The Phone Number

I may or may not have mentioned that I am making two trips back to my home town of York, Nebraska in this, the fall of 2018. My brother, Dave, is being inducted into two Hall of Fames this autumn, one in October and one in November. In October, it will be the York College honor and in November, York High School will be bestowing the award. Both venues will have other inductees as well. I'm also really excited that our cousin-in-law, Laura Hastings Hawley, is going to be a  York College HOFer as well! Several weeks ago, I received a postcard as a York College Panther letterman, reminding me that I needed to reserve a seat at the YC festivities, which will coincide with Homecoming next month. So, this afternoon during one of my planning periods, I took several minutes to RSVP for the event, which will be held at the renowned Chances ''R'' Restaurant, one of my all-time favorite dining experiences. I spoke to a wonderful young lady at the college and I am guaranteed a seat!! Only five weeks to go!

While I had the phone in my hand and a few spare minutes, I acted on a hunch. I dialed 402-362-4990. There was no need to look it up. It had been years, decades since I made that call. The last time was using a dial telephone but I could not begin to tell you when that was. You see, that was probably the first phone number I ever memorized, back in the day where you learned it by rote or you wrote it down. It was my dad's office phone at the East Hill Church of Christ. He was the first preacher for that congregation and that was his phone number when we arrived in York in 1959 from Brooklyn, New York. I was not disappointed this afternoon. A familiar voice answered the phone, a voice that sounded eerily like Dad. It was the new (two years!) preacher at the church, a young man named Glenn whose last name happens to be Hawley. We talked about family and life in York and I explained why I called. Lord willing, I'll get to see my first cousin and a few other kinfolk over the next eighty days or so. I just think there is a neat circle of life in that the first and latest ministers of the Gospel share the same DNA and the same family heritage. I like symmetry and I think that fits the definition.

My best guess is that phone number for the church has been operational for more than sixty years. During my formative years, I am sure I called it more than any other number. I called it to relay messages to Dad or just because I was a little boy who felt like calling. It might have been Mom needed him to run an errand- we only had one car for much of my early childhood. Maybe I even prank called- I was no angel! But take me out of  the equation. How much has transpired over that line with that number over the years? How many announcements of births and tragic deaths? How much counseling of members and college students and citizens of that town of 6,000, and not just from Dad and Glenn but from all the preachers who came in between? How much good was done done and how many tears have been shed? How many disputes have been ironed out and how any apologies offered and accepted? I can still see my father's name plate on his desk in his church office and now it resides with me. Not sure why I'm nostalgic tonight. I do wish Dad had lived to see and hear his nephew preach the word from the same pulpit that he once graced. But this afternoon, I settled for a call to a far away phone which brought memories very near. If only a phone number could talk! Then again, preachers reside in a world of confidentiality. Those confidences live on with Glenn.

Applicable quote of the day:
I don't understand this whole Twitter, Facebook stuff. I don't get it. Make a phone call. Talk to somebody.
James Avery


God bless,
Steve
Luke 18:1
www.hawleybooks.com
E-mail me at steve@hawleybooks.com