Right Place, Right Time
Stories
Object:
Contents
"Right Place, Right Time" by Frank Ramirez
"Freedom From the Storms of Life" by Keith Wagner
* * * * * * *
Right Place, Right Time
by Frank Ramirez
Jeremiah 31:31-34
But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
-- Jeremiah 31:33
Samuel Langhorne Clemens, better known as Mark Twain, once said that his mother, living as she did in the south, as a faithful churchgoer would never had heard one sermon preached against slavery in her life. Twain himself preached against slavery his whole life, though he often chose the more subtle method of fiction to get under people's skin and around their prejudices.
The character of the slave Jim, for instance, is the most humane and the most human individual in his novel Huckleberry Finn. Twain intended to change hearts through that character and to reform the way that white Americans thought about African Americans. But who was Jim based on? Some people believe he was based, in part, on Twain's friend John Lewis.
John Lewis was a freeborn African American from Carroll County, Maryland. Born on January 10, 1835, he moved north around 1860, settling in upstate New York, near Elmira, where he would met Twain. The two soon became fast friends. Twain described him in this manner:
"Lewis... is of mighty frame & muscle, stocky, stooping, ungainly, has a good manly face and clear eye. Aged about 45 & the most picturesque of men, when he sits in his fluttering work-day rags, humped forward into a bunch, with his slouched hat mashed over his ears and neck. It is a spectacle to make the broken hearted smile."
There in Elmira he worked at various jobs, as a coachman, in a meat market, as a blacksmith, and for a time working in the shop of A. Blivin and Sons. Eventually he settled in as a tenant farmer for Mark Twain's in-laws, the Langdon family near Quarry Hill.
Lewis found it difficult to make ends meet. Mark Twain wrote once that "Lewis has worked mighty hard & remained mighty poor. At the end of each whole year's toil he can't show a gain of fifty dollars." According to some accounts he was in debt by as much as nine hundred dollars to the Langdons, a huge sum by the standards of the day. Twain, commenting on the debt, said "... he being conscientious & honest -- imagine what it was to him to have to carry this stubborn hopeless load year in & year out."
Lewis and Twain became good friends. Twain already admired his wisdom, faith, and integrity, but on August 23, 1877 came to admire his courage as well. Twain's sister-in-law Ida Langdon, along with her six-year-old daughter Julia and Nora, the nurse, were riding their carriage away from their home at Quarry Farm near Elmira, New York. Twain would remember the event in a letter to friends.
"Well, sunset came & Ida the young & comely... her little Julia & the nurse Nora drove out at the gate behind the new gray horse & started down the long hill -- the high carriage receiving its load under the porte-cochere. Ida was seen to turn her face towards us across the fence & intervening lawn. Theodore waved good-by to her, for he did not know that her sign was a speechless appeal for help.
"The next moment Livy said 'Ida's driving too fast down hill!' She followed it with a short scream 'Her horse is running away!'
"We could see two hundred yards down the descent. The buggy seemed to fly. It would strike obstructions & apparently spring the height of a man from the ground. Theodore & I left the shrieking crowd behind & ran down the hill bareheaded & shouting. A neighbor appeared at his gate -- a tenth of a second too late! The buggy vanished past him like a thought. My last glimpse showed it for one instant, far down the descent, springing high in the air, out of a cloud of dust, & then it disappeared. As I flew down the road, my impulse was to shut my eyes & so delay for a moment the ghastly spectacle of mutilation & death I was expecting."
From his vantage point traveling up the road John Lewis could see immediately what was happening. He maneuvered his wagon so it formed a V with a fence so that the out of control horse would have to run between the wagon and the fence. He dismounted and waited. Only ten feet behind him was an abrupt turn in the road in front of an abyss through which wagon, passengers, and horse would surely plunge.
Lewis timed his jump, leapt through the air, and, once again in the words of Mark Twain, "...gathered his vast strength & seized the gray horse's bit as he plunged by, & fetched him up standing."
It was the work of an instant. The danger was very real. Serious injury and death from runaway horses were common. Had Lewis failed to stop the horse he too would likely have been killed with the passengers.
Twain remembered, "I ran on & on... saying to myself 'I shall see it at the turn of the road; they can never pass that turn alive.' When I came in sight of that turn, I saw two wagons there bunched together -- one of them full of people. I said, 'Just so -- they are staring petrified at the remains.'
"But when I got amongst that bunch -- there sat Ida in her buggy & nobody hurt, not even the horse or the vehicle. Ida was pale but serene. As I came tearing down she smiled back over her shoulder at me & said, 'Well, we're alive yet, aren't we?' A miracle had been performed-- nothing less."
Lewis was immediately hailed as a hero. The next day the family members surprised him with a party in his honor. Twain presented Lewis with a set of autographed books and $50. Another friend of the family gave him $25. The Cranes gave him the incredible sum of $400 and Ida Langdon presented him with a gold watch inscribed "John T. Lewis, who saved three lives at the deadly peril of his own, Aug. 23, 1877. This in grateful remembrance from Mrs. Charles J. Langdon."
Lewis attempted to use the money to pay back part of his debt to the family but Ida demurred, because she knew that Charles Langdon himself, who was away on a trip, would also want to add to the reward. She was right. Upon his return Langdon gave Lewis a check for $1,000. He was not only debt-free, but the owner, rather than the tenant, of a 64 1/2 acre farm.
Later the family also raised money for a modest pension for Lewis, after injuries from a life of hard labor made it difficult for him to work on the farm.
John Lewis did his best to keep the story out of the local newspapers because he did not wish to draw attention to himself, but that did not stop the story from spreading far and wide throughout upstate New York, changing hearts and minds about African Americans among many of the white residents.
Frank Ramirez has served as a pastor for nearly 30 years in Church of the Brethren congregations in Los Angeles, California; Elkhart, Indiana; and Everett, Pennsylvania. A graduate of LaVerne College and Bethany Theological Seminary, Ramirez is the author of numerous books, articles, and short stories. His CSS titles include Partners in Healing, He Took a Towel, The Bee Attitudes, three volumes of Lectionary Worship Aids, and Breakdown on Bethlehem Street.
Freedom From the Storms of Life
by Keith Wagner
John 8:31-36
People who are feeling helpless can relate to this passage much easier than those who live in security and safety. The Christian community that the gospel of John addressed himself to was overpowered by the Jewish community. They lacked identity and therefore felt powerless.
The storm they encountered was the tension between their connection to Abraham and the newly found freedom that Jesus was offering. In other words, they couldn't count on their genealogical link to keep them out of harm's way. The truthful freedom Jesus promised was the awareness of the presence of God in their midst. Like the Psalmist promised, God would be with them in their struggle.
These disciples were trapped with a sense of false security. Only faith in God would set them free. Their commitment to the word, or rather, following and modeling their lives after Jesus would give them their ultimate security. Just as Martin Luther advocated reform for the Church, Jesus was advocating reform for the disciples in John.
The greatest storm I ever faced was a typhoon in the Bay of Tonkin. I was aboard a naval air craft carrier, one of the largest ships in the world. But even that great ship was no match for the wind and waves that we encountered that night.
Storms come in a variety of ways. There is the fear of a prolonged recession. Many are fearful of being unemployed for a long period of time. There is also the fear of health problems. There are personal storms too, like a relationship that might be deteriorating or a personal failure or mistake. Like the disciples there are times when we lack the faith to manage the storms in our lives. When we are at our wit's end, on the edge of failure or feeling hopeless, we are not able to see the Lord in our midst.
Victor Hugo, who is famous for his novel The Hunchback of Notre Dame, also wrote a story called Ninety-Three. It tells of a ship caught in a dangerous storm on the high seas. At the height of the storm, the frightened sailors heard a terrible crashing noise below the deck. They knew at once that this new noise came from a cannon, part of the ship's cargo, that had broken loose. It was moving back and forth with the swaying of the ship, crashing into the sides of the ship with terrible impact. Knowing that it could cause the ship to sink, two brave sailors volunteered to make the dangerous attempt to retrieve the loose cannon. They knew that the danger of a shipwreck from the cannon was greater than the fury of the storm. In other words, the danger of the inner storm was greater than the outer storm.
Storms of life may blow about us, but it is not exterior storms that pose the gravest danger. It is the conflicts within us which can overwhelm us. By reforming our attitudes and actions we can realize real security. It is those feelings of fear, despair, guilt, or the difficulty of making a decision that keep us trapped. By following Jesus we are free of those inner conflicts and therefore able to live with the profound faith that God is with us regardless of the storms of life we encounter.
When God Is in Our Midst
by Keith Wagner
Psalm 46
When things happen beyond our control we live in fear. Extreme weather, enemy attacks, and changing circumstances knock us off balance. We feel helpless because we are not capable of saving ourselves from the forces against us. The psalm reminds us that "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble," and we are assured that "God is in our midst." Therefore we need not fear for "God is with us."
In the year 1529 the psalm inspired Martin Luther to write the hymn, "A Mighty Fortress Is Our God." As a reformer of the church, Luther had encountered excommunication after posting his 95 Thesis on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany, on October 31, 1517. As a result Luther's popularity grew rapidly. Church members were dissatisfied with the corruption and worldly desires of the Roman Curia. Lutherans began to separate themselves from the Catholic Church. Although Luther never intended to create a new church it happened because of his many followers and most significantly the widespread distribution of the scriptures to the masses due to the recently invented printing press by Johannes Gutenberg in 1450. By 1500, printing presses in operation throughout Western Europe had already produced more than twenty million volumes.
Music was one of Luther's greatest contributions to the Reformed Church. Not only did he write 37 hymns he introduced congregational singing to worship services. The hymns gave the people the strength and faith they needed to survive the struggles they faced.
After the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center and Pentagon, millions of Americans turned to the church for hope and assurance. It is no coincidence that many individuals turn to their church for comfort and support when personal tragedy strikes or when they find themselves in some life-changing transition.
We humans need community and particularly the faith community to support us when things happen beyond our control. We need hope and love. When all else fails all we have left in our faith.
One time on National Public Radio, I heard the story about two elderly ladies in Punta Gorda, Florida. They found themselves right in the path of Hurricane Charlie. They called the weather hotline and the man on duty told them it was too late to escape. To flee the island and attempt to reach the mainland would be futile. All they could do was hunker down and weather out the storm.
For three hours the hurricane pounded against their mobile home. They heard metal crashing into the sides of the house and they saw debris flying everywhere. They watched in horror as a huge catamaran overturned like a toy boat. During the storm, they huddled together in the kitchen praying to God that they would survive. Finally, the storm passed and both their lives and their home were spared. For them God was with them as the man on the hotline who encouraged them to stay together and not to panic. His warm, caring voice and the support they drew from each other sustained them through a storm beyond their control.
Rev. Dr. Keith Wagner is the pastor of St. John's UCC in Troy, Ohio. He and his wife, Lin, live in Springfield, Ohio.
*****************************************
StoryShare, October 31, 2013, issue.
Copyright 2013 by CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio.
All rights reserved. Subscribers to the StoryShare service may print and use this material as it was intended in sermons, in worship and classroom settings, in brief devotions, in radio spots, and as newsletter fillers. No additional permission is required from the publisher for such use by subscribers only. Inquiries should be addressed to permissions@csspub.com or to Permissions, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., 5450 N. Dixie Highway, Lima, Ohio 45807.
"Right Place, Right Time" by Frank Ramirez
"Freedom From the Storms of Life" by Keith Wagner
* * * * * * *
Right Place, Right Time
by Frank Ramirez
Jeremiah 31:31-34
But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
-- Jeremiah 31:33
Samuel Langhorne Clemens, better known as Mark Twain, once said that his mother, living as she did in the south, as a faithful churchgoer would never had heard one sermon preached against slavery in her life. Twain himself preached against slavery his whole life, though he often chose the more subtle method of fiction to get under people's skin and around their prejudices.
The character of the slave Jim, for instance, is the most humane and the most human individual in his novel Huckleberry Finn. Twain intended to change hearts through that character and to reform the way that white Americans thought about African Americans. But who was Jim based on? Some people believe he was based, in part, on Twain's friend John Lewis.
John Lewis was a freeborn African American from Carroll County, Maryland. Born on January 10, 1835, he moved north around 1860, settling in upstate New York, near Elmira, where he would met Twain. The two soon became fast friends. Twain described him in this manner:
"Lewis... is of mighty frame & muscle, stocky, stooping, ungainly, has a good manly face and clear eye. Aged about 45 & the most picturesque of men, when he sits in his fluttering work-day rags, humped forward into a bunch, with his slouched hat mashed over his ears and neck. It is a spectacle to make the broken hearted smile."
There in Elmira he worked at various jobs, as a coachman, in a meat market, as a blacksmith, and for a time working in the shop of A. Blivin and Sons. Eventually he settled in as a tenant farmer for Mark Twain's in-laws, the Langdon family near Quarry Hill.
Lewis found it difficult to make ends meet. Mark Twain wrote once that "Lewis has worked mighty hard & remained mighty poor. At the end of each whole year's toil he can't show a gain of fifty dollars." According to some accounts he was in debt by as much as nine hundred dollars to the Langdons, a huge sum by the standards of the day. Twain, commenting on the debt, said "... he being conscientious & honest -- imagine what it was to him to have to carry this stubborn hopeless load year in & year out."
Lewis and Twain became good friends. Twain already admired his wisdom, faith, and integrity, but on August 23, 1877 came to admire his courage as well. Twain's sister-in-law Ida Langdon, along with her six-year-old daughter Julia and Nora, the nurse, were riding their carriage away from their home at Quarry Farm near Elmira, New York. Twain would remember the event in a letter to friends.
"Well, sunset came & Ida the young & comely... her little Julia & the nurse Nora drove out at the gate behind the new gray horse & started down the long hill -- the high carriage receiving its load under the porte-cochere. Ida was seen to turn her face towards us across the fence & intervening lawn. Theodore waved good-by to her, for he did not know that her sign was a speechless appeal for help.
"The next moment Livy said 'Ida's driving too fast down hill!' She followed it with a short scream 'Her horse is running away!'
"We could see two hundred yards down the descent. The buggy seemed to fly. It would strike obstructions & apparently spring the height of a man from the ground. Theodore & I left the shrieking crowd behind & ran down the hill bareheaded & shouting. A neighbor appeared at his gate -- a tenth of a second too late! The buggy vanished past him like a thought. My last glimpse showed it for one instant, far down the descent, springing high in the air, out of a cloud of dust, & then it disappeared. As I flew down the road, my impulse was to shut my eyes & so delay for a moment the ghastly spectacle of mutilation & death I was expecting."
From his vantage point traveling up the road John Lewis could see immediately what was happening. He maneuvered his wagon so it formed a V with a fence so that the out of control horse would have to run between the wagon and the fence. He dismounted and waited. Only ten feet behind him was an abrupt turn in the road in front of an abyss through which wagon, passengers, and horse would surely plunge.
Lewis timed his jump, leapt through the air, and, once again in the words of Mark Twain, "...gathered his vast strength & seized the gray horse's bit as he plunged by, & fetched him up standing."
It was the work of an instant. The danger was very real. Serious injury and death from runaway horses were common. Had Lewis failed to stop the horse he too would likely have been killed with the passengers.
Twain remembered, "I ran on & on... saying to myself 'I shall see it at the turn of the road; they can never pass that turn alive.' When I came in sight of that turn, I saw two wagons there bunched together -- one of them full of people. I said, 'Just so -- they are staring petrified at the remains.'
"But when I got amongst that bunch -- there sat Ida in her buggy & nobody hurt, not even the horse or the vehicle. Ida was pale but serene. As I came tearing down she smiled back over her shoulder at me & said, 'Well, we're alive yet, aren't we?' A miracle had been performed-- nothing less."
Lewis was immediately hailed as a hero. The next day the family members surprised him with a party in his honor. Twain presented Lewis with a set of autographed books and $50. Another friend of the family gave him $25. The Cranes gave him the incredible sum of $400 and Ida Langdon presented him with a gold watch inscribed "John T. Lewis, who saved three lives at the deadly peril of his own, Aug. 23, 1877. This in grateful remembrance from Mrs. Charles J. Langdon."
Lewis attempted to use the money to pay back part of his debt to the family but Ida demurred, because she knew that Charles Langdon himself, who was away on a trip, would also want to add to the reward. She was right. Upon his return Langdon gave Lewis a check for $1,000. He was not only debt-free, but the owner, rather than the tenant, of a 64 1/2 acre farm.
Later the family also raised money for a modest pension for Lewis, after injuries from a life of hard labor made it difficult for him to work on the farm.
John Lewis did his best to keep the story out of the local newspapers because he did not wish to draw attention to himself, but that did not stop the story from spreading far and wide throughout upstate New York, changing hearts and minds about African Americans among many of the white residents.
Frank Ramirez has served as a pastor for nearly 30 years in Church of the Brethren congregations in Los Angeles, California; Elkhart, Indiana; and Everett, Pennsylvania. A graduate of LaVerne College and Bethany Theological Seminary, Ramirez is the author of numerous books, articles, and short stories. His CSS titles include Partners in Healing, He Took a Towel, The Bee Attitudes, three volumes of Lectionary Worship Aids, and Breakdown on Bethlehem Street.
Freedom From the Storms of Life
by Keith Wagner
John 8:31-36
People who are feeling helpless can relate to this passage much easier than those who live in security and safety. The Christian community that the gospel of John addressed himself to was overpowered by the Jewish community. They lacked identity and therefore felt powerless.
The storm they encountered was the tension between their connection to Abraham and the newly found freedom that Jesus was offering. In other words, they couldn't count on their genealogical link to keep them out of harm's way. The truthful freedom Jesus promised was the awareness of the presence of God in their midst. Like the Psalmist promised, God would be with them in their struggle.
These disciples were trapped with a sense of false security. Only faith in God would set them free. Their commitment to the word, or rather, following and modeling their lives after Jesus would give them their ultimate security. Just as Martin Luther advocated reform for the Church, Jesus was advocating reform for the disciples in John.
The greatest storm I ever faced was a typhoon in the Bay of Tonkin. I was aboard a naval air craft carrier, one of the largest ships in the world. But even that great ship was no match for the wind and waves that we encountered that night.
Storms come in a variety of ways. There is the fear of a prolonged recession. Many are fearful of being unemployed for a long period of time. There is also the fear of health problems. There are personal storms too, like a relationship that might be deteriorating or a personal failure or mistake. Like the disciples there are times when we lack the faith to manage the storms in our lives. When we are at our wit's end, on the edge of failure or feeling hopeless, we are not able to see the Lord in our midst.
Victor Hugo, who is famous for his novel The Hunchback of Notre Dame, also wrote a story called Ninety-Three. It tells of a ship caught in a dangerous storm on the high seas. At the height of the storm, the frightened sailors heard a terrible crashing noise below the deck. They knew at once that this new noise came from a cannon, part of the ship's cargo, that had broken loose. It was moving back and forth with the swaying of the ship, crashing into the sides of the ship with terrible impact. Knowing that it could cause the ship to sink, two brave sailors volunteered to make the dangerous attempt to retrieve the loose cannon. They knew that the danger of a shipwreck from the cannon was greater than the fury of the storm. In other words, the danger of the inner storm was greater than the outer storm.
Storms of life may blow about us, but it is not exterior storms that pose the gravest danger. It is the conflicts within us which can overwhelm us. By reforming our attitudes and actions we can realize real security. It is those feelings of fear, despair, guilt, or the difficulty of making a decision that keep us trapped. By following Jesus we are free of those inner conflicts and therefore able to live with the profound faith that God is with us regardless of the storms of life we encounter.
When God Is in Our Midst
by Keith Wagner
Psalm 46
When things happen beyond our control we live in fear. Extreme weather, enemy attacks, and changing circumstances knock us off balance. We feel helpless because we are not capable of saving ourselves from the forces against us. The psalm reminds us that "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble," and we are assured that "God is in our midst." Therefore we need not fear for "God is with us."
In the year 1529 the psalm inspired Martin Luther to write the hymn, "A Mighty Fortress Is Our God." As a reformer of the church, Luther had encountered excommunication after posting his 95 Thesis on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany, on October 31, 1517. As a result Luther's popularity grew rapidly. Church members were dissatisfied with the corruption and worldly desires of the Roman Curia. Lutherans began to separate themselves from the Catholic Church. Although Luther never intended to create a new church it happened because of his many followers and most significantly the widespread distribution of the scriptures to the masses due to the recently invented printing press by Johannes Gutenberg in 1450. By 1500, printing presses in operation throughout Western Europe had already produced more than twenty million volumes.
Music was one of Luther's greatest contributions to the Reformed Church. Not only did he write 37 hymns he introduced congregational singing to worship services. The hymns gave the people the strength and faith they needed to survive the struggles they faced.
After the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center and Pentagon, millions of Americans turned to the church for hope and assurance. It is no coincidence that many individuals turn to their church for comfort and support when personal tragedy strikes or when they find themselves in some life-changing transition.
We humans need community and particularly the faith community to support us when things happen beyond our control. We need hope and love. When all else fails all we have left in our faith.
One time on National Public Radio, I heard the story about two elderly ladies in Punta Gorda, Florida. They found themselves right in the path of Hurricane Charlie. They called the weather hotline and the man on duty told them it was too late to escape. To flee the island and attempt to reach the mainland would be futile. All they could do was hunker down and weather out the storm.
For three hours the hurricane pounded against their mobile home. They heard metal crashing into the sides of the house and they saw debris flying everywhere. They watched in horror as a huge catamaran overturned like a toy boat. During the storm, they huddled together in the kitchen praying to God that they would survive. Finally, the storm passed and both their lives and their home were spared. For them God was with them as the man on the hotline who encouraged them to stay together and not to panic. His warm, caring voice and the support they drew from each other sustained them through a storm beyond their control.
Rev. Dr. Keith Wagner is the pastor of St. John's UCC in Troy, Ohio. He and his wife, Lin, live in Springfield, Ohio.
*****************************************
StoryShare, October 31, 2013, issue.
Copyright 2013 by CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio.
All rights reserved. Subscribers to the StoryShare service may print and use this material as it was intended in sermons, in worship and classroom settings, in brief devotions, in radio spots, and as newsletter fillers. No additional permission is required from the publisher for such use by subscribers only. Inquiries should be addressed to permissions@csspub.com or to Permissions, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., 5450 N. Dixie Highway, Lima, Ohio 45807.
