March 8, 2018 (Thursday)
Brother Loyd Chapman, pastor of the First Baptist Church of Marlin for a quarter century, retired in Rockport and became a key member of our church. He had a grand sense of humor. When he reached his eighties, he told me, “Pastor, I’m not old, I’m chronologically challenged!” In truth, he never got old. His hair never turned grey, and neither did his spirit. He was indeed “forever young.”
This community is blessed with numerous people who seem to be refusing to get old. Many are in their eighties, but you would never guess their age. What an inspiration these folks are. We’ve seen folks in their nineties mowing their yards. Some have had their hundredth birthday, but they have never given up on life.
We look into the mirror today and seem to look the same as we did yesterday. We can be thankful we don’t age overnight, or do we? Take a look at the minister at a 1954 wedding in Lampasas, Texas. Do you recognize the pastor (22 years old)? He’s the kid at the far right. Here he is at 75, , 53 years later, at his grand daughter’s wedding. That’s his lifelong friend, Troy Conner, standing by him. Here he is at 86, at the wedding of his grandson, Alex Hamm. We do change every day, don’t we?”
So, be patient with the older person; he/she may not know the appearance has changed so much. Take just a moment to look deeper and see the person inside. The last verse of the poem, “See Me,” (<-- click to see entire poem) reads, “I think of the years … all too few, gone too fast, And accept the stark fact that nothing can last. So open your eyes, people, open and see, Not a crabby old woman; look closer … see ME!!”
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He has recently begun publishing it again, having had no access to his home and computer since Harvey’s visit.