Each Wednesday during Lent, Evening Vespers will be offered at 7:00, followed by a speaker – see the list of speakers and topics. Our speaker this week is Mike Burke, with a presentation titled “Waiting to Die, Running to Live”. 

Mike Burke was diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis (CF), an incurable, genetic disorder, when he was fourteen months old. Initially, Mike wasn’t expected to live past kindergarten. When he turned five his life expectancy was seven. When he was seven, it was nine and when he turned nine, his life expectancy was eleven. For almost thirty years, he lived with a life expectancy just beyond his current age. When he was 30 and asked to provide a lecture about CF, his research revealed that he was now 25 years beyond his initial predicted death age. That revelation changed his outlook on life, and he has since been become a marathon runner and was married.

In 2014 Mike‘s book, “Waiting to Die, Running to Live”, was published. The book provides a fascinating account of the struggles and triumphs that he faced and the wisdom and insight that he gained over the years.