Ripples

I was 19 when I met Vern Vawter. He was the equipment man who handed out clean jocks and socks before every practice and game at Azusa Pacific University where I played basketball as a freshman. Even then Vern was not just timeless, he was beyond time. I didn’t recognize it then, but looking back he made a permanent impression on my life.

Vern must have been in his eighties. He was short and bald and he shuffled around the locker room with a cane. He made sure all the basketball players got clean practice and game gear every day. If you tried to take more than your allotted quantity of gear he would brandish his cane menacingly in your direction and with a twinkle in his eye tell you to take only what is yours. Then he would take his cane and point to small sign in the back of his equipment room.

Vern never said much. He had no great philosophies or Bible verses that he quoted. In fact, I don’t remember anything he ever said. But I remember Him vividly. The simple, joyful manner in which he went about his work every day. No fanfare ... no “look at me” bravado; just a simple, pleasant persistence to him every single day. He wore thick glasses that would sometime slip down his nose, but even the thick glasses couldn’t hide the twinkle in that man’s eyes.

Being young and foolish, we would sometimes pester Vern and make fun of the way he shuffled or playfully try to get and extra pair of socks. Vern never got angry or rankled, although I am sure there were many times the foolishness of our locker room behavior deserved his wrath, we never got it. Only a playful warning with the cane ... and a nod toward the sign in the back of his room.

It is curious. I graduated with a major in English and a minor in religion and philosophy and while I had many excellent Professors, I do not remember any of them as vividly as I do Vern. His influence went so far beyond words or ideas. His memory lingers because of who he was and that persistent twinkle in in his eyes. I am willing to bet that we all have Vern Vawter’s who have been lights along our path through life.

Oh ... and the wooden sign that he would point to as a reminder to behave yourself, Well, for some reason I remember that, too!

“WHERE YOU SPEND THE HEREAFTER

DEPENDS ON WHAT YOU ARE HEREAFTER”

#Laughter #Teaching #Relationships #Intentionality