My dad is guest writing for me today and it has been a blessing to set my words aside and rest. He has and always will be my personal super hero!
HEROES
“….in quietness and confidence shall be your strength.”
Isaiah 30:15b
What is this fascination we have with people who live something before us that makes us lift them to hero status? What is the attraction? Why one characteristic over another? Why do some of us idolize some traits while others are drawn to something entirely different? When and why does it begin? As I meld these questions into one, I realize that the whole question is more rhetorical than answerable.
An athlete, a musician, performer in the dramatic arts or maybe just a common person with a very special genius or skill, whatever ideal we hold, there is someone who epitomizes it for us. A popular female celebrity who is readily recognized for her flamboyant fashion and buxom figure had an early childhood “hero.” In an interview I witnessed, she told of a certain lady in her small town who was known for her provocative make up and (un)dress. The trade the lady plied is considered the oldest in the world but our budding celeb, in her innocence, had no way of making that connection. “I thought she was pretty and I wanted to look like her” was her comment about the attractive lady of the evening. How innocent! But how influential!
I can’t remember when I didn’t have a hero in my life. As a little boy, many people provided an attraction that was both, fascinating and challenging. I am speaking of real-life people that I could see, touch, hear and yes, sometimes, smell. Real folks they were. I confess that some heroes were established via secondary connections such as television, comic books, concerts and sports competition I still think Stan Musial, the St. Louis Cardinal icon of another generation, was the greatest baseball player of all. That’s my story and I’m stickin’ to it. But the influences that really shaped my life were close at hand, people to people connections.
One of the joys of my advancing years is remembering and appreciating a number of personal heroes who have made an indelible mark on my life and are woven tightly into the fabric of who I am. As I remember them, I see a common thread I will cite in my concluding paragraph.
I was a mere 4 years old when my father, a pastor, accepted an assignment in a new town. In that congregation was an awesome teenage guy who fascinated my young mind. He was big…..had some swagger…..could use colorful language that was anathema in my carefully crafted vocabulary monitored by my mom. He could be his reckless teen-aged self in word and deed without lightening striking him dead. He had a reputation for driving his dad’s car way too fast undetected. In other words he was “cool” before cool was an adjective to describe the fascinating hunk of humanity I viewed him to be. He was elevated in my eyes as the kind of person I would like to become. I wanted to be just like him.
As, hopefully, you have guessed by now, that teenager became an adult who matured into a very fine gentleman, a successful business man in construction/real estate, a loving husband and father. Since I wasn’t that many years behind him, we shared many years of friendship as mature adults. When our son was born, my wife gave me permission to select his middle name and I had no hesitation in naming him Lynn. Until the day my hero passed, I was always a bit intimidated and in awe in his presence. Thanks, Earnest Lynn Williams, for being my first hero and shaping my life.
In my early teen years, a man came into my life who was as fine a gentleman as I have ever known. Widely know as “Bogue,” he was a family man, a churchman, a friend to all and professionally known for his construction skills. A number of buildings in Arkansas are products of his management expertise. For me, his character and demeanor were the attractions. I was just a kid when he showed me how to hang a door and I can remember that “Yankee” screwdriver that he so skillfully used. I was determined to have one and to be able to hang doors. I still have my “Yankee” and yes, I’ve hung lots of doors. Thanks L. E. “Bogue” Price for being my hero.
There were others. Ray, a farmer/carpenter, accepted me, a young college student into his home as family and took me on my first quail hunt. His quiet and confident manner was very stabilizing in my early years of adulthood. Thanks, Ray Haverly, you had no way of knowing the esteem in which you were held. Then there was Bob, the carpenter/guitar player who had a saying, “There is a way do to EVERYTHING.” Thanks, Bob Collins, for hiring me as a very young man and teaching me carpentry and construction skills. By the way, I still have that Gretsch guitar Bob sold me way too cheap. It is a personal treasure. But my memories of his personal skill and genius coupled with his impeccable integrity are what I still hold the most dear.
There is a common thread here. Yes, there was the association with the construction trades that left its mark on me All were real men physically, emotionally, professionally, to the fullest extent of the word. But the common thread that impressed me the most was the quiet confidence each had in themselves, their abilities and their faith. There was no boisterous bluster, no super-inflated ego, no arrogance…. just simple quiet confidence. I think it is more than coincidence that they were also men of unshakable integrity. Isaiah’s words, “In quietness and confidence shall be your strength” were fleshed out in my heroes.
It makes me wonder…..am I someone’s hero? God, help me!
Bryan Jones