October 26, 2015 (Monday)
Bethel Baptist Church, Ingleside, canceled its services yesterday. It was a judgment call related to the weather. As it turned out, even though the wind was high and the air was wet because of the remnants of the strongest hurricane ever recorded in the western hemisphere, the weather would not have prevented us from having services. We live and learn.
We will have the events planned for yesterday next Sunday. Ironically, the long range forecast is calling for rain next weekend. We will meet together, rain or shine.
All this reminds me of the young lover who sent this message to his sweetheart: “I would climb the highest mountain for you, swim the deepest ocean for you, go through fire for you! P.S.- I’ll be over tonight if it doesn’t rain.”
I grew up in Houston, then moved to Waco, and afterwards Fort Worth, Lampasas, Azle, Kosse, Dallas and finally Rockport. The move to Rockport took place 51 years ago on Halloween. Perhaps some folks thought my coming was scary. But things turned out all right, and I stayed at the church a long time before retirement. Hard for me to believe I have lived in the Coastal Bend this long.
At its heart Halloween is a religious observance, but its origin has been all but lost in the sea of ghosts, witches and scary stuff. Even though some people want to get serious about it all, the scary stuff is all in fun. The religion aspect is still a valid part of many people’s faith.
If the skulls and superstitions are too creepy for you, there’s always Linus’ “Great Pumpkin.” He never shows up, but Linus continues to believe. Linus said, “”There are three things I have learned never to discuss with people: religion, politics, and the Great Pumpkin.”
Anyway, whatever else Halloween may represent, it will always mean “Rockport” to me.