This week has taken many different turns but at the intersection has been the sting of death of some really great people that touched my life in very unique, timely ways. Death is part of the journey of living and Christians understand this very well. As I approach in a few weeks the threshold of sixty-five years old, I find myself in more reflective modes than normal. With the news of those that have left this world, my world, this week, deep channels were made in my mind and in my heart on each of these great men.
Bob Glick, highly decorated soldier in Vietnam and a great part of my military life in commanding units was a most interesting, driven man that gave his all to anything he did. Alta Cornutt was a gentle touch on my life in my basketball developmental years during my early teens. As my mind has processed these two men and their role in my life at various points in my life, I was reminded all over again of how we, as people, need others to come along beside us for an array of reasons and times. As I have written on these pages before, I shall never forget the day my son graduated from Kent State University. The commencement speaker was from India, his name took two paragraphs, his degrees took another page and I was jet lagged and did not want to be there, frankly. But as the speaker came to the podium, his first words have remained with me when he said, "I am a part of every person I have ever met." BANG!
That simple sentence moved me in so many ways but as much as any to avail myself to those that cross my path in this life. My students will attest to this for they bring in such issues and problems that can be a barrier to the learning process. As I begin to detect the barriers, I autonomically begin to probe to find an entry point for the student to feel open and comfortable enough to express thus bringing light to the darkness of the hurt, the pain, the fear they possess. So many people have touched each of us in so many ways and I think it vital to take moments to reflect and ponder the impact and implication of that touch.
During the long, cold, snowy day yesterday and in the loss I was feeling about Bob and Alta, my mind shifted to my college basketball coach, Riley Whitaker, in Gadsden, AL. I picked up the phone and called him and had a wonderful thirty minute conversation. He has had a tough journey of late as he approaches his seventy-fifth year but his mind was perfectly clear yesterday as we told stories, laughed, shared memories and it gave me the opportunity to verbalize how God had used him on a very special day in 1967 when I felt like my world was falling apart and a phone call from him truly out of the blue turned to a beautiful sunrise for years to come. He never knew what that call and the ensuing opportunity to play basketball for him meant to me but he does now. We both were teared up by the end of the call. I thank God for Riley Whitaker.
I thank God for Alicia Williams, Coach Walter Holt, Glenn Avery, Gary Muskett, Zeddie Morton, Ruth Epley, Lamar Berry, Joe Cowan, Bill Sharp, Jerry Butcher, Jeannine Keim, Taylor Williams, Neal Wheeler, Lowell Dunckel, Larry Lee, Fred Jennings, Gary Vincent, my mother and the list becomes endless! Our life truly is a portrait and the colors and hues and images of the portrait are provided by so many people at different points on our portrait. I am truly humbled when I think of the many I have known that have amazingly touched my life at the heart which is the only place that matters. But I would be so remiss if I did not add to that list Jesus Christ for His touch on my life at a young age at Forrest Avenue Baptist Church.
With loss comes pain. With pain comes hope for ease. Friends bring the scalpels that surgically affect our very existence. I find that the greatest joy I experience in teaching thousands of students is getting to have access to their tool chest as they prepare for a life journey. I know as the days unfold for them, as for me, the day will come when they will begin to reflect on those that have touched their heart. There were many expressions of kindness to the tribute I wrote about Alta Cornutt and was able to get to his daughter. Many of the expressions posted to FB when I was asked to post the tribute to FB caused people to stop and make calls, write letters to those that had touched their lives. That is a great thing.
So many I wish I could call now and tell them I love them and why but they are gone. I implore you this day to consider making a list of the ten most impactful people in your life and find a way to express specifically why they are so special to you. Play it forward! I believe this is a message God has brought to me this morning and I hope it is received with the love, respect and honor with which it has been written.
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