Full Circle
It was after Carver Elementary School in Raymond, Mississippi voted for the election of Gerald Ford for president after he became President after the resignation of President Richard Nixon. 1976, Carver Elementary and even my classroom voted against the "peanut man" for the guy with a cool name similar to the cars that many parents drove. Yep, that was the logic of my classroom of 3rd graders in our early November social studies (or whatever) class. We were being taught the power that American's have as Americans - the ability to affect the process by voting.
This was also before the actual winner, Jimmy Carter led our country to long lines at the gas-pump, inflation that reminded folks of the Great Depression, and to international embarrassment by allowing Iran to capture and hold captive 52 American hostages for 444 days. These days were bleak and drab looking as many of our overly smoggy polluted cities and as depressing as the funky attire that people wore in those days. Some of the things going on today have brought a feeling that we are heading the wrong direction - as was before January 1981.
But truthfully, this isn't intended to be a hit-piece on our political situation. Maybe another day - I'll lay it all out there so we can all ponder and come to realize the error of our ways. I know what's wrong with us!
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Living on Military Road between the elementary school election of the nation president until the release of the 52 American hostages days came and went. My brothers and I worked, played, got into trouble, got whooped - and well that was life.
There was man, a preacherman named Mike Weldon who preached at Hinds Independent Methodist Church on Old Port Gibson Road. He used to run a church bus all over the place to pick up kids who wanted to go to church. Sometimes I think even he would drive the bus, which is impressive since he had to prepare to preach. Having stood in front of a church and preached 2 times in my own life - that is no easy task.
Words come out of all of our mouths and we can be wrong with what we say and I confess to being wrong sometimes. But when you stand up in the pulpit, your words mean so much more - because if we are honest - they are not OUR words, they are someone else's.
But this guy had a huge impact on my own life. He sought to do what we call the Great Commission. This is a thing I don't see in action today. It's changed a lot in the last 20 years. I can't remember the last time Jehovah Witnesses or Mormons knocked on the door. I've only once witnessed Southern Baptist knocking on doors - and never have witnessed Catholics doing something that I'm pretty sure the Bible is adamant about Christians doing. Oh sure, we throw money at things and we try to be clever in what we call "outreach" - but we are overly cautious about offending someone by talking about Jesus. I don't recall a single time that Jesus was bashful or fearful of ridicule for speaking truth. We whisper it - not shout it. We shout at football games - but not when talking about J - E - S - U - S. I digress!
Brother Mike was certainly one that was not afraid to speak about the Lord. He wasn't afraid to knock on a door or to share his testimony. That bus pulled up and my little freckled self got up on there to go to Sunday School and the less exciting Morning Service. Brother Mike and his wife had kids come over to play with his - and he fed us too. One time we had rabbit stew. It was delicious as I recall.
Church Camp was $30.00 back in those days at the lovely Lake Tiak-O'Khata way up north near Louisville, Mississippi. I guarantee you that we all had a great time, especially playing in the lake. We never could afford it, but Brother Mike made sure I was able to to go.
Another year, I was able to get a good number of my family to come to church for Easter Sunday. More than everyone else - and most importantly my mom came. It was a great day and I won a big easter bunny and other stuff that I can't recollect today. I remember the rabbit though.
But with Brother Mike, who I believe became the President of the Association of Independent Methodists. I've tried to look him up recently and he's no longer there and I'll do some more searching later. I'm guessing after all these years - nearly 50 years, he's probably enjoying his just reward. Is a thing we should all pray for and strive for - because all of everything else we do isn't remotely as important.
Brother Mike slipped from my mind for many years in a consistent way. Teenage years, early Army years - when I was more obsessed in being a man of the flesh than on important things.
I was in the 101st Airborne Division, which is where I was reminded of my dad's colorful language - and then some. More distance from Brother Mike and God. A marriage not put together by God - and not blessed by God - more distance - more darkness.
WHICH REMINDS ME!
A husband and wife can be far apart - but IF they individually get closer to God - they will by default become closer to each other. You can't be far from God AND a godly person at the same time.
But I may have deserted God and the principles that Brother Mike preached and demonstrated through his life - I was still loved and protected by God. I wonder if Brother Mike remembered this poor kid living on Military Road between Raymond and Edwards, MS. Who knows these things?
But you know, Hinds Independent Methodist Church and Brother Mike helped instill something in me that always lurked in the background. There is a verse that's very important that I am certain Brother Mike knew well and it may have been what inspired him to find an old ragged school bus, paint the name of the church on it and run that ragged thing around to pick up anyone who'd get on it.
"As the scripture teaches, `Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it. ' (Prov. 22:6.)
Yeah, I was trained up in the way I should go. It wasn't necessarily drilled into me at home with Scriptures as the main driving force - but many great principles were taught by may parents. They taught me a lot of what to do - also a lot of what not to do. Enough of it was instilled into me - that it always pulled on me in spite of my desire to be a worldly person - chasing women, drinking booze, and being a lunatic. It was there. Brother Mike was there - at least in the back of my mind as an example - a pattern - like Paul of what could be.
When you don't follow God - you suffer. Failed marriages - more than my fair share. Failed relationships - more than my fair share as well. It's the cost of sin. By design, suffering accompanies sin - by design suffering should cause a turning away from sin.
As I enter into a later phase of life and as my own mortality becomes something I ponder more - I think back to people throughout my life and Brother Mike comes to my mind more and more. There's other people that I think back to that are impactful in my life. Chief Warrant Officer Arthur Lackey, SSG Terry Shomaker, MSG McMickle (from Ft. Campbell, KY), and a retired guy whose name I can't even remember his name that I became a Casualty Officer when I was still in the military after his passing. This guy is a story of - how to live life honorably - which may be someone I write about in another day just to show how one is supposed to leave this world.
Aside from doing the things I must through work and in my relationship with others - I think about the Bible and the life I need to live. It crosses my mind no less than 30 times a day and all I want to do is dig into Scriptures and learn it - and live it.
The full circle is an excitement about it - similar to the excitement I had when that church bus arrived to take me to church - at Hinds Independent Methodist way back in the Jimmy Carter years. This economy and this depressed vibe in America about the future feels eerily similar to that long time ago way. But so does this excitement.
Full circle.
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