Six Facts That Most People Would Not Know About Me

1. I was watching a film at the Chrysler exhibit at the 1964 New York World’s Fair when I decided to go to Georgia Tech, become a mechanical engineer, and design cars at Ford (we were a Ford family; Chrysler would never do!).
2. I worked at a grocery store in Forsyth, and later Atlanta, for six years, while I was at Mary Persons High School and at Georgia Tech.
3. I attended every Mary Persons football game, home and away, during the four years I was at Georgia Tech.
4. I graduated with a degree in mechanical engineering from Georgia Tech and started work at Ford, designing trucks, not cars, in June 1978.
5. I decided to get my hair cut at a chain hair styling place at the old Houston Mall in the fall of 1988; Sherry Moxley Meyers (not her name then!) happened to cut my hair. I followed her around from place to place until she started High Maintenance Salon / Spa. She cut my hair until she changed her schedule to spend more time with her son. I still get my hair cut at High Maintenance; Awesome Jamie Dawson is my stylist now.
6. I was engaged to a pretty Romanian nurse, who lived in Italy, for about a week and a half. I have a slightly used, well traveled (been to Italy and Romania!) engagement ring, if anyone is interested….

"The Whole World's High School" - My Speech for the Mary Persons Class of '74 Reunion, May 3, 2014

We are all familiar with the William Shakespeare line, “All the world’s a stage.” There is a lot of truth to that metaphor, but tonight, I want to discuss another line from another age. In an episode of “The Secret Life of the American Teenager,” Molly Ringwald’s character, Anne Juergens, says, “The whole world’s high school.”

Cliques, romances, best friends, allies, opponents – we learned about all of these through “on the job training” during our days at Mary Persons. Our teachers were our first level supervisors; the principal and vice principal our upper level management; the office administration and councilors were management staff.

Fortunately, we had the privilege of being students at Mary Persons High School – an outstanding high school, with excellent faculty, staff, and – most importantly – students. Then and now, Mary Persons has a well-deserved reputation for both academic and athletic excellence. What other high school could have possibly been a better training ground for that larger high school – the whole world – than Mary Persons?

Of course, our teachers were the most visible representatives of Mary Persons on a daily basis. We were blessed with some great teachers who were thoroughly knowledgeable of the subjects they taught and had the patience to explain the material so that every student could understand. We did not all have the same teachers, and I am sure that not all of us share the same opinions about those teachers, but I would like to mention a few of my favorites, those who taught me, inspired me, prepared me well for the larger high school that is the whole world.

Mr. Singleton inspired my passion for chemistry and physics. Mrs. Zellner and Coach Cook motivated my interest in history and political science. And Mr. Winters encouraged my love of literature and poetry. I will never forget how he taught us to interpret poetry, and in particular, that the theme of all 19th century American poetry is death.

Of course, Coach Pitts and his powerhouse football teams inspired the whole school, the whole community. The Mary Persons Bulldogs were – and are – a great source of pride for all of us who are so fortunate to be alumni.

But it was not just the great teachers who prepared us for that larger high school that is the whole world. Unfortunately, in the real world, we must deal with bad supervisors, incompetent bosses, and self-serving politicians. The bad teachers – fortunately, there were only a few of those – taught us to pick our battles, to “go along to get along” when that was the best strategy for our success.

While we were at Mary Persons, prayer was allowed at official school events; here in the Bible Belt, prayer was an integral part of any public gathering. Our graduation ceremony included two prayers: an invocation and a benediction. As plans were being made for our graduation, Mrs. McCosh asked me to give the invocation. I asked for the benediction instead, as I wanted to have the last word for the Mary Persons Class of ’74.

The faculty wanted to ensure that the graduation ceremony went smoothly, with everyone knowing what to say, when to say it, and said nothing controversial; therefore, the entire ceremony was scripted. While the speakers were allowed to write their speeches, this was done under close supervision of the teacher in charge, who had final approval authority. Mrs. McCosh wrote a nice, but long, prayer for me to deliver. Of course, being high school students, those of us with speaking roles chafed at having so little freedom in what we could say. Therefore, there was a longstanding tradition at Mary Persons graduation ceremonies that someone would rebel, would stray from the script and substitute another speech for the one that had been officially approved. After all, what could they do to us at that point? One year, supposedly all four of the speakers replaced their speeches with speeches they had written themselves.

As our graduation ceremony neared its conclusion, the faculty must have been very proud; everything had gone as planned, everyone had stayed on script. There was only my benediction left, and I’m sure they thought I was the least likely of all of us to rebel. I stepped up to the microphone, took off my cap, and said, “Let us pray.” Then, rather than reading the prayer that Mrs. McCosh had written, I said a short, simple prayer, since I wanted out class to go into the real world, that larger high school, blessed by a real prayer, not a speech written by our councilor. 

I do not remember the entire benediction, but I recall I began by saying, “Father, this is the last time that we will be together.” Sadly, it was. I never saw some of our classmates again after that night. We never all gathered as a class after our graduation, and now, a number of our classmates are no longer with us. I would like to close with a moment of silence in memory of those that have gone before us.

Thank you.

The Great Flood of '94

It’s hard to believe it was 20 years ago when we in Middle Georgia suffered The Great Flood of ’94. For most of us in the area, it was a short term inconvenience — with roads and bridges flooded, it was difficult or impossible to get from here to there for a couple or three days. However, for those of us in Macon and Bibb County, who got our water from the Macon Water Authority, it was a two-and-a-half week long nightmare. For some inexplicable reason, the Macon water works was located in the Ocmulgee River flood plain — and flood it did. Hence, no running water for about 17 days, less in some places, more in others.

A water distribution system was quickly established — stop by your local fire station for free gallon bottles of water, suitable for drinking, cooking, cleaning, and flushing toilets. Launderettes in surrounding communities did bumper business. But showering or bathing? You could take a sponge bath, and many people showered at family or friends’ houses outside the stricken area, but it wasn’t the same as being able to take a shower at home….

I decided that I hadn’t gotten my Mechanical Engineering degree (Georgia Tech “78) for nothing; I would design and build my own shower. I needed low flow (I didn’t want to use too much water), low pressure, and low voltage — I didn’t want a shock or electrocution hazard. The key component was a boat bilge pump — designed to be submerged in water, low flow and pressure, and 12 volt dc. I powered it with a 12 volt rechargeable battery that was designed to power “cigarette lighter” accessories that you would normally use in a car. A big plastic bucket served as the water supply, and two sections of flexible bilge pump tubing delivered the water from the submerged pump to the “shower” outlet, which I attached to the normal shower head. Bell wire and a boat horn button, attached adjacent to the outlet, completed the system. Warm water on the stove (but not too hot!), pour in the plastic bucket, push the button when you wanted water, release the button to stop the flow — most excellent! And it also worked well for washing your hair.

Praying to Smoke???

Since I began attending an Orthodox Church in 2009, I have encountered a number of misunderstandings of Orthodox Christianity -- that we worship Mary (we do not), that icons are idols (they are not), that we substitute Scripture with tradition (we supplement, not substitute, Scripture with Holy Tradition, which does not replace or contradict Scripture).  However, the strangest misunderstanding that I have encountered is that we pray to smoke. It is true that we typically have many candles burning during an Orthodox service, and that incense is an important part of the service; of course, both candles and incense produce smoke. But why would anyone claim that we pray to smoke?

The Orthodox Church building is modeled after the Old Testament Tabernacle and Temples as well as the description of Heaven as found in Revelation. As for the connection between smoke and prayer, it is found in two passages in Revelation.  The first is, "And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints (Revelation 5:8)."  While this does not explicitly mention smoke -- the "golden vials full of odours" could be filled with perfume, for example, they could also be filled with the smoke of incense, which becomes the obvious interpretation in light of the second passage.  

And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne.  And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel's hand (Revelation 8:3-4).

Thus, in Heaven, the smoke of the incense was offered with the prayers of the saints and ascended up to the Lord. In like manner, in the Orthodox Church, the smoke of the incense, as well as that of the candles, is offered up to the Lord with our prayers, and the prayers of all saints, and becomes a symbol of prayers ascending up to the Lord throughout our service. We do not pray to smoke; rather, the smoke represents our prayers.

Confession

The Apostle John wrote, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9)."  This does not address to whom we are to confess our sins; this could be satisfied by confessing our sins to God alone.  Certainly, we are to confess our sins to God, but is this sufficient?  James wrote, "Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed (James 5:16a)."  Thus, the Protestant practice of confessing sins to God alone is not Biblically sufficient.  In the early Church, Christians openly confessed their sins to the entire congregation; however, as you can imagine, this created a great deal of problems.  Therefore, the tradition became to confess before an ordained priest who was sworn to keep the confession private.

Being "Good"

Our pastor at New City Church downtown, Keith Watson, frequently says that it does not hurt God when we are evil, and does not benefit God when we are "good"; that, since God is perfect and complete in himself, he gains or looses nothing due to our action or inaction. However, this is not a point of theology that must be deduced from God's perfection; it is a point that is explicitly stated.

Job 35:6 If you have sinned, what effect do you have against him?
If your transgressions are multiplied, what do you do to him?
(7) If you are righteous, what do you give him?
Or what does he receive from your hand?

Thus, we are not to be "good" because our being "good" somehow benefits God; we are to be "good" because that is his command for us.

Matthew 22:37 Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ (38) This is the first and great commandment. (39) A second likewise is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ (40) The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.”

Job's Soliloquy on Wisdom

I have been reading the book of Job; Job 28:28 is one of the most profound verses in the entire Bible.

Job 28:1 “Surely there is a mine for silver,
and a place for gold which they refine.
(2) Iron is taken out of the earth,
and copper is smelted out of the ore.
(3) Man sets an end to darkness,
and searches out, to the furthest bound,
the stones of obscurity and of thick darkness.
(4) He breaks open a shaft away from where people live.
They are forgotten by the foot.
They hang far from men, they swing back and forth.
(5) As for the earth, out of it comes bread;
Underneath it is turned up as it were by fire.
(6) Sapphires come from its rocks.
It has dust of gold.
(7) That path no bird of prey knows,
neither has the falcon’s eye seen it.
(8) The proud animals have not trodden it,
nor has the fierce lion passed by there.
(9) He puts forth his hand on the flinty rock,
and he overturns the mountains by the roots.
(10) He cuts out channels among the rocks.
His eye sees every precious thing.
(11) He binds the streams that they don’t trickle.
The thing that is hidden he brings forth to light.
(12) “But where shall wisdom be found?
Where is the place of understanding?
(13) Man doesn’t know its price;
Neither is it found in the land of the living.
(14) The deep says, ‘It isn’t in me.’
The sea says, ‘It isn’t with me.’
(15) It can’t be gotten for gold,
neither shall silver be weighed for its price.
(16) It can’t be valued with the gold of Ophir,
with the precious onyx, or the sapphire.
(17) Gold and glass can’t equal it,
neither shall it be exchanged for jewels of fine gold.
(18) No mention shall be made of coral or of crystal.
Yes, the price of wisdom is above rubies.
(19) The topaz of Ethiopia shall not equal it,
Neither shall it be valued with pure gold.
(20) Where then does wisdom come from?
Where is the place of understanding?
(21) Seeing it is hidden from the eyes of all living,
and kept close from the birds of the sky.
(22) Destruction and Death say,
‘We have heard a rumor of it with our ears.’
(23) “God understands its way,
and he knows its place.
(24) For he looks to the ends of the earth,
and sees under the whole sky.
(25) He establishes the force of the wind.
Yes, he measures out the waters by measure.
(26) When he made a decree for the rain,
and a way for the lightning of the thunder;
(27) then he saw it, and declared it.
He established it, yes, and searched it out.
(28) To man he said,
‘Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom.
To depart from evil is understanding.’”