What were they going to do, kill me?

Last updated on: November 18, 2016 at 7:58 am by John Mark N. Reynolds

What were they going to do, kill me? 2016-11-18T00:12:23-04:00 John Mark N. Reynolds

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My Papaw Earl was a brave man. He once earned a coin by climbing to the top of a bridge. As Frank Capra might say, he worked hard and he prayed hard until Union Carbide killed him.

They decided back when jobs were hard to get that they could hire men to cut asbestos and save money by giving them no masks. Papaw would cut asbestos and it would rain down on him like snow and it began to choke his lungs.

Asbestosis is a bad way to die, but before he died, Papaw heard a command from his doctor that was a mixed blessing: Go home, do what you wish, and eat what you want. For Papaw, I am sure that meant all the ice cream sandwiches he could consume. If someone hands me an ice cream sandwich, I assume it has come from Nana and Papaw’s freezer.

As the end of ice cream sandwiches in his life came closer, Papaw remained Papaw, meaning brave. Outside their city house, a knife fight broke out and Papaw went out to stop it. He ended up, bad lungs and all, chasing the thug down the street. He then bandaged up the victim with his (nearly!) all sufficient medical kit from the Plant. Nana was worried about the danger.

Papaw looked at her gently and said something like this: “What were they going to do, kill me?”

This was so good, true, and right that it makes me smile even now.

I am often asked how we can live in fearful times. What about Iran? Will China take all our jobs? What about the President Elect or Putin or Syria or the failure of the Packer defense to stop the big play?

Fear not!

Will the culture mock us and make fun of our values?

Fear not!

What will they do? Kill us?

If they kill us, we are martyrs. If they let us win, then we can strive for virtue, seek wisdom, and live joyfully. When we die, then we will see Jesus and all the saints in glory. I will see Papaw. So when the alt-Right makes threats or the leftist academy sneers, Papaw is in a great cloud of witnesses whispering in my ear: “What can they do? Kill you?”

Let’s be brave, speak the truth, love our neighbor as ourselves, and give God the glory. The Constantine Strategy is this: Look to Heaven for the Cross and in this sign conquer the world, the flesh, and the devil in me. Meanwhile, we move forward and build a new city. If we fail, we are in the New Jerusalem of God. If we succeed, we will have done something that imitates that City and then go to live in the new Jerusalem of God.

And what then can they do? Kill us?

I am of good cheer.

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