John Gunter

Thoughts on Life and Living

A life well-lived. . . the eulogy of Philip Andrew Clarke

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(This the second post I have done on the anniversary of the passing of my friend and Christian brother, Philip Andrew Clarke. If you have not read the first post, please CLICK HERE and read it first.)

Phil Clarke
Philip Clarke while serving on a mission trip in Yellowstone National Park.

It was a crisp, cold winter day in Atlanta, Georgia. The sun was shining, but the world still seemed dark. I woke up in our little rented home off the Georgia Tech campus only to see the door down the hall open. The sight of Phil Clarke’s empty bed is still seared in my brain.

Our house had been filled with students since word spread around campus that Phil had passed four days earlier. It was now quiet and empty. David Moon and I drove to ChristChurch Presbyterian, where the church was packed.

The funeral of Phil Clarke is a day I will never forget. It was 17 years ago today.

Al LaCour, our beloved pastor, gave the main message at the service. It was an amazing talk, as Al was very close with Phil. He was able to tie in the message with a strong knowledge of Phil on a personal level.

Wade Williams, Stacy Quiros, and others provided rich and meaningful worship through music. I remember sitting to the right of the stage crying the entire time. The music was beautiful. There really was a sense of the presence of heaven and the Savior of [Read more…]

Death at 22 (but a life-long impact of friendship)

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Phil Clarke and Troy Coons in Jackson Hole
Phil Clarke (left) and Troy Coons in Jackson Hole during a summer mission trip. They were joking with this pose. . . I promise!

Today, 17 years ago, my life was drastically altered. Though life has moved on, my life has never been the same.

Philip Andrew Clarke was everything a best friend should be. Fun to be around. A man of extraordinary character. Smart. Loyal. An incredible sense of humor. Genuinely caring, especially for a college student of 22 years old. He was a committed friend, loyal as the day is long, and a joy to do life with.

Phil was my roommate. Phil, Troy Coons, Phil Autry, and I formed a common bond over a new-found faith in Christ and a mutual deep commitment to growing as Christian men. We wanted to be men of character. We wanted to be men of impact. Through these mutual commitments and desires, we were drawn together. Through this, we formed a ministry that reached out to the entire Greek system at Georgia Tech, though we only represented three of the 32 fraternities.

Looking back, I now see that this common goal, this common desire to grow in Christ and reach out to those around us formed the bonds of friendship that would last a lifetime.

On the morning of December 7, 1995, Phil went hunting for the first time in his life with three of my other close friends, including David Moon and Eugene Kim. Tragedy struck. Phil was accidentally shot and he instantly graduated to heaven and the embrace of the Savior whom Phil so longed to serve and honor in this life.

It’s been 17 years, yet as I type this it as if it were yesterday. My heart is heavy in my chest and tears [Read more…]

4 observations on “thankfulness”

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Craig and Tracey Clarke on her cancer
Craig and Tracey Clarke have taught me much on “thankfulness”

In light of Thanksgiving having been last week and Christmas being a few weeks away, I have been thinking about “thankfulness” a lot the past week or so.

True confession. . . I am by nature a tried and true pessimist. Even in good times, I am looking for the bottom to fall out. I have a hard time celebrating victories in life, always feeling the next challenge is right around the corner. I don’t understand this about myself. I don’t like this about myself.

I do greatly admire those whom live lives of honest “thanksgiving” and thankfulness. The past several years, I have tried to change myself in this area. At the risk of looking creepy, I have observed those around me who are genuinely thankful in their dispositions . . . the people whom always find the good in every situation.

Good news. . . I am honestly growing in this area of being a more thankful person. Though still far from where I want to be in this area, I am growing. It is slight and I do have my moments of backsliding anger and bitterness, but little by little, I am becoming a more thankful person.

Here are a few observations on “thankfulness” that I have been stewing over in my pursuit of becoming a more thankful person. . .

1) People who are “thankful” are wonderful people to be around – Have you ever noticed how great it is to be around positive, thankful people? Seriously. . . think about it. I know “those people” can be a little annoying at times, but by in large [Read more…]

The futility of autonomy vs. the blessing of community. . .

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John Gunter and Rankin Wilbourne hiking
This is Rankin, Morgen, and I hiking on a famous wall when they visited February (Morgen was the camerawoman)

This morning before running out of my apartment for my day of work/study/life in Asia, a dear friend and brother in the faith called me just to check in.  Rankin Wilbourne is the pastor of a wonderful church in Los Angeles.  The church is growing fast and so is his family (two kids and one more on the way).

Rankin (and his wonderful wife Morgen) looks out for me.  He cares for and prays for me.  I do the same for him (and his wonderful wife Morgen. . . and children).  Rankin and Morgen would drop what they are doing in an instant were I to need them, big or small.  For now, he simply calls regularly on the way home from work just to let me know that he is praying for me.  This is big and greatly appreciated.

I am blessed beyond measure by being in community.  I have friends and family around the world who are constantly looking out for me, as I am them.  Whether [Read more…]

My injury, Herculean return to the court, and a press conference

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(This is my third post regarding my career as an Asian college basketball player. You might want to read “How I became an Asian college basketball player at age 28. . . ” and “Funny nuances and differences from my Asian college basketball team“) if you have not already.

John Gunter, Patrick, and our friend on the team
Patrick Ku and I with our one of our best friends on the basketball team

It was my fourth week in Asia and my third week as a member of the top ranked college basketball team in this country.  I was in the midst of language study, but as you can imagine, I still knew and understood very little. Patrick Ku was back in the US for a few weeks on a recruiting trip. This already made basketball practice much more linguistically challenging. No one on the team spoke English and I spoke VERY LITTLE Chinese, so Patrick being gone was a big deal. I was constantly trying to figure out what was going on around me since I had no translation.

My Injury. . .

During this particular practice, we were doing full court defense drills. One player would dribble the length of the court, while two others would try to box him in. It came my turn to be on defense. I was around half court. The guy I was guarding suddenly turned around during the drill running full-speed and his head slammed into my forehead. The impact was just above my right eyebrow. One of the disadvantages of being short is that when 6’7 guys are bent over dribbling, they are at about my head level. Not cool in this case.

It was a strong initial blow, but it didn’t really hurt that much so I didn’t think much of it. The player frantically apologized, but I blew it off in an attempt to show that I am above this whole “pain” thing that others suffer from. As he looked at my eye, he seemed a bit terrified.  All the while, our coach came running over. The coach then took me off to the office area. On the way there, I touched my eye. Blood was now profusely running down the side of my face. [Read more…]

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