|
|
|
You’ve encountered the word Ebenezer if you’ve ever sung the old hymn
“Come Thou Fount of Every
Blessing.” The second verse begins, “Here I raise my Ebenezer,
here by thy great help I’ve come.”
Ebenezer
was where the Israelites were camped when the Philistines defeated them.
Later in I
Samuel, Ebenezer refers to a large stone the prophet Samuel placed
at that location after Samuel lead Israel
to a complete victory over the Philistines. “He named it Ebenezer
– ‘the stone of help’ – for he said, ‘Up to
this point the Lord has helped us!’” (I Samuel 7:12)
One of the beauties of graduations and Memorial Day observances is that
we have a chance to remember, to
say thank you, to place Ebenezer stones in honor of those who have
gone before us and been beacons along
the path.
It doesn’t matter much that few graduation speeches are memorable.
What I remember about college
graduation is that my dad and mom were pleased. Dad, who never
went to college, once told me he just
couldn’t understand how a 16-hour semester schedule was a full load
of classes. He worked 60 hours a
week, he said, and it had gained him graduation from the school of
hard work.
Though he rarely showed affection, dad put his arm around me at the
ceremony, handed me a new camera
and said, “Son, I’m proud of you.” The ordeal was a bit embarrassing,
but I so pleased.
Accordingly, my first Ebenezer marker is erected in honor of my dad
and mom. They taught me to work
hard, to live within my means, to get involved in the lives of people
and to remember that things will be better
in the morning.
My second Ebenezer stone gets sunk in the hard soil one mile north of
the intersection of U.S. 24 and State
Highway 23 in Sheridan County Kansas. Go a mile north of the
blinking stoplight at the intersection and
you’ll see the Hoxie, Kansas, Cemetery on your left.
There
are five Follises buried in the Hoxie Cemetery. My second stone is
placed in honor of my
cousin Eliot and my Grandpa and Grandma. Eliot, who died at age
23, was a soft-spoken, kind person. As
a boy I was a recipient of his kindness, and I honor him for the few
short years he spent showing kindness to
others.
My Grandpa was a tenant farmer who took care of my crippled grandmother
from 1955 until his death in
1980. Without complaining, he faithfully cared for my Grandma
every day for 25 years.
My Grandmother was pleased that I entered the ministry, and until her
death in 1996 she regularly wrote me
letters from her wheelchair and scanned magazines for articles to “help
you in the ministry.” Cousin Eliot and
Grandpa and Grandma Follis touched my life, and I set my second Ebenezer
stone in their honor.
Old college friends are the recipients of my third Ebenezer stone.
At age 20 and deeply confused about life,
my friends took me under their wings. They were barely 22 and
newly married. We drank coffee, read
books and talked for hours. They never once judged me for my
mistakes. They laughed at my jokes and
made it clear that their home would be a haven of peace.
They brought 9 children into the world and home schooled them all.
I couldn’t have done that, and their lives
are far from perfect. Still, just last Saturday my buddy called,
as one of us has every other week for 25
years. He wanted to see how it was going and to say, as he always
does, “I love you, man. Hang in there.”
Those friends pray for my family regularly. Good grief, they have
even read most of my columns and then
say the right words, “We so enjoy them!” I duly place my third
Ebenezer stone in honor of faithful friends for
nearly 30 years.
I suppose that going to a graduation ceremony or the cemetery on Memorial
Day may be a bit inconvenient.
But it’s worth the bother. You’ll have a chance to remember that
everyone is the recipient of someone’s
loving kindness. So go, think about the mercy you’ve been shown
in life, and place your own Ebenezer
stones.
Don Follis is an Urbana pastor and member of Vineyard Christian Fellowship
in Urbana, Ill. His column
appears on Fridays. Copyright © 2003 by the Champaign-Urbana
News-Gazette.