time.  It broke my heart in that it made me wonder, "What would make a sixteen-year-old girl hold on to a toy, Christmas decoration, sugar cookie can for dear life, as if it were something good (or representative of it) that she didn't want to let go of?"  Could Momoko's life be so bad, so pathetic outside of school, that a representation of Christmas would be something to her akin to what a candle would be to a man who'd spent most of his existence in a darkened place?  But that is what gave me such hope and reassurance!  What better Light than that of Jesus Christ?  After all, isn't He what Christmas is all about?  Could it be that Momoko (along with so many others) are searching for Light - the Light of Jesus Christ - insomuch that a representation of him would be held to as a drowner holds onto a life saver?  I almost gave that can to Momoko then and there on the spot (and a couple of students in my last class even asked me to give it to them).  If she does the same thing to this can next week, I may do just that.

I'll be using this lesson every day next week, Tuesday through Thursday (no classes at the school on Mondays, as its one of my days off), as my Junior High and Sophomore classes have yet to do any decorations, and I want everyone to be able to put up something for Christmas.  In a way, it makes the decoration of the room seem more "theirs", if you catch my direction.  I'll post other reactions and observations as the next week progresses.

My prayer:  I know it is likely the longest of shots, and it would have to be Father who sets this up, but my prayer is that I will be able to present to my students The Gospel of Jesus Christ.  I hope and pray that because of Christmas that I'll be asked to speak to them all in a school assembly.  I've had this on my mind for most of this trimester.  I don't know that I will be able to do so, but I pray that the Lord will allow me to do so.  Please, will you remember my students in your prayers?  Thank you for taking the time to read this.

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Verse of the Day

"Hatred stirreth up strifes: but love covereth all sins."

--Proverbs 10:12

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Quote of the Day

"When you have a killer emailing an al-Qaeda recruiter in Yemen 20 times, and then yelling 'Allah Akbar' (God is great) while gunning down innocent people, the math is on the blackboard. Major Nidal Malik Hasan is a terrorist; he murdered 13 people in the name of Jihad."

--Bill O'Reilly, FoxNews Commentator and Columnist - From the The Factor Online Column  "Terrorism or Tragedy", Thursday, November 12th, 2009

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Remembering Mike Sherrard

 Remembering Mike Sherrard

Michael Joseph Sherrard

NICHOLASVILLE - Michael Joseph Sherrard, 60, died Oct 31, 2009. He was a longtime Thornton's Store Manager. He was the son of John W. (Barbara) Sherrard of Elizabethtown and the late Margaret Frances Metzger Sherrard. Additional survivors include children, John Michael Sherrard, Dawn (Troy) Hager and Stacey (Clay) Tackett-all of Nicholasville, grandchildren, Amanda and Austin Hager, Laeken Ray, Jaylin Sherrard, Ali Miller, Dalton and Austin Tackett, a sister, Nancy (Jimmy) Peggs-Lexington, special friends, Karen Bates and Daniel Foley. Services will be 10am Sat at Betts & West Funeral Home with Rev. Wayne Johns officiating. Burial will be 3pm Saturday at Hardin Memorial Park in Elizabethtown. (Courtesy of the Lexington [KY] Herald-Leader)

My former neighbor, Mike Sherrard, passed away last week.  Hearing of his passing last weekend from Mom and Dad was tough.  We lived next to Mike and his family for almost seven years, during the time of my Dad's Second Pastorate, in Nicholasville, Kentucky.

Mike was a Dad and a husband.  He had two daughters, Dawn and Stacey (both of them SMOKIN' Hot!!!!), and a son, John Michael.  We first met Mike and his family when we moved into Nicholasville way back in 1985.  Over the next several years, we drew closer and closer to them.  It was rather easy, because Mike was very friendly and personable.  It was also something for my brother and me, as, again, Mike's two daughters were very attractive.

My memories of Mike and his family began a week after we'd moved to Nicholasville.  It was June 1985, and I'd stayed inside all week because -- at that time -- I was quite an introvert.  I didn't want to go outside, didn't want to make new friends, and missed Central City terribly so (Dad's first pastorate had been in Central City, Kentucky, and we'd lived there for almost seven years as well).  My elder brother, Kelley, came downstairs one day, while I was watching TV, and said, "You're coming outside today and making friends."  And with that, he literally dragged me outside.  The first friend I made that day was Mike's son, John Michael.  Though John Michael was about six or seven years younger than me, we became pretty good friends form that time on.  And form that time on, also, our families become more and more neighborly. 

Quite often, John Michael would invite us -- my brother, myself, others in the neighborhood, such as Jonathan, Eddie, and/or Matt, and many others -- over to his house to play basketball in the back driveway (he had a goal on the garage), or Tecmo Bowl or any number of other Nintendo 8-Bit Games, or just hang out and shoot the breeze.  Invariably, Mike would come home from work (he was a manager at Thornton's on Georgetown Road in Northern Lexington, Kentucky), and bring out snacks for us, drinks, and invite us to stay awhile, sometimes as long as we wanted, so long as it wasn't a school night.  As I, personally, got to know John Michael better, I also got to know his Dad, Mike, as well.

My Dad had learned from Mike, that he and his family were Easter-Christmas Christians.  They went to church only on Easter and Christmas for many years, but as we drew closer as neighbors, Dad, Mom, Kelley, and I were all able to, in one way or another, share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with all of the family of Mike's.  One of the first activities that we had was a backyard Vacation Bible School.  Mike encouraged John Michael to come over, and he did, every day.  not only did John Michael join in to the Bible lessons, he also helped us, my Mom, brother, and me, as we administered it.  John Michael later came to more than a few regular church Vacation Bible Schools.  There are a lot of memories that cannot be written here for length's and time's sake.  One that stands out is that Mike was involved in an accident with some of the players for the Basketball Team for the University of Kentucky.  Dad, my brother, and I all went over after he returned home, to see how he was, as did more than a few of our neighbors.  Then we were watching the news, and the story of the accident was reported.  The newscaster stated that three U.K. players had been involved with an "unknown driver".  All of us got a good laugh out of that one because we knew exactly who the "unknown Driver" was.  Mike lamented at losing his chance for fame (half jokingly), but it was probably for the best that he remained unknown...he could have gotten a lot of hate mail (U.K. was GOOD in Basketball that year).

Later, Mike had wanted to put a basketball goal on the street, as a few other neighbors n the block had done.  We had often gone to his back-drive goal to play ball with his son John Michael, but there came a day when that old goal came crashing down.  Mike wanted to replace it with one on the street....but it and the other goals on the street had gotten unpopular with a couple of the families on the block.  Despite most of the families (especially those with children and teens) arguments' that the goals were good for the neighborhood, the two or three families that argued against them won.  Mike had argued vehemently for the families wanting to keep the goals on the street, but to no avail.  Because of this, Mike's reputation went way up with all of us, my brother, myself, and all of our friends, on the block.  We really respected him after that because of his willingness to give us all a place to not just play pickup basketball, but to relive stress and to enjoy the neighborhood with friends.

Around about my brother's Senior year in High School, Mike's marriage began to come undone.  While I won't go into details, by the night before my brother was to head off to MidAmerica Nazarene University, Mike's wife was in the process of leaving him with their two daughters, leaving John Michael behind.  While Mom was already crying with the thought of my brother leaving the next day, John Michael came over, and he and Mom cried together.  It was during this time that Mike started asking Dad to come over and counsel him.  Often Mike would come over to our place for counseling as well.  It was during these times, when school was out, that I'd hop over to Mike's house and help keep John Michael company.  These were trying times for both of them, as they had both felt abandoned.  Yet it was during this time that something truly miraculous happened...

Mike Sherrard came to know the LORD Jesus Christ as his personal Saviour and Lord.  For a good long time, he and John Michael came to the church where Dad pastored.  When my senior year at Jessamine County High started, Mike often asked me to sleep over at his house to help John Michael rise in time for school.  A few times, I drove John Michael to school, but most of the time, I'd get him up, fix breakfast for us both, and get him out to the bus, waiting until it had picked him up before going on to the High School myself.  

All of this, of course, helped me to get to know Mike a lot better.  We talked much about sports, about the future, about many and sundry things.  He asked me to help out with John Michael's home work when I was able to, and I did my best to do so.  Later on that year, Mike's younger daughter moved back into the house, but even so, as she was working full time herself, I would still go over to rouse John Michael before school.  It was a joy to help Mike, because he'd been a good, good friend to us over the years.  Later, after my first year at MidAmerica Nazarene, Mike asked me to work for him at Thornton's.  He needed a night clerk, and I needed a job, so it was a match.  I worked for Mike that entire Summer, and though the first three weeks and the last three-and-a-half weeks were tough, it was good work, and gave me a lot of experience (thanks to Mike, I was able to meet and the autograph of University of Kentucky Basketball Great, Kenny Walker, who came into that very Thornton's on Georgetown Road three times!). 

Looking back, now, I wouldn't have traded it for all the money in the world.  Later on, when I flew back to visit Nicholasville, Mike let me stay with him and drive his truck whenever I needed to.  I stayed with him again when I came back for a high school classmate's wedding.  In fact, many times when myself, or my brother, or both of us, would venture back to Nicholasville, Mike's door was always open to us.  Whenever we stayed, he always asked us how we were doing, how Mom and Dad were, and how college was.  The door of his heart was as open to us as the door to his house.

I remember the last time I saw Mike.  Things weren't the best for him.  I can't remember the exact time it was, but it was before my time in Japan.  John Michael had either flunked out of school, or had dropped out.  Mike had seemingly given up on life - at least it had seemed that way - because of the troubles his son had gotten into.  I had gone to Nicholasville with Dad and we stayed with Mike for a few hours, talking about a lot of things.  Mike had stopped going to the Nazarene Church in Nicholasville because of all the things that had happened that had forced Dad out.

From the time I'd left Nicholasville until the very Day he'd died, I'd prayed for Mike.  I'd prayed (and am still praying) for his daughters, Dawn and Stacey, his son, John Michael, and his ex-, Karen.  I often wondered, after I left the United States to come to Japan, how Mike and John Michael were doing.  I learned a few years after coming to Japan that Mike had gone on disability for a time, and that things were getting worse for his son.  I intensified my prayers for him.  I often remembered him, whenever I passed a convenience store late at night, or saw a harried convenience store manager working a shift when he should have been home taking care of his family.

Then, last week, I heard the news...

Mike Sherrard had passed away.  That news hit like an iron weight on my heart and stomach.  My wife and I wanted to call his daughters (Dad had given us their numbers, as well as that of his ex-), but due to the time difference, we didn't, not knowing what they'd be doing or even if they'd be home.  His younger daughter, Stacey, e-mailed a message to me the other day, asking us to keep in touch (we plan to), after I'd left a note on Mike's online guestbook at the website for The Lexington Hearald-Leader.

I will neve forget big Mike.  I'll never forget his laughter, booming as it was, his friendliness, is kindness, and his love for us.  Mike Sherrard was one of a kind, and I bless his memory today.  May the LORD rest the Soul of Mike Sherrard, and may his family and loved ones be blessed, comforted, and at peace today.  Mike is with the LORD (I Corinthians 15.42-44; II Corinthians 4.17-18; 5.6-8)...