At the risk of redundancy, the pandemic/quarantine has driven me back to watching television, although nothing that is current within the last forty years with the exception of The Closer and crime mysteries on a channel devoted to whodunits. I'm predictable- I eat lunch around noon each day in front of the television set. I'm drawn to the old western, Gunsmoke, which ran from 1955-1974 . The early year black and white episodes were thirty minutes in duration before expanding to an hour in the mid 1960s. Gunsmoke, which had been a radio hit, centered around Marshal Matt Dillon, the sheriff of Dodge City, Kansas. But Dillon, played on the small screen by James Arness, was not the first character cast. That honor went to Dennis Weaver who won the part of Dillon's right hand man, Chester Goode, a role he would play for nine seasons.
Weaver faced a dilemma when developing his role. He was the leading man type and at 6'2", a good sized actor. However, Arness was a towering 6'7" so Weaver was given some latitude in how he played Chester. (I didn't realize this but side kicks are often portrayed as having a weakness to create a difference with the star.) Weaver, a Missourian, faked a thick Kentucky accent to give Chester his voice. But he decided on one other characteristic to set him apart from the leading man- he gave himself a limp which became Chester's trademark. Here's several interesting tidbits about the limp. One is that Weaver was an accomplished athlete, finishing sixth in the decathlon in the 1948 US Olympic Trials after having been a fighter pilot in World War 11. Later, he regretted developing the limp as it made his job much harder. Gunsmoke fans have remarked that his bad leg differed from time to time and sometimes, he completely forgot his bum wheel altogether. Fascinating- the trait which set him apart is the trait he wished he'd never invented.
There are two named Bible characters with injuries to their lower extremities that I can think of. The first was Mephibosheth, son of Jonathan, who was dropped by his nurse when the family was fleeing a war. (Technically, I think it would be correct in calling him David's nephew as his dad and David's first wife, Michal, were brother and sister.) Mephibosheth never walked again. The second was the very famous Jacob, whose name, of course, was changed to Israel. He walked with a limp but unlike Chester, his was not fake. We are told in Genesis 32 that he had a wrestling match with a man, also identified as God, and as an angel in Hosea 12. His opponent touched him on the hip and wrenched it from the socket, resulting in Jacob's limp AND the Israelites not eating the tendon attached to the hip socket. (It was not forbidden in the Law of Moses but scholars think it became a acknowledgement of the importance of the situation in the history of the people of God.) Did Jacob limp the rest of his life? The Bible never addresses that but we know it slowed him down as he dealt with a key encounter, meeting his twin brother, Esau, who had threatened to kill him. I would also say it might have had the effect of making slightly more humble!
I'm of the opinion we all have our own limp. It probably isn't a physical impairment of our walking but it could be. I was blessed with never getting injured in sports outside of the normal ankle sprains and a pretty decent concussion from a baseball collision. But I do know as a coach and player that we try to hide limping as we perceive it can cost us game time, a precious commodity to athletes. Our limp might be weight/thinning hair/complexion problems which are the topics covering 90% of the ads on the aforementioned show. I think more often our limps are not visible to the naked eye but our Father knows. Lack of confidence. A crisis in faith. Shame. Impurity in thought. Inability to sustain relationships. Dennis Weaver could simply step out of being Chester and erase his trademark gimpiness. Wish it was that easy in real life. Our weaknesses take time and prayer and a relationship with Jesus Christ. In quoting Isaiah, Jesus preached this in Matthew 13, verse 55:
For this people's heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.
I'm pretty sure He wasn't speaking of the physical heart/eyes/ears. The healing of our spiritual infirmities is readily available. We just need to acknowledge the One who has the prescription.
Two more random items about Dennis Weaver:
-He was president of the Screen Actors Guild.
-He was the same age as actor Don Knotts (Barney Fife) and they died on the same day.
Applicable quote of the day:
The World will go limping until Christ's prayer that all may be one is answered.
Charles Brent
God bless,
Steve
Luke 18:1
E-mail me at shawley@westburychristian.org
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