Fifty-seven years ago today I was about a week into basic training at Fort Dix....New Jersey. My life of hot dogs and Twinkies and a Coke....had drastically changed. (note: I had hot dogs and a Twinkie and a Coke for lunch and hour ago! I kid you not.) I got out of my bunk at about 5:30 every morning. That's about the time that I was getting to bed before basic training. I didn't have any hair....no one had any hair....it was great....for we were all equal. If any of my new friends came from rich families.....I wouldn't know it. There were no cliques! Let's see....there was Broadhead....and Spedding....and Walton....(the first black friend I ever had).....and Andre....the young man fresh off the boat from Poland.
Fifty-four years ago today I was about a week out of the army. I had an MG.....and the G.I. Bill to go to Pitt. That monthly check in the mail.....somewhere around $350....was exactly the amount for my tuition at Pitt! Hard to believe isn't it? I worked in the library for money to live on. I went to St. Paul's Cathedral every Sunday for 6 o'clock mass...after work in the library. I got my B.A. in economics in 1976....and married my boss at the library....the ceremony was in Heinz Chapel on the Pitt Campus. We honeymooned in the Poconos and at Cape Cod and Boston and Niagara Falls.
My father died of liver disease on November 4, 1979.....the same day that Iranian students took the American hostages. The day was a blur to me. He was buried at Arlington National Cemetery....accepted there because of serious wounds sustained from a kamikaze attack in the Pacific.
I had given up alcohol....totally....after my father died from it. Three years later....working in a coal-fired power plant....(all these things....marriage to a wonderful girl and giving up alcohol and getting a job that would last for thirty-seven years.....were blessings from God on a person who did not deserve any of it).....working with men getting....'saved'....all over the place at my workplace....and witnessing to me....I ran along with all of them yelling....as did Christian in Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress...."Life....life.....eternal life!"
It has been forty-four years now....and I am here to tell you....it has been a march....a 'pilgrimage' would be the most used word....one foot in front of the other for forty-four years....falling often....even at times get beat down....but through God's strength....getting back up.....maybe crawling for a while....and often limping....but....and this is something I want you to know....never stopping putting that one foot in front of the other....for you can worry and complain and pray every bit as much while you are pressing forward....and if you stop for even one day....you may never put one foot in front of another ever again!
There is no graduation in the Christian walk....there is no time when you stop learning....in fact these gray hairs only make the learning more intense....and the joy.....oh the joy....it may look a little different on the outside but inside there is no longer the need for a telescope to see the glory of eternal life....for it is as if you are standing right there at the gates.....only on the other side of the river!
One last thing....and it is very important....if you are up in age and as of yet have not come in humility and repentance to Christ....or if you are young and think....what's the use now....for it appears that Jesus is returning....know this....come and join us who have been in this walk for a long time....for we did nothing to deserve it....and neither will you....for we are all just sheep that Jesus came to save! So just lift your head....and listen for the Shepherd's voice....for He Himself said...."My sheep hear my voice....and I know them....and they follow me."
John 10:27 ESV
