Sunday, March 11, 2001
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Sunday, March 11, 2001 |
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Touchstones of our journeys By DR. KNOX HERNDON
We moved a lot in my childhood due to the fact that Dad was an Army chaplain. Being a total extrovert, I loved the excitement and new experiences that this gypsy life style provided. There were always new friends and new opportunities and new lands to explore. Many who read this would be in total terror of the idea of moving so much, but for me it was a way to see the world and experience much. Imagine graduating from high school in the beautiful city of Frankfurt, Germany. Great days! With this mobile life style, you had to have touchstones and special root rituals that your family celebrated. My mother was born in Neosho, Mo. and reared in Okmulgee, Okla. This was right down the highway from Muskogee, Okla. where Merle Haggart wrote the hit countrysong, "Okie From Muskogee." My Father was from here in Georgia from a wonderful little town called Social Circle. From these two very different states and backgrounds God in his infinite wisdom put these two wonderful Christians together. The touchstones of our family journey would take us from Oklahoma to Georgia over the years. When we were not overseas, most of our summers were spent in Oklahoma. It was here that I learned the value of family touchstones. I know this is going to sound strange, but EVERY night, not once in a while, but EVERY night of the year, our loving family would get together at one of the relatives' houses there in Okmulgee and have the best times a family could have. Each one would tell stories of how the early West was settled there in the oil boom town. When mother's family came there the streets were unpaved and some pretty rough characters would follow the oil fields that were being discovered all around Okmulgee. In fact part of "the trail of tears" started here in Georgia and ended there for the Creek Indians. Okmulgee became the Creek Indian capital. I noticed in Macon that there is an Ocmulgee River which has a slightly different spelling. It is also interesting that after the government gave this seemingly ugly scrub oak wasteland to the Indians, they discovered oil everywhere. The Indians that had been resettled and poorly treated became very wealthy overnight. "His ways are not our ways, and our ways are not His ways." The Children of Israel also had their "touchstones" of their journeys. In the Old Testament whenever God would perform some great miracle like with Moses and the opening of the Red Sea, they would erect a pyramid of stones on the spot of the miracle. When the children would then ask, "Father what are these stones for?" it would give the parents and the spiritual leaders opportunities to tell the stories of how God had provided for his people. These oral traditions were being passed from generation to generation. We need to ask ourselves what traditions we are passing on to our children and the next generation. My dear friend Lennie Dunn of Always Safe Lock and Key and our church called me the other day and was laughing over the phone at a church sign he had read. It read, "Don't wait 'til six strong men carry you to church." I love it! Don't let your funeral be the only touchstone in your family's spiritual journey.
The Rev. Dr. Knox Herndon is the pastor of His House Community Church (SBC), and a former Army chaplain. The church is on 15 acres one mile south of Ga. Highway 16 in Senoia. It is just below the fire station on Ga. Highway 85 south. Prayer line and church office 770-719-2365; e-mail Khern2365@aol.com.
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