It is a lovely, warm October day. Neither hot like August nor cool like October. Caught in the middle. Not the first time. Not the last. The hot weather belies the holiday season. The saying of the old guys when I was a boy is that they did not know if it was time to shit or wind their watch. So it goes, change is coming. October 10th is on the horizon. A big day in the Brooks home in 1978. MJ and I were newlyweds and had little money. She donated her teaching services to our church school, and I worked for a Janitorial Service. Upon my first day back to work after three days’ holiday given to me by the Service’s owners, I had two lovely cheeseburgers in my lunch box. I thought that this marriage thing was good. When I complimented my bride, she cautioned that we would not be able to eat a cheeseburger every day due to our limited grocery funds. As Jennifer said last night, life is hard. So when I received the call that I had been hired at Southern Illinois University, I was thrilled. We would have enough money for cheeseburgers. I began my Christian walk in a conservative church. I enjoyed it and became somewhat of a minor celebrity in the congregation of those enjoying their Golden Years. Before the service began, I made a point of shaking hands with everyone in the little country church. They told me I spoke like a miniature adult. I absorbed the tropes of fundamentalist Christian doctrine, which in those days had a lot of love and no fight in it. The pastor was a World War II veteran and was quick to cry over his faith. He accepted everyone, and the results were the expansion of our little congregation by at least 50 Jewish Hippies. Among that group from Chicago, my friend Jeff was a member. As I became a teenager, I had dreams of becoming a minister. I had felt a pull in that direction since the days of Bible School at the Church of Christ in Eldorado, where the teacher asked me to tell my understanding of the Bible story of Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration. The Bible School Teacher told the class that she had never heard someone so young explain the passage so passionately. I was a Christian from that point in my young life.

Experiences change understanding. I saw hate and divisiveness fill where love once was. Lines were drawn. A tug of war ensued. There were victors and vanquished. Love, forgiveness, and understanding were no longer in the mix. It was time to take sides, the Rev. Jerry Falwell told his congregation in Lynchburg, Virginia. It was time for Christians to become political. I admired Billy Graham, who never wavered from teaching the simple message of salvation. Amazing Grace is my favorite song. I vividly recall when all poor and blue-collar folks were Democrats. The Republican Party seemed to not recognize their existence. Now, religion is equated with which political party you are affiliated with.

In those halcyon days, we attended two church conventions a year. One on Memorial Day and the other on Labor Day. I watched as other young men were called upon to preach, and I was not. During this time, I was preaching at the funerals for our little church. I understood that I was a background character and liked it as it fit my introvert nature. The demarcation between us and them offended me. We were all God’s Children. My understanding was changing.

University was a revelation. So many people of every skin shade and faith, and no faith. I loved the international community. An African student told me that all of the international students wanted to work for me because I had no prejudice. I have never received a greater compliment and have tried to live up to it. God is no respector of persons, and we are all on the same road. God must laugh when he hears our petty and inane grievances about each other. I saw that women, minorities, and handicapped people were marginalized. I tried to right the wrongs done to marginalized folks with tremendous ability.

Serene is the word for this Friday. The Great White Heron is hunting dinner. The Frog Quartet is preparing for their Friday Night Performance. Mr. Beaver has taken the day off to attend his daughter’s wedding. Peace prevails in the Animal Kingdom. There is no us and them. There are no Christian Nationalists and Progressive Christians. ‘Nothing shall hurt or destroy in all of my holy mountain saith the Lord.’ ‘The wolf shall lie down with the lamb.’ Job scrapes his boils with potsherds. Job knows there is a better way. Job remembers the life of peace and plenty.