The struggle to break from our bent
to stubbornness is like Jacob’s wrestling match with the angel of God who
displaced the patriarch’s hip, which caused him to limp for the rest of his
life. Some choices carry more weight
than others…a reminder of a better path, not taken.
I met James Emmons in 1999. I was on an unplanned sabbatical (that’s the “in-between
churches” that pastors sometimes experience).
James’ church was searching for a pastor, and I was available. God did the goading to lead me into
friendship with a man who would be a Godly influence on my life. The
Brownworth and Emmons clans meshed with church life and friendship. We
shared a mini-vacation once. We prayed
together and shared meals at each other’s homes. James and I very nearly shared a birthday,
only a few weeks apart, his in May, mine in June. About 15 years ago when we were both crossing
the line from the 6th decade of life to the 7th, I called
James on his birthday. When he answered,
I sang (quite off-key) Happy Birthday, dear James…you old coot, Happy birthday to you! From that moment, “old coot” became our
greeting.
James passed a few days ago, after a
long struggle with cancer. It wasn’t
until a few days before that passing I shared with him the backstory on why I
began the old coot business.
In 1983 I was serving a church in tiny McIntosh, Florida, population
257. The four churches in McIntosh
shared Sunday evening services, and Mr. Richardson, one of the life-long Methodist
brothers, was in the hospital at the time.
Mr. Richardson had just passed his 80th birthday when I walked
into his hospital room (all the pastors in town visited all the members;
denominations were unimportant in that burg).
We chatted, prayed, and when I was about to leave, another elderly man
ambled through the door. I didn’t
recognize E. Colin Lindsey who, in 1935 partnered with Henry Belk to create Florida’s
largest chain-department stores, Belk-Lindsey.[1]
Mr. Lindsey and Mr. Richardson were like James and I, born only a few
weeks apart, with Mr. Richardson the elder.
They attended the McIntosh grade school together as children, and remained
friends for life. As Lindsey walked
through that hospital room door to visit his old friend, Mr. Richardson
brightened-up and howled, Colin, what on earth are you doing in a
hospital? Mr. Lindsey, limping on
a cane, smiled an impish grin and said, I just wanted to see what an 85-year-old
coot looked like! Now, that 40-year-old
story is about friendship that is faithful, and endures a lifetime. The reason I began to call my friend, James,
an old coot, is because, even though we started later than
Richardson and Lindsey, the Brownworth and Emmons bond did the same. For me, old coot symbolized the
essence of a long and fruitful friendship.
And that is what I will miss most about my friend and co-laborer in Christ.
He had a playful, gentle spirit, but a
fierce commitment and loyalty to Jesus. I
know this faithful friend and Christian brother will greet me one day…over yonder.
For You Today
You chew on
that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!
There are about 2,600 devotional posts and 400 sermons
in the Rocky
Road library.
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courtesy of Pixabay.com Images
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noted, Scripture quoted from NLT©
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