Author: Jon Gauger

Vietnam, 1968, Lai Khe (northwest of Saigon). In the signature dank and darkness known only to jungles, infantry platoon Sargent Russ Caforio stepped warily.  Their mission was to set up an ambush along a known enemy route.  “There were ten of us,” he recalls. “We carried Claymore mines, M-16’s, grenades, a Starlight scope, and a radio." That, and something much less flashy. “We also brought a spool of thin filament, similar to a fine fish line, which we strung around the perimeter of our ambush site about 100 feet out.” A low tech surveillance tool, it was surprisingly effective.  "If…

This morning it was fire-engine red, eye-catching and full of fall’s finest. This afternoon, that same leaf perches on my desk curled and brown and surprisingly brittle. That any living sprig could possess color and life so late in the season—as this leaf did— surprised me.  To the point, I had to pause my morning walk and snap a picture of the thing.  Even the stem was striking (this, after many nights where the temperature dropped into the lower 30s). But sunset tells a different story, a sadder tale if you want my opinion.  Not to get melodramatic (we are…

Adults reading familiar Bible stories: Predictable. Safe.    Kids reading familiar Bible stories: Unpredictable. Vulnerable. As a young mom, Lynnette recently revisited the story of Moses with her four children. Together, they pondered the dramatic moment where baby Moses was set afloat on the Nile river with nothing more than a homemade basket to protect him.  The kids expressed an intriguing range of concerns. SADIE (Age 4): That’s scary, because of crocodiles. JOSIE (Age 12): Wait! Is the Nile brackish?  Because crocs are saltwater reptiles, right? CALEB (Age 8): Crocodiles are a worry.  But did you know that the Egyptians dumped…

Goodbye watermelon. Goodbye swimming pool. Goodbye lawn chair. Fall comes at an exorbitant price. For me, one of the sadder summer losses is crickets.  They speak peace to the troubled night and calm to the cacophony we call early morning.  But as I take my sunrise walks in the second half of October, the cricket symphony decrescendos dramatically. A few courageous critters sill scrape their wings and make the music.  But as early morning temperatures dip into the upper 30s, the insect orchestra reduces to a few brave soloists.  When I hear one now, I smile big and walk gently…

It’s one of the funniest lines—that never gets a laugh. I refer to the safety demonstration from a flight last week: This aircraft is equipped with six emergency exits… Your seat cushion may be used as a flotation device… Smoking in the lavatories at any time is prohibited… Then the flight attendant rattles off this disturbing scenario: “In the event of a sudden loss in cabin pressure, oxygen masks will drop down automatically.  Reach up and pull the mask to your face—and breathe normally.” Think about it.  What could possibly cause a “sudden loss” in cabin pressure?  A bullet through the…

I sat in the Batmobile! In case you missed it, the Batmobile made a stop in Hinsdale, Illinois.   But I was impressed by more than the car itself.  In an age of high crime and low trust, the dynamic duo simply left the Batmobile right on the street.  Neither Commissioner James Gordon nor the Gotham Chief of Police was on hand to guard the iconic vehicle. What was it like to sit in the Batmobile, you ask? Impressive, frankly.  From the bubbled Plexiglas windshield to the dash-mounted Detect-A-Scope, I was lost in the lore of Gotham City.  I grabbed the…

Should you wear a mask or not? It’s the Coronavirus conversation guaranteed to generate as much heat as it does light.  But I wonder—would Jesus wear a mask? Note that I’m not asking if masks are effective.  I’m asking if Jesus would wear a mask. The short answer is yes. I think it's clear Jesus would wear a mask—whenever it was either required by ordinances or by His desire to "look out for the interests of others." On what basis do I make such a claim?   When officials questioned whether or not Jesus paid the temple tax, He paid by…

Shrill—and getting shriller. Such is the state of our digital demeanor.  Have you noticed? Our public discourse is often just coarse.  If you’re a conservative, every democrat is despicable.  If you’re a liberal, conservatives are kooky.  Those who disagree with some of the data presented by the Climate Change crowd are “science deniers.”  That’s right!  They deny 100% of everything scientific.  No middle ground—who needs it? We have all but lost our capacity to disagree, let alone discuss much of anything with others.  Civility is dead. In our posts, texts, and media, we celebrate the crass, specialize in the snarky,…

Conversations with a 969 Year Old Man Some people have happy dreams—others, nightmares.  How to describe this? I found him outside town perched on a rock at an intersection locally known as Three Corners, named for the three counties that come together on three roads emerging out of a forest. It’s not like I was staring at him or anything. Okay, maybe a little. How could I not? His body gave the appearance of a distressed pup tent—saggy and poked out in places where fragile bones attempted to prop up his shaky limbs.  His skin cascaded down those limbs like…

As we Midwesterners begin our slow goodbye to summer, we know that six months of all things dark and drab loom ahead.  Our descent into the dreary is eased somewhat by the bombastic colors of the fall trees. As if to dare the onslaught of fall’s overwhelming brownness, the leaves emerge in irreverent hues: electric orange, sun-soaked lemon, fierce red.  My favorites are the variegated shades, like the leaf I saw on a neighbor's driveway.  It was small and featured a bright green center crowned with an orange tint that looked as if God was experimenting with Photoshop.  After taking…