I was really looking forward to following Phil Mickelson in the gallery at the Colonial professional golf tournament next week in Ft. Worth. He is the defending champion of that PGA event, and the #2 golfer in the world. Phil won’t be there this year. And he is not playing in the Byron Nelson this weekend either. Phil cancelled all of his professional golf commitments until further notice, because of his wife, Amy’s health concerns. She was recently diagnosed with breast cancer. I admire his obvious dedication to his wife. I especially appreciate the immediacy of his decision. There was no vacillating. His professional life as a golfer took an immediate backseat to the needs of his wife. Breast cancer has Phil’s attention. The Mickelslons are no strangers to tragedy. In 2003, Amy nearly died in childbirth. Their newborn son went 7 minutes without breathing. Phil’s professional life suffered then too, but he devoted his time where it was most needed.

What will it take to get our attention? Tragedy has uncanny way of doing it every time. As a young married man, I got out of the habit of calling my mother on a regular basis. I am not a mama’s boy. I had the needs of my own family to consider. And then I was in an accident in 1988 that resulted in a 4 day hospital stay. After that unexpected little twist, I started calling my mother every week. She died three years later. I am glad that the accident got my attention. As a very young and inexperienced law enforcement chaplain, I was exposed to raw tragedy every on a regular basis. I learned to celebrate life by rocking my babies and hugging those I love.

This week I received an update on my long time friend and mentor, Willard Tate. Willard is also facing a very uphill battle with cancer. He preached for the Hamby Church of Christ, when I was an intern for that little country congregation outside of Abilene from 1985-1987. I was a young graduate student at Abilene Christian University at the time. Willard was a great encourager and role model. He has served as a reference on my resume for nearly 22 years now. I think about Willard every day. In fact, I am thinking about him in a special way today. The church I serve has employed two youth ministry interns for the summer. I am not the youth minister, but I will still interact with them every day. I want to have the same kind of impact in their lives that Willard did in mine. That is a tall order! I think it is a feat that can be accomplished, because cancer has my attention too.