RICHARDSON: What’s really important
Just about every pastor I’ve heard, usually when they open the doors to the church near the end of Sunday services, emphasizes that the unknown awaits each of us and that joining the church and getting saved is something we should not postpone. Truer words have never been spoken. Let me explain.
I’m a political junkie, and this election season I’ve been in junkie heaven. Last week, much of the excitement I normally experience vanished. I got a call from my brother in the middle of the day, in the middle of the week. Not a good sign. We talk on weekends -- unless there’s bad news.
He started by telling me that one of the most vocal members of our family, Ubirda, fell and broke her hip while visiting family in Galveston, Texas. She’s a spry old bird who is in her 80s, but at her age, breaking a hip is not a good thing. The New York Times reports that from 2002-2012, more than 200,000 Americans over 65 died after falls.
But that was just the beginning of our conversation. He added that three days after Ubirda’s fall, her daughter, Stella, was hit by a Harley and killed. Stella, as best I can figure, is my third, fourth or fifth cousin. I last saw Ubirda and Stella during our family reunion in Detroit this past summer.
I knew Stella better than most of my extended family. She was 65, although she looked much younger, and was tall and beautiful. While she seemed outwardly shy, she was courageous. She got tired of sitting behind a clerical desk and left her secure job for one of adventure as an over-the-road trucker. Yes, you read right.
She bought her own truck, and across the country she went. At a previous family reunion, I believe in California, I asked her why. She said she enjoyed being her own boss. For a time, she scheduled all of her loads, and she went coast to coast. She would pull up to a family reunion site in her gold truck, grandchildren in tow. This past reunion, she had her twin granddaughters. Stella could take care of business.
She stopped driving after an accident -- not on the road but on a trailer -- that put her down for a while. She didn’t have to go back. She settled in Texarkana, Arkansas, not to be mistaken for Texarkana, Texas -- not that far, 35 miles, from where her mother and mine grew up in Kiblah, Arkansas.
The reason I started this column with many a pastor’s admonition to get saved right away rather than wait, is that according to reports, Stella was leaving church when she was struck. Hearing that news put the elections in proper perspective. I never get too high or low about election results. Though I rarely care who wins or loses, I do get ticked at the majority of people who don’t vote. I was only disappointed at the results of one race, that for the state superintendent of schools. The outcome proves that Republicans, just like many other voting groups, vote straight ticket. Richard Woods was the affirmative action recipient in this case. No one who listened to him and his opponent, Valarie Wilson, would think Woods was the better qualified candidate.
To me, elections only decide one thing -- who gets to feed at the trough first. Aside from that, the political parties -- when they are conducting business -- are almost identical. They try to differentiate themselves during elections, but when they walk the halls of our nation’s Capitol or under the Gold Dome in Atlanta, there’s not a whit’s bit of difference.
The important things in life all get tied up with political consequences. That’s why it’s refreshing to see state Rep. Allen Peake, in his effort to legalize medical cannabis, say, “Damn the political torpedoes -- full steam ahead.” He knows that in the end, we won’t be judged as a member of a political party, but how effective we were in helping our neighbors heal their pain. That’s why I take comfort in Stella’s passing. I know she was a devoted daughter and grandmother. When she saw St. Peter, he waved her right through into the arms of other Kiblah offspring waiting to welcome her.
Charles E. Richardson is The Telegraph’s editorial page editor. He can be reached at 478-744-4342 or via email at crichardson@macon.com. Tweet @crichard1020.
This story was originally published November 9, 2014 at 12:00 AM with the headline "RICHARDSON: What’s really important."