Who We Are...

I'm not one who particularly enjoys funerals or memorial services... don't know too many who really are. I get the whole idea that those events are really for the living... closure, celebration, grieving... all those sorts of things. There's just something in my nature that makes me feel like I should walk on tip-toe or talk in a different tone of voice or something... and it makes me feel like I'm not me. However, I get to attend and/or lead funerals or memorials fairly often, so I've gotten used to it, and some are definitely deeper experiences than others.

Friday, after getting Jen and Kaleb on the plane to Boston (or at least to security), Virginia and I drove to Fresno (instead of home to Antioch) to attend the memorial service for Art Walters, a man who had preached for a while when the two of us were teens in Oxnard in the '60s. We had been in youth group with some of his kids, and this was a chance to see them for the first time in many years. As I listened to his family talk about their dad and as I listened to some of his contemporaries share stories about their relationships with Art, it began to dawn on me that he was one more man who had impacted me significantly... who had had a part in making me who I am.

I've always said that, other than my parents, the adults who influenced me most as I grew up were Marshall Brookey (preacher for a while at Oxnard in my pre-teen years) and my father-in-law, Lyle Bean (elder and mentor at the Oxnard church for many years). Oh, I know there were others as well... teachers, other leaders, friends who impacted me... but these guys stand out in my mind. As I listened to people talk about Art's character and influence, I began to realize what a breath of fresh air he was for a kid growing up in our fellowship in the 60's. By his example he taught me it was OK to think about things differently... it was OK to ask, "Why?" when I didn't know why. While Art's formal theology was perhaps not radical, his gentle spirit and abilities to listen and understand others allowed him to "look like" Jesus with people more than most preachers of his day... and that example had a profound impact on me.

Anyway, the result is simply that last Saturday, at that memorial service, I not only was able to remember and renew relationships, but I have a newly recognized mentor to credit. And I have some old "Walters memories" to dust off and sort through... wonder what I'll discover.