What is the secret of a beautiful life?  One person says it is a friend.  Another sees in it a passion for truth and righteousness.  Another feels it is the love experienced and expressed as one beloved.   And another sees its source stemming from Godly training and discipline.  Van can find all of these as components of the secret of his beautiful life.  And because he shares his beautiful life with each of us, we want to share back “flowers for the living,” affirmations that bless your spirit, nourish your soul, and encourage your body, in other words, all of you!

      This book actually begins in a moment of revelation in 1985.  I am standing in the bar of the Activiteitencentrum on Ganzenhenvel in Nijmegen, Holland.  It is breaktime on Saturday afternoon of a three day NLP seminar.   All around me I see people drinking coffee and talking about the communication exercises we have just finished.  They are engaging in the journey of self-discovery, and not surprisingly so am I.

      I’m standing talking with an angry young woman just inside the doorway.  On one side of us are three people sitting on bar stools, animatedly discussing their personal discoveries--in Dutch.  On the other side an English woman discusses the benefits of nutrition with two friends.   However, my conversation partner’s intensity holds my attention.

      Talking about her boss, she steams, “I can’t stand him.  He reminds me so much of my father, and I hate him.” Her comments strike a deep chord inside of me.  Just this morning I read in Ephesians where Paul writes,

“Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. "Honor your father and mother" --which is the first commandment with a promise--"that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth." (Eph.6:1-3)

The words “honor your father and mother” come rushing back to me, as does the feeling of my own anger at losing my father at age twelve.  In that flash, I realize, “Van is the only father I have in the natural.  If I’m to live out God’s commandment to honor my father, he is the one.”

      At this moment, I see the solution to unsettledness about my birth father and Van.  I can still honor my daddy for bringing me into this world, teaching me for twelve years, and remaining a source of inspiration.  But, if I’m going to relate to an earthly father, it is going to be Van.   Without a doubt, I can honor him as the father he is and can be to me.

      Unpacking this flash of insight continues for days afterwards.  However, in the moment I am filled with inspiration, and I say to this woman, “If you will honor him, not because of what he does or has done, but because of who he is, you will resolve this problem.”

      And so begins a new dimension of my journey in loving God and living out the joy of his commandments.  Over the years, I’ve meditated on what it means to honor my father and mother, and increasingly attempted to do this.  In part it means integrating their godly ways and letting those ways shape my thoughts and actions.  In part it means finding ways of expressing this honor directly.

      This book is one such, heartfelt expression not only of honor, but also of the love that has grown deeper and deeper for you, Van, as I’ve allowed God to work the miracle of his life in me through you.

      I remember you exhorting me not to write a book before it had had time to mature.  I remember your own reluctance to commit your words to the printed page.  And yet, as I have pursued editing this book, I have re-read your sermons a number of times and realize that they get better each time I read them.  I believe that in hearing your message to us through them, there should be “flowers for the living.”

      All of us--those who’ve made contributions to this book, and those who’ve chosen to honor you in other ways--acknowledge your unique character.  It is no surprise that we share common perceptions of you, for not only have you preached on developing godly character, but you have modeled it.  Each contributor has captured a perspective of your life.  And we trust that these reflections will stir your heart and mind to know that you are loved, that you have shown us the way of life, and that you call us to a higher standard in our own lives by that example.--

      We honor you for the husband and father you are, committed to live out the life of Christ before us and to bless us as you do so.  May you know God’s pleasure as you hold this book, as you reflect on your own words in it, and as you allow the words of affirmation within it to register in your spirit.  There is no surprise for us that you have lived such a long and fruitful live for God.  Your ninety years show his promise to us all, fulfilled in and through your life.  You have lived out before us what it means to honor father and mother, those in authority, and most importantly, your God and our God.

Gene Early

Montreat, North Carolina