The Muse is Loose

Names can be fascinating. Ann and I discovered a new name over the weekend. Let me tell you about it. We were in West, Texas, Saturday evening for a wedding. No, not west Texas...West, Texas! That is the little kolache stop on I 35 between Waco and Dallas/Fort Worth. If you leave the highway and drive east in West you will discover a neat, clean little town with an active First Baptist Church. We were there to attend a wedding Saturday night. Chris Melton was the groom. Several Rockport people were there.

We stayed in a locally owned and operated motel just off of I 35. It was a super neat place, decorated inside with valuable old gasoline pumps. They were perfectly restored classics worth many thousands of dollars. Roger Horan showed me one just after we arrived, with a handle and glass bowl at the top. A person would pump his gasoline into that bowl. It would then be put in a vehicle with a hose. I think about ten gallons was the max. It would cost about fifteen cents a gallon!

The name of this motel is Czech Inn. That is a clever name for the place. West is a long-time Czech community. The European influence is seen there in the neatness of the area. I liked the place.

What's in a name? In Christian circles today many churches have steered away from names such as Baptist. They see it as a handicap, for we have had spotlights shine our way that have not been helpful in reaching people. Names have been besmirched by others in the same way. Family names have felt undeserved anger and even fury over names. Not too many folks name a son John Wilkes or Judas or Benedict. Is it fair? Certainly not! As we all know life is NOT fair all the time.

There have been wars between Catholics and Protestants. That is not a pretty picture. Christians and Muslims fought hundreds of years ago. The South warred against the North in our own country. So what's in a name? Whatever one chooses to put there, real or imagined. I liked the name of that little haven at West, Texas. (No, not west Texas)

Most of us can relate to a time and place where something miraculous occurred. It is not often that we read about these occurrences in an obituary. One caught my attention last week as I was reading the Dallas Morning News. Let me share a bit of this story with you.

Edith Kay Molnar died in her sleep last Tuesday in Dallas. She was eighty-five. It is indeed a miracle she lived that long, or even into her adult years. Edith Kay was born in Hungary of Jewish parents. The Nazis invaded the country and took her parent's business. They loaded the family on to a boxcar for about a ten day trip to Auschwitz. There was no light or bathroom facilities. A little food would be thrown in occasionally. The little girl developed a fever and chicken pox sores at Auschwitz. She was told she would go to the crematorium. A camp doctor gave her a one-night reprieve. The next day her fever and sores were gone and she was spared. She had spent the night crying and praying. Several months later she was again sick and taken to the camp hospital. That night they took ten from the hospital to a gas chamber. She was one of the ten. For a reason she never knew they turned away from the chamber and took her to another camp. It was the night before Yom Kippur. It was also the night her mother was taken away. She never saw her again.

The third miracle happened in a gas chamber, The women and girls were there for a shower. She was innocently supposed to turn another faucet. It would release deadly gas. Someone yelled, "Don't touch the faucet!" They quickly ran out of the place and their lives were spared.

When the camp was liberated she was near death and spent a month in the hospital in a coma-like state. Returning to Hungary she learned her father had died in a labor camp. She went back to school. None of her relatives ever came back. She had no family left at all. Mrs. Molnar later went to Israel where she married a British soldier. They later emigrated to the United States where they began a fabric store. Later there were several of them. They were known as Kay Fabric Centers.

An amazing statement came from her son, Ron Molnar: "She didn't hold a grudge - and she didn't hate.It hurt her when she lost the family, but she loved life."

I think this Holocaust survivor had an important lesson for us, even in her death.

December 7 became just such a day, as President Roosevelt foretold December 8, 1941, when he made his war message to Congress. I remember sitting in a classroom with three grades and one teacher at Cavanaugh school near Fort Smith, Arkansas. I was nine years of age. It was the first time I heard a radio program at school. It was a Monday. The attack on Pearl Harbor was first heard about that Sunday at church in our small community. I had no idea what it meant. We know the tragedy of it all too well today. War was declared against Japan, Germany, and Italy.
The three leaders we heard about most, of the enemy, were Adolf Hitler of Germany; Benito Mussolini of Italy; and Hideko Tojo of Japan. Many other names would come to the forefront in the years of war facing our Country. Places would be implanted in our minds such as Bataan, Normandy, North Africa, Battle of The Bulge, Wake Island, Iwo Jima, Guadalcanal, Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The war would end with the dropping of two bombs......only two..... but they were atomic bombs, causing death and devastation beyond anything ever seen, even at 9-11.

Today in Hawaii a 90 year old survivor of the "sneak attack" on Pearl Harbor is there from Corpus Christi. His name is Robert Elmer Batterson. Others from around the country, who are able, have joined him in this seventieth anniversary of the Sunday morning attack in 1941.

Lee Soucy was aboard the USS Utah when he saw planes dropping bombs on airplane hangars. The Utah would be hit moments later. Sixty men died. Soucy swam to shore as the Utah sank. It, and the USS Arizona, still remain in the harbor as memorials. Fifty of the men who died on the Utah found it to be their final burial place. Yesterday the ashes of Lee Soucy were taken by a Navy diver and placed in a porthole of the sunken ship.

Seventy years after the beginning of this tragic war for our country to fight we still are in combat in far-flung places around the world. The threat of a nuclear attack much more powerful than Hiroshima or Nagasaki hangs heavy over our land. "Hate is strong and mocks the song of peace on earth, good will to men" (I Heard The Bells On Christmas Day). We are beginning the season in which we remember the Prince of Peace. He came at Christmas and would teach us the better meaning of peace. It is a peace one can have while war rages.

An estimated 1,000 people gathered at Coastal Bend State Veteran's Cemetery in Corpus Christi on Pearl Harbor Day. They were there, not for a funeral, but for the dedication of this long-awaited place. It will ultimately hold 31,500 graves. A veteran's burial will be free.

On the same day, there were those who gathered in Hawaii, as I wrote about yesterday, for the remembrance of ones whose tombs were the sunken recesses of ships sunk during the sneak attack on Pearl Harbor.

Veteran's are buried all over the world. Some sank to the bottom of an ocean. Others were dropped over the side of a ship in a solemn ceremony at sea. Many were never found. Still, others are in places like I saw years ago in France where small white crosses and stars of David reached as far as one could see. Our most famous place is at Arlington, Virginia. This one was begun during the Civil War. That is the place of the "Unknown Soldier", who has a guard twenty-four hours of the day. It is an impressive ceremony to see the "change of guard" there.

One day in God's planned timetable these burial places will all go out of business. It will not matter where or who. It will greatly matter what....what we did or have done to prepare for that event. Wherever my body or ashes are left matters not at all. New bodies await God's children. There will be no cemeteries in Heaven. Nice thought!

They are called "professionals" for a purpose. That is a designation that basically says they get paid to play their sport. Some get paid more than others. A lot more.

The Saint Louis Cardinals are World Champions in baseball. They have had an awesome player at first base in Albert Pujols. He is a free agent. That means he can join any team who gives him the best deal. The Los Angeles Angels did just that. They are making a contract with this great player that will pay him TWO HUNDRED FIFTY FOUR MILLION over ten years. He may be leaving his heart in Saint Louis but he is taking his bank account to Los Angeles.

The Angels weren't finished with that. They "bought" the ace of the World Series runner-up team, the Texas Rangers, for SEVENTY-SEVEN PLUS MILLION . C. J. Wilson will get paid about three quarters of a million for each game he starts. He probably will not finish nine innings in any of them. His contract is for FIVE YEARS.

The Yankees have been doing this kind of dealing for years. Now a west coast team is getting in the act. It is unimaginable that this kind of money is paid for "playing baseball". That's the way the sport has gone.

Over at Baylor University they are holding their collective breaths to see if Robert Griffin III will play another year or go professional. He is likely to have "Heisman Trophy" in his resume'. Will he stay and stick with his school and team-mates? Money talks. Players listen.

I do not blame the players. The system is flawed. For years a player could NOT be signed until after his college eligibility ran out. The courts threw that out. They can go for the gold whenever it is offered. Money talks.

It isn't a pretty Saturday. Not one that makes you want to go to the beach or mall; but it is beautiful to we drought- stricken South Texans! It is raining! Water is not running down the streets and ditches but it is sinking into the earth giving a much needed sip to plants and trees. It won't fill any of our half-empty lakes, but we aren't complaining, for it is raining.

It's a strange thing how we take things like rain for granted when it comes when it is supposed to, and in the right quantities. When it isn't here or comes in feet rather than inches makes for a different story.

That sort of scenario seems to be a part of life. When our health is good,along with our family, we kinda think that's the way it should be, but when everything unravels it is a different story. We know we should simply be grateful for each day that is good....and thank God. We also know we are to accept the days that bring cloudbursts of trial and pain.

Apostle Paul summed it up for himself and each of us who try to follow the better path of life. He said: `"I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation" "Tell us this secret, Paul....we need to know! It will help us stop a fruitless search for contentment in this fragile life!"

"Listen now. Here it is: I can do everything through Him who gives me strength." "That's it? There is no holy grail? No pot of gold at the end of a rainbow? No search for some buried treasure? No climb up Mount Whitney or trek through the Gobi desert? THAT is the secret to your contentment?" And it was.......and it is.

Icing is really good on a cake or Christmas cookie. It is delicious in the mixing bowl when one has a shot at dipping a finger in. It is not so good when a sheet of it covers a roadway being traveled. It is slick and very dangerous.Brakes are of little use.

Icing can also be a hazard on the football field. It doesn't have to be in Green Bay. It can be dangerous in Dallas. Such has been the case the last two weeks in almost unbelievable losses the Cowboys have experienced. Icing refers to the rather dubious approach in a game to call time-out just as a kicker is going through the motions of a field goal. It happened first by the inadverdent action of the Cowboy's own coach. Sunday night it was the New York Giants coach who "iced" poor rookie kicker, Dan Bailey. This guy has been great. He is now a candidate for a state home somewhere. The kicks made and then missed were not easy ones. We must remember that. Bottom line was that he made the first one that didn't count, and missed the one that did. They refer to it as icing the kicker.

Have you ever been iced? I have terrible remembrances of events where I did great in rehearsal and "blew it" in the performance that counted. I have had it happen in the pulpit more than once, thinking I had a sermon that would electrify the listeners. I ended up the one being shocked.

Icing, Dan Bailey, is just as part of this roadway of life. Spread some salt out there and go on living and kicking, or whatever. Same to you, dear reader. Remember too that "icing you" is something others seek to do at times in life. Don't let it get you off your goal.

I hate shopping for shoes. They are expensive and uncomfortable new. I like old broken-in shoes that become a part of my foot when I slip them on. I wish a pair of shoes would last a lifetime. They don't. Because of that I was hauled to Beall's last week. Ann had all the discounts worked out. It would almost be like they would give me a pair of shoes! Wrong. Anyway, I survived the ritual of looking and trying on. I was after something to replace a pair of loafers that had cratered. Finally, a pair seem to surface among the "deck shoes". Now, all I would need would be a deck to walk on as I sail off into the gulf.

The shoes were bought and laid on a bed, in their box and Bealls sack. Yesterday I finally took the shoes out of the box to place them in the closet. Something about those shoes looked strangely familiar. When I put them on the closet floor they were next to their twin! A family of shoes were reunited for the Christmas holidays! It meant I also had two pairs of shoes exactly alike! A year or so ago Ann had put me through this same ritual. I brought those shoes home and placed them in the closet, as I kept wearing the old ones. I think they had been worn about four times. Now the twins are together again. I can wear one shoe from one pair with another shoe from the other pair and no one will know. I should NEVER have to purchase another deck shoe.(At least until next year when the Beall's sale comes along.) If a shoe fits....buy it!

Cowboys Stadium will be crowded this week-end as teams from all over the state will be there for state championship games. Altogether TWELVE teams will bear the label "STATE CHAMPION" after the running and passing is over.

Thought I would help you a little if you are interested in this sort of thing. Where are these schools? Never heard of them? I understand that so will take a few days approaching Saturday and the playoffs to try to fix their locations in your mind. Let me start with the two teams playing for FIVE A DIVISION II CHAMPIONSHIP. These are the smaller schools from among the largest High Schools in the state. DIVISION ONE will have Southlake Carroll playing Fort Bend Hightower. (That game I will write about tomorrow)

Spring DeKaney High School - Located in Spring ISD near Houston. It is only four years old, having opened in 2007. It is named after a former school board member. They have not had an easy beginning as a school. There have been numerous fights on campus this year. One received play on U-tube. (We can relate to that here in Rockport). The team has scratched it's way to the championship game. They lost a couple of games on the way.

Cibolo Steele High School - Cibolo is in the Shertz, Cibolo, Universal City area. It is not too far off I 35 near Garden Ridge and the pottery factory. I guess you could say between San Antonio and Austin.(Closer to San Antonio)

The school began in 2005. Their statement is this: " Safe, secure and challenging learning environment". They have some FIFTY clubs on campus. Their football team is undefeated. They are ranked number TWO in the state and TWENTY-TWO in the nation. They are rated as a distinguished great school.

So, in this championship match-up Saturday at 8:00 in Dallas, the competing teams will match up two entirely different schools from city suburbs in Texas. Who will win? I predict the one who scores the most points.

The big FIVE A schools square off in this game Saturday. They will play in Cowboys Stadium.

SOUTHLAKE CARROLL DRAGONS - This school is in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. If you have not heard of them you don't follow Texas High School football! They are a dominating force in all sports. They have had FORTY-TWO state titles since 1975. What do they compete in? Football, wrestling, golf, cross country, swimming, baseball, soccer, basketball, diving, track and field, hockey, marching band, and lacrosse! The school has EIGHT STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS in football. They are 15-0 and looking for a ninth Saturday.

Standing broadly in their way is FORT BEND HIGHTOWER. They are the Hurricanes, at 13-2 for the season. They lost their first two games, then came on strong. They are led by Braylon Addison who was named offensive player of the year by the Houston Touchdown Club. The last player from Fort Bend ISD to win this award was Thurman Thomas back in 1983. Thomas played for Willowridge, then became an All-American at Oklahoma State He was an outstanding professional player. I saw him play against Wharton when he was a freshman on the varsity. Our son was playing for Wharton. Lee never touched him! No one else did. To compare Braylon Addison with Thurman Thomas is a great compliment to Addison. He is committed but not signed by A & M.

FORT BEND HIGHTOWER is just South of Houston in a growing area encompassing Sugar Creek, Missouri City, and other new places. It would be dangerous to predict a win over Southlake Carroll. I am doing it. I pick FORT BEND HIGHTOWER to win state in their division.

I got into this project and discovered it is a big one, so am writing two-a-day as much as possible.DIVISION ONE- FOUR AAAA - Lake Travis vs Midway Waco. Lake Travis is located in the Austin area. They have an incredible record of FOUR STRAIGHT state championships. They have won 29 consecutive playoff games! How do they do it? Tradition and great athletes. Last year Ann's great nephew, Turney Maurer, was the starting blocking back for them. He is not terribly big, but built like a small block of granite. They are 15-0 for the year.

Waco Midway goes against Lake Travis for state championship honors. They are, of course, in Waco. Midway is 13-2.

In 4 AAAA Division II are two schools you may not know much about. The championship game will be Aledo vs Manvel.

Aledo is an old central Texas city of about 2,000, west of Fort Worth in Parker County. Weatherford is the County seat. Aledo is after their THIRD straight championship. Aledo received it's name from a railroad official back in 1882 who decided to name this little train stop after his home town of Aledo, Illinois. The median age of Aledo is 34. Median income is $ 64,000. That is not your average median income in Texas! It's growth has come from Fort Worth.

Manvel may throw some of you Texans. Manvel is in Brazoria County near Alvin, off Highway
288. They are a growing city of more than 7,000 not far from Houston. These are two great High School football teams. You will know the winner by Sunday.

I've got to finish up. Some games have already been played! Here goes:

Three AAA - Division I - State Champion- Chapel Hill near Tyler, Texas, Undefeated.
Division II - State Champion - Coldspring-Oakhurst. This is a consolidated school at the intersection of state roads 150 and 156. It is in San Jacinto County in East Texas. The little town of Shepherd on Highway 59 is close. Livingston is not far. Lake Livingston is real close.

Two AA - Division I - Melissa vs Hempstead Probably decided already. Melissa is just north of McKinney on highway 75. They are an exemplary ISD. That doesn't make them better at football but they are, or were, 12-2. Hempstead is the watermelon town near highway six on the way to Texas A&M. They are always a football power. 14-0 before this last game.

Two AA - Division !! - Down in this part of the state we know about this one. Refugio They have a full page on the team today in the Caller Times. Refugio is 14-0. They are favored. Cisco is their worthy opponent, also at 14-0. This small city between Fort Worth and Abilene on highway 175 is an interesting one. It has Cisco College. It was once a boomtown for oil. In 1919 a man named Conrad Hilton came looking for a bank to purchase. He could make no deal so he decided to buy a small place named the Mobley Hotel. That was his very first hotel. Today this chain reaches around the world. It started in Cisco, Texas. These two teams are playing, even as I write.

One A - Division I - State Champion - Mason. Mason is in the Hill Country, about fifty miles west of Fredericksburg. The man who wrote "Ole Yeller" is from there. His name slips me. It is a neat little town with a square. We have been through there many times. Brady, the center of Texas is only a few miles from there. Mason is new in One A having been bumped down from 2AA. I imagine they like it. Great place for Bar-B-Cue.

One A Division II - Tenaha. My dear deceased friend, Glenn Booth, was pastor in Tenaha years ago. It is in deep East Texas not far from Timpson, BoBo and Blair. Those used to all go together in an old song. Nacogdoches is not far. They are not a surprise to be champs.

Six-Man Richland Springs! This little cowboy town is also in the edge of the Hill Country and not too far from Brady. I hunted four miles out of Richland Springs. I've been in most every store in the town. That isn't saying much. The Yellow Duck is their only cafe.

Six-Man - Throckmorton They are the Division One champs - where it is is anybody's guess. If you know e-mail me the answer at dnapogue@clearwire.net. Tha tha that's all folks!!!

"Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the King, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, saying, 'Where is he that is born King of the Jews? For we have seen his star in the east and are come to worship him.' "

Saturday evening, December 17, at 6:00 and Sunday morning, December 18, at 11:00, the music and drama ministry of First Baptist will present "Searching For The King", a Christmas musical. It is based on the above scripture found in the Book of Matthew.

Who were these "wise men" and where were they from? What were they after? What did they get? These are intriguing questions without easy answers. Their name is Magi and that is not an easy word to translate. An ancient writer Herodotus claims they were originally a Median tribe. The Medes were part of the Empire of the Persians....they had become a tribe of priests. They became in Persia what the Levites were in Israel. They were instructors and teachers of the Persian kings. They were seen as men of holiness and wisdom. (Barclay)

What about the star? In those days astrology was a study followed by most men. The skies were there in clearness and order. They named the various groupings of stars. They could "see" characters in the stars. Many believed their destinies were settled by the star he was born under. The universe was orderly and dependable. Suddenly a brilliant star never before recorded appeared in the sky. It's movement and direction seemed to call for them to follow it. God was breaking into His orderly universe with something special. This entrance of the star spoke to these wise men, telling them a special king was being born into the world. The beckoning star called for these men to follow it's beam to the place of birth. Since they were going to meet a King they must bear kingly gifts. But what would the gifts be? Gold, a kingly gift was taken. Frankincense was a gift for a priest. They were impressed to take that. Myrrh was a gift for one who is to die. It was for embalming. Knowing nothing of what would eventually happen they carried the right gifts as they followed the right star to the right Person.

Were they there when the birth occurred? Doubtful. As one reads the continuing account it speaks of their finding a "little child with Mary His mother". It also tells us these wise men were moved to worship this child. That is not something one has to do simply for a king. This was a special King. All that had happened convinced these wise men that God was moving in His world toward some unique plan through a very special event. They were right!

I know that mythical guy, Santa, does it each year. I never figured out how he did it. Laura, James, Dempsey, Emily, and Calvin are taking on about half the world this Christmas season! I am not sure how they are doing it either. They have received an extremely generous gift from James' sister and brother-in-law, Stephanie and Todd Routh.It is a trip for the five of them.

They fly late this afternoon from Dallas to Los Angeles, then on to Australia! There they will board a ship taking them on a cruise to Brisbane, Cairns, Great Barrier Reef, Lizard Island, Ribbon Reef Region, Sherrard Island, Far North Region (Australia), Torres Strait, Booby Island, Arafula Sea, Darwin Australia, Timor Sea, Komodo Island Indonesia, Tana Ampo, Bali, Java Sea, and Singapore. They will then fly back to Dallas.

It is an incredible adventure for them. They will travel with the Routh family who also have kids. We are excited for them in this once-in-a-lifetime trip. Most of these places I have never heard about. I do know about Komodo dragons and have not wished to pet one. They can bring down a deer or a person.

I remember our first trip away from home as a family when I was a boy. The seven of us drove from Cavanaugh, Arkansas to Talequah, Oklahoma, to see relatives there. Came back home the same day. It was about sixty miles.

Some of you also received free excursions to the Far Eastern regions, compliments of your uncle (Sam). Travel to all regions of the world is available today, except for places where outsiders are not welcome.

Saturday evening in the Christmas pageant I was a "wise man" who traveled with my co-harts from the East to Bethlehem, following the guidance of a star. The purpose was not sight-seeing, but to see a new King that had been born. What a trip that must have been! It began, for all who believe, another trip....an eternal one, through trust in that King! I am on that trip each day God gives me. It's a free journey God gives to all His children! Are YOU on board this Christmas season? There is a place reserved for you.

You would need to go back to a Latin Christian, Caelius Sedulius, who probably lived in Rome sometime in the 400's. Little is known about Sedulius except that he was converted from paganism and became an influential hymnist in the early church. He devoted himself to writing Christian poetry. One was called, Now Praise We Christ The Holy One. Let me share some of the verses Christians would have sung in unheated, church worship places some SIXTEEN HUNDRED YEARS AGO. They would not have complained of the building being a little too hot or cold. They would not have searched out their favorite pew, or listened for a fifty voice choir. They might not even have been able to sit in a pew, but with their outside wraps still on, these early Christians would have sung or chanted words like these at Christmastime:

Now praise we Christ, the holy One
The blessed virgin Mary's Son
Far as the glorious sun doth shine
E'en to the world's remote confine.

He who Himself all things did make
A servant's form vouchsafed to take
That He as man mankind might win
And save His creatures from their sin.

Upon a manger filled with hay
In poverty content He lay;
With milk was fed the Lord of all,
Who feeds the ravens when they call.

The heavenly choirs rejoice and raise
Their voice to God in songs of praise
To humble shepherds is proclaimed
The Shepherd Who the world hath framed.

Caelius Sedulius 400 A.D.

After a false news release went out to fans of his death, Jon Bon Jovi, perennial rock music performer and still one of the most popular musicians in his field, sent out the line I quoted in my heading, along with his photo. Since he is a song-writer and performer I predict there will be a song bearing that name in the near future.

Bon Jovi does not share all his religious beliefs. That may be best. I have read the words of one of his pop songs about his religion. Some really important things seem to be missing. I know that he features some songs about religion. Hopefully, he has discovered One who is far more than one's religion.

I did not mean to write about a man I know very little about. What is on my mind is his statement. It makes me wonder if many feel the same way about Heaven. New Jersey has never had an image of being Eden or Heaven. As is usually the case there are beautiful places there. Bon Jovi calls the state his place of birth so he should know.

There seems to be an assumption today that Heaven is simply out there waiting for everyone at the end of this life. That is a false assumption. Words Jesus used are "few" and "narrow". Belief in the Son of God as Savior is the VITAL element for a Heaven life in one's future.

It might be that many will awaken in that Day of Judgement ahead and say. "This place looks a lot like New Jersey....a burnin'."

Come by our house and you can try
makin' a treat that money can't buy,
for hangin' on our tree you'll see
lemons, each waitin' a pie to be.

Through a year of drought and cold it stood,
bearing it's fruit like I hoped it would,
is my lemon tree, all loaded with yellow
for making a pie for some lucky fellow.

The fruit is so large that you'll believe
it's an orange hiding behind that leaf.
Meyer's their name; I can say for sure
each one is juicy, tangy and pure.

So, come on by, each lemon is free.
You don't have to bring any pie to me.
Try leaving pieces for Santa and wife,
it'll be the best pie they've had in their life!

DP December 2011

I used to put forth the effort to write a Christmas poem to send out at this season of the year. It was a labor of love, but it really was a labor. Sometimes the rhyme was not on time. In other years it would pour from my mind to the pen. Nothing came forth this year.

We do enjoy other folks letters as they come. Having served six churches as a staff member, over fifty-four years, we have friends from all over. Some are still going strong. One is Doctor Joe Hooker of Center, Texas. Doctor Joe is one of those "survivors" still moving onward and upward..

Let me share some of his Christmas letter. It might encourage one of you readers to hang in there when the going get's tough.

"It seems like this has been an eventful year for us. I had an emergency operation for a bleeding tumor in my colon in April. I was in the hospital for about forty-five days and in the nursing home for a couple of weeks getting IV medication and so forth. I gradually got some of my strength back and am able to practice some, at least part time, by sitting in a wheelchair and having my patients brought in the room one at a time.........I don't know how much longer I am going to be able to practice. I get awfully tired right now but as long as my health stays reasonably well I'll keep on trying...........We enjoy our church work. I sing in the choir and in my Sunday School Class Quartet. The Quartet sings at 4 nursing homes 1 day each week. I teach my Sunday School class on the radio and television. I really enjoy this."

Dr. Joe was practicing medicine and singing in the choir forty-four years ago when we moved to Center to work at First Baptist. I was his choir director and his son's youth minister. That son, Lewis Hooker, is the incredibly talented pianist for Singing Men of South Texas.

Doctor Joe is well into his eighties, but is keeping on keeping on. He is an inspiration to a lot of folks. I am one of those.

It has been obvious to Ann and I this season that it is "okay" once again for clerks and others to say "Merry Christmas" instead of "Happy Holidays", that was being pushed so hard the last several years. If that isn't so where you live then I am sorry. It is quite evident down here in South Texas.

And why not? It IS the Christmas season. It is when the world pauses to remember this event, whether they believe it or not. It is a critical time for most businesses. If Christmas sales go sour their whole year is bad. Well, it seems that sales are up! Hope that registers on these not-so-happy holiday folks.

All of this is far from capturing the real meaning of the season. We celebrate the birth of the Savior who came from His Father in Glory. Without His coming there would be no happy holidays.

He came! He will come again! Merry, Merry, Merry Christmas!!!!!!!

In late December of 1956 I was finishing a "temp" job with the Fort Worth post office. I had gone there to enter the seminary. It was between semesters and I was fresh out of the military and money. I met a college friend, Bob Highgate, who was in the same setting as me. We decided to go somewhere to work until the Fall semester. That somewhere was Houston. Neither of us had ever been to Houston.

We got a small apartment and checked out First Baptist which was downtown. Through the Single Adult ministry, and choir, I met a senior nursing student, Ann Maurer, from Pharr, Texas. The Minister of Music, Leroy Till, and Youth Minister, Kathryn White, conspired to be "cupids" for us, putting us together at jail services and other places. By the summer of 1957 we were engaged. I was off to Southwestern Seminary in September. We set the date, December 27, 1957, for our wedding at First Baptist, Pharr. Ann's mother had died earlier, but wonderful friends helped make her wedding dress. After a honeymoon to Monterrey, Mexico, (150 miles away) we settled in our new three-room apartment at 3117 Lipscomb in Fort Worth. This was a large two-story house. An apartment upstairs was already rented to a Seminary couple, Glenn and Betty Booth from Corpus Christi. They became dearest friends. Our families today are like kinfolk. Glenn has gone to be with the Lord. I was a part-time youth/music minister at Stadium Drive Baptist Church. Ann began working at Harris Hospital in her first nursing job. I had the GI bill to pay for my schooling. It is funny for us today. We were better off financially then than we would ever be in the next fifty-four years!

Houston, Texas, (where I had never been), was NO accident! In God's plan it was the place for a dedicated Christian nurse (who had spent the summer before as a student summer missionary in Nigeria) and myself, who was simply seeking God's direction; for us to find love and purpose for our lives.

Tomorrow, FIFTY-FOUR years ago, we were married. We plan to go back to the Valley for a brief visit.. We will NOT be going to Monterrey! God has blessed us with a fine son, Lee, who works for Berkey Heating and Air Conditioning in the Dallas area. We have a wonderful daughter, Laura Duprie who lives in Midlothian, Texas. The children of these two are very special, as are their mates, Ranell and James.

Was it all just an accident? You could never convince me. God brought us together in His Divine way of working His Will. It has not always been an easy journey. None of us find the way without trials and heartaches. I used to sing a song with these words: "It's not an easy road we are traveling to Heaven. For many are the thorns on the way. It's not an easy road, but the Savior is with us to guide and give us joy every day."

How many guys take their wives on a fifty-fourth anniversary and chase birds? Not many, I imagine. Ann was a trooper and seemed to enjoy the adventure in the Lower Rio Grande Valley. We found a jewel of a place called The Birding Center. It is on South Padre. We spent an entire day there and didn't see it all.

We kept a record of our sightings and saw a total of NINETY-FIVE different species. Some of them were as common as a dove or sparrow or blackbird. Others were Green Jay, Vermillion Flycatcher, Lark Sparrow, Pyrrhuloxia, (Eat your heart out, GR), Great Kiskadee, Chachalaca, Moorhen, Peregrine Falcon, Altimira Oriole, Roadrunner, etc.

The Valley is almost like another country. It is modern as a place can be...in places. Other little towns are like a step back in time. There are still orange and grapefruit orchards; fields of lettuce, carrots, onions, and others greens growing beautifully. Birds abound.

New Year's Eve is upon us. I can no longer fire a shotgun into the air at midnight. It is doubtful if I can even stay awake until midnight. Happy New Year to all!