A Final Farewell to the Wonder-filled Life we know as simply “Ted”

Ted and Marge

This past week Bear Creek UMC lost the physical presence of a beautiful “teddy bear” of a guy, Ted Kuykendall! I say that we lost his physical presence, because we all know that the power of his grace-filled spiritual presence will be with us for a long, long time. I have had the privilege to minister to and be ministered by Ted for 10 years now and have many fond memories of him. Several of my best moments in ministry have been when I took the time to take a morning to go fishing on Cottage Lake with Ted. One such God-infused moment happened in 2022. And below is the article I wrote about this experience. I called it “Fishing with Paddington”. I re-share this as a tribute to him in hopes that it captures just a few drops of the grace and joy so many of us have felt in his presence. I share this also in honor of Marge, his forever partner…we love you, Marge! Thank you for sharing your love for him with us! You showed us that two, united in pure unbounded love, can truly fill a “room” with life-giving spirit!

Ted, as we unleash you to the heavens, may we capture your flight patterns as you fly to the heavens, and may we learn to fly those same grace-infused patterns here on earth! Well, done God’s good and faithful servant!

Your fishing friend, Pastor Brook

If someone ever asked me what is the one thing they need to do to help them get through these anxious times right now, I think I would have to tell them there are two things they must do. The first is to watch the Paddington Bear movies on TV (both Paddington I and II are precious, but for me the one I cannot stop laughing at is Paddington II…especially the scenes with Hugh Grant playing the faded and narcissistic “Phoenix Buchanan”…what a hoot…you just MUST see this! In fact, I’ll post a clip to my favorite scene HERE). And as good as Hugh Grant is in this movie, Paddington, the bear, is absolutely the star of the show. You cannot watch these movies and not feel a little or a lot of healing of your heart. You just leave believing a bit more in our world and our bear!

And the second would be to go fishing with Bear Creek UMC's own "Paddington the Bear" I only recently discovered this wonderful realization while doing just that...fishing with Bear Creek's own Paddington the bear, only I didn't know it yet. We were on Cottage lake on his little row boat, and as I was fishing with him I kept wondering who this guy reminded me of. It was driving me nuts! First of all, this guy is always positive. As I was helping our “bear” put his boat back into his pickup I was grunting and groaning a bit (who knows I may have let a non-pastor-ly word or two slip out), but this bear’s response was a simple pat on the back and a gentle whisper as he said, “you know that would probably go in the back of the pickup a lot easier with a smile.” And, sure enough, it did!

And then as we were in the boat, this bear and I inevitable started talking about people in the church, I often turn to this “bear” to vent a bit about someone I’m struggling with, and, wouldn’t you know it, every time I shared a struggle, this “bear” would smile and say, “Oh I just love _____! They have the greatest heart!” At one point he said, “you know I’ve always found that everyone has a little soft spot in them, and if you can just hang in there long enough you will find that spot that makes them tick, and before you know it, they will be your best friend!” How can you argue with that?!?

And in-between the times we weren't chatting or catching fish (Did I mention that this guy knows all the secrets on how to catch them? We caught 8 nice ones in 2 hours!), this “bear” was constantly singing the most cheerful little tune in the world! At one point both of our lines were wrapped around the propeller of his electric engine and what is this “bear” doing the whole time all of this is happening? Singing, whistling even, and all the while with a smile as big as a Cheshire cat! And every once in the while saying, “Pastor Brook! Remember! We’ve already won…we’re fishing!” Oh, and by the way, this “bear” even brings his own marmalade (in the form of chocolate chip cookies and milk).

And one more thing, after we finished fishing, I had to jump on a pastoral call so I kind of left this bear with the fish to clean, and guess what? Two hours later he showed up with my half of the trout all cleaned and ready for the grill!

The name of this “loving bear” you ask? Many of you already know, but I hope and pray that someday you can hop in Ted’s boat for a little trip around Cottage Lake sometime. My guess is that after 2 ½ hours of being immersed in this man’s grace, you will emerge ready to go into the world just like I was…as a “pastor” ready to face the deep end of any situation about to come my way.

Think about it? We are called to be Easter people. We are called to rub off on other folks in this world. We’re called to instill hope in folks who are worn out and in despair. If someone went fishing with you, would they come out of the boat refreshed, encouraged, and singing a new song, or still lost in the sea of despair?

Thanks for the fishing invite, Ted Kuykendall! I just have one piece of advice, maybe you should reconsider is the hands-on wrestling lesson. After all, you are still as strong as a bear!

Your friend and pastor, enjoying the memory of my day fishing with Paddington the bear, Brook