I've been very touched by a series of messages from the descendents of Dewey Whitwell -- Christian, Scott and Wanda Bradford -- who saw my post about him and contacted me (See comments under "On Dewey Whitwell's Knee" below.} It's remarkable that through the Internet we have been able to tell these stories in honor of this man who touched many lives.
I was most excited by the post that began "I am your Missy" -- from Dewey's daughter. Through her, I now know that her gun actually was a 20-gauge (pretty impressive for a girl!) and that on their hunting trips, they had picnics of Vienna sausages, cheese and Fig Newtons. Wanda's son Scott, a Methodist minister in Texas, still has the gun, obviously a cherished family keepsake. Like many men of his era, Rev. Whitwell was a "jack of all trades" -- he was, for example, also a beekeeper and devoted fisherman.
Also through "my Missy," I realized again how "relative," so to speak, and interconnected life can be. While I confessed to childhood jealousy of her, her gun and her walks in the woods with her father, she confessed to some envy of me -- I got to sit on her father's lap back then, she notes, and she didn't -- he was gone so much as an evangelist. Ah, childhood is very complicated.
Thank you again, Bradford family, for your affecting memories and comments.
The soft or shrill voice within us
13 years ago
2 comments:
I want to tell you how life is so "interconnected" and yet we don't realize it! I shared your "On Dewey's Knee" blog with my staff at our meeting yesterday, and then I spoke "of it" at two capital campaign meetings later in the day. We are in the midst of raising $1.6M for a renovation of a 100 year old sanctuary, at a 150 year old churcih.
Our theme is "Renewing the Sacrifice" for the "NEXT" Generation. Psalm 78:6 referances "that the NEXT generation might know him". I spoke of your story that you were writing of an event that happened so many years ago, and that we only barely know how we influence and affect the lives of others for the future! In that same way, we must be a cog that influences tihe lives for the future generations!
Your story may not have stopped a gun from being fired (yet), but it has been heard around these parts (of texas that is)!
Wow, Paster Scott. I appreciate all this very much. In higher education we often struggle with the same issues -- while politicians want us to show results RIGHT NOW, we know that some of what we do is like a time-release capsule and that the effects may not fully "ripen" for a long time. It does take patience to work for change, doesn't it? Best of luck to you and your congregation. I bet your grandfather would be immensely proud of you.
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